Things have been positively NUTS lately. They're remodeling the building I work in, so it's dust, noise, etc... all day and we've been creamed with overwhelming amounts of business (which is good, but...!) Also, I seem to have something going on almost every night and weekend (I was gone last weekend to Bardstown, KY, the site of My Old Kentucky Home and the outdoor musical, "The Stephen Foster Story"), so it's been very hard to get a post compiled. Still, I did manage to throw this one together that I hope you like!
Occasionally here in The Underworld,
I've mentioned my early boyhood crushes, men such as Lee Majors (a
significant one!), Gregory Harrison or Robert Conrad. One I have
only scarcely mentioned, but who was quite possibly THE most powerful
crush I had as a youth, is Bruce Penhall. Penhall came to be a part
of the show CHiPs just as I was turning fifteen and, to me, he was
the most beautiful thing ever! Over time, I began to prefer a more
tall, brawny person like the divine Clint Walker (who I wasn't even
aware of back then), but in 1982, the pretty, perennially-grinning
Bruce Penhall was my cup, no, make that pitcher (!) of tea!
Penhall was born May 10th,
1957 in Balboa, California, to LeRoy and Bonnie Penhall, who had two
children, Connie and Jerry, before him. Thus he was delivered to
this world in close proximity to the beach where he would grow up
surfing, swimming, boating and riding his bicycle along the boardwalk
of Newport Beach. His shimmering, crystal blue eyes were set off by
sun-bleached blonde hair and a California tan.
Eventually as he grew from a boy to a
teen, he segued from bicycle riding to motorbike riding and took an
interest in speedway racing. He prepared for the sport in his early
teens and swiftly began to make a mark for himself. At sixteen, he
entered the Speedway arena and soon was one of America's leading
riders. The daredevil nature was in his family's blood all along.
His brother raced off-road cars while his father raced both
powerboats and fighter jets.
In 1975, tragedy struck Penhall when
both his parents were killed in a plane crash on the way home from a
trip to Mammoth Mountain, California. His brother only escaped death
because he'd stayed behind to ski an extra day. Eighteen at the
time, Bruce Penhall thereafter made a bold, perhaps necessarily
distracting, decision to leave the U.S. and embark on a
cycle-oriented tour in Israel. This was followed by another tour in
Australia and New Zealand the year after. He channeled his grief
and emotion into superior performance on the track.
Once in the States again (and, thankfully free of the long hair he'd adopted!), he continued
to ride, but considered leaving when he felt he'd reached the limit
of potential success. Fate stepped in, though, when he was suddenly
offered a spot on an English team called the Cradley Heath Heathens.
After a lukewarm start, he soon rose to be one of the team's top
scorers and ultimately became the team captain.
You can fit onto the head of a pin all
of my knowledge of the sport of motorcycle speedway racing (I prefer to stare at semi-nude pictures of him. Ha!), but it is
done on a packed-dirt oval track and points are scored based on the
placement of the riders at the finish line. Over the course of
various heats, riders rack up points (3 for 1st place, 2 for 2nd
place, etc...) with an eventual winner emerging.
Young Penhall excelled in this sport,
becoming the U.S. Champion in 1980 & 1981 and World Champion in
1981, the first American to accomplish such a feat in forty-four
years. But that wasn't enough. He proceeded to win the World title
again in 1982, becoming the first American ever to win back-to-back
individual World Championships. In addition, he won various team
honors.
All this success in his field led to a
plethora of European endorsement deals including newspaper and
magazine ads and television commercials. His clean California looks
and boyish smile caused a sensation among scores of female (and
presumably a few male!) fans.
That second championship was held in
the U.S., partly due to the immense popularity Penhall had achieved
in the sport, and when he won for the second time, he immediately
retired in order to pursue an acting career and other business
pursuits.
Since 1977, the series CHiPs had been
entertaining youngsters with the adventures of two California Highway
Patrol officers who rode motorcycles versus a police car. Starring
Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox, it had become a solid prime-time hit,
making a household name of the darkly handsome and macho Estrada.
Wilcox, however, eventually became tired of the limelight continually
being shone on his costar and began to get restless.
In 1982, he left the series altogether
and was replaced by blonde, comparatively inexperienced Tom Reilly,
who'd been a college football star. Soon after, Penhall was added to
the roster of actors on the show as Reilly's younger brother (Penhall
was actually two years older, but retained his boyish face and, at
5'7”, read younger than 6'2” Reilly on screen.) Penhall played a
cadet in training.
The teen magazines of the day went
positively wild over towheaded, compact, gleamingly-pretty Bruce
Penhall.
Shots of him in various stages of dress
(and undress) were plastered throughout all the bubble gum rags of
the day.
If one were to go simply by publicity
coverage alone, he'd made it!
This snap happens to be a favorite of mine, thanks to a pair of diminutive, star-covered shorts.
He found himself in Tinseltown,
hobnobbing with other TV stars in his age group such as Sarah Jessica
Parker (of Square Pegs), Timothy Patrick Murphy (of Dallas) and
Danielle Brisebois (of Archie Bunker's Place.)
Fortunately for everyone he also
appeared in this celebrity swimsuit photo spread in a Speedo
alongside Shannon Tweed! (Tweed, at the time, was appearing weekly on Falcon Crest.)
Ya gotta love the '80s!
CHiPs had often been punctuated by
casting shake-ups and behind-the-scenes stress (Estrada once walked
out of the show over syndication residuals and was replaced for a
short while by Bruce Jenner), but more was to come. Reilly was
pulled over by the Los Angeles police and discovered to be in
possession of illegal drugs. This, paired with the fact that Estrada
found his work ethic as a series co-lead lacking, led to his role on
the show being considerably diminished.
Penhall's part was beefed up. He went
through training with lightning speed and suddenly was a highway
patrolman just like Estrada and figured more prominently in the
episodes' storylines. Footage and backstory of his real-life motocross escapades
made their way into the show as well, since his character was a
former cycle champ (his first name on the show was even Bruce!)
It was all for naught, however, as
CHiPs had apparently run out of gas and was cancelled in 1983.
Penhall was now left without a series to rely on while he honed his
acting skills. There was talk of him getting his own series, but ultimately it never came to fruition.
He and Reilly had appeared on Betty
White's daytime TV game show Just Men! and he'd been booked onto a
celebrity Family Feud that celebrated “Perfect 10s” as well as an
installment of Circus of the Stars, but there wasn't too much acting
coming his way.
He landed a guest role on The Facts of
Life in 1984 and an episode of The Love Boat the following year, but
things were definitely not clicking. He married in 1985 to a woman
named Laurie and they proceeded to have four children together. In
1986, he took a role in an Italian-made horror film called Body Count
(a Friday the 13th rip-off) that costarred Mimsy Farmer
and Charles Napier and was directed by Ruggero Deodato, noted for
films with graphic violence and nudity (sadly not from Bruce!) He
rode, surprise (!), a motorcycle in it!
Next came an association with Andy
Sidaris, a television sports director who segued into episodic TV and
then into low-budget action flicks with an emphasis on “Bullets,
Bombs and Babes” (and, let's face it, boobs!) Many of these movies
featured Playboy Playmates in leading roles, so we weren't talking
Merchant-Ivory here. First up was a small role in 1988's Picasso
Trigger.
Savage Beach (1989), which at least had
the good sense to show off Penhall's tan torso, came next. He then
did about one per year, with titles like Guns (1990), Do or Die
(1991), Hard Hunted (1992), Enemy Gold (1993) and Fit to Kill (1993)
to follow. Often in these movies, as it was on CHiPs, his character's name was Bruce!
You can still see his beautiful looks even as he was
getting older and sliding into obscurity (because I am certain that
these movies are quite unknown to the majority of Underworld
readers!) Often, his continued skill with a cycle would be utilized
in these projects.
And what's with the leather vest over bare chest look? He sports it often in these flicks!
In 1994, he made The Dallas Connection,
directed by Andy Sidaris' son Christian. Following a guest
appearance on Lorenzo Lamas' TV show Renegade in 1995, Penhall gave
up show business and began to look elsewhere for fulfillment and
livelihood. He was lured back only one more time (thus far) and that
was for a cameo appearance in the reunion movie CHiPs '99 (in 1998,
oddly enough!), which reunited the better part of the cast of CHiPs (including the previously departed Wilcox) for a potential updated version (with two new, younger leads) that
didn't come pan out in the end.
Penhall next moved on to a new set of
thrills, that being the sport of motorboat racing. He and his
childhood best friend (whose mother had been killed in the same plane
crash that took Penhall's parents) successfully piloted their
speedboat in many races, including an APBA World Championship. He
came very close to achieving yet another distinction with a
back-to-back world championship in power-boating the following year,
but it was not to be.
The daredevil blood that ran throughout
the Penhall family extended to his son as well. Connor Penhall was a
burgeoning motocross cyclist with a bright future ahead of him. He'd
also inherited his father's sparkling blue eyes. Sadly, however, in
2012 while he was working construction at night on a California
highway, a drunk driver going 60 mph plowed the closure into him,
killing him. He was twenty-one.
Though the driver was to stand trial
for vehicular manslaughter, Penhall and his wife Laurie also recently
filed a lawsuit against the construction company for not having
effective enough barricades and precautions for the men at work. It
was another ironically tragic incident for Penhall in what would
appear from the outside to be a rather charmed life.
It goes without saying that Bruce
Penhall was no John Barrymore when it came to his decade-long acting
career, but oh was he an inspiration to millions for his exploits in
the sporting world and to millions of TV viewers who couldn't get
enough of his smiling, beautiful face.
Now fifty-six years of age, there is
still a boyish glint in his face, though the loss of his son was a
crushing blow to him and the rest of his close-knit family. He
learned early on the power of resiliency, though, and will surely
continue to find success in whichever arena he chooses.
15 comments:
I was never a CHIPS viewer so Bruce is completely unknown to me and he's not really the type I go for but California surfer boys need love too. He was very dishy in his day.
An interesting post as always and the fact that I know nothing about him made it all the better. As always thanks for keeping us entertained Poseidon.
Great post; again, I knew nothing about Penhall except for the face I saw on the screen, and the so-so acting, but his personal story is fascinating. It says alot about ambition and drive. Interesting life behind the pretty face.
Fascinating details of BP's life. I always loved CHiPs, but I must say, though I loved Estrada, I was much more into Wilcox. I think out of all the people that came and went on CHiPs, my favorite was Jenner.
Your crush for Penhall reminds me of my own crush at around the same time (give or take a year or two) for Daniel Greene of Falcon Crest. Later to star and costar respectively in "Iron Fists of Fury" and "Elvira: Mistress of the Dark." Ah, good times.
I'm glad you enjoyed this little appetizer. LOL I am still finding it hard to grind out posts the way I wish to. Someone just dumped a HUGE stack of work on my desk, ala Farrah Fawcett at the typewriter on the old Charlie's Angels opening credits. Business must be picking up again!
I have never read someone's (whom I didn't know) blog before now. I saw Bruce's photo in a random image search, clicked on it, saw you had written something. You had me hooked! You're a wonderful writer!! Very passionate too! I enjoyed your story about Bruce and glad that it had a happy end! Good Job!
I'm glad you took a dip into Poseidon's Underworld. Hopefully you will find other posts that interest you, too. Thanks for the kind words, Julia!
I always thought he was hot especially in his little police uniform. I love short guys with boyish faces so he caught my attention whenever he was onscreen. He has aged well too. I need to watch the CHIPS 1999 movie.
Hello, Glenn. I remember watching the CHiPs reunion movie when it aired (and being disappointed by it), but I couldn't miss Bruce as well as the by-then older Robert Pine (who also has a tribute here.) Thanks for reading and commenting!
Really lovely write up about Bruce, really enjoyed reading your memories of him. He was one of only a few sportsmen to win world championships in more than one sport, speedway and powerboating.
He and Laurie had 3 children together, Ryan, McKenzie and Connor who as you said sadly passed away in 2012. He has been through so much personal sorrow, yet he is still such a truely amazing warm hearted guy who fights through all that us thrown at him, with that beautiful smile still shining through.
Patricia, thanks for taking time to comment and for supplying your own information and reflections about Mr. Penhall! Best wishes.
Great article! I used to watch Bruce "The Fox" Penhall racing in Costa Mesa at the Orange County Fairgrounds. Always fast, cool and confident. Lots of good racers and many happy weekends, with the extra thrill of Bruce bringing the title back from Europe and all the greatest riders from all over came to our tiny Costa Mesa track. Thanks Bruce, what an unforgettable experience.
Bruce appeared in an episode of The Love Boat and is one of the few male guest stars alongside Peter Lupus to appear in the pool scenes in a speedo.
That certainly makes it one to watch out for! Thanks for the heads up, KL.
Growing up as a young Latino kid in the 70's and 80's, Erik Estrada held 0 appeal for me (he looks like my Dad who was also a cop). It was all that blond pulchritude that got my little gay heart jumping in those days: Wilcox, Reilly, and mostly Penhall. Being only 5'7", he really set my heart aflame! Little blonds can still turn my head to this day. I always wondered what happened to him. I will have to seek out all those cheesy movies and have a Penhall Film Festival in the living room.
Hi, readycarlos, and thanks for reading, commenting and reflecting on our Bruce! I liked pretty much all the CHiPs except Grossman. LOL I hope you liked this photo-heavy tribute to Penhall.
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