Wednesday, August 20, 1980: New York born French singer Joe Dassin died while vacationing on the island of French Polynesia (also known as Tahiti). "The most French of all American singers," Joe Dassin was the son of American filmmaker Jules Dassin and violinist Beatrice Launer. Joe was educated in the United States as well as in Europe (in London, Rome and Paris). He graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in ethnology.
Joe became one of France's best-known pop singers since 1965 with songs such as 'Et si tu n'existais pas' (or 'And if you did not exist'). Released in 1975, 'Et si tu n'existais pas' was written by Salvatore "Toto" Cutugno, Vito Pallavicini and Pasquale Losito. The English subtitle read: "And if you did not exist; tell me why should I exist … And if you didn't exist; I would only be one dot more; in this world which comes and goes..."
In 1979, Shelley Hack was chosen from among 300 actresses to replace Kate Jackson on the popular TV series 'Charlie's Angels'. "I was surprised by the amount of attention, but I had done a lot of press before. There was so much to do then, so you just deal with it," Shelley recounted. "I couldn't believe it. What was I doing in the evening news? When I got off the plane (in St. Thomas, the Caribbean), there were maybe 8 million paparazzi. I looked around for Sophia Loren. It was for me. I couldn't believe it."
John James made the observation, "It's true that when you're in a show like 'Dynasty', your love life is under enormous pressure. Every time you go out, every time you have a date, it's difficult. It really is life under the microscope. And when the girl you're going out with gets shoved aside (by the public) and is left there standing alone in the background, she naturally feels neglected. Who can blame her? It's a real problem."
At its peak, about 80 million Americans were watching 'Dynasty' each week. "I think one of the most valuable things in life is the exchange of information," Pamela Sue Martin maintained. "I try to live in the flow of information. I like to one way or another exchange with people or with books or movies or art. Playing Fallon is great fun. She has so much strength, sparkle and wit – she makes a statement each time she walks into a room.
"I’m not looking forward to the time when people recognize me on the street. I'm a private person – and besides, people might think Fallon is really me and assault me for the nasty things I’ve done. It's important to distinguish between reality and fantasy. The 6 o'clock news is reality sometimes. What we do on 'Dynasty' is fiction all the time." Morgan Fairchild remarked, "Everyone expects me to act like a bitch just because that's the sort of character I play. It's fun to play bitches, although it's like fighting an uphill battle to win audiences over. And the bitches are more interesting to play. They're flawed characters, and that's what makes any kind of drama interesting."
After one season (1979-1980), Tanya Roberts replaced Shelley Hack on 'Charlie's Angels', "There's a very simple explanation for that. When my role was being written nobody had any idea who would be picked for it – it was deliberately kept to a minimum until the new girl was chosen. I am not seen very much in the first 2 episodes. In the 3rd which also features Farrah (Fawcett), there's a little more of me and then the part becomes equal with the others (Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd).
"There was an enormous change to my life when I accepted the initial year of the shows last summer (from June 1979). Everything was done at the last minute. I was filming in front of the cameras just 3 weeks after I was flown from my home in New York to California. For those 3 weeks I literally worked 24 hours a day getting ready with scripts, clothing and meetings. It was a miracle that I squeezed in 5 minutes to find a home. It was a monstrous upheaval. There wasn't any time to breathe.
"It wasn't until the recent seasonal vacation that I even had a second to start to think about my future. And, in between the filming each week, there were offers coming in for other projects too. I've had a wonderful first year in Hollywood and I know it will just get bigger and better. There have been so many offers for other things and in the past there just wasn't time to attend to them. Now, though, as a whole new world opens up for me, I'll be able to tackle them all. I’m thrilled the future has so much going for me. I couldn't ask for a better situation of combining my guest appearances with 'Charlie's Angels' – and having the time now (in 1980) to accept other offers too."
Australian actor Chris Milne was a qualified civil engineer. He told Jacqui Johnson in 1980, "I didn't like the discipline in engineering. It was a lot of boring tripe. When I heard Bob Hawke give a speech on human relationships, it persuaded me to take lessons in public speaking. I did it as a few commercials and then I was an understudy in the stage play, 'Norman Is That You', for 13 months in Melbourne and Sydney. When I think about it, I've only been acting for 3½ years (since 1977), and in that time I went to England for 2 years and couldn't get in anywhere. I went to England in 1974 and tramped the streets for ages. I eventually got work with an employment agency and came back to Melbourne late in 1976."
"I love doing period dramas," Australian actress Lorraine Bayly told Allan Webster in 1983. In 1983 and 1984, Lorraine could be seen playing a barrister from a working-class family in the Australian TV series, 'Carson's Law', about a family law firm. Set in 1925, Lorraine played one of the few women in the legal profession. "I spent a lot of time in court and in the barristers' rooms opposite the Supreme Court (in Melbourne), driving them all mad asking questions," Lorraine recalled.
"I wanted to find out their motivation for going into that occupation, what their aims were, how idealistic they were. Some of the answers I got at first were a little cynical, and I thought, 'My God, that's not the sort of character I want to play.' But then the more people I spoke to and the more I went into it, I found, particularly with the women, that they are quite idealistic and really do want to see justice done and help to better things. The attitude was more prevalent in women than the men."
'Carson's Law' was made in Melbourne. Lorraine observed, "It's amazing how many parallels there are. There’s a big drug problem today (in 1982); back then, it was cocaine. Today (in 1982), there's the issue of abortion; then, it was birth control and there was a similar outcry. So a lot of the issues have their parallels and people can see for themselves that it could apply today (in 1983 when the series went to air). It just might awaken their thought processes."
At the time, Donna Mills could be seen on the TV series, 'Knots Landing'. Donna made the comment in 1988, "People have found there are just so many stories you can do about young people. Their experience is limited, and so is their depth. I think in the last 10 to 15 years (since say 1978), we've found that people, not just women, of a more advanced age are more interesting. People are looking good longer. Nobody looks or feels old at 40 or 50 anymore, and I think that’s great."
Joe became one of France's best-known pop singers since 1965 with songs such as 'Et si tu n'existais pas' (or 'And if you did not exist'). Released in 1975, 'Et si tu n'existais pas' was written by Salvatore "Toto" Cutugno, Vito Pallavicini and Pasquale Losito. The English subtitle read: "And if you did not exist; tell me why should I exist … And if you didn't exist; I would only be one dot more; in this world which comes and goes..."
In 1979, Shelley Hack was chosen from among 300 actresses to replace Kate Jackson on the popular TV series 'Charlie's Angels'. "I was surprised by the amount of attention, but I had done a lot of press before. There was so much to do then, so you just deal with it," Shelley recounted. "I couldn't believe it. What was I doing in the evening news? When I got off the plane (in St. Thomas, the Caribbean), there were maybe 8 million paparazzi. I looked around for Sophia Loren. It was for me. I couldn't believe it."
John James made the observation, "It's true that when you're in a show like 'Dynasty', your love life is under enormous pressure. Every time you go out, every time you have a date, it's difficult. It really is life under the microscope. And when the girl you're going out with gets shoved aside (by the public) and is left there standing alone in the background, she naturally feels neglected. Who can blame her? It's a real problem."
At its peak, about 80 million Americans were watching 'Dynasty' each week. "I think one of the most valuable things in life is the exchange of information," Pamela Sue Martin maintained. "I try to live in the flow of information. I like to one way or another exchange with people or with books or movies or art. Playing Fallon is great fun. She has so much strength, sparkle and wit – she makes a statement each time she walks into a room.
"I’m not looking forward to the time when people recognize me on the street. I'm a private person – and besides, people might think Fallon is really me and assault me for the nasty things I’ve done. It's important to distinguish between reality and fantasy. The 6 o'clock news is reality sometimes. What we do on 'Dynasty' is fiction all the time." Morgan Fairchild remarked, "Everyone expects me to act like a bitch just because that's the sort of character I play. It's fun to play bitches, although it's like fighting an uphill battle to win audiences over. And the bitches are more interesting to play. They're flawed characters, and that's what makes any kind of drama interesting."
After one season (1979-1980), Tanya Roberts replaced Shelley Hack on 'Charlie's Angels', "There's a very simple explanation for that. When my role was being written nobody had any idea who would be picked for it – it was deliberately kept to a minimum until the new girl was chosen. I am not seen very much in the first 2 episodes. In the 3rd which also features Farrah (Fawcett), there's a little more of me and then the part becomes equal with the others (Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd).
"There was an enormous change to my life when I accepted the initial year of the shows last summer (from June 1979). Everything was done at the last minute. I was filming in front of the cameras just 3 weeks after I was flown from my home in New York to California. For those 3 weeks I literally worked 24 hours a day getting ready with scripts, clothing and meetings. It was a miracle that I squeezed in 5 minutes to find a home. It was a monstrous upheaval. There wasn't any time to breathe.
"It wasn't until the recent seasonal vacation that I even had a second to start to think about my future. And, in between the filming each week, there were offers coming in for other projects too. I've had a wonderful first year in Hollywood and I know it will just get bigger and better. There have been so many offers for other things and in the past there just wasn't time to attend to them. Now, though, as a whole new world opens up for me, I'll be able to tackle them all. I’m thrilled the future has so much going for me. I couldn't ask for a better situation of combining my guest appearances with 'Charlie's Angels' – and having the time now (in 1980) to accept other offers too."
Australian actor Chris Milne was a qualified civil engineer. He told Jacqui Johnson in 1980, "I didn't like the discipline in engineering. It was a lot of boring tripe. When I heard Bob Hawke give a speech on human relationships, it persuaded me to take lessons in public speaking. I did it as a few commercials and then I was an understudy in the stage play, 'Norman Is That You', for 13 months in Melbourne and Sydney. When I think about it, I've only been acting for 3½ years (since 1977), and in that time I went to England for 2 years and couldn't get in anywhere. I went to England in 1974 and tramped the streets for ages. I eventually got work with an employment agency and came back to Melbourne late in 1976."
"I love doing period dramas," Australian actress Lorraine Bayly told Allan Webster in 1983. In 1983 and 1984, Lorraine could be seen playing a barrister from a working-class family in the Australian TV series, 'Carson's Law', about a family law firm. Set in 1925, Lorraine played one of the few women in the legal profession. "I spent a lot of time in court and in the barristers' rooms opposite the Supreme Court (in Melbourne), driving them all mad asking questions," Lorraine recalled.
"I wanted to find out their motivation for going into that occupation, what their aims were, how idealistic they were. Some of the answers I got at first were a little cynical, and I thought, 'My God, that's not the sort of character I want to play.' But then the more people I spoke to and the more I went into it, I found, particularly with the women, that they are quite idealistic and really do want to see justice done and help to better things. The attitude was more prevalent in women than the men."
'Carson's Law' was made in Melbourne. Lorraine observed, "It's amazing how many parallels there are. There’s a big drug problem today (in 1982); back then, it was cocaine. Today (in 1982), there's the issue of abortion; then, it was birth control and there was a similar outcry. So a lot of the issues have their parallels and people can see for themselves that it could apply today (in 1983 when the series went to air). It just might awaken their thought processes."
At the time, Donna Mills could be seen on the TV series, 'Knots Landing'. Donna made the comment in 1988, "People have found there are just so many stories you can do about young people. Their experience is limited, and so is their depth. I think in the last 10 to 15 years (since say 1978), we've found that people, not just women, of a more advanced age are more interesting. People are looking good longer. Nobody looks or feels old at 40 or 50 anymore, and I think that’s great."
