Actor Hal Holbrook visits Carroll Academy students

HUNTINGDON, Tenn. — An American film star, stage actor and television director is making sure students have an early Thanksgiving they never forget.

For Hal Holbrook, it’s not the awards but the people he has met during his acting career that he remembers the most.

The actor, who is well known for his performance of Mark Twain, made a stop Monday in Huntingdon to celebrate Thanksgiving a little early with students of Carroll Academy.

Holbrook, now 92, says he’s always had a connection with West Tennessee and its people. It’s where his late wife, Dixie Carter, grew up.

“I have been watching it for several years, and I see things here you don’t see in most towns,” he said.

Those with the school say hearing stories from an actor like Holbrook shows the students they can achieve anything.

“It shows them that there are people that care about them, and he is one of them,” Superintendent Randy Hatch said. “He clearly cares or he wouldn’t be doing this.”

Hatch says as a school run by the juvenile court, it’s important to remind the students they matter.

“He’s not giving up on them, and we’re not giving up. And that’s the function of Carroll Academy,” Hatch said.

The dinner ended with a performance Carroll Academy students put together for Holbrook.