Driving Miss Daisy

Drama

Morgan Freeman	Hoke Colburn
Jessica Tandy	Miss Daisy Werthan
Dan Aykroyd	Boolie Werthan
Patti LuPone	Florine Werthan
Esther Rolle	Idella
Ray McKinnon	Trooper
Sylvia Kaler	Beulah
Alvin M. Sugarman	Dr. Weil
Muriel Moore	Miriam
Jack Rousso	Slick
Joann Havrilla	Miss McClatchey
William Hall Jr.	Oscar
Clarice F. Geigerman	Nonie
Pattie Lupone

Director	Bruce Beresford
Producer	David Brown; Robert Doudell
Writer	Alfred Uhry

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Alfred Uhry , Driving Miss Daisy affectionately covers the twenty-five year relationship between a wealthy, strong-willed Southern matron ( Jessica Tandy ) and her equally indomitable black chauffeur Hoke ( Morgan Freeman ). Both employer and employee are outsiders: Hoke because of the color of his skin, Miss Daisy because she is Jewish in a WASP-dominated society. At the same time, Hoke cannot fathom Miss Daisy's cloistered inability to grasp the social changes which sweep the South in the 1960s; nor can Miss Daisy understand why Hoke's "people" are so indignant. It is only when Hoke is retired and Miss Daisy is confined to a home for the elderly that the two fully realize that they've been friends and kindred spirits all along. The supporting cast includes Esther Rolle as Miss Daisy's housekeeper and Dan Aykroyd as Miss Daisy's son Boolie (reportedly, playwright Uhry based the character upon himself). Driving Miss Daisy won Academy Awards for best picture, best actress (Jessica Tandy), best screenplay (Uhry) and best makeup ( Manlio Rachetti ). -- Hal Erickson