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| The Lady in Red |
| Other Star Info |
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Robert Conrad |
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American actor
Robert Conrad was a graduate of Northwestern University, spending
his first few years out of school supporting himself and his
family by driving a milk truck and singing in a Chicago cabaret.
Conrad befriended up-and-coming actor
Nick Adams during this period, and it was Adams who helped Conrad
get his first Hollywood work in 1957. A few movie bit parts
later, Conrad was signed for a comparative pittance by Warner
Bros. studios, and in 1959 was cast as detective Tom Lopaka
on the weekly adventure series Hawaiian Eye. Upon the 1963 cancellation
of this series, Conrad made
a handful of Spanish and American films and toured with a nightclub
act in Australia and Mexico City. Cast as frontier secret agent
James West in The Wild Wild West in 1965, Conrad brought home
$5000 a week during the series' first season and enjoyed increasing
remunerations as West remained on the air until 1969. There
are those who insist that Wild Wild West would have been colorless
without the co-starring presence of Ross Martin, an opinion
with which Conrad has always agreed. The actor's bid to star
in a 1970 series based on the venerable Nick Carter pulp stories
got no further than a pilot episode, while the Jack Webb-produced
1971 Robert Conrad series The D.A. was cancelled after 13 episodes.
When Roy Scheider pulled out of the 1972 adventure weekly Assignment:
Vienna, Conrad stepped in--and was out, along with the rest
of Assignment: Vienna, by June of 1973. Conrad had better luck
with 1976's Baa Baa Black Sheep, aka Black Sheep Squadron, a
popular series based on the World War II exploits of Major "Pappy"
Boyington. Cast as a nurse on this series was Conrad's daughter
Nancy, setting a precedent for nepotism that the actor practiced
as late as his tenth TV series, 1989's Jesse Hawkes, wherein
Conrad co-starred with his sons Christian and Shane. Though
few of his series have survived past season one, Conrad has
enjoyed success as a commercial spokesman and in the role of
G. Gordon Liddy (whom the actor admired) in the 1982 TV movie
Will, G. Gordon Liddy. As can be gathered from the Liddy assignment,
Conrad's politics veered towards conservatism; in 1981, he and
Charlton Heston were instrumental in toppling Ed Asner and his
liberal contingent from power in the Screen Actors Guild. As
virile and athletic as ever in the 1990s, Robert Conrad has
continued to appear in action roles both on TV and in films;
he has also maintained strong ties with his hometown of Chicago,
and can be counted upon to show up at a moment's notice as a
guest on the various all-night programs of Chicago radio personality
Eddie Schwartz. |
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Louise Fletcher |
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Louise Fletcher's acting career can
be divided into two stages. She started out appearing on television
shows such as Wagon Train and The Untouchables during the late
'50s, but left acting in 1964, two years after marrying movie
producer Jerry Bick, to raise a family. She did not return to
her craft until appearing in Robert Altman's well-regarded feature
film Thieves Like Us in 1974. Fletcher then appeared in the
spy thriller Russian Roulette (1975) before Milos Forman cast
her in what was to become her signature role, that of the iron-willed,
sadistic Nurse Ratched who tormented Jack Nicholson in One Flew
Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). Her believable portrayal won
her a Best Actress Oscar and a Golden Globe. Perhaps the highest
honor is that her Ratched has become a movie icon, one that
has been frequently emulated and parodied in numerous subsequent
films. Fletcher was born in Birmingham, AL, to a deaf Episcopalian
minister and a deaf mother. She started acting in summer stock
following her graduation from the University of North Carolina.
Fletcher next moved to Los Angeles and found work as a receptionist
before breaking into television. Standing 5'10", the strikingly
beautiful Fletcher was often taller than her leading men, something
that hindered her first bid at stardom. Since her success with
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Fletcher has found steady employment
as a supporting and character actress on television -- where
she received a 1996 Emmy nomination for a guest-star appearance
on the highly acclaimed CBS series Picket Fences -- and in feature
films. She also has a busy stage career. |
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Robert Hogan |
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Born September 28 1936, Robert Hogan
has been a veteran of both morning and evening soaps. His career
began in 1961 when he first appeared in an episode of 77 Sunset
Strip. In the early 60s he would appear in several television
shows such as The Twilight Zone, "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C, "Gunsmoke,
and The Fugitive. In 1966 he would begin his one of his numerous
soap roles appearring in General Hospital as Dr. Phil Brewer.In
1968 he moved to an evening soap, Peyton Place playing Rev.
Mr. Tom Winter, and in 1970 he would move back to the daytime
serial world playing Will Austin on Days of Our Lives. During
the 1970s he appeared as a guest star in numerous television
shows such as Here's Lucy, Barnaby Jones, Hawaii Five-O, M*A*S*H,
Alice, Quincy, and was a series regular on The Don Rickles Show.
He would return to the world of soaps in the 80s playing Nathan
Welsh on Secrets of Midland Heights, Vince McKinnon on Another
World, L.J. McDermott on As the World Turns, and Charles Briggs
on One Life to Live. Later in his career he would return to
guest starring parts in shows such as Murder, She Wrote, Law
& Order, Hotel, and The Wire. |
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The Real People |
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John Herbert Dillinger
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Edythe “Polly” Hamilton, the real
"Lady in Red"
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