Ray Combs Movies
Former standup comedian and occasional actor Ray Combs is best remembered as a game show host on Family Feud (from 1988 to 1994) and Ray Combs' Family Challenge. He was born in Hamilton, OH, and started out performing standup at a Holiday Inn in Indianapolis. Though he became a successful game show host, Combs had a troubled personal life. He became distraught when his wife, with whom he fathered six children, filed for divorce in the mid-'90s, and he made several suicide attempts. On June 2, 1996, he was admitted to the psychiatric ward of Glendale Adventist Medical Center with head injuries. He was to be observed for 72 hours; however, 14 hours after his admittance Combs hanged himself with a bedsheet in his room. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Comedian Eddie Murphy tried something different with this 1995 film that he produced and co-wrote, enlisting veteran horror director Wes Craven to give the story some chills. The uneven comedy-horror tale features Murphy as a vampire named Maximillian who arrives in Brooklyn on a ship full of people who have been brutally murdered. One of the corpses on board closely resembles that of Rita (Angela Bassett), one of the detectives assigned to the case. Maximillian targets Rita, hoping to get a dance with her that will bring her under his control. He enlists the help of a worker named Julius (Kadeem Hardison), biting his neck and turning him into a slowly decaying ghoul. Also seeking to romance Rita, though in a less sinister way, is her longtime detective partner Justice (Allen Payne). Maximillian uses his supernatural powers to interfere with the budding romance. Murphy also plays a preacher and an Italian gangster in this bizarre film. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eddie Murphy, Angela Bassett, (more)
- 1992
Facing increasing stress, Larry (Garry Shandling) finally loses it altogether when Hank (Jeffrey Tambor) falls asleep during the live show. The final episode of the first season, this installment of HBO's popular late-night talk show parody The Larry Sanders Show features special guest stars Ray Combs, Earl Holliman, Bob Saget, and T-Bone Burnett. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
This screwball comedy casts real-life couple Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn in a film that finds the latter returning to her roots in a role reminiscent of Private Benjamin (1980). Hawn stars as Joanna Stayton, a snooty heiress who summons carpenter Dean Proffitt (Russell) to her lavish yacht, where she wants an expanded closet constructed that will house her valuable wardrobe. When Dean fails to build the closet out of cedar, Joanna haughtily dismisses him without payment. Later, Joanna falls overboard and is struck by another boat, causing amnesia. Seeing her story on the news, Dean constructs an elaborate scheme to pretend that Joanna is his wife, Annie. Soon, the former rich snob is cleaning Dean's home and babysitting his four rambunctious boys. Although at first she's a disaster, "Annie" grows into her role and begins to love being a mom and middle-class wife. When her real husband, Grant (Edward Herrmann), comes looking for her, however, her memory is jogged, and she must decide between a life of privileged ease and a life of happy housework. Overboard was the feature-film debut of writer Leslie Dixon, the granddaughter of famed photographer Dorothea Lange. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, (more)
- 1984
This release from the Los Angeles Comedy Competition offers all the best performances from the 1984 stand-up battle, pitting comics head to head in front of live audiences and before a panel of judges, to determine which is the best. Pioneering the competitive competition format almost a decade before American Idol, the program features a young Jay Leno among the contestants. ~ Cammila Albertson, Rovi
