My final tribute post is to the ill-fated lovely Sharon Tate who is played by Margot Robbie in the new movie. Tate was one of my faves and her death was truly tragic. Clips of her in The Wrecking Crew are shown but I liked her better in Valley of the Dolls and Don’t Make Waves. Louis Paul and I profiled her in our McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers book Film Fatales.
Today’s 1969 actress of the day is Carol Lynley from the mystery spoof The Maltese Bippy starring Dan Rowan and Dick Martin. It was supposed to be a big hit, it wasn’t. What’s a bippy? More in my upcoming BearManor Media book Carol Lynley: Lady in Peril Her Film & TV Career in Thrillers, Fantasy & Suspense due March 2020.
today’s 1969 movie actress of the day is Tina Louise in The Wrecking Crew, which is seen in clips in the film Tina had a banner 1969 co-starring in 3 additional movies the comedy How to Commit Marriage w/ Bob Hope and Jackie Gleason; the western The Good Guys and the Bad Guys w/ Robert Mitchum; and Richard Brooks’ Oscar-nominated drama The Happy Ending. Tina is profiled in my and Louis Paul’s McFarland book Film Fatales: Women in Espionage Films & Television, 1962-1973.
today’s 1969 tribute is to actors Wayne Maunder and James Stacy from TV’s Lancer. They are played in the movie by Luke Perry and Timothy Olyphant. As a kid, I was not a western fan (more sci-fi) but loved me some Lancer. James Stacy also co-starred with William Wellman, Jr. in the beach/ski movies A Swingin’ Summer with Raquel Welch and Quinn O’Hara and Winter a-Go-Go with Beverly Adams, Julie Parrish, Nancy Czar, and Linda Rogers. The films are profiled in my McFarland book Hollywood Surf & Beach Movies: The First Wave, 1959-1969.
today’s 1969 movie actress of the day is Joanna Pettet who is played by Rumer Willis in the movie. Pettet lunched with Sharon Tate the afternoon of her gruesome murder. An accomplished actress, Joanna Pettet made a splash as part of The Group before becoming a Bond Girl in the spoof Casino Royale. More films and lots of TV followed most memorably a string of guest appearances on Night Gallery. Pettet is profiled in my and Louis Paul McFarland book Film Fatales: Women in Espionage Films & Television, 1962-1973.
today’s 1969 movie actresses of the day are Jeanne Rejaunier, Arlene Charles, and Diane McBain in the fun I Sailed to Tahiti with an All Girl Crew co-starring Gardner McKay and Edy Williams. Lushly filmed on location in Hawaii, the gals volunteer to be Captain McKay’s crew in a yacht race to that tropical paradise. Read my interview with Arlene Charles about its making in my BearManor Media book Talking Sixties Drive-In Movies and more with Jeanne in an upcoming book.
today’s 1969 actress of the day is Mimsy Farmer as a mysterious ex-pat who introduces an infatuated German college student to the drug-filled world of beautiful Ibiza in director Barbet Schroeder’s More, another favorite of mine. Farmer became a cult actress due to her fun drive-in movies such as Hot Rods to Hell; Riot on Sunset Strip; and Devil’s Angels. After doing the underrated Wild Racers with Fabian in Europe, she decided to stay there and a new career began appearing in French and Italian films. Read my interview with Mimsy in my BearManor Media book Talking Sixties Drive-In Movies.
today’s 1969 actress of the day is Alexandra Hay as a self-absorbed model/actress in Jacques Demy’s love letter to Los Angeles Model Shop co-starring Gary Lockwood, Anouk Aimee, and Glamour Girls of Sixties Hollywood Anne Randall. You’ll be hearing more about Alexandra (whose films include Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner; Skidoo; and The Love Machine) in the months to come.
today’s actress of the day is Deanna Lund from my fave #1969 TV show Land of the Giants. Lund’s movie career included Elvis movies (Spinout; Paradise, Hawaiian Style), spy movies (Out of Sight); and the gritty Frank Sinatra detective yarn Tony Rome. Read interview w/ her in my McFarland and Co. book Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema
in honor of Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood… is Yvette Mimieux in Three in the Attic. Though released in late 1968, it was one of the biggest box office hits of 1969 as coeds Judy Pace, Maggie Thrett, and Mimieux keep lothario stud Christopher Jones locked in the attic to drain him of his potency after they find out he has been banging them simultaneously. Read comments about its making from Thrett and writer Stephen Yafa in my BearManor Media book Talking Sixties Drive-In Movies.
