Jill Whelan Movies
Jill Whelan enjoyed an acting career as a child star, with a seven-season (1979-1986) portrayal of Vicki, Captain Merrill Stubing's young daughter, on the prime-time ABC situation comedy The Love Boat. After the series wrapped in 1986, Whelan returned for a number of Love Boat telemovies, acted in regional theater, and played a regular role on the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless. Astute movie buffs may remember Whelan for a brief but memorable big-screen contribution that happened during her Love Boat tenure: she also portrayed Lisa Davis, the ailing child sent into convulsions when a singing nun knocks out her I.V., in the Zucker-Abrams-Zucker farce Airplane! (1980). ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide- 1990
Just when you thought it was safe to go into the water again, along came the "retro" TV movie The Love Boat: A Valentine Voyage. Four regulars of the original Love Boat series are back on board: Gavin McLeod ($Capt Stubbing), Bernie Kopell (Doc), Ted Lange (Isaac) and Jill Whelan (Vicki). Filmed on location in the Carribean, the plotline accommodates the usual quota of guest stars, in this cast Ted Shackleford, Shanna Reed, Joe Regalbuto, Tom Bosley, Julia Duffy, Steve Bond, and wrestler "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. The story concerns a gang of eccentric jewel thieves, who set about divesting the passengers of their valuables while said passengers are out frolicking on deck and on shore. The TV Guide had it right on the money when commenting that a film of this nature "defies criticism". Love Boat: A Valentine Voyage premiered February 12, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This spoof of the Airport series of disaster movies relies on ridiculous sight gags, groan-inducing dialogue, and deadpan acting -- a comedy style that would be imitated for the next 20 years. Airplane! pulls out all the clichés as alcoholic pilot Ted Striker (Robert Hays), who's developed a fear of flying due to wartime trauma, boards a jumbo jet in an attempt to woo back his stewardess girlfriend (Julie Hagerty). Food poisoning decimates the passengers and crew, leaving it up to Striker to land the plane, with the help of a glue-sniffing air traffic controller (Lloyd Bridges) and Striker's vengeful former captain (Robert Stack), who must both talk him down. Along the way, we meet a clutch of stock disaster movie passengers like the guitar-strumming nun, a sick little girl, a frightened old lady, and two African-American travelers whose "jive" has to be subtitled. Leslie Nielsen portrays the plane's doctor, launching a new phase of the actor's career that carried him through the next two decades in several similarly comedic roles. The trio of directors Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, and David Zucker responsible for the film would eventually go on to solo careers, but not before making Top Secret! and Ruthless People. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, (more)
