Classic Hollywood
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By Susan King
Pat Boone would like to set the record straight: He never had a clause in his movie contract at 20th Century Fox that he wouldn’t kiss his leading ladies. To prove it, he ticks off a list of actresses he kissed, including Diane Baker in 1959’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth”,
Still, he jokes, “I guess my love scenes didn’t set the screen afire.” Continue reading this story.
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(Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
Gloria Stewart
By Susan King
Yes, Gloria Stuart has slowed down and uses a cane these days — she is 100 after all — but the legendary actress is still stunningly beautiful, witty and impishly charming.
During a recent visit to her Santa Monica home, her grandson Benjamin offers a guest a glass of orange juice and Stuart a glass of water. Stuart declines; she wants a glass of white wine.
“Would you like some wine instead?” she asks her visitor.
No, thanks. I don’t drink wine.
“You don’t drink?” she says, smiling. “I do.” Continue reading this story.
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• Hollywood Walk of Fame (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
William Link, pictured, created “Columbo,” “Murder, She Wrote” and “Mannix” with his late partner Richard Levinson. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)
By Susan King
During his long, successful career, Richard Chamberlain has played a wide variety of roles. But who knew that he could also do a pitch-perfect impression of
Chamberlain played opposite the legendary actress in the 1969 film “The Madwoman of Chaillot.” He recalls that Hepburn demanded to meet him before he could get the role of Roderick in the
“I had to fly to France for her to OK me for the part,” says Chamberlain, still “Shogun” handsome at 76. “She loved to fool around. We did a scene in this park where I had just tried to drown myself. I was lying with my head in her lap on this park bench. They were lighting the scene and she started fooling around with my hair.”
And his ears. Conjuring up the spirit of the late, great Kate, Chamberlain mimics her, saying in her distinctive patrician style, “Oh, little pig ears. Close to your head. Just like mine. It means you are very selfish.’ ” Continue reading this story.
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(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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Kevin Tighe
By Susan King
Is Kevin Tighe embarrassed over his starring role as L.A. fireman-paramedic Roy DeSoto in the 1972-77 series “Emergency!” from producer Jack Webb that also starred Randolph Mantooth as his partner?
“No, I feel a great deal of pride that I was able to be a paramedic,” Tighe says. “Randolph and I have stayed good friends. I was the best man at his wedding. I didn’t want to scurry away from it. But it was something I did in my 20s. It didn’t require a lot of acting. It didn’t require a lot of great dialogue ... I don’t list it in the program because it doesn’t really link with what I am doing now.”
Truth be told, he admits he has always had a serious problem with being a celebrity, especially during the “Emergency” era.
“I didn’t know how to deal with it,” he says, “I couldn’t small talk. I would go to parties and my glasses would fog. I was truly miserable. I am a character actor. I am not a celebrity.”
For the last 23 years, Tighe has been building a resume of terrific character parts on film and television, including
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• Hollywood Walk of Fame (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
By Susan King
Raquel Welch has made her peace with Loana, the scantily clad cave woman she played in the 1966 camp classic “One Million Years B.C.” The poster of Welch wearing pelts in strategic places made her a worldwide sex symbol. The image is so iconic, it was even a pivotal plot point in the 1994 film “
“She’s really pretty OK,” says Welch of her reel-life character. “I recognize her as one part of my nature. But I just don’t want it to be my complete legacy.” Continue reading this story.
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• Hollywood Walk of Fame: Raquel Welch (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)
