AUSTIN - Bruce McGill couldn't resist. As Tim Matheson held a microphone up for the audience to hear, McGill strummed the William Tell Overture on his neck just as he'd done in 1978's "Animal House." The University of Texas alumnus followed it by flashing a hook 'em Horns sign.
McGill, a MacArthur High School grad, was one of a handful of inductees into the Texas Film Hall of Fame on Thursday night. The Austin Film Society fundraiser kicked off the South by Southwest Film Festival. Also honored were Lukas Haas, Michael Nesmith, the Lockhart-shot film "Waiting for Guffman" and Quentin Tarantino, named an honorary Texan.
McGill, who did his first play in San Antonio at age 11, said his career was dictated by a very practical upbringing and a realization that character actors stay employed.
"I'm a character actor first, last and always," he said. "I tend to fly beneath the radar. (The award) is a great nod to guys like me who enhance the story."
Nesmith, best known as a member of the created-for-television band the Monkees and for winning the first-ever Grammy for a music video, said his days at San Antonio College played a big part in his career.
He came to the college straight out of the Air Force and formed a musical group that was to perform at a college talent show. When he was asked to be the show's master of ceremonies, he feared that would disqualify his act but accepted. He won the college's Talent Award.
"I think about that particular moment as when I learned that sometimes you have to give up your target and let things take you where they're going to," he said.
Nesmith said his efforts these days are focused on the next wave of the Internet, including the creation of 3-D worlds.
"The future is in live programs and virtual environments," he said.
Tarantino recounted coming out of a midnight screening of "Nashville" in Santa Monica in 1993 and meeting fellow moviegoer and Austin director Richard Linklater. That budding friendship led to a benefit Austin premiere of "Pulp Fiction" in 1994 and to a string of all-night QT festivals in Austin where Tarantino screens his personal prints of obscure exploitation films.
Linklater founded the Austin Film Society.
San Antonio native Robert Rodriguez, who worked with Tarantino on "Grindhouse," silently capped the evening by presenting Tarantino with a replica of Rodriguez's signature cowboy hat.
McGill, who did his first play in San Antonio at age 11, said his career was dictated by a very practical upbringing and a realization that character actors stay employed.
"I'm a character actor first, last and always," he said. "I tend to fly beneath the radar. (The award) is a great nod to guys like me who enhance the story."
Nesmith, best known as a member of the created-for-television band the Monkees and for winning the first-ever Grammy for a music video, said his days at San Antonio College played a big part in his career.
He came to the college straight out of the Air Force and formed a musical group that was to perform at a college talent show. When he was asked to be the show's master of ceremonies, he feared that would disqualify his act but accepted. He won the college's Talent Award.
"I think about that particular moment as when I learned that sometimes you have to give up your target and let things take you where they're going to," he said.
Nesmith said his efforts these days are focused on the next wave of the Internet, including the creation of 3-D worlds.
"The future is in live programs and virtual environments," he said.
Tarantino recounted coming out of a midnight screening of "Nashville" in Santa Monica in 1993 and meeting fellow moviegoer and Austin director Richard Linklater. That budding friendship led to a benefit Austin premiere of "Pulp Fiction" in 1994 and to a string of all-night QT festivals in Austin where Tarantino screens his personal prints of obscure exploitation films.
Linklater founded the Austin Film Society.
San Antonio native Robert Rodriguez, who worked with Tarantino on "Grindhouse," silently capped the evening by presenting Tarantino with a replica of Rodriguez's signature cowboy hat.
