Gary Busey was borin in 1944 in Goose Creek, Texas. In 1978 he starred in the title role in “The Buddy Holly Story”. That same year he also starred with Jan-Michael Vincent and William Katt in the iconic classic “The Big Wednesday”.
IMDB entry:
A blond-haired, fair-complexioned actor with a toothy grin and capable of an unsettling glint in his eyes, Gary Busey was born in Goose Creek, Texas, and was raised in Oklahoma. He is the son of Sadie Virginia (Arnett), a homemaker, and Delmar Lloyd Busey, a construction design manager. He has English, as well as Irish, Scottish, and German, ancestry. He graduated from Nathan Hale High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1962 and for a while was a professional musician. A talented drummer, he played in several bands, including those of country-and-western legends Leon Russell, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson.
Busey’s first film appearance was as a biker in the low-budget Angels Hard as They Come(1971) and, over the next few years, he landed several film roles generally as a country hick/redneck or surly, rebellious types. His real breakthrough came in the dynamic filmThe Buddy Holly Story (1978), with Busey taking the lead role as Buddy Holly, in addition to playing guitar and singing all the vocals! His stellar performance scored him a Best Actor nomination and the attention of Hollywood taking overcasting agents. Next up, he joined fellow young actors William Katt and Jan-Michael Vincent as surfing buddies growing up together in the cult surf film Big Wednesday (1978), directed by John Milius. However, a string of appearances in somewhat mediocre films took him out of the spotlight for several years, until he played the brutal assassin Mr. Joshua trying to kill Los Angeles cops Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in the runaway mega-hit Lethal Weapon(1987). Further strong roles followed, including alongside Danny Glover once again inPredator 2 (1990). He was back on the beaches, this time tracking bank robbers with FBI agent Keanu Reeves, in Point Break (1991) and nearly stole the show as a psychotic Navy officer in league with terrorists led by Tommy Lee Jones taking over the USS Missouri in the highly popular Under Siege (1992).
The entertaining Busey has continued to remain busy in front of the cameras and has certainly developed a minor cult following among many film fans. Plus, he’s also the proud father of accomplished young actor Jake Busey, whose looks make him almost a dead ringer for his famous father.
– IMDb Mini Biography By: firehouse44@hotmail.c
The above IMDB entry can also be accessed online here.
Craig McLachlan was born in 1965 in New South Wales, Australia. He began his acting career on Australian TV soaps such as “Neighbours” and “Home and Away”. In 2005 he starred in “Hating Alison Ashley” on film and currently he is on TV in “At Home With Julia”.
IMDB entry:
Craig McLachlan is one of Australia’s most versatile actors and a household name both in Australia and the U.K. He has been the recipient of the top Australian television accolade, the coveted Gold Logie and his stage production of Grease held the U.K. West End all time box office record from 1993 right up to 2010.
He is an actor of huge range who is equally comfortable in film, television or stage productions. He not only carries with him huge personal charisma but is also not afraid to use it, which might account for his singular popularity across a wide range of audience demographics both in Australia and internationally.
Craig first appeared on television in a guest role on the TV drama Sons And Daughters in late 1986. He became famous in 1987 in the role of Henry Ramsay, brother of Kylie Minogue’s character Charlene, in Neighbours, a role which not only garnered him significant praise both in Australia and the UK but also led to an offer two years later to play schoolteacher Grant Mitchell on Home And Away, thereby becoming one of the few actors to achieve popularity in all of the major Australian television dramas.
Craig has also had Major success as a singer and songwriter, achieving Australian and UK hit singles with such songs as “Amanda” (AUS#23 / UK#19, 1990), and “On My Own” (AUS#23, 1991) and the now classic remake of the Bo Diddley song “Mona” (AUS#3 / UK#2, 1990),
In 1993 he was invited to London and starred as Danny Zuko in the popular West End revival of the musical Grease alongside Deborah Gibson, a role he played to great acclaim .If this wasn’t enough in 1995 Craig appeared in the popular British television series BUGS, as a free-lance agent and electronics expert, who along with his colleagues worked covertly to combat terrorist threats. Proving that his abilities extended beyond television series and stage productions he appeared in the major television movie Catherine The Great alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jeanne Moreau and Omar Sharif.
In 2001, Craig had a breakthrough with the American movie Superfire, The first of many US attached performances and in 2004, was asked to take the role of Kane Morgan in the popular show, McLeod’s Daughters.
In 2005 he starred as Jeff Kennard in the successful Australian film Hating Alison Ashley, with fellow Neighbours star Delta Goodrem, and then returned to London to take over the role of Caracticus Potts in the London Palladium Production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, with Richard O’Brien as the Child Catcher, who had long been a fan of Craig’s ever since Craig played Richards greatest creation, Fran ‘N Furter In The Rocky Horror Show, in 2003.
Craig continues to be popular and his star shows no sign of diminishing as is demonstrated by his appearance as Billy Flynn in Australia and Asia in Chicago as well as roles in the hit series City Homicide, The Cut, and the number one Australia TV series Packed To The Rafters. Combine this with his stand out performances in the feature films Savage Crossings and Amar A Moir and it becomes clear that Craig is not only here to stay but is rapidly becoming a force to be reckoned with in all aspects of his profession.
Craig is thrilled to be working back in Australia with the hit show Rescue Special Opps during 2010.
– IMDb Mini Biography By: S and J Management
The above IMDB entry can also be accessed online here.
David Keith was born in 1954 in Knoxville, Tennessee. His first film was “The Great Santini” in 1979. He won wide praise for his performance as Richard Gere’s army friend in “An Officer and a Gentleman”. His other films include “The Two Jakes”, “Running Wild”, and “Unrequited” in 2010.
Joseph Fiennes was born in 1970 in Wiltshire. He is the younger brother of Ralph Fiennes. In 1973 he moved to Ireland with his family and was educated there for some years. His film debut was in 1996 in “Stealing Beauty”. His other films include “Shakespeare in Love”, “Elizabeth””Killing Me Softly” and “The Darwin Award
Despite the long shadow cast by his older brother, Ralph Fiennes, actor Joseph Fiennes carved out a comfortable niche in compelling independent and foreign features. Like many actors from England, Fiennes studied theater, particularly Shakespeare, where he delved into the finer nuances of his craft while performing the classics. He did struggle, however, in those early years, living hand-to-mouth while performing on the stage for the Royal Shakespeare Company. But he finally emerged to become an international star with his winsome portrayal of a young and lovesick Bard in “Shakespeare in Love” (1998). The Oscar-winning film propelled his profile into the stratosphere, giving Fiennes his pick of projects at that time. But instead of enhancing his newfound stardom, he followed his own path by returning to the stage while churning out a string of often little-seen independents, only to occasionally emerge in larger films like “Enemy at the Gates” (2001), “The Great Raid” (2005) and “Running with Scissors” (2006). Ironically, Fiennes often found himself accosted by the tabloid press for his exploits with various models and actresses, including Naomi Campbell and Catherine McCormack, despite being intensely private; perhaps a result of him casting off the typical trappings of being a successful and talented performer.
Born on May 27, 1970 in Salisbury, Whiltshire, England, Fiennes was the youngest of six siblings and one half of fraternal twins born to Mark, a farmer and photographer, and his mother, Jini (a.k.a. Jennifer Lash), author of The Burial (1961), The Dust Collector (1979) and Blood Ties (1998). The Fiennes family moved around the British Isles quite a bit, which included a stay in West Cork, Ireland. By his own count, Fiennes had changed schools some 14-odd times. When he was 16, he finished school and attended art college in Suffolk, only to switch to working at the National Theatre as a dresser and eventually performing with the Young Vic Youth Theatre. Fiennes received a grant to attend the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and after graduating in 1993, embarked on his performing career in earnest. He spent two seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company, which proved to be a mixed blessing. While receiving excellent notices for his performances, including a portrayal of Jesus Christ in Dennis Potter’s “Son of Man” (1995), Fiennes was suffering financial distress, paying out more than he was taking in.
Despite the early struggle, he managed to advance his career with turns opposite Helen Mirren in “A Month in the Country” (1994) and Bernard Hill in “A View From the Bridge” (1995). He finally began to climb out from his doldrums with his television acting debut on “The Vacillations of Poppy Carew” (ITV, 1995), which he followed with a noted performance as a young gay man in Bernardo Bertolucci’s romantic drama “Stealing Beauty” (1996). Following well-regarded theatrical turns as Troilus in “Troilus and Cressida” (1996) and Silvius in “As You Like It” (1996), Fiennes gained some much-needed momentum when he landed leading roles in three high profile features. In “The Very Thought of You/Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence” (1998), a low-budget comedy about three friends who fall for an American expatriate, he was cast as the sensitive Laurence, who passes his time teaching elderly women how to play bridge. He followed as Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who is the childhood love of the eventual Queen of England (Cate Blanchett) in the somewhat controversial biopic “Elizabeth” (1998). In this version, directed by Shekhar Kapur, the relationship between the monarch and her favorite is depicted as a carnal one, which belied the established history.
Fiennes was launched to international stardom with his next film, “Shakespeare in Love” (1998), in which he played a lovesick William Shakespeare struggling to write “Romeo and Ethel, the Pirates Daughter” while embarking on a forbidden love with the daughter (Gwyneth Paltrow) of a wealthy merchant. Written by acclaimed playwright Tom Stoppard, “Shakespeare in Love” won a surprise Academy Award for Best Picture. But instead of capitalizing on the film’s success, the atypical star balked at major Hollywood features and instead returned to the London stage to star in “Real Classy Affair” (1998). He rounded out a banner year with a starring role in the romantic comedy of errors, “The Very Thought of You” (1998), but suffered a creative step back with the outlandish comedy thriller “Rancid Aluminum” (2000). Following another acclaimed return to the stage in the title role of Christopher Marlowe’s “Edward II” (2001) at the Crucible Theatre, Fiennes was cast opposite Jude Law and Rachel Weisz to form a triangular romance in the WWII-era drama “Enemy at the Gates” (2001). Playing a Russian soldier adept at propaganda, who uses Law’s exploits as a marksman to create a hero during the siege of Stalingrad, the actor handled a difficult role with aplomb. He was better served with a leading role in the erotically-charged drama of sexual obsession “Killing Me Softly” (2001).
After strong turns playing a recently released political prisoner in the long-delayed British-made drama “Leo” (2002), Fiennes returned to the historical biopic when he played the German monk and activist Martin Luther in the European production of “Luther” (2003). Expanding his horizons to animation, he voiced Prince Proteus, the best friend of the legendary sailor “Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas” (2003). After portraying Berowne in Trevor Nunn’s superb production of “Love’s Labour’s Lost” (2003) for the Royal National Theatre, Fiennes made a welcome return to the world of Shakespeare on the big screen, adroitly playing the role of Bassanio opposite Al Pacino’s Shylock in “The Merchant of Venice” (2004). He next played an army officer stricken by disease after surviving the Bataan Death March in “The Great Raid” (2005), based on the true story of the liberation of the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in the Philippines during World War II. In “Running With Scissors” (2006), he was the 33-year-old son of an unorthodox psychiatrist (Brian Cox) who enters into a sexual relationship with a young boy (Joseph Cross) sent to live with them after leaving his dysfunctional family.
Continuing to take on roles in independent films rather than reach for superstardom, Fiennes starred in “The Darwin Awards” (2007), playing a paranoid obsessive-compulsive former detective a la “Monk” who becomes an insurance assessor and falls in love with his partner (Winona Ryder) while investigating a series of bizarre accidents. Following a turn as the real-life James Gregory, the censor officer and prison guard for Nelson Mandela (Dennis Haysbert) in “Goodbye Bafana” (2007), he played a tough, but muted convict who helps a career criminal (Brian Cox) bust out of prison in the intelligent, but little-seen crime thriller “The Escapist” (2009). That fall, Fiennes made a surprising move to American primetime on “FlashForward” (ABC, 2009-2010), a sci-fi series starring Fiennes as the head of an FBI unit investigating the cause of a mass time travel incident that has shaken up the planet. After that show was canceled following large scale promotion declaring it the next “Lost,” Fiennes starred as Merlin on “Camelot” (Starz, 2011), a well-received retelling of the King Arthur tale that was not renewed due to the cable network’s logistical challenges with production. Undeterred, Fiennes stayed on the small screen and joined the second season of Ryan Murphy’s popular horror series, “American Horror Story: Asylum” (FX, 2012- ), where played an ambitious priest in 1964 who founded a sanitarium run by a sadistic nun (Jessica Lange).
The above TCM overview can also be accessed online here.
Ralph Fiennes was born in 1962 in Suffolk. In 1973 his family moved to Ireland where he was educated for some years. He first came to film fame with his evil performance in “Schindler’s List” and then in 1994 he starred in the U.S. in “Quiz Show”. Other films include “The English Patient”, “Red Dragon” and “The End of the Affair”.
His IMDB entry:
Ralph Twisleton Wykeham Fiennes was born on December 22, 1962 in Suffolk, England to Mark Fiennes, a photographer, and Jennifer Lash, a novelist, the eldest of six children. Four of his siblings are also in the arts: Martha Fiennes, a director; Magnus Fiennes, a musician; Sophie, a producer; and Joseph Fiennes, an actor.
Fiennes has been honored with two Academy Award nominations, the first in 1994 for his performance in Steven Spielberg‘s Oscar-winning Best Picture, Schindler’s List (1993). Fiennes’ chilling portrayal of Nazi Commandant Amon Goeth also brought him a Golden Globe nomination and a BAFTA Award, as well as Best Supporting Actor honors from numerous critics groups, including the National Society of Film Critics, and the New York, Chicago, Boston and London Film Critics associations. Four years later, Fiennes earned his second Oscar nomination, for Best Actor, in another Best Picture winner, Anthony Minghella‘s The English Patient (1996). He also garnered Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominations, as well as two Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award nominations, one for Best Actor and another shared with the film’s ensemble cast.
Laura Linney was born in 1964 in New York. Her breakthrough role came in the television mini-series “Tales of the City”. She went on then to have leading roles in such movies as “Congo”, “Primal Fear”, “The Truman Show” and “Absolute Power”. Recent films include “Savages” with Philip Seymour Hoffman.
IMDB entry:
Laura Linney was born in New York City on February 5, 1964, into a theatre family. Her father is the prominent playwright Romulus Linney. Although she did not live in her father’s house (her parents having divorced when she was an infant), Linney’s world revolved, in part, around his profession from the earliest age. She graduated from Brown University in 1986 and studied acting at Juilliard and the Arts Theatre School in Moscow and, thereafter, embarked on a career on the Broadway stage receiving favorable notices for her work in such plays as “Hedda Gabler” and “Six Degrees of Separation”.
Always a strong performer, Linney truly came into her own after 2000, starting the decade auspiciously with her widely-praised, arguably flawless performance in You Can Count on Me (2000). She found herself nominated for an Academy Award for this, her first lead role, for which her salary had been $10,000. Linney won numerous critics’ awards for her role as Sammy, a single mother whose life is complicated by a new boss and the arrival in town of her aimless brother. On the heels of this success came her marvelous turn as Bertha Dorset in The House of Mirth (2000), clearly the best performance in a film of strong performances. Since then, Linney has frequently been offered challenging dramatic roles, and always rises to the occasion, such as in Mystic River (2003), in which she worked again with Clint Eastwood, and Kinsey (2004), for which she received another Academy Award nomination.
– IMDb Mini Biography By: Larry-115
The above IMDB entry can also be accessed online here.
Ed Lauter is an accomplished character actor who was born in 1940 in Long Beach, Long Island. Among his films are “The Last American Hero” in 1973, “The Longest Yard”, “Magic” and “Raw Deal”. He died in 2013.
TCM Overview:
As one of Hollywood’s hardest working character actors, Ed Lauter appeared in small supporting roles in more than 200 movies and television shows, in the process becoming an instantly recognizable face though never a household name. His imposing height, fierce squint and effortlessly intimidating demeanor made him a natural for playing authority figures of both the benign and malevolent variety, and his near constant output yielded a number of unforgettable film performances, from the sadistic yet ultimately honorable Captain Knauer in Robert Aldrich’s “The Longest Yard” (1974), to Maloney, the arsonist-turned-gas station owner in Hitchcock’s final film, “The Family Plot” (1976), to Peppy Miller’s dutiful butler in the Academy Award winner for Best Picture, “The Artist” (2011). Lauter was also a familiar face on television, playing the stern Captain Cain on “B.J. and the Bear” (NBC, 1979-1981) and its spin-off, “The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo” (NBC, 1979-1981), as well as the uncharacteristically sympathetic role of Fire Captain Dannaker on “ER” (NBC, 1998-2002), in addition to scores of guest appearances on other series and supporting roles in TV movies. Though audiences may have struggled to remember his name, Ed Lauter’s tough, authoritarian image was a familiar and reliable staple of American film and television.
Edward Matthew Lauter II was born on Oct. 30, 1938 in Long Beach, Long Island, NY, where he was raised by his mother, a former stage actress who had worked with legends like Al Jolson, Fred Astaire and the Marx Brothers. Lauter heeded the call of the stage himself, following a two-year stint in the U.S. Army, working as a stand-up comic and impressionist while studying drama at New York’s Herbert Berghof School. He made his Broadway debut in 1968 in the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony award-winning production of “The Great White Hope” starring James Earl Jones, and his performance caught the attention of casting director Lynn Stalmaster. After “Hope” closed in 1970, Lauter moved to Los Angeles, where Stalmaster immediately put his steely, intimidating look to work in supporting tough guy roles in the feature cop drama “The New Centurions” (1972) starring George C. Scott and in the Westerns “The Magnificent Seven Ride!” (1972) and “Bad Company” (1972), starring Jeff Bridges. Lauter also began appearing in very similar roles on television, playing hardnosed character roles on series including Robert Culp’s detective drama “Hickey & Boggs” (NBC, 1972), “Mannix” (CBS, 1967-1975), Ironside (NBC, 1967-1975), and “Streets of San Francisco” (ABC, 1972-77), rapidly becoming one of America’s most employable character actors.
Much as Lauter had listened to the stories of his mother’s legendary cohorts growing up in the midst of New York’s theater community, he was an apt pupil of Hollywood’s elder statesmen, such as Jack Warner, Burt Lancaster and David Niven, and always eager to take advice. His humble manner and impressive work ethic ingratiated Lauter to many of his cast mates and directors, who frequently recommended Lauter for roles in future films. After working with Lauter on “The New Centurions,” George C. Scott cast him in his own directorial work, “Rage” (1972). Similarly, after working with him in “Bad Company,” Jeff Bridges recommended Lauter for roles in “Lolly-Madonna XXX” (1973) and “The Last American Hero” (1973). In 1974, Lauter landed his most memorable part to date, the sadistic but ultimately honorable Captain Knauer in Robert Aldrich’s “The Longest Yard” (1974). The film’s star, Burt Reynolds, sent a print of the film to director Alfred Hitchcock in the hope of being cast in Hitchcock’s “The Family Plot” (1976). Hitchcock had delayed production while seeking the right actor to play Maloney, the film’s third lead. After screening “The Longest Yard,” Hitchcock found his Maloney, but in Lauter, not Reynolds. Thoroughly impressed, Hitchcock would also cast Lauter in his next film, but died before production could begin.
Lauter would put the “good bad guy” character he had developed in “The Longest Yard” and “Family Plot” to work in films such as “King Kong” (1976) and Richard Attenborough’s “Magic” (1978), but began to find more and more work on television, appearing in TV movies and miniseries such as “How the West Was Won” (ABC, 1979) and “Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones” (CBS, 1980), and landing a recurring role as the draconian Captain Cain on “B.J. and the Bear” (NBC, 1979-1981) and its spin-off series, “The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo” (NBC, 1979-1981). When Lauter did appear on the big screen, it was often at the invitation to work with an old friend, as he did with Charles Bronson on “Death Hunt” (1981) and later in “Death Wish 3” (1985). Occasionally Lauter landed substantial roles in memorable films, as he did playing the unfortunate owner of the titular killer dog in “Cujo” (1983), but more often than not, his apparent drive for constant employment meant taking roles in a number of forgettable films and TV series – from Fred Williamson’s hackneyed “The Big Score” (1983) to “The A Team” (NBC, 1983-87). For every popular drama or big-budget action film like “Youngblood” (1986) or “Raw Deal” (1986), Lauter also worked in a negligible film like “Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise” (1987) or “Gleaming the Cube” (1989).
In 1989, Lauter was cast as Whitney Ashbridge, the commanding officer at the Los Alamos army post, in Rolland Joffe’s “Fat Man and Little Boy” (1989), starring Paul Newman. Lauter’s military background, coupled with his ramrod physique, stern glare and bullet-like bald head, made him ideal for portraying staunch authority figures, particularly military and law officers. He would play variations on that theme in Oliver Stone’s “Born on the Fourth of July” (1989), “My Blue Heaven” (1990), “The Rocketeer” (1990), the Steven King miniseries “Golden Years” (1991), “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (CBS, 1987-1994), “True Romance” (1993), and “The X-Files” (Fox, 1993-2002), only occasionally stepping out of uniform as he did quite effectively as Brandon Fraser’s sympathetic but strict father in “School Ties” (1992). As he had done since he first began acting professionally, Lauter took advantage of typecasting to maintain steady work, though this frequently meant appearing in films and television of questionable quality. During the mid- to late-1990s, Lauter turned in credible supporting performances in Mike Figgis’ acclaimed “Leaving Las Vegas” (1995) and Lee Tamahori’s “Mulholland Falls” (1996), but otherwise his work continued to largely consist of bit parts in forgettable films and made-for-television movies.
A recurring role as Fire Captain Dannaker on “ER” (NBC, 1994-2009) provided Lauter with better material than he had found in film for much of the 1990s, but in 2003, Lauter returned to form with “Seabiscuit,” playing Charles Strub, the investor in the Santa Anita racetrack who brought the famed race horse to Southern California. In 2005, Lauter made another sort of return when he was, with Burt Reynolds, one of the only two original cast members to appear in the remake of “The Longest Yard.” Lauter’s nostalgic appearance in the latter film led to roles in “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” (2006) and the Western “Seraphim Falls” (2006), starring Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan, but the seemingly workaholic Lauter would continue to appear in lesser features, apparently with little or no regard for the quality of the finished product. As the record of his long career had proven, however, the law of averages would still provide Lauter with finer material in which to perform. After several years working in video fodder like “Godspeed” (2009) and “The Prometheus Project” (2010), Lauter once again landed a plum role in the winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture, “The Artist” (2011). He maintained that quality streak in 2012 by playing a fellow baseball scout alongside Clint Eastwood in “Trouble with the Curve.” In May 2013, Lauter was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer; he died on October 16, 2013.
By John Crye
The above TCM overview can also be accessed online here.
Deborah Shelton was born in 1948 in Washington D.C. She starred in the 1984 film “Body Double” with Melanie Griffith. On television she has guest starred in “T.J. Hooker”, “The Fall Guy” and “The Love Boat”.
1984 “People” magazine article: The voluptuous brunette in a satin robe is being chased around her boudoir. She is about to be turned into Swiss cheese by a psycho who is dressed as an American Indian and is wielding a mighty power drill with a 12-inch bit. Though the violent, bloody scene is only from a movie—Brian DePalma’s latest shockeroo, Body Double—the terrified expression on the face of Deborah Shelton (Miss U.S.A. of 1970) is real. That’s because De-Palma, who goose-bumped his way to fame with Carrie, Dressed to Kill and Scarface, used the real thing. No drill double. No siree. “At one point the drill was an inch from my nose,” recalls Shelton. “When they turned that drill on, all the hairs on my spine stood up.”
So did her dander, which disproves the theory that all Miss U.S.A. winners are beautiful but, knock-knock, nobody home. Throughout the filming Shelton and DePalma had heated discussions about the drill scene and why her character shouldn’t fight back. “Who stands around like that?” Shelton asked. “Brian kept saying, ‘Pathos, Debbie, pathos,’ and I’m thinking, ‘Stupidity, Brian, stupidity.’ “
But Shelton went along. A veteran of TV guest shots, Shelton, 32, saw a big budget DePalma film as a way to the big time. “Even if it’s terrible, it’s going to be seen,” she says. Shelton is not sure how she feels about DePalma. “I keep comparing Brian to Vincent Price. He had a sort of evil look.” But, like a lot of feminists and critics, Shelton is not afraid to speak out against the man who might make her a star. “Brian makes women victims,” she says. “He’s into commerciality and what sells—and what people want to see. But I don’t like to see women represented that way. When I see it, it creates anger in me.” DePalma responds: “It’s a sad state of affairs when you can’t make a murder mystery and kill anybody because you’re going to offend some group. You have to, I guess, pick a Martian as the victim.”
Deborah is happier talking about her new role on Dallas, TV’s No. 1 series. Last spring the producers auditioned actresses for the part of model Mandy Winger. Although Mandy was described as “a really young blonde, an ex-hooker with a heart of gold,” the dark-haired Shelton won a reading and ultimately the part (she debuted on October 12). “So far I think I’m a good girl,” she says, laughing. “I’m not blonde and there’s no mention of her being an ex-hooker, though I keep waiting to find out that it’s true.”
When it came time to meet the illustrious cast, she “didn’t sleep all night, but everybody was just wonderful.” Although destined to become involved with Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval) and J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman), Deborah says, “I don’t want to be kept as somebody’s little pet. I’m smart.” At least it’s not Body Double all over again. “The thing I love about Dallas is they don’t make me do bathing suit pictures.”
Like it or not, it was in a bathing suit that Shelton first won public notice. In 1970, while attending Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., her hometown, Shelton, who had always wanted a career in medicine, entered the Miss Virginia contest. She won and a month later she took the Miss U.S.A. crown. Three months later Deborah, the only child of a Southern Baptist dentist and his wife, became first runner-up in the Miss Universe contest.
When she passed her crown to her successor, Shelton found that life for an ex-beauty queen could be brutal. Her experience as a model in New York sounds nearly as harrowing as that ofVanessa Williams: “I had one photographer jump on me. I had another say, ‘Come on over and we’ll smoke some dope and look through your pictures. Another said, ‘What you need is a friendly——.’ ” Shelton tried marriage in 1971. She had a son, but wedlock didn’t work out.
Shelton then teamed up with a New York gynecologist. They had plans to open a clinic for women with diet and cellulite disorders. But those plans never paid off. In December 1976, Deborah met her current husband, Shuki Levy, 38, an Israeli-born, Paris-based singer-composer-record producer who was on holiday in America. They were together only two days, then spent $4,500 burning up phone wires to get better acquainted. Four months later they wed in Switzerland.
Shelton and Levy live in the Hollywood Hills, with Deborah’s son and their daughter. Neighbors describe Shelton as a “Kool-Aid mom” because of the hospitality the kids on the block enjoy at her house. Since 1977 she has been writing the lyrics for her husband’s compositions (their song Magdalena may be featured on Julio Iglesias’ next LP). Luckily, Shuki is not too upset about all the exposure his wife gets in Body Double. “I don’t like it but I can’t take it seriously,” he says. “Soon she’ll be able to be more selective.” Deborah laughs at being thought of as a sex symbol: “I’m a regular kind of person.” But to keep her body gorgeous, Shelton endures rigorous exercise routines at home three to five times a week with Pete Steinfeld (brother and partner of coach-to-the-stars Jake Steinfeld). For that, Shelton says, she has DePalma to thank: “He wanted everybody in perfect shape for the film. He’d say, ‘That’s not a DePalma body!’ Let me tell you, that got under my skin. Why didn’t I turn around and say, ‘You’re damned right. It’s a Shelton body.’ ” Maybe she will the next time. “Megalomania,” she says, rolling her eyes, “has its limits.”
The above “People” magazine can also be accessed online here.
Richard Gautier was born in Culver City, California in 1931. He began his career on television and his first film was “Ensign Pulver” in 1964. Subsequent movies include “Divorce American Style” in 1967, “Maryjane” and “Wild in the Sky”. He has appeared in nearly all the well known television shows in the 1960’s. 70’s and 80’s.
Richard Gautier
Obituary
Dick Gautier, who starred on Broadway in the original production of Bye Bye Birdie and then famously played Hymie the Robot on the sitcom Get Smart, has died. He was 85.
Gautier died Friday night at an assisted living facility in Arcadia, Calif., after a long illness, his daughter Denise told The Hollywood Reporter.
Gautier, who started his career as a stand-up comic, received a Tony nomination for playing Conrad Birdie, the character based on Elvis Presley, in the memorable, original 1960 production of Bye Bye Birdie, starring Dick Van Dyke.
The handsome actor appeared as Hymie on just six episodes of Get Smart over four seasons, yet he was one of the spy spoof’s most popular characters.
Hymie, who was incredibly strong and had a supercomputer for a brain and wires and components in a compartment in his chest, originally was built for the evil organization KAOS but came over to CONTROL (the good guys) because Max (Don Adams) was the first one to treat him like a real person.
“When I met with the powers that be, I told them that when I was a kid in Canada I saw a man in a storefront window acting like a manikin to drum up business,” he said in 2013. “If you could make him smile, you’d get $10. So, I tried, but not by acting crazy — I merely imitated his movements. I didn’t win the $10, but I got the part of Hymie, which was a little better.”
Eventually, Max picked Hymie to be his best man for his wedding with Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon), and Gautier returned as the robot for a 1989 Get Smart TV movie.
In 1975, Gautier starred as Robin Hood on the short-lived ABC series When Things Were Rotten, co-created by Mel Brooks, who, of course, had launched Get Smart as well.
Gautier was a veteran stand-up performer and working at The Blue Angel nightclub in New York as an opener for headliner and singer Margaret Whiting when he was spotted by Bye Bye Birdiedirector Gower Champion and Charles Strouse, who did the music for the production.
“They asked me to read for this thing,” he recalled in a 2014 interview with Kliph Nesteroff. “I was a little put off because I didn’t like rock and roll. Not at that point. I said, ‘I don’t think it’s for me. I like Jerome Kern and George Gershwin.’
“They said, ‘Will you at least come in and audition?’ I went in and they said, ‘Would you sing an Elvis song?’ I said, ‘I don’t know any Elvis songs.’ So they just played some blues and I ad-libbed and I guess they liked it. Couple months later they called.”
Gautier told his agent, “‘It’s not for me. I feel very inhibited and very intimidated by this whole Elvis thing because it’s not me.’ He said, ‘It’s a satire.’ Then I went, ‘Ohhhhh.’ When he said that, then I got it. Suddenly it was OK. I got the part, got a Tony nomination, and my career was in a whole different place. I didn’t work nightclubs anymore.”
Jesse Pearson played Conrad in the 1963 movie version.
Gautier was born on Oct. 30, 1931, in Culver City, and his father, a French-Canadian, worked as a grip at MGM. He spent some time growing up in Montreal and sang and did a comedy act with a band that wound up on a local TV show in Los Angeles.
Gautier served in the U.S. Navy, where he booked acts, including a young Johnny Mathis. When he got out of the service in San Francisco, he hung out at the hungry i nightclub and decided to try stand-up. He and the legendary Mort Sahl were among the first comics to be booked at the club, which would go on to become a renowned breeding ground for stand-ups.
The charming Gautier played clubs all over the country and for a time toured with the folk act The Kingston Trio. When he was looking for material for an act in Las Vegas, he paid Jay Leno and David Letterman $100 an hour to write jokes for him, he said in the chat with Nesteroff.
Gautier appeared in a guest stint on The Patty Duke Show and was in the Joshua Logan-directed Ensign Pulver (1964), and he had regular roles on the short-lived series Mr. Terrific and Here We Go Again, starring Larry Hagman. He also played an amorous sportscaster on an episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
He co-wrote the 1968 pot movie Maryjane (1968) with Hollywood Squares host Peter Marshall and the 1972 film Wild in the Sky (1972), starring Georg Stanford Brown.
Gautier also appeared in such films as Divorce American Style (1967) — playing Van Dyke’s attorney — Fun With Dick and Jane (1977) and Billy Jack Goes to Washington (1977) and on TV shows including Charlie’s Angels; The Love Boat; Murder, She Wrote; Silk Stalkings; and Nip/Tuck.
He also was a guest on many game shows, including Tattletales, on which he appeared with his then-wife, actress Barbara Stuart.
Starting in the mid-1980s, Gautier worked often as a voice actor, heard on such shows as Galtar and the Golden Lance, G.I. Joe,The Transformers, The New Yogi Bear Show and The Addams Family.
An accomplished artist, Gautier also wrote and illustrated several books about drawing and how to become a cartoonist.
“Cartooning has been my hobby, my therapy, a delicious pastime and on occasion my salvation — it got me through some tight financial spots when I was a struggling actor,” he wrote in the introduction to his 1989 book, The Creative Cartoonist.
In addition to Denise, survivors include his former wife Tess; daughter Chris and son Rand; grandchildren Darby, Brandon, Megan and Elisa; and great-grandchildren Reya, Bella, Odette, Jade and Avery.
