 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| The Gun and the Pulpit |
| Other Star Info |
 |
Marjoe Gortner |
| |
Starting out as a child evangelist,
Marjoe Gortner spent 25 energetic years preaching on the religious-revival
circuit. In the early 1970s, Gortner turned his back on all
that, summing up his new philosophy in the tell-all 1972 documentary
Marjoe. He made his acting debut as a sex killer in the made-for-TV
The Marcus/Nelson Murders in 1973, then fluctuated
between good and bad guys in such films as The Gun and
the Pulpit, Earthquake, Bobbie Jo
and the Outlaw and When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?.
Touted by Columbia's publicity department as the embodiment
of "magnetic masculinity," Gortner never caught on as a leading
man; his most impressive achievements in the past 20 years have
been in the field of fundraising. He made television appearances
in such shows as Falcon Crest, Fantasy Island,
T.J. Hooker, and Hotel. Still, Marjoe Gortner
has kept his hand in moviemaking into the 1990s, accepting supporting
roles in films like Fire, Ice and Dynamite and
Wild Bill. |
|
Slim Pickens |
| |
 |
Though he spoke most of his movie dialogue
in a slow Western drawl, actor Slim Pickens was a pure-bred
California boy and a veteran of over 100 movies. An expert rider
from the age of four, Pickens was performing in rodeos at 12.
Three years later, he quit school to become a full-time equestrian
and bull wrangler, eventually becoming the highest-paid rodeo
clown in show business. In films since 1950's Rocky Mountain,
Pickens specialized in Westerns (what a surprise), appearing
as the comic sidekick of Republic cowboy star Rex Allen. By
the end of the 1950s, Pickens had gained so much extra poundage
that he practically grew out of his nickname. Generally cast
in boisterous comedy roles, Pickens was also an effectively
odious villain in 1966's An Eye for an Eye, starting
the film off with a jolt by shooting a baby in its crib. In
1963, director Stanley Kubrick handed Pickens his greatest role:
honcho bomber pilot "King" Kong in Dr. Strangelove.
One of the most unforgettable of all cinematic images is the
sight of Pickens straddling a nuclear bomb and "riding" it to
its target, whooping and hollering all the way down. Almost
as good was Pickens' performance as Harvey Korman's henchman
in Mel Brooks' bawdy Western spoof Blazing Saddles.
Slim Pickens was also kept busy on television, with numerous
guest shots and regular roles in the TV series The Legend
of Custer, B.J. and the Bear, The Love Boat,
McMillian and Wife, Hawaii Five-O, Vega$
and Filthy Rich. In a slight connection to PSM, he also
appeared the the squeal Beyond the Poseidon Adventure.
He died in December of 1983 from a brain tumor. |
|
Estelle Parsons |
| |
 |
Born in 1927, Estelle Parsons specialized
in playing fanatical or neurotic women, and has found success
on stage, screen, and television, particularly in the latter
venue where she is best remembered for playing Roseanne Arnold's
screechy, lunatic mother on Roseanne (1988-1997). In
show business, Parsons started out as a production assistant
and then a staff writer on NBC's Today show, where she
was eventually promoted to feature producer. Parsons launched
her acting career on-stage in the late '50s. She went on to
appear on and off-Broadway and in stock theater, specializing
in satirical reviews. The actress made her film debut with a
small role in Ladybug, Ladybug. Four years later,
she won an Oscar for her portrayal as Blanche in Bonnie
and Clyde. She earned a second Oscar nomination for
playing a religious fanatic in Rachel, Rachel
the following year. She would also appear in For Pete's
Sake with Barbra Streisand, Dick Tracy
with Warren Beatty and Madonna, and a remake of That Darn
Cat for Disney. Parsons has appeared in many made-for-television
movies, notably The UFO Incident, in which she played
a woman convinced that she and her husband had been abducted
by aliens. But for her long stint as a semi-regular on Roseanne,
Parsons prefers the stage; her film and television appearances
remain sporadic. |
|
|
