Guest Stars on The Love Boat
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Though probably not to her liking, actress Priscilla Barnes is best known for her bittersweet replacement of TV goddess Suzanne Somers during the tension-riddled times of the popular ABC slapstick comedy series, Three's Company (1976) -- bittersweet in that although the lovely, stringy-framed blonde did become a TV name as a result, she had to endure the anguish of stepping into the shoes of an enormously popular star whose determination to be paid wages equal to her male co-star had her unceremoniously dumped from the show when contractual negotiations went awry. It was not the happiest of times for Priscilla yet she managed to pull the whole thing off as nurse "Terri Alden", the pretty roommate and (along with co-star Joyce DeWitt), the other female foil to John Ritter's outrageous shenanigans.
Priscilla chose to be her own person and allowed her character a bit more substance and intelligence than Somers' jiggly ding-a-ling "Chrissy Snow". If nothing else, the new girl on the block added a much-needed stability to an already emotionally wrought set and was accepted by the show's fans for a final three seasons. She and DeWitt developed a fast friendship, which lasted long after the show's demise. Interestingly, Priscilla had been previously turned down for the vapid "Cindy Snow" character (played by Jenilee Harrison) because she was perceived as "too old" for the role.
Priscilla was born in Fort Dix, New Jersey, the daughter of an Air Force commander. An average student in school, the leggy beauty with the prominent cheekbones and intriguing slash of a mouth originally planned to become a dancer and joined a preteen group called the "The Vivacious Vixens", but a severe accident while performing on the Hollywood Bowl stage (she broke her leg and fractured her jaw) ended such dreams.
During her formative years, she earned some attention as a beauty pageant contender ("Miss Hollywood", "Miss San Bernardino", "Miss California" (runner-up)) while paying her dues waitressing. A chance acquaintance with Peter Falk, who saw promise in the girl who countered her fresh-faced beauty with a self-deprecating wit, led to a bit part on one of his Columbo (1971) episodes, A Deadly State of Mind (1975), in 1976, and the start of her professional career. The parts she nabbed typically accentuated her physical assets. A former Penthouse Pet for March 1976 (using the alias "Joann Witty"), Priscilla paid her dues via a series of unmemorable projects, including the films Texas Detour (1978), Delta Fox (1979) and The Seniors (1978) plus the short-lived TV series, The American Girls (1978), in which she played a smart-styled, traveling reporter. Handed a somewhat better supporting role in the Gene Wilder sequence of the four-part film, Sunday Lovers (1980), she gathered more experience on such shows as Cannon (1971), Starsky and Hutch (1975), The Incredible Hulk (1978), The Rockford Files (1974), Kojak (1973), Taxi (1978) and The Love Boat (1977), before becoming a vital part of Three's Company (1976)'s 1981 cast.
Barnes continued with the popular show in spite of her frustrations with producers and her dread of being typecast in innocuous comedy. Since then, she has maintained in a Hollywood that doesn't cater to women of "maturing" age, especially former TV stars. On TV, she added a feisty glamour to the series Dark Justice (1991), Viper (1994), Murder, She Wrote (1984) and other The Love Boat (1977) episodes. More often, however, she has shown up in low-budget films. She has certainly taken on more than her fair share of horror projects, including Stepfather 3 (1992), and Witch Academy (1995) in which some of her characters have met grisly ends. One film highlight was her featured role, not as a Bond girl but as the bride of a CIA agent (David Hedison), who is shot to death on her wedding day, in the Timothy Dalton "007" film, Licence to Kill (1989). She also enjoyed a role as a quirky fortune teller in Mallrats (1995).
Active on the theater scene over the years with credits such as "Born Yesterday", "Vanities", "Bus Stop" and "A Streetcar Named Desire" under her belt, she recently played Hillary Clinton in the 2007 black comedy, "Hillary Agonistes", in New York.
Maintaining an active career into the millennium, independent film credits including several horror yarns including The Backlot Murders (2002), Unseen Evil 2 (2004) co-starring Lorenzo Lamas, The Devil's Rejects (2005), Trailer Park of Terror (2008), Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield (2007) and Thr3e (2006); as well as the action film Final Payback (2001); the sci-fi drama Disaster Wars: Earthquake vs. Tsunami (2013); the eerie mystery Helen Alone (2014) and the comedy crime film Jonny's Sweet Revenge (2015). She has been married to actor Ted Monte since 2003.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Sound Department
Matthew Labyorteaux was born in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is known for his role as Albet Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie (from 1978-1983). His most prominent film role was in Wes Craven's Deadly Friend (1986) as Paul Conway. He has been married to Leslie Labyorteaux since July 17, 2020. They have two children.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Maureen Denise McCormick was born on August 5, 1956 to Richard and Irene McCormick. The youngest of four children, she has three brothers Michael, Dennis and Kevin. Her acting career began at age six when she won the Baby Miss San Fernando Valley contest, which opened up the glamorous world of acting to the future teenie-bopper. At age seven, her first role was in a play, and within a year, was a popular choice for TV commercials and sitcoms. In addition to ads for Barbie and Kool Aid, Maureen was seen on Bewitched (1964), My Three Sons (1960) and Camp Runamuck (1965). She also did voice-over recordings for a dozen Mattel talking dolls. For five years, Maureen was one of America's top teen role-models, admired by millions. When the Brady Kids became a singing group on the side, producers noticed her special talent for singing and encouraged the recording of a number of solo tracks, some of which turned up later on the LP "Chris Knight and Maureen McCormick". Years later, she would attempt to revive her singing career, with the 1995 Country CD "When You Get A Little Lonely". Maureen has appeared in many feature films, many TV guest spots and completed three films in the last three years, Baby Huey's Great Easter Adventure (1999) and The Million Dollar Kid (2000) and Dogtown (1997). She currently pursues her career and keeps her friends and family first priority. Maureen is married to Michael Cummings and together they have a daughter, Natalie.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Don is probably best known for his co-starring role as Ralph in the long running television series "Happy Days." During this time, he worked with such emerging talents as Ron Howard and Garry Marshall. Recently, Don was seen in a recurring role on the hit TV show - "Glee," as well as starring roles in the indie film - "The Yankles," and "Chez Upshaw," starring Kevin Pollack and Illeana Douglas. He just finished starring in "Campin Buddies," along with a role in the independent film - "Remember Isobel," and the short film - "Duality" Most's other feature film credits include "ED TV," directed by Ron Howard; "Crazy Mama," directed by Jonathan Demme, and "The Great Buck Howard," starring John Malkovich. In television, his other guest starring roles include "Men Of A Certain Age," "Century City," 'Star Trek: Voyager,' 'Yes, Dear,' 'The Crow,' 'Sabrina,' 'Sliders,' 'Dark Skies,' and 'The Family Guy.'
Following in the footsteps of some of his peers, Don has now directed three feature films. "His first, "The Last Best Sunday," had its World Premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival, and was a feature film winner at the Telluride IndieFest. "Moola," starring William Mapother, Shailene Woodley, Treat Williams, Daniel Baldwin, and Curtis Armstrong, premiered at The Newport Beach Film Festival, where it earned Most The Outstanding Achievement In Directing Award. Don also directed "Harley's Hill," his first family film, which was recently seen on Showtime, Starz and Encore. In another area, Don has recently gone back to his first love - singing. Don has always loved the standards/swing/big band style of music, and has just mounted his show - "Donny Most Sings And Swings." He recently performed it at "Catalina's Jazz Club" in Hollywood, CA...and "Vitello's Jazz Club," in Studio City, Los Angeles to great acclaim.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
A native of New Jersey and son of a mechanic, African-American John Amos has relied on his imposing build, eruptive nature and strong, forceful looks to obtain acting jobs, and a serious desire for better roles to earn a satisfying place in the annals of film and TV. He has found it a constant uphill battle to further himself in an industry that tends to diminish an actor's talents with severe and/or demeaning stereotypes and easy pigeonholing. A tough, often hot-headed guy with a somewhat tender side, John would succeed far better on stage than on film and TV...with one extremely noteworthy exceptions.
Born on December 27, 1939, John was first employed as an advertising copywriter, a social worker at New York's Vera Institute of Justice, and an American and Canadian semi-professional football player before receiving his calling as an actor. A stand-up comic on the Greenwich Village circuit, the work eventually took him West and, ultimately, led to his hiring as a staff writer on Leslie Uggams' musical variety show in 1969. Making his legit stage debut in a 1971 L.A. production of the comedy "Norman, Is That You?", John went on to earn a Los Angeles Drama Critics nomination for "Best Actor". As such, he formed his own theater company and produced "Norman, Is That You?" on tour.
The following year he returned to New York to take his first Broadway bow in "Tough To Get Help". By this time he had secured secondary work on the classic The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970) as Gordy the weatherman. His character remained on the periphery, however, and he left the show after three discouraging seasons. On the bright side, he won the recurring role of the sporadically-unemployed husband of maid Florida Evans (played by Esther Rolle) on Norman Lear's Maude (1972) starring Bea Arthur. The two characters were spun-off into their own popular series as the parental leads in Good Times (1974).
Good Times (1974), a family sitcom that took place in a Chicago ghetto high-rise, initially prided itself as being the first network series ever to be created by African-Americans. But subsequent episodes were taken over by others and John was increasingly disgruntled by the lack of quality of the scripts and the direction Lear was taking the show. Once focused on the importance of family values, it was shifting more and more toward the silly antics of Jimmie 'JJ' Walker, who was becoming a runaway hit on the show as the aimless, egotistical, jive-talking teenage son JJ. John began frequently clashing with the higher-ups and, by 1976, was released from the series, with his character being killed in an off-camera car accident while finding employment out of state.
Amos rebounded quickly when he won the Emmy-nominated role of the adult Kunte Kinte in the ground-breaking epic mini-series Roots (1977), one of the most powerful and reverential TV features ever to hit television. It was THE TV role of his career, but he found other quality roles for other black actors extremely difficult to come by. He tried his best to avoid the dim-headed lugs and crime-motivated characters that came his way. Along with a few parts (the mini-movie Willa (1979) and the films The Beastmaster (1982) and Coming to America (1988)), he had to endure the mediocre (guest spots on The Love Boat (1977), "The A-Team", "Murder, She Wrote" "One Life to Live"). John also toiled through a number of action-themed films that focused more on grit and testosterone than talent.
He found one answer to this acting dilemma on the proscenium stage. In 1985, the play "Split Second" earned him the NAACP Award as Best Actor. He also received fine reviews in a Berkshire Theater festival production of "The Boys Next Door", a tour of O'Neill's towering play "The Emperor Jones", and in a Detroit production of Athol Fugard's "Master Harold...and The Boys". In addition, John directed two well-received productions, "Miss Reardon Drinks a Little" and "Twelve Angry Men", in the Bahamas. He took on Shakespeare as Sir Toby Belch in "Twelfth Night" at Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare and earned strong notices in the late August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Fences" at the Capital Repertory Company in Albany, New York. Overseas he received plaudits for his appearance in a heralded production of "The Life and Death of a Buffalo Soldier" at the Bristol's Old Vic in England. Capping his theatrical career was the 1990 inaugural of his one-man show "Halley's Comet", an amusing and humanistic American journey into the life of an 87-year-old who recalls, among other things, World War II, the golden age of radio, the early civil rights movement, and the sighting of the Comet when he was 11. He wrote and has frequently directed the show, which continues to play into the 2007-2008 season.
In recent years, John has enjoyed recurring parts on "The West Wing" and "The District", and is more recently appearing in the offbeat series Men in Trees (2006) starring Anne Heche. John Amos has two children by his former wife Noel Amos and two children. Son K.C. Amos director, writer, producer, editor and daughter Shannon Amos a director, writer and producer. Amos has one grand child,a grand-daughter, Quiera Williams.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Scott Vincent James Baio was born on September 22, 1960 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the third child of Mario and Rose Baio, who had emigrated from Italy. At the young age of nine, Scott decided that he wanted to be an actor. Soon after, his parents took him on interviews and he was able to land in small roles in commercials. His first real taste of success occurred in 1976 when he beat out 2,000 other child actors for the starring role in the child gangster film Bugsy Malone (1976). The following year, Scott's popularity soared after he was chosen for the role of Chachi Arcola, The Fonz's cousin, on the ABC sitcom Happy Days (1974). Soon after, Scott's parents moved him to Hollywood to help him keep up with the demands of his acting career. Throughout his stint on Happy Days (1974) from 1977 to 1984, Scott still managed to appear in several films, including Skatetown U.S.A. (1979), Foxes (1980) and Zapped! (1982) and even starred in three other short-lived sitcoms (Blansky's Beauties (1977), Who's Watching the Kids (1978), and the "Happy Days" spin-off Joanie Loves Chachi (1982)). This exposure helped him become a major teen idol in the early 1980s.
After Happy Days (1974) went off the air in 1984, Scott moved to CBS where he was given the starring role on the sitcom Charles in Charge (1984). He played a college student who was hired to watch over three children. After one season on CBS, the series was retooled and moved to first-run syndication where it ran successfully from 1987 to 1990. Since Charles in Charge (1984) ended, Scott has been able to stay busy, albeit with a relatively lower profile. He has had starring roles on Baby Talk (1991) and Diagnosis Murder (1993) and guest starring roles on Veronica's Closet (1997) and Arrested Development (2003). He has even tried his hand behind the camera, directing episodes of The Wayans Bros. (1995) and Unhappily Ever After (1995).
Offscreen, Scott has made a few headlines as well. In 1997, he was rumored to have died in a car accident, but this was quickly declared as false. He has gained a reputation for dating several high-profile (mostly blonde) actresses, most notably Pamela Anderson, Heather Locklear and former co-star Nicole Eggert. In 2007, VH1 played this reputation into a reality series called Scott Baio Is 45... And Single (2007). On the show, he meets with a life coach to try and find reasons why he is still single. In order to accomplish this, he must revisit his ex-girlfriends (including Erin Moran and Julie McCullough) to find out what went right and what went wrong in the relationships. Follwing the completion of the first season, he announced that his girlfriend, Renee Baio, was pregnant with his first child. On November 2, 2007, she gave birth to a baby girl, Bailey Deluca.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Melissa Sue Anderson was very much like her most famous character role, of eldest child & sister, Mary Ingalls -- a quiet, slightly shy girl who would rather read a book than climb a tree. Her show business career got started, when a dance teacher urged her parents to find an agent for her. She began doing television commercials, and the blonde, blue-eyed beauty was in great demand for roles; she was a guest-actress once in weekly & family TV series, Never Too Young (1973) and theatrical movie, Shaft (1973). During the production of Little House on the Prairie (1974) & after leaving the show, she has guest-starred in several films and made-for-TV movies. She continues to pursue an active acting career and published her autobiography, titled "The Way I See It", in 2009.- Actor
- Music Department
- Composer
Robbie Rist was born on 4 April 1964 in La Mirada, California, USA. He is an actor and composer, known for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990).- Karen Grassle is an American actress from Berkeley, California. She is primarily known for portraying the historical figure of Caroline Ingalls (1839 -1924) in the long-running Western television series "Little House on the Prairie" (1974-1983). Caroline was the mother of the novelist Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957), whose works had inspired the series.
In 1942, Grassle was born in Berkeley, California. The city is located on the eastern shore of the San Francisco Bay, and was named in honor of the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley (1685 -1753). The city is primarily known as the location of the University of California, Berkeley, a public land-grant research university. Grassle's parents were the realty business owner Eugene Frederick "Gene" Grassle (1906-1977) and the school teacher Frae Ella Berry (1907-2002).
Grassle received ballet lessons as a child. She was interested in acting, and took part in several school plays. She also sang in a Baptist choir. During her senior year in high school, Grassle was the vice president of the student body. She received a "Girl of the Year" award from her high school. In 1959, Grassle graduated from the Ventura High School.
In 1959, Grassle started her college education at the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College, a women's college located in New Orleans. The college had been established by the philanthropist Josephine Louise Newcomb (1816-1901), as a memorial for her deceased daughter Sophie Newcomb (1855-1870). In 1960, Grassle transferred to the University of California, Berkeley. She moved back to her home state of California. In 1965, Grassle graduated from the University. She received Bachelor of Arts degrees in both English and Dramatic Art. She received a Fulbright Fellowship which allowed her to study in the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, located in Hammersmith, London.
Grassle started her professional acting career with summer performances at the Stanford Contemporary Workshop, and Colorado Shakespeare Festival. After returning from her studies in London, she performed for a season at the Front Street Theatre of Memphis, Tennessee. She next moved to New York City, but she worked at resident and stock theaters throughout the country. In 1968, Grassle made her Broadway debut. She performed in the play "The Gingham Dog" (1968) by Lanford Wilson (1937-2011), which depicted the breakup of an interracial couple.
Grassle was one of several replacement actresses who were hired to perform in the play "Butterflies Are Free" (1969) by Leonard Gershe, following departures from members of the original cast. The play was loosely based on the life of the blind American lawyer Harold Krents (c. 1944-1987). In the summer of 1972, she was performing at the Elitch Theatre in Denver, Colorado. Her co-star Brandon deWilde (1942-1972) was killed in a traffic accident in the suburbs of Denver.
Grassle was primarily a theatrical actress until she decided to audition for the role of Caroline Ingalls. She won one of the leading roles in the hit series "Little House on the Prairie". During the series' production, Grassle made a guest appearance in "Gunsmoke". She depicted the saloon girl Fran, in a story about kidnapped women. During the late 1970s, Grassle stated performing in various television films.
Grassle made her film debut in the comedy-drama film "Harry's War" (1981), portraying the protagonist's wife. In the film, a man inherits a family dispute with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). His actions against the IRS escalate to violence. The film only received a limited theatrical release for two weeks.
Grassle left the cast of "Little House on the Prairie" in 1982, a year before the conclusion of the series. She subsequently moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she served as the artistic director of the local Resource Theater Company. She eventually left the city to perform with the Actors Theatre of Louisville, a Kentucky-based performing arts theatre.
Grassle portrayed a minor character in the Western film "Wyatt Earp" (1994). It was her first film role since the early 1980s. The film only earned 55.9 million dollars at the worldwide box office, and was considered a box office failure. Grassle continued performing in theatrical; plays into the 2000s. She performed regularly at both the San Francisco Playhouse and the Manitoba Theatre Centre. She started regularly appearing in television commercials. She became the promotional face for Premier Bathrooms, a supplier of bathing products for the elderly and infirm.
In 2021, Grassle had one of the main roles in the feature film "Not to Forget", in her first film role in several years. The film primarily depicted "the ravages and emotional toll of Alzheimer's disease". The purpose of its production was to raise awareness for the effects of the disease, and funds for medical research.
Also in 2021, Grassle published her memoir, "Bright Lights, Prairie Dust: Reflections on Life, Loss, and Love by House's Ma". The book explained her long struggle with alcoholism, and her troubled relationship with her television co-star Michael Landon. Their relationship was strained after he denied her request for a raise, and he reportedly kept making humiliating comments about her in the presence of various members of the cast and crew of "Little House on the Prairie".
By 2022, Grassle was 80-years-old. She is fondly recalled by generations of viewers of her popular Western series, and she has a decent reputation as a theatrical actress. She has never retired from acting, though her lengthy career has had few highlights in recent years. - Actor
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- Producer
John Gabriel was born on 25 May 1931 in Niagara Falls, New York, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for Ryan's Hope (1975), El Dorado (1966) and The Hunters (1958). He was married to Sandy Gabriel. He died on 11 June 2021 in New York City, New York, USA.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Jamie Lee Curtis was born on November 22, 1958 in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of legendary actors Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis. She got her big break at acting in 1978 when she won the role of Laurie Strode in Halloween (1978). After that, she became famous for roles in movies like Trading Places (1983), Perfect (1985) and A Fish Called Wanda (1988). She starred in one of the biggest action films ever, True Lies (1994), for which she won a Golden Globe Award for her performance. Curtis also appeared on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979), and starred in Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story (1981) as the title role. Her first starring role was opposite Richard Lewis on the ABC situation comedy Anything But Love (1989). In 1998, she starred in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) in which she reprised her role that made her famous back in 1978.
Jamie Lee served as an honorary chairperson for the Building Resilience for Young Children Dealing with Trauma program held at the Shakespeare Theatre - Harman Center for the Arts in Washington, D.C. She was an inspiration for the youth that were celebrated. Curtis was also given an award from US Department of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman for her work on behalf of children through her charities and children's books.- Actress
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Meredith Baxter is an American actress from California, better known for television roles. Her most famous roles include Catholic teacher Bridget Fitzgerald in the sitcom "Bridget Loves Bernie" (1972-1973), divorced mother Nancy Lawrence in the family-themed drama "Family" (1976-1980), and architect Elyse Keaton in the sitcom "Family Ties" (1982-1989).
In 1947, Baxter was born in South Pasadena, California. South Pasadena is a small city in Los Angeles County, located within San Gabriel Valley. The larger city of Pasadena is located north of Baxter's hometown. Baxter was the daughter of radio announcer Tom Baxter (John Thomas Baxter, Jr.) and actress Whitney Blake (1926-2002). Baxter's maternal grandfather was Harry C. Whitney, an agent of the United States Secret Service. Harry Whitney had served as a bodyguard to President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924, term 1913-1921).
In 1953, Baxter's parents divorced. Whitney Blake received custody of Baxter and her two older brothers. In 1957, Blake married talent agent Jack Fields. This marriage ended in divorce in 1967. In 1968, Blake married television writer Allan Manings (1924-2010). This marriage lasted until Blake's death in 2002. Baxter reportedly maintained a familial relationship with her second stepfather until his own death.
Baxter received part of her secondary education at James Monroe High School, located in the neighborhood of Sepulveda (later renamed to North Hills) in Los Angeles. She later transferred to Hollywood High School. She graduated in 1965. During her senior year, Baxter also received voice lessons at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. Interlochen was an arts education institution located in Michigan.
In 1966, Baxter married Robert Lewis Bush. At the time, she was only 19-years-old. They had two children, son Theodore Justin "Ted" Bush (born1967) and daughter Eva Whitney Bush (born 1969) . The couple separated in 1969, and their divorce was finalized in 1971.
Baxter aspired to an acting career, like her mother. She remained fairly obscure until the early 1970s. Her highest-profile work were guest-star roles in then-popular television series, such as "The Doris Day Show" and "The Partridge Family". Baxter received her big break when cast as the female lead in the sitcom "Bridget Loves Bernie" (1972-1973). The main premise was an interfaith marriage between Catholic teacher Bridget Fitzgerald and Jewish taxi driver Bernie Steinberg. The series was the 5th highest-rated show on television during its single season, though it was controversial due to its subject matter. Jewish organizations protested that the show violated Judaism's prohibition against interfaith marriage, and organized protest campaigns. Baxter herself received threatening house visits by members of the Jewish Defense League, a vigilante organization known for violent crimes. The controversy led to the series' cancellation by the network CBS. Only 24 episodes were ever broadcast. As of 2002, the series remained the highest-rated American show to be canceled after a single season.
Following the series' cancellation, Baxter maintained a relationship with her co-star David Birney (1939-). In 1974, Baxter and Birney married each other. Their marriage lasted until 1989. They had three children: daughter Kathleen Jeanne "Kate" Birney (born 1974) and twins Mollie Elizabeth and Peter David Edwin Birney (born 1984). Several years following the end of their marriage, Baxter claimed that she had been physically abused by Birney during their marriage. Her co-workers were reportedly unaware that she had a problematic family life, or that she had struggled with alcoholism for several years.
During the 1970s, Baxter started regularly appearing in television films. She had a starring role in the horror film "The Cat Creature" (1973), involving a curse by the cat goddess Bastet. The film was scripted by noted horror writer Robert Bloch (1917-1994), and paid tribute to classic horror films of the 1940s. She also had starring role in the romantic drama "The Stranger Who Looks Like Me" (1974), as a grown woman who is searching for the birth parents who had abandoned her.
Baxter had one of her few feature films roles in the political thriller "All the President's Men" (1976), which depicted the early phases of the Watergate scandal. She played the supporting role of Debbie Sloan, the pregnant wife of witness Hugh W. Sloan Jr. (1940-). The real-life Hugh Sloan was the treasurer of the Committee to Re-elect the President, and later testified about the Committee's criminal activities. Sloan was depicted as one of the few honest men involved in Richard Nixon's shady organization. The film earned about 70.6 million dollars at the domestic box office, one of the greatest commercial hits in Baxter's career.
Baxter had another shot at television stardom when cast as Nancy Lawrence in the family-themed drama "Family" (1976-1980). The series depicted a middle-aged couple who still lives with their three grown-up children. The character of Nancy was depicted as a divorced mother who moved back in with her parents. She was trying to raise her own child, while attending law school. Baxter's role was critically acclaimed, and she was twice nominated for the "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series". The award was instead won by rival actresses Kristy McNichol (1962-) and Nancy Marchand (1928-2000).
"Family" lasted for 5 seasons, and 86 episodes. It maintained solid ratings for most of its run, though a change to its time slot had led to rapid decline in ratings. Afterwards, Baxter was again in high demand for television roles. In 1981, Baxter co-starred in a television production of the play "Vanities" (1976) by Jack Heifner. The play follows the life of three best friends over an 11-year-period (1963-1974), from their high school and college years to adulthood. The friendship dissolves when the women discover that they no longer have any common interests. Joanne has become a conservative housewife and is trapped in an unhappy marriage, Mary owns a gallery specializing in erotic art and has become an advocate of sexual liberation, and Kathy has become a bookworm with a jaded view of life.
Baxter gained her next major role as successful architect Elyse Keaton in the hit "Family Ties" (1982-1989). The main premise of the series was an exploration of the generation gap, between two generations with different political views. The parents of the Keaton family were former hippies, lifelong liberals, and successful professionals. Their only son Alex was a Young Republican who was mainly driven by his own greed and ambition, their eldest daughter Mallory was a typical "material girl" with apolitical views, and their youngest daughter Jennifer was a tomboy mainly interested in athletics,.
"Family Ties" maintained high-ratings for most of its run, though it was not particularly well-liked by critics. The series lasted for 7 seasons, a total of 176 episodes, and a television film. It was considered indicative of the conservative political landscape of the 1980s. Its main legacy was turning actor Michael J. Fox (who played Alex) into a household name. Baxter was at the height of her popularity in the 1980s. However, she later claimed that she had no actual social life for its duration. She went straight from home to the television studio, and from the studio back to home.
In 1986, Baxter played the main role in the television film "Kate's Secret". It was acclaimed for its groundbreaking depiction of eating disorders. The main character Kate Stark (played by Baxter) appears to have an idyllic life. She is married to a man with a successful career, appears to have a loving family, and a close social circle. The truth depicted is less than idyllic. Kate's husband prioritizes his career over their marriage, and there is little actual affection in their relationship. Kate's "loving" mother is a domineering woman who criticizes her daughter for many perceived flaws. Kate's friends have no idea that she is suffering from bulimia nervosa, and Kate systematically hides her problems from everyone. The problems escalate until they become apparent to people surrounding Kate.
In 1989, Baxter received a divorce. At the time, she was 42-years-old. In 1990, the then-recently divorced Baxter managed to overcome her alcoholism. She has reportedly been sober ever since. Also in 1990, Baxter played kidnapper Florence Tulane in the television film "The Kissing Place". She was playing against type, as she had previously mostly played morally upright characters in television.
In 1992, Baxter had another well-received role in a television film. She played the main character in "A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story". The film dramatized the life of Betty Broderick (1947-), a divorced woman who had murdered her ex-husband Daniel T. Broderick III and his second wife Linda Kolkena. The case had attracted much publicity because Daniel Broderick was the president of the San Diego Bar Association, and had apparently used his legal influence to to win sole custody over their children, to sell their house against Betty's wishes, and to bilk Betty out of her rightful share of his income. For this role, Baxter was nominated for the "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie". The award was instead won by rival actress Gena Rowlands (1930-).
In 1994, Baxter received an award by the "National Breast Cancer Coalition". Baxter had reportedly helped raise awareness of breast cancer and its effects through her then-recent work. In 1999, Baxter herself was diagnosed with breast cancer. She received medical treatment, and she is thought to have fully recovered.
In 1995, Baxter married the novelist (and screenwriter) Michael Blodgett (1939-2007). This was Baxter's third marriage and Blodgett's fourth and last marriage. Baxter became the stepmother of Blodgett's three daughters from previous marriages. The couple received a divorce in 2000. A few years later, Blodgett died due to heart disease.
In 1996, Baxter starred in the short-lived sitcom "The Faculty". The series was set in a typical middle school, with Baxter playing vice-principal Flynn Sullivan. Flynn was depicted as a single mother who was trying to balance her career and her family life. While the series was praised for its dignified main character, most critics found that the show lacked memorable supporting characters and was not particularly humorous in its depiction of school life. The series never had high ratings, and was canceled after a single season. Only 13 episodes were broadcast.
In 1997, Baxter guest-starred in a two-part episode of the politically-themed sitcom "Spin City" (1996-2002). She played Macy Flaherty, the mother of protagonist Mike Flaherty (played by Michael J. Fox) Mike was depicted as the deputy mayor of New York City, skilled in politics but inept in managing his personal life. In this two-part episode, Macy has a brief romantic relationship with mayor Randall Winston (played by Barry Bostwick) , Mike's boss. She is then asked to help cover-up Randall's past relationship with a prostitute, which is thought to be damaging to his political career. The episodes were thought to be memorable for reuniting Baxter with her former co-star Michael J. Fox.
In the early 2000s, Baxter had been reduced to playing one-shot characters in various television series. In 2006, Baxter joined the cast of the police procedural series "Cold Case" (2003-2010). She played the supporting character Ellen Rush, mother of the protagonist Lilly Rush (played by Kathryn Morris). Lilly was depicted as a homicide detective, who specialized in resolving decades-old cold cases. Ellen was depicted as an alcoholic single mother, who had managed to raise two daughters despite her personal problems. In seasons 3 and 4 of the series, Ellen was slowly dying from cirrhosis of the liver and Lilly had to take care of her. The storyline of the character was concluded with Ellen's death, and Baxter left the series in 2007.
In 2009, Baxter publicly came out as a lesbian. She had been dating general contractor Nancy Locke since 2005. Baxter married Locke in 2013, and their marriage is still ongoing (as of 2021). This is Baxter's fourth and (so far) last marriage. Baxter revealed that she had been dating women since 2002, having previously had no same-sex relationships.
In 2011, Baxter published her memoir "Untied", revealing previously unknown details about her personal and family life. Some of the details came as a surprise to longtime co-workers of Baxter, as she had never confided in them about her personal problems. Baxter's former husband David Birney publicly disputed the veracity of the book's narrative. The book became a New York Times bestseller.
In 2014, Baxter briefly joined the cast of the long-running soap opera "The Young and the Restless" (1973-). She played Maureen Russell, a new drinking buddy for prominent character Nikki Newman (played by Melody Thomas Scott). Maureen was described as a charming middle-class woman with social-climbing aspirations. This was the first recurring television role Baxter since departing "Cold Case". For this role, Baxter was nominated for the "Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series". The award was instead won in a tie by three rival actors: Donna Mills (1940-), Fred Willard ( 1933-2020), and Ray Wise (1947-).
From 2014 to 2015, Baxter had a recurring role in the short-lived teen drama "Finding Carter" (2014-2015). The premise of the series was that teenage girl Carter Stevens (played by Kathryn Prescott) reunites with her biological family, after years of being raised by a kidnapper. Carter has trouble acclimating to her new life. Baxter played Grandma Joan (nicknamed Gammy), Carter's wealthy grandmother. The main subplot involving Joan was that she had never accepted her daughter's marriage to a professional writer with no fixed income. The series lasted for 2 seasons, and a total of 36 episodes. So far, this has been Baxter's last recurring role in television.
As of 2021, Baxter is 74-years-old. She has never fully retired from acting, though she infrequently appears in new roles. Several of her past roles are still fondly remembered. Baxter has never won any major acting award, despite multiple nominations over several decades. But she has remained quite popular with the general public.- Actress
- Producer
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Vernee Watson was born on 28 September 1949 in New York City, New York, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Christmas with the Kranks (2004), The Kid (2000) and General Hospital (1963). She was previously married to Van Johnson and Joe Duckett.- Actress
- Producer
- Additional Crew
New York Times Best Selling author of "Confessions of A Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated", Alison Arngrim is best known to viewers world-wide for her portrayal of the incredibly nasty "Nellie Oleson" on the much loved, long running hit television series "Little House On The Prairie," and continues to amuse audiences through her many film, television, stage and multi-media appearances.
Her one woman show "Confessions of a Prairie Bitch", which started at Club Fez in New York in 2002, has now become a world-wide phenomenon, having been performed to packed houses in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Green Bay, San Francisco, Seattle, and in France, where Alison performs entirely in French to standing room only crowds in her all French version titled: "Confessions d'une Garce de La Prairie" and "La Malle aux Tresors de Nellie Oleson."
As a stand-up comedian, Alison has headlined at nightclubs such as the Laugh Factory, the Comedy Store and the Improv in Los Angeles; as well as the Laurie Beechman Theatre in New York and assorted comedy venues all across the United States and Canada.
She is currently starring in two comedy series pilots: "Life Interrupted", as the ex-wife of commercial child star Mason Reese, with Erin Murphy, ("Bewitched") as her new wife and Dawn Wells, ("Gilligan's Island), as her mother, as well as, "C.P.R. - Child Performers Resurrection Talent Agency", as an ex-child star gone wrong, trying to save herself and her assorted misfit cohorts by opening a talent agency.
She recently fulfilled a childhood dream to be in a horror movie, with her role as "Leeza", the somewhat ambivalent Satanic high priestess in the new supernatural web series "The Mephisto Box".
Alison has mocked her status as an "ex-child star" on Jay Leno's Tonight Show, during their month long parody, "Hollywood Survivor" and continues to be a frequent interview subject on everything from "A&E", "E! Entertainment", "TV Land" and "VH-1", to CNN and the Travel Channel. The TV Land network honored her undying image as TV's worst bitch, by declaring her the winner of their 2006 award for, "Character Most Desperately In Need Of A Time Out".
She starred in the heartwarming, gay, Christmas cult classic, "Make the Yuletide Gay", as the overbearing "Heather Mancuso". Her other television and film appearances include, "Livin' the Dream", "Tinder & Grinder", "The Bilderberg Club", "For the Love of May" with Ru Paul and Patricia Neal, and "The Last Place On Earth" with Billy Dee Williams and Phyllis Diller. In 2007, she began her foray into French cinema with the role of "Edith" in the French detective comedy, Jean Pierre Mocky's "Le Deal".
Alison's stage work includes, "The Vagina Monologs", "Sirena: Queen of the Tango", "Dear Brutus", "The Wool Gatherer", the French bedroom farce, "In One Bed And Out The Other", Michael Kearns' "AIDS/US II", "Rita" in the 2005 GLAAD Award nominated production of "Last Summer At Bluefish Cove", ", the somewhat off kilter "Reverend Pat Miass" in "Joni and Gina's Wedding", and the Ovation Award Nominated musical-drama, "Flirting with Morty", as the abusive, trashy and tragic Ray Lee.
In her spare time, she takes tourists on the rollicking comedy outing, "Nasty Nellie's Tour of Hollywood", (featured at Dearly Departed Tours), where she simultaneously enlightens and amuses passengers with behind the scenes tales from both Hollywood history and her own life.
Never one to forget her "Prairie" roots, Alison enjoys making appearances several times a year at various "Little House on the Prairie" historical sites for educational events and gatherings of fans. She has been a frequent visitor to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in the real life Walnut Grove, Minnesota as well as Green Bay, Wisconsin's Heritage Hills, Mumford's Genesee Country Village, Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum in Mansfield, Missouri and many, many others.
Alison has a long history of activism. In 1986 when her friend and "Little House husband" co-star, Steve Tracy, passed away due to complications of HIV/AIDS, Alison immediately began volunteering at AIDS Project Los Angeles. Her duties ranged from working on the Southern California AIDS Hotline and the APLA food bank, (APLA's Necessities of Life Program,) to chairing the steering committee of the volunteer speakers bureau and developing "Safer Sex" workshops. She has provided AIDS education to doctors, nurses, prison inmates, service clubs, churches, department stores and schools, written AIDS education articles for the magazines "Frontiers" and "Designers West", and spent seven years hosting the APLA educational cable television show, "AIDS Vision". In 1992, Joel Wachs presented Alison with a resolution by the Los Angeles City Council commending her on her work on behalf of people living with HIV and AIDS.
From 1989 through 1993 she served as Program Manager at Tuesday's Child, an organization assisting children and families affected by HIV and AIDS. From 1989 through 2003 she served as both hostess and producer for the comedy stage at the AIDS Project Los Angeles Annual Summer Party, (on the back-lot of Universal Studios), where through an evening of raucous entertainment, featuring name comedians, she helped to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for people living with HIV.
She currently serves as California Chair, National Spokesperson and Founding Board Member on the National Advisory Board of The National Association to Protect Children, or PROTECT.org, fighting to give children a legal and political voice in the war against child abuse. As an activist for the improvement of child protection laws, she has spoken before the California Senate and worked on legislative and political campaigns in several states, including Virginia and New York, in addition to PROTECT's work on federal legislation in Washington, D.C.
She has appeared on numerous television news programs discussing the legal and political issues surrounding child sexual abuse and exploitation. She came forward to tell the world about the sexual abuse she suffered in her own life, during her 2004 interview on Larry King Live.
She continues to be interviewed on this and other topics on Nancy Grace, CNN's Showbiz Tonight, The Insider, Court TV, and Bill O'Reilly's The Factor. Alison currently lives somewhere in the wilds of Tujunga with her husband of over twenty years, musician Bob Schoonover, (from the rock and roll band "Catahoula") and their evil cat, Clarice. She takes pride in the fact that so many people enjoyed hating her as a girl and is more than happy to give them the opportunity to do so in the future.- Actress
- Producer
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Joyce Anne DeWitt was born the second oldest of four to parents Paul and Norma DeWitt on April 23, 1949 in Wheeling, West Virginia but grew up in Indiana. Joyce began taking acting lessons when she was in high school. Although her father was hardly thrilled at his daughter's ambition, she persuaded him to let her major in theater in college. DeWitt soon moved to UCLA where she received her master's degree. After college, she worked as a legal secretary while at the same time going from audition to audition. Months passed before ABC offered her a choice of two comedy pilots but gave her only 24 hours to decide on which. After reading both scripts in a hurry, she chose the one about one guy living with two girls (Three's Company (1976)). She chose well - the other show never sold. She had been in numerous amounts of plays before but became familiar to everyone as the sensible, down-to-earth, football jersey wearing, brunette roommate Janet Wood.
DeWitt became famous and while many celebrities would automatically welcome in the huge amounts of attention, she usually kept to herself and didn't care too much for publicity.- Actress
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Charlene Tilton was born on 1 December 1958 in San Diego, California, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Dallas (1978), The Middle (2009) and Road Less Traveled (2017). She was previously married to Domenick Allen and Johnny Lee.- Actress
- Soundtrack
The lovely, cheery, continuously upbeat All-American mom from the classic Happy Days (1974) TV sitcom had fervent desires of becoming an actress while growing up in her obscure Minnesota town. Born Marian Ross (with an "a") on October 25, 1928, she grew up in her native state and, at one time, worked as a teenage au pair in order to earn money for drama lessons at the MacPhail Center in Minneapolis. The family eventually relocated to San Diego (she was in her late teens) and Marion attended and graduated from Point Loma High School.
Changing her stage moniker to Marion (with an "o") Ross because it read classier to her, the young hopeful enrolled at San Diego State College and appeared in the theater department's various productions. Graduating in 1950, Marion worked in summer theater in and around the San Diego area, including the Old Globe Theatre.
Marion managed to land a Paramount Studio contract with the assist of an old college professor and found a few unbilled parts to play as various actress, tourist and girlfriend types in a variety of films such as The Glenn Miller Story (1954), Secret of the Incas (1954), Sabrina (1954) and Pushover (1954). At the same time, she won a regular role as the Irish maid "Nora" in the Victorian-TV comedy Life with Father (1953) which ran a couple of seasons and was headed by Leon Ames and Lurene Tuttle. This program happened to be the first live color series for network Hollywood TV.
Not your conventional leading lady type, Marion landed slightly larger parts in such movies as The Proud and Profane (1956), Lizzie (1957), Teacher's Pet (1958) and Operation Petticoat (1959), but any and all attempts to move further up the Hollywood film ladder proved a long-lasting frustration.
Marking her Broadway debut in 1958 with a role in "Edwin Booth" starring José Ferrer, Marion nevertheless continued to focus on TV work. Throughout the 1960s, she appeared in a fairly steady amount of shows, both comedies and dramas, including Father Knows Best (1954), Rawhide (1959), Route 66 (1960), The Outer Limits (1963), The Felony Squad (1966) and The Brady Bunch (1969).
By the end of the decade, however, Marion was still disillusioned, but now she was divorced from her husband of 18 years, Freeman Meskimen, and struggling to raise two children. Middle-aged stardom came to her (in her 46th year) with the nostalgic sitcom series Happy Days (1974), which arrived on a wave of 50s popularity triggered by the huge box-office reception to the film American Graffiti (1973). The show starred "Graffiti" lead Ron Howard and co-starred Henry Winkler as "The Fonz". Marion was ideally paired with Tom Bosley, who expertly played her beleaguered hubby. The series became a certifiable hit and Marion's ever-pleasant "Marion Cunningham" the new, slightly blended version of Lucille Ball's ditzy and Barbara Billingsley's pristine perfect moms. Two Emmy nominations came Marion's way during the show's long tenure (ten seasons).
Following the demise of such an exalting hit, many actors often find themselves either resting on their laurels or witnessing a sad decline in their career. Not Marion. She continued to pursue her career assertively and challengingly and the critics kept taking notice. She earned terrific reviews for her recurring The Love Boat (1977) role in 1986, and enjoyed standard guest turns on Night Court (1984), MacGyver (1985), Burke's Law (1963) and (the revived) "Superman".
One of Marion's finest hours on TV occurred with her role as the obstinate, iron-willed Jewish matriarch in the Brooklyn Bridge (1991) series, which neatly deflected any broad, daffy stereotype she might have incurred from her Happy Days (1974) role. Irritating yet ingratiating at the same time, Marion's fine interpretation garnered the veteran actress two more Emmy nominations. Sadly, a lack of viewership triggered an abrupt cancellation and deep disappointment in Marion.
While never making a strong dent in films, an excellent supporting turn for Marion came in the form of her moving portrayal of Shirley MacLaine's loyal housekeeper and confidante in The Evening Star (1996), the long-awaited sequel to the Oscar-winning Terms of Endearment (1983). Critics predicted an Academy Award nomination for the actress but, surprisingly, it did not pan out.
Other films over the years have included Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970); Grand Theft Auto (1977), which starred Happy Days (1974) son Ron Howard (who also made his directorial debut); and, more recently, Music Within (2007) and the silly spoof Superhero Movie (2008).
During her post-"Happy Days" years, Marion reinvigorated her career on the stage. As a result, she earned renewed acclaim and respect for her roles in "Arsenic and Old Lace" (which brought her back to Broadway), "Steel Magnolias", "Long Day's Journey Into Night", "The Glass Menagerie", "Pippin" and "Barefoot in the Park", among others. She also toured with her one-woman show as poet Edna St. Vincent Millay entitled "A Lovely Light".
On TV, Marion found recurring flinty-like roles on That '70s Show (1998) (as Grandma Forman), Touched by an Angel (1994) (a fifth Emmy nomination), The Drew Carey Show (1995), Gilmore Girls (2000) (as Gloria Gilmore), and Brothers & Sisters (2006), as well as guest parts on "Nurse Jackie," "Grey's Anatomy," "Anger Management," "Two and a Half Men," "Hot in Cleveland," "Chasing Life" and "The Odd Couple." Primarily involved in voice work into the millennium, she as provided voices for such animated shows as "Family Guy," "King of the Hill," "Scooby-Doo!" and "Guardians of the Galaxy," while also voicing the recurring roles of Grandma SquarePants in SpongeBob SquarePants (1999) and Mrs. Lopart in Handy Manny (2006).
Into her nonagenarian years and still active, Marion was more recently featured in the old-fashioned comedy/fantasy Angels on Tap (2018). The ever-vital octogenarian continues to reside at her country-style home she calls the "Happy Days Farm" in California's San Fernando Valley.- Actor
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Kerwin grew up in the Chicago suburb of Flossmoor, Illinois. After graduating from USC's Film School in 1972, he moved to New York City to pursue acting on the stage. After several off-off Broadway productions, he was cast for a brief stint on "The Young and the Restless", in Los Angeles. He ended up staying in LA for the next 15 years, working steadily in films, TV and on stage.
He worked regularly in TV, from standard network fare to recurring roles in Roseanne (1988), The West Wing (1999), and HBO's The Knick (2014). He appeared in numerous TV movies and miniseries and starred in Showtime's critically acclaimed series, Beggars and Choosers (1999).
In feature films Kerwin landed the role of the errant ex of Sally Field in Murphy's Romance (1985), and he played opposite Harvey Fierstein in the groundbreaking film, Torch Song Trilogy (1988) (a role he also played in the Tony Award winning play). He starred with Robin Williams in Jack (1996), Michelle Pfeiffer in Love Field (1992), and Sissy Spacek in Hard Promises (1991). He also appeared in 27 Dresses (2008) and played the father of Emma Stone in The Help (2016).
The focus of Kerwin's work has always been the stage. He has performed in regional theatres throughout the country, including South Coast Rep, San Diego's Old Globe, The Seattle Rep and The Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. He and his wife, Jeanne, a theatrical producer, moved to Manhattan's Upper West Side in 1993, where they raised their three children. While there, he worked extensively both on and off Broadway, culminating with his 19 month run in Tracy Lett's Tony and Pulizer Award winning play, August: Osage County.
Widowed in 2016, Kerwin resides in NYC.- Of English and German heritage, lumbering, oval-faced John Schuck was born Conrad John Schuck, Jr. in Boston, Massachusetts on February 4, 1940, the son of an English professor who taught at, among others, both Princeton College and SUNY Buffalo while John was growing up. Following graduation from Denison University, where he appeared in a number of plays, John turned to regional theatre work ("Marat/Sade," etc.), including the Cleveland Playhouse, Baltimore Center Stage, and American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco.
Discovered at ACT for film by Robert Altman, the director featured him as Captain Walter "Painless Pole" Waldowski, the virginal army camp dentist, in the classic Korean War film M*A*S*H (1970), giving him a memorable "deflowering" scene with sexy Jo Ann Pflug. Altman continued to use John in Brewster McCloud (1970), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) and, most assuredly, in Thieves Like Us (1974), arguably his best movie role as a bank robber on the lam.
On 70's television, in addition to guest spots on such programs as "Gunsmoke," "Mission: Impossible," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Room 222," "Bonanza," "Ironside" and "Love, American Style," "Schuck won a regular part as an inept but altruistic sergeant alongside Rock Hudson's police commissioner for six seasons on McMillan & Wife (1971). Following this, however, he found himself somewhat stereotyped as simple-minded, lovable lugs such as the robot on the silly short-lived comedy Holmes and Yoyo (1976), as buddy Murray in the revamped series The New Odd Couple (1982) and as Herman Munster on The Munsters Today (1987), a revisit to the ghoulish 1960s television family. He also kept his name alive on such popular games shows as "The $25,000 Pyramid," "Hollywood Squares" and "Password."
More challenging guest role work has come to him on occasion with television series such as NYPD Blue (1993), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993), Star Trek: Voyager (1995) and Babylon 5 (1993) and in the historically acclaimed TV movie Roots (1977). In the popular films Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), John appeared in various roles and earned himself a place in the hearts of Trekkie fans all over the nation. Other film roles over time have included Blade (1973), Just You and Me, Kid (1979), Earthbound (1981), Finders Keepers (1984), Outrageous Fortune (1987), The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking (1988), My Mom's a Werewolf (1989) and Dick Tracy (1990).
The musical stage also took a shine to him. An accomplished singer, John appeared semi-regularly (from 1979 until 2006) as the bald-domed, gruff-speaking Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks in the hit musical "Annie," not only on Broadway but on tours and in smaller theater venues. He also garnered success playing Frank Butler in "Annie Get Your Gun" with Bernadette Peters on tour. Other roles over time have included the musicals "The Sound of Music", "Peter Pan", "The Most Happy Fella" and "She Loves Me." He co-starred in the original premiere of "Grumpy Old Men" in 2011 and then returned to Broadway in 2013 as a replacement in the Gershwin musical "Nice Work If You Can Get It."
Into the millennium, on TV John played a police captain on an episode of "Diagnosis Murder," had a recurring role as a Chief of Detectives in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), and had another recurring role as shop keeper Carl in the skateboarding adventure series Zeke and Luther (2009). He also appeared in the films Closer to God (2014) and All Light Will End (2018).
A sailor on the sly, John Schuck is father to son Aaron via his first marriage (1978-1983) to former actress Susan Bay Nimoy. He married his current wife, painter Harrison Houlé, in 1990. - Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Charo was born on 15 January 1951 in Murcia, Spain. She is an actress, known for Thumbelina (1994), The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979) and Tiger by the Tail (1970). She was previously married to Kjell Rasten and Xavier Cugat.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Eve Plumb, the actress and painter most famous for playing the role of Jan on The Brady Bunch (1969), began acting professionally in 1966, appearing in TV commercials. The child actor began getting parts on series television in 1967.
Her place in TV history was cemented when she landed the role of Jan Brady, the middle of three daughters in a mixed family that also featured three sons, in the TV sitcom "The Brady Bunch". The show, which debuted in 1969, ran for five seasons and spawned numerous spin-offs. While Plumb declined to reprise the role of Jan in the first spin-off, the TV variety show The Brady Bunch Variety Hour (1976), as she did not want to sign a five-year contract (the show was canceled after nine episodes), she did appear as Jan in the subsequent spin-offs featuring the original cast: the TV movie The Brady Girls Get Married (1981), the short-lived sitcom The Brady Brides (1981), the TV movie A Very Brady Christmas (1988), and another short-lived TV series, The Bradys (1990).
Though she has worked steadily in TV since a child, her only other major role was as a teenage prostitute in Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway (1976).
In the 1990s, Plumb began painting, fashioning for herself a second artistic career. She works out of a studio at her Laguna Beach home.- Actress
- Editorial Department
- Soundtrack
Actress and entertainer Pat Carroll played everything from chatterbox wives to wicked stepsisters on TV, and from Gertrude Stein to Shakespeare's Falstaff on stage. Even at 80 plus, the plucky comedienne showed no sign of stopping any time The riotous Pat Carroll was born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1927, the daughter of Angela (Meagher) and Maurice Clifton Carroll. Her family moved to Los Angeles when Pat was five, and there began performing in local stage productions. She graduated from Hollywood's Immaculate Heart High School, an all-girls Catholic school, then attended Immaculate College, also in Los Angeles, and Catholic University of America.
Following her college graduation, she began performing comedy in nightclubs and gained early experience with appearances in resort areas. Her stage debut in 1947 with a role in "The Goose and the Gander" starring Gloria Swanson led to hundreds of stock roles. She made her off-Broadway debut in the play "Come What May" in 1950. Also a talented singer, she earned a Tony nomination for her Broadway work in the singing revue "Catch a Star" in 1955, and then enjoyed a number of brash showcases in such musicals as "On the Town," "Once Upon a Mattress" and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown".
It was, however, the "golden age" of TV that truly took advantage of Pat's adroit talents. An initial "second banana" regular on the variety programs The Red Buttons Show (1952) and The Saturday Night Revue (1953), she copped an Emmy award for her work on Caesar's Hour (1954) as Howard Morris' wife and earned fine reviews from her recurring role on the sitcom The Danny Thomas Show (1953) playing Bunny Halper, the pert and plucky wife of Danny Thomas' nightclub manager Charlie Halper (Sid Melton).
Pat's down-to-earth demeanor, chummy disposition and hearty, infectious laugh made her a popular guest on all the major talkfests and a welcomed panelist on such game shows as "You Don't Say," "To Tell the Truth," "I've Got a Secret" and "Password". In 1965, she co-starred on TV as one of the wicked stepsisters in the endearing Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical Cinderella (1965), which starred Lesley Ann Warren as the princess-to-be. In later years she won recurring/regular roles on the last season of Too Close for Comfort (1980) [retitled in 1986 as "The Ted Knight Show"] and the Suzanne Somers' sitcom She's the Sheriff (1987).
As a character actress, the cropped-blond comedienne never made much of a dent in film, which included supporting roles in With Six You Get Eggroll (1968) with Doris Day and The Brothers O'Toole (1973) with John Astin. In the late 1970s her career received a huge shot in the arm with the award-winning, one-woman show "Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein", which she also produced and won multiple theater awards, including the Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk trophies. A complete departure from her usual comedy antics, audiences saw a burgeoning dramatic actress in the making. Taking the show on the road for four years, she also won a Grammy for her recorded version of the performance in 1981. She then returned to Broadway after thirty years to appear in the play "Dancing in the End Zone" (1985).
Pat surprised her fans by continuing vigorously in this vein. She began taking on Shakespearean roles and earning critical acclaim. For her interpretations of Sir John Falstaff in "The Merry Wives of Windsor" and the Nurse in "Romeo and Juliet" she won bookend Helen Hayes awards. A life member of The Actors Studio, other challenging stage roles over the years have included Volpone, Mother Courage (another Helen Hayes award), the Stage Manager in "Our Town" and the Chorus in a Broadway revival of "Electra".
Still interested in tickling the funny bone on occasion, she performed in a number of adaptations of the wacky musical comedy "Nunsense" playing the Reverend Mother. If this weren't enough, she extended herself into directing, helming a musical version of "Alice in Wonderland" for The Kennedy Center, as well as productions of "Private Lives and "The Supporting Cast".
With the late 1980s, Pat became a voice-over favorite on numerous animated programs -- notably for Disney as the sea witch Ursula in The Little Mermaid (1989) and other voices in A Goofy Movie (1995). Into the millennium, the feisty character lady still gave voice life to many Disney related characters and in video games and special projects. Some elderly film work includes Outside Sales (2006), Freedom Writers (2007), Nancy Drew (2007), Bridesmaids (2011) and BFFs (2014). She also guested on the drama series ER (1994) and provided the voice of Old Lady Crowley in the Disney TV animated series Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (2017).
She had three children (oldest son Sean and daughters Kerry and Tara) by late husband Lee Karsian, a one-time manager and talent agent. Tara Karsian is a character actress from stage, film and TV. Kerry Karsian is a casting director.- Actress
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- Director
Nancy McKeon was born in Westbury, New York, on Monday, April 4th, 1966, to Don & Barbara McKeon, began modeling baby clothes for the Sears & Roebuck catalog at the age of two and she and her brother did over sixty-five commercials in seven years. When her brother, Philip McKeon, won a role on the TV series, Alice (1976), the family then moved to Los Angeles.
Her first real acting break came when she did the short-lived TV series, Stone (1979), and occasionally guested on Starsky and Hutch (1975). The producers of The Facts of Life (1979) were so impressed by Nancy's personality & acting performances as the street-wise girl in a pilot called "Dusty", they decided to sign her & add her, as a new character to play "Jo" on "The Facts of Life". Nancy has starred in the television movies, High School U.S.A. (1983), Poison Ivy (1985), This Child Is Mine (1985) and Firefighter (1986). She provided the off-screen voices for animated shows like The Puppy's Great Adventure (1979).- Actress
- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Daphne Reid (née Maxwell) is an American actress, comedian, interior designer, and former model from New York City. She is primarily known as the second actress to portray the regular character Vivian Banks in the popular sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air". She replaced Janet Hubert in this role, and portrayed Vivian from 1993 to 1996. Her version of the character was a housewife, instead of a literature professor.
In 1948, Reid was born in New York City. Her parents were Green Maxwell and his wife Rosalee. She received her secondary education from the Bronx High School of Science. It is a specialized high school with a focus on on mathematics, science, the humanities, and social sciences.
Reid received her college education from the Northwestern University, a a private research university located in Evanston, Illinois.She was a scholarship student, and graduated with a degree in interior design and architecture. During her college years, Reid started working as a model. She had a contract with the Eileen Ford modeling agency, and became the first black woman to be on the cover of Glamour magazine.
Reid started her acting career in the late 1970s, with guest appearances in television shows. In 1982, she married fellow actor Tim Reid (1944-). She gained two stepchildren from this marriage. From 1983 to 1987, Reid had a recurring role in the crime drama series "Simon & Simon" (1981-1989) as the reporter Temple Hill.
Reid had a regular role as Hanna Griffin in the comedy-drama series "Frank's Place" (1987-1988). The series focused on a college professor who was forced by a voodoo curse to give up his academic career and to take over his family's restaurant in New Orleans. The series initially enjoyed high ratings, but they had declined by the end of the first season. The series was reportedly canceled because the network CEO Laurence Tisch (1923-2003) thought that the plot of an episode was a satirical depiction of his own career.
Reid and her husband co-starred in the crime series "Snoops" (1989-1990) as a husband and wife crime-solving duo. The series lasted for a single season and 13 episodes. Her role in "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" lasted for 74 regular episodes, her longest-lasting recurring role until that point. The series ended in 1996, with the 6th season being its final one.
In 1997, Reid and her husband Tim co-founded the New Millennium Studios in Petersburg, Virginia. It was at the time the only black-owned film studio in the United States. It was also one of the largest American film studios whose facilities were not based in Los Angeles or its vicinity. The studio's facilities were used for several films and television series over the following decades. In 2015, the Reids sold the studio facility to Four Square Property Management LLC, at the price of 1.5 million dollars.
Reid had several one-shot in television series of the 2010s. In 2022, she guest-starred in an episode of "Bel-Air". This was a then-new drama series and a remake of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air". By 2022, Reid was 74-years-old. She has never fully retired, but she has had no major roles in several years.- Actor
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Dean Butler was born on May 20, 1956 in Prince George, BC, Canada. He is a producer and actor best known to audiences for his portrayal of Almanzo Wilder from 1979 to 1983 on the iconic pioneer drama, Little House on the Prairie. He co-starred in the feature film, Desert Hearts, played Moondoggie in the syndicated The New Gidget, and Buffy's dad, Hank Summers, on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. On Broadway Dean played Rapunzal's Prince in the original company of Into the Woods, toured internationally as Tony in West Side Story, and appeared with Carol Burnett in a regional production of Company.
Since 2011 Dean has been the Senior Producer of the Emmy nominated Feherty series on Golf Channel. He lives in Los Angeles and is married to actress, Katherine Cannon.- Actress
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Melora Hardin is an American actress, singer and director from Houston, Texas who is known for playing Jan Levinson from The Office and Trudy Monk from Monk. She also acted in The Rocketeer, 24 Dresses, 17 Again, Hannah Montana: The Movie, Transparent, The Bold Type and The Hot Chick. She had two daughters with Gildart Jackson, a British actor.- Jo Ann Pflug was born on 2 May 1940 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. She is an actress, known for M*A*S*H (1970), Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) and The Fall Guy (1981). She has been married to Charles Stuck Young since 14 May 1988. She was previously married to Chuck Woolery.
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Ann Jillian was born on January 29, 1950 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA as Ann Jura Nauseda to Lithuanian immigrant parents. Her career began as a child actress in the 1960s. She is possibly best known for her role as Cassie Cranston on the 1980s sitcom It's a Living (1980). She is also known for her work on Mae West (1982), Babes in Toyland (1961), and Gypsy (1962). She has been married to Andy Murcia since March 27, 1977. They have one child.- Actress
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Courteney Cox was born on June 15th, 1964 in Birmingham, Alabama, into an affluent Southern family. She is the daughter of Courteney (Bass) and Richard Lewis Cox (1930-2001), a businessman. She was the baby of the family with two older sisters (Virginia and Dottie) and an older brother, Richard, Jr. She was raised in an exclusive society town, Mountain Brook, Alabama. Courteney was the archetypal daddy's girl, and therefore was understandably devastated when, in 1974, her parents divorced, and her father moved to Florida.
She became a rebellious teen, and did not make things easy for her mother, and new stepfather, New York businessman Hunter Copeland. Now, she is great friends with both. She attended Mountain Brook High School, where she was a cheerleader, tennis player and swimmer. In her final year, she received her first taste of modeling. She appeared in an advert for the store, Parisians. Upon graduation, she left Alabama to study architecture and interior design at Mount Vernon College. After one year she dropped out to a pursue a modeling career in New York, after being signed by the prestigious Ford Modelling Agency. She appeared on the covers of teen magazines such as Tiger Beat and Little Miss, plus numerous romance novels. She then moved on to commercials for Maybeline, Noxema, New York Telephone Company and Tampax.
While modeling, she attended acting classes, as her real dream and ambition was to be an actress. In 1984, she landed herself a small part in one episode of As the World Turns (1956) as a young débutante named Bunny. Her first big break, however, was being cast by Brian De Palma in the Bruce Springsteen video "Dancing in The Dark". In 1985, she moved to LA to star alongside Dean Paul Martin in Misfits of Science (1985). It was a flop, but a few years later, she was chosen out of thousands of hopefuls to play Michael J. Fox's girlfriend, psychology major Lauren Miller in Family Ties (1982).
In 1989, Family Ties (1982) ended, and Cox went through a lean spell in her career, featuring in unmemorable movies such as Mr. Destiny (1990) with Michael Caine. Fortunes changed dramatically for Cox, when in 1994, she starred alongside Jim Carrey in the unexpected hit Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), and a year later she was cast as Monica Geller on the hugely successful sitcom Friends (1994). It was this part that turned her into an international superstar and led to an American Comedy Award nomination. In 1996 Cox starred in Wes Craven's horror/comedy Scream (1996) . This movie grossed over $100 million at the box office, and won Cox rave reviews for her standout performance as the wickedly bitchy and smug TV reporter Gale Weathers. She went on to play this character again in each of the three sequels. Not only did her involvement in this movie lead to critical acclaim, but it also led to her meeting actor husband David Arquette. He played her on-screen love interest Dewey, and life imitated art as the two fell in love for real. Their wedding took place in San Francisco, at the historic Grace Cathedral atop Nob Hill, on June 12th, 1999. Joined by 200 guests, including Cox's film star friends Liam Neeson and Kevin Spacey, the happy couple finally became Mr. and Mrs. Arquette.- Actress
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The very lovely, vivacious and smart-looking Joanna Cassidy was born in Camden, New Jersey, and raised in nearby Haddonfield, a borough located in Camden County. She grew up in a creative environment as the daughter and granddaughter of artists. At an early age she engaged in painting and sculpture and went on to major in art at Syracuse University in New York. During her time there she married Kennard C. Kobrin in 1964, a doctor in residency, and found work as a fashion model to help work his way to a degree. The couple eventually moved to San Francisco, where her husband set up a psychiatric practice; Joanna continued modeling and gave birth to a son and daughter. Following their divorce ten years later, she decided to move to Los Angeles in a bid for an acting career.
In between modeling chores and occasional commercial gigs, the reddish-haired beauty found minor, decorative work as an actress in such action fare as Steve McQueen's thriller Bullitt (1968), the Jason Robards drama Fools (1970), The Laughing Policeman (1973) starring Walter Matthau and The Outfit (1973) with Robert Duvall. Her first co-starring role came opposite George C. Scott in the offbeat comedy caper The Bank Shot (1974).
Television became an important medium for her in the late 1970s, with guest parts on all the popular shows of the time, both comedic and dramatic, including Dallas (1978). Trapper John, M.D. (1979), Taxi (1978), Starsky and Hutch (1975), Charlie's Angels (1976), Lou Grant (1977) and a recurring role on Falcon Crest (1981). A regular on the sketch/variety show Shields and Yarnell (1977), which showcased the popular mime couple, Joanna languished in three failed series attempts--The Roller Girls (1978), 240-Robert (1979) and The Family Tree (1983)--before hitting the jackpot with the sitcom Buffalo Bill (1983) opposite Dabney Coleman, in which she finally had the opportunity to demonstrate her flair for offbeat comedy. The show became that's season's critical darling, with Coleman playing a vain, sexist, obnoxious talk show host (a variation of his popular 9 to 5 (1980) film character) and Joanna received a Golden Globe for her resourceful portrayal of Jo Jo White, the director of his show and romantic foil for Coleman, who stood toe-to-toe with his antics.
The 1980s also brought about positive, critical reception for Joanna on film as well, especially in a number of showy portrayals, notably her snake-dancing replicant in the futuristic sci-fi thriller Blade Runner (1982), her radio journalist involved with Nick Nolte and Ed Harris in the political drama Under Fire (1983) and her co-starring role in a wacky triangle with Bob Hoskins and a hyperkinetic hare in the highly ambitious part toon/part fantasy film Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). Back on the TV front she was seen in recurring roles on L.A. Law (1986), Diagnosis Murder (1993), The District (2000) and Boston Legal (2004).
Since then Joanna has juggled a number of quality film and TV assignments, a definitive highlight being her Emmy-nominated recurring role as a quirky, capricious mother/psychiatrist in the cult cable series Six Feet Under (2001). More recently she has taken part in more controversial film work that contain stronger social themes such as Anthrax (2001), a Canadian political thriller whose storyline feeds on the fear of terrorism; The Virgin of Juarez (2006), which chronicled the murders of hundreds of Mexican women; and the gay-themed pictures Kiss the Bride (2007) and Anderson's Cross (2010).
Off-camera Joanna is devoted to her art (painting, sculpting) and is a dedicated animal activist as well as golfer and antique collector. She presently resides in the Los Angeles area with her dogs.- Actress
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Rita Moreno is one of the very few performers to win an Oscar, an Emmy, a Tony and a Grammy, thus becoming an EGOT. She was born Rosita Dolores Alverío in the hospital in Humacao, Puerto Rico on December 11, 1931 (but raised in nearby, smaller Juncos, which had no hospital), to seamstress Rosa María (Marcano) and farmer Francisco José "Paco" Alverío. Her mother moved to New York City in 1937, taking Rita with her while leaving her reportedly unfaithful husband and Rita's younger brother behind. Rita's professional career began before she reached adolescence.
From the age of nine, she performed as a professional dancer in New York night clubs. At age 11, she landed her first movie experience, dubbing Spanish-language versions of US films. Less than a month before her 14th birthday on November 22, 1945, she made her Broadway debut in the play "Skydrift" at the Belasco Theatre, costarring with Arthur Keegan and a young Eli Wallach. Although she would not appear again on Broadway for almost two decades, Rita Moreno, as she was billed in the play, had arrived professionally. In 1950, she was signed by MGM, but the studio dropped her option after just one year.
The cover of the March 1, 1954, edition of "Life Magazine" featured a three-quarters, over-the-left-shoulder profile of the young Puerto Rican actress/entertainer with the provocative title "Rita Moreno: An Actresses' Catalog of Sex and Innocence". It was sexpot time, a stereotype that would plague her throughout the decade. If not cast as a Hispanic pepper pot, she could rely on being cast as another "exotic", such as her appearance on Father Knows Best (1954) as an exchange student from India. Because of a dearth of decent material, Moreno had to play roles in movies that she considered degrading. Among the better pictures she earned featured roles in were the classic Singin' in the Rain (1952) and The King and I (1956).
Director Robert Wise, who was chosen to co-direct West Side Story (1961) (the film version of the smash Broadway musical, a retelling of William Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet" with the warring Venetian clans the Montagues and Capulets re-envisioned as Irish/Polish and Puerto Rican adolescent street gangs, the Jets and the Sharks), cast Moreno as "Anita", the Puerto Rican girlfriend of Sharks' leader Bernardo, whose sister Maria is the piece's Juliet.
However, despite her talent, roles commensurate with that talent were not forthcoming in the 1960s. The following decade would prove kinder, possibly because the beautiful Moreno had aged gracefully and could now be seen by filmmakers, TV producers and casting directors as something other than the spitfire/sexpot that Hispanic women were supposed to conform to. Ironically, it was in two vastly diverging roles--that of a $100 hooker in director Mike Nichols' brilliant realization of Jules Feiffer's acerbic look at male sexuality, Carnal Knowledge (1971), and Milly the Helper in the children's TV show The Electric Company (1971)--that signaled a career renaissance.
Moreno won a 1972 Grammy Award for her contribution to "The Electric Company"'s soundtrack album, following it up three years later with a Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Musical for "The Ritz" (a role she would reprise in the film version, The Ritz (1976)). She then won Emmy Awards for The Muppet Show (1976) and The Rockford Files (1974).
She has continued to work steadily on screen (both large and small) and on stage, solidifying her reputation as a national treasure, a status that was officially ratified with the award of the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush in June 2004.- Actress
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Multi-talented, multi-award-winning actress Kathleen (Doyle) Bates was born on June 28, 1948, and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. She is the youngest of three girls born to Bertye Kathleen (Talbot), a homemaker, and Langdon Doyle Bates, a mechanical engineer. Her grandfather was author Finis L. Bates. Kathy has English, as well as Irish, Scottish, and German, ancestry, and one of her ancestors, an Irish emigrant to New Orleans, once served as President Andrew Jackson's doctor.
Kathy discovered acting appearing in high school plays and studied drama at Southern Methodist University, graduating in 1969. With her mind firmly set, she moved to New York City in 1970 and paid her dues by working everything from a cash register to taking lunch orders. Things started moving quickly up the ladder after giving a tour-de-force performance alongside Christopher Walken at Buffalo's Studio Arena Theatre in Lanford Wilson's world premiere of "Lemon Sky" in 1970, but she also had a foreshadowing of the heartbreak to come after the successful show relocated to New York's off-Broadway Playhouse Theatre without her and Walken wound up winning a Drama Desk award.
By the mid-to-late 1970s, Kathy was treading the boards frequently as a rising young actress of the New York and regional theater scene. She appeared in "Casserole" and "A Quality of Mercy" (both 1975) before earning exceptional reviews for her role of Joanne in "Vanities". She took her first Broadway curtain call in 1980's "Goodbye Fidel," which lasted only six performances. She then went directly into replacement mode when she joined the cast of the already-established and highly successful "Fifth of July" in 1981.
Kathy made a false start in films with Taking Off (1971), in which she was billed as "Bobo Bates". She didn't film again until Straight Time (1978), starring Dustin Hoffman, and that part was not substantial enough to cause a stir. Things turned hopeful, however, when Kathy and the rest of the female ensemble were given the chance to play their respective Broadway parts in the film version of Robert Altman's Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982). It was a juicy role for Kathy and film audiences finally started noticing the now 34-year-old.
Still and all, it was the New York stage that continued to earn Kathy awards and acclaim. She was pure textbook to any actor studying how to disappear into a role. Her characters ranged from free and life-affirming to downright pitiable. Despite winning a Tony Award nomination and Outer Critic's Circle Award for her stark, touchingly sad portrait of a suicidal daughter in 1983's "'night, Mother" and the Obie and Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for her powerhouse job as a romantic misfit in "Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune," Kathy had no box-office pull, however, and was never a strong consideration when the roles transferred to the screen. Her award-winning stage went to established film stars. First Sissy Spacek took over her potent role as the suicidal Jessie Cates in 'night, Mother (1986), then Michelle Pfeiffer seized the moment to play her dumpy lover character in Frankie and Johnny (1991). It would take Oscar glory to finally rectify the injustice.
It was Kathy's fanatical turn as the drab, chunky, porcine-looking psychopath Annie Wilkes, who kidnaps her favorite author (James Caan) and subjects him to a series of horrific tortures, that finally turned the tide for her in Hollywood. With the 1990 shocker Misery (1990), based on the popular Stephen King novel, Bates and Caan were box office magic. Moreover, Kathy captured the "Best Actress" Oscar and Golden Globe award, a first in that genre (horror) for that category. To add to her happiness she married Tony Campisi, also an actor, in 1991.
Quality film scripts now started coming her way and the 1990s proved to be a rich and rewarding time for her. First, she and another older "overnight" film star, fellow Oscar winner Jessica Tandy, starred together in the modern portion of the beautifully nuanced, flashback period piece Fried Green Tomatoes (1991). She then outdid herself as the detached and depressed housekeeper accused of murdering her abusive husband (David Strathairn) in Dolores Claiborne (1995). Surprisingly, she was left out of the Oscar race for these two excellent performances. Not so, however, for her flashy political advisor Libby Holden in the movie Primary Colors (1998), receiving praise and a "Best Supporting Actress" nomination.
Kathy has continued to work prolifically on TV as a 14-time Emmy winner or nominee thus far. She has also taken to directing a couple of TV-movies on the sly. As most actors, she has been in hit and miss TV shows. On the hit side, she has earned a Golden Globe and Emmy nomination for her portrayal of Jay Leno's manager playing tough politics in The Late Shift (1996) and played to the hilt the cruel-minded orphanage operator, Miss Hannigan, in Annie (1999) for which she also earned an Emmy nom. She has done some eye-catching, offbeat turns on regular series such as Six Feet Under (2001) (for which she also earned a DGA award for helming an episode), The Office (2005), Harry's Law (2011) and especially American Horror Story (2011) for which she won an Emmy as Ethel Darling. She also won an Emmy for a guest episode on the hit sitcom Two and a Half Men (2003).
Interesting millennium filming have included a Catholic school's Mother Superior in the comic drama Bruno (2000); Jesse James' mother in American Outlaws (2001); a quirky, liberal mom in About Schmidt (2002) for which she earned another "Best Supporting Actress" Oscar nomination; a brief but potent turn as Gertrude Stein in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris (2011); Queen Victoria in the adventurous remake of Around the World in 80 Days (2004); wacky parent types in the comedies Failure to Launch (2006) and Relative Strangers (2006); Mother Claus in the seasonal farce Fred Claus (2007); an over-gushy foster mother in the dramedy The Great Gilly Hopkins (2015); and a wrenching performance as the mother of a suspected terrorist in Richard Jewell (2019) for which she earned her third "Best Supporting Actress" Oscar nomination.
Divorced from husband Campisi since 1997, Kathy has been the Executive Committee Chair of the Actors Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors.- Actor
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Michael J. Fox was born Michael Andrew Fox on June 9, 1961 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, to Phyllis Fox (née Piper), a payroll clerk, and William Fox. His parents moved their 10-year-old son, his three sisters, Kelli Fox, Karen, and Jacki, and his brother Steven, to Vancouver, British Columbia, after his father, a sergeant in the Canadian Army Signal Corps, retired. During these years Michael developed his desire to act. At 15 he successfully auditioned for the role of a 10-year-old in a series called Leo and Me (1978). Gaining attention as a bright new star in Canadian television and movies, Michael realized his love for acting when he appeared on stage in "The Shadow Box." At 18 he moved to Los Angeles and was offered a few television-series roles, but soon they stopped coming and he was surviving on boxes of macaroni and cheese. Then his agent called to tell him that he got the part of Alex P. Keaton on the situation comedy Family Ties (1982). He starred in the feature films Teen Wolf (1985), High School U.S.A. (1983), Poison Ivy (1985) and Back to the Future (1985).- Actress
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Mary Beth McDonough was born on 4 May 1961 in Van Nuys, California, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for The Waltons (1972), Mortuary (1982) and The West Wing (1999). She has been married to Don since 4 June 2011. She was previously married to Rob Wickstrom.- Actress
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Tap dancing at the age of 16 months, pert and pretty Elinor Donahue has been entertaining audiences for six decades. Born Mary Eleanor Donahue in Tacoma, Washington, on April 19, 1937, she appeared as a radio singer and vaudeville dancer while a mere toddler, then was picked up by Universal Studios at the age of 5.
Cast in minor child roles in such pictures as Mister Big (1943), the precocious youngster eventually moved to MGM but didn't attain the juvenile stardom of a Margaret O'Brien or Elizabeth Taylor, whom she supported in both The Unfinished Dance (1947) and Love Is Better Than Ever (1952), respectively. Still and all, Elinor's talent and wholesome appeal was recognized and the 50s brought her into the TV era.
Elinor became more accessible, finally winning nationwide "girl-next-door" notice in her late teens as the oldest daughter of "ideal" parents Robert Young and Jane Wyatt in the classic family show Father Knows Best (1954). Suffering more than her share of teen angst, she played Betty ("Princess") Anderson from 1954 to 1960.
By the time the series was finished, Eleanor was blossoming into a pretty, wholesome, romantic ingénue. She became Andy Griffith's first longstanding girlfriend on The Andy Griffith Show (1960) for one season, but then suffered a major slump. She revived in the 70s with steady roles on The Odd Couple (1970) (as Tony Randall's girlfriend), Pilot (1977) as a typical sunny mom, and as a guest for countless other shows, including Barnaby Jones (1973), Newhart (1982) and The Golden Girls (1985).
An extremely pleasant personality, she was primarily tapped into playing nice, friendly, non-flashy parts in both lightweight comedy and dramatic. Possessing a suitable voice for commercials and cartoons, she has lately found recurring roles on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993) and a few soaps, including Santa Barbara (1984) and Days of Our Lives (1965), the latter in which she played a rare malicious part.
Though she may not have had much of a chance to shine in her career, Elinor has certainly been a steady, reliable player who has not let her fans down with her obvious warmth and pleasing disposition. Into the 90's, guest appearances included "Murder, She Wrote," "Coach," "Friends," "Herman's Head," "Ellen," "Cold Case," and a recurring role as "Rebecca Quinn" on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993). Her last credits were several appearances as a judge on The Young and the Restless (1973) in 2010 and a featured role in the film The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004).
The widow of TV executive producer Harry Ackerman (he was 25 years her senior), whose list of credits included Leave It to Beaver (1957), Bewitched (1964) and Gidget (1965), and a mother of four sons, Elinor married third husband, contractor Louis Genevrino, in 1992. In 1998, she published a memoir entitled "In the Kitchen with Elinor Donahue", in which she relived some of her memories of Hollywood along with providing more than 150 of her top-grade recipes.- Actor
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Dark-haired, usually-mustachioed American actor with a cheeky grin, who achieved pop culture status through his portrayal of the kooky patriarch "Gomez Addams" in the hit TV series The Addams Family (1964), John Astin was born on March 30, 1930 in Baltimore, Maryland. He studied mathematics at Johns Hopkins University, but he discovered a passion for the theater and began to perform in minor plays and do voice-over work for commercials. He first got noticed thanks to a small role in West Side Story (1961), then appeared in several other films before being cast as "Gomez Addams". While "The Addams Family" was initially a huge hit, its popularity petered out after two years, and Astin moved on to other work including the offbeat Bunny O'Hare (1971), playing a grizzled but not- particularly-bright gunfighter in the Western spoof Evil Roy Slade (1972), an appearance in the Disney comedy Freaky Friday (1976) and dual roles in National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985).
He has since lent his comedic talents to numerous appearances as "Dr. Gangreen" in several corny "Killer Tomato" movies, and has contributed his voice to recreate "Gomez Addams" in the animated series The Addams Family (1992), then played "Grandpa Addams" in the successful TV series The New Addams Family (1998). In addition, Astin has contributed voices to several animated shows, and he still appears in films regularly.- Actress
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This elegant lady has defined the television version of the rich, sophisticated businesswoman who knows what she wants, and will do whatever it takes to get it. She was born Patsy Ann McClenny on February 3, 1950 in Dallas, Texas. She began acting as a child, when her mother enrolled her in drama lessons after she was too shy to give a book report in class. From the age of 10, she performed in children's plays. Later, she would do dinner theater and stock productions in Dallas. She chose Morgan as a stage name. In 1973, Morgan decided to pursue a career in television; just 6 weeks after moving to New York, she landed the key role of Jennifer in the daytime soap opera Search for Tomorrow (1951); she stayed on until 1977.
Morgan moved to Los Angeles, where she originated the role of Jenna Wade on the wildly popular nighttime soap opera Dallas (1978) (Jenna was later portrayed by Priscilla Presley). Morgan made numerous guest appearances on television series. She played Constance (Weldon) Carlyle in Flamingo Road (1980), and she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress; that was her breakout series that propelled her to stardom.
Morgan continued to perform in live theater, her acclaimed portrayal of Skye in the off-Broadway comedy "Geniuses" helped make it one of the "Top Ten Plays" of the year according to Time Magazine and the New York Times. Other stage appearances have included productions of "Goodbye Charlie" and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." On television, she played the naughty Racine in the soap opera Paper Dolls (1984) in 1984. Later, she starred in the soap opera Falcon Crest (1981) from 1985-86, having made a niche for herself playing ambitious beauties. Morgan received an Emmy nomination for a special episode of Murphy Brown (1988).
Morgan has shared some of her beauty secrets by authoring the book "Super Looks" which is a complete guide that includes makeup, exercise, and diet tips. Morgan is a member of the Entertainment Industry AIDS Task Force. She is an active speaker on environmental issues and helped found the Environmental Communications Office, which encourages entertainment industry professionals to become better educated and more active on environmental issues. Morgan is a collector of movie memorabilia (particularly anything about Marilyn Monroe) and antique clothing. She is a ballet fan and is also interested in anthropology and paleontology; Morgan is truly a brainy beauty.- Actress
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Shelley Lee Long was born at 7:15 am on Tuesday, August 23, 1949 in Indian Village, Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA, the only child of Ivadine (Williams), a schoolteacher, and Leland Long, a teacher who had previously worked in the rubber industry. Shelley attended school at Kekionga Junior High for grades 6-9 and at South Side High School for grades 10-12. She enrolled at Northwestern University in 1967 as an undergraduate studying drama. Her first job was at the university as a meal plan checker. She left Northwestern to pursue a dual career in acting and modeling. She also had a brief marriage to her first husband that ended in divorce. In Chicago, she became a member of the celebrated Second City troupe, in addition to writing, producing and co-hosting a popular Chicago magazine program called "Sorting It Out" in 1975. The show ran for three years on a local NBC station and won three Emmy Awards for Best Entertainment Show.
She met her second husband, Bruce Tyson (a securities broker), on a blind date in 1979. They were married in October, 1981. In 1982, she played the character Diane Chambers in the new NBC comedy series, Cheers (1982). She played the part for five years, winning an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1983, winning Golden Globe Awards for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1983, for Best Actress in a Comedy Series in 1985 and a Quality TV Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1986. She gave birth to a daughter, Juliana, on March 27, 1985. On her summer hiatus from "Cheers", Long made feature films, receiving a Golden Globe nomination as Best Actress for Irreconcilable Differences (1984). In 1987, she starred in the hit comedy Outrageous Fortune (1987) with Bette Midler. Soon after, she left "Cheers" after five years to embark on a film career. However, her films Hello Again (1987) and Troop Beverly Hills (1989) were not hits, and she returned to television appearing in the final episode of Cheers in 1993. That same year, she appeared in her own television series "Good Advice" (1993) which was canceled. She returned to feature films playing Carol Brady in the The Brady Bunch Movie (1995). The film became a hit and spawned a sequel, A Very Brady Sequel (1996), which wasn't a hit. She returned to television playing the title role in "Kelly Kelly" (1998), which was canceled after a few episodes. She also played Diane Chambers a few times on "Frasier", the spinoff of Cheers. Her personal life took a huge blow when her husband divorced her in 2004 after more than 20 years of marriage. She recovered and continued on with her career, appearing in guest-starring roles on television, including a recurring role on Modern Family (2009). She supported her daughter Juliana Long Tyson's decision to follow in her footsteps as an actress. She also encouraged Juliana to get married, which she did in 2015, to management consultant Ryan Kissick. Shelley herself never remarried after her two divorces but continues to work in television.- Actress
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Kirstie Louise Alley was an American actress. Her breakout role was as Rebecca Howe in the NBC sitcom Cheers (1987-1993), receiving an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe in 1991 for the role. From 1997 to 2000, she starred in the sitcom Veronica's Closet, earning additional Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.- Actress
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Adrienne Jo Barbeau is an American actress and author best known for her roles on the sitcom Maude (1972) and in horror films, especially those directed by John Carpenter, with whom she was once married. She was born on June 11, 1945 in Sacramento, California, the daughter of an executive for Mobil Oil Company. Early on in her career, she starred in Someone's Watching Me! (1978), The Fog (1980) and Escape from New York (1981), all John Carpenter-related projects. She has collaborated with George A. Romero on occasion, such as Stephen King's anthology Creepshow (1982) and Two Evil Eyes (1990). Her work with other horror directors includes Wes Craven's superhero monster movie Swamp Thing (1982). During the 1990s, she became best known for providing the voice of Catwoman on Batman: The Animated Series (1992). She was the original tough-girl Betty Rizzo in the first Broadway production of "Grease". She is the author of the memoir "There Are Worse Things I Can Do" (2006), and the comedy romance vampire novels "Vampyres of Hollywood" (2008), "Love Bites" (2010) and "Make Me Dead" (2015).- Actress
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Vanessa Lynne Williams was born on March 18, 1963 in Tarrytown, Greenburgh, New York and raised in Millwood, New Castle, New York to Helen Williams & Milton Williams, both music teachers. Vanessa and her brother grew up in suburban New York in comfortable surroundings. Vanessa sang and danced in school productions and signed her high school yearbook with a promise to "see you on Broadway". After winning a performing scholarship to Syracuse University, she left school and tried to make it in New York show business. She began entering beauty contests in 1984, eventually winning Miss New York and then becoming the first African-American Miss America. During her reign, some nude girl-girl photos, taken while she was in New York, surfaced in Penthouse magazine. Although the photos were taken before her beauty contest victories, she was forced to resign her crown. Many predicted that her future in show business was over. She went on to land a recording contract and released several albums, including "The Comfort Zone" and "The Sweetest Days".
Vanessa made her film debut in 1986 in Under the Gun (1987) and appeared in the films The Pick-up Artist (1987), Another You (1991) and Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991). She starred opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in Eraser (1996), opposite Laurence Fishburne and Andy Garcia in Hoodlum (1997) and the box office hit, Soul Food (1997). She also starred in Dance with Me (1998), Light It Up (1999), Shaft (2000), opposite Samuel L. Jackson and Johnson Family Vacation (2004). She starred recently in the independent features, My Brother (2006) and And Then Came Love (2007) (aka "Somebody Like You"). On television, Vanessa starred in such movies and mini-series as Stompin' at the Savoy (1992), The Kid Who Loved Christmas (1990), The Jacksons: An American Dream (1992), ABC's revival of Bye Bye Birdie (1995), Nothing Lasts Forever (1995), The Odyssey (1997), Don Quixote (2000) and Keep the Faith, Baby (2002), and she executive-produced and starred in Lifetime's The Courage to Love (2000) for Lifetime and the VH1 Original Movie, A Diva's Christmas Carol (2000).
Her albums "The Right Stuff", "The Comfort Zone and "The Sweetest Days" earned multiple Grammy nominations and have yielded the Academy Award-winning single "Colors of the Wind", from Disney's Pocahontas: The Musical Tradition Continues (1995). Her recordings also include two holiday albums, "Star Bright" and "Silver & Gold", "Vanessa Williams Greatest Hits: The First Ten Years" and "Everlasting Love", a romantic collection of love songs from the 1970's. In 1994, Vanessa took Broadway by storm when she replaced Chita Rivera in "Kiss of the Spider Woman", winning the hearts of critics and becoming a box-office sensation. She garnered rave reviews and was nominated for a Tony Award for the 2002 revival of "Into the Woods". She also headlined a limited special engagement of the classic, "Carmen Jones", at the Kennedy Center and starred in the Encore! Series staged concert production of "St. Louis Woman".
She stars in ABC's critically-acclaimed hit series, Ugly Betty (2006), for which she has won or been nominated for numerous individual and ensemble awards, including the Emmy, SAG Award, Golden Globe and NAACP Image Awards. Vanessa achieved a career pinnacle, with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her accomplishments as a performer. Her charitable endeavors are many and varied, embracing and supporting such organizations as Special Olympics and many others.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Phylicia Rashad was born in Houston, Texas to African-American parents Vivian Elizabeth (Ayers), a poet and art director, and Andrew Arthur Allen, an orthodontist. As a child, Phylicia, her older brother Andrew (called Tex), and younger sister, dancer and actress Debbie Allen, lived in Mexico. She has another brother, Hugh Allen (a real-estate banker in North Carolina). Their mother decided to live in Mexico to give the Allen children a brief experience of not having to endure the chronic racism and segregation that was typical of Texas during the 1950s. Phylicia and Debbie are fluent in Spanish. Phylicia graduated from Howard University and later taught drama there.
With younger sister Debbie Allen, she has a production company, D.A.D., which stood for Doctor Allen's Daughters. Her Pulitzer-nominated mother is the artistic and free spirit that has influenced and encouraged the remarkable creativity that so marks Rashad as a performer.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Lisa Whelchel was born in Littlefield, Texas, USA on Wednesday, May 29, 1963. She is the daughter of James "Jimmy" and Virginia "Genny" Whelchel. Her parents divorced in 1981 and her mother married Roy Coleman in 1983. She has a younger brother, James (Cody) Whelchel, and a younger half-brother, Casey Coleman. Raised in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, she is an American actress, singer-songwriter, author, and speaker. She discovered acting at age 8 and performed in musical theater for the next four years. At 10 she became a born-again Christian and devoted her life to her Christian faith. When she was 12 she wrote to the Disney Studios asking for an audition as a Mouseketeer on The New Mickey Mouse Club (1977). She moved to California the next year and appeared in syndication from 1977-1978. In 1979, she began her starring role as wealthy, preppy, private-school girl "Blair Warner" on The Facts of Life (1979). The show lasted nine years and she filmed the last regular episode, Big Apple Blues (1988) televised on Saturday, March 19th, 1988. 6 and 7 weeks later came two larger-cast specials, The Beginning of the End (1988), televised on Saturday, April 30, 1988, and the series finale, The Beginning of the Beginning (1988) televised on Saturday, May 7, 1988. On Saturday, July 9, 1988, she married Steven Cauble, who was an associate pastor at Whelchel's church, "The Church On the Way" in Van Nuys, California. On Saturday, January 17, 1990, she gave birth to son Tucker Stephenson Cauble (aka Tucker Cauble). Her second child and first daughter, Haven Katherine Hill Cauble, was born on Thursday, September 26, 1991, followed by third child and second daughter, Clancy Elizabeth Cauble (aka Clancy Cauble), who was born on Thursday, November 12, 1992. She released a Christian pop album, "All Because of You," in 1984. The next year she was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Inspirational Performance. She has written many books including "Creative Correction", "So You're Thinking About Homeschooling", "The Facts of Life (and Other Lessons My Father Taught Me)", "Friendships for Grown-Ups", "Taking Care of the Me in Mommy", and "Speaking Mom-Ese". In 2001, she reprized her role of "Blair Warner" for the made-for-television movie, The Facts of Life Reunion (2001), on the ABC Network. On Sunday, March 7, 2004, she and Charlotte Rae performed "The Facts of Life" theme song at the 2nd Annual TV Land Awards. On Thursday, April 10, 2011, Whelchel and the cast of The Facts of Life (1979), including Charlotte Rae, Nancy McKeon, Mindy Cohn, Kim Fields, Geri Jewell & Cloris Leachman were honored with the Pop Culture Award at the 9th Annual TV Land Awards at the Javits Center in New York City. She officially divorced her husband, Steven Cauble, on Thursday, March 1, 2012, after 23 years of marriage. She appeared on the 25th season of Survivor (2000), located in the Philippine Islands, as part of the Tandang tribe. The first episode aired on Wednesday, September 19th, 2012. She appeared on the CBS talk show, The Talk (2010), to promote her appearance on "Survivor" on Wednesday, September 19, 2012. Whelchel appeared on "The Jeff Probst Show" (2012) on Monday, October 29, 2012, on the episode, "Teen Star Lisa Whelchel: Surviving 'Survivor' and Divorce". She also appeared on a second episode titled "Survivor Finalists" along with fellow 'Survivor: Philippines' contestants, Abi-Maria Gomes, Michael Skupin, Denise Stapley and Malcolm Freberg for being in the final five. On Wednesday, December 16, 2012, during the 25th Season Reunion Show on CBS, "America's Sweetheart" won the fan-voted Sprint Player of the Season by 0.7% over Malcolm which is the closest margin of victory in Survivor history. The prize money that Lisa Whelchel won was $100,000 U.S. Lisa began to co-host on The Jeff Probst Show (2012) with filming, that started televising in January of 2013.- Actress
- Composer
- Producer
Suzanne Somers was the third of four children born to Frank and Marion Mahoney. Her father worked loading beer onto boxcars, and her mother was a medical secretary. She grew up living in constant fear of being hurt or even killed at the hands of her verbally and physically abusive, alcoholic father. She was diagnosed with dyslexia when she was young, and was a poor student. She excelled, however, in the arts and was active in her school's theater program. She won a music scholarship to college, but became pregnant after six months. She married the baby's father, Bruce Somers, and her only child, Bruce Somers, was born in November 1965. She was unhappy in her marriage and began an affair with her former drama teacher. Her husband found out about it and the marriage ended after just two years, in 1967. A single mom, she turned to modeling in San Francisco to support herself and her son. She also distanced herself from her family because her older brother and sister by then were also alcoholics.
In 1968, she won a job as a prize model on a game show hosted by her future husband, Alan Hamel, who was married at the time. The two began dating, and she became pregnant while Hamel was still married. They came to the conclusion that Suzanne should have an abortion, from which she suffered severe complications for several days.
In 1971, her son Bruce was severely injured when he was hit by a car, and the therapist counseling him only charged the financially struggling Somers $1 per week. She underwent therapy herself to overcome the problems of her dysfunctional childhood. In the early 1970s, she landed minor roles in film and TV, and finally won a role on the series Three's Company (1976). She married Hamel in 1977. She was fired from the series after she asked for a raise at the beginning of the fifth season.
She then headed to Las Vegas, where she performed extensively in the mid-1980s. In 1986, she began writing her autobiography, "Keeping Secrets", which was later made into a TV movie. In 1991, she landed the role of "Carol Foster", opposite Patrick Duffy, on the TV series Step by Step (1991). After the end of that show, she began co-hosting Candid Camera (1992).- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
He symbolized the 70s American dream of success -- the former kid from the ghetto who rose to wisecracking TV superstardom. While in his element as the broadly strutting, gleamy-toothed J.J. Evans of the popular urban-styled sitcom Good Times (1974), Jimmie Walker lived the extremely good life. Following the series' demise, however, reality again checked in. Still and all, he has not self-destructed as others before him have and continues to enjoy a comedy career now approaching four decades.
Jimmie was born on June 25, 1947, in New York's tough South Bronx neighborhood. His ambitions were not originally to entertain. Basketball was his prime interest but the idea that a gawky, stringbean-framed teenager could become a hoop star did not seem realistic. Instead he abruptly quit school and worked an odd assortment of jobs until wisely returning to night classes at Theodore Roosevelt High School and redeeming himself with a diploma. The federally-funded Search for Education, Evaluation and Knowledge (SEEK) next came through for Jimmie as he was able to learn a trade: radio engineering/announcing. Within a year he was hired as an engineer for a small radio station, but gained a minor reputation on the sly as a funny guy and good writer. This side interest is what motivated Jimmie to try comedy performance.
He made his stand-up debut as an opening act on New Year's Eve in 1967 for "The Last Poets," a militant poetry group, and was such a hit that he stayed with the group for a year and a half building and polishing his jive-styled act. At one point Jimmie was seen at a Manhattan club by comedian David Brenner who referred him and others (such as Freddie Prinze) to Budd Friedman and his Improv stage in New York. Jimmie eventually became a regular. His debut shot on TV variety came with Jack Paar's show and his successful 1972 appearance propelled him to main attraction billing.
He was quickly checked out by the Norman Lear team and practically handed stardom on a silver platter with Good Times (1974), a spin-off of Esther Rolle's domestic character on the popular Maude (1972) series. Skinny, energetic and youthful-looking with plenty of harmless sass and attitude, Jimmie and the show were instant cross-over hits despite the fact that he was a 27-year-old playing the teenage son of Rolle. His catchphrase "Dyn-o-mite!" became a popular item in the American vernacular. Jimmie became such a major celebrity that Time Magazine named him "Comedian of the Decade." Clothing, belts, and even a talking doll that blurted out his familiar phrase were soon on the open market. To the dismay of other actors on the show, his exaggerated character stole prime focus and shifted the well-intentioned direction of a positive black family image into a much broader and stereotyped caricature. This caused dissension in the troops and both adult leads, Ms. Rolle and John Amos, departed the series (Rolle came back later). Nevertheless, the series managed to last six seasons.
During that time Jimmie made use of his ever-surging popularity with lightweight appearances elsewhere on primetime ("The Love Boat," "Fantasy Island") and on game shows ("The Match Game," "Tattletales"). He became a hot item in Las Vegas and even churned out a best-selling comedy album entitled, of course, "Dyn-o-mite!" His attempt at film stardom came with a top supporting role in Let's Do It Again (1975) starring Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby, a comedy that also featured his TV dad John Amos. Jimmie was featured as a highly unlikely, scrawny-framed boxer promoted by Poitier and Cosby. As enjoyable as he was, it did not lead to other major film offers. Most of his later movies have been self-mocking guest parts or cameo bits in spoofs such as in Airplane! (1980), the Frankenstein take-off Monster Mash: The Movie (1995) and the slasher movie parody Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth (2000).
Upon the series' demise in 1979, Jimmie returned to the stand-up stage while looking for a sophomore TV hit. Unable to capitalize on his TV stardom, he instead found himself extremely pigeon-holed by the J.J. character. The short-lived B.A.D. Cats (1980), which had him playing a support role as a comic car thief-cum-repossessor, lasted only a month. The military comedy At Ease (1983) had Jimmie starring as a Sergeant Bilko-like conman. It too came and went quickly. Hoping the third time would be a charm, Jimmie was a bust again in the syndicated show Bustin' Loose (1987), based loosely on Richard Pryor's 1981 movie, with the comedian playing another of his genial con artists.
Jimmie's main focus has remained the stand-up circuit, touring an average of 25-30 weeks a year. The rubbery-faced, tunnel-mouthed comic continues to pop up occasionally on the late night talk show forum. In his spare time he writes scripts for TV and films.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Jaclyn Smith was born Jacquelyn Ellen Smith on October 26, 1945 in Houston, Texas. She graduated from high school and originally aspired to be a famous ballerina. In 1973, she landed a job as a Breck shampoo model. In 1976, she was offered a chance to star in a new pilot for a planned television series, entitled Charlie's Angels (1976). The pilot was slick and the show was an instant hit when it debuted on September 22, 1976 on ABC.
Smith is the only original "Angel" to stay with the show through its entire five-season run (1976-81). She is also the only "Angel" from the television series to make an appearance in either of the movie adaptations. (She had an uncredited cameo in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003) as "Kelly Garrett", offering advice to the new generation of angels.)
After Charlie's Angels (1976), she went the TV-movie route and starred in such TV films as Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (1981) for which she received a Golden Globe nomination, and such miniseries as The Bourne Identity (1988), Rage of Angels (1983) and Windmills of the Gods (1988). She has had her own extremely successful clothing line at Kmart since 1985, and is often a spokesperson.
Her first two marriages to actors Roger Davis and Dennis Cole ended in divorce. She has two children from her third marriage to cinematographer Anthony B. Richmond (they divorced in 1989). Her fourth marriage is to physician Dr. Brad Allen. She married him in 1997; the two created the skincare line which Smith promotes.- Pamela Bellwood was born on 26 June 1944 in the USA. She is an actress, known for Airport '77 (1977), Dynasty (1981) and Serial (1980). She has been married to Nik Wheeler since 30 December 1984. They have one child. She was previously married to Peter Bellwood.
- Actor
- Director
Charles Frank was born on 17 April 1947 in Olympia, Washington, USA. He is an actor and director, known for The Right Stuff (1983), All My Children (1970) and Wonder Woman (1975). He has been married to Susan Blanchard since 25 June 1977. They have one child.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Actor Kristy McNichol is best known for her role as "Buddy" in the Spelling/Goldberg hit TV series Family (1976), where she won 2 Emmy awards and was nominated for a Golden Globe. McNichol began her career with guest appearances on such popular TV series as Starsky and Hutch, The Bionic Woman, Love American Style and The Love Boat, the list goes on. Her first role as a series regular came with the role of Patricia Apple in the CBS television series Apple's Way (1974). McNichol began her feature film career in the Burt Reynolds comedy "The End" and went on to star with Dennis Quaid and Mark Hamill in "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia", "Two Moon Junction" with Louise Fletcher, "The Pirate Movie" with Christopher Atkins, "Just the Way You Are", "The Forgotten One", and "You Can't Hurry Love". Her television movie credits include "Women of Valor", "Like Mom, Like Me", "Summer of My German Soldier", "Love, Mary", "My Old Man" and many more. Kristy also performed voice characters in several animated TV series including "Extreme Ghostbusters and Steven Spielberg's animated "Invasion America". Kristy starred in the hit movie "Little Darlings" with Tatum O'Neil which won her a People's Choice Award. Other TV credits include the Witt, Thomas, Harris hit series "Empty Nest". Kristy's films include Neil Simon's "Only When I Laugh" with Marsha Mason, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination, Alan Pakula's "Dream Lover" and Samuel Fuller's "White Dog".
Kristy devotes a lot of her time to charity work. Not only is Kristy McNichol a renowned actor but she is also a singer. Albums include The Pirate Movie (1982) soundtrack, The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia (1981) soundtrack and the Kristy and Jimmy McNichol album on RCA Records.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Equally versatile at comedy and drama, Loretta Swit was born on November 4, 1937, in Passaic, New Jersey. Her parents, Polish immigrants, were not in favor of her making a stab at a show business career. Performing on stage from age 7, however, nothing and nobody could deter her.
A natural singer who trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts before finding work in repertory companies, her features were deemed a bit too plain and hard for ingénue roles so she attempted musicals and light comedy, imbuing her characters with a snappy, comic edge. Beginning with the 1967 national touring company of "Any Wednesday", starring Gardner McKay, she forged ahead as a scene-stealing "Pigeon sister" opposite Don Rickles and Ernest Borgnine in an L.A. run of "The Odd Couple" and, from there, earned more laughs as the hopelessly awkward "Agnes Gooch" in the Las Vegas version of "Mame" starring Susan Hayward and (later) Celeste Holm.
Arriving in Hollywood in 1970, Loretta merited some attention by lightening up a number of dramas with her humorous, off-centered performances on such TV fare as Gunsmoke (1955), Mission: Impossible (1966), Hawaii Five-O (1968) and Mannix (1967). Her star-making role, however, came within two years of moving to the West Coast when she inherited Sally Kellerman's vitriolic "Hot Lips" Houlihan movie character for the TV series version of M*A*S*H (1972). She stayed with the show the entire eleven seasons and was Emmy-nominated every season the show was on the air (except the first).
Although Loretta's post-"M*A*S*H" career may appear less noteworthy (it would be hard to imagine anything that could top her bookend Emmy wins on the M*A*S*H series), she has nonetheless remained quite active and provided colorful support in a handful of films including S.O.B. (1981), Beer (1985), Whoops Apocalypse (1986), Forest Warrior (1996) and Beach Movie (1998). She also kept up her TV visibility with episodic appearances and occasional mini-movies, including originating the role of "Chris Cagney" in the TV pilot of Pilot (1981). Returning to singing on occasion, she also inherited the Linda Lavin role in the TV version of the stage musical It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman! (1975).
On stage, she made her Broadway debut opposite That Girl (1966)'s Ted Bessell in "Same Time, Next Year" in 1975 and later replaced Cleo Laine on Broadway in "The Mystery of Edwin Drood". Honored with the Sarah Siddons award for her title role in "Shirley Valentine" (over 1,000 performances) in Chicago, she has more recently toured in productions of "The Vagina Monologues" and played the musical title role of "Mame" in 2003. Loretta also was a five-season host of the 1992 cable-TV wildlife series "Those Incredible Animals" (1992).
After her smash success on "M*A*S*H," Loretta went the dramatic TV movie route with leads in such vehicles as The Execution (1985), Miracle at Moreaux (1985), Dreams of Gold: The Mel Fisher Story (1986), A Matter of Principal (1990) and Hell Hath No Fury (1991). She also appeared in a few guest spots on the series "The Love Boat," "Dolly," "Murder, She Wrote," "The New Burke's Law" and "Diagnosis Murder" before she left the big and small screens. After a decade, Loretta was spotted in the film drama Play the Flute (2019).
Off-stage, Loretta was once married to actor Dennis Holahan, whom she met on the set of M*A*S*H (1972), in 1983. They had no children and divorced in 1995. Her natural spark and trademark blonde, curly mane are more prevalent these days at animal activist fundraisers. A strict vegetarian, she has served as a spokesperson for the Humane Society of the United States and has been multi-honored for her long-time dedication and passion to animals. She is also the author of a book on needlepoint (A Needlepoint Scrapbook), runs her own line of jewelry and exhibits watercolor paintings. As a result, little has been seen of Loretta on film and TV, into the millennium.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Chubby and engaging character actor Britt Leach was born on July 18, 1938 in Gadsden, Alabama. Leach was often cast as no-nonsense police officers, scruffy everyday blue collar working class types, and crude hillbillies in both movies and TV shows alike. Britt graduated from the McCallie prep school in 1956. He was active in college theater. Leach graduated from Birmingham Southern College in the mid 60s. He attended Northwestern University for a short spell, but eventually dropped out and briefly worked in Army intelligence. His film and television career started in the early 70s. Leach's most memorable movie roles include boorish hick bartender Dan Oldum in the terrific "Jackson County Jail," hard-nosed detective Sergeant Cook in "Night Warning," cranky toy store manager Mr. Sims in the notorious sicko Santa slasher horror flick "Silent Night, Deadly Night," trailer park resident Mr. Potter in the charming "The Last Starfighter," Anthony Michael Hall's plumber father in the hilariously raucous "Weird Science," and redneck hunter Reg in "The Great Outdoors." Among the many TV shows Britt has made guest appearances on are "Quantom Leap," "Coach," "Murder, She Wrote," "L.A. Law," "Tales from the Crypt," "Amazing Stories," "St. Elsewhere," "Fame," "The Dukes of Hazzard," "Hill Street Blues," "Dallas," "M.A.S.H.," "The Waltons," "Wonder Woman," "The Love Boat," "Sanford and Son," "Happy Days," "Mission: Impossible," "Bonanza," "The Partridge Family," and "The Brady Bunch." Leach called it a day as an actor in the early 90s. From 1992 to 1999 Britt was the co-editor and publisher of "Country Connections," an award-winning bi-monthly magazine which covered environmental and progressive social issues. Leach has also written poems. Britt Leach resides in Sherman Oaks, California with his wife Catherine Roberts Leach.- Actress
- Director
- Producer
The daughter of a premier makeup artist and the sister of a United States District Attorney, Michele Lee was born Michele Lee Dusick on June 24, 1942 in Los Angeles, California. Her childhood was consumed by the Hollywood entertainment industry. Lee was outgoing and had taken every chance to do plays in front of her family and friends. In junior high school, she continued acting in school plays. When she was in the 10th grade at Los Angeles' Alexander Hamilton High School, she tried out for the band and was the lead singer for that. Prior to her graduation from Hamilton, she landed her first role in the Broadway revue, "Vintage '60" and her career was launched. A small role in "Bravo Giovanni" and the lead role as Rosemary in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" followed. Her musical talent was brought to the attention of Columbia Records (now Sony) and she signed to the label in a hurry.
Shortly after she appeared in Broadway shows and became a singer, she began making a number of guest appearances on television doing dancing, singing and performing comedy routines on most live-action segments, most notably The Danny Kaye Show (1963). She was only 22 and her career was off to a firing start. She continued making guest appearances on a number of television specials and live-action series. However, the silver screen took precedence as she made her movie debut with the film How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967), followed by The Comic (1969), co-starring Dick Van Dyke. A year that, after her first child was born and soon after, she was back at work, starring as Secretary Carole Bennett on The Love Bug (1969), that it was the best movie of 1970 and it made it to the top of the box office all across the country.
While her laughter was brought unto the world and after giving birth to David Farentino, several months later her father passed away of a severe heart attack in 1970 at age 54. Michele was devastated by the loss of her father but she quickly directed herself to head back to work. She accepted a role on Broadway in "Seesaw", where her work gave her a 1974 Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. However, tragedy haunted Michele when she was unable to spring back for a long time after her mother died in 1974. Near the end of 1979, after being on vacation with her husband and only child, she accepted the leading role of the feisty-yet-friendly neighbor Karen Fairgate MacKenzie in the prime-time soap opera Knots Landing (1979), which spun-off the immensely popular serial Dallas (1978) on CBS. For 14 of those years, Michele was the big asset of the series and by the very first year that it debuted, it had low ratings and producers, at times, wanted to send "Dallas" stars to the cul-de-sac, including that of Larry Hagman, who met Lee after the pilot episode.
By the Fall of 1980, Lee and the producers of "Knots Landing" always wanted to do something better in order to boost up the ratings and in September of that same year, after refusing to accept "no" for an answer, former dancer and movie starlet Donna Mills came to the series by playing Lee's manipulative, nasty and least popular sister-in-law Abby Fairgate Cunningham Ewing Sumner, and the series became #1 for the next 13 seasons, among other 1980s soaps that stood the test of time. By 1982, she was nominated for one Emmy Award, but had won the Soap Opera Digest Award, three times. The triumph of the series was splendid but in real-life, her marriage to James Farentino was a burden and the couple was divorced in 1983. In 1989, while going on strong with her role on "Knots Landing", she also became the series' director, starting to direct several episodes of the series and just before Donna Mills left, making Lee the big star of the series.
By the 14th and the final season, most of her co-stars of "Knots Landing" were asked to be absent (except co-star Joan Van Ark, who left in 1992) a number of times on the series, but for Lee, she had declined to be absent and wanted to show up without pay. In 1993, "Knots Landing" was cancelled when her second family came to a close and due to high salary amongst her co-stars. When the series was dropped away from its schedule on CBS, she was open to new opportunities. She began to produce and develop her own television movies through her own production company. She has had an incredible career that spans almost 40 years in television, film and on stage and in 1999, she earned her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which is located not far from the site of her very first audition for "Vintage '60".
In 1995, after learning a great deal from her idol Dottie West, she appeared in the CBS-TV movie Big Dreams & Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story (1995), playing the character of the same name doing all the singing and knowing what it was like to be Dottie West. Before she came back to do a reunion movie called Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac (1997), she played a retarded woman named Dina Blake on Lifetime's Color Me Perfect (1996) and was the first lady to star, write and produce a movie for Cable Television and, like The Love Bug, it was the best movie on Cable Television in 1996. In 2000, she starred opposite Valerie Harper in the Broadway play "Tale of the Allergist's Wife" in New York and almost four years later after a 35-year-absence, she returned to the big screen to play Ben Stiller's mother in Along Came Polly (2004).- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Alana Stewart was born on 18 May 1945 in San Diego, California, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Delivered (2011), Wasted in Babylon (1999) and Evel Knievel (1971). She was previously married to Rod Stewart and George Hamilton.- Actress
- Writer
- Music Department
Diana Canova was born on 1 June 1953 in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for Soap (1977), The First Nudie Musical (1976) and Throb (1986). She has been married to Elliot Scheiner since 24 July 1982. They have two children. She was previously married to Geoff Levin.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
This wholesome "Chatty Cathy" delight had all the earmarks of becoming a dithery TV star in the early 70s and a couple of sitcom vehicles were handed to her with silver platter-like enthusiasm. Neither, however, made the best use of her elfin charm and both series died a quick, and deserved, death. Nonetheless, Sandy Duncan went on to become a Disney film lead, a TV commodity pitching crackers and arguably the best Peter Pan Broadway has ever offered. Like Sally Field and Karen Valentine before her, Sandy had a potentially terminal case of the cutes that often did her more harm than good. But also, like the others, her talent eventually won out.
The story goes that wistful tomboy Sandra Kay Duncan, born February 20, 1946, felt like an outsider growing up in her native Texas because of her desire to become an actress. The elder of two girls born to a gas station owner, she trained in dance and appeared in productions of "The King and I" and "The Music Man" as a teen. She cast all negativity and self doubt aside and packed her bags for New York upon leaving Lon Morris Junior College (in Texas).
Sandy made an enchanting Wendy in "Peter Pan" and soon poised herself as a triple threat on stage (singer/dancer/actress). She married Broadway actor Bruce Scott in 1968 and appeared in the rock musical "Your Own Thing" that same year. Taking her first Broadway curtain call and grabbing a Tony nomination in a bawdy musical version of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales", she next won the soubrette role of Maisie in the Jazz-age musical "The Boy Friend". She managed to steal the thunder right from under star Judy Carne (who had just left the cast of TV's "Laugh-In" in order to branch out) and earned her second Tony nomination -- this time as "Best Actress".
The toothy strawberry blonde was a sensation and in 1970 Time Magazine named her "the most promising face of tomorrow". All this buildup reached the ears of Disney who decided to take a chance and cast her opposite Disney perennial Dean Jones in the featherweight comedy film The Million Dollar Duck (1971). TV also saw her potential and featured her sparkling mug more and more in commercials. She then took on the title role in the film version of Neil Simon's comedy hit Star Spangled Girl (1971), which turned out to be a major disappointment.
An untried talent on the prime-time scene, CBS decided Sandy had enough promise and star quality to be given her own TV sitcom. Replacing Melba Moore at the last minute in the weekly show Funny Face (1971), the story line had Duncan playing single, independently-minded Sandy Stockton, a corn-fed Midwesterner who heads to the big-city (Los Angeles) where she winds up in TV commercials while pursuing a teaching degree at UCLA. The series was a success and was a Top 10 show, but Duncan began experiencing severe headaches on the set and a tumor was discovered on her optic nerve. She had to leave the series and it was consequently pulled from the air. The series' sudden departure led to a misconception among some viewers that it had been canceled. Following a lengthy and delicate operation, the doctors managed to save her eye but she lost all vision in it.
The following year the show was revamped and retitled. Duncan returned as Sandy Stockton. This time she was a single working girl who created chaos at an ad agency. This second incarnation of her series failed to regain the audience that the first incarnation had had. The Sandy Duncan Show (1972) was canceled by mid-December. In the meantime, she divorced her first husband in 1972 and married Dr. Thomas Calcateera a year later, whom she met while undergoing her eye operation. They would divorce six years later.
After the demise of her second series, Sandy refocused on her strengths -- musical comedy -- and maintained her profile as a guest star on such variety shows as "The Sonny & Cher Show", "The Flip Wilson Show", "The Tonight Show" and "Laugh-In". She also was seen around the game show circuit as panelist on "What's My Line?" and "Hollywood Squares", among others. In 1979 Sandy retook Broadway by storm. Instead of the role of Wendy, she played the title tomboy in the musical "Peter Pan" and was nominated for a third time for a Tony Award. Born to play this role, she followed this spectacular success by locking arms with a carefree Tommy Tune in the tuneful Broadway show "My One and Only" replacing Twiggy in 1984.
Sandy also appeared again for Disney both co-starring in the lightweight film comedy The Cat from Outer Space (1978) opposite fellow hoofer Ken Berry and providing a foxy voice for their popular The Fox and the Hound (1981) animated feature. Taking on a more serious tone, she garnered critical respect for her Emmy-nominated role in the epic mini-series Roots (1977), but these dramatic offerings were few and far between.
In the 1980s Sandy became a household name once again with her popular Wheat Thins commercials in which she periodically shared the camera with her two sons, Jeffrey and Michael, her children by Tony-nominated choreographer/dancer Don Correia, whom she married in 1980. In 1987, she returned to prime-time TV, but not in her own tailor-made vehicle. Instead Sandy replaced Valerie Harper in HER tailor-made vehicle after Harper departed in a well-publicized contractual dispute with producers after only one season. The show was simple changed in title from Valerie (1986) to "The Hogan Family" and Sandy entered the proceedings as a close relative and new female head of household after Harper's character "died". As a testament to her audience appeal, the show managed to run for four more healthy seasons.
In later days, the pert, indefatigable Sandy hosted Thanksgiving Day parades, dance competitions and teen pageants. Always a formidable star on stage, she portrayed Roxie Hart on Broadway in "Chicago" (1999), and headlined touring companies "Anything Goes" and "The King and I." In 2008, she performed in the musical "No, No, Nanette," and a year later played the leads in both "Driving Miss Daisy" and "The Glass Menagerie." Sporadically on TV, she played both a defense attorney and judge on the "Law & Order" shows and was featured as one of Jill Clayburgh's girlfriends in the romantic comedy film Never Again (2001).
Sandy has also been a volunteer for the non-profit organization "RFB&D" (Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic) and was a recipient of the National Rehabilitation Hospital Victory Award, which is given to individuals who exhibit exceptional courage and strength in the face of adversity.- Actress
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Jo Ann Harris was born on 27 May 1949 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is an actress, known for The Beguiled (1971), Act of Vengeance (1974) and Most Wanted (1976). She was previously married to Jerry Belson.- Actress
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A bodacious, bedimpled, pert-nosed, well-endowed knockout, Loni Anderson earned an assured television sex symbol pedestal during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As sexy but smart Jennifer Marlowe on the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati (1978), the ravishing star later became a soap-styled fixture in mini-movies. All eyes were peeled on this worthy pin-up who helped to bring back the glossy platinum-blonde allure of Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren.
Loni strove for much more than a sex pedestal as she tried to parlay her newly found fame into a viable dramatic career. She met with a measured degree of success as she recreated the lives of such artificial sex sirens as Mansfield and Thelma Todd on television, but got bogged down in television-movie retellings of famous movie classics (Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), Sorry, Wrong Number (1948), Leave Her to Heaven (1945)) that could not help but pale in comparison. This attempt at seriousness was further hampered by messy tabloid headlines in her private life.
Loni Kaye Anderson was born with very dark (jet black) hair on August 5, 1945 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the daughter of a chemist. An art student at the University of Minnesota, she entered (and won) beauty contests on the sly (including a Miss Minnesota runner-up placing in 1964). Married and divorced from Bruce Hasselberg before she reached age 21, Loni took on a teaching position to support herself and baby daughter (Deidre) while completing college.
Developing an interest in acting, she went the route many aspiring thespians do -- apprenticing in local commercials and theater shows. Still dark-haired, she played in several early 1970s productions such as "Born Yesterday" (as Billie Dawn), "Send Me No Flowers", "Can-Can" and "The Star-Spangled Girl". She even played Tzeitel in "Fiddler on the Roof" and appeared in a production of "The Threepenny Opera".
Remarried in 1973 to actor, Ross Bickell, the couple decided to move away from Minnesota to Los Angeles in 1975 and actively pursue film and television work. Pounding the proverbial pavement, she eventually went blonde and this, plus her gorgeous looks, helped her to secure minor but sexy roles on such series as S.W.A.T. (1975), Police Woman (1974), Barnaby Jones (1973), The Bob Newhart Show (1972) and Three's Company (1976). By the time she nabbed the role of Jennifer Marlowe on WKRP in Cincinnati (1978), she had grown quite admirably as an actress.
Loni and Howard Hesseman became the breakaway stars of the sitcom and Loni skyrocketed to sexy status, earning two Emmy nominations in the process. On the other hand, her instant fame led to the breakup of her second marriage to Bickell in 1981. Loni found hit-and-miss success outside the parameters of her comedy series. She was front-and-center in a number of television-movies, notably playing tragic Hollywood sex sirens Jayne Mansfield in The Jayne Mansfield Story (1980), opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger as her muscle-bound husband Mickey Hargitay, and Thelma Todd, in White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd (1991), whose untimely death in 1935 is still questioned.
Loni also appeared lusciously alongside Bob Hope, brightening up several of his classic television specials. On the minus side, she fizzled in her teaming up with equally sexy Wonder Woman (1975) star Lynda Carter in the tepid, short-lived series Partners in Crime (1984) and then played a former Las Vegas showgirl who inherits a bundle in the sitcom misfire Easy Street (1986). She also was given a chance to work in feature films such as Stroker Ace (1983). While her performance in that movie was panned, it did have her meeting and co-starring opposite mega star Burt Reynolds.
Appearing in routine, mini-movie soap operas (via her own production company), if anything, kept Loni in the public eye as a serious-minded actress, but it was an uphill battle to rise above her manufactured image as a fantasy bombshell. Not helping things was her high-profile marriage to Reynolds in 1988, which began blissfully enough (and produced adopted son Quinton), then dissolved quickly into a nasty divorce in 1993 that damaged the reputations of both stars.
In later years, Loni showed incredible perseverance. As always, the stalwart beauty continued to play up the glam but has since downplayed the dramatics. She seems more focused these days on having innocuous fun, playing a number of hearty vixens in sitcoms and series guest spots. Over time, she has enjoyed such lightweight sitcoms as her regular role in Nurses (1991), and as a guest in such sitcoms as The New WKRP in Cincinnati (1991) (in which she recreated her role as Jennifer Marlowe), Empty Nest (1988), Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996) and Clueless (1996). Her last movie was the SNT-based comedy movie A Night at the Roxbury (1998).
Millennium television credits include the sitcom The Mullets (2003) and as Tori Spelling's materialistic mother in So Notorious (2006), which did not get the seal of approval from Tori's real-life mother. Loni has more recently starred in the resurrected comedy series My Sister Is So Gay (2016). In 2008, she married a fourth time to musician Bob Flick. Loni's autobiography, "My Life in High Heels", was published in 1997.- Actor
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Born James Wayne Stafford on January 16, 1944, in Winter Haven, Florida, Jim is an American comedian, musician, singer-songwriter, and actor.
His songs include: "Spiders & Snakes", "Swamp Witch", "Under The Scotsman's Kilt", "My Girl Bill", and "Turn Loose of My Leg". Stafford has his own theater in Branson, Missouri, since 1990, and still performs there three nights a week. He is self-taught on guitar, fiddle, piano, banjo, organ and harmonica.
He was the supervising writer for "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour", which aired on NBC in 1988.- Actress
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Jane Therese Curtin was born September 6th, 1947. Years later, a 27-year-old Jane auditioned for a comedy variety show. which turned out to be the the thing that would first expose her to fame, Saturday Night Live (1975). Jane won the audition against Mimi Kennedy, a tough competitor. Also in the same year (1975), she married Patrick Lynch.
After her five-year run on SNL, Jane moved on, having a daughter named Tess in-between a new show with Susan Saint James titled Kate & Allie (1984), which was about two divorced women living in one house with their children. After Kate & Allie (1984) and several film roles, including Coneheads (1993), came 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996), a show about aliens living in Ohio and adjusting to Earth. In 2001, 3rd Rock ended production, and Jane eventually brought her talents to Broadway. She lives with her husband and daughter.- Actress
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Joanna Kerns was born on 12 February 1953 in San Francisco, California, USA. She is an actress and director, known for Girl, Interrupted (1999), Knocked Up (2007) and Growing Pains (1985). She has been married to Marc Appleton since 30 September 1994. She was previously married to Richard M. Kerns.- British actress Pamela Franklin has worked with many notable actors and directors throughout her career. A somewhat underrated actress, she had a wide range of emotions that she brought to her many versatile characters. Franklin was born in Yokohama, Japan, and her father was an importer/exporter. She initially studied dance at the Elmhurst School of Ballet in England (now the Elmhurst School for Dance). She made her film debut at age 11 as "Flora" in The Innocents (1961) alongside Deborah Kerr and a year later appeared as "Tina" in The Lion (1962) with William Holden and Trevor Howard. She has worked with many directors including Ronald Neame, Jack Clayton, and John Huston. Franklin is most remembered for her performance as the rebellious "Sandy" in the The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) which starred Maggie Smith and also as the hapless kidnap victim in The Night of the Following Day (1969) in which she appeared with Marlon Brando and Rita Moreno.
Franklin later carved out a niche as a "scream queen" in a handful of 1970s horror features. She portrayed the psychic medium in The Legend of Hell House (1973) which also featured Roddy McDowall. For many years, Franklin made several guest appearances on hit TV shows. In the early 1970s, she married actor Harvey Jason whom she met on the set of Necromancy (1972) and had two children. Franklin retired from acting in the early 1980s. - Actress
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Blonde, buoyant Donna Mills began acting in local amateur and professional productions in her home town of Chicago. Donna made her Broadway bow as a harem girl in Woody Allen's play "Don't Drink the Water," then played recurring roles on the Manhattan-based TV soap operas The Secret Storm (1954) and Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (1967). Her first film was The Incident (1967), a hard-hitting drama which co-starred fellow up-and-comers Martin Sheen and Beau Bridges. After playing Clint Eastwood's imperiled girlfriend in the cult thriller Play Misty for Me (1971), Mills guest-starred on numerous top-rated series and carved a niche for herself in made-for-TV movies, usually typecast as a damsel in distress. On the big screen, she scored another coup when she acted with Don Stroud in Murph the Surf (1975). Donna forever altered her on-screen image from trembling helplessness to calculating truculence in the role of Abby Cunningham Ewing, second wife of Dallas (1978) "black sheep" Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford), in the nighttime serial Knots Landing (1979); coincidentally, Mills had co-starred with J. R. Ewing himself (aka Larry Hagman) on the short-lived sitcom The Good Life (1971). Three times she won the Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Villainess: 1986, '88, and '89. She also earned a Soap Opera Digest nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role on a Prime Time Serial. After nine years as Abby, Mills decided to leave the long-running hit in pursuit of other opportunities. She continued to headline a range of television films, several of which she produced, often highlighting important social issues. These including Outback Bound (1988), The World's Oldest Living Bridesmaid (1990), Runaway Father (1991), In My Daughter's Name (1992) and My Name Is Kate (1994). Mills returned to Knots Landing for its final episode in 1993, and again for the reunion miniseries Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac (1997). In between she had a brief recurring guest role as Jane Mancini (Josie Bissett)'s mother on Melrose Place (1992). In 2014, Donna joined ABC's General Hospital (1963) as yet another wealthy troublemaker, Madeline Reeves. For this role, she won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series. Donna has since appeared in the feature films Joy (2015) and Nope (2022), and starred in the reality show Queens of Drama (2015).
Donna has long been a supporter of various political and human rights causes, including Easter Seals, Women in Film, and ECO (Earth Communications Office). Unmarried, she adopted a daughter, Chloe, in 1994. She lives in Beverly Hills with her longtime boyfriend, Larry Gilman. She was previously in a long-term relationship with Richard Holland.- Actor
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Anson Williams was born on 25 September 1949 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor and director, known for Happy Days (1974), Baywatch (1989) and ABC Afterschool Specials (1972). He has been married to Sharon MaHarry since 6 May 2023. He was previously married to Jackie Gerken and Lorrie Mahaffey.- Actor
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Actor Robert Hays was an Air Force Brat and attended Izmir American School in Izmir, Turkey during the Seventh Grade. He graduated in 1965 from Bellevue High School, Bellevue, Nebraska where his father was stationed at Offutt AFB. He began his career in theatre, performing in plays like Richard III and The Glass Menagerie at the famous Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. After spending several years in the theatre, he moved to Hollywood to pursue his career in film and television.
He first appeared on television in series such as Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969), Wonder Woman (1975), Laverne & Shirley (1976) and Angie (1979). He made his feature-film debut in the landmark comedy Airplane! (1980), starring as Ted Striker, the traumatized former pilot who must land the plane when the flight crew gets struck by food poisoning. He later reprised his role as Ted Striker in Airplane II: The Sequel (1982).
After the massive success of Airplane!, Hays went on to star in many feature films including Take This Job and Shove It (1981), Trenchcoat (1983), Cat's Eye (1985), Fifty/Fifty (1992), Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993), Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco (1996), Robert Altman's Dr. T & the Women (2000) and Alex in Wonder (2001), which he also produced. He starred in over 20 made-for-TV movies like NBC's Mister Roberts (1984), CBS' Murder by the Book (1987), and Lifetime's The Abduction (1996). He also had a surprise appearance in Sharknado 2: The Second One (2014). Hays also had numerous guest appearances on various television shows including Touched by an Angel (1994), Promised Land (1996) and That '70s Show (1998), and he starred in the series Starman (1986), FM (1989), Cutters (1993) and Kelly Kelly (1998).- Bruce Solomon was born on 12 August 1943 in New York City, New York, USA. He is an actor, known for Night of the Creeps (1986), Foul Play (1978) and Auto Focus (2002). He has been married to Pamela Kath since 8 September 1981. They have one child. He was previously married to Stephanie Glass.
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Victoria Carroll was born on 21 January 1941 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965) and Nightmare in Wax (1969). She has been married to Michael Bell since 1984. They have one child.- Actress
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An English actress of stage, screen and television, sister to Hayley Mills and daughter of Sir John Mills, Juliet first came to notice in films, actually after her sister Hayley started her career. Juliet, however, was first plucked onto the screen and signing a contract with Warner Brothers and taking small roles in comedies like Nurse on Wheels (1963) and Carry on Jack (1964). It wasn't until 1966, when Juliet Mills started getting attention in her role opposite James Stewart and Maureen O'Hara in the western film The Rare Breed (1966). She continued in television in the seventies as a recurring guest star on The Love Boat (1977), Wonder Woman (1975) and Fantasy Island (1977). She got her first starring television series, Nanny and the Professor (1970), in 1970, co-starring Richard Long, the series was top-rated, but was shortly canceled after two seasons by ABC. She hit the screen again in 1974, playing the possessed "Jessica Barrett" in the Italian horror film Beyond the Door (1974) ("Beyond the Door") for Film Ventures International, but it was pulled from theaters because it resembled The Exorcist (1973), even though it was becoming a box office hit. She didn't get very many roles after that and continued in television through the eighties. She did a small part in Waxwork II: Lost in Time (1992) and then played Juliette Lewis's friendly maid in the 1999 major motion picture The Other Sister (1999), co-starring Diane Keaton and Tom Skerritt. Juliet Mills has recently been in the daytime drama (soap opera) Passions (1999), playing "Tabitha", the witch. She is married to actor Maxwell Caulfield.- Actress
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Karen Valentine was born on a chicken farm in northern California and made her professional debut, at the age of 16, on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) (aka "The Ed Sullivan Show"). After performing as a contestant on a live national broadcast of "The Miss Teenage America Pageant", Ed Sullivan phoned during the ceremonies and invited her to appear on his iconic variety show the following week. She has since starred in countless productions on stage and screen, including the acclaimed series, Room 222 (1969) as student teacher Alice Johnson, for which she received an Emmy Award. She was a regular panelist on the popular game show The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (1965), exchanging quips with Paul Lynde, George Gobel and host Peter Marshall. Over the years she has starred in many made-for-television movies, series episodes and variety specials, as well as several feature films. She has been a fixture on TV talk shows and guest-hosted for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962). Across the country, Ms. Valentine has appeared in many stage productions, on Broadway and off, as well as touring with national companies.- Actor
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Desi Arnaz Jr. has lived in Boulder City, Nevada, since 1986, where he owns the Historic Boulder Theatre and helps direct non-profit Boulder City Ballet Company (BCBC) with his wife, Amy Arnaz. Boulder Theatre was built in 1932 during the construction of Hoover Dam and operated as a movie theatre until it could no longer compete with the new, modern movie theaters in Las Vegas. When it closed, Desi purchased the theatre and converted it into a live theatre where BCBC performs and where Desi has produced many shows including: "Ricci, Desi & Billy" (a new version of Dino, Desi & Billy), "An Evening with Linda Purl", Torme' Sings Torme', "The Legacy of Laughter", "An Evening with Lucille Ball" (starring Suzanne LaRusch as Lucille Ball), Michael Johnson, "A Tribute to Dean Martin" (by Ricci Martin), "Dam Short Film Festival", "Chautauqua", "The Nutcracker", "Sleeping Beauty", "Swan Lake", annual children's dance recitals from Dance Etc. and many more shows. Haley Arnaz is his wife's child from her first marriage and Desi adopted her when they married in 1987. Desi also has an older daughter, Julia, who lives on the east coast. Recently, Desi has performed "Babalu" (a show dedicated to the music of his father) with his sister Lucie Arnaz in NYC, Miami and in Washington D.C. at the Library of Congress. Most recently, Desi & Lucie appeared at the Paley Center in Beverly Hills, discussing the music of I Love Lucy (1951) and performed two of their father's songs - "Old Straw Hat" & "Cuban Pete" - with the accompaniment of Ron Abel on the piano.- Actress
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Famed actress, comedian, singer, and dancer Vicki Lawrence has appeared in television shows, and in nightclubs. Her career included shows with such popular actors as Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, and Tim Conway.
Lawrence was born Vicki Ann Axelrad in Inglewood, California, to Ann Alene (Loyd) and Howard Axelrad, a certified public accountant. Her interest in singing and dancing began at an early age. During high school, she was a cheerleader and voted Most Likely to Succeed by her class. From 1965 to 1967, Lawrence sang with the Young Americans musical group and appeared in The Young Americans, a film that won an Academy Award for Best Documentary.
Vicki Lawrence sealed her own fate as a famed actress and comedian by sending Carol Burnett a newspaper clipping showing their uncanny resemblance to each other, and asking if she could give some advice for a contest she was in called "Miss Fireball Contest" in California. Burnett, having a feeling about her, found her phone number and called Vicki. Burnett attended the event, hoping to find an entertainer who could play her kid sister on her variety show. Sure enough, Lawrence was chosen as the kid sister and was mentored by Ms Burnett and her career blossomed from there. In the fall of 1967, she made her debut on the first episode of The Carol Burnett Show. She spent 11 years with the show and earned one Emmy Award and five more nominations. In 1967, she also enrolled in UCLA to study theater arts. To enhance her singing career, she went to Vietnam to perform for U.S. troops with Johnny Grant.
Her music career peaked in 1973, when she was awarded a gold record for her internationally known hit "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia." In 1974, Lawrence married CBS makeup artist Al Schultz, with whom she has had two children. When the Carol Burnett Show ended, Vicki Lawrence starred in her own comedy show, Mama's Family, which also featured Dorothy Lyman, Ken Berry, Beverly Archer, and Betty White; Carol Burnett also frequently appeared on the show. After ending her sitcom, Lawrence delved into hosting television shows.
She became the first successful female game show host when she hosted Win, Lose or Draw; she also hosted her own talk show, appropriately titled Vicki!, which ran from 1992-1994. Vicki Lawrence's credits cannot be limited to television alone. Her stage credits include Carousel, Hello Dolly, Annie Get Your Gun, No, No, Nanette and My Fat Friend. In the '90s, she performed in I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road. Her autobiography, Vicki! The True Life Adventures of Miss Fireball, recounts her musical, stage, and television career. She spends most of her time doing motivational speeches for women's groups and charities.- Actress
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A very pleasing and thoroughly enjoyable vision on 1950s film and 1960s TV, Patricia Crowley effortlessly lit up her surroundings with a warm, inviting personality and fresh-faced attractiveness that she still carries today. At her peak she courted top TV stardom in the mid-'60s as the beleaguered wife and mom on the successful series Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1965) and easily made the original Doris Day film role her own. Both she and TV husband Mark Miller made a handsome couple and the series deserved more than its two-season run. Perhaps audience taste, which was changing rapidly with the counterculture era taking over, triggered its somewhat quick demise.
Born September 17, 1933 (some sources incorrectly list 1929), in Olyphant, Pennsylvania, to Vincent, a coal mining foreman, and Helen (Swartz) Crowley, it was her older sister Ann Crowley (born October 17, 1929) who triggered Pat's interest in performing when, during Ann's appearance in a Chicago musical production, the ten-year-old Pat was given a walk-on part. Ann Crowley would go on to have a promising musical career appearing in such late 40s/early 50s N.Y. shows as "Carousel", "Oklahoma!" and "Paint Your Wagon". By age 11, Patricia had become a photographer's model and subsequently attended New York's High School of Performing Arts. She won her first major TV part scarcely out of high school and seemed destined to become an important teen star as the bobbysoxer lead in the Saturday morning TV series A Date with Judy (1951), which was adapted from the highly popular radio series of the 1940s. When the series moved to prime time, however, another actress replaced her.
Like her sister, Patricia was also musically inclined and appeared in a few tuneful stage shows such as "Tovarich" and "Kiss Me Kate" (as Bianca). Billed as "Pat Crowley", she made an auspicious Broadway debut with the relatively short-lived comedy play "Southern Exposure" in 1950, earning the 1951 Theatre World Award for "promising personality". She followed this with another short run (one day) in the comedy "Four Twelves Are 48".
After a number of early 1950s TV assignments, Pat was brought out to Hollywood to co-star with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in one of the pair's typical slapstick outings Money from Home (1953). In it, she played a feisty lady veterinarian. She then moved engagingly into the show business comedy Forever Female (1953) co-starring William Holden and Ginger Rogers. As the young aspirant who is vying with the long-in-the-tooth Rogers for a prime Broadway ingénue role, Pat made the most of her role and earned a Golden Globe award for "best promising female newcomer". From there, she played the second female lead in the musical Red Garters (1954) but crooning headliners Rosemary Clooney and Guy Mitchell got most of the songs. Pat did have a dance number, however, opposite Mitchell with the tune "Meet a Happy Guy".
While much of her work came from dramatic TV showcases, Pat continued in movie roles co-starring as the girlfriend of Tony Curtis in the boxing yarn The Square Jungle (1955), appearing as the female ingénue in the sudsy drama There's Always Tomorrow (1956) opposite veterans Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray and Joan Bennett, and reuniting with Martin & Lewis in their very last film Hollywood or Bust (1956) before the pair's professional breakup.
When her film career started to lose steam in the late 50s (she did appear to good effect, however, with Jeffrey Hunter in the crime drama Key Witness (1960) as a couple terrorized by gang leader Dennis Hopper), Pat found steadier work on TV and guested on many of the popular shows of the day both drama Bonanza (1959), Cheyenne (1955), The Twilight Zone (1959), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964)) and the occasional comedy (The Tab Hunter Show (1960)). It was in the sitcom vein that Pat achieved her biggest success when she was cast as "Joan Nash", the nontraditional, harried wife/columnist of an English professor whose four precocious sons and huge sheep dog added greatly to the mayhem in Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1965). Based on the best-selling Jean Kerr book, it was a role that suited Pat (now billed Patricia) to a tee and made her a household name at the time.
Since then, Patricia has continued to maintain a strong visibility especially on TV, although she was not given the star-making opportunities like this again. Crowley is best known to a later generation of viewers for her regular roles on daytime's Generations (1989) (1989-1990), Port Charles (1997) (1997-2003) and The Bold and the Beautiful (1987) (2005). A guest on such sitcoms as Frasier (1993), Roseanne (1988) and Friends (1994), recurring roles on Joe Forrester (1975) (perfectly paired with Lloyd Bridges), Dynasty (1981) and Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990) also showed Pat to good advantage. More recently, she has graced episodes of "The Closer" and "Cold Case" and a featured role in the film Mont Reve (2012).
In 1958 Patricia married Ed Hookstratten, a successful attorney for top entertainment and sports icons. They had a son, Jon, and a daughter, Ann, named after her sister. After their two-decade marriage ended, she went on to marry producer Andy Friendly in 1986. While many understandably agree that Patricia Crowley's talents deserved perhaps a better serving in Hollywood, particularly on film, she has nevertheless proved herself a lovely, lively and still ingratiating presence.- Internationally-known actor Brett Halsey, one of Hollywood's busiest and handsomest actors of the mid-to-late '50s and early '60s, was born Charles Oliver Hand to a builder/contractor in Santa Ana, California on June 20, 1933. Interested in performing from childhood (he appeared in local community and church plays), the young man found a modest "in" when he was hired as a teenage page at CBS Television studios. A chance meeting with the legendary Jack Benny and wife Mary Livingstone who taped "The Jack Benny Show" at CBS led to his being accepted to study at Universal-International's training school that also included at the time future Universal stars Clint Eastwood and David Janssen. These intense studies eventually led to a contract offered by the studio.
Before deciding to pursue acting full time, the young teenager joined the Navy and enjoyed a brief stint as a deejay. Once signed with Universal, the studio decided to take advantage of Brett's esteemed ancestry (as the nephew of famed WWII Admiral William "Bull" Halsey) and changed the young nascent actor's stage name to the more marquee-friendly "Brett Halsey." He gained extensive experience apprenticing in a string of Universal bit parts, glimpsed in such standard filming as Walking My Baby Back Home (1953), The Man from the Alamo (1953), The Black Shield of Falworth (1954), Ma and Pa Kettle at Home (1954) (as one of the young Kettle brood), Revenge of the Creature (1955) (as a victim) and _The Girl He Left Behind (1956). Eventually Brett's camera-worthy dark-haired good looks, penetrating blue eyes and earnest 'matinee idol' demeanor found their way front-and-center on TV drama ("Brave Eagle," "Mackenzie's Raiders," "Gunsmoke," "Perry Mason," "Highway Patrol," Harbor Command" and "Sea Hunt").
In the late 1950s, Brett increased his cinematic visibility with the growing interest of low budget "juvenile delinquent" films. Several of Brett's features, such as _Hot Rod Rumble (1957) with 'Leigh Snowden', Roger Corman's cult classic The Cry Baby Killer (1958) with Jack Nicholson, High School Hellcats (1958) and _Speed Crazy (1959), the last two co-starring Yvonne Lime, have since attained camp and/or cult status. He ended that series of filming with The Girl in Lovers Lane (1960) with Joyce Meadows.
Keeping in step with the then-popular trend of showcasing cool, hunky "beefcake" talent in TV adventure series with interesting or exotic locales, such as when Edd Byrnes combed his way to teen idol status on "77 Sunset Strip," Van Williams and Troy Donahue checked into "Surfside Six" and Robert Conrad spruced up "Hawaiian Eye," Brett fell into a co-starring role with Barry Coe, Gary Lockwood and former child star Gigi Perreau in the one-season adventure series Follow the Sun (1961), as a free-lance magazine writer looking for action in Honolulu. For his work, he earned a Golden Globe Award for "New Star of the Year".
Following co-star/featured work in the war films To Hell and Back (1955), The Last Blitzkrieg (1958)_ and Jet Over the Atlantic (1959), the sci-fi thrillers Return of the Fly (1959) (with Vincent Price) and The Atomic Submarine (1959), the large-scale ensemble sudsers The Best of Everything (1959) and Return to Peyton Place (1961)_, the crime drama Desire in the Dust (1960) and the horror opus Twice-Told Tales (1963), the 28-year-old Brett decided to follow a number of other young vital and promising American actors who wished to take advantage of career opportunities opening up overseas in Italy. What was originally a one-time acting job in Italy led to a decade-long stay in films. Often billed as "Montgomery Ford," Brett starred as several sword-and-sandal type heroes in including the spectacles Le sette spade del vendicatore (1962) [The Seventh Sword], Il magnifico avventuriero (1963) [The Magnificent Adventurer] and The Avenger of Venice (1964) [The Avenger of Venice]. He also settled comfortably into the fashionable international spy, "spaghetti" western and giallo genres with a slew of work including Spy in Your Eye (1965) [Spy in Your Eye], Espionage in Lisbon (1965) [Espionage in Lisbon], The Hour of Truth (1965) [The Hour of Truth], Uccidete Johnny Ringo (1966) [Johnny Ringo], Der Kongreß amüsiert sich (1966) [Congress of Love], Web of Violence (1966) [Web of Violence], Bang Bang (1967), Today We Kill, Tomorrow We Die! (1968) [Today We Kill...Tomorrow We Die], Tutto sul rosso (1968) [All on the Red], Wrath of God (1968) [Wrath of God], Twenty Thousand Dollars for Seven (1969) [Twenty Thousand Dollars for Seven], Roy Colt & Winchester Jack (1970) and Four Times That Night (1971) [Four Times That Night].
In the early 1970s, Brett returned to the United States and planted himself squarely into TV work again, particularly in daytime drama. He appeared with regularity on General Hospital (1963), Search for Tomorrow (1951), Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (1967), and, his last, a two-year stint (1980-82) on The Young and the Restless (1973). Halsey continued sporadically in films as well, such as the comedy Where Does It Hurt? (1972) starring Peter Sellers, Ratboy (1986), The Godfather Part III (1990) and Beyond Justice (1991), while also finding steady work on the small screen - "Alias Smith and Jones," "Toma," "The Love Boat," "The Bionic Woman," "Charlie's Angels," "Fantasy Island," "The Dukes of Hazzard," "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century," "Columbo," "Matt Houston" and "Cagney & Lacey".
At age 80+, the stalwart character actor continues to be seen from time to time with recent roles in the films Hierarchy (2009), The Scarlet Worm (2011), Club Utopia (2013) (in which he held a leading role), and Risk Factor (2015). Also known at one time as a film acting teacher, Halsey also writes novels ("The Magnificent Strangers") and screenplays while making occasional guest appearances at film festivals. One biography: "Brett Halsey: Art or Instinct in the Movies," which chronicles the actor's prolific career, was published in 2008. At various times, he has lived out of the country in Costa Rica, Canada and Italy.
Brett is the father of five children. In 1954, he married imported Universal starlet Renate Hoy, an actress who won the "Miss Germany" beauty contest that same year. Together they had two children, the late Charles Oliver Hand, Jr. (a.k.a. punk rock performer "Rock Halsey" and/or "Rock Bottom") and Tracy Leigh. The couple divorced five years later. His second marriage (1960-1962) to exotic James Bond ("Thunderball") vixen Luciana Paluzzi, an Italian beauty, produced son Christian, who is a producer ("American Psycho"). Halsey and Paluzzi co-starred in Return to Peyton Place (1961) during their brief union. A third union (1964-1976) to German actress Heidi Brühl, best known here for her US role in the 1975 Clint Eastwood film "The Eiger Sanction," produced two more children: Clayton, a TV video editor ("Big Brother"), and Nicole. Halsey is presently wed to Victoria Korda, granddaughter of British filmmaker Alexander Korda. - Susan Blanchard was born on 11 December 1944 in Westport, Connecticut, USA. She is an actress, known for They Live (1988), Prince of Darkness (1987) and Police Woman (1974). She has been married to Charles Frank since 25 June 1977. They have one child. She was previously married to John Harlow Kimball Jr..
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Barbi Benton was born on 28 January 1950 in New York City, New York, USA. She is an actress and composer, known for How Did a Nice Girl Like You... (1970), X-Ray (1981) and Fantasy Island (1977). She has been married to George Gradow since 14 October 1979. They have two children.- Actor
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One of a spate of teen idols to come out of Philadelphia in the 1950s and 1960s, Frankie Avalon--unlike many of the others--actually had a musical background, having been taught to play the trumpet at a very young age by his father. As a youth Avalon performed in local clubs and theaters. He won a local TV talent contest playing a trumpet solo. In 1951, at age 12, he was in a band called Rocco and the Saints, which included another soon-to-be famous teen singer, Bobby Rydell. In 1952 he was performing at a private party held for singer Al Martino. A talent scout who was also at the party was impressed enough by Avalon to get him an appearance on Jackie Gleason's TV show, which led to more television appearances. In 1954 he made two singles for "X" Records, an RCA Victor subsidiary. Both were instrumentals featuring Avalon playing his trumpet: "Trumpet Sorrento" and ""Trumpet Tarantella." He eventually landed a recording contract with Philadelphia's Chancellor Records, and he recorded "Cupid" and "Teacher's Pet". These records got him his first movie role, a small part in Jamboree! (1957) designed to promote "Teacher's Pet." His next record was "DeDe Dinah", a song written by his managers (and one for which he had so little respect that he pinched his nose while recording it, resulting in its extremely nasal sound). After an appearance on Dick Clark's teen dance show American Bandstand (1952), sales of the record zoomed and it eventually sold more than a million copies. In 1959, after two more big hits ("Ginger Bread" and "I'll Wait for You") he recorded the song he is probably best known for, the million-selling "Venus." However, as 1960 rolled around his career began to wane and his record sales dropped precipitously. He soon began taking small parts in movies, most notably in John Wayne's The Alamo (1960). He began to get somewhat bigger parts and had his first starring role in Drums of Africa (1963). His movie career really took off, however, when he was paired with former Mousketeer Annette Funicello in Beach Party (1963) and its string of sequels. These films, with their combination of surfing, low comedy, dancing and "beach bunnies" in bikinis, struck a nerve with teenage audiences, were produced for peanuts and made a fortune. Avalon still recorded songs for Chancellor and other labels, but now he was far better known among younger audiences for his movies than for his records. In 1985 he began touring with fellow teen idols Rydell and Fabian in an oldies show called "The Golden Boys of Bandstand," which was a rousing success. In 1987 he and Funicello were reunited in Back to the Beach (1987), an homage to, and parody of, their earlier "beach" movies. Avalon still makes personal appearances and tours, many with and for his old friend and mentor Dick Clark.- Actor
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One of the most prolific character actors of his time starting with his role of Santini in the Blackboard Jungle (1955). Since then has appeared in iconic shows as the Twilight Zone, the Red Skelton Hour, the Dick Van Dyke Show, the Danny Kaye Show, Hazel, My Three Sons, Ben Casey, The Lucy Show, I Dream of Jeannie, The Andy Griffith Show, My Favorite Martian, F Troop, Get Smart. Gomer Pyle, The Flying Nun, The Blue Knight, Barnaby Jones, The Love Boat, Diagnosis Murder and of course M*A*S*H.- Actress
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Carole White was born in New York City, New York, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for Laverne & Shirley (1976), Peridot (2022) and Royal Pains (2009).- Actress
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Elaine Joyce was the lead in the Broadway musical "Sugar" from 1972 to closing with Tony Roberts and Robert Morse. A mainstay on TV game shows in the early 1970s, often appearing with her first husband, Bobby Van.
The marriage of Bobby and Elaine ran a difficult course - an announcement was made On October 30, 1967 (Daily News, Oct. 30, 1967) that they had wed, but they had not. Then in November, a blurb in a Hollywood column (The El Dorado Times, Nov 29, 1967) stated that Bobby said he and Joyce planned to marry on December 2, 1967, but her brother, Frank Pinchot had chosen that date to marry his wife, so they would choose another date). In February of 1968, it was announced they would marry in Los Angeles on March 21. Bobby and Elaine were married in Las Vegas on May 1, 1968 (Clark County marriage license and New Castle News, Pennsylvania, May 13, 1968).
One week later, Van filed for an annulment (Los Angeles Times, May 7, 1968 and Independent Long Beach, May 7, 1968) stating "fraud, non-consummation and that the "24 year old actress told him she wanted to have children but this was only to induce him into marriage". An article states that Bobby said that Elaine felt "so unhappy and insecure (about marrying), that it's the only way." (New Castle News, Pennsylvania, May 13, 1968) (She would later state on Tattletales that she "tried to run away"). There is a preliminary divorce filed in 1968 for Elaine Joyce and Bobby Van in the CA Divorce index. Elaine is listed as Elaine J Pinchot, year of birth 1943. It appears that it was never finalized, and they went on to have a 12 year marriage.
Married John Levoff in 1985. They divorced in 1992.
In 1999, she married playwright Neil Simon until his death in 2018.
Has two children: Taylor Joyce Van (with Bobby Van, 1967) and Michael Francis Levoff (with John Levoff) in 1986.- Actress
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Joyous scene-stealer Janis Paige started out playing rather bland film ingénues, but never seemed to be comfortable in those roles--she had too much snap, crackle and pop to be confined in such a formulaic way.
Born Donna Mae Tjaden in 1922 in Tacoma, Washington, she was singing in public from age 5 in local amateur shows. She moved to Los Angeles after graduating from high school and earned a job as a singer at the Hollywood Canteen during the war years. The Canteen, which was a studio-sponsored gathering spot for servicemen, is where she was spotted by a Warner Brothers talent scout, who saw potential in her and signed her up. She began co-starring in secondary musicals that often paired her with either Dennis Morgan or Jack Carson. Later she was relegated to rugged adventures and dramas that just seemed out of her element. Following her role in the forgettable Two Gals and a Guy (1951), she decided to leave the Hollywood scene. She took to the Broadway boards and scored a huge hit with the 1951 comedy-mystery play "Remains to Be Seen", co-starring Jackie Cooper. She also toured successfully as a cabaret singer, performing everywhere from New York to Miami to Las Vegas to Los Angeles. Definitive stardom came in 1954 with the feisty role of Babe in Broadway's "The Pajama Game" opposite John Raitt. Her old Warner Bros. rival Doris Day, however, was a bigger name and went on to play the role on film (The Pajama Game (1957)) with Raitt. After a six-year hiatus, Janis returned to films in tongue-and-cheek support, all but stealing Silk Stockings (1957) from co-stars Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. She then grabbed her share of laughs in a flashy role with the comedy Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960) opposite Ms. Day. Janis carried on in summer stock, playing such indomitable roles as Annie Oakley in "Annie Get Your Gun", Margo Channing in "Applause", Mama Rose in "Gypsy" and Adelaide in "Guys and Dolls". From the mid-'50s on, Janis also tapped into TV with such series as It's Always Jan (1955), Lanigan's Rabbi (1976) and Trapper John, M.D. (1979). In the 1990s, among other TV appearances, she had recurring roles on the daytime serials General Hospital (1963) and Santa Barbara (1984). Married three times, she was the widow of Disney composer Ray Gilbert, who wrote the classic children's song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah."- Marla Adams was born on 28 August 1938 in Ocean City, New Jersey, USA. She was an actress, known for Gotcha! (1985), The Young and the Restless (1973) and The Golden Girls (1985). She died on 25 April 2024 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
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- Soundtrack
Barbara Rhoades was born on 23 March 1946 in Poughkeepsie, New York, USA. She is an actress, known for The Goodbye Girl (1977), Harry and Tonto (1974) and Busting Loose (1977). She has been married to Bernie Orenstein since 18 February 1979. They have one child.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Jonelle Allen was born on 8 July 1948 in New York City, New York, USA. She is an actress, known for Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993), The Wide World of Mystery (1973) and Forever and a Day (2020). She was previously married to Richard Grimmon, John Sharpe and Raymond Sanders.- Actor
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David began his career with the repertory companies at the Barter Theatre in Virginia America and the Hartford Stage Company followed by his New York debut as one of the twins in A Comedy of Errors in Joseph Papps Shakespeare Festival. In 1968 he played the lead in Summertree at New York's: Lincoln Centre winning the Clarence Derwent Award and the Theatre World Award. Later he played the lead role of Mark Elliott in the television series Love is a Many Splendored Thing followed by the part of Bernie in the comedy series Bridget Loves Bernie. Both were top ranking shows making him a well known name across America and earning numerous awards. He made his film debut in Caravan to Vaccares- Jimmy Baio was born on 15 March 1962 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is an actor, known for Soap (1977), Joe and Sons (1975) and Matt Houston (1982).
- Ellen Travolta was born on October 6, 1939 in Englewood, New Jersey, USA. She is an actress, known for Grease (1978), Joanie Loves Chachi (1982), and Charles in Charge (1984). She was previously married to Jack Bannon and James Thomas Fridley. She is one of John Travolta's siblings and has had her own respectable career. She played Scott Baio's mother in three different shows (Happy Days (1974), Joanie Loves Chachi, and Charles In Charge).
- Bess Armstrong was born on 11 December 1953 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. She is an actress, known for Jaws 3-D (1983), My So-Called Life (1994) and The Four Seasons (1981). She has been married to John Fiedler since 12 April 1986. They have three children. She was previously married to Chris Carreras.
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Judy Landers' pleasing personality and physical attributes have made this former Juilliard music student one of the popular character actresses in both action series like B.J. and the Bear (1978) and Vega$ (1978), as well as in a multitude of situation comedies during the 1980s. Although a student of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, her ability to play naive, innocent or sometimes even dimwitted characters, the blonde bombshell seems to have excelled more in comedies. She has appeared in series such as Night Court (1984) and The Love Boat (1977), and in films such as Stewardess School (1986) and Dr. Alien (1989). She is married to baseball player Tom Niedenfuer and they have two daughters, Lindsey and Kristy. Judy and her older sister Audrey Landers have appeared together in many projects, but one of the projects nearest and dearest to them seems to have been The Huggabug Club (1995), a children's series which they produced for Public Broadcasting. The duo not only starred in the series, they (along with their mother Ruth Landers) produced the series, and contributed most of the music to it, as well.- Actress
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Mackenzie Phillips was known for her role in the 1973 hit movie American Graffiti (1973). Two years later, she got the role that changed her life in the 1975 sitcom One Day at a Time (1975). The show was an instant success, and everything was going well until the third season was launched, when she was arrested for cocaine possession and lied about the incident on her uncredited appearance on Dinah and Her New Best Friends (1976). During the run of the 1979-1980 season, Mackenzie started to fall off the deep end. The producers didn't know what was wrong; she started getting tired and showing up late for rehearsals. On the set she was incoherent and the producers gave her a six-week leave of absence. In 1980, she was fired from the series, went to rehab, then returned in the fall of 1981. Sadly, in 1983, she fell asleep during a rehearsal. Producer Patricia Fass Palmer told her that she had to take another drug test, but she refused and left. She has since recovered and returned to acting.- Actress
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Although she was presented in 1969 the first Film Star of Tomorrow by The Motion Picture Exhibitors of Canada, the status of Sharon Acker as a star never materialized. Not that she was inactive, quite the opposite, but she worked almost only for TV and appeared only in a few undistinguished movies. She will, nevertheless, remain remembered for her role as Lee Marvin's ex-wife in John Boorman's classic Point Blank (1967). The victim of Marvin's rough manners, Acker as Lynne left a deep impact on male brains. Born in 1935, the Canadian-born actress started her film career in England when the play she was in, "Lucky Jim", Kingsley Amis' classic, was made into a movie. But she was not seen in many movies, except during the sixties, either in Canada or in the U.S. Meanwhile, she was very active on TV, first in Canada from the age of 19, then in the U.S. in made-for-TV movies or series like Star Trek (1966), Mission: Impossible (1966), Gunsmoke (1955), Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969), Barnaby Jones (1973), etc. She was a regular in the series The Bold Ones: The Senator (1970) for one year and played "Della Street" in the short-lived The New Perry Mason (1973). A talented actress seen too little in movie theaters.- Actor
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Actor Todd Bridges has seen and done it all. Todd has lived and worked amongst some of the most famous and influential individuals in the world. For over twenty-five years, he has victoriously survived a rapidly changing business. He experienced his second rise to fame, as "Juice" on The Young and the Restless (1973). Todd's career began and rocketed when he was only six years of age, forcing his family to relocate from a quiet, friendly neighborhood in San Francisco to the fast-paced stardom of Los Angeles, California in the early 70s. His mother, actress Betty A. Bridges, and father, the late James Bridges, Sr., came to Hollywood in search of the American dream. Betty went on to work quite a bit as an actress while James Sr. became one of the first prominent black Hollywood agents. Betty later became one of Hollywood's greatest managers and acting coaches, whose list of clients (soon to become stars) included her oldest child, Jimmy Bridges, her daughter Verda Bridges, Todd (of course), Nia Long (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990), Love Jones (1997)), Regina King (Jerry Maguire (1996)), Lamont Bentley (Moesha (1996)), and Aaron Meeks (Soul Food (2000)).
It all began one day while watching Redd Foxx display his comic genius on Sanford and Son (1972). Todd, then six, realized his dream of becoming an actor. He exclaimed excitedly to his mother, "I want to do that", pointing to the television set. He had asked on his own to enter a business which, during that time, was very limited for black artists. Nevertheless, Todd went on to make some remarkable strides in the industry, pioneering the way for other young, black actors. His first job was a Jell-O commercial, which starred the entire Bridges family. He later accomplished over 60 national commercials. Todd was the first black child actor to become a recurring regular on the hit series, The Waltons (1972), and Little House on the Prairie (1974) with the late great Michael Landon. He went on to guest star on Barney Miller (1975), which eventually gained a spin-off show, starring Abe Vigoda. The spin-off was titled Fish (1977) and Todd became a series regular for four years. Norman Lear, who spearheaded the success of Tandem Productions, with such shows under his belt as The Jeffersons (1975), Good Times (1974), All in the Family (1971) and The Facts of Life (1979), sought to create a new type of show that would cross the racial boundaries set in Hollywood in the early years of television. He began with the new kid in town, Gary Coleman, and a TV veteran, Conrad Bain, from the hit show, Maude (1972). The wheels were spinning and Diff'rent Strokes (1978) was born. The show originated with a wealthy white businessman who adopted his housekeeper's black child after she passed away. There was only one problem. Who would the creators find to match wits with the sassy Gary Coleman? Conrad Bain then suggested the creation of an older brother character to keep up with "Arnold's" wisecracks, a strong young actor capable of bouncing the ball back in his court. No one portrayed such qualities as Todd Bridges.
Diff'rent Strokes (1978) was introduced to American audience in the fall of 1978. With the new concept of a racially-mixed cast, the producers and creators were unsure how the viewers would react. To their surprise, the show was a complete success and ran strong for eight years. Todd Bridges became an international celebrity and household name by the age of 15. During his success with "Diff'rent Strokes", Todd guest starred on such shows as The Love Boat (1977), The Facts of Life (1979), Hello, Larry (1979), Battle of the Network Stars VI (1979), Circus of the Stars #6 (1981), and many, many more. An even bigger opportunity came when he was chosen to portray the role of Chicken George's grandson in the historical television miniseries, Roots (1977), where his performance is still applauded to this day.
After "Diff'rent Strokes" ended its long run in 1986, things became difficult for Todd. All of a sudden, no one would hire him due to his being typecast as "Willis Drummond". He began to experience turbulent times, which would later lead to drug addiction and trouble with the authorities. There would be a pause in his career and his life for nearly ten years.
Todd Bridges has been clean and sober for twenty-six years. He is a working actor, director, and producer and is well on his way to the rebirth of a promising television and motion picture career. Together, Todd and his brother, James Jr., have partnered to establish their own production company, "Little Bridge Productions".
His recent film credits (as an actor) include _1210 Camille Street_ with Faizon Love (Friday (1995), The Replacements (2000)), Frat (), _Hollywood Horror (2000)_ with Tia Mowry and 'Tamara Mowry' (_"Sister Sister" (1994)_) and A Testimony. He also recently completed a feature film in Utah called The Climb (2002) for Billy Graham's production company. He directed, produced and starred in the short film about his life, Building Bridges (2000), for TBN. He also directed, along with his brother, a full-length feature film titled Black Ball (2003) (aka Full Circle), starring Lisa Sweat (wife of R&B singer Keith Sweat), Stoney Jackson, De'aundre Bonds, his wife Dori Bridges, and a host of other great names. His directorial credits also include the feature film, Flossin (2001), the life story of his pastor and childhood friend, Pastor Ernest Johnson. On a more personal note, Todd is a proud husband and father. He has been married, since 1998, to his wife, Dori Bridges, and they have one son, Spencir Bridges. Todd has traveled the nation speaking to over 6,000 kids per day in high schools, middle schools, and churches warning about the dangers of drug use, negative peer pressure, and proclaiming Christ Jesus!- Actor
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Billy Crystal was born on March 14, 1948 in Manhattan, New York, and was raised on Long Island. He is the youngest of three sons born to Helen (Gabler) and Jack Crystal. His father was a well-known concert promoter who co-founded Commodore Records and his mother was a homemaker. His family were Jewish emigrants from Russia, Austria, and Lithuania. With his father in the music business, Billy was no stranger to some of the top performers of the time. Legends such as Billie Holiday, Pee Wee Russell, and Eddie Condon regularly stopped by the Crystal household. At age 15, Billy faced a personal tragedy when his father died of a heart attack at the relatively young age of 54. This gave Billy a real appreciation of what his dad was able to accomplish while alive and what his mother did to keep the family together. Despite this tragedy, Billy was very upbeat and likable as a kid. He had a unique talent for making people laugh.
With television becoming a new medium, Billy got his influence from shows like The Honeymooners (1955), and "The Ed Sullivan Show" and performers like Alan King, Ernie Kovacs and Jonathan Winters. He started doing stand-up comedy at the age of 16. However, his real dream was to be a professional baseball player. His idol growing up was Yankees outfielder Mickey Mantle. He spent long hours in the summers playing softball in the middle of Park Avenue with his brothers and his father, a former pitcher at St. John's University . At Long Beach High, Billy played second base and was varsity captain in his senior year. This earned him a baseball scholarship from Marshall University in West Virginia which he accepted. However, he would never end up playing a game as the baseball program was suspended during his freshman year. This would lead him to leave the university and move back to New York. He then enrolled at nearby Nassau Community College, majoring in theater. It was there that he met and fell in love with a dancer named Janice Goldfinger. They would get married in 1970 and have two daughters. Shortly after, Billy got accepted in New York University, where he majored in Film and TV Direction. While at NYU, he studied under legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese. He also worked as house manager and usher on a production of "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown."
After receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts from NYU in 1970, Billy temporarily worked as a substitute teacher until he was able to get gigs as a stand-up comic. He formed his own improv group, 3's Company, and opened for musicians like Barry Manilow. His impression of Howard Cosell interviewing Muhammad Ali became a huge hit with the audience. He left Long Beach for Hollywood in August of 1976 in the hopes of trying to land a role on a television series. It only took a year before he got his big break when he was chosen for the role of gay character Jodie Dallas on the controversial ABC sitcom Soap (1977). This would be the first time that an American TV show would feature an openly gay character as a regular. The show ran successfully for four seasons and helped to jump-start Billy's previously stagnant career. After Soap (1977) ended in 1981, Billy continued to do his stand-up routine, which was now attracting a larger audience with his growing celebrity status. During this time, he made many TV guest appearances and even hosted his own short-lived variety show, The Billy Crystal Comedy Hour (1982).
He became a regular on Saturday Night Live (1975) in 1984 where his Fernando Lamas impression with the catchphrase "You Look Mahvellous" was a huge hit with viewers. This would lead to appearances in feature-length films such as Running Scared (1986) and Throw Momma from the Train (1987). In 1986, along with Whoopi Goldberg and Robin Williams, he started Comic Relief, an annual stand-up comedy show which helped to raise money for housing and medical care for the homeless. The show has since grown substantially with the continued support of all three comics. Billy's career would peak in the late 1980s and early 1990s. His roles in the blockbuster movies When Harry Met Sally... (1989) and City Slickers (1991) helped to establish himself as one of Hollwood's top movie stars. This star status was further validated when he was chosen to host the annual Oscars in 1990, an honor in which he would repeat seven more times. He made his big screen directorial debut in the 1992 film Mr. Saturday Night (1992), which was about a washed-up stand-up comic who refuses to retire. He also wrote, produced and starred in the film. Although the film was not a huge hit, it proved that Billy was much more than an actor and comedian. In the following years, Billy continued to act in, produce, and direct several films.
He had his share of hits (Analyze This (1999), America's Sweethearts (2001)) and some flops (Fathers' Day (1997), My Giant (1998)). His role in as a therapist to mobster Robert De Niro in Analyze This (1999) earned him critical praise. In 2001, Billy parlayed his childhood love of baseball and Mickey Mantle into a feature film. The movie, 61* (2001), which premiered on HBO, centered on the relationship between Mantle and Roger Maris and their 1961 pursuit of Babe Ruth's home run record. The film for which Billy served as director and executive producer, garnered 12 Emmy nominations in all.
Offscreen, Billy remains married to Janice Crystal and they have homes in California and New York. Both of his daughters are involved in the film business. Jennifer Crystal Foley is an aspiring actress, appearing in 61* (2001), while Lindsay Crystal is an aspiring filmmaker, creating and directing the documentary My Uncle Berns (2003).- Actress
- Music Department
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Toni Tennille was born on 8 May 1940 in Montgomery, Alabama, USA. She is an actress and composer, known for Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982), 200 Cigarettes (1999) and Vega$ (1978). She was previously married to Daryl Dragon and Kenneth Shearer.- Actress
- Soundtrack
This tall, attractive, rubber-faced, tunnel-mouthed comedienne with the trademark bouffant black hair is a one-of-a-kind commodity and certainly no shrinking violet when it comes to entertaining. Unapologetically, she adores the center stage...and vice versa -- the stage loves her. Like several of her Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1967) cohorts, Jo Anne Worley zoomed to overnight cult stardom in the late 1960s but, in her case, was able to extend her wild and woolly popularity to several other levels once her "fifteen minutes" of fame was over. Over the years, she has situated herself nicely into night clubs, musical theater productions, game shows, talk shows, commercials, and even cartoons. Four decades plus later, Jo Anne continues to delight and is instantly recognized with a mere raucous laugh or pointy digit embedded in her cheek.
The brassy, indefatigable Jo Anne was born in Lowell, Indiana, on September 6, 1937, the third of five children and has always separated herself from the crowd with her distinctively loud voice, whether singing or not. The writing was on the wall when she was crowned "school comedienne" in high school.
Following graduation (1955), she traveled east to pursue her dreams and initially apprenticed with the Pickwick Players. After a two-year dramatic scholarship to Midwestern State University, she transferred to Los Angeles City College and also trained at the Pasadena Playhouse. It did not take long before she made her professional debut in a production of "Wonderful Town." In 1961, she garnered some attention in the popular L.A. musical revue "Billy Barnes People," a show that took her all the way, if very briefly, to Broadway.
Performing in assorted musicals and revues over the next few years including "Carnival" (1962), "Second City Review" (1964), and "Hotel Passionato" (1965), Jo Anne's career was given a boost when she co-starred with fellow up-and-comers Linda Lavin and Paul Sand in the Mad Magazine-inspired off-Broadway revue "The Mad Show" in 1966. That same year, she received the break she was looking for when she was discovered by talk-show host Merv Griffin while showcasing her nightclub act in Greenwich Village. Griffin took a strong liking to her and gave her a viable comedy platform to play on with approximately 200 appearances in all. Producer George Schlatter caught Jo Anne's zany antics on Griffin's show and invited her to swinging TV stardom in 1968. The rest is history.
It's not always easy to stand out in a large ensemble but Jo Anne did, complete with unabashed manic energy and faux operatic tones on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1967) as part of the "let it all hang out" generation. In this psychedelic, irreverently political pastiche of comedy slapstick and music, Jo Anne found a perfect forum for her talents. Her bold, infectious comic flair proved a real crowd pleaser, and the big boned brunette became a certifiable TV star. While the show also made stars out of Ruth Buzzi, Henry Gibson and Arte Johnson and superstars out of Goldie Hawn and Lily Tomlin, it also managed to rebuff the somewhat fading stars of co-hosts Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, and singer/actress Judy Carne.
In 1970, Jo Anne left the celebrated madness at the peak of the show's popularity to pursue a variety of other creative outlets. She made onscreen guest appearances on several TV shows, notably Love, American Style (1969), and was a steadfast presence on the talk show, variety show and game show circuits. Strangly enough, however, she never found a sitcom or another TV vehicle to adequately test-drive her comedy revvings.
With such a high-wattage personality that invites comparisons to Carol Burnett, Carol Channing and Ethel Merman, Jo Anne may have out-sized herself for films but her larger-than-life presence perfectly fit the musical theater bill. For decades she found a vast number of showcases to logically suit her. Her many musical tours have included, notably, "Gypsy" as Mama Rose, "The Wizard of Oz" as the Wicked Witch, and "Mame" as the title socialite. In addition, Jo Anne has found marvelous vehicles in "The Pirates of Penzance," "Annie Get Your Gun," "Anything Goes," "Nunsense," "Grease!," "Call Me Madam," and "Annie". Her non-singing theater resume includes "Luv," "Same Time, Next Year," "Lovers and Other Strangers," "Moon Over Buffalo," "Steel Magnolias," and the female version of "The Odd Couple." Many of these shows co-starred then-husband Roger Perry, whom she married in 1975. The couple had no children and divorced in 2000.
In 1989, Jo Anne returned to Broadway to appear in the original performance of "The Prince of Central Park." Her work over the years has been plentiful, especially for the Disney people, including the movie The Shaggy D.A. (1976) and animated features Beauty and the Beast (1991) (as the voice of the Wardrobe) and A Goofy Movie (1995).
Nearing the millennium, Jo Anne has made sporadic guest appearances on such TV shows as "Mad About You," "Caroline in the City," "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," "Boy Meets World," "Wizards of Waverly Place," "Bones," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Jessie" and "The Middle."
In other pursuits, Jo Anne has been active on the lecture circuit and has also served on the Board of Directors for Actors and Others for Animals. She also performs in concert, typically offering parodies of well-known songs to suit her man-chasing personality. A culinary enthusiast, she has also been seen whipping up specialties on the Food Network ("Ready Set Cook" and "Chef du jour").- Actress
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Melendy Britt is an American actress active in television and voice acting since the 1970s. Her most notable animated work is for Filmation, voicing characters such as She-Ra, and the second animated Batgirl (Jane Webb was the first). She also provided the voice for Penny, would-be love interest and aide to Plasticman (Ruby-Spears). In the TV series Cheers (1982), she played Kelly Gaines' mother, Roxanne Gaines, in the episode Woody or Won't He (1990). She was also the voice for Gran Gran in the cartoon series, Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005). Britt was born in Charlotte, North Carolina on October 31, 1943 and grew up in Houston, Texas. She has two daughters.- Actress
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As a testament to her passion and talent, former 1950s pig-tailed moppet star Patty McCormack has remained a consistent presence on film and TV for over five decades. While the lovely and talented blonde suffered her share of hard knocks and obvious stereotypes in adjusting to an adult career, she did not fade away into oblivion or self destruct as other vulnerable child stars before her did.
Born Patricia Ellen Russo in Brooklyn, New York, to Frank Russo, a firefighter, and the former Elizabeth McCormack, a roller skating pro, the young girl found herself modeling at age 4. Two years later, she had progressed to films with bits in Two Gals and a Guy (1951) and Here Comes the Groom (1951). Soon thereafter she made her Broadway debut (at age 6) in the short-lived play "Touchstone" starring Ossie Davis.
While simultaneously appearing in the live television series Mama (1949) [aka "I Remember Mama"], the by-now 8-year-old returned to Broadway a second time and created the role that would make her a cult sensation -- "Rhoda Penmark", the tiny, braided little demon with murderous intentions in "The Bad Seed". Starring Nancy Kelly as her put-upon, overly-trusting mother, the show became a certifiable hit. The two actors were invited to recreate their famous roles in the film version, The Bad Seed (1956), and achieved equally fine results. No child before her had ever been given such a deliberately evil, twisted role and Patty chewed up the scenery with courteous malevolence. Though the film today may come off as extremely stagy and overly mannered to some, its fascination cannot be denied. Audiences took readily to Patty and her wicked ways and the young actress earned both Oscar and Golden Globe "Best Supporting Actress" nominations.
The film would be a hard act to follow or forget. So strongly identified with the role, Patty found it difficult for audiences to see her any other way. She tried finding some variance as a pioneer girl in All Mine to Give (1957), a testy child star in Kathy O' (1958) and a tomboy in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960) but the memory of "Rhoda Penmark" would not be so easily wiped away. She suffered typical teen angst in the film The Explosive Generation (1961) with William Shatner and had to make do as a young adult in such low-level movies as The Mini-Skirt Mob (1968), Maryjane (1968) and The Young Animals (1968).
By the 1970s Patty, who had spent so much time as a child doing live television, found herself again relying on the medium for steadier work. Billed now as a more grown-up "Patricia McCormack", she also appeared in a variety of legit stage productions and, on occasion, found roles in independent films. Appearing in more than 250 episodes of some of the most successful programs around, audiences may remember her giving sensible, wifely support to Jeffrey Tambor on The Ropers (1979), the short-lived spin-off of the Three's Company (1976) sitcom, or from her recurring role as "Evelyn Michaelson" on Dallas (1978). More recently on film and TV, she played "Adrianna"'s mother, "Liz LaCerva", on HBO's hit The Sopranos (1999) and appeared in guest form on NYPD Blue (1993), Cold Case (2003), Grey's Anatomy (2005), Entourage (2004) and What About Brian (2006). She also played former "First Lady" "Pat Nixon" in the film Frost/Nixon (2008).
In 1995, Patty's devoted fans reveled when she felt comfortable enough to embrace again her "Bad Seed" behavior by starring in the low-budget horror feature Mommy (1995) and its sequel Mommy's Day (1997) [aka "Mommy 2"]. She came full circle as a most pernicious homemaker who created violent, Rhoda-worthy ends for those unlucky enough to cross her path.
Patti's millennium films, a variety of comedy, drama and, of course, horror films, would include The Medicine Show (2001), Choosing Matthias (2001), Shallow Ground (2004), Frost/Nixon (2008) (as First Lady Pat Nixon), Soda Springs (2012), Buttwhistle (2014), Chicanery (2017) and a lead in the lowbudget mystery House of Deadly Secrets (2018). As for TV, in addition to guest parts on such shows as "The D.A.," "N.Y.P.D. Blue," "Grey's Anatomy," "Entourage," "Criminal Minds," "Shark," "Private Practice," "Citizen Jane," "Desperate Housewives," "Prime Suspect," "Hawaii Five-0, she had recurring roles on The Sopranos (1999), Have You Met Miss Jones? (2012), Hart of Dixie (2011) and the daytime series General Hospital (1963) as Dr. Monica Quartermaine. She also played the small role of a doctor in a remake of her cult film The Bad Seed (2018).
A mother herself with two children, Robert and Danielle, Patty was once married to Bob Catania, a restaurateur. She was also an eight-year companion to screenwriter and playwright Ernest Thompson of On Golden Pond (1981) fame.- Entrancing Leigh Taylor-Young was born on January 25, 1945, in Washington, D,C,. to a diplomat father and raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, the older sister of future actress Dey Young and writer/director Lance Young. She studied classical ballet and, following high school, attended Northwestern University where she initially majored in economics. She switched gears after developing an interest in theater, however, and studied under drama teacher Alvina Krause, and would apprentice as the youngest member of the Eaglesmere Summer Repertory Theatre.
Leigh eventually moved to New York with designs on a professional career and studied under acting guru Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse. Her major break came when she was cast in the already firmly established prime-time TV soap Peyton Place (1964). She played the mysterious Rachael Welles, whose character was brought in to provide clues to the disappearance of Allison MacKenzie (played by Mia Farrow who shocked ardent viewers by abruptly leaving the series). A mysterious girl herself, Leigh proved to be a fetching figure with her slightly off-kiltered beauty and unsympathetic countenance.
Like Farrow, Leigh developed a bit of bad publicity when she too walked off the weekly series after only one season. She also fell into the arms of the very popular -- and very married -- series star Ryan O'Neal. The couple would marry in 1967 following his divorce from actress Joanna Moore. By then, Leigh was already pregnant with their child Patrick O'Neal, who would later become an actor before turning to sportscasting.
Leigh started off in films auspiciously as a "flower child" of the psychedelic (late) 1960s. She earned a Golden Globe nomination for "Best Newcomer," when she played opposite Peter Sellers, in the eccentric comedy, I Love You, Alice B. Toklas! (1968), but then appeared opposite her husband in The Big Bounce (1969), a kinky misfire. She went on to appear in a cameo in her husband's British-made movie, The Games (1970), but her career sputtered again with a series of misguided features, including the star-heavy epic, The Adventurers (1970); another kinky British film, The Buttercup Chain (1970), which dealt with kissing cousins who don't quite stop at kissing; the beautifully photographed but rather hollow action-adventure The Horsemen (1971) co-starring Omar Sharif; and the mild romp, The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971) which is best remembered for starting Robert De Niro off and running in films. Arguably, Leigh's best remembered role during that period came alongside Charlton Heston in the controversial film Soylent Green (1973), although she was a bit overshadowed by the grisly topic material and showier performances of co-stars Heston and Edward G. Robinson.
Following her separation from O'Neal in 1971 (they didn't actually divorce until '74), the actress made herself somewhat scarce while raising her young son. In 1978, she married agent/director Guy McElwaine, but that marriage would also end in divorce. In the 1980s, she made a comeback of sorts as a mature -- but still spicy -- presence. Taking a back seat to Albert Finney in the film thriller Looker (1981) and to Glenn Close and Jeff Bridges in the whodunnit Jagged Edge (1985), she found her best results back on TV.
Leigh would nab a supporting Emmy award in 1994 for her portrayal of vixen Rachel Harris on the acclaimed series drama Picket Fences (1992). In addition, she performed in several plays, in the US, England and Scotland, including "The Beckett Plays", "Knives" and "Sleeping Dogs". More recently, she appeared in her writer/director brother Lance Young's film Bliss (1997). Leigh also would play a regular role on the daytime soap, Passions (1999) as wealthy Katherine Crane.
A few movie roles have come her way into the millennium, including the film comedy Slackers (2002); a cameo role (as Mrs. Leigh Taylor Young) in (then) husband Craig Sheffer's film Ritual (2002); the comedy crimer Klepto (2003); the comedy A-List (2006); as a psychiatrist in the sci-fi adventure Spiritual Warriors (2007) and, more recently, the drama The Wayshower (2011).
Finding a fulfilling life off-camera, Leigh became an ordained minister in the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, and her voice can be heard in the Search of Serenity series of audio meditations from The Course in Miracles trainings. She is also a grandmother of two granddaughters from son Patrick's relationship with the older Rebecca De Mornay. - Actress
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Melinda Naud was born on 24 February 1955 in New York, New York, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Happy Days (1974), Operation Petticoat (1977) and Black Sheep Squadron (1976).- Actress
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Originally groomed for the theater, Sullivan worked at the National Repertory Theatre in Washington D.C. before landing a role in Broadway opposite Dustin Hoffman in "Jimmy Shine". Sullivan continued appearing in theater while working on Falcon Crest (1981) in the 1980s. In the 1960s, Susan played "Lenore Curtin" on Another World (1964) for four years, a role that gave her much experience in television, and evidently had a lot of fun from what fellow co-stars (especially Nicolas Coster) have testified. Following her role, Sullivan was acting off-Broadway when an agent spotted her and encouraged her to move to Hollywood, signing her to a contract which was conditional upon her doing so. She went on to play a dozen different parts on TV before taking on the role that would win her an Emmy nomination; that of Peter Strauss' lover in the miniseries, Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II (1976). Sullivan then played a gynecologist in two TV movies, Having Babies II (1977) and Having Babies III (1978), which led to a role in the short-run series Having Babies (1978) (aka Julia Farr, M.D.). Sullivan then went on to become a member of the ensemble cast of It's a Living (1980). She attained her greatest success during the '80s when she played the often put-upon "Maggie" on Falcon Crest (1981). Throughout FC's run, Sullivan remained devoted to the theatre appearing in "Fifth of July" at the Mark Taper Forum in L.A. and "Last Summer" at Blue Fish Cove in San Francisco. Sullivan decided to leave FC at the start of its final season after seven seasons because she felt "Maggie was repeating herself". Sullivan looks back on her days at FC with pride, especially at her gutsy work when her character had a brief bout with alcohol, drawing on her memories of being the child of an alcoholic. After leaving FC, Sullivan continued her charity association with the Blue Cross and ACOA (Adult Children of Alcoholics). She then got the opportunity to play comedy in a guest stint in Doctor Doctor (1989). Sullivan then recorded two pilot comedies, "Ruth Harper" and "Satellite News". She then went on to play the recurring character of George Carlin's love interest on his self-titled show. While working on GC, she played Robert Urich's ex-wife in Danielle Steel's A Perfect Stranger (1994). In 1995, Sullivan returned to drama in ABC's The Monroes (1995) as "Kathryn Monroe", wife of political aspirant William Devane. Sullivan relished the role, and despite the show folding soon after, she received rave reviews, being dubbed the season's best actress. She was also singled out in publications as the show's saving grace. Sullivan continues to stay in touch with several Falcon Crest (1981) stars, including David Selby, and is now dating author Connell Cowan whom she has been seeing since 1989. Sullivan has a sister, Brigid, an executive at WGBH-TV in Boston, and a brother, Brendan, a methadone counselor in N.Y.C. Sullivan had no qualms about working as a bunny girl in the Manhattan Playboy Club ("I had been a waitress before and I felt I would rather show my legs and make sixty dollars a night instead of twenty"), where she recited Shakespeare while serving drinks. When she was twenty-three, Sullivan dated Cary Grant. Behind the scenes, stories of Susan indicate she is big on practical jokes and works hard at cracking the cast up. Her co-star on Falcon Crest (1981), David Selby (Richard) has recalled the time Susan went into the bathroom to slip into something more comfortable for her role, and when the passion of the scene reached fever-pitch, she dropped the robe to reveal a body-stocking crammed with bottles, cans and tubes of toothpaste. David and the rest of the crew fell about laughing hysterically. Sullivan has been a spokeswoman for Tylenol for many years, and is proud to be associated with the product (pointing out the fact that she has been able to buy a beach house with the proceeds). Attractive, intelligent and outspoken, Sullivan is a well-grounded and giving actress who brings much insight into whichever role she chooses to play.- Sharon Rose Gabet is an actor, a registered nurse and certified yoga teacher trained at Shambhava School of Yoga, Boulder, CO. Born and raised in Indiana, she received a degree in nursing from Purdue, completed the MFA Acting Program at Cornell University, moved to New York City, was accepted into the famed Actor's Studio and worked with Lee Strasberg, Elia Kazan, Lee Grant and Arthur Penn. She enjoyed a dozen years as an Eighties soap star, garnering two Best Actress Daytime Emmy nominations for her portrayal of Raven Whitney on 'The Edge of Night' (1977-1984).
After her third child was born with autism, Sharon Rose began a twenty-year study and exploration of alternative medicine, holistic healing, spirituality, metaphysics, psychology, philosophy, astrology and astronomy. Her professional resume includes experience as a nurse, energy therapist, workshop facilitator, astrologer, actor and author ('Spiritual Magic', 'From the Raven to the Dove'). She loves traveling around the world's ancient archaeological sites and lives with her daughter among the California Redwoods. - Actress
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Glynis Johns was the daughter of actor Mervyn Johns. Best known for her light comedy roles and often playful flirtation, Glynis was born in South Africa while her parents were on tour there (her mother was a concert pianist) but was always proud of her Welsh roots and took delight in playing the female lead (opposite Richard Burton) in the classic Under Milk Wood (1971). She was probably best known for her role as the suffragette mother in Mary Poppins (1964) although she is probably best loved for her fishy roles in Miranda (1948) and Mad About Men (1954). She had earlier showed she could take on the serious roles as well as in Frieda (1947). Most recently seen (at the time of writing) in Superstar (1999). Johns died in 2024, aged 100, having never received the damehood she had richly deserved for decades. Predeceased by her only son, she was survived by a grandson,Thomas Forwood, and three great-grandchildren.