Bert Convy Movies
American actor Bert Convy excelled in baseball while attending North Hollywood High School and was signed upon graduation by the Philadelphia Phillies. After two years' stagnation in the Phillies' farm system, Convy gave up baseball and attended UCLA, where he became a member of a briefly popular singing group called the Cheers. A 1959 stint with the songs-and-laughs Billy Barnes Revue led to small TV and movie parts, notably a brief bit as a murder victim in the Roger Corman "C minus" horror classic Bucket of Blood (1959). Convy's star ascended on Broadway in the 1960s, when he originated two memorable musical comedy roles: Perchik in Fiddler on the Roof, and Clifford Bradshaw in Cabaret. He was a popular variety-show guest star in that decade, but despite starring appearances in several TV pilots he was unable to get his own prime time series. However, thanks to his ingratiating personality and smooth speaking voice, Convy developed into the perfect daytime game show host, headlining such quizzers of the 1970s and 1980s as Tattletales (which won him an Emmy), Super Password, The Third Degree and Win, Lose or Draw. This last program was co-produced by Convy's close friend Burt Reynolds, who had previously arranged for Convy to obtain good secondary roles in several of Reynolds' films. Convy finally cracked prime time TV with a continuing role on the 1972 mystery series The Snoop Sisters; four years later, The Late Summer-Early Fall Bert Convy Show was briefly telecast by CBS, with Convy presiding over a motley crew of sketch comics. From 1977 to 1986, Convy was a frequent guest star on the long-running TV anthology series The Love Boat, seemingly popping up in every other episode when the series is rerun today. Convy co-starred in the very short-lived TV sitcom It's Not Easy in 1983, and hosted the 1984 Candid Camera clone People Do the Craziest Things. In 1989, the actor learned that he had a brain tumor, and in 1990 suffered a series of severe strokes. One year later, Bert Convy was dead at the age of 58. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi- 1987
- PG13
This romantic comedy is based on a true story that happened in California in 1944. Sonny Wisecarver (Patrick Dempsey) is 15 year old who has an affair with his older neighbor Judy (Talia Balsam). The two run off and get married, but a stern judge has the union annulled. Sonny is hauled before the same judge when he gets involved with another older woman (Beverly D'Angelo), and the publicity makes him the object of affection for millions of young women who believe Sonny has something special. Michael Constantine and Betty Jinnett play Sonny's concerned parents. Carl Reiner is the uncredited narrator, and the real-life Elliott "Sonny" Wisecarver has a cameo appearance as a mailman. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Patrick Dempsey, Beverly D'Angelo, (more)
- 1986
- R
This comedy is set in Hollywood in 1961, where a group of young men join the National Guard in an attempt to escape Vietnam. The men basically do nothing while on supposed weekend duty until they get a visit from the Army, which threatens to ship them out on active duty unless they shape up. Their solution is to hire a troupe of actors to portray convincing soldiers, put on a stage show to impress the Army officers, and make sure that enough winsome nurses are around to satisfy the proverbial lecherous tendencies of a certain colonel. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Chris Lemmon, Vic Tayback, (more)
- 1986
Few men in the publishing industry have more enemies than Christopher Bundy (Bert Convy), who has converted a once respectable magazine into a lurid tabloid specializing in tell-all exposes and pictures of nude women. Jessica (Angela Lansbury) angrily shows up at Bundy's Connecticut headquarters to protest his plans to reprint her first murder story in his magazine. Inevitably, Bundy is murdered, and Jessica's old friend Chester Harrison (Robert Stack) is accused of the crime--but Harrison is only one of several people whose closeted skeletons had been exposed by the ruthless Mr. Bundy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1984
See if you can predict the ending of this one. John Ritter and Cassie Yates are the next-door neighbors of Penny Marshall and Bert Convy. Ritter and Marshall can't stand each other. But presto! Ritters' wife Yates runs off with Marshall's husband Convy. The two spurned spouses meet to bemoan their individual fates. Love Thy Neighbor is a TV-movie comedy with a TV-movie cast and a TV-movie denouement. The only surprise is the absence of a laugh track. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1984
The two-hour debut episode of Murder, She Wrote finds former substitute teacher Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) reluctantly thrust into the limelight when her first mystery novel, "The Corpse Danced at Midnight," becomes a best-seller. Invited to a costume ball held by her publisher, Jessica comes face to face with a genuine murder when guest Dexter Baxendale (Dennis Patrick), wearing a Sherlock Holmes costume, turns up dead. Suspicion immediately falls upon Jessica's nephew Grady (Michael Horton), forcing our heroine to turn sleuth herself. Throughout the story, the widowed Jessica must also wrestle with her growing attraction to handsome Preston Giles (Arthur Hill). Watch for future Murder, She Wrote semi-regular Herb Edelman in a role other than Lt. Artie Gelber, and also for a young Andy Garcia in a bit part as a tough guy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1982
A career woman is so desperate to conceive a child that when her boyfriend the sportswriter comes up short, she goes looking for a fertile stranger in this made-for-TV comic outing. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Suzanne Pleshette, Gil Gerard, (more)
- 1981
This is the made-for-TV version of the romantic drama that chronicles the exploits of a group of glamorous women caught up in the entertainment industry. This version contains material author Jacqueline Susann omitted from her original novel. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Burt Reynolds and director Hal Needham team up for the fourth time, this time bringing an all-star cast of characters on a cross-country car race in the vein of 1976 release The Gumball Rally. The police are the least of the Cannonballers' worries as they push the pedal to the metal in a race from Connecticut to California. Reynolds stars as J.J. McClure, a speed-loving racer disguised as an ambulance driver to outsmart the police. He is paired up with Dom Deluise, who plays his dimwitted sidekick Victor and who, on occasion, dons the suit of Captain Chaos. Rat Packers Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. join the lineup as Ferrari-driving priests, while martial arts expert Jackie Chan takes on one of his first U.S. film roles driving a souped-up Subaru. Among the many other stars are Roger Moore doing a parody of his 007 character, complete with secret devices and weapons, Farrah Fawcett as Pamela, a woman McClure and Chaos pick up, and Jamie Farr as a deranged Islamic sheik. Jack Elam joins the cast as a crazed proctologist along for McClure's ambulance ride, and Needham makes a cameo as a patient. ~ Rachel Koetje, Rovi
- Starring:
- Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, (more)
John Ritter plays an unsuccessful actor who takes a job posing as comic-book hero Captain Avenger at comics stores and conventions. While thus garbed, Ritter foils a grocery store robbery. He skedaddles from the scene when the cops show up, leading witnesses to assume that he is a genuine costumed superhero, the sort that shows up to foil the villains and then modestly retreats after his job is done. Ritter is hired by the mayor's staff, who hope that the Captain Avenger tie-in will help the mayor win an upcoming election. This plan comes acropper, and Captain Avenger finds himself on the outs with the public. Prodded by his girlfriend Anne Archer to be himself and not rely on a costume and mask to gain adulation, Ritter becomes a bonafide hero when he rescues several citizens from a fire. Thanks to the enthusiastic performance of John Ritter, Hero at Large remains amusing even when you know what's going to happen next (a common occurrence in this film). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Ritter, Anne Archer, (more)
- 1979
- PG
A scientist hunted by terrorists receives assistance from an unexpected source: two Las Vegas showgirls and their promoter who pretend to be detectives. ~ Rovi
- 1979
- R
Bert Convy is the lead fellow here who appears as a tennis pro who uses his fondness for matched points to his advantage as he plays stud-man to his wealthy female clients in order to gather funds enough for his own tennis club. This lame effort includes a cameo by tennis great Bjorn Borg and a lengthier appearance by the irrepressible Bobby Riggs. ~ Rovi
- 1979
This exploitation film offers the "inside story" about those ever-popular star spangled gyrating, jiggling gals as a magazine reporter goes undercover and joins the team. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1979
"Master of disaster" Irwin Allen was so confident of his talents in 1979 that he actually thought he could stretch out a suspense tale for a full 200 minutes. Originally telecast in two parts, Allen's Hanging by a Thread concerns a group of friends and tourists, trapped in a sightseeing tram that dangles precariously over a yawning chasm. You might start yawning as well during the film's entirely dispensable flashback sequences. The "suspense" scenes themselves aren't bad, permitting an all-star cast (Sam Groom, Patty Duke Astin, Joyce Bulifant, Donna Mills, Burt Convy et. al.) to alternate between screaming and looking terrified. Hanging by a Thread was first broadcast on May 8 and 9, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1979
Made for TV, The Man in the Santa Claus Suit jumped the gun a bit by premiering December 23, 1979. The title "character" is threefold: John Byner, Gary Burghoff and Bert Convy all don Santa suits for various reasons. Byner is a fugitive tramp, Burghoff a lonely schoolteacher, and Convy a divorced father estranged from his young son. Unifying their three stories is top-billed Fred Astaire, who pops up in eight different roles (or seven different roles, if you don't count his "surprise identity") and sings the title song. The moral, as ever, is that Christmas is what you make of it: if you're merry, then you'll have a merry Christmas. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1978
- PG
Jennifer, directed by Brice Mack is an uninspired, low-budget rip-off of Brain De Palma's far superior Carrie but also borrows a bit from Ben and Willard. Jennifer (Lisa Pelikan) is an outcast student who gets her revenge on her classmates at the exclusive "Greenview School for Girls." Jennifer is able to communicate with snakes and calls them to do her bidding, particularly when she gets her revenge on an especially obnoxious popular blonde fellow student. Jennifer, also released as Jennifer (The Snake Goddess), has little to recommend it even for the most fervent horror fan, but it has a few moments, and Lisa Pelikan gives an appealing performance as Jennifer. TV fans will note game-show host Bert Convy in one of the lead roles. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lisa Pelikan, Bert Convy, (more)
- 1978
Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery was the first in an intended series of TV-movies inspired by the Ten Commandments (the series came a premature end with 1981's Thou Shalt Not Kill). Louise Fletcher plays the wife of paralytic Robert Reed. Though she tries to remain loyal, Reed's incapacitation puts a crimp in her connubial urges. Thus, with her husband's permission, she launches an affair with Wayne Rogers. The screenplay by Calder Willingham and Del Reisman expertly sidesteps sensationalism. Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery first aired November 1, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1977
This second of two pilot films for the Love Boat TV series was originally telecast on January 21, 1977. After the shakedown cruise, several of the actors playing the crew of the Pacific Princess were replaced. In Love Boat II, Ted Lange, Bernie Kopell and Fred Grandy portray the roles they would be playing for several seasons thereafter, namely Isaac, Doc and Gopher, respectively. But instead of Gavin McLeod as the Captain and Lauren Tewes as the cruise director, Love Boat II offers us Quinn Redecker in the former part, and Diane Stilwell in the latter. As with the first Love Boat, this second pilot fills its time with four separate sets of passengers, each in their own self-contained plotline. Hope Lange plays a wife who, fed up with philandering husband Robert Reed, takes up with tennis pro Lyle Waggoner. Divorcee Celeste Holm is reunited with old flame Craig Stevens. CPA Bert Convy (practically a "regular" of the subsequent series) pursues cruise director Diane Stillwell. And last but not least, shy psychiatrist Ken Berry falls for brash cruise entertainer Candice Azzara. The Love Boat series proper would commence in September of 1977, and sail on until late 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Quinn K. Redeker
- 1977
Death Flight was originally known as SST: Death Flight when it was first telecast February 25, 1977. Though fairly expensive so far as TV movies go, the film is brought down to earth by its standard B-flick plot. On its maiden flight, America's first supersonic transport runs into deadly danger high in the sky-and may never get to land. In true Airport fashion, the plane is populated with celebrities (at least by TV standards): Barbara Anderson, Bert Convy, Peter Graves, Lorne Greene, Tina Louise, George Maharis, Burgess Meredith, Doug McClure, Martin Milner, Robert Reed, Susan Strasberg, Billy Crystal, and even Regis Philbin. The film's working title was Death of the Maiden, but this was too close to Death and the Maiden, the 90-minute pilot episode of the 1973 Jimmy Stewart TV series Hawkins. Death Flight was later syndicated as SST: Disaster in the Sky. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson star as two pro-football pals who both fall for the team-owner's very rich daughter. Kind of goofy, kind of funny, and somewhat endearing--those are the qualities that surface in this light-hearted comedy built upon an extremely predictable scenario. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Burt Reynolds, Kris Kristofferson, (more)
- 1974
In this family drama, a young couple discovers that they are going to have quintuplets. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1974
Don Murray stars as slick network news producer William Martin in The Girl on the Late, Late Show. In addition to his administrative duties, Martin is a news reporter, and it is in this capacity that he investigates a series of Hollywood murders. The unifying link between the killings would seem to be faded movie queen Carolyn Parker (Gloria Grahame). Several Tinseltown veterans show up in key roles in this made-for-TV mystery, including Van Johnson, Cameron Mitchell, John Ireland, Walter Pidgeon and Frankie Darro. First telecast April 1, 1974, Girl on the Late, Late Show was designed as the pilot for a weekly Don Murray TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1973
11-year-old Jodie Foster appears in this episode as Julie Lawrence, the daughter of Shirley Partridge's erstwhile beau Richard Lawrence (Bert Convy). A big fan of the Partridge Family, Julie all but smothers Danny (Danny Bonaduce) with adulation, which of course Danny resents. Ultimately, he realizes he's in love with Julie--at which point she responds by giving him a black eye (Go figure!) Song: "Walking in the Rain". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1972
Scripted by Rick Husky from a story by Sam Roeca, "Trapped" is a radical departure from the usual Mission:Impossible format. Things start traditionally enough, as the IMF sets about to recover an $8 million army payroll from a family of smugglers: Joe, Arthur and Doug Stafford (Tom Tully, Jon Cypher, and Bert Convy). But the odds change dramatically when Phelps is hit on the head and loses his memory--then wanders straight into a trap set by the crooks. "Trapped" first aired on February 26, 1972, as the final episode of Mission:Impossible's sixth season. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Greg Morris, (more)
- 1972
In his second Patridge Family guest-star stint, Bert Convy makes his first appearance in the role of congressional candidate Richard Lawrence. Impressed by Lawrence's public-service record, Keith (David Cassidy) campaigns tirelessly for the man--only to regret his zeal when it becomes apparent that Richard has fallen in love with Keith's mother Shirley (Shirley Jones)--and vice versa. Songs: "One Day at a Time" and "Ain't Love Easy". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
