Morgan Fairchild Movies
Actress Morgan Fairchild was born Patsy McClenny, the daughter of an engineer father and high-school teacher mother. At age 14, she competed for the Miss Teenage Dallas crown by performing a scene from St. Joan (she lost). After a brief marriage, McClenny set her cap on professional show business; she chose the stage name "Morgan" from the 1966 British film of same name and "Fairchild" because it sounded nice. After a few seasons on the New York stage, Morgan Fairchild was cast as the truculent Jennifer Phillips on the Manhattan-based TV serial Search for Tomorrow. From there, she headed to LA, where, despite not having an agent or any tangible connections, she landed a TV job in less than two months. Briefly cast as Jenna Wade on the prime-time series Dallas, Fairchild chose not to be tied down to dramatics (at least not yet) and polished her comedy skills with several sitcom guest spots. She then was cast in her first starring TV role, as Constance Semple on the 1981 series Flamingo Road. After the series ran its course, Fairchild delivered a well-received star performance in the 1982 Broadway play Geniuses. Later series-TV assignments included the role of testy model agency owner Racine on Paper Dolls (1984) and the scheming Jordan Roberts on Falcon Crest (1985-86). Fairchild's TV-movie and miniseries credits include Honey Boy (1982), North and South, Book 2 (1986), and a return to comedy in The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood (1985). Morgan Fairchild's theatrical film work has been by and large unremarkable, save for an amusing extended cameo in 1985's Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1993
Christina (Claudia Karvan) is a young teacher from a privileged Greek-Australian background. She has just been assigned to a school in a rough neighborhood, and has entered into the fray of its politics by at first supporting the majority if the kids against the school's athletic director: the kids want to play soccer, the director wants them to play rugby and nothing else. Eventually she volunteers to coach the team, but then the father (Nico Lathouris) of Nick (Alex Dimitriades), one of the team's more outspoken and talented players, comes forward to coach. He had been a world-cup level player for the Greek national team. Meanwhile, Christina's relationship with her business-obsessed fiancee is deteriorating, and she is beginning to respond to Nick's admiration of her. After she finally succumbs to his advances and discovers that she is happy she did, all hell breaks loose at the school, in her family, in Nick's family, and with her fiancee. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudia Karvan, Alex Dimitriades, (more)
- 1993
The murder of a cosmetics company tycoon leads lawyer Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) into a strange case involving a new anti-aging concoction. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Born into a futuristic world in which procreation is merely a mixing of biochemicals and sex is banned, a group of teenagers tire of repressing their desires and time-travel to the past in hopes of preventing the sex-hating woman from enacting her frosty schemes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Morgan Fairchild, Ian Abercrombie, (more)
- 1992
Nancy (Sandra Bernhard) tells Roseanne and Jackie that she is gay. (Morgan Fairchild) guest stars as Nancy's lover Marla. Meanwhile, Bev (Estelle Parsons) moves into a retirement home, making Roseanne feel old. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- 1992
On Christmas Eve, a snowstorm separates the Conner family at different places. Roseanne and Jackie are stranded at the Lunch Box with Bev (Estelle Parsons) and Nana Mary (Shelley Winters). Meanwhile, Darlene learns about David's (Johnny Galecki) terrible home life. Sally Kirkland guest stars as David's mom, Barbara Healy. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Roseanne finally opens her restaurant, the Lanford Lunch Box. After getting threatened by one of her first customers, Roseanne is prompted to take a self defense class with Jackie and Nancy (Sandra Bernhard). Meanwhile, Arnie (Tom Arnold) returns to Lanford to try and get back together with Nancy. Its up to Roseanne to tell him that Nancy is gay. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- 1991
In this made-for-television drama a female writer of popular thrillers decides that it is time to kill off one of her characters, a serial killer who has appeared in many of her recent books. Soon afterward, she finds herself pursued by a copy-cat serial killer/fan. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1991
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In this mystery, Holmes and Watson travel to lovely old Vienna to investigate a murder and find themselves embroiled in a tangled web of terrorism, and romance. Originally the film was a three hour television miniseries. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Lee, Patrick Macnee, (more)
The millionaire of the title is Joan Rivers, an over-aged Beverly Hills brat whom many of the film's characters want to see dead or in rags. Armed with only her mile-a-minute mouth, Rivers fends off con men, fortune hunters, and would-be murderers--among them, possibly, her own husband (Alex Rocco). Thank heaven for her faithful household staff, headed by manic chef Mesach Taylor. The villains include Morgan Fairchild and David Ogden Stiers, for whom the audience may be rooting after fifteen minutes or so. How to Murder a Millionaire was made for TV--but not for my TV. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Rivers, Alex Rocco, (more)
- 1990
- R
This gangster satire involves a boss (William Hickey) who turns over the reins of his organization to an incompetent son (Eddie Deezen). ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Deezen, Morgan Fairchild, (more)
- 1990
Engelbert Humperdinck and Morgan Fairchild are the unlikely star duo in Even Angels Fall. Humperdinck plays an author, specializing in Harlequin-type romances. His first of several mistakes is to move into an apartment where the previous tenant died mysteriously. Who will be next? Made for cable TV, Even Angels Fall isn't bad, even though Engelbert Humperdinck is no Olivier. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
The made for TV Menu for Murder was first telecast December 4, 1990. An unpopular PTA leader is murdered with a poisoned croissant sandwich during a gala luncheon. Though practically every woman on the committee had expressed a desire to kill the victim, the principal suspect is housewife Julia Duffy. Detective Ed Marinaro conducts an intense investigation of Julia-much to the discomfort of her husband. Joan van Ark and Morgan Fairchild also star, the latter incrongrously cast as a PTA treasurer. Originally titled Murder at the PTA Luncheon, Menu for Murder was reportedly withheld from view until a few legal matters could be smoothed out with the Parent-Teacher's Association. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed Marinaro, Julia Duffy, (more)
- 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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Morgan Fairchild, Derek Rydall, (more)
- 1989
Art imitates life--sort of--when a TV network decides to fashion a sitcom based on the career of Murphy Brown (Candice Bergen). Hired to portray the fictional "Kelly Green" is glamorous blonde actress Janet St. Martin (Morgan Fairchild), who insists upon hanging around the "FYI" newsroom to soak up inspiration from the far-from-flattered Murphy. Real-life TV journalist Connie Chung appears as herself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
As usual, the USA network's ad copy for their TV-movie The Haunting of Sarah Hardy was a model of understatement: "She has beauty, wealth, love, and a past that's driving her insane." Sela Ward stars as Sarah, a newlywed who is obsessed with the memory of her late mother. Sarah is convinced that her mom, who committed suicide years earlier, has returned to haunt her on her wedding night. Various friends and relatives (Polly Bergen, Morgan Fairchild, Michael Woods, Roscoe Born) try to convince the girl that she's just imagining things and that there's nothing to worry about. Actually, they're half right: her imagination is being worked overtime. . .by someone who wants to drive her out of her mind. This Gaslight wannabe first aired May 31, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this detective yarn, an amiable investigator finds himself entangled with mobsters after he tries to help a woman who is apparently having a run of bad luck. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
In this complicated police film, a police detective, who still grieves for the child he accidentally shot during a gun fight, finds distraction when a streetwalker approaches him and asks him to help her get out of the dark world in which she is hopelessly mired. Soon the cop finds himself involved with extortion, drugs and a serial killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Armin Mueller-Stahl, Morgan Fairchild, (more)
- 1987
- R
A gumshoe gets in deep kim-chi when he agrees to murder a fellow's wife in exchange for $25,000 up front. No sooner does he accept the money than he is running off to his intended victim to first warn her and then sleep with her. As soon as they finish making love, he learns that she was not the wife and that the real one has been killed. Now the detective finds himself framed for murder and must somehow avoid the determined police detective who constantly dogs him while continuing his own investigation of the circumstances. His search leads him into the fashion-model world where he encounters more deception, double-crossing and danger. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Dee Williams, Vanity, (more)
Todd Barrett (John Dye) is an Arizona State University student who needs money for tuition in this teen comedy. He recruits his handsome friend Bret Wilson (Steve Lyon) from the school diving team to pose for a series of photographs. The enterprising Todd uses the photos to print a calendar that quickly becomes a hot-selling item and ends his financial woes. This feature was shot on location at ASU. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Dye, Steve Lyon, (more)
- 1987
Featuring several gorgeous ballet sequences, Sleeping Beauty is a live-action telling of the classic fairy tale, starring Tahnee Welch as Beauty. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1986
- R
A bible-totin' preacher from out East arrives in wild Montana to spread the Good Word to all. When his wife takes off with another man, he straps on the pistol and extracts his vengeance. Then he must struggle to find his way back to the hallowed life. Willie Nelson plays the preacher and Morgan Fairchild is his inconstant wife. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Willie Nelson, Morgan Fairchild, (more)
Co-written by Paul Reubens and Phil Hartman, Pee Wee's Big Adventure marks the debut of director Tim Burton, who stamps the entire film with his quirky trademark style. The premise: Pee Wee (Reubens), an overgrown pre-pubescent boy sporting a molded Princeton cut, blush, lipstick, and a shrunken gray flannel suit, lives an idyllic life in his bizarre home (some have compared the remarkable set design to the expressionistic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) until someone nabs his most prized possession: a fire engine-red customized bicycle. He then embarks on an epic cross-country search to find his lost love, not to mention more than a little adventure. Along the way, he makes friends with various oddball characters, visits the Alamo, endures various hallucinatory nightmares, and has a supernatural run-in with a spectral trucker. In this reprisal of his popular standup routine, Reubens is wonderful as the nerdy man child; he plays it silly, yet he manages to imbue the role with some sensitivity without ever seeming maudlin. The score by Danny Elfman is terrific -- as is the case in nearly every film Burton has directed -- and the script is fresh and inventive. Some of the most memorable moments: the opening sequence involving Pee Wee's morning activities is a stroke of genius (note the bunny slippers and talking breakfast), as are the scenes at the truck stop, and the "Hollywood" version of Pee Wee's story at the end (starring James Brolin and Morgan Fairchild in surprise cameos). In all, Pee Wee's Big Adventure is a delightful film, enjoyable for children as well as adults. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Reubens, Elizabeth Daily, (more)
- 1984
In this action-drama, a crack team of transport specialists try to stop terrorists from hijacking an armored van filled with plutonium. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Morgan Fairchild, Billy Dee Williams, (more)
