Kelly Rutherford Movies
Alternately termed "smoldering" and "babelicious" by TV Guide, the 5'8" U.S. actress Kelly Rutherford -- who spent her adolescence as something of a sports nut instead of a très féminine prima donna -- ironically broke through to the public with a series of white-hot-sexy small-screen roles: barroom chanteuse Dixie Cousins on The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.; onetime-prostitute Megan Lewis on Melrose Place; and sensuous bartender Judy Owen on the post-WWII drama Homefront.Born in Elizabethtown, KY, in the late '60s (and only two years old at the time of her parents' divorce), Rutherford spent years moving from town to town across the country, under the guardianship of her fashion-model mother, Ann Edwards, until she reached her teenage years. At that point, Rutherford, Edwards, and the family's oldest child, Anthony, settled in Newport Beach, CA. Rutherford made a beeline for New York City after graduating from high school in the late '80s, where she planned to enroll in a formal drama program; instead, she signed to do several commercials and appeared on the daytime soapers Loving (opposite Luke Perry) and Generations. Returning to the West Coast, Rutherford subsequently trained at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, where a drama coach reportedly advised her to "work on [her] sexuality" -- a suggestion that helped her immensely.
Though Rutherford's feature debut was a bit part in the undistinguished James Glickenhaus-directed actioner Shakedown (1988) -- starring Sam Elliott and Peter Weller -- the 1994 romantic comedy-mystery I Love Trouble constituted both her first significant assignment and the type of material she most warmed to: contemporary throwbacks to golden-age Hollywood cinema. Following a string of banal telemovies between 1994 and 1997, Rutherford joined the cast of the slasher movie sequel Scream 3 (2000) and the political drama Chaos Factor (2000), directed by Terry Cunningham. She received second billing (her highest, up through that time) in the direct-to-video police detective thriller Angels Don't Sleep Here (2001), opposite Roy Scheider and Robert Patrick.
It was on television, though, that Rutherford continued to find greatest success. Beginning in the early 2000s, the actress garnered prominant roles a series of programs, starting with a recurring role as Deputy Mayor Melinda Lockhart on The District. She next played Special Agent Frankie Ellroy Kilmer on the counterterrorism thriller Threat Matrix, followed by a role as Samantha "Sonny" Liston on the similarly themed political drama E-Ring. Despite Rutherford's impressive ability to make it into the casts of highly-touted prime-time series, those programs also tended to be disappointingly short-lived. That all changed in 2007, when she was cast as Lily van der Woodsen, mother of the troubled Serena (Blake Lively), on Gossip Girl, a teen-oriented prime-time soap on the fledgling CW network. Taking a cue from previous rich-kid drama The O.C., Gossip Girl devoted a portion of its storyline to the main characters' parents, and Lily had no shortage of drama and relationship issues. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
Want to know a secret? A really juicy secret? Look no further than the latest message from Manhattan's notorious blogger Gossip Girl. She keeps tabs on the city's most elite teens as they make the rounds from the preppiest school events to the most lavish, decadent parties. And between Serena and Blair's explosive friendship, Dan and Serena's budding romance, Nate and Blair's fairytale relationship (or is it?), Chuck's escapades and Jenny's introduction to the glamorous life, there's a lot to track! In this 5-disc, 18-episode Season One, friends, lovers, rivals and enemies abound. Even the darkest secrets don't stay hidden for long. You know you love it. XOXO!
- Starring:
- Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, (more)
- 2003
Definitely a series for the post-9/11 generation, ABC's Threat Matrix detailed the exploits of an elite task-force unit of the Homeland Security division. Headed by John Kilmer (Jamie Denton), the unit, comprised of the cream of the FBI, CIA, and NSA, was dedicated to stopping terrorism before it started, using the multitude of threats and warnings received on a 24/7 basis by the White House as their guide. Kilmer's multicultural, multiethnic team included his ex-wife Frankie Ellroy Killmer (Kelly Rutherford), as well as Tim Serrano (Kurt Caceres), Lia Larkins (Melora Walters), Jelani (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali), Mo (Anthony Azizi), and Holly (Shoshannah Stern). Created by Daniel Voll, Threat Matrix debuted September 18, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jamie Denton, Kelly Rutherford, (more)
William A. Graham directs the medical thriller Acceptable Risk, a made-for-cable adaptation of a story from Coma writer Robin Cook. A scientist (Chad Lowe) discovers a mold in the spooky old house he lives in with his wife (Kelly Rutherford). In order to test his theory that the discovery could help fight many different brain disorders, the scientist injects himself with the mold. The man undergoes some strange changes, which may or may not have something to do with the house's previous owner, a woman who was hung under suspicion of being a witch. Sean Patrick Flanery, Patty McCormack, and Danielle von Zerneck round out the cast of this film that premiered October 21, 2001, on WTBS. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
A man returns to his hometown determined to find out the truth about a 20-year-old crime in this drama. Harry Porter (Roy Scheider) is the mayor of a city that, while once quiet and peaceful, has since become a hotbed of vice and corruption. Russell Stark (Robert Patrick), one of the top men in the city's police department, has made it his job to keep any evidence of wrongdoing from sticking to Porter, but that may change with the return of Michael Daniels (Dana Ashbrook). Michael's twin brother Jessie disappeared under suspicious circumstances two decades ago, and his body was never found; Michael is now a trained forensic pathologist who has landed a job with the police department, and in his spare time he's been running tests on a number of "John Doe" bodies at the coroner's office, determined to find out what happened to Jessie. Angels Don't Sleep Here also features Kelly Rutherford and Kari Wuhrer. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dana Ashbrook, Kelly Rutherford, (more)
In this tense military thriller, intelligence officer Jack Poynt (Antonio Sabato Jr.) discovers evidence of a CIA-backed raid on a medical facility in Cambodia in 1972, which led to the torture and slaughter of a number of innocent civilians. Poynt decides it's high time that the men responsible were exposed and brought to justice, but the deeper he digs in search of the truth, the more he finds himself in danger. The Chaos Factor also stars Fred Ward, R. Lee Ermey, and Kelly Rutherford. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Antonio Sabato, Jr., Fred Ward, (more)
- 2000
- G
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This miniseries details the complex real-life relationship between Thomas Jefferson (Sam Neill), author of the Declaration of Independence and his slave Sally Hemings (Carmen Ejogo). Fuelled by recent DNA evidence of the Hemings-Jefferson relationship, the miniseries sidesteps much of Jefferson's political life and instead focuses on the love story. Though she acquired her freedom at age 16 while traveling with Jefferson to France, she faithfully remained with her lover throughout his life in spite of emotional consequences to both her brother and her children -- who were doomed to be sold as slaves. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sam Neill, Carmen Ejogo, (more)
Wes Craven's Scream (1996) was a half-parody/half-tribute to the first wave of slasher films of the 1970s and 1980s, and since most of them spawned a large number of sequels, it's only appropriate that Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson produced a third installment of their Scream franchise. Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), traumatized by the brutal murders of her friends, has left her hometown of Woodsboro and is working in California as a crisis intervention counselor. Meanwhile, "Stab," the novel by Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox Arquette), is spawning a series of successful horror films, and as Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro is being filmed in Los Angeles, a lunatic has gotten his hands on a copy of the script, and is murdering the characters in the same order that they die in the movie. But predicting who will die next is not as simple as it might seem, since the producers have circulated three different screenplays, with different endings. In addition to Campbell and Cox-Arquette, David Arquette returns from the first two films as less-than-bright "Dewey" Riley; new members of the cast include Parker Posey, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Foley, and Jenny McCarthy. Kevin Williamson wrote the original story, but the screenplay was penned by Ehren Kruger. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- David Arquette, Neve Campbell, (more)
When a desperate convict determines to break out of prison at any cost, his cunning escape plan finds him taking one of his best friends as a hostage and authorities mistakenly assuming that his pal is a willing participant as director Armand Mastroianni recounts one of the most daring prison escapes ever attempted. Randy Savino (Antonio Sabato Jr.) can't take life behind bars another day, but in order to escape from his fortress-like prison he'll have to take to the sky. The only way out is to hijack the helicopter of his life-long friend Colt Erikson (Adrian Pasdar) and take his old pal hostage. As authorities close in and the friendship between the pair is put to the ultimate test, Randy is about to find out there's a high price to pay for being a free man when you've wronged society in the eyes of the law. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- 1996
In this haunting made-for-TV drama, a young woman is visited by the troubled ghost of a young girl and asked to capture the person who killed the girl's mother by throwing her off a cliff. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Tim Matheson, (more)
- 1996
- Add Danielle Steel's 'No Greater Love' to Queue Add Danielle Steel's 'No Greater Love' to top of Queue
Based on a novel by Danielle Steel, this romantic made-for-television drama follows a survivor of the Titanic, who lost her fiance during the wreck, as she gradually comes out of her shell thanks to a loving, patient producer of plays. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
In the style of the screwball comedies of the 1930s and 1940s, I Love Trouble depicts the developing romance of two rival reporters who reluctantly fall for each other while competing for a major scoop. Old hand Peter Brackett (Nick Nolte) and aspiring newcomer Sabrina Peterson (Julia Roberts) first meet when they are both assigned to cover a mysterious train crash. The pair immediately develops a connection despite their professional rivalry, and they decide to work together. Sensing something fishy about the crash, they look deeper and are soon fighting to expose a wide-ranging conspiracy, while also struggling to outmaneuver and out-charm each other along the way. Co-creators Charles Shyer and Nancy Meyers, who previously found success harking back to 1940s comedy in Father of the Bride, borrow heavily from His Girl Friday, Bringing Up Baby, and other screwball classics. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Julia Roberts, Nick Nolte, (more)
- 1993
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A "western" in name only, the short-lived Fox Network series The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. was actually a wild and wooly fantasy/sci-fi outing, with more in common with Jules Verne than Zane Grey. Set in the early 1890s, the series starred Bruce Campbell as the titular Brisco County Jr., a Harvard graduate who had journeyed westward to track down the gang that had killed his father, legendary lawman Brisco County Sr. The younger Brisco knew that the culprits were the minions of the scurrilous John Bly (Billy Drago), an outlaw who possessed awesome, almost otherworldy powers, and who was much despised by the "robber barons" of the Westerfield Club, owners of the local mines. Offering his services to these millionaires, Brisco was given an unlimited budget and access to all manner of marvelous new inventions (so new that many of them wouldn't be invented for the next forty or fifty years or so!), many of them the creations of the eccentric Professor Albert Wickwire (John Astin). Unfortunately, the villains were likewise equipped with futuristic paraphernalia, so Brisco and his assistant, nervous Westerfield Club lawyer Socrates Poole (Christian Clemenson), often as not had to rely on their own wits to get out of scrapes. Also in the cast was Julius Carry as black bounty hunter James Lonefeather, aka Lord Bowler, who wanted to get Bly before Brisco did; thus, sometimes he worked with our hero, sometimes against him. Other semi-regulars included dimwitted by affable thief Peter Hutter (John Pyper-Ferguson), gorgeous soldier-of-fortune Dixie Cousins (Kelly Rutherford); and Brisco's faithful horse Comet, who in certain ways was the smartest character in the cast. Predominent throughout the series were the mysterious orbs, which possessed unique powers that could be used for good or evil, depending on who was in control of them. It was eventually revealed that the orbs were artifacts from the distant future (2056 AD, to be exact)--and so, for that matter, was the seemingly indestructible John Bly. Played in a rip-roaring dime novel fashion, even unto dividing its action into "chapters" and ending most episodes with a "continued next week" cliffhanger, the 60-minute The Adventures of Brisco County debuted August 27, 1993, ending its run exactly one year and one day later. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bruce Campbell, Julius J. Carry III, (more)
- 1992
Frequent TV-movie costars Stephanie Zimbalist and Gregory Harrison are teamed once more in Breaking the Silence. Harrison plays a lawyer defending a teenager (Chris Young) accused of murdering his father. As the boy details a lengthy history of abuse at the hands of his father, Harrison flashes back to his own miserable childhood. Zimbalist costars as Harrison's law partner (and former lover), who must not only contend with mounting an adequate defense for their client, but also must come to grips with her bitter childhood memories. Breaking the Silence first aired January 14, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1989
- R
The mayor of Midwood, California, Karen Wilton (Morgan Fairchild), is perplexed to discover that the mall she just ceremonially opened has become the favored hunting ground for a mass-murderer. The heroine of this would-be spoof is a young waitress (Kari Whitman). Could it be that the killer is really her dead boyfriend? ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Morgan Fairchild, Derek Rydall, (more)
In this complicated crime drama, Roland Dalton (Peter Weller) is an attorney who must defend a drug dealer who claims he killed in self defense. His worthy opponent is his former flame Susan Cantrell (Patricia Charbonneau), now an effective career-minded prosecuting attorney. Richie Marks (Sam Elliott) is the detective who anticipates that legal prosecution will finally close the book on this case. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter Weller, Sam Elliott, (more)
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