The Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society

Collecting, preserving, and interpreting the history of our community!

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Scenes from the classic 1956 movie Giant were filmed in the Keswick area of Albemarle County in the summer of 1955. Photographer Ed Roseberry (b. 1925) took this photo in the Terrace Room, a private, upstairs dining room of the Thomas Jefferson Inn on Emmet Street where the stars and some crew were staying. The Inn had first opened in May 1951, closed in 1968, and is now the Federal Executive Institute. Having snuck in through the kitchen, Roseberry obviously surprised some of the famous cast members as they were eating. On the far left is actor Paul Fix; in the middle is Rod Taylor; a 30-year-old Rock Hudson looks over his left shoulder; and next to him is 23-year-old Elizabeth Taylor. The movie also starred James Dean, though he did not appear in these scenes filmed in Virginia. Unfortunately, Giant was to be Dean’s last movie, as he died in a tragic car accident on September 30, 1955 in California, over a year before the film’s premiere. The movie was nominated for ten Academy Awards, and Director George Stevens won the Oscar for Best Director.

Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society Board of Directors and Staff

Board of Directors

Phyllis Leffler – President
Shelley Murphy – Vice President
Daniel Smythe – Treasurer
Sam Towler – Secretary
Angus Arrington IV
Michael Dickens
Punkie Feil
Bunny Gibbons
Helice Henderson Jones
Gayle Jessup White
Ervin L. Jordan, Jr.
Luke Roark
Kay Slaughter

Staff

C. Thomas Chapman – Executive Director
Miranda Burnett – Research Librarian
Sandra DeKay – Administrative Assistant
Sterling Howell – Volunteer & Programs Coordinator
Keri Matthews – Collections Manager

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