Thursday, April 05, 2007

Today's Blind Items--A Little 80's Love

These both happened very recently, but you need to put on your I love the 80's hats to solve them.

This '80s nighttime TV star has not aged well, but it's her personality that could use more augmentation. A hardworking small-screen actress early in her career, she became famous as a sweet and unassuming wife in a hotbed of scandal, but in recent years has found work harder to come by (and the lure of excessive plastic surgery irresistible). These days many would view getting cast with her about as fun as landing themselves in a leg-hold trap. At the end of one shoot, in addition to the usual logo-embellished crew jackets given out by the production team, a second set of "ordeal-by-fire" souvenirs were secretly handed around: t-shirts that read "I survived [production name] with [actress' name]!"

Despite oft-denied rumors of substance abuse and difficult behaviour, this onetime TV A-lister has continued to have a career as unlikely as the "plots" of her top-rated '70s series. Guest star roles and movies-of-the-week are a far cry from the pin-ups, dolls and lunchboxes that used to feature the faces of her and her costars, but in recent years her attitude and behavior are always somewhere between diva and demon. So hated was she on one particular set, seconds after her final scene wrapped and spies confirmed she'd left the lot, the director wheeled in a case of champagne he'd had chilling to thank his long-suffering crew

77 comments:

Anonymous said...

1 - Linda Evans - have you seen her lately?
2 - Suzanne Sommers. Blah.

Anonymous said...

Suzanne Somers for #2

Anonymous said...

Cybill Shepard? On Moonlighting?

cindie said...

1-haven't a clue
2-Farrah Fawcett

Anonymous said...

1.Linda Evans
2.Jacklyn Smith

Stacy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Stacy said...

#1 - #1 Markie Post from Night Court (night TV reference) plus she was in a made for TV movie called Hearts Afire or something (all the fire/burning references)

Stacy said...

I agree with Farrah Fawcett for #2

Anonymous said...

i think number 2 is Suzanne Summers. she wasnt great to deal with on the set of "Three's Company" and I havent heard anything about Farrah, plus Farrah has been battling cancer for the past few years

Anonymous said...

Suzanne Somers, Linda Evan, Jacklyn Smith, Farrah Fawcett - none of these ladies have worked in eons, which makes me think they cannot be the subject.

What about Shelly Long for #1? She's who immediately jumped to my mind. And IMDB lists three projects - two in post-production...

Anonymous said...

number two has to be one of the original Charlies Angels...lunchboxes, dolls, etc. Wasn't Jacklyn Smith tagged as a drunk once?

Anonymous said...

#1 Gotta be Cybil- "nighttime TV star"- Moonlighting reference, anyone? or Shelley Long...will have to do more digging.
No clue on #2, could be lots of people!

Anonymous said...

1 Joan Van Ark
2 Jacqline Smith

Anonymous said...

1. Joan Van Ark - she was briefly on Y&R and looked terrible

2. Lyndsey Wagner or Lynda Carter

Anonymous said...

#1. Could be Heather Locklear, but that 'unassuming wife' bit is throughing me off.

#2. Farrah Fawcett

Anonymous said...

Farrah Fawcet for the second. The bit of '"plots"' made me think of Charlie's Angels.

I would think of Cybil for the first (what a hellspawn), but we all know for a fact that she hasn't been getting nipped and tucked; she'd be looking a whole lot better then she does.

But you never know...

brendalove@gmail.com said...

Suzanne Somers, I thought she was just a thigh-squeezing ho and that's all she did these days?

Anonymous said...

1. Cybil
2. Suzanne

Anonymous said...

Wouldn't Farrah be a better choice for #1 with all the fire references. "The Burning Bed" anyone?

Anonymous said...

#1 - Not sure; so many possibilities. Cybill wasn't a wife on anything on TV (was she?), and when was she ever described any anyone as "sweet"?. She's was also on that lesbian show on Showtime very recently.

I've never heard any drug rumours about Suzanne Somers or Jaclyn Smith, but they have abounded about Farrah Fawcett for years. She has also been flat-out nutty and insanely difficult/demanding for eons. I think the description is Farrah to a "T".

Anonymous said...

1)Linda Evans - wife on Dynasty. Worked on Big Valley early in her career.
2)Farrah Fawcett - Charlies Angels, lunch boxes galore. Later rumored to have drug problems after disjointed appearance on David Letterman.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Joan Van Ark for #1. She play the innocent Val in the midst of the scandals of Knots Landing.

Number two could be Farrah Fawcett. I don't think Suzanne Sommers is known for drug abuse.

Anonymous said...

Niether Farrah nor Sybil became famous as "a sweet and unassuming wife in a hotbed of scandal."

That sounds like Joan Van Ark, who played Valerie Ewing. She also had a lot of TV roles before that, but mostly bit parts. She's also a victim of plastic surgery. Look at her pics at imbd. I don't know about substance abuse rumors, though.

Anonymous said...

Linda Evans hasn't done much lately (IMDB says 1997), so I don't think it's her. Otherwise, she fits the bill.

Anonymous said...

I like the Linda Evans guess for number 1.

I don't think EL would be cruel enough to do an BI on Farrah at this stage in her life. I've never heard any rumors about Jacqueline or Kate. Maybe one of the others? Cheryl Ladd? Tonya Roberts? Tonya was on That 70's Show...possibly another 70's reference? I don't remember any rumors.

Shelley Hack has been out of showbiz for years.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry...I meant I liked the Joan van Ark guess for number 1.

Anonymous said...

1. Victoria Principal or Joan Van Ark
2. Kate Jackson

Anonymous said...

1. Victoria Principal or Joan Van Ark
2. Kate Jackson

Anonymous said...

#1. Jackie Collins
#2. Lindsay Wagner

Anonymous said...

Lily, I think the substance abuse refers to #2.

Anonymous said...

Heres a list of 80's shows I found that seem to have the "unassuming wife" character. Will work on the rest of the associated clues between studying. Why can't law school be this interesting? :)
227
Little House on the Prairie
Growing Pains
Newheart
Our House
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Small Wonder
Webster

AMS

Anonymous said...

1:59=

He says the 80's show features an unassuming wife in a hotbed of scandal...and night time....screams night time soaps...Dynasty, Colby's, Dallas, Falcon Crest, Knot's Landing

Stacy said...

I don't think he means 'unassuming wife' as a character, but what she did for many years IRL before trying to make a comeback.

Anonymous said...

anon 12:56-- Jacklyn Smith hosts the upcoming new BravoTV show, "Shear Genius". BravoTV's reality shows are filmed months in advance, so I'm sure this can count as a show that was made recently (and not airing for a few weeks).

Anonymous said...

Hez, thanks. I was mixing them up for a second.

Stacy, I'm still reading the unassuming wife as a character.

"A hardworking small-screen actress early in her career, she became famous as a sweet and unassuming wife in a hotbed of scandal, but in recent years has found work harder to come by..."

That implies that's the role for which she became famous.

I'm sticking with JVA.

Anonymous said...

#1 Joan Van Ark -
a) sweet and unassuming wife
b) plastic surgery
c)These days many would view getting cast with her about as fun as LANDING themselves in a leg-hold trap

Anonymous said...

#2 is Farah Fawcett. Besides the reference to the "plots" in her series (Charlie's Angels plots were a joke), she was a TV movie queen (Burning Bed).


The other hints: Plus (ok revealing my age here) I had a Charlie's Angels lunch box and there was a Farah Fawcett doll. Here "nipples" through the shirt poster was huge back then.

Stacy said...

I stand by my Markie Post guess, she was also involved in a sex scandal with Bill Clinton.

Anonymous said...

#2 Lyndsey Wagner is a good guess

a)"a career as unlikely as the "plots" of her top-rated '70s series" : Bionic woman,Six Million Dollar Man

b)"pin-ups, dolls and lunch boxes that used to feature the faces of her and her costars" : all of those for the Six Million Dollar Man and an action figure for Bionic woman

c)Lots of TV movies, still working in 2006
Couldn't find anything on the d

Anonymous said...

Wasn't Cheryl Ladd Jimmy Caan's wife in Vegas? Didn't she recently leave the show?

Anonymous said...

I don't think it's Lindsay Wagner...she didn't really have any other "co-stars"...and I don't think she was considered a pin-up. I think it's Ms. Ladd.

Anonymous said...

I second Lynda Carter for #2. My mom met her at several parties and said she was quite a trip.

Anonymous said...

I think farrah is too easy, nobody has mentioned morgan fairchild and bo derrick, they are on a show together called fashion house and what about kate jackson or joan collins? just a thought.

Anonymous said...

1. Victoria Princial, who married a plastic surgeon.

2.Jaclyn Smith..who worked on Hope and Faith a few times before it went off the air.

Anonymous said...

I worked with Delta Burke and if it wasn't for the reference to dolls and pin-ups and lunchboxes ... man oh man could she fit the bill for the last one. Difficult doesn't even begin to describe it...

Anonymous said...

1. Joan Van Ark or Farrah Fawcett
2. Farrah Fawcett

They could both be about the same person... no?
Juju

Anonymous said...

met lyndsey wagner when she lived in Oregon in the 80s/90s, she was nice, lived down the street, not crazy or mean, just normal.
doubt it would be her.
AMS

Anonymous said...

1. definitely Loni Anderson
2. Anyone from "Charlie Angels"

Anonymous said...

Lonnie Anderson and Suzanne Sommers.

Anonymous said...

i'm w/ u anon 4:29. my guesses exactly!

Anonymous said...

Joan Van Ark for #1 (Knot's Landing). She has had horrible plastic surgery and is supposedly a bitch on wheels to work with. She was on Young & the Restless a few years back and was roundly hated and was asked to leave and the role was recast.

Farrah Fawcett for #2. It's just written so much to be one of Charlie's Angels. Jaclyn Smith is a sweetheart, it's not her. And I don't know what Kate Jackson has been up to lately. Even though Farrah's had cancer battles over the last year, she's had on set problems when she does work. I had the misfortune to work with her in the late 90's. She was beyond a mess.

Anonymous said...

Steph says,

1. Victoria Principal
2. Farrah Fawcett

BI about B-Lister who gave $10,000
to White power group...

Mark Harmon of NCIS

(he almost always played the good guy... NCIS, Stealing Home, St. Elswhere).

Anonymous said...

Steph says,

I take it back!

Anon 4:47 is right. I didn't get the "landing" until you brought up Joan. Nice work.

Joan Van Ark.

Anonymous said...

1- Cybil Shepard.
2- Bo Derek.

Anonymous said...

Lynda Carter for 2? Was married to Reaganish era politician indicted and maybe jailed for white collar crime.
Landing reference, legs, alcohol problems... Maybe?

Anonymous said...

Anon 703 here. Meant Lynda C for 1. First time posting I goof!

Anonymous said...

I think that the first one actually means she was in some kind of scandal in her real life. It's a paranthetical statement, an aside if you will. There was obviously a personal scandal for which she came off better than her partner and was probably a bigger deal than any roles she had played up to that point.

Just a thought

Anonymous said...

#1 is definitley joan van ark...no doubt about it.

#2 has got to be an Angel. Farrah was the most famous angel and pin up of the four.

Anonymous said...

Can I suggest Mrs Pricilla Presley for the sweet unassuming wife?

Jaclyn Smith did a lot of movies and guest starring roles, but nothing since 2005

Anonymous said...

EL, did someone else type this or even write this one for you? I note the markedly different style, but most significantly, the British (or Canadian) spelling of behavioUr.

That said, I want to say Linda Evans for the first item, because she seems to have developed one of those plastic surgery addictions and looks very bizarre, and Krystal Carrington was certainly a sweet unassuming wife amid scandal. But she doesn't seem to have done anything recently.

The second screams sitcom to me, Three's Company for example (pretty much a single "plot" for the entire life of the series) but I don't think Suzanne Somers has done anything recently. Will have to carve out some time to do a little thinking and research.

Anonymous said...

Ok, I have to admit I've never heard of Joan van Ark (so I'm dating myself)... but I googled her. One word. EEEWWWW! http://hautegossip.blogspot.com/2006/03/holy-crap.html

Anonymous said...

Jaclyn smith is the host for the new bravo reality show about hairdressers--that must have wrapped recently

Anonymous said...

What about the girl from the Partridge family for number two
they were really big, had posters, dolls lunch boxes and she has kept working since the show went off the air, wasn't she on some law show a few years back?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous: 6:25
I was just going to post Jaclyn Smith. :)

Last night's et show had a peice of her wrapping up her new show.

I had no idea she was that difficult.

Anonymous said...

#1 one is def. Suzanne Sommers - References to a "leg-hold trap" - thigh master; and "ordeal - by - fire" - her house burned down.

Anonymous said...

Oooh - good one, anon @8:19. Plus if you look at recent pix of Suzanne Somers posted all over the place today, she is practically unrecognizable - many trips to the knife!

agcblinditems said...

I'm thinking that #2 is Cheryl Ladd. I went back through my newsgroup and found this about her...she sounds like she might be a piece of work:
Sep 20 2006
NY POST/PAGE SIX..
FORMER "Charlie's Angel" Cheryl Ladd has a devil of an attitude
toward gays, according to Frank DeCaro, who hosts a talk show on OutQ, the gay channel on Sirius Satellite Radio. Ladd was booked to promote her book "Token Chick: A Woman's Guide to Golfing with the Boys," when her publicist, Brad Ferris, abruptly canceled, saying: "Cheryl's camp is not that comfortable doing the OutQ show . . . it's not the target audience." He added that Ladd would do Martha Stewart's radio show. Ferris, of Ketchum Public Relations, said: "It's an absurd accusation .
. . Cheryl was in town to talk about women in their 50s who are
menopausal. We didn't think it was in their demographic."

agcblinditems said...

I think we are missing the boat here in trying to assume that both of these blind items are about recent events...I don't think they are.

Billie

btw, someone sent me the guess of Cindy Williams for #2

Anonymous said...

Billie:

Quoth Ent'l: "These both happened very recently"

No boat missed

Anonymous said...

Lea Thompson is the answer to one of these.

Anonymous said...

heather locklear and farrah fawcett

Anonymous said...

wait, i take that back...

heather locklear and suzanne somers

Anonymous said...

1. Candice Bergan. He was involved in a polygamist marriage with her french husband. Murphy Brown...was that late 80's

Anonymous said...

Joan Van Ark for the first guess. She was in Knots Landing (get the landing reference). Her character Valeene Ewing was the sweet, last to know, country girl. My friend's husband was an assistant to an assistant to an assitant on one of JVA's TV movies and said she was a bitch from hell who would make Satan weep.


Second item I'm thinking anyone of the original TV Charlie's Angels. Kate Jackson was the worst of em!

Anonymous said...

Cheryl Ladd is an Evangelical Christian nutbag. I have no idea if she's the answer to either question, but I'll tell you this: She's abso-freaking-lutely nuts!

I saw her a few nights ago, while flipping channels, talking on some weird religious channel about her religious beliefs. Let's just say she's whacked out.

Also, she went through a very messy divorce where she supposedly wouldn't have anything to do with her young adopted twins. Not sure what that was all about, but her husband was a yoga instructor.

Anonymous said...

BTW: Jaqueline Smith is a sweetheart. IIRC, there was a movie about Martha Stewart that juxtaposed the "mean Martha" diva antics with K-Mart with Jacqueline's easy-going ways.

Another thing: Lindsay Wagener is also a really nice lady. I met her around 1976 or 1977 when I was kid living in a suburb of Portland, Oregon. She was very personable and polite, and not a diva in any way.

I'm curious, though, about Lynda Carter. Wasn't she a Miss World USA? I've never heard anything bad about her, except for what was written here.

Anonymous said...

Kate Jackson. She is going to be on Criminal Minds and was known to be very hard to deal with in Charlie's Angels.

Advertisements

Popular Posts from the last 30 days