Susan Saint James gets a star - VIDEO
Remember Susan Saint James? She was honored this week with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, and it’s about time, I say. The 61-year-old actress is pictured here, with husband Dick Ebersol.
California First Lady Maria Shriver was on hand to compliment Saint James for her decades of volunteer work to support the Special Olympics and people with disabilities.
Saint James told ET, “When your name gets called, it’s indelible, it’s permanent. It’s just a compliment of the highest order.”
So let’s go back a few years to honor this talented actress (this is where David Letterman starts stroking his chin and the picture gets fuzzy)…
I remember Saint James from McMillan & Wife, the 1970s show starring Rock Hudson as commissioner of the San Francisco police department. Saint James played his lovably wacky wife, Sally, who usually managed to get kidnapped and/or help solve the case. She left the show after the 1975-1976 season because of a contract dispute. As I recall, her character was killed off in a plane crash, so I guess they decided the dispute was never going to be resolved. The show only lasted one more year.
Saint James did a handful of things before McMillan, including It Takes a Thief with Robert Wagner playing a suave cat burgler, and The Name of the Game, an odd little show with rotating stars, including Robert Stack, Tony Franciosa, and Gene Barry. By the way, Steven Bochco was a writer on that show.
In the following years, Saint James did a number of movies and TV shows, including Kate & Allie, in which she and Jane Curtin starred as two single women raising their kids together. A very 80’s, blended-family show.
Here’s my little love-letter to Susan Saint James, a clip from It Takes a Thief, episode 3.21 (March 2, 1970), The Suzie Simone Caper, with Robert Wagner:
Jessica Lange Biography
Jessica Lange is a blonde, fine-featured leading lady who has transcended the bimbo image established by her notorious screen debut—as the scantily-clad playmate in the embarrassingly bad 1976 “King Kong” remake—to become one of Hollywood’s most respected actresses in the 1980s and ’90s. Shifting easily from mainstream genre fare to worthy little independent films, Lange has maintained the ability to surprise audiences with the unexpected depth of her resources. Born into a close but “wacky” (her phrase) Minnesota family, Lange spent time living as a hippie in Paris and New York in the ’60s before settling down to an acting career. She was already 27 when she made her film debut.
It took Lange several years after her debut to find another screen role. Her then boyfriend Bob Fosse cast her as the Angel of Death in “All That Jazz” (1979) and she co-starred with TV refugees Susan Saint James and Jane Curtin in the comedy “How to Beat the High Cost of Living” (1980). But it was her turn in the Lana Turner role of a sultry femme fatale opposite Jack Nicholson in Bob Rafelson’s remake of “The Postman Always Rings Twice” (1981) that made critics and audiences realize her abilities, despite its less than stellar box office.
Lange finally proved her versatility and attained star status with two 1982 roles, as 1930s actress Frances Farmer in the biopic “Frances” and as Dustin Hoffman’s love interest in “Tootsie”; the first won her a Best Actress Oscar nomination and the second, the award for Best Supporting Actress. She racked up three more nominations by the end of the decade: as a stalwart farm wife opposite her real life companion Sam Shepard in “Country” (1984), which she also co-produced; as country music legend Patsy Cline in the biopic “Sweet Dreams” (1985); and for her searching, intelligent performance as the unsuspecting daughter of an alleged war criminal in Costa-Gavras’ “Music Box” (1989).
In 1992, Lange made her Broadway debut in the celebrated role of Blanche DuBois opposite Alec Baldwin’s Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire”. Both she and Baldwin reprised their roles on a 1995 CBS movie. Lange’s earlier TV work included another Williams heroine, Maggie, in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (Showtime, 1984) and as a Minnesota farmer in the “Hallmark Hall of Fame” adaptation of Willa Cather’s “O Pioneers!” (CBS, 1992).
Devoting more time to child-rearing, Lange worked less frequently in the late 1980s and early 90s. She worked with Robert De Niro in two high profile noir remakes, Martin Scorsese’s “Cape Fear” (1991) and Irwin Winkler’s “Night and the City” (1992). Lange was widely acclaimed and received a second Oscar, as Best Actress, for her performance in Tony Richardson’s “Blue Sky” (completed in 1990; released 1994). She was Carly, the sensuous “woman-child” wife of a military nuclear engineer, whose tendency to act out her frustrations lead to domestic and professional complications for her family. Lange had two more successes with “Losing Isaiah” (1995), as a social worker who adopts a crack baby, and “Rob Roy” (also 1995), as the great love of the 18th-century Scottish freedom fighter (Liam Neeson). Lange frequently appeared opposite female co-stars that would push and challenge, such her roles in “A Thousand Acres” (1997) playing sister to Michelle Pfieffer and Jennifer Jason Leigh in a modern King Lear allegory; bedeviling unwanted daughter-in-law Gwyneth Paltrow in the thriller “Hush” (1998); and as the lonely spinster seamstress to courtesan Elizabeth Shue who slowly destroys the lives of those who’ve scorned her in the film adaptation of novelist Honoré de Balzac’s “Cousin Bette” (1998).
Returning to Shakespeare, Lange made for a truly ferocious Tamora in “Titus” (1999), Julie Taymor’s mind-bending, ultra-violent adaptation of Titus Andronicus, but was miscast in the long-delayed “Prozac Nation” (2001) as Elizabeth Wurtzell’s (Christina Ricci) neurotic Jewish mother. The actress was far more effective in the HBO telepic “Normal” (2003) as a wife whose husband of 25 years (Tom Wilkinson) suddenly reveals that he wants a sex change operation; Lange was rewarded with Emmy, Golden Globe and Golden Satellite nominations for her performance. Next she essayed the role of the older Sandra Bloom, who husband was given to fanciful self-mythologizing, in director Tim Burton’s “Big Fish” (2003). She next appeared in Jim Jarmush’s “Broken Flowers†(2005), playing one of four ex-girlfriends of a man (Bill Murray) who tracks down his former lovers after receiving an anonymous letter from the mother of his heretofore unknown son.
From 1970 to 1982, Lange was married to photographer Paco Grande. She was romantically involved with dancer-actor Mikhail Baryshnikov from 1976 to 1982. Since 1982, Lange has lived with playwright-actor Sam Shepard with whom she acted with in “Frances” (1982), “Country” (1984) and “Crimes of the Heart” (1986) and who directed her in “Far North” (1988).
- Born:
on 04/20/1949 in Cloquet, Minnesota - Job Titles:
Actor, Model, Producer, Waitress
Family
- Brother: George Lange.
- Daughter: Alexandra Baryshnikov. born in 1981; father, Mikhail Baryshnikov
- Daughter: Hannah Jane Shepard. born c. 1985; father, Sam Shepard
- Father: Albert Lange. born c. 1911; died c. 1988
- Mother: Dorothy Lange. born c. 1913; suffered a cerebral hemorrhage c. 1968
- Sister: Jane Lange. older
- Son: Samuel Walker Shepard. born on June 14, 1987 in Virginia; father, Sam Shepard
Significant Others
- Husband: Paco Grande. married in July 1970; divorced in 1982; born c. 1942; met c. 1968 while she was a student at University of Minnesota and his father taught at university; began losing his sight from retinitis pigmentosa in the early 1970s; Lange paid him alimony after divorce
- Companion: Bob Fosse. on-again-off-again relationship began in 1975; Lange played the Angel of Death in Fosse’s semi-autobiographical film, “All That Jazz” (1979)
- Companion: Mikhail Baryshnikov. together c. 1976-82; introduced in 1976 by Milos Forman at a party thrown by Buck Henry in Hollywood
- Companion: Sam Shepard. together since 1982; met while filming “Frances” (1982)
Education
- University of Minnesota, 1967
Milestones
- 1968 Embarked upon travels through North and South America and Europe with first husband, photographer Paco Grande
- 1975 Signed seven-year contract with Dino De Laurentiis
- 1976 Film debut in “King Kong”
- 1979 Returned to films as the Angel of Death in Bob Fosse’s autobiographical “All That Jazz”
- 1980 Theater debut in summer stock production of “Angel on My Shoulder” in North Carolina
- 1981 Delivered a sizzle turn as the unfaithful wife Cora opposite Jack Nicholson in the remake of “The Postman Always Rings Twice”
- 1983 Became first actress since 1942 to be nominated for two Oscars in the same year: Best Actress for “Frances” and Best Supporting Actress for “Tootsie”; won the latter award
- 1984 First film as co-producer, “Country”; earned Best Actress Oscar nomination
- 1984 TV acting debut, played Maggie in Showtime production of Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”
- 1985 Received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of country singer Patsy Cline in “Sweet Dreams”
- 1988 Starred in “Far North”, directed by off-screen companion Sam Shepard
- 1989 Garnered a Best Actress Oscar nod for her performance as a lawyer defending her father against charges he was a Nazi collaborator in “The Music Box”
- 1991 Teamed with Nick Nolte and Robert De Niro for Martin Scorsese’s remake of “Cape Fear”
- 1992 Broadway debut as Blanche DuBois in “A Streetcar Named Desire”
- 1992 Played lead role of Alexandra Bergson in the CBS adaptation of Willa Cather’s “O Pioneers!”
- 1992 Starred opposite De Niro in “Night and the City”
- 1994 Received second Oscar as Best Actress for her performance in “Blue Sky” (filmed in 1990)
- 1995 Played wife to Liam Neeson’s “Rob Roy”
- 1995 Reprised Blanche DuBois for small screen adaptation of “A Streetcar Named Desire”
- 1996 Made London stage debut as Blanche in “A Streetcar Named Desire”, staged by Peter Hall
- 1998 Had title role in film version of Balzac’s “Cousin Bette”
- 1999 Tackled first Shakespearean role as Tamora opposite Anthony Hopkins’ “Titus”; Julie Taymor’s feature directorial debut adapting “Titus Andronicus”
- 2000 Returned to the London stage to star as Mary Tyrone in “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”
- 2002 Co-starred in the HBO movie “Normal”; received an emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie; received a golden globe nomination for best actress in a mini series or television movie
- 2003 Joined an ensemble cast for the feature “Masked and Anonymous”
- 2003 Played wife to Albert Finney in “Big Fish”
- 2003 Portrayed the heroine’s mother in the film version of “Prozac Nation”
- 2005 Cast as an ex-flame of Bill Murray’s in Jim Jarmusch’s “Broken Flowers”
- 2006 Cast in Wim Wenders’ neo-Western “Don’t Come Knocking” written by and starring Sam Shepard
- Moved with family 12 times before she was a senior in high school
- Returned to New York where she waited tables at the Lion Head bar and later worked as a model with Wilhelmina Agency in the mid-1970s
- Settled in New York where she danced and painted; joined Ellie Klein Theatre Group
- Spent two years in Paris where she studied mime under Marcel Marceau’s teacher, Etienne Decroux
- Will co-star with Drew Barrymore as two eccentric, cat-loving Jackie Kennedy relatives in “Grey Gardens,” a film inspired by the 1975 cult documentary
Heather Burns Biography
Heather Burns a Chicago native, started out studying at Chicago’s famed Second City, spent a summer at Yale Drama school and earned a B.F.A. at New York University. After three years studying with the Atlantic Theater Company and several independent films, Burns appeared in two television pilots - Nearly Yours, directed by famed television director James Burrows for Dreamworks SKG/NBC and Chicks, written by Carol Leifer for the Greenblatt-Joanollari company and the Fox network. Other television appearances have included Law & Order and as a series regular on the Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson’s cop show, The Beat. Burns burst on to the scene in Nora Ephron’s You’ve Got Mail and has been busy ever since. With her first feature film, Burns set a trend - those who work with her almost always work with her again. She was recently seen in Ephron’s Bewitched, starring opposite Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell.
Burns graduated from the Atlantic Theater Company Acting School, through TISCH School of the Arts NYU, and has since returned with All Things Considered, directed by David Pittu; and Writer’s Block, directed by Woody Allen. Burns has twice worked with writer Kenneth Lonergan: in Lobby Hero, directed by Marc Brokaw at Playwrights Horizons and John Houseman Theatre; and in London’s West End production of This is our Youth at the Garrick Theatre, directed by Lawrence Boswell and opposite Freddie Prinze Jr. and Chris Klein.
In the independent world, she can be seen in Kill the Poor, produced by John Malkovich and directed by Alan Taylor; in Lobster Farm, with Jane Curtin and Danny Aiello; and Perception, with Piper Perabo, Seth Meyers and Ajay Naidu.