Fun Find: Rona Barrett's Gossip, Feb 1980.

Today's fun find has been in my possession for quite a while, probably about the mid-1990s when a friend gave it to me, knowing of my fascination with Gregory Harrison and some of the other folks featured. This magazine figures into a story about my meeting Gregory Harrison, which you can read here within his tribute!

The curly-haired gent that Lindsay Wagner is resting atop was not only her personal manager, but also the producer of several specials and TV-movies of hers including The Two Worlds of Jennie Logan (1979) and Scruples (1980), though he was married to Lynda Carter and producing specials for her as well. Those two divorced in 1983.

There's a wave of handsome guys on this page, one of which, Sam Jones, has a tribute here in The Underworld.

Rona focuses on the back end for this page of photos. Tanya Tucker, Treat Williams (who I didn't recognize!) and Candy Clark are one of the last trios I'd expect to see partying together! 

Things come up a little short in this section, with Dudley Moore, Gary Coleman and Herve Villechaize featured (along with a model completely unknown to me, Candice Boone. Her proposed TV series, by the way, doesn't seem to have come to fruition.)

The caption says that Dustin Hoffman has no women in his life, but in 1980 he divorced Anne, the mother of his children and in the same month married his present wife Lisa (with whom he sired four more.) Suzanne Somers' son Bruce Somers (from her brief first marriage) was seldom ever written about to my knowledge. He grew up to work behind the scenes in the biz, occasionally helping with some of her infomercials.

Some handsome men on this page, from Erik Estrada, who was recovering from a motorcycle accident, to Patrick Wayne (who was planning a movie about his famous father John, which has yet to be done by him or anyone else!) Rona gets a little snotty (not to mention narrow-minded) about Richard Gere and his choice of roles.

This profile of Frederic Forrest is interesting since, though he did wind up working through the mid-2000s, he never really quite followed through on the promise of his key roles in The Rose and Apocalypse Now (both 1979.)  His Oscar nomination for The Rose was lost to Melvyn Douglas of Being There and his role in the mega-flop One From the Heart (1981) seemed to curb his burgeoning film career (which had already gotten a late start.)

For whatever reason, I have never really been drawn to Peter Barton. At the time of this article, he was at the dawn of his acting career after working as a model. The short-lived series Shirley (1979-1980) starred Shirley Jones as a widow with three children to look after, including stepson Barton (The Quail Family?? LOL) Barton later went on to The Powers of Matthew Star (1982-1983) prior to a successful run on The Young and the Restless. Barton is now fifty-eight, off-screen since 2005 and still single.

As I was thirteen the year The Blue Lagoon (1980) came out, the whole wave of publicity surrounding the movie made quite an impression on me. When the movie made it to cable, millions of us watched and waited for all the skin that Christopher Atkins put on display! As for Gregory Harrison, his shower during the opening credits of Trapper John, M.D. changed my life! Still single at this time, he married Randi Oakes of CHiPs later in the year and they have four children together.

As the article says, just one of countless books on The King was in the works, this one by his stepmother and her three sons, one of which was barred from Graceland after Elvis allegedly carried on a month-long affair with his wife! Below that, Farrah Fawcett laments the way her stalled movie career was progressing and the way expectations stood in the way of her perception as an actress. It would actually be TV that helped give her a certain degree of cred with things like 1984's The Burning Bed.

Next we have news of a dust-up between Britain's Princess Margaret and the Irish in the wake of her uncle's murder. The columnist Irv Kupcinet, by the way, is the man whose actress daughter Karyn was strangled to death in a 1963 murder that was never solved. Len Cariou puts forth some rather brave remarks about the singing "talent" of his A Little Night Music (1977) costar Elizabeth Taylor!  

Without question, the marriages and and domestic issues of Princess Caroline dominated many a gossip rag in the 1980s. The marriage discussed here, her first, would actually end later in the year. Her second husband, father of three of her four children, died in a speed-boating accident. She is still wed to her third husband (since 1999.) Below, an unbelievable account of Mark Hamill assaulting a studio commissary waiter with a turkey sandwich!

The medical emergency described in the Della Reese article is a near-fatal brain aneurysm that she suffered in 1979. After two operations, she made a full recovery. You have to sort of marvel at the fact that they chose of photo of her wearing a turban to run with this story! Richard Gere, at this stage of his career, was known for dropping trou in most of his movies, but was beginning to retreat from it as his career progressed.

The most fascinating tidbits in this section include the fact that Dan Haggerty of Grizzly Adams fame had been involved in a fight with police and put on probation (!) and that Jeff and brother Beau (with a goofy haircut) Bridges would light up marijuana at home in front of their exasperated father.

We adore Stefanie Powers, always have, and there are some interesting (if a tad dramatic at times) quotes from her in this interview.

It's annoying that David Hodo, the Construction Worker of The Village People, opted to dress this way, hat and all, at a black tie event, but it's likely no one there would have known him (nor would his photo have been published) had he not! (Or maybe the novelty of seeing him dressed properly might have led to an equal amount of publicity.) It's nice to see Lucy in action and look at Adam Rich's even littler, cuter brother! Laverne & Shirley was quite a hit, lasting from 1976-1983 (and really only ending then because Cindy Williams wanted out.) 

Catherine Bach wisely opted to wear something tasteful despite her TV series' inherent tackiness. Lindsay Wagner, freshly divorced from Michael Brandon, is shown on the arm of Liza Minnelli's latest ex-husband Jack Haley Jr. (Interesting, isn't it, that Haley's father was the Tin Man and Liza's mother was Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, 1939?) Dionne Warwick's hit song at this point was "I Know I'll Never Love This Way Again." She had recently become the host of Solid Gold as well. I enjoyed seeing this latter-day photo of Miss Rita Hayworth, too.

This page of movie star romances takes note of Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O'Neal, who did establish a long, if tormented, relationship. It also mentions Doris Day's fourth and final husband, who she divorced in 1982. Martin Mull's marriage to Sondra Baker only lasted until 1981. And Sylvester Stallone never wed Susan Anton, but he did fall for another statuesque blonde, Brigitte Nielsen, though their union only lasted from 1985-1987.

Margot Kidder's erratic personal life is foreshadowed a bit in this article about her brief marriage to John Heard. She would soon be facing a multitude of personal and career traumas. Chuck Connors never wed again after this last wife. Despite the mention of Candice Bergen's relationship with Stan Dragoti, she actually wed French film director Louis Malle later in 1980. Margot Kidder's Superman (1978) costar Jackie Cooper is mentioned as having marital troubles, but these two actually did stick together all the way up to her death in 2009. Good for them! The final couple mentioned, but not pictured, is Lou Ferrigno and future wife Carla. I met these two in the late-'80s when he was doing publicity for a gym near my restaurant. She was noted as being fairly impatient and rude, but seeing here that she had been a restaurant manager, maybe she knew some things that my then-employer didn't! LOL They're still together, by the way, and have three children.

Oh dear... I almost didn't include this spread in the wake of Stephen Collins' recently revealed allegations of sexual abuse with minors. Interesting that he's referred to as looking "trustworthy" in the first sentence and later mentions that he's trying to get away from his perceived image as "clean-cut" and an "All-American Hero." 

He does come off as pretty grounded and centered in this piece (and how gorgeous he was!), but his sexual deviancy was in place at least as far back at 1973 by his own admission.

We loved Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) and especially the camp riot The Promise (1979), which is bad at an almost science-fiction level while still being touching in some ways!

I mean, just look at the nearly unrecognizable Kathleen Quinlan!

This was a fun page, revealing the (somehow!) unknown to me trivia that Candy Clark and Marjoe Gortner were once man and wife! By the way, Paul Newman's movie "The Day the World Ended" was released (with a thud) as When Time Ran Out... (1980)

Most sites I visit mention nothing about this lawsuit or the outcome of it. I wonder if there was a settlement or not.

This article tells of a memorable concert that Frank Sinatra gave to benefit the handicapped children of Egypt. Within a year or so's time, Anwar Sadat would be assassinated and his wife Jihan made a widow.

Brigitte Bardot published her first book in 1978 and the next one wasn't until many years later, so this article is a tad confusing. Regarding the photo of Jane Seymour, she is beautiful there and Somewhere in Time (1980) is a favorite of mine that I always intend to profile, but never actually do!

I enjoyed this page, with remarks from Laurence Olivier on Marilyn Monroe and feedback from famed photographer (and my own very favorite) George Hurrell. Many other comments, mostly positive for a change, are included by others. I could have done without Woody Allen's gushing over underage Muriel Hemingway, especially now that he's married his own stepdaughter! There's also a blurb from O.J. Simpson.

I don't think one could say that Fernando Allende really "made it" in Hollywood, though he did continue to work there for a time after this profile, including a role on Flamingo Road (1981-1982) and guest roles on popular series. Eventually he moved to Puerto Rico where he carried on a successful TV and (occasional) movie career.

Some interesting pairings in this one. Donna Summer (getting ribbed in the caption!) with Dolly Parton and Barbara Carrera with legendary director George Cukor. It would be fun to see the unretouched photos mentioned in Richard Gere's caption. Before Pam Dawber landed "sexiest man alive" Mark Harmon in 1987, she dated this handsome hunk, who eked out a touch and go acting career from the '80s through the late-2000s. Mary Tyler Moore's career did rebound after Ordinary People (1980), but unfortunately her marriage came undone by 1982. to the surprise of many. (Look at the body language here, however...)

I have one thing to say about Ruth Buzzi and her husband (to whom she is still wed, by the way!), You GO, Ruthie! Georg Stanford Brown and Tyne Daly weren't as lucky. They split in 1990. Not sure if Nancy Morgan Ritter planning "for tomorrow" included being divorced from John in 1996... What a rotten photo of the lovely Jaclyn Smith. And who ever expected to see Princess Grace and Gloria Gaynor chatting it up? (Lord, that hairdo on Grace...)

Here, we find Muhammad Ali sparring with his pal, recording artist Teddy Pendergrass. In 1982, Pendergrass was paralyzed from the chest down in a horrific one-car automobile accident. Did you know that his fellow passenger was a transsexual who was uninjured in the crash? I didn't. Sean Connery is lucky if he made anything off that bomb Meteor (1979)!   

Robert Walden is sort of taken to task in this article for something I feel he's right about! I do recall Jean Stapleton having a hellacious time trying to break free of her Edith typecasting. 

I recall watching (and liking) Donna Pescow's Angie (1979-1980) when I was a kid and it's strange that as popular as it seemed to be, it only lasted that one season. The TV-movie that Lauren Bacall is unhappy about starred Kathryn Harrold as her. It barely made a ripple then or now. Hawaii 5-O's James MacArthur tells about sleeping over at Joan Crawford's house and witnessing the notorious bed-harness contraption that Christopher had to sleep in. 

This color photo is the sum total of what the "Star of the Month" gets in this magazine! No article, nor even a detailed caption!

Could Conrad Bain's wife Monica's glasses get any bigger? I'll say one thing about Shera Danese, she remained with Peter Falk up until his death in 2009. But Debbie Reynolds' new beau?!??! I can't believe anyone at the magazine would fail to recognize (gay) hairstylist to the stars Sydney Guilaroff! (And, yes, I know he claimed to have slept with Garbo and Ava Gardner...) 

Some fun star power on this page, from Jeff Bridges to Jack Lemmon and Peggy Lee to Gene Kelly and Jean Simmons. Gabe Ferrer and Debby Boone remain wed to this day, by the way.

A variety of tidbits here regarding the still-burgeoning fame of Martin Sheen to Barbra Streisand's criticism of the title song for The Main Event (1979), which I happen to like a lot! Interesting that Lesley Ann Warren played a stripper a few years before playing a love-struck customer of stripper Christopher Atkins in A Night in Heaven (1983.)  

The remainder of the profile on "Hollywood's Hottest Hunks." Andrew Stevens, who we adored as a child, was divorced from Kate Jackson before the year 1980 was up! And, for the record, we hate a mustache on him!

For those interested is the tail end of the "Global Gossip" section, too. I haven't been able to figure out what Peter Sellers' (?) picture is doing there... There's an amusing story about David Soul's girlfriend, though, and some interesting details about the overseas marketing of both Laverne & Shirley and The Muppet Show.

No matter how many attempts I made, I could not scan the entire page of this section, which is confounding and ridiculous! You get most of it, except some captioning and the edge of one photo. Shirley MacLaine actually divorced her rarely-seen husband in 1982 and never wed again... The caption for Grace Kelly read,"I've always hated being known for my looks." (Yeah... me too!)

Some nice rare photos and pairings on this page. I love Felicia Farr's hair and gown (a far cry from the sloppy way she looks in the one from the Thalian's Ball in 1980!) BTW, you can spy Warren Beatty over Kim Novak's shoulder in her photo.

I LOVE Stella Stevens' helmet 'do in this photo. Dorothy Malone is also a fave of mine. I had completely forgotten about Tuesday Weld and Dudley Moore having been married! They were wed for five years and even had a son together. Tommy Sands allegedly had his career brought to a halt by Frank Sinatra after the breakup of his marriage to Nancy.

Finally, this last page (in color!) does not disappoint. Not only do we get Carol Burnett in a Santa suit and a cute photo of Chris Atkins and Brooke Shields, but we also spy hunky Grant Goodeve, yummy Gil Gerard and Robert Hays in a Speedo! A fitting way to end, in my opinion!