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Dr. Death reviews his life: Kevorkian says Al Pacino does 'Know
Jack'
Sunday, April 18th
2010, 10:08
AM
Corkery/News
Al Pacino and
Dr. Jack
Kevorkian at the HBO New York Premiere of 'You Don't Know Jack'
Al
Pacino portrays Dr. Jack Kevorkian as a
crotchety,
lovelorn coot in the powerful new HBO film "You Don't Know Jack." And Kevorkian
couldn't be
happier with the performance.
"Al is a terrific guy," says the 82-year-old pathologist, who has
assisted in
the suicides of more than 130 people. "The film is superb. There were
times when
tears came into my eyes — even after all the experience I have ... "
So he's not bothered by the scene where his sister, Margot , played
by
Brenda Vaccaro, sneers that he
would have
been a terrible husband, assuming anyone would have married him?
"She was right," Dr. Death tells us. "She knew my personality. I
almost got
engaged once. I realized it wouldn't last. I thought it was better not
to marry
than go through a bad divorce. I wasn't really excited about raising
children. I
always said, 'If I had a son like me, I'd kill him.' I was irascible,
flighty. I
was hard to raise. I pity my poor parents."
Though he admits he's never been big on hugging, he insists: "I can
connect
with people very well."
Tom Cruise, for instance. We
remember how
they hit it off at Time magazine's 75th -anniversary gala at
Radio
City in 1998.
"He was very friendly," says Kevorkian. "You could tell he was
sympathetic to
my cause. Some people — religious people — are horrified by me. They
won't be
when they need my service."
He's in "fair" health now — though weaker after serving over eight
years in
prison. But, God forbid, he develops a terminal illness, will he usher
himself
into the afterlife?
"No. A doctor who treats himself is considered a fool. It's better to
have a
colleague you know and trust."
He hopes that, "by that time," it will be legal everywhere for a
doctor to
administer a fatal injection.
"I'm sure there will be many doctors to help us. Especially if
there's a fee
involved — which there should not be."
In the movie, masterfully directed by Barry Levinson, Kevorkian's main
legal
ally is his now-estranged attorney, Geoffrey Fieger,
played by
Danny Huston. The two had a brief
reunion
at the Ziegfeld premiere here last week.
"Of course he was there," says Kevorkian. "He uses any opportunity
for
publicity. To him, this film is about him. But I don't use him. I don't
think
he's a competent lawyer."
Kevorkian and Fieger fell out when Fieger ran for governor of Michigan in 1998 and didn't back assisted
suicide
to the degree Kevorkian expected. "He's a phony," says Kevorkian. "He
flip-flopped on the position because he has no guts. He can't take the
consequences of it. Prison frightens him."
Told of his former client's spleen, Fieger laughs, "I don't know what
Jack
didn't like about the eight acquittals I got him. For 10 years, I put up
with
his mood swings. He fired me more times than I remember. I finally said,
'I
can't fight you anymore.'
The alternative was what happened in the end, when Jack represented
himself
and went to prison. The movie is really about Jack's own assisted
suicide.
"I can't be mad at him. I'm glad to see he still has that
irascibility in
him. People said he was the wrong guy for this crusade. But who else
would take
those kind of risks?"
"You Don't Know Jack" airs next Saturday