Blind Ambition (1979)
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The 8-hour TV miniseries Blind Ambition was originally telecast May 20 through 23, 1979. This 105-minute feature-film version, prepared in 1982, seems a bit rushed at times, but overall does a credible and coherent job of storytelling. Based on John Dean's book Blind Ambition, with elements of Maureen Dean's Mo woven in by screenwriter Stanley R. Greenberg, this is the saga of the Watergate affair, as experienced by Dean (Martin Sheen) and hia wife Maureen (Theresa Russell). As the Nixon administration goes down in flames, the Deans' marriage is sorely tested-as is Dean's success-at-any-price credo. Rip Torn plays Nixon like something out of a Greek Tragedy; some viewers accepted his interpretation, others found it jarringly inaccurate. Others in the cast of "usual suspects" include Michael Callan as Charles Colson, Lonny Chapman as L. Patrick Gray, William Daniels as G. Gordon Liddy, Fred Grandy as Donald Segretti, Christopher Guest as Jeb Magruder, Lawrence Pressman as H. R. Haldeman, William Windom as Richard Kleindienst, James Greene as E. Howard Hunt, Logan Ramsey as J. Edgar Hoover, and Al Checco as judge John Sirica. Also known as The John Dean Story, Blind Ambition earned two Emmy nominations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Complete Cast:
- Martin Sheen - John Dean
- Michael Callan - Charles Colson
- William Daniels - G. Gordon Liddy
- Ed Flanders - Charles Shaffer
- Christopher Guest - Jeb Magruder
- Edward Mallory - Henry Peterson
- Alan Oppenheimer - George Simonson
- John Randolph - John Mitchell
- William Schallert - Herbert Kalmach
- Rip Torn - Richard M. Nixon
- Ralph Byers - Hugh Sloan
- Kip Niven - Earl Krogh
- Logan Ramsey - J. Edgar Hoover
- Mitzi Hoag - Press Briefing Secretary
- Darrell Zwerling - Frederick LaRue
- Terry McGovern - Jack Garfield
- Al Checco - John Sirica
- David Sheiner - Sam Dash
- Ross Bickell - Tom Huston
- Harry Basch - Gen. Walters
- James Karen - Earl Silbert
- Patricia Stich - Jill Vollner
- Don Herbert - TV Commentator
- Janice Kent - Colson's Secretary
- Janet Langhart - TV Commentator
- Ray Briehm - TV Commentator
- Larry McCormick - TV Commentator
- John Bernabei - Barber
- Alan Mandell - Seymour Glanzer
- Edwin Owens - Burt
- Joe Mantell - Joey
- Jack Rader - Supervisor
- K Callan - Mrs. Kleindienst
- Dan Priest - Richard Moore
- Anne Ramsey
- Theresa Russell - Maureen Dean
- Lonny Chapman - L. Patrick Gray
- Clifford David - Fred Fielding
- Fred Grandy - Donald Segretti
- Graham Jarvis - John Ehrlichman
- Gerald O'Loughlin - John J. Caulfield
- Lawrence Pressman - H.R. Haldeman
- Peter Mark Richman - Robert Mardian
- James J. Sloyan - Ron Ziegler
- William Windom - Richard Kleindienst
- Pat Collins - Gordon Strachan
- Garn Stephens - Carol Thompson
- Lorne Greene - E. Howard Hunt
- Dawson Mays - Dwight Chapin
- Cathleen Cordell - Pat Nixon
- Jenny O'Hara - Liz Garfield
- Rosemary de Camp - Maureen Dean's Mother
- Josette Banzet - Frenchwoman
- Stuart Gillard - Larry Higby
- Brian Farrell - Bruce Kehrli
- Alan Haufrect - Robert McCandless
- Jack Collins - Paul O'Brien
- Mario Machado - TV Commentator
- Hal Fishman - TV Commentator
- John Barbour - TV Commentator
- Larry Carroll - TV Commentator
- Hettie Lynne Hurtes - TV Commentator
- Paul Lukather - James Neal
- Earl Montgomery, Jr. - Donald Campbell
- Jack Kosslyn - Paul
- Frank McCarthy - Deputy
- Ron Recasner - Marshall
- Chris Gugas - Polygraph Operator
- Jo de Winter
- Director(s):
- George Schaefer
- Writer(s):
- Stanley R. Greenberg
- Producer(s):
- Renee Valente, George Schaefer
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