Latest news with #AnnMargret
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jamie Lee Curtis Wants Lindsay Lohan to Play Ann-Margret… and Ann-Margret Tells Us She Approves: ‘I Adore Her'
In an interview on 'Good Morning America' July 28, Jamie Lee Curtis — who has made many a-headline herself recently — said she has made it her mission to get Lindsay Lohan cast as Ann-Margret in a biopic of the legendary star. 'I'm going to out you now to the world — I want her to do the Ann-Margret story,' Curtis said. 'So, every day on Instagram… I find videos of her back in the day, and I send [Lohan] every day videos [of Ann-Margret].' And Lohan added that she used to watch Ann-Margret's movies with her grandmother. More from IndieWire For the 'Naked Gun' Writers, a Guiding Goal: 'What's the Stupidest Thing We Can Get Liam Neeson to Say?' If You Know Where to Look, a Tim Robinson Comedy Has Just as Many Layers as a Period Drama In an interview with IndieWire, Ann-Margret said that she co-signs Lohan as her portrayer. 'I know that she wants to do that,' she said. 'It just depends on what the dialogue is like. What can I say? I adore her. I think she's full of talent, and I just would like to see what they can come up with.' When asked if there is a period of her life Ann-Margret believes would be best to depict on film, the 'Carnal Knowledge' star said she wasn't sure — though there is plenty of gold to mine from, including a dramatic 1972 fall onstage while performing in Lake Tahoe, her much discussed relationship with Elvis Presley, her rocket to stardom in 'Bye Bye Birdie,' and her resurgence as a multi-Oscar-nominated star in the '70s. Lohan told Andy Cohen (via People) last year that they were working on the story for the film, adding 'It has to be the way that she wants it to be, so I really want it to be special in that way.' She also told Bustle, 'She's a triple threat, and she's an amazing woman on top of that. So I just really want to do her justice and help tell a great story for her.' She encouraged people to watch Ann-Margret's 1964 film 'Kitten With a Whip,' describing the plot as about 'this girl who breaks out of a mental institution and breaks into this man's house who's running for senator, and starts inviting all her friends over and tells him she's not leaving and basically holds him hostage in his own home.' Watch out for IndieWire's full interview with Ann-Margret next week. She will appear at the Cinecon Film Festival in Los Angeles Labor Day weekend, August 29-September 1. Other honorees include Juliet Mills and Mamie Van Doren. You can read our interview with Van Doren, posted today, here. Best of IndieWire Guillermo del Toro's Favorite Movies: 56 Films the Director Wants You to See 'Song of the South': 14 Things to Know About Disney's Most Controversial Movie Nicolas Winding Refn's Favorite Films: 37 Movies the Director Wants You to See Solve the daily Crossword
News.com.au
04-08-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Bombshell actress Loni Anderson dies days before 80th birthday
Loni Anderson, who famously portrayed receptionist Jennifer Marlowe in the comedy WKRP in Cincinnati, has died. She was 79. Anderson died at a Los Angeles hospital following a 'prolonged' illness, her longtime publicist, Cheryl J. Kagan, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. She was surrounded by her loving family. 'We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our dear wife, mother and grandmother,' Anderson's family said in a statement. Over four decades, Anderson starred in various TV shows and films, including Swat, Three on a Date, Three's Company, The Incredible Hulk, The Love Boat, The Bob Newhart Show, and more. Growing up in St. Paul, Minnesota, Anderson's greatest ambition was to be an actress. In 1975, Anderson moved to Los Angeles, where she quickly began making a name for herself. She landed the role of the titillating and intelligent Jennifer Marlowe in 1978 and cemented her status as a beloved TV sex symbol. 'I remember we all did posters back then. Everybody always asks me, 'What made you do a poster?' I would say, 'Because some day my grandchildren will look at this. And I'll be able to tell them that I really looked like that.' What you saw is what you got,' she told Fox News Digital in 2021. 'But you know, I had this discussion with Ann-Margret. Will there ever be a time when our names won't be followed by 'bombshell' or 'sex symbol?' It becomes a part of your name,' she continued. 'And you know, I'd never thought I would reach that point. I was so serious. I was doing Fiddler on the Roof for 53 weeks on tour. I never thought I would be Loni Anderson, sex symbol. But I embrace it.' 'I think I was lucky enough to have been able to play so many different things and sex symbol was a part of it. I took whatever my career threw at me. So I embrace it. And my granddaughters think it's a hoot!' In 1982 she co-starred in Stroker Ace, a feature film with then-future husband Burt Reynolds. Loni and Burt adopted their son Quinton Anderson Reynolds in August 1988. In 2019, Anderson said she and Reynolds - who died in 2018 from a heart attack - made peace before his death with the help of their son. 'We were friends first and friends last,' Anderson told Closer Weekly at the time. 'It's time to move on.' The WKRP in Cincinnati actress insisted she and Reynolds put aside the hostility they endured when the marriage came to an end for the sake of Quinton. 'We have this wonderful child together,' she said. 'Having a son was a big event in our lives and so everything revolved around him.' On top of TV and film, Anderson was a prominent member of the musical theatre community and became a New York Times best-selling author with her 1995 autobiography, My Life In Hells. 'Loni was a class act. Beautiful. Talented. Witty. ALWAYS a joy to be around,' Steve Sauer, President/CEO Media Four and Anderson's manager for 30 years, said in a statement. 'She was the ultimate working mother. Family first…and maintained a great balance with her career. She and I had wonderful adventures together that I shall forever cherish. I will especially miss that infectious chuckle of hers. She will be forever missed.' On May 17, 2008, Anderson married Bob Flick, a founding member of the 1960s folk group The Brothers Four. Anderson is survived by her husband, daughter Deidra and son-in law Charlie Hoffman, son Quinton Anderson Reynolds, grandchildren McKenzie and Megan Hoffman, stepson Adam Flick and his wife Helene, step-grandchildren Felix and Maximilian. A private family service will be held at The Hollywood Forever Cemetery followed by A Celebration of Life at a future date.
New York Times
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
The Broadway Best of Charles Strouse
'Bye Bye Birdie' and 'Annie,' the composer Charles Strouse's most popular musicals, were not just big hits that are regularly revived on professional and amateur stages. They captured essential elements of American culture, including a yearning for escape from an older generation's shackles and a can-do spirit to overcome adversity. Strouse, who died Thursday at 96, wrote jingles, pop songs and movie scores, but he remains famous for his Broadway shows. In addition to those two blockbusters, three others help make up his career peaks. Here are five numbers that illustrate Strouse's suppleness as a composer and his knack for instantly hummable melodies. 'Bye Bye Birdie' Few musicals showcase as many great numbers as this hit about the Elvis Presley-like star Conrad Birdie, who, as a publicity stunt, visits a Midwest family before shipping off to the Army. The movie version, from 1963, is one of Hollywood's best musicals of that decade, even though it made big changes to the show. The most egregious was casting Janet Leigh in the role of Rose Alvarez, played by Chita Rivera on Broadway. But it is hard to nitpick with the focus being shifted to Kim, a teenager discovering her sultry side, because she was played by Ann-Margret in an explosive performance that made her a star — she was particularly electric in the number 'A Lot of Livin' to Do.' Bonus video: In 2024, Vanessa Williams performed that song at the annual Miscast event, keeping the pronouns originally sung by Conrad Birdie intact. 'Golden Boy' Strouse teamed up again with his 'Birdie' lyricist, Lee Adams, for this somber-minded, boxing-themed vehicle for Sammy Davis Jr. (one of the entertainer's only four Broadway credits). The composer's ability to tap into a brassy energy is on full display in the sharp-edged number 'Don't Forget 127th Street,' and overall this is probably his jazziest score — 'Night Song' has been covered by several jazz acts including Art Blakey, Sarah Vaughan and Nina Simone. Based on a Clifford Odets play from 1937, the 'Golden Boy' musical changed the lead character of Joe from Italian American to Black and the underlying concerns from immigration to racial equality. The show was very much connected to the preoccupations of the civil rights era, and its interracial romance — and duets like 'I Want to Be With You' between Davis and his co-star, Paula Wayne — was not the kind of thing you often saw onstage at that time. 'It's a Bird … It's a Plane … It's Superman' Had the makers of 'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark' consulted Strouse, he might have informed them that superhero musicals are a tough nut to crack. In 1966, he and Adams tried to make Superman sing and dance on Broadway, and the show crashed like the Man of Steel after being exposed to Kryptonite. The overall vibe was very much in sync with that of the goofy 'Batman' TV series, which also premiered in 1966 — the musical even included a number titled 'Pow! Bam! Zonk!' A standard did make it out, however: 'You've Got Possibilities.' Linda Lavin originated it on Broadway (and sang it in her cabaret shows over the decades), but this sultry cover by Peggy Lee, from her 1966 album 'Big Spender,' makes the most of Strouse's uncommon melodic gifts. 'Applause' This number, 'But Alive,' in which Lauren Bacall's diva of a character visits a Greenwich Village bar clearly packed with adoring gay men has to be one of the campiest romps ever. Strouse and Adams's musical 'Applause' was based on the Mary Orr short story that inspired 'All About Eve' (the studio did not relinquish the rights to the film itself), updated by the book writers Betty Comden and Adolph Green to 1970. Bacall played Margo Channing (immortalized by Bette Davis in the movie), and to say she was not an adept singer or dancer would be an understatement. She had, however, the necessary aura and she was game, making 'But Alive' completely irrepressible — perhaps even more so precisely because Bacall was not, well, Ann-Margret. Wouldn't you have been dancing and singing along with her, too? 'Annie' The 'Annie' number at the 1977 Tony Awards went on for a whopping 10 minutes, which feels downright epic by current Tony standards. Original cast members, including Andrea McArdle (Annie) and Dorothy Loudon (Miss Hannigan), presented an overview of the show dotted with generous excerpts from such great songs as 'You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile,' 'Easy Street' and, of course, the anthem of eternal optimism known as 'Tomorrow.' The show about a plucky young orphan who finds a new family during the Great Depression, by Strouse, the lyricist Martin Charnin and the book writer Thomas Meehan, was an instant smash, winning seven Tonys including best musical, and earning a spot in the pop-culture pantheon.
