Should have been a bigger star
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Sparky48
2000 — 10 years ago(February 29, 2016 09:37 AM)I say again:
P
lease read this recent obit about her and pay particular attention to the seventh paragraph that begins with "The beautiful biracial Denise Matthews "
(http://www.craveonline.com/music/954825-denise-vanity-matthews-jan-4-1959-feb-15-2016 )
It clearly states that her racist comment is what destroyed her career.
On reading the obit, you'll see that I am not lone person "stuck" on her gorilla comment. -
Naughty-God — 10 years ago(March 28, 2016 06:43 PM)
In her opinion, but like most Fundamentalist Christians it's always a convenient cop out to place blame on either another group, religion, or in this case, an obscure "event".
To work in Hollywood you cannot be a liability, and Hollywood has a rich history of starlets who fall to the way side due to drug and alcohol addiction. No sensible producer of film or TV shows is going to bankroll an addict. -
Sparky48 — 10 years ago(March 30, 2016 09:50 AM)
Ok, giving you the benefit of the doubt, and just for the sake of argument, let's say that her Hollywood career folded because of her abuse of drugs. However, I can tell you in no uncertain terms that her recording career was ruined by that "gorilla" remark and can provide evidence to prove it.
As I said many times before, particularly on my very own postboard ('How She Blew It"), the "gorilla" comment sparked outrage among many blacks (myself included) back in '86 and DJs at black radio stations condemned Vanity over the air for her crass, racist comment (The archived 1986 Jet article about this incident confirmed this). As result, and as a form of protest, black DJs at radio stations ceased playing her music. This termination of airplay (promotion) coupled with the direct resentment many blacks harbored against her at the time sent the sales of her records straight to the toilet, and Motown dropped her from the label, as did another recording company when she failed to chart any of her records there (This can be confirmed by both Wikepdeia and the Crave obituary that I referenced to you earlier.)
All I'm doing here is spouting facts. Accept it face it live with it move on. -
owenrcarpenter — 9 years ago(April 23, 2016 09:03 AM)
I agree 100%!
Michelle Pfeiffer is a year older than Vanity and she is still a huge star - and looks great too! That ain't botox and plastic surgery you're looking at in 'The Family' or 'Dark Shadows'. It's eating right, sleeping right and - most importantly - staying out of the California sun. Coke will trash you every time, just look at Whitney Houston.
Maybe if Vanity had got the lead in something with 'crossover' appeal as Thandi Newton and Halle Berry did with 'Mission Impossible 2' and 'Swordfish' she would have been OK. Hell, they had to TEACH Michelle to sing for 'The Fabulous Baker Boys', Vanity could have crooned 'Making Whoopie' in her sleep and looked just as foxy in that slinky red dress - maybe more so.
I guess Hollywood wasn't ready for 'colour blind' casting back in 1989. Until recently, if the script didn't specify the character as Black, Latin or Asian the part AUTOMATICALLY went to a white girl. Sad, really.
RIP Vanity. -
m_wonderful — 9 years ago(April 23, 2016 07:10 PM)
Michelle Pfeiffer is a year older than Vanity and she is still a huge star - and looks great too!
Apples to oranges.
Whether we agree or not, Pfeiffer is known as a talented actress. Vanity was never known for any talent except being beautiful.
She wasn't a singer. Prince was a musical genius who got her in music, and he produced it to cover up her lack of talent.
I think she was one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. And, I am very glad she became a Christian and left that lifestyle. I loved her.
But, it wasn't any "g2000orilla" remarks or people not being "color blind" back in the day. She just was another run of the mill pretty girl who was getting older and did not have any talent to rely on.
I loved her, but that is the truth. I'd compare her to Charisma Carpenter, who I think is still very hot. But, she's older now and no big acting talent to fall back on. It's a well worn story. -
Sparky48 — 9 years ago(April 24, 2016 10:36 AM)
She wasn't a singer. Prince was a musical genius who got her in music, and he produced it to cover up her lack of talent.
She really wasn't as untalentled as you may think. True, she wasn't any type of vocalist compared to Whitney Houston, but she did have a pretty good voice. During her tenure with Vanity 6, she did have a major hit with "Nasty Girl," and some of her solo records did make the R&B charts before she made her infamous "gorilla' remark.
It truly amazes me how people don't seem to understand something that is so obvious. I mean should't be easy to understand why black would cease buying her records or paying to see her perform after she made such an obvious racist remark? -
owenrcarpenter — 9 years ago(April 25, 2016 09:02 AM)
Michelle Pfeiffer is UNQUESTIONABLY a very talented actress. I've been head over heels for her since 'Sweet Liberty' with Alan Alda, and I am proud to declare that I worship the ground that she walks on.
But let's be fair here, Vanity and Michelle both began their screen careers in 1980, and NEITHER would have won any Oscars or Golden Globes for their early work. Do you REALLY think Michelle's performance in 'Grease 2' or 'Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen' was so much better than Vanity's in 'Tanya's Island' or 'Terror Train'? I think not.
Always remember that in 'Action Jackson', Sharon Stone was playing second-fiddle to Vanity. If Vanity had got the breaks, she would have been a huge star. Maybe if her mother had been black and her father had been white the 'gorilla' remark wouldn't have ruffled so many feathers.
The buggers DO come in more than one colour -
Sparky48 — 9 years ago(April 25, 2016 09:12 AM)
Maybe if her mother had been black and her father had been white the 'gorilla' remark wouldn't have ruffled so many feathers.
Yeah, right. Had her dad been Jewish and she said something to the effect of "she married my dad, "he's a Jew; he's a gorilla" you would have never heard the end of it, and the Anti-defamation League would have raised pure hell. -
owenrcarpenter — 9 years ago(April 30, 2016 05:48 AM)
M_wonderful, I think you are most unfair to Charisma Carpenter, her problem is not a lack of talent but a lack of decent scripts to work with.
In 'Buffy', Charisma took an essentially one-dimensional character (Cordelia the Bitchy Cheerleader) and - with the aid of Joss Whedon's superb writing - turned her into a deeply-layered and multi-faceted young woman. Within a year or two she turned Cordy into the most sympathetic character on the show. It would have been impossible to make the 'Angel' spin-off without her, and the series was sadly diminished when she left.
Regrettably, all I have seen of Charisma for the last ten years has been in cheesy TV movies broadcast in the middle of the afternoon. You could put Charlize Theron or Anne Hathaway in such dross and people would simply yawn and switch off. Without good material, even the best actress will fail to shine. Nicole Kidman and Meg Ryan did not become stars because of their pretty faces, but because 'Dead Calm' and 'When Harry Met Sally' were bloody good films with well-written and powerful female leads.
This inability to realise her potential has clearly affected Charisma's self-confidence now she is in her forties, and she recently confessed to using botox and is openly considering plastic surgery. I am dismayed. Has she not seen Courteney Cox or Renee Zellweger these days?
I hope things pick up for her before it's too late. It's not just coke that destroys an actresses health or abilty to perform