I recently saw her in a magazine where she was encouraging others to follow her, on how to loose weight (exercises, and a certain kind of eating diet). If I remember correctly, the program she was pushing cost something to whomever joined.

I don't blame her for that---after all, one has to earn a living somehow, and she still has name notoriety.

I guess she's still married to original husband (re-married, that is) I would say that says 'Not much Ego involved', but that's just a guess...

Also I don't think she's going to the Food Bank anywhere to pick up groceries!!

Well, that's one way to save on having to pay all that money to follow a diet program - get paid to follow it.

plus, more tithing $ for the Corp!! YEA TEAM!!!

Poor woman. Still selling an image after all these years. . .

Lot's Wife Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Poor woman. Still selling an image after all
> these years. . .

I disagree.

Careers in the industry are often measured in weeks, or months, or TV seasons. Regardless of how long any individual is able to keep working throughout their life, they deserve respect for their real credits honorably earned.

For someone who is able to measure their career in decades (very few are able to do this), they rightfully deserve great respect.

Hitting that "qualified years" mark, where you finally qualify for your guild's retirement plan, is a comparatively rare achievement, and comparatively few in the industry are ever able to do it.

Marie deserves real respect for the longevity of her career, and she absolutely gets that respect from me, because I know how incredibly difficult that long-term achievement can be.

"Working actor" is an honorable designation -- and not one that is easy to get. I know that there is a retirement home for elderly, retired actors, and I like when their more famous colleagues are open in their support of it.

Tevai, I like to watch vintage TV shows. I have to admit that I am often thinking, whatever happened to that actor? I'm sure if I perused IMDB, I'd find a slew of credits, but for my purposes, they've been off my radar. I like when actors are able to keep their careers going, even if the roles they accept may not be what they might have wished for.

One of my favorite vintage TV shows for "actor spotting" is Murder She Wrote. I very much enjoy watching Angela Lansbury, and I love looking at her 80s and early 90s fashions. A *lot* of actors took guest roles on the TV series over the years. The opening credits of the show are like a "Who's Who" list of actors. Just this past week, I saw a young Neil Patrick Harris playing a high school student.

I also watch a lot of British series, particularly mysteries and police procedurals. British actors get great training, and have long, productive careers. It's so much fun for me to see a familiar face, or hear a familiar voice, and try to figure out where I have seen that actor before. One of my favorite moments was when I gasped seeing James Norton playing the bad guy in Happy Valley. Everything about his character was sleazy! I was so used to seeing him play the charming, suave church minister in Grantchester.

summer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "Working actor" is an honorable designation -- and
> not one that is easy to get. I know that there is
> a retirement home for elderly, retired actors, and
> I like when their more famous colleagues are open
> in their support of it.

The Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_%26_Television_Country_House_and_Hospital is among the best perks in the industry.

[I read an explanation on the Internet a few years ago which explained, to those not "in" the industry in some way, why SO MANY beloved film and TV performers have "Woodland Hills, California" listed as their place of death, and it is--of course--because this is where the "Motion Picture Country Home" (the informal name; what most everyone in the industry usually calls it in conversation) is located. (For those who know the area: the Motion Picture Country Home is basically on the line which divides Woodland Hills from Calabasas--just about a baseball's throw away from the old Hanging Tree.) ]

Several people, some of them very important in my life, have died there (one of whom I posted about here just a few days ago).


> Tevai, I like to watch vintage TV shows. I have to
> admit that I am often thinking, whatever happened
> to that actor? I'm sure if I perused IMDB, I'd
> find a slew of credits, but for my purposes,
> they've been off my radar. I like when actors are
> able to keep their careers going, even if the
> roles they accept may not be what they might have
> wished for.

In the industry, every legit, paying job is an accomplishment to be proud of--most especially as former magazine cover subjects enter their senior years.


> One of my favorite vintage TV shows for "actor
> spotting" is Murder She Wrote. I very much enjoy
> watching Angela Lansbury, and I love looking at
> her 80s and early 90s fashions. A *lot* of actors
> took guest roles on the TV series over the years.
> The opening credits of the show are like a "Who's
> Who" list of actors. Just this past week, I saw a
> young Neil Patrick Harris playing a high school
> student.

Yes....and it isn't just "Murder, She Wrote." One of the fun things about having enough clout to back up your suggestions when casting is underway is getting your industry friends bit parts and walk-ons. Which means: the guy in the background who is pushing a broom through the park just might be a huge star (film/television/recording) from sometime past.

Glad you're part of the group, summer! :D



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/2020 08:28PM by Tevai.

summer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I also watch a lot of British series, particularly
> mysteries and police procedurals.

Me too.

> James Norton. I was so used to seeing him play the charming, suave church minister in Grantchester

I swooned over him in that series.

I was so surprised to see him in Little Women (a relatively small part). I didn't care much for the movie. First one I'd been to in a very long time and I was underwhelmed. Couldn't follow the switches from present to past and back, even though I'd read the book.

Tevai,

We disagree on this. I don't respect longevity or commercial success per se. I don't respect McDonalds restaurants though they, and the company, have been around forever. I don't respect Danielle Steel, who made a ton of money over a long period. Nor do I hold the Kardashians in high esteem despite their success at achieving their goals of fame and wealth.

Sure Marie has been around for a long time. But I sincerely doubt she has made a lasting impression on the world, nor has she used her fame to make people and society better. In my view she's hawked the equivalent of weight watchers products her whole life, and in a few decades that's what will be left.

There are actors whom I admire greatly, people who have produced art that will endure; people who changed our interpretation of certain pieces or of life itself. Marie Osmond is not one of those. So while I will congratulate her on a long, prominent, and remunerative career, I do not think she accomplished much of lasting value. I think her successes are not any more, and may well be less, noteworthy than those of a coal miner or school teacher or a parent who has put decades into his/her career and received a well deserved retirement.

There is in my mind nothing "special" about show business, nothing that renders it a more honorable career than most others.

Your opinion is valid.

I also think that if you had lived the life, you might see it somewhat differently.

All of us (who have grown up in the industry, or have spent decades of our life in the industry) have stories, most of which will never be told.

We value professional longevity, because we all know just how hard, frequently, it can be to endure.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2020 02:43AM by Tevai.

I'm not a Marie fan, but many celebrities leverage their fame to shill. It's not unusual. If they don't do it here, they might do it overseas. Weight loss programs and products seem to be a good fit for Marie, since she herself has lost a great deal of weight.

Lately I've been seeing Joe Namath on TV promoting some insurance product aimed at seniors. I get a bit of a giggle out of that since my generation and above are much more likely to know who he is. I'm betting that a lot of younger people would have no clue.

I think the comparison of Joe Namath and Marie Osmond is a good one.

He pitches medicare advantage plans, too. Help me recall something...didn't he do some kind of commercial for pantyhose or something like that? It seemed kind of shocking at the time.

ok, you can just say it now...OK Boomer.

Tag line was, "If they make my legs look good, just think of what they'll do for yours!" (according to my Boomer memory.)

I'll weigh in with Lottie on this one. M.O. had a decent career for a decade or so, then settled into the comfort and security of nostalgia performances & Vegas. I didn't follow her much, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe she ever took artistic risks.

Just wondering: Did M.O. ever use her "name notoriety" for political purposes?

> Just wondering: Did M.O. ever use her "name
> notoriety" for political purposes?

Mormonism, which was a self-serving sort of politics.

Like Tom Selleck doing reverse mortgage ads.

I know Joe Namath from The Brady Bunch...

I know Marie Osmond from when she pitched Hawaiian Punch with her brother, Donny. ;)

I'm kind of being serious about Marie. I was living in England when she and Donny had their show, so I never saw it until YouTube.

A few years ago I lost eighty pounds. I went from the obese category in to the normal weight for my height category, over about a seven month period. I didn't need any special weight loss program, no special food that I couldn't buy from my local grocery store, and no external motivation (except for an initial diagnosis of diabetes). I've kept it off since and my blood sugar in the normal range since. It was just me and google searches every time I had a nutritional question. Since Marie needs special food, a special program, and external motivation to lose weight (and probably to keep it off too), I consider her to be less qualified than me to actually lose weight in a sustainable way. She seems like a one-trick poney when it comes to acting and/or singing. Why can't she re-invent herself there or find better roles? Many of us have only one skill that people know us for. But there is nothing exceptional about her that we know about either. It looks like she has just used her family name (made popular before her birth), and pretty face to just get by in life. I see her as a shill also with the whole weight loss program. We know she has more talent than that. I think the Mormonism has limited what she and Donny can do when it comes to accepting most good acting roles. Can you even see her playing the Sandra Dee role (from Grease)? That one last scene would be a show stopper for her.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/2020 09:57PM by azsteve.

Did you know that Marie was offered the "Sandy" role for the movie version of "Grease" but turned it down for morals-related reasons? I wonder if, after having experienced real life in the decades sine then, she now regrets having turned the role down? Who knows.

I get why Marie needed to do some of what she did. When she wrote one book about post-baby exercise and collaborated on another about pregnancy exercise, my mom and aunts thought she was a bit full of herself. (My sister remembers hearing, "She had one baby and that makes her an expert on pregnancy and post-partum exercise? Give me a break!") My relatives should not have been so harsh. Marie's family was facing a financial situation precariously close to bankruptcy. The Osmond offspring blamed everyone but their father. He may have been misled, and he may have been given bad advice, but somewhere along the line, he followed it and he had the final say. It's great to be forgiving of their father, but to insist that he has nothing to require forgiveness is a metaphorical form of wearing blinders. Anyway, Marie had to make money almost any way she could at that point.

She doesn't really promote herself as a weight-loss expert as much as she hawks for a particular weight loss product company, and is its celebrity face. She says it worked for her. Maybe it did, or maybe something else worked for her. We'll probably never know.

I salute anyone, whether AZSteve or Marie Osmond, who is able to lose weight and keep it off any more or less healthful way he or she is able to do it, and particularly if the weight loss is accomplished non-surgically. My experience with patients leads me to believe that weight loss, weight gain, or homeostasis is rarely due to lack of knowledge. Almost anyone of adolescent age or older knows that weight gain or loss depends primarily upon calories in vs. calories expended, and knows where to find nutritional information on almost any food. Google is our friend in this regard. Most of us have a pretty good idea of what it is, and even how much, we SHOULD be eating. It's just more easily said than done.

While Marie has done a few minor (mostly made-for-tV, IIRC) film roles, most of her acting was in musical comedy stage roles. That's acting-lite. The "actor" needs not to stink up the joint with his or her lousy acting skills and to carry the role with singing.

Marie has, in my opinion, a nice voice though not a great one. When singing with any of her brothers, they have the "sibling blend" thing in their favor. Her foray into classical music as a singer is, to me, a joke. "Pie Jesu" isn't a difficult song in the least unless you sing it in A-flat as Sarah Brightman or even Chloe Agnew did or does. Singing it in F is something the average second soprano in a middle school choir could handle.


azsteve Wrote:Can you even see her playing the Sandra Dee
> role (from Grease)? That one last scene would be a
> show stopper for her.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2020 03:25AM by scmd1.

>>Did you know that Marie was offered the "Sandy" role for the movie version of "Grease" but turned it down for morals-related reasons?

Holy cow! I wonder if she regrets turning that role down. I'm trying to figure what would be morally objectionable about that character. Seems like standard high school musical material to me.

summer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
I'm trying to figure what would be
> morally objectionable about that character. Seems
> like standard high school musical material to me.

Sandy was a good girl until the very end, when she gave in, wore tight-fitting black leather clothing, and [gasp] smoked a cigarette.

Well, it's a good thing that Marie upheld her standards, then. /s

Longevity is hard to achieve.

I had a friend who was an extra on just shoot me. He would travel every week from Las Vegas to Los Angeles to be there to shoot on Fridays. He was seriously dedicated to his role as an extra. I guess it was a recurring extra. His acting career came to an end when he was terminated. Terminated from being an extra. Apparently he had been enthusiastically greeting David Spade every day.

Anyways, I didn’t know you could be fired as an extra. He’s an agent now.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/2020 11:50PM by jay.

He threw off the emperor’s groove.

jay Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Longevity is hard to achieve.

I (and everyone in the industry) agree.

> I had a friend who was an extra on just shoot me.
> He would travel every week from Las Vegas to Los
> Angeles to be there to shoot on Fridays. He was
> seriously dedicated to his role as an extra. I
> guess it was a recurring extra. His acting career
> came to an end when he was terminated. Terminated
> from being an extra.

It does happen--sometimes because the "look" doesn't fit the atmosphere the above-the-line people are trying to create, sometimes because the person is not showing up on time, or is deviating from the acting directions s/he is receiving.


> Apparently he had been
> enthusiastically greeting David Spade every day.

One of the first things everyone in the industry is supposed to learn is: "Be cool." Regardless of "who" (what star, etc.) is standing right next to you, or grabs you so they don't fall (etc.), the First Commandment of being a professional is "Be cool."

The alternative is being a fan....and not in a GOOD sense (because everyone needs, respects, and is thankful for their fans), but in a Beverly Hillbillies kind of way: gushing, etc.

Except in special circumstances (photos being taken of contest winners meeting their favorite celebrity, for example), fans do not belong on sets.

He crossed the line from "pro" to "fan."

In effect, he lost his job for cause.


> Anyways, I didn’t know you could be fired as an
> extra. He’s an agent now.

Since he is now an agent, he likely learned his lesson. ;)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2020 10:10AM by Tevai.

My heart has been tender for Marie since the suicide of her adopted son. What horrific pain. When I see her on TV, she strikes me as a happy-person impersonator. What’s it like off-stage for her?

To think one good weekend of binge eating could wreck one’s livelihood isn’t a livelihood that I would want.

Just once I wish she could say what I say, “It takes a lot of food to maintain this figure!”

>>When I see her on TV, she strikes me as a happy-person impersonator.

When I saw her on Dancing With the Stars (my only prolonged exposure to her, apart from her TV shilling,) my predominant impression was that she has a pleasant but ditzy personality. She just seemed all over the place, like she couldn't hold a train of thought for very long. It was clear that both she and her brother Donald have a very supportive fan base.

Bring her to me ! *evil laugh*

You just reminded me of a great line from M.A.S.H (the movie)...IIRC...Hawkeye pointing at Hot Lips...

"There, that one...the tall, sultry bitch with the fire in her eyes...Take her clothes off and bring her to me!"

If you're going to quote me, quote me accurately, or I'll have your head on a pole.

Sorry, Mr. Genghis, sir...I was closer to the MASH quote than you were, but I had the wrong character...it was Trapper John.

Gotta love the interwebs!

"No. No food. Sex. I want sex. Bring me some sex. [The others call for Storch, but Trapper John points at Hot-Lips] No, no, no, that one. Bring me that one over there. That one. The sultry bitch with the fire in her eyes. Take her clothes off! I want that one, yes. Take her clothes off and bring her to me now."


KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNN!!!!