Disastrous Demises & Fond Farewells

Throughout the year, we occasionally take note of the passing of certain celebrities who held a special place in our heart - one notable one from this year was Mr. Christopher Plummer who passed away in February. Sometimes a beloved celeb will pass away who had already received a lengthy tribute on this site, such as Miss Sally Ann Howes who passed away just this past December. One of THE biggest losses this year was that of Miss Betty White, who seemed as if she would live on forever and who worked (and worked!) endlessly, both on screen and in her personal life for the benefit and welfare of animals. When she passed away in December, just weeks shy of her 100th birthday, TV as we know it was changed forever. She WAS television, from its inception. We also like to mention those who took part in the 1970-1980 cycle of disaster movies, the genre that gave us life for so long and led us into our love of movies and performers in the first place. I have a(n imaginary) club, the Disaster Movie Club, or DMC, that particular stars belong to because they happened to appear in one of those films. This year we lost four members that I am aware of.  So today we're going to pay our respects to a few of the faces we said goodbye to in 2021. 

The utterly astonishing Betty White did something that is unlikely to be matched by anyone else. She appeared on television in nine different decades! From 1948 to 2021, her face was the face of television, be it on talk/information shows, sitcoms, games shows, TV-movies, guest appearances or award programs (of which there were always many, thanks to her estimable talent, but even more once she began to receive lifetime achievement acknowledgements!) There were countless stage appearances and many movies as well along the way. And her efforts on behalf of the animal kingdom were tireless. We need more Betty Whites in our lives, though I fear we'll never see another one quite like her. It's not just that I loved watching her perform. I loved HER...

Our first member of the Disaster Movie Club is one Gregory Sierra. Hailing from Spanish Harlem, NY, Sierra could easily have fallen into a life of crime. His parents deserted him as a child and he was raised in rough surroundings by an aunt. Fortunately, he inadvertently fell into acting and wound up in stage productions, many of which were Shakespearean. In 1969, he moved to L.A. and immediately landed roles on TV, most often as ethnic types, though he always had an eye at mainstream roles as well. He had a memorably stoic countenance in Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), was recurring on Sanford & Son, spent time on Barney Miller and proceeded to countless supporting roles on TV and in movies. He's a member of the DMC for his role as Carlos, the trusty bartender in The Towering Inferno (1974), but gets a bonus point for popping up in the strenuously bad Irwin Allen TV-film The Night the Bridge Fell Down (1980) with James MacArthur, Barbara Rush and Desi Arnaz Jr, among others. Sierra passed away in January, just shy of his 84th birthday due to stomach and liver cancer. 

While it's true that Carlos was a meager role in comparison to the others, he was a constant presence in the film, whether guarding some expensive booze or serving up delights to the kids who'd been rescued from the blaze. And he warranted a close-up at the climax of the film, along with the rest of the surviving cast up to that point.

Our next DMC member is a highly-acclaimed and accom- plished performer whose work in a disaster flick would rank among the very least of her credits. Miss Cicely Tyson began appearing in bit movie parts in the late 1950s and proceeded to regular work on TV by the early 1960s, including East Side/West Side and The Guiding Light. A career milestone came with 1972's Sounder, for which she was Oscar-nominated, punctuated by her turn in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974), for which she was granted two Emmys. (She was made up to play ages 23 to 110!) Many fine roles followed in Roots, The Marva Collins Story and Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All. As she aged, it's not like she was sitting around. She was nominated for Emmys five times for her work on How to Get Away with Murder while only appearing on the program ten times! That's one fine batting average. She died at at 96, having worked the previous year and having just published her own autobiography. Her disaster role came in the egregious The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979) in which she played the mother of a boy in need of a heart transplant who is accompanying the donor heart (!) back to its destination.

The brief closeup shown here serves as proof that Miss Tyson appeared in The Concorde. Otherwise, you're hard-pressed to find her as she either uses every opportunity to obscure herself behind any available person or object or else the cameraman picks every possible angle with which to disguise the fact that she is in the scene...! It's screamingly funny to try to count how many times she is covered up by something or turned away from the camera. During her big moment, when the heart is about to fall out of the closet, you can barely see her! And I am STILL, more than 40 years later, trying to figure out why she would be flying along with the heart instead of at the side of her ill young boy, urging him to hold on... but the entire movie is brimming over with idiocy on every level. It's one reason I love it! LOL

Next comes Miss Arlene Golonka. Golonka, a Chicago native, moved to New York City at age 19 and pursued a career, having taken acting and singing lessons as a child. By her early 20s she was on Broadway in several shows (in 1963 she was playing Candy Starr opposite Kirk Douglas in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest!) She did some NYC-based television before moving to Los Angeles and pursuing film work. Often cast as bubbleheads or floozies, she nonetheless was placed alongside Henry Fonda in Welcome to Hard Times (1967) and Clint Eastwood in Hang 'Em High (1968.) She also appeared frequently on Mayberry, R.F.D. from 1968 to 1971. Many TV guest roles followed and would continue up to 2005. She also did the occasional movie such as The In-Laws (1979) and My Tutor (1983) along with her DMC entry, Airport '77 (1977.) She played the mother of a little girl whose class's artwork was chosen to be presented at a grand museum opening and who both were being flown there in a luxury jet. Unfortunately, a hijacking occurs and the plane winds up under the ocean, like a reverse aquarium! She was 85 when she died in May of Alzheimer's disease.

Golonka played a character named Mrs. Jane Stern, though I don't think anyone ever refers to that at any point in time. In the upper insert, you get a glimpse of the artwork... LOL I think the artiste grew up to design the infamous VHS cover of The Little Mermaid (1989.) Some things you just can't forget; thus I recall my mother watching Golonka's wildly screeching, over-the-top reaction to her daughter being smushed between furniture during the crash and uttering, "Stupid woman...!" in the movie theater! LOL

Lastly, we find Mr. Ned Beatty. A Louisville native who worked his way through regional theatre and onto the New York stage. Few people ever made as eye-popping a movie debut as he did, playing the hapless victim of terrifying mountain men in Deliverance (1972) and enduring a sexual assault from one of them. He proceeded on to roles in many of the decade's notable films including Nashville (1975), All the President's Men (1976) Network (1976, which earned him an Oscar nomination) and Superman (1978.) Having done the disaster spoof The Big Bus (1976), and the comedy Silver Streak (1978), which featured a disaster-ish finale, he eventually appeared in the genre entry Gray Lady Down (1978.) As the reliable assistant to David Carradine, he worked on trying to rescue a submarine which has been disabled and is resting on a precarious ledge deep below the ocean's surface. Dubbed "The Busiest Actor in Hollywood," Beatty worked vigorously in many TV and movie projects for decades afterwards, adept at both drama and comedy. He passed away in June of natural causes at age 83.

The genial Beatty is snubbed by the condescending Stacy Keach, but ultimately is permitted to assist Carradine inside his mini-sub as they strive to locate the immobile submarine. Interestingly, one of the men Beatty is trying to rescue is his old Deliverance costar Ronny Cox. And among the topside crewmen is one Christopher Reeve (seen above-right), with whom Beatty would soon costar in Superman.

There are some other stars we lost this year who, while not officially members of the Disaster Movie Club, are still associated with it somewhat. These include the following three folks.

 

Mike Henry. Henry was a 6'3" linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers (and then the Los Angeles Rams) before making a big impression as the latest Tarzan in three popular films. His horrendous working conditions and a raft of personal injuries (for someone who was quite used to taking a lot of knocks!) led him to decline the TV series, which went to Ron Ely. He proceeded to supporting parts in movies such as Number One (1969) and Rio Lobo (1970) along with successful hits like Soylent Green (1973) and The Longest Yard (1974.) His part as the co-pilot in Skyjacked (1972) is why he's noted here, though that really isn't exactly a "disaster movie." The all-star cast on an airliner in distress causes me to lump it in with the rest, though. Henry, who had played many strong, macho types of roles, turned everything around for Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and its two sequels. He portrayed the lunkheaded son of exasperated sheriff Jackie Gleason. A few years after the third film in that series, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and segued out of the business. It was complications from that which took his life last January at age 84. Even if it were not for Skyjacked, we thought he was a handsome and charismatic enough hunk that he'd warrant mention here. 

George Segal never made a true '70s "disaster movie" either, though I tend to think of Rollercoaster (1977) in those terms thanks to the Sensurround and the all-star cast featured on posters. Following some military service, Segal proceeded to the stage and ultimately onto early '60s TV before landing parts in movies like The Young Doctors (1961) and The Longest Day (1962.) Things kicked up considerably after Ship of Fools (1965), King Rat (1965) and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) for which he was Oscar nominated. Leading roles followed with a mixture of success and failure (in which he reportedly priced himself out of some producers' leagues, but could not quite deliver the box office receipts desired.) Two of my favorites movies of his were No Way to Treat a Lady (1968) and Fun with Dick and Jane (1977.) After a rough patch (following his departure from 10, 1980, and being sued for it), Segal emerged as a skillful and sought after character actor. He was still working regularly on the series The Goldbergs when he opted for heart bypass surgery at age 87 and did not survive the procedure.

We always enjoyed our next performer in practically anything, thanks to her dynamic personality and intense acting energy. Miss Jessica Walter cut her performing teeth on the New York stages while simul- taneously working on the daytime serial Love of Life. After many prime time TV guest roles, she debuted on film in Lilith (1964), then rode the publicity wave caused by being one of eight featured actresses in The Group (1966.) She continued in films, notably as the spurned, unhinged lover of Clint Eastwood in Play Misty for Me (1971), for which she was Golden Globe nominated. However, it would be another decade before she appeared again in a feature film! Always busy, she did countless TV guest roles, TV-movies and brief tries at regular or recurring roles on shows. At long last in 2003 she found regular work on television with the cult favorite series Arrested Development. She also lent her voice to the animated show Archer. Walter died in her sleep at age 80 in March of last year. So what did she ever do that was "disaster movie" related?

She gets a half-point for costarring in the 1974 TV-movie Hurricane with Larry Hagman. They play a couple on a little boat, which is almost out of gas during the title storm.

Then there's the curious case of The Concorde... Airport '79! In the expanded TV version of the movie, George Kennedy has a flashback in which he recalls breakfast with his son (the same Brian Morrison who played the boy in Airport 1975 and in the expanded version of Airport '77) and his wife, now played by Walter! First played in Airport (1970) by Jodean Lawrence, then by Susan Clark in Airport 1975, Walter is now shown reading tea leaves in which she predicts a fatal crash. Turns out it's not the Concorde (that was a bomb in more ways than one!) It winds up being her own car crash, which leaves her with brain damage and death. Kennedy is shown visiting her with a bandage all over her head.

There were still a few other celebs we lost in 2021 who meant something to me. None of them had received a full-on tribute here, but they were nevertheless people whose work I admired. So we close with some info on them! 

Miss Jane Withers - I have to admit that I have seen few, if any, of the films Withers made as a child star, though she was immensely popular (and a rascally antidote to the sweeter and perkier Miss Shirley Temple, with whom Withers worked in Bright Eyes, 1934.) Despite playing tomboyish parts, often rambunctious or bratty, she was known to be extremely polite and very bright off-screen. She was also exceedingly caring, raising millions for charity (at a time when such a figure was astronomical.) She did come back to the business as a character actress (such as in Giant, 1956) and in a more than decade-long stint as Josephine the Plumber in Comet cleanser ads. My primary contact with her was later in life, when she appeared as a spirited guest on many talk shows. Her zest for life and positive outlook was so welcome. She endured a few tragedies along the way, such as losing a husband in a plane crash and losing a child to cancer, but at no time did she abandon her personal zing. When she died in August of last year, she was 95.

John Richardson - Only those who've been under a rock are unaware of Raquel Welch and her "fur bikini" in One Million Years B.C. (1966.) But when I saw the movie for the first time, while I certainly took notice of her, it was Richardson's skimpy getup that really caught my eye. His abbreviated loincloth and silent-movie era expressions made an impression. He'd already played the dreamy love interest of Ursula Andress in She (1965) and would later catch Barbra Streisand's attention in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970.) After his six-year marriage to Martine Beswick ended, he settled in Italy as a leading man, often in thrillers. Retired for quite some time, he was taken by the Covid-19 pandemic at age 86 last January.

Miss Jane Powell - There were few folks with as sunny and ingratiating a smile as Powell. Having begun dancing at age 2, she proceeded to winning talent contests, ultimately landing a contract with MGM at age 14! She portrayed many sprightly teens in colorful musicals, but had to wait until Royal Wedding (1951) to make a major impact (replacing first a pregnant June Allyson and then an ill Judy Garland.) Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) was a smash and is considered one of the top musicals of all time. After her contract expired and light musicals fell out of fashion at the box office, she worked very often in theatre. Later, she continued to work as a TV guest star and in TV-movies (one of which was Mayday at 40,000 Feet!, about an airliner in distress.) Married five times, most happily to former child star Dickie Moore, who she met in 1981 as he was researching his book on child stars, she was another person whose sunny smile covered up personal tragedies. Her mother was an alcoholic and she had suffered sexual abuse by neighbors as a pre-teen. Powell passed away last September at age 92.

Stephen Sondheim - The theatre community has been mourning the loss of one of its genius contributors, who passed away of heart disease last November at 91. Sondheim took an interest in the theatre - and notably the piano - at age 9 and was mentored soon after by the father of one of his friends. That man was none other than the great Oscar Hammerstein II! Following school and some rocky years of trying to break through, he won the position of lyricist for a little something being developed called West Side Story! He proceeded to do the same on Gypsy and then became both lyricist and composer for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Many successes (and some failures) followed, but his talent was practically never in question. Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George and Into the Woods are some of the memorable shows he helped create. A lonely child who'd suffered an acrimonious relationship with his psychologically abusive mother, many of his works involved less than picture-perfect situations. He did find some degree of happiness when he fell in love for the first time at age 60, though it wasn't to last beyond about eight years. In 2017, he wed a much-younger partner who survived him.   

BONUS PICS:

During my 25-year stage career (now retired), I played Rapunzel's Prince in Into the Woods, sang many of Sondheim's works in the revue You're Gonna Love Tomorrow and won the bucket list role of Miles Gloriosus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. I though this funereal sequence might be appropriate to this particular post...!

Rollercoaster might not be a "disaster movie," but this hooty British lobby card sure aimed for that audience when it used this shot of a horrific crash which opens the film!

Richardson's sizzlean physique (with high-cut loincloth) was arresting, but those eyes were something to behold, too!

Henry was a very fit and handsome Tarzan indeed. If memory serves, he was the first one to sport a hairy chest.

One last photo of our beloved Miss White. You will be missed... Thank you for being a friend!

Guest Who: Front and "Center!"

One of my small Christmas presents to myself this year was the first season of Medical Center on DVD. I had vague recollections of it from my childhood (the opening used to scare me to death, with heartbeats and monitors going), but had not seen much of it in ages. It's among the more pricey vintage shows (versus many which have become heavily discounted in recent years. Sometimes you can get several seasons or a whole series in its entirety for $15 or less!) I could hardly wait to nestle in and observe the parade of 1969 guest stars which, thus far, have been a lot of fun to see. This post, however, is just about the introductory episode. (I should note that this was not the "pilot." There was a 1969 TV-movie called Operation Heartbeat which served that purpose though the role of Dr. Joe Gannon was played there by Richard Bradford and not the humpy Chad Everett.) The show would ultimately run for 7 seasons.

This episode received a lot of press. It was touted as the television acting debut of recent Heisman Trophy winning football hero O.J. Simpson, soon to begin an illustrious career with the Buffalo Bills (and later to achieve chilling notoriety for other reasons!) In truth, Simpson had been popping up as an extra or in un-billed bit parts for a little while. We sniffed one of them out six years ago while watching Ironside and had it added to his resume!

The episode begins with Simpson (cast as, imagine this, a college football star on the verge of achieving professional success!) coming into the E/R with a teammate who is banged up. 

The erstwhile Everett begins to cut off the jersey of the injured man, who may have some fractured ribs thanks to a run-in with Simpson.

I am convinced that the teammate in question was cast with a person who strongly resembled New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath. In a startling moment by today's sensibilities, Everett asks the player what happened and he replies that "the big n-----r" ran him over! It must be said that this is relayed without malice and even affectionately - far different era, but I wouldn't hold my breath to see this aired on TV without tweaking, especially in light of the fact that I was recently confronted with an episode of Bonanza, one of the most humane and morally upright shows of all time, being bleeped by a cable network.

Simpson's smile here is after his teammate's remark (and his only retort is to refer to the guy as "white boy," which is scarcely as eyebrow-raising.) If you thought I was kidding about the Joe Namath resemblance, take a look at the inset of the real Namath!

Anyway, it turns out that Simpson's coach had called ahead and asked Everett to also check out his own health and well-being. Simpson has been experiencing nosebleeds, dizziness and a propensity for bleeding injuries which he starts to deny until Everett raises his jersey and points out some blood...

Later, Everett is filling in as the university team's doctor and watches practice from the sidelines. Yes, that's Ed Asner, soon to become a TV icon as Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show the following year, as Simpson's coach.

They witness Simpson catching a pass, then colliding with the goal post, which sends him careening to the ground.

Although riddled with denial, Simpson cannot shake off the effects of this incident and Everett demands that he come to the medical center for some tests (tests he previously declined to take.) It means missing practice the next day, and possibly an upcoming game, which angers Simpson no end.

It would hardly do with a show called Medical Center for there to be nothing wrong with young Simpson. It turns out that he has a tumor on his adrenal gland and must have surgery. With the prospect of being drafted and making big money as a pro, he is beside himself with despair.

Eventually, there just isn't any choice in the matter, so he must go under Everett's skilled knife.

Now you don't really think that the entire point of this post was to feature and/or glorify O.J. Simpson, a person who disappointed more people with his behavior than practically any other celebrity. He went from a hero to millions to an international object of venom for his alleged part in the murder of his wife and her acquaintance. The real meat of this post concerns another character who is close to him throughout the episode. It was something of an eye-opener for me so I wanted to share it with you, but also keep it as a mystery (unless you happen to already be aware of who it is.) That makes this post not only a "Guest Who" but a "Guess Who?" Simpson's college senior character is married and we see her in her nurses aide get-up as well as in other fun late-'60s clothing throughout. Take a look at these obscured shots and see if you can hazard a guess as to who she is.

Knowing that it's nearly impossible to tell who she is from these examples, I'm now going to offer you a few possible suggestions as to who she could be. You may settle on one of these seven gals or perhaps go rogue and decide that it's someone else entirely!

Could it be queen of the variety show, Miss Leslie Uggams? Having totally conquered nearly every notable entertainment program (and even helming her own variety series for a while that year), she was branching into acting with The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. and I Spy. Soon enough, she'd be popping up in big screen fare like Skyjacked (1972) and winning heavy acclaim for her featured role in Roots. (Even now, she's making her mark in the Deadpool films!) Needless to say, she also left an indelible mark on the song "June is Bustin' Out All Over."

Or how about Teresa Graves? The sexy young thing was featured on the hot comedy sketch series Laugh-In in 1969. She proceeded to win parts in low-budget movies and then landed a highly-touted role on a show all her own called Get Christie Love! Trouble was, she also got religion and began refusing to do anything that went against her Biblical teachings. Her supposed tough-ass undercover cop role was prevented from doing anything sexy, violent, or even lying - hard to avoid when trying to fool criminals undercover! She soon exited the biz and, sadly, died in a house fire at only age 54.

Then there was the omnipresent acting songbird Barbara McNair. Another variety show staple, she was wondrously glamorous and could really "SANG." Having also done time on I Spy as well as Hogan's Heroes, she later segued to big screen roles including Change of Habit (1969) and They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970), as Sidney Poitier's wife. Later, she returned to episodic TV on shows such as Police Woman and Vega$. Throat cancer claimed her at age 72.

And let's not rule out one Miss Cicely Tyson, who'd been acting on TV since the 1950s and costarred on the mid-1960s show East Side/West Side. (She also popped up on I Spy, naturally, as many ladies did in order to play against Bill Cosby.) She later proceeded to an Oscar nomination for Sounder (1972) -Liza Minnelli won for Cabaret - and won several Emmys along with a dozen further nominations. Staggeringly, Tyson is still working regularly to this day at age 96! (Yes, 96!)

What about Mary Wilson? Before you scoff, remember that she and her fellow Supremes had appeared on Tarzan with Ron Ely the year prior to this, so she may well have been eager to flex her acting muscles and forge a back-up plan should the group ever split up (perish the thought!) Mary is 76 today.

Who says the actress is black? Star Trek had presented television's first interracial kiss nearly a year prior. If networks were skittish about repeating such a thing, one could hardly go wrong with Miss Diane Baker in the part. Baker was beneath reproach after having costarred in many 1960s movies with never a whiff of scandal or controversy about her. She'd appeared in a recurring role on Dr. Kildare and worked on The Fugitive and The F.B.I. around this time. Now 82, she's been retired from the screen since 2013 and was a valued acting teacher to boot.

Lastly, can we rule out the then-new starlet Jacqueline Bisset? She'd been building a career in lesser known movies along with more high-profile ones like The Detective (1968) and Bullitt (1968.) The year after this, she would not only costar in the biggest movie of its year, Airport (1970), but also star in the little-known drama The Grasshopper (1970), in which her character beds down with another football player turned actor, Jim Brown. And one certainly can't discount the similarity in build and hairstyling. There's much more about Miss Bisset, who is now 76, right here.

So who is it?? I will now reveal. And I was gobsmacked, to be honest, because I just don't associate these two people together.

Yep! It's Miss Cicely Tyson!

Tyson's gentle, appealing, sensitive performance in the episode was very well-received by TV critics. It's a little bit unsettling nonetheless to see her as the victim of Simpson's delirious brutality, knowing how things went later on down the road where he's concerned.

At this time, however, it was all just meaty playacting with no one having even the slightest notion that in real life O.J. could turn nasty.

Did you guess correctly? I must tell you that all through the episode, that wig (very uncharacteristic for her at that time, though in later years she wore a similar style) reminded me of one thing and one thing alone, especially the way she let it droop and flail from one side to the other...

...If it's not the same wig Jackie wore in Airport (and I tend to doubt that it is), there must have been a "Buy two, get four free" sale on them at some supplier out in La La Land! I mean, the style is dead on. For the record, Bisset didn't act on TV until 1985 (Anna Karenina) and didn't appear as a guest on a series until 2001 (Ally McBeal!)

I wonder if Miss Tyson has ever registered her experience in working with O.J. Simpson in what was basically his very first role. It would be interesting to hear. With her two stints on I Spy opposite Bill Cosby, she has the rare distinction of having worked with two of America's most beloved and acclaimed celebrities who later fell to the lowest lows fathomable.

 

In case it has crossed your mind, it's true that Miss Tyson was (and remains) TWENTY-THREE years older than Simpson when she played his young college-age bride! Somehow they made it work out well enough, but my goodness that is quite an expanse, especially when it's usually the male who is paired with a younger partner. Both performers are members of my Disaster Movie Club; Simpson for The Towering Inferno (1974) and The Cassandra Crossing (1976) and Tyson for The Concorde: Airport '79 (1979), though O.J.'s membership is currently suspended.

We will doubtlessly be returning to this show in the future. Not only are the 1969 clothes and hairstyles fun, but Everett (who was strangely shiny in this installment, something that was soon corrected) is so damned handsome that it bugs my eyes out every so often! He needs more attention than this early, very brief, tribute offered.