Trey Wilson's brisk, blustering delivery made him a valuable presence in ensemble comedies. In Raising Arizona, we admire how firmly he plays the harried furniture magnate, giving the farce someone who sounds accustomed to getting his way.
Fi1m perspective
Trey Wilson sounds as though he expects the matter to have been settled before he has finished speaking. In Raising Arizona (1987), his Nathan Arizona, Sr. is a furniture magnate, played with the brisk insistence of a man used to being in charge. The fast delivery gives the bluster its comic precision. We laughed at his exasperation because Wilson makes the affront to his authority feel so serious. It is a forceful contribution to Joel Coen's already noisy farce.
His early film work included Colonel Nivens in A Soldier's Story (1984), before Raising Arizona and Bull Durham (1988) brought the breakthrough. Those parts suited his recurring speciality: men accustomed to authority and short of patience when it fails them. As Joe 'Skip' Riggins, the Durham Bulls' manager in Ron Shelton's film, he has a job that gives his exasperation a practical basis. The furniture magnate and the baseball manager both suit an actor whose voice can make a complaint sound like an instruction.
The warmth of Raising Arizona belongs chiefly to Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter, whose couple remains worth caring about despite the increasingly busy plotting. Wilson gives that warmth some useful opposition, with a figure whose manner is much less inviting. Bluster can become wearing, especially in a farce that already has trouble keeping its plotting level with its chases. What works here is the speed and comic timing, rather than simply the force of the performance. Coen makes good use of Wilson without needing to make him softer or more agreeable.
In Twins (1988), the shady businessman Beetroot McKinley provided another supporting comic part. Wilson's film work was chiefly in character roles, and there is little reason to wish away that particular usefulness in favour of hypothetical leading parts. His voice and exasperation give us plenty to enjoy in the work he actually did. Start with Raising Arizona, and listen to how seriously he takes a man the film invites us to laugh at.
Biography
Trey Wilson was an American character actor. Born Donald Yearnsley Wilson III in Houston, Texas, he studied English and theatre at the University of Houston. He began his career on stage, appearing in Broadway productions including Tintypes, The First, Foxfire, Peter Pan and The Front Page.
Wilson's film roles included Colonel Nivens in A Soldier's Story (1984), Lt. Murdoch in F/X (1986), Nathan Arizona, Sr. in Raising Arizona (1987), Skip in Bull Durham (1988), Beetroot McKinley in Twins (1988) and Sam Phillips in Great Balls of Fire! (1989). He also appeared in television series such as Dallas, The Equalizer, Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Wilson died of a cerebral haemorrhage in New York City on 16 January 1989, aged 40. Several films released after his death, including Miss Firecracker (1989) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991), were dedicated to him.
