susan blakely's lack of feature work
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Balberith — 20 years ago(November 02, 2005 07:36 PM)
She still is a very beautiful woman too. God I had such a crush on her when I was young.:-) I fell in love with her when I saw Rich Man, Poor Man back in 1976.
"A real man would rather bow down to a strong woman than dominate a weak one" -
asteve2-1 — 17 years ago(May 12, 2008 08:09 PM)
Miss Blakely might have had a bad reputation as being hard to get along with or just being a plain prima donna. Hot and horny producers might have demanded sex as payment for consideration in feature roles. There could be a hundred different reasons. Remember Tuesday Weld? She was hot, beautiful, and mega talented but never got far. Hollywood is full of stories like that. Now consider the opposite. Leading men and women in box office smashes who suddenly a few years down the road are reduced to playing supporting roles or minor irrelevant ones. Walter Mathau comes to mind; had a two minute scene with no speaking part in one of his last movies. Lon Chaney Jr., Scott Brady, Yvonne De Carlo, Karen Black, Jill Clayburg, and Jock Mahoney suffered the same fate. Lets not forget George Brent who co starred with Betty Davis in Dark Victory in 1939. That movie did stellar box office yet George Brent got few supporting roles after that and no major feature rolls.
Miss Blakely is very fortunate. She has gotten tons of supporting roles over the years. Look at her filmography. Lots of work. Pretty good for someone who never had a feature roll. Look at her contemporary Cybil Sheppard. How much work is she getting? What ever Susan Blakely has been doing over the years it must be the right thing. Maybe she can come to the board and share with us the secrets of her success. Miss Blakely must be very tenacious. We can all admire her for that. -
eljefe320 — 17 years ago(December 18, 2008 09:12 AM)
Agree 100% with the above poster. Who does what and who succeeds has far more to do with politics than it does with talent and ability. Especially in the entertainment industry. I know a 60s actress who wasn't hired for a sequel because the director would only use someone that would sleep with him. As the previous poster mentioned, Tuesday Weld is a perfect example. Great actress and gorgeous beyond belief. Yet look at her credits which are nothing to get excited about. Maybe Susan didn't "play the game" very well. Or wasn't cutthroat enough. Or didn't have a great agent. Unfortunately who succeeds has about 10% to do with talent and 90% to do with opportunity.
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cookiela2001 — 11 years ago(January 01, 2015 09:54 PM)
Tuesday Weld is a perfect example. Great actress and gorgeous beyond belief. Yet look at her credits which are nothing to get excited about.
Tuesday Weld was forced into modeling and acting by a domineering stage mother who needed extra incomeshe never really wanted to do either.
Over the years Weld turned down starring roles in
Bonnie & Clyde, True Grit, The Stepford Wives, Bob & Carol & Ted &5b4amp; Alice, Norma Rae,
and a lot of other projects. (It's not as clearly documented, but she may have turned down
Lolita
and
Rosemary's Baby
as well.)
Basically, Hollywood wanted her to be a major star, and she declined.
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Evariste-Galois — 16 years ago(September 30, 2009 04:33 PM)
Her bio says she was a top-level model.
Today, that would mean sinfully more money, but she might have kept enough around such that she could pick & choose the things she wanted to do.
I figure it's like people who win big in a lottery, but still work. They don't have to be there.
e.g.
"When you're good at something, never do it for free."
Joker "The Dark Knight" -
thbryn — 16 years ago(November 04, 2009 02:09 AM)
^ I think some of the above reasons are speculative at best. If she was really considered top-tier she would have worked in more desirable projects. That said I think she was good. Anyone seeing "RMPM" would say that. So its not an easy question to answer?
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phillindholm — 15 years ago(March 07, 2011 09:27 PM)
She has been rumored to be ''Difficult''. There's some indication of that in interviews with co-workers conducted for the book ''The Making Of 'Rich Man, Poor Man'' (1976).In the same book, she talks about wanting to concentrate on feature films. She ended up in mainly in tv movies like ''Co Ed Call Girl'' and an occasional ''B'' like ''My Mom's A Werewolf''. I have no idea whether the rumors are true or not (I think she's very talented) but, who knows?.
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harry-47 — 15 years ago(March 10, 2011 01:14 PM)
Does anybody remember the movie starring Robert Redford and Barbara Streisand, "The Way we Were". Well Susan had a big part in that movie. True, I would have loved to see her in more films but at least we get to see her on tv (I've seen her in a few Lifetime movies). So long as she's getting work that's the important thing and she still looks great.
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smith-684 — 14 years ago(August 13, 2011 08:09 PM)
For the same reason you don't see Goldie Hawn acting much these days, Bette Midler, women of a certain age. Men write most of the scripts, do most of the producing and directing (yes I know, the numbers of women in power roles in Hollywood is increasing but we're still pathetically in the minority). Women out there, DIRECT! WRITE! While you are doing it include roles for those of 1908us over 50.
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cary_howe — 10 years ago(April 06, 2016 10:14 PM)
I can tell you first hand she had a severe drug problem in the early 80s and I don't think her career ever recovered from it. I was on set with her and her first day she showed up so stoned she couldn't stand up. She was supposed to be helping her costar out of an alley after he had been beaten up. The guy was small and in a heavy suit but even bent over he was having to try to hold her up. She couldn't remember her lines and her speech was slurred. The night was a loss and they replaced her with Pamela Sue Martin who was a total pro and great to work with. I was surprised after that her career recovered at all. She had the nickname Susan Spacely.She seemed fine when I met her before the shoot but showing up incoherent on your first day transcends unprofessional. I heard it happened more than once so as I say it's amazing her career survived at all.