Interviews: 1980s Movie Stars at the Hollywood Celebrities Show

Printer-friendly versionE-mail page to friendPDF version

CHICAGO – Get out the shoulder pads and parachute pants, as HollywoodChicago revisits the 1980s through interviews with four top stars of the era, as they made their appearance at the most recent Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show. Theresa Russell, Ernie Hudson, Barry Corbin and Ginger Lynn Allen were there.

HollywoodChicago talked with them all, and HC ace photographer Joe Arce put them through their poses with his unique point of view.

The Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show is a twice-a-year event where attendees can meet and greet the stars, collect autographs and find cool collectibles at the memorabilia market.

Theresa Russell, “Black Widow” and “Insignificance”

Theresa Russell made a significant debut as a film actor in “The Last Tycoon” [1976], and went on to make several memorable films with then husband and director Nicholas Roeg, including “Bad Timing” [1980], “Eureka” [1983] and the infamous cult film “Insignificance” [1985]. She recently played the wife of Thomas Haden Church in “Spider-Man 3” [2007].

Theresa Russell at the Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show, Chicago, March 13th, 2010 Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com: What were the circumstances behind landing in your film debut, The Last Tycoon? What do you remember about that particular set?

Theresa Russell: I didn’t have an agent at the time, but I got into the audition with Elia Kazan and I did screen tests, and finally got the part. I was only 18 years old, and it was pretty wild. I ended up with Jack Nicholson, Robert Deniro, Jeanne Moreau, Dana Andrews, the list was unbelievable. And I was playing Robert Mitchum’s daughter, after totally loving him as a girl growing up and he was wonderful.

HC: One of most strangely underrated films of the 1980s was Insignifcance. What was it like taking on the persona of Marilyn Monroe and what essence or trait allowed you to find the character?

TR: It was pretty daunting and I turned it down several times because I didn’t want to do a caricature of her. I found a way in by watching a lot of her stuff, and I read the Norman Mailer books, he wrote a lot of interesting things about her. Behind closed doors Marilyn was an invention of herself outside that persona, but inside she could be who she wanted to be, so that’s how I chose to interpret it.

Theresa Russell Strikes a Pose Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

HC: Your early career was characterized by high profile, overtly sexual roles. As an actor, how did you find a comfortable place on set in which to perform such roles?

TR: First, I never did anything gratuitous, it just seemed part of the character and necessary. And these days, if those roles were happening, no one would say anything. Just because it was the 1980s that made it kind of ‘woh.’ But now everyone does that stuff and no one says anything.

They always closed the set and most of them were done with my ex-husband [Roeg], so that made it more comfortable because I knew if an angle or something was off, I didn’t have to worry about it because he would protect me. It was harder for the man knowing my husband was watching. [laughs]

HC: Since you performed in so many of his films, why did the industry have problems embracing the works of Nicolas Roeg?

TR: It was England that had the most problems with his work [Roeg was born in London]. In America and its underground scene, he was one of the first independent, cultish directors. He had a much wider audience in America than he did in England. He was the first, and whenever you are the first at something people have a hard time with it.

HC: What role have you played that most people recognize you for? And what is your favorite film performance of your career?

TR: Black Widow was a great role and still holds up. But the role I played in Bad Timing in 1980 was my favorite.

Ernie Hudson of “Ghostbusters” and “Ghostbusters 2”

The prolific character actor Ernie Hudson is known primarily for his role as Winston Zeddemore in the legendary Ghostbusters movies (and is listed for an upcoming sequel), and has also worked steadily over the years in various TV and film parts.

Ernie Hudson at the Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show, Chicago, March 13th, 2010 Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

HC: Who was your mentor and role model in your early Detroit theater days, and what was your greatest role at the Concept East Theater there?

Ernie Hudson: My mentor was a person name Earl D. A. Smith, he was a professor at Wayne State. I would say everything that came out of my career was after working with him. Another guy was David Reagle and Leonard Smith was at Concept East. Also Woody King, Ron Milner and Cliff Rothmore. I know you asked for one, but those were the guys that shaped my early career

I did “The Emperor Jones” [Eugene O’Neill) and a lot of avant-garde black theater and new playwrights, which I was one as well. I then got a scholarship to Yale based on the writing and work I did there. But I realize that the writing didn’t continue after Yale, I think because Concept East, Wayne State and the Actor’s Emsemble and the groups in Detroit were like family and much more nurturing. When I got outside of that I didn’t feel a part of something. Hollywood has that same thing, you don’t get a sense of family or connection. And I think that really effected my writing.

HC: As a journeyman actor doing smaller roles, what was it like to be thrust into the spotlight when you did Ghostbusters?

EH: It was sort of odd, and I had some trouble making sense of it. I think there are some associations you make when you start out in the business, that if you get in a major movie, and that movie is a success, that suddenly your career is going to change and you’re going to get roles, and Ghostbusters had just the opposite effect. People became aware of me but the studios didn’t acknowledge it. And so I was signing a lot of autographs but getting no work.

HC: Are you coming back in Ghostbusters 3? Is that in preproduction or is it just a rumor?

EH: Yeah, it’s in preproduction. I’ve talked to everyone, Bill [Murray], Danny [Ackroyd] and Ivan [Reitman]. Ivan says it’s happening, and if he says it’s happening, it’s happening. [laughs] We are talking about Hollywood, so I don’t want to take anything for granted. I’d like to think I’d be back. For example, I thought I’d do the cartoon that came out of the show, but I didn’t get that. So when I sign the contract and the money is on the table, then it is real.

HC: How was your experience in ‘The Basketball Diaries’ along side a young Leonardo DiCaprio?

EH: Leonardo was, then and still is a great guy. He was down-to-earth and a sweet kid, and there was no question about his talent. I loved working with him and I love him now. I’m happy and proud of his success.

HC: Finally, tell us something about Bill Murray that the rest of the world doesn’t know.

EH: What the world doesn’t know is that Bill takes it all very seriously. He really cares about his craft. It’s important for him that what we put out is worth it. That’s why there hasn’t been another Ghostbusters. He’s been the lone voice saying that if we do this, it has to be right. We can’t just throw something out there. I respect him for that, and I love him for that. I’m a huge fan.

Barry Corbin of “WarGames” and “That Evening Sun”

Barry Corbin is one of the most distinct character actors of the last generation. Coming to prominence with his unforgettable General Beringer in the 1983 hit “WarGames,” Corbin went on to bring his notable Texas drawl to TV’s “Northern Exposure” as Maurice Minnifield. Recently he was seen in “No Country for Old Men” [2007] and the excellent “That Evening Sun” [2009].

Barry Corbin at the Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show, Chicago, March 13th, 2010 Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

HC: Your early career was based in Shakespearian theater. How did you transition from that to character roles and how did studying the Bard help you overall as an actor?

Barry Corbin: Well, any kind of stage work helps you as an actor. I studied Shakespeare in high school and college, that’s how I started. Around about 38 years old, the black out in New York happened [1977], and I figured it was time to go to Hollywood and make some money. [laughs]

HC: One of your famous film roles was in ‘WarGames.’ What do you think of a world that relies on even more technology since that film?

BC: Well I ignore it, myself. [laughs] I know how to turn a computer on, but I don’t know what to do after that. Somebody else has to do it.

HC: You play a lot of authority figures. As a character actor, what is the key to playing authority figures?

BC: Look someone in the eye and let them know you mean it.

HC: Of all the famous co-stars you’ve been in various works with, which one gave you the best piece of advice?

BC: Most people don’t give you too much advice unless you ask for it, but I’ve learned little things from everyone I’ve worked with, starting with John Travolta (’Urban Cowboy’] and of course my stage work. Everyone I work with I pick up something. If I quit learning, I quit, and probably just lay down.

HC: Tell me something about Tommy Lee Jones that the rest of the world doesn’t know.

BC: Well, most people don’t know he’s very shy. He’s almost painfully shy. He has this facade that scares people but it’s just a facade.

Ginger Lynn Allen, Adult Film Actress in the 1980s

Ginger Lynn Allen was known as Ginger Lynn when she started her career as an adult film actress in the 1980s. Allen came into the business as it was making a transition from the “Deep Throat” days to home video. Adult Video News has ranked her #7 in a list of the greatest adult film stars of all time. At the Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show, it was notable that her line for an autograph was one of the longest.

Born Star: Ginger Lynn Allen at the Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show, Chicago, March 13th, 2010 Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

HC: What is the most radical change that you’ve observed in the adult film business from when you started out to now?

Ginger Lynn Allen: It’s changed drastically, and if I had to put it in one word it would be ‘intimacy.’ That’s gone. Passion and intimacy. In the early days it was more of an intimate family, maybe a 100 people total working in front of and behind the camera. And we did it because we liked it, there certainly was no fame or fortune. And today, it’s a business, it’s all about money. I’ll tell you what, my dog can f**k better than most people in films today. At least my dog, when he is with another dog, wants to be f**king. It’s really sad now.

HC: What was your survival instinct when it came to the less savory elements of the business or people that you met in that world?

GLA: The industry was so non-socially acceptable when I made films back then. It was still taboo, we were making films illegally. The doorbell would ring, and everyone would jump up and hide. Fans, if they were in an environment like a trade show, it was great. But if they saw you at the bank or outside, they didn’t want anyone to know that they watched the films.

HC: Was the film ‘Boogie Nights’ – about the adult film industry in the 1970s and ‘80s – accurate or was it more stylized?

GLA: I enjoyed the first part of the film, but they sensationalized the rest of it so much, everything was bigger and worse. They made mountains out of molehills. There were elements of truth, but in essence it was blown out of proportion and was ridiculous.

Ginger and ‘Mary Ann’: Dawn Wells with Ginger Lynn Allen Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

HC: You dated Charlie Sheen for a time in the 1990s. How important was it when the Sheens supported you during your trial then for tax problems?

GLA: It was amazing. I still have some of the messages from the tapes on my answering machine back then, when Martin would call. He was so wonderful and supportive. They went out of their way for me and Martin is a wonderful man.

HC: Since you’ve done a few mainstream film roles, what type or genre of film role would you like to try that you wouldn’t necessarily get consideration for?

GLA: Comedy is probably my number one choice. It’s funny, but when I stopped doing porn and studied with Milton Katselas at the Beverly Hills Playhouse for eight years, it was really hard to get into mainstream films. But what I found that most of my beginning stuff was comedy, like the ‘Vice Academy’ films. I did a lot of B-movie, bimbo comedies that I loved. As time when on, after I did ‘NYPD Blue,’ I went from the comedic actress role to the ‘victim.’ After porn got more socially acceptable, I was cast as the hooker, the stripper and the victim. It was very bizarre. I would like to get back to comedy.

By PATRICK McDONALD Senior Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com