Character Actor and Crooner

By JAMES E. FOWLER

Aug. 7, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Actor Harry Dean Stanton’s face is invariably described as dour, weathered, leathery, hollowed, wounded, rugged, craggy, lean or gaunt. And actually, it’s all those things and more. But this weekend, it’s his voice that will take center stage.

Stanton, who has made a film career out of portraying offbeat, world-weary characters, will take on a different role Friday night when he sings and leads his rock band into the rather rarefied air of the Moonlight in Sherman Oaks.

Singing professionally is a relatively new endeavor for Stanton, who turned 71 last month. And contrary to his movie persona, he approaches it with unbridled enthusiasm.

“It’s a whole new medium; I’m getting better at it,” says Stanton. “It’s taken me 10 years just to start enjoying it.”

During his 40-year film acting career, Stanton has worked with the best--directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, John Huston, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, Ridley Scott and David Lynch, and fellow actors such as Gregory Peck, Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Paul Newman, Dustin Hoffman--just to name a few.

“I’ve been blessed,” Stanton says. “I’ve worked with a lot of good people.”

Most of Stanton’s parts, however, were those of losers, criminals, crazies, desperate men. Someone once commented that prior to 1983 his film credits read more like a rap sheet than a resume.

“Casting is a convoluted kind of trip,” Stanton says. “No one likes to be typed--even if you’re a cab driver, or whatever you do.”

And just when it seemed Stanton was doomed to spend his entire career as the surly face in the cinematic crowd, two 1984 films allowed him to step out.

“Paris, Texas,” directed by Wim Wenders and written by Sam Shepard, gave Stanton his first starring role at the age of 58. The film won the grand prize at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival. And it altered Stanton’s career.

“It inspired confidence that I could carry a film--in me and in other people,” Stanton says. And his role in Alex Cox’s “Repo Man” as Bud, the veteran auto-repossessing guru to Emilio Estevez, elevated Stanton to cult-icon status.

Maybe it was that new confidence. Or maybe it was that new status. But around that time, Stanton started singing with bands. Singing itself was nothing new for Stanton, who in his younger days performed in barbershop quartets and an all-male chorus. He had played guitar and jammed casually with friends for years. But fronting a band on stage is a different story.

“I just found myself doing it,” Stanton says. “Ry Cooder got me started.”

Cooder, who did the music for the film “Paris, Texas,” had Stanton sing the Mexican ballad “Cancion Mixteca” for the soundtrack.

Out of the 80-plus feature films he’s appeared in, Stanton counts only about eight or 10 performances he’s proud of. Not surprisingly, “Paris, Texas” and “Repo Man” head his list of favorites.

“Also, the one I did with Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson, ‘Missouri Breaks,’ I thought I did a good role in that,” Stanton says. “Also ‘Rancho Deluxe,’ which nobody ever heard of, with Jeff Bridges, Sam Waterston, Slim Pickens, Elizabeth Ashley, that was a brilliant satire by Tom McGuane.

“And the one with Dustin Hoffman was a good picture, ‘Straight Time.’ ”

Still, his movie work pays the bills and the demand for Stanton’s work continues. He currently has three films that are about to be released.

“I’ve got one coming out this month with Sean Penn, John Travolta and Robin Wright in it called ‘She’s So Lovely.’ ” Stanton says. “Sean won the best actor in Cannes with that one. Robin’s brilliant, and Travolta’s always good, always a joy.”

Another film, with Sharon Stone and Gena Rowlands, is called “The Mighty,” and “Fire Down Below” is a Steven Seagal action film but with a casting twist.

“He has all musicians in the cast--me, Kris Kristofferson, Alex Harvey, Mark Collie,” Stanton says. “They played the heavies, I played a good guy.”

Singing seems to provide Stanton with a new source of satisfaction. He performs regularly around town at places such as the Mint and Jack’s Sugar Shack with his own band, which includes Jaime James (the bass player of the Kingbees) on guitar, Tom Slick on bass, Stewart Ulster on keyboards and Danny Marfisi on drums. But this is his first official gig in the Valley.

The band does a mixed bag of tunes--some originals by James, some blues, some rock standards and some Mexican songs. Stanton doesn’t speak Spanish, but he sings it well, in a robust baritone and a convincing accent.

He also includes a few tunes by two friends of his--Bob Dylan and Kris Kristofferson.

Stanton claims credit for getting Kristofferson his first movie job, in the 1971 film “Cisco Pike.”

“He’s a great songwriter,” Stanton says. “Most of his melodies, probably because he came from Brownsville [Texas], they’re very Mexican sounding. Like ‘Sunday Morning Coming Down.’ ”

He eagerly demonstrates, singing the opening line to the song’s chorus with a Latin-like tear in his voice.

“I met Dylan on ‘Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid,’ ” he said. “We buddied around for quite a while after that. We jammed together, he liked my Mexican songs.”

In addition, Stanton includes some standards from the 1920s and ‘30s in his act, such tunes as “It Had to Be You,” “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter” and “People Will Say We’re In Love.”

“I try to contemporize the beat,” he says. “A lot of these songs this generation has never even heard, and I love ‘em.”

BE THERE

Harry Dean Stanton performs Friday night at the Moonlight, 13730 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, (818) 788-2000. $5 cover plus a $9.95 minimum.