Sixties Posts

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.