This week's 80's Crush is: Morgan Fairchild

Birth Name: Patsy Ann McClenny
Birth Date: 2/3/50
Age Today: 55
Birthplace: Dallas, TX

80's Crush Because: Long before Jon Lovitz's famous "Liar" character Tommy Flanagan ("Yeah, that's the ticket") used to say that she was his wife, I has her leopard-skin bathing suit poster (see below) on my wall. She played bitch-goddess Constance Carlyle on the prime-time soap "Flamingo Road" (1981-1982), which I will admit was a "guilty pleasure" for me at the time. Oh, the shame.

Other Notable Roles: Her first feature film was "The Seduction", a 1982 movie so bad that it was only her two semi-nude scenes that made it barely watchable. I saw it several times. The bulk of Morgan's career is comprised of lesser known movies and guest spots on several popular TV shows. Who can forget her as Chandler's hot mom on "Friends"? She's also appeared in several recent ads for Old Navy.

Most Recent Media Appearance: A VH1 celebrity-oriented reality show called "But Can They Sing?"

Distinguishing Feature: Perfect radiant skin. Sharp, well-defined nose. Gravity-defying breasts, shaped like torpedos (yes, she got implants in 1981).

First Professional Acting Gig: Morgan was Faye Dunaway's stand-in during the location shots for the movie "Bonnie & Clyde".

Interesting Factoids: Once dated Sen. John Kerry (ugh). However, according to Wikipedia, she has been know to have "conservative viewpoints" although she "generally leans more libertarian in actual practice.".

Still Crushin'?: Absolutely. Somehow, somewhere the woman has discovered the fountain of youth. She's never looked hotter.

Crush Meter: 10 out of 10

Posted by: Gary at 08:35 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 Don't forget her stint on Rosanne as Sandra Bernhard's lesbian lover. Morgan = hot lesbian. Sandra = ick.

Posted by: GroovyVic at January 28, 2006 09:56 AM (86jiq)

2 Should I mention seeing her perform au natural as Mrs Robinson?

Posted by: Graves at January 28, 2006 02:35 PM (P5aMt)

3 My fave Morgan moment came from Spy magazine in a piece about celebrity intellectual wannabes. Morgan testified before Congress about some obscure bit of Middle Eastern politics. Her qualifications? "As a child, I dreamed of becoming an archeologist. That didn't happen, BUT..."

Posted by: beautifulatrocities at January 28, 2006 04:08 PM (j6hXo)

4 "That didn't happen, BUT...I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night..."

Posted by: Georgia Girl at January 28, 2006 10:06 PM (M2L+3)

5 Morgan Fairchild is smokin hot. Too bad you can't get "The Seduction" on DVD. I could watch her with the sound off.

Posted by: barry at January 30, 2006 06:20 AM (kKjaJ)

6 So what are the odds of Shelley Long from Cheers making it onto the list? Confess that you could feel the tension in those scenes with Sam Malone. CONFESS, I say!

Posted by: Nobody You Know at January 31, 2006 06:09 PM (IkTb7)

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This week's 80's Crush is: Elisabeth Shue

Nickname: Lisa
Birth Date: 10/6/63
Age Today: 42
Birthplace: Wilmington, DE

80's Crush Because: In 1984, Lisa played the beautiful blonde love interest of Ralph Macchio in "The Karate Kid". She was definitely a girl worth getting your ass kicked over. Four years later, she was the one bright spot in the Tom Cruise stink-bomb "Cocktail". To this day, every time I hear the Beach Boys song "Kokomo" the image of her walking along a Jamaican beach in a sarong pops into my head.

Other Notable Roles: Lisa played Marty McFly's girlfriend/future wife in the "Back To The Future" sequels, replacing actress Claudia Wells who was unable to reprise the role due to unspecified health problems. In 1995, her performance as a down-on-her-luck hooker opposite a suicidal alcoholic played by Nicolas Cage in "Leaving Las Vegas" earned her a Best Actress nomination.

Most Recent Media Appearance: She played the mother of Dakota Fanning's character in the Dreamworks film, "Dreamer", about a family who nurses an injured race horse back to health.

Distinguishing Feature: That All-American Girl-Next-Door Look

Career Moment She'd Probably Like To Forget: In 1986, she played an animal research assistant terrorized by an Orangutan gone wild in the movie "Link".

Interesting Factoids: Lisa got her start in acting doing commercials for Burger King, DeBeers diamonds and Hellman's mayonnaise. Transferring from Wellesley College, she attended Harvard University but dropped out in 1985 to pursue her acting career - one course shy of graduating. In June of 2000 she went back to Harvard and earned her undergraduate degree in Government.

Still Crushin'?: Enough so that I would see a movie she was in that I otherwise wouldn't.

Crush Meter: 9 out of 10

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This week's 80's Crush is: Jaclyn Smith

Birth Name: Ellen Jaclyn Smith
Birth Date: 10/26/47
Age Today: 58
Birthplace: Houston, TX

80's Crush Because: From the moment I first saw her in the opening credits of "Charlie's Angels" - taking off that motorcycle helmet and throwing back her hair "Rita Hayworth" style - I was hooked. Playing my favorite "angel" Kelly Garrett (the "classy" one), she was the only actress who stayed on the show through its final season in 1981. Long after the show jumped the shark (and despite some awful personnel decisions on the part of Aaron Spelling, the show's creator), she kept we watching until the series finale.

Other Notable Roles: Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, in the 1981 biopic of the same name. In that movie, JFK was played by James Franciscus, who sci-fi fans will remember as Col. Brent in "Beneath The Planet Of The Apes".

Most Recent Media Appearance/Career Moment She'd Probably Like To Forget: Cameo role in the God-awful theatrical film "Charlies Angels: Full Throttle" as...Kelly Garrett, of course.

Distinguishing Feature: The hair. That luscious, thick, brown, past-the-shoulders, parted-in-the-middle, feathered-on-the-sides hair.

Interesting Factoids: Jaclyn is currently on husband number four, surgeon Brad Allen (since 1997). She has also successfully battled breast cancer.

Still Crushin'?: Definitely. Jaclyn Smith looks better today than many women half her age.

Crush Meter: 10 out of 10

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Our innaugural 80's crush is Erin Gray.

Birth Name: Same
Birth Date: 1/7/50
Age Today: 56 (Happy Birthday!)
Birthplace: Honolulu, HI

80's Crush because: She was "out of this world" from 1979-1981 as sexy satin flight-suit wearing space pilot Col. Wilma Deering in the TV show "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century". Boy, did I want to settle into her cockpit.

Other notable roles: Kate Stratton in "Silver Spoons" which, ironically, I never watched because I couldn't stand that little bastard Ricky Schroder.

Most recent media appearance: Some film called "Meat Pie". Hmmm.

Distinguishing Feature: Killer Smile - with dimples.

Interesting Factoid: Erin started her career as a model featured in commercials for Breck, Clairol and Camay Soap.

Career moment she'd probably like to forget: Being the victim of an "energy vampire" in one of the cheesiest episodes of "Buck Rogers" ever.

Crush Meter: 8 out of 10

Posted by: Gary at 09:00 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 Yeah, what about Diane? I was getting used to her. We decided to do a Dog of the Week (since this is the Chinese Year of the Dog), but you have us beat by a country mile.

Posted by: bird dog at January 07, 2006 09:23 AM (ywZa8)

2 Buck Rogers ... now there was a quality sci-fi series! What was that midget robot's name, Blinky or something like that?

Posted by: rightwingprof at January 07, 2006 01:35 PM (hj1Wx)

3 Erin's most recent media appearance might be the recent "I Love the 80's: 3D" series on VH1. She was one of the comment people in the 1987 or 1988 show. She still looked quite good. Although not as good as Linda Carter of Wonder Woman fame. I'm waiting for that one, Gary!

Posted by: .....Dan at January 07, 2006 06:36 PM (1RIcI)

4 Good choice for starting off the new year, blogfather! :wink: Erin Gray as Wilma Deering....I remember the fantasizing, like...it was 25 years ago! Uh oh...geek moment coming up: "Far beyond the world I've known, Far beyond my time What am I, who am I, what will I be? Where am I going, and what will I see? Searching my mind for some truth to reveal What parts are fantasy, what memories real? Long before this life of mine, Long before this time What was there, who cared to make it begin? Is it forever, or will it all end? Searching my past for things that I've seen Is it my life, or something I've dreamed? Far beyond this world I've known, Far beyond my time What kind of world am I going to find? Will it be real, or just all in my mind? What am I, who am I, what will I be? Where am I going, and what will I see?"

Posted by: Wordsmith at January 08, 2006 12:16 AM (nrGCx)

5 Erin Grey as Deering was OK, but Pamela Hensley as Ardala was the most memorable "crush" from the late 70s/early 80s for me.

Posted by: JohnL at January 10, 2006 12:33 AM (dYzx6)

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With a new year, we wistfully say goodbye to the Diane Lane Photo of the Week. Starting tomorrow, I'll be having a new Saturday feature - the "80's Crush of the Week".

The eighties were formative years for me, spanning across my high school and college years. And in those years I, like so many other guys, came of age amid raging hormones and cheesy fantasies about whatever female celebrity was the femme du jour. Sometimes it even seemed like there was a new one every week.

So every Saturday, I'm going to set the way-back machine to the Reagan years (occasionally dipping slightly back into 1979 or ahead to 1990) to relive some adolescent memories. Some of these gals will be very familiar. And you can probably expect a few surprises throughout the year as I come up with new candidates for the Crush Meter.

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1 No more Diane Lane? That's like saying goodbye to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches... :-(

Posted by: agent bedhead at January 07, 2006 12:01 AM (xV63t)

2 Sorry, dude. I ran out of decent pictures and wasn't going to post lousy ones. Plus the feature got stale. At least this one will be like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're going to get.

Posted by: Gary at January 07, 2006 08:45 AM (bWmW8)

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