Sixties Posts

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STUDENT PROTEST

Actress Diane Baker is no stranger to receiving poor notices throughout her career. She is one of my least favorite 60s starlets. I have always found her boring, bland, and one-note (to be fair some of my faves like Carol Lynley, Pamela Tiffin and Anjanette Comer could be described that way but for me they had a certain charisma and screen presence sorely lacking in Baker) plus the unprofessional way she treated a friend of mine who contacted her for an interview was really low down. She currently teaches screenwriting (huh?) at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Click here to read see how she rated. Ouch!

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STARS ON DISPLAY

Another Hollywood Collectors Show has come and gone, and once again it was a star-studded event. Click here to see what celebrities were in attendance and to see photos of a few of them including Billie Jo, Bobbi Jo, and Betty Jo from Petticoat Junction: Gunilla Hutton, Lori Saunders, and Linda Kaye Henning. Below is a pic of them then, take a look for a pic of them now.

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FROM U.N.C.L.E. TO NCIS

Practically every 60s starlet I have interviewed who appeared on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. had nothing but praise for David McCallum who played sexy blond Russian agent Illya Kuryakin. He was the friendly one compared to co-star Robert Vaughn who was described as being aloof and private. So it is nice to hear that McCallum is still going strong (and looks great) with a supporting role on the #1 rated series NCIS. Click here to read a recent interview with the actor.

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ONE DEGREE OF SEPARATION

Two recipients of special Academy Awards to be given out in 2010 have direct connections to Terry Southern. The first movie acclaimed cinematographer Gordon Willis shot was End of the Road (1970) when Terry and the director chose him from a number of candidates. Prior to this Willis was shooting TV commercials.

Producer John Calley brought Terry in as screen writer on The Loved One (1965), The Cincinnati Kid (1965) and Don’t Make Waves (1967). He desperately wanted to do a movie version of Terry’s racy novel Blue Movie, the story of a Hollywood director wanting to make a hardcore sex film with major movie stars, and came close in the mid-70s but it fell apart at the last second.

It is a shame though that the Academy has decided to present these awards off camera. Already there is an uproar in the Hollywood community regarding it. You can read more about Willis and Calley in Gail Gerber’s memoir, Trippin’ with Terry Southern: What I Think I Remember.