Ann Jillian Movies
Blonde, round-faced actress Ann Jillian was the daughter of Lithuanian war refugees. Her mother, for whom the phrase "stage-struck" might well have been coined, determined that the family would settle in Los Angeles so that her children would grow up in the heart of showbiz. In 1961, 11-year-old Ann made her film debut as Bo Peep in Disney's Babes in Toyland (1961). Two years later, she was cast as young Dainty June in Gypsy (1963); her talent and dedication prompted producer Mervyn LeRoy to forecast a "most rewarding future in show business" for the young actress. But after essaying her first semi-adult role as secretary Millie Ballard in the TV sitcom Hazel, Jillian dropped out of acting for three years to study psychology in college; during this period, she paid her tuition by working in a department store. She returned to performing as one half of a singing act (Debra Shulman was the other half) which opened for such Las Vegas headliners as Robert Goulet. In the late 1970s, Jillian scored a personal triumph in the Broadway musical Sugar Babies, holding her own on stage despite the howitzer-shell competition of stars Mickey Rooney and Ann Miller (her role was later reduced in size, reportedly because Miller felt she was being upstaged). Under the guidance of her manager-husband, ex-policeman Andy Murcia, Jillian went onward and upward in 1980 as star of the long-running sitcom It's a Living; later television projects included the short-lived series Jennifer Slept Here and the title role in the TV biopic Mae West, which earned her the first of two Emmy nominations (the second was for 1984's Ellis Island). After undergoing a double mastectomy in 1985, Ann Jillian celebrated her survival by starring in another made-for-TV biography, The Ann Jillian Story (1988) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi- 1999
Reporter Monica (Roma Downey) endeavors to persuade cynical Chicago tabloid publisher Liz Bradley (Ann Jillian) to return to her original, lofty journalistic ideals. Alas, Liz is so obsessed with reporting the "truth" at all costs that it threatens to destroy everyone around her. Particularly victimized by Liz's ruthlessness is her own sister Lauren (played by Desperate Housewives'Marcia Cross), who finds herself in the middle of a horrendous international scandal involving a corrupt politician (Scott Wilkinson. It takes the combined efforts of Monica and guileless young reporter Ray Rifkin (John Patrick White) to persuade Liz not to use "the truth" as a lethal weapon. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1997
The recent death of his wife is just one of several blows endured by big-city surgeon Michael (Robert Hays), who has lost confidence in his skills and his been going through the motions only for the sake of his daughter Jilly (Ashley Gorrell). Summoned by his crusty dad Bob (Jack Palance) to come back to his home town for the first time in 20 years, Michael finds out that he is expected to take over the local hospital. None too keen on the prospect, Michael changes his mind when he is reunited with his childhood sweetheart, local veterinarian Sarah (Ann Jillian), who in the absence of anyone else is the hospital's only full time physician. As Michael weighs his future options--can he really go home again, or has he become too jaded by life in the city?--foxy Bob conspires with Jilly to bring Michael and Sarah back together again. First telecast on the CBS network, the made-for-TV I'll Be Home for Christmas originally aired December 23, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1996
Jean Townsend (Ann Jillian) is happily married to the dull but dependable Roger (Garrett M. Brown), who does not object to her evenings out to attend various classic-film festivals. On one of these occasions, Jean befriends Tom Doster (Lee Horsley), a fellow film enthusiast likewise mired in a comfortable, conformist marriage. Over the next several weeks, Jean begins socializing with Tom, and it isn't long before the couple is toying with notion of an extramarital affair. But how far will things go--or, to be more specific, how far are Jean and Tom willing to go beyond their own deeply ingrained middle-class values? Essentially a Brief Encounter for the 1990s, the made-for-TV The Care and Handling of Roses was first broadcast by CBS on October 8, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1995
When her daughter's lover begins exhibiting signs of becoming a dangerous abuser, a mother attempts to intervene. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Grieco, Ann Jillian, (more)
- 1994
When the police don't seem to be giving their all in the investigation of a young woman's disappearance, her sister decides to look into the mystery herself. The more evidence she finds, the more the finger of guilt points towards her brother-in-law. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ann Jillian, Joe Penny, (more)
- 1994
Some parents are faced with a difficult decision in this dramatic made-for-TV movie. Based on a true story, parents (Bruce Greenwood and Michelle Greene) of an ill infant decide to donate their brain-damaged baby's heart to help save the life of another newborn in need. The film was nominated for a Humanitas Award. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi
- 1994
An ex-convict traveling to Las Vegas to visit his son is forced to re-enter the high-stakes world of casino poker in order to win back his family in a tense tale of family loyalty starring Kenny Rogers and Terry O'Quinn. There was a time when John J. "Jack" MacShayne (Rogers) was the best gambler in all of Las Vegas, but upon traveling back to his old haunts the ex-convict discovers that Sin City has been transformed into a homogenized vacation destination for the whole family. When MacShayne is unable to locate his wife and son, ex-policeman Danny Leggett (O'Quinn) offers to reveal the pair's whereabouts if the former gambler agrees to defeat a particularly formidable opponent at the tables. If MacShayne should win, Leggett and his partner will be able to carry out their plan of robbing the casino. Should his opponent win, however, MacShayne stands to lose much more than a simple game of cards. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kenny Rogers
- 1992
A gangster's reputation as a tough guy is put severely to the test when he discovers that he has been made guardian to his dead sister's children. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi
- 1989
In this drama, a distraught Mid-Western housewife is positive that her husband's father, a crime lord, kidnapped her son. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1989
Little White Lies is a frenetic TV-movie hark bark to the "screwball comedies" of yore. Ann Jillian plays a just-getting-by Philadelphia policewoman who poses as a wealthy CEO because she's sick of "lady cop" jokes. Tim Matheson portrays a rich doctor who poses as a poverty-stricken orderly because he doesn't want women to pay attention to him because of his money. Mattheson falls for Jillian thinking that she's rich, while she falls for Matheson thinking that he's poor. And they went all the way to Rome to film this one. Little White Lies first aired November 27, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ann Jillian, Tim Matheson, (more)
- 1988
One certainly can't fault the casting in this made-for-TV biopic. After all, who better to play the title character than Ann Jillian herself. Dwelling very briefly on Jillian's early years as a child actress and her return to the limelight via the Broadway hit Sugar Babies, the film concentrates on her courageous comeback following her bilateral mastectomy in 1985. Tony LoBianco costars as husband-manager Andy Murcia, while Viveca Lindfors and George Touliatos portray her immigrant parents. Equal parts entertainment and inspiration, The Ann Jillian Story was originally telecast January 4, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ann Jillian, Viveca Lindfors, (more)
- 1987
In this made-for-television movie, a woman (Ann Jillian) is sent to prison for assisting her good-for-nothing boyfriend in an embezzling scheme. ~ John Bush, Rovi
- 1987
In this entry in the long-running mystery series, Perry Mason begins representing a friend of Della's after he is accused of murdering an old madam who is also his wife. As the intrepid attorney investigates, he soon exposes a multi-million dollar banking fraud. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1986
In this murder mystery, one twin sister assumes the identity of the other after she is killed in a boating accident. She does not realizes that the dead twin held a fatal secret. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
This made-for television version of the Lewis Carroll classic features an all-star cast. ~ Forest Ray, Rovi
- 1985
In this drama, a married woman hires herself out as a surrogate wife and gets into big trouble. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Based on true incidents, this movie follows the plight of a young American girl who travels to Japan to start work as a club singer, only to discover that she has been tricked into working as a prostitute for the Yakuza. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi
- 1983
Malibu is a two-part, four-hour adaptation of William Murray's best-selling novel. William Atherton and Susan Dey play a green-as-grass married couple from Milwaukee who take a vacation in Malibu. Amidst the elite and their million-dollar beach houses, Atherton starts up an affair with divorcee Valerie Perrine, while Dey fends off the attentions of TV star Steve Forrest before succumbing to the charms of tennis pro Chad Everett. Other Southern California satyrs and nymphs wandering in and out of Malibu include James Coburn, Eva Marie Saint, Ann Jillian, Kim Novak, Richard Mulligan, and (who else?) George Hamilton. The multiple story lines all come to a head during a climactic tennis match. Malibu is trash, true, but it's trash cultivated from the highest-quality refuse heaps. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1983
The seven-hour TV miniseries Ellis Island was adapted from a novel by Fred Mustard Stewart. Per its title, the film is a mosaic of subplots involving several European immigrants who passed through New York's Ellis Island before taking up residence in the Big Apple. Most of the characters are based on real people, notably the Irving Berlin-like musician played by Peter Riegert. Co-stars Faye Dunaway, Richard Burton (in his last film role) and Ann Jillian were honored with Emmy nominations. Ironically, this essentially American saga was largely filmed in London. Originally telecast November 11, 13, and 14, 1984, Ellis Island was re-edited and re-telecast in the summer of 1986, just in time for the Statue of Liberty Centennial. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Jack Butler (Michael Keaton) is a Detroit automobile engineer unjustly fired by his boss. Jack's wife Caroline (Teri Garr) is compelled to get a job to make ends meet, and is soon hired on as an advertising executive in a firm run by the shifty Ron Richardson (Martin Mull). This leaves Jack at home doing the housework and taking care of the kids, which he discovers is a lot more complicated than he ever imagined. Moving from breadwinner to househusband doesn't do much for his self-esteem, and he bides his time playing poker for coupons with a gaggle of neighborhood housewifes and pondering infidelity with dedicated homewrecker Joan (Ann Jillian). Among Keaton's fish-out-of-water bits: trying to maneuver a shopping cart with the inevitable wobbly wheels; and imagining a soap opera/film-noir episode in which he gives in to Joan's advances, only to be found out by Caroline. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Keaton, Teri Garr, (more)
- 1983
Steve Allen hosts and performs with an assortment of pop, jazz and contemporary musicians in this video. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1974
A particularly vicious gang is using heroin to lure young women into prostitution. Investigating this sordid business, a prominent TV reporter is murdered by the criminals. The only hope Kojak (Telly Savalas) to smash the ring and avenge the unfortunate reporter is in the hands of Audrey Norris (Tina Louise), a strung-out hooker whose roommate has also been bumped off. This episode was directed by Leo Penn, the father of actors Sean Penn and Christopher Penn. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1972
These are animated tales about Sealab 2020, which is an underwater research laboratory in the year 2020. ~ Rovi
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