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- 1984
This short-lived TV series was based on the 1982 television movie of the same name and focused on two young women and their mothers negotiating the New York modeling scene with the rich, the fashionable, and the powerful. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicollette Sheridan, Terry Farrell, (more)
- 1984
In this made-for-TV spoof, Robin Hood (George Segal) and his merry men must attempt to gather together the necessary ransom money to free King Richard from a nasty Duke. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Arthur Hailey's novel Hotel had already served as the inspiration for a 1967 theatrical film when this TV pilot came along on September 21, 1983. Bette Davis stars as Laura Trent, the entrenched owner of the Hotel St. Gregory (moved from the novel's New Orleans to San Francisco, to allow for location filming at San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel). In true Love Boat fashion, Ms. Trent and hotel manager Peter McDermott (James Brolin) oversee four separate plot strands. A hooker (Morgan Fairchild) is raped in the hotel by a bunch of preppies who'd hired her for "just talk". A neurotic aspiring singer (Erin Moran) tries to interrupt the act of the hotel's lounge entertainer Mel Torme (himself). A very-married lady (Shirley Jones) checks in to conduct an illicit affair. And a feisty young woman (Connie Sellecca, a regular on the subsequent series) shows up unhired as McDermott's assistant manager. The Hotel series ran from 1983 to 1988, during which time an ailing Bette Davis was replaced by Anne Baxter; in the early 1990s, reruns of the series popped up rather incongruously on cable's E! Entertainment Network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
This episode was originally the first half of a two-part crossover with the CBS private-eye series Simon and Simon. At the same time that Magnum (Tom Selleck) is hired to provide security at a high-society antiques charity auction, Mainland detectives A.J. and Rick Simon (Jameson Parker, Gerald McRaney) arrive in Hawaii in search of a priceless artifiact known as the Ki'i Doll. The doll carries with it an ancient curse, which brings death to anyone who touches it--and guess who that includes? Gillian Dobb, later to join the series' cast as Agatha Chumley, is here seen as Mabel. Inasmuch as the followup Simon and Simon episode "Emeralds are Not a Girl's Best Friend" is not included in the syndicated Magnum, P.I. package, "Ki'is Don't Lie" has been provided with an alternate ending which bring closure to the story and swift punishment to the principal villain! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The Seduction a z-grade erotic thriller, tells the story of a TV newswoman spied upon and stalked by an obsessed fan. Jamie (Morgan Fairchild) is a beautiful, successful career woman. Derek (Andew Stevens) is an obsessed psychopath who watches her and attempts to become part of her life. When Jamie discovers his true intentions, she must fight for her life. The Seduction, is standard exploitation movie fare, with a fair amount of sex, violence and nudity. None of the characters are particularly believable, and the performances by both Fairchild and Stevens are sub-par. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Morgan Fairchild, Michael Sarrazin, (more)
- 1981
This made-for-TV follow-up to 1980's The Girl, the Gold Watch and Everything stars Lee Purcell and Philip MacHale as Bonnie Lee Beaumont and Kirby Winter, roles created in the earlier film by Pam Dawber and Robert Hays. Once more, the hapless Kirby is the possessor of a magic watch that can stop time all around him--and once more, the watch causes him and his fiancee Bonnie Lee nothing but trouble. This time, hero and heroine are pitted against evil land baron Hoover Hess III (Burton Gilliam), who isn't above committing foul play to get what he wants. What Hoover wants, by the way, is a patch of valuable land owned by Bonnie Lee's mother (Carol Lawrence). Among the singular pleasures in this whimsical adventure yarn is the appearance of Jerry Mathers, Beaver Cleaver himself, as one of the bad guys! Based on characters created by John D. MacDonald, The Girl, the Gold Watch and Dynamite was first syndicated to local TV stations May 21, 1984, as part of the "Operation Prime Time" series. It was offered as both a 2-hour movie, and as a series of five half-hour programs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
Old-time Hollywood director Vincent Sherman brings a glossy studio-bound look to The Dream Merchants, a two-part, four-hour adaptation of Harold Robbins' novel. The story follows the career of a pioneer filmmaker (Mark Harmon), who comes to Hollywood in the early 20th century with a pocketful of dreams and helps build the sleepy California orange-grove community into the world's entertainment capital. Typical of the Harold Robbins ouevre, most of the characters are based on real-life movie personalities: Robert Goulet's vainglorious matinee idol is a combination of John Barrymore and Douglas Fairbanks, while Vincent Gardenia's vitriolic mogul can be taken as a low-budget Louis B. Mayer. The film is rife with historical inaccuracies (Goulet is informed that the closeup has "just been invented by D. W. Griffith" as a means to convince him to sign a long-term contract assuring him plenty of closeups!), while the haircuts and speech patterns are firmly locked into the 1980s. All the same, The Dream Merchants was a profitable entry in the syndicated "Operation Prime Time" series of TV specials. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
Donald A. Stanwood's original novel The Memory of Eva Ryker used the Titanic tragedy as its launching pad. This made-for-TV adaptation of Stanwood's book moved the action up some 27 years, motivating its plotline with the torpedoing of an Athenia-type luxury liner in 1939. The film flashes forward to 1961: millionaire Ralph Bellamy, who lost his wife when the ship went down, hires writer Robert Foxworth (a discredited ex-cop) to investigate the sinking. Bellamy's grown daughter Natalie Wood, who'd survived the ordeal, seems to hold the secret, but she's been in a near-lunatic state for over twenty years. When several other survivors of the sinking are murdered, it becomes all the more crucial to unlock Wood's pent-up memories. In the tradition of Brian De Palma's Obsession (75), Natalie Wood not only plays the title role of Eva Ryker, but also Eva's ill-fated mother. The Memory of Eva Ryker was produced by "master of disaster" Irwin Allen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
Ever anxious to enter the "nighttime serial" market engendered by Dallas, NBC commissioned Flamingo Road, a casual remake of the 1949 Joan Crawford film of the same name. The TV-movie pilot, which aired in May of 1980, introduces the dramatiis personae. Howard Duff plays the corrupt political boss of a small Florida town (a role originated by Sidney Greenstreet in 1949). Cristina Raines is the Crawford counterpart, a faded nightclub singer who wanders into Duff's town and upsets the political and social apple cart by shacking up with a local contract (John Beck). Duff tries to destroy Raines by dredging up her past, to no avail. When Flamingo Road became a series in 1981, it manage to hang by its fingertips in the ratings for eighteen months. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Two Montana saddletramps head for bustling Music City and open up a detective agency in this comical adventure that was originally the pilot of a television series. Not only do the two have to accustom themselves to strange big-city ways, they have to learn to become less inept at the gumshoe game as they try to expose extortionists and return a missing singer. Singers Barbara Mandrell and Roy Acuff make cameo appearances. On video the film is titled Ramblin' Man. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Acuff, Claude Akins, (more)
- 1979
A couple find the body of a detective in their apartment, and follow the trail of his killer to Nashville. The film is also known as Country Music Murders. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1978
In this made-for-TV shocker, a young sorority pledge (Kay Lenz) gets even for being humiliated in a hazing prank. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1977
It seemed like only yesterday that Bob and Emily celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary (actually, it was in an episode which aired approximately ten months earlier, in February of 1977). And now here they are, blowing out the candles on their tenth anniversary cake. On this momentous occasion, both Bob and Emily wonder what life would have been like had they married other people -- and a brace of fantasy sequences shows them what life would have been like. The supporting cast features Morgan Fairchild as Linda Bianca and E. William Parker as Marcus. Written by Lloyd Garver, "Grand Delusion" first aired on December 17, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Newhart, Suzanne Pleshette, (more)
- 1976
Police officer Len Gittings (Walter McGinn) is suspected of accidentally shooting a fellow cop in a drug raid. In his efforts to uncover the truth, Kojak (Telly Savalas) is unaware (at least at first) that Gittings had been trying to protect his drug-addict girlfriend Claire (Lynn Redgrave) during the raid. . .and that Claire herself may have pulled the trigger. In addition to guest star Lynn Redgrave, this episode boasts early TV appearances by Morgan Fairchild (Falcon Crest), Dan Hedaya (Party of Five) and Irene Cara (Fame). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
- R
This plodding crime drama concerns the life of Depression-era gangster Pretty Boy Floyd. Imprisoned for the manslaughter of a jealous rival for his affections, Floyd escapes from jail a hardened criminal with ties to the mob in Kansas City. After meeting up with a whorehouse madam, he goes on a series of bank robberies that makes him public enemy number one on the FBI most wanted list. Soon G-man Hossler (Robert Glenn) is assigned to end the crime spree spawned by Floyd and his gang. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fabian Forte, Jocelyn Lane, (more)
