Actor Alec Baldwin will emcee music-filled tribute to Tacoma artist Teddy Haggarty

Hollywood star Alec Baldwin will be in Tacoma on Friday to emcee a tribute to artist Teddy Haggarty.

Haggarty died Sept. 5 from complications following hip replacement surgery. He was 64.

Haggarty’s younger brother, Leonard, said the four-hour multimedia celebration.

“I’m looking to properly give Ted his due and let people come together in a celebratory sense, and not a funereal sense,” Leonard Haggarty said.

Baldwin will kick off the event at Tacoma’s Temple Theatre with reminiscences on his 30-year friendship with Haggarty. The event was Baldwin’s idea, Leonard Haggarty said.

“I got a call from Alec Baldwin and he said, ‘We’ve got to do a celebration for Teddy’s life,’” Leonard said.

In 1987, Teddy Haggarty became a stand-in for up-and-coming actor Alec Baldwin in the comedy “Beetlejuice.” The pair became fast friends, and remained so for the rest of Haggarty’s life.

Baldwin has a long acting resume and frequently in the news for his portrayal of President Donald Trump on NBC's "Saturday Night Live."

While Baldwin is speaking at Friday’s event, the 10 surviving members of Haggarty’s artist group, The Dead Artists, will take the stage and begin painting a large Haggarty-esque canvas.

Baldwin and Haggarty’s friends, Justin and Robby Peterson, will introduce a short film tribute to Haggarty.

“It’s a montage of films that Ted was in over the years,” Leonard said. “It’s like a lifetime achievement award at the Academy Awards.”

While they paint, Tacoma actor Doug Mackay will portray Haggarty at a bar creating his well-known sketches of patrons.

As Mackay sketches, Baldwin will read from Haggarty’s book, “Why do you paint like that?” The book, which attempts to answer its question-title, can be read in under five minutes, Leonard Haggarty said.

Haggarty painted in a naïve and simplistic style, Leonard said, prompting the question from passers-by.

Music will be provided by reunions of members of two bands the Haggarty brothers managed in the 1970s and 1980s: Strypes and Baby Knockers.

Local kid band Pig Snout is the opening act. Haggarty was a fan, Leonard said.

Other performers include the Twang Junkies and Kenya Leger's Gospel Choir.

The choir will back up singer Ed Perez on “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” followed by “With A Little Help From My Friends.”

Leonard Haggarty is asking for a $20 donation to offset his brother’s end-of-life expenses.

Since his brother’s death, Leonard has heard from numerous people who were fans.

“People who way up in the world or way down in the world had a similar appreciation of Teddy,” he said. “He was just always him. He’d always be very authentic.”

Leonard Haggarty hopes to create a museum for his brother’s work and a foundation for the arts.

Craig Sailor: 253-597-8541, @crsailor

TEDDY HAGGARTY CELEBRATION OF LIFE
When: 6-10:30 p.m. Friday.

Where: Temple Theatre, 47 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma.

Cost: $20 donation.

Information: Facebook, teddy-michael-haggarty-memorial.org/

KIRO