DCS: tara browne

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In 1945, Tara Browne was born into British royalty. His father was the 4th Baron Oranmore and his mother was an heiress to the Guinness Brewery fortune. Upon his 25th birthday, Tara was set to inherit 1 million pounds. In the meantime, Tara ran with an elite crowd. He attended — and often hosted — parties boasting a veritable “who’s who” of the swinging London counterculture. For his 21st birthday, he flew guests on private jets to one of his family estates in Ireland. The guest list included  John Paul Getty, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones and Jones’ then-girlfriend Anita Pallenberg (who would later give birth to three children by Keith Richards). Tara also numbered Paul McCartney and John Lennon among his close friends. Tara was responsible for introducing the Beatles’ bassist to his first LSD trip.

In mid-December 1966, Tara was driving through South Kensington with his girlfriend, model Suki Potier. His car, a luxury Lotus Elan, exceeded a hundred miles per hour and Tara was under the influence of alcohol and drugs. He blew through a traffic signal and collided with a parked truck. Potier managed to leave the accident unscathed, but Tara died from his injuries the next day.

John Lennon immortalized his friend in the first two verses of the Beatles song “A Day in the Life.” McCartney, at first countered the reference, but confirmed it in his 2021 book Lyrics.

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DCS: richard moll

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Richard Moll passed away on October 26, 2023 at the age of 80. He was an actor that enjoyed a pretty successful career as a supporting player in both comedy and drama. Although he appeared in a number of films and episodic television in roles that crossed a variety of genres, he is best remembered for his portrayal of the imposing but lovable bailiff “Bull Shannon” on the NBC sitcom Night Court during its entire nine-season run. Moll’s “Bull” was a popular character on the show and pretty much defined his persona for countless fans.

That’s not always a good thing.

After I posted the announcement of Moll’s death, a Facebook friend related her personal encounter with Moll — one that left her less than enthused. Here’s her story…

True story. I LOVED LOVED LOVED Bull when I was younger. Watched Night Court all of the time and he was my favorite. Cut to a summer where I was sent off to Wyoming to a Girl Scout horse camp and in a tiny airport in Jacksonhole, I saw Richard! He stomped to the front of the line and demanded to board in front of everyone else and they denied him. I later approached him to ask for an autograph (I was 12 and traveling alone in my G.S. uniform). He angrily grabbed my pen, signed quickly and then walked away. I was crushed and didn’t even keep the autograph because I stupidly always thought of him as his character and that he would be lovable.

That was the day that I learned:
1. Don’t meet your heroes
2. Actors aren’t their characters and can be real dicks sometimes in real life.

Of course, he was maybe having a bad day and was tired. But this wasn’t a huge airport, he wasn’t being hounded and I was a 12 year old in a girl scout uniform and he still managed to be a jerk so….

This has been a public service.

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inktober 2023: week 5

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The final entry for Inktober 2023 was alluded to last week. It’s The X-Files, a science-fiction-horror series inspired by Kolchak: The Night Stalker.

Tired of the mundane scripts he was churning out for Walt Disney Productions’ teen market, Chris Carter was hired by the upstart Fox Network to develop new programming. Working with his fondness for Twilight Zone and his childhood favorite Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Chris pitched his show — The X-Files — about two FBI agents and their on-going investigations into paranormal occurrences to Fox executives. Initially rejected, Chris reworked the idea and fleshed out the characters. He made the brooding Mulder the “believer” and the no-nonsense Scully the “skeptic,” in a conscience effort to reverse stereotypical gender roles of the stoic male and gullible female. The series was “green-lit,” became a huge hit for the neophyte network and made stars of lead actors Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny in the process. (The series even moved production from the cheaper Vancouver locale to Los Angeles to accommodate Duchovny.)

The X-Files was filled with strange characters, moody tones and dark storylines, all of which added to its appeal. It found success with its “monster of the week” premise, despite the same scenario responsible for the demise of its processor Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Taking inspiration from earlier, iconic hits like David Lynch’s Twin Peaks and the aforementioned Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The X-Files raged on and intrigued devoted fans for eleven seasons, including a comeback in 2018. Two films based on the show were produced — one released between the fourth and fifth season and a sequel released six years after its initial run ended. It even introduced the catchphrase “The Truth is Out There” into the lexicon of pop culture, alongside other familiar TV lines like “Sit on It” and “Dy-No-Mite!” Even now, reruns of the show have gained a new audience among those too young to have experienced the original craze.

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DCS: anne francis

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Anne Francis began modeling as a toddler. She made her big-screen debut as a teenager in a small role in the musical This Time for Keeps with Esther Williams and Jimmy Durante. In 1955, she played a supporting role in the tense drama Bad Day at Black Rock as well as a lead role as Glenn Ford’s young wife in The Blackboard Jungle. Not one to be typecast, she was featured in Forbidden Planet, the groundbreaking science fiction film that set the stage for serious films in the previously frivolous genre. Her inclusion in the film was forever immortalized in the theme song to the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Feeling trapped in a series of low-budget movies, Anne jumped to television in a starring role in her own series. Honey West followed the adventures of a shrewd and sultry private eye, a first for a female actor. She also made appearances in popular anthology series like Alfred Hitchcock Presents and a memorable segment of Twilight Zone. Anne stayed busy with guest roles in a slew of TV series throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s. In the final season of the long-running sitcom My Three Sons, Anne was featured in a four-episode story arc, becoming the wife of Fergus McBain Douglas, Fred MacMurray’s Scottish cousin (also played by MacMurray).

Anne continued taking roles on television, popping up on popular shows like CHiPs, Wonder Woman, Barnaby Jones, Murder, She Wrote and an obligatory appearance on The Love Boat. She even took a guest spot on Drew Carey’s sitcom, as well as a stint on Home Improvement and Wings. Her final role was on a 2004 episode of the police procedural drama Without a Trace.

A smoker for most of her life, Anne was diagnosed with cancer in 2006. The disease took its toll in 2011. She was 80 years old.

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inktober 2023: week 4

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Week 4 of Inktober 2023 sort of picks up where last week’s feature left off. After the demise of Dark Shadows, producer Dan Curtis soldiered on in his mission of bringing the horror genre to television. Working closely with writer Richard Matheson, Dan Curtis purchased the rights to an unpublished novel about a vampiric serial killer loose in Las Vegas. The story featured an investigative reporter named Carl Kolchak. The made-for-television movie — The Night Stalker — aired as the January 18, 1972 installment of ABC’s Tuesday Night at the Movies. The atmospheric creeper, with character actor Darren McGavin in the role of Kolchak, became the highest rated original TV movie on US television, earning a 33.2 rating. The film prompted a sequel — The Night Strangler — the following year and eventually a television series with McGavin reprising his role as Kolchak.

Running for just a single season, the renamed Kolchak: The Night Stalker was popular among viewers, despite its deadly timeslot on Friday evenings, replacing the ill-fated police drama Toma. During its 20 episode run, the intrepid and inquisitive Carl Kolchak faced an onslaught of vampires, werewolves, mummies, witches and even Satan himself. Kolchak constantly butt heads with his always skeptical and overly-belligerent editor, played by overly-belligerent actor Simon Oakland. (Coincidently, Oakland played the overly-belligerent boss on Toma, the show that The Night Stalker replaced.)

After 20 episodes, McGavin, who also served as uncredited executive producer, asked to be let out of his contract. He cited sub-par scripts and the tiresome “monster of the week” premise into which the series had fallen. Two full-length TV movies were cobbled together from unused episodes and previously-shot footage and The Night Stalker was first-run history by early 1975.

But The Night Stalker wasn’t ready to die. In the 80s, CBS reran episodes of The Night Stalker as part of its late-night programming where it was wildly popular. The fledgling SciFi Channel showed The Night Stalker in the 1990s and the entire series received a DVD release in 2005.

During its original production, budding writers and producers used the show as a springboard to celebrated careers. The prolific writing team of Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale received their first professional writing credit  for the fifteenth episode of the series. Sopranos creator David Chase worked as a story editor. A young Chris Carter, a devoted viewer of the series, was inspired to create The X-Files, as a result.

A 2005 attempted revival of The Night Stalker, with a new cast, only lasted six episodes.

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DCS: piper laurie

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In 1949, budding actress, the former Rosetta Jacobs, signed a contract with Universal Pictures. Studio executives changes the seventeen-year old’s name to Piper Laurie, a name which she used for the rest of her life.

The young ingénue was cast opposite the top male leads of the day. She appeared in all genres — comedies with Donald O’Connor, dramas with Tonty Curtis and  one-time beau Ronald Reagan, even musicals with Rory Calhoun. She took on Shakespeare and appeared in the original television production of Days of Wine and Roses with Cliff Robertson. In 1961, she was offered the role of Paul Newman’s girlfriend in The Hustler. She was nominated for her first Oscar for her portrayal.

Piper took to the Broadway stage, gaining critical acclaim in a revival of Tennessee William’s The Glass Menagerie.

After a 15-year absence from the big screen, Piper returned as unhinged religious zealot “Margaret White,” the title character’s mother in the Steven King horror film Carrie. Piper was nominated for her second Oscar for the role. Interestingly, Piper was convinced the film was a comedy after reading the script. (When I met her in 2014, she confirmed this, dismissively stating: “How could it have been anything else?”) Ten years later, she earned her third Academy Award nomination as Marlee Matlin’s mother in Children of a Lesser God.

Never afraid to take on a challenge, the versatile Piper appeared in David Lynch’s cult series Twin Peaks, as well as Italian horror impresario Dario Argento’s Trauma. She happily guest starred on several TV series including Frasier, Will & Grace, Matlock, Law & Order and as George Clooney’s mother in the medical drama ER.

Piper passed away in October 2023 at the age of 91. Her career spanned eight decades, but curiously she never achieved the notoriety she most definitely deserved.

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inktober 2023: week 3

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It’s the Third Week of Inktober 2023 and just about time for a vampire.

On a summer afternoon in 1966, ABC premiered a brand new soap opera. Based on a dream by creator Dan Curtis and fleshed out by TV writer Art Wallace, Dark Shadows hit the airwaves to mediocre reception. It was a stilted depiction of the Collins family of fictional Collinsport, Maine and it was nothing special…

…until Dan Curtis introduced Barnabas Collins ten months into its run. Barnabas, a 175-year old vampire arrived in Collinsport in search of his beloved Josette, as well as the unsuspecting necks of the innocent townsfolks. Along with Barnabas, storylines involving werewolves, zombies, witches, time travel and parallel universes were introduced. Moving into its new timeslot of 4 PM, Dark Shadows‘ popularity took off, becoming a ratings juggernaut and rocketing Canadian stage actor Jonathan Frid to the show’s forefront. Originally proposed as a limited character, Barnabas became the main focus of the series and attracted a younger audience. Teens across the country would rush home from school and park themselves in front of the TV for 30 minutes (later a full hour) every weekday afternoon. Dark Shadows was a frequent topic of discussion among teenage viewers. During its run, Dark Shadows spawned two theatrical films and a plethora of books, board games, magazines and other promotional merchandise. However, with the release of House of Dark Shadows, coupled with a disappointing storyline, Dark Shadows mighty grip on the public’s attention began to wane. Its ratings dropped and by April of 1971, Barnabas Collins’ familiar afternoon timeslot was now occupied by the far more friendly Allen Ludden hosting a new version of the popular game show Password.

In 1991, NBC attempted a revival of the series, but it only lasted three months. Producer/director Tim Burton cast his perennial muse Johnny Depp in the role of Barnabas Collins in a 2012 big-screen adaptation of Dark Shadows. The film, with a $150 million budget, was a box-office disappointment, with critics and viewers confused by its comedy/horror hybrid.

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