Celebrity Biopics

[Crimsonams]

Jim Carrey, as Andy Kaufman in, Man in the Moon

Oh yeah, definitely! My dad was a huge wrestling fan, and I remember seeing the Letterman show when Kaufman and Jerry Lawler were on there. Carrey nailed it!

[Crimsonams]

Let me toss this one out...who played Manson better in the Helter Skelter movies: Steve Railsback (1976) or Jeremy Davies (2004)? I feel like Railsback had the look, and Davies had the mannerisms and speech down. However if both were on and I had to choose one, I prefer Railsback.

[cindyt]

Thought this was a nice little photo gallery to go along with the current topic!
http://music.yahoo.com/photos/actors...ans-slideshow/

Good find!

[Serendipity09]

Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo
Robert Downey Jr. as Charlie Chaplin
Sir Ben Kingsley as Mohandas Gandhi

[Serendipity09]

Kurt Russel in 'Tombstone' as Wyatt Earp

[Bidmor]

Dennis Quaid as Doc Holliday in 1994's "Wyatt Earp"...Kevin Costner played Wyatt. Quaid actually looked like a drunkard afflicted with TB...lean, gaunt, pale.

[Arky67]

I don't know if this counts but Natalie Wood was great as Gypsy Rose Lee in Gypsy.

[Crimsonams]

I don't know if this counts but Natalie Wood was great as Gypsy Rose Lee in Gypsy.

Y'know, I have never seen any version of Gypsy! I've gotten so many people over the years telling me "oh you should see this version, or this one", and after awhile I just thought eh, I just won't watch any of them. *s*

[Dave62]

I remember a made for tv movie about Marilyn Monroe and the actress was Misty Rowe she was from HeeHaw (if anyone remembers that) she was a HeeHaw Honey (i swear im not makein that up)

I remember Hee Haw and the Honeys, including Gunilla Hutton, as well as Junior Samples & Lulu Roman. They they’d ask “Hey Grandpa, what’s for supper?”- he’d reply with some long list such as “ Possum stew , turkey-beak salad, gator meatballs”, etc.

Connie Stevens was a Marilyn-type in an awful TV bio-pic The Sex Symbol. Shelley Winters’ hilarious overacting as a Louella Parsons-type gossipista would be the only reason to watch it. Ditto Loni Anderson as Thelma Todd. Todd died at age 30 and Loni was in her mid-40’s when that TV biopic was made. Her hairstyle looks like a mish-mash between Marilyn circa 1956 and Thelma circa 1934.

Babs was great as Fanny Brice, she captured the spirit and energy of a talented woman that didn’t look like the contemporary (but far less-talented) American Beauty. The story had its fictional elements, ignoring her first marriage and the fact that Nick Arnstein was already married when he became involved with Fannie. And sad but true, the “Most Beautiful Bride” musical number was total fiction.

I see that The Buster Keaton Story is on Youtube, I’ll watch that soon. From what I remember reading, during filming it became apparent to Donald O’Connor that the script was extremely fictional and that Buster had no say in that matter. The film would provide Buster with the money he needed to finally buy the modest home he'd always wanted. To what degree it had to be fictionalized to escape the legal wrath of Buster’s ex-wives (notably Natalie Talmadge) will be revealed when I finally watch it. Mostly I’ve read the film sucked but that O’Connor was very good in the role.

[Crimsonams]

I remember a made for tv movie about Marilyn Monroe and the actress was Misty Rowe she was from HeeHaw (if anyone remembers that) she was a HeeHaw Honey (i swear im not makein that up)

I remember Hee Haw and the Honeys, including Gunilla Hutton, as well as Junior Samples & Lulu Roman. They they’d ask “Hey Grandpa, what’s for supper?”- he’d reply with some long list such as “ Possum stew , turkey-beak salad, gator meatballs”, etc.

Connie Stevens was a Marilyn-type in an awful TV bio-pic The Sex Symbol. Shelley Winters’ hilarious overacting as a Louella Parsons-type gossipista would be the only reason to watch it. Ditto Loni Anderson as Thelma Todd. Todd died at age 30 and Loni was in her mid-40’s when that TV biopic was made. Her hairstyle looks like a mish-mash between Marilyn circa 1956 and Thelma circa 1934.

Babs was great as Fanny Brice, she captured the spirit and energy of a talented woman that didn’t look like the contemporary (but far less-talented) American Beauty. The story had its fictional elements, ignoring her first marriage and the fact that Nick Arnstein was already married when he became involved with Fannie. And sad but true, the “Most Beautiful Bride” musical number was total fiction.

I see that The Buster Keaton Story is on Youtube, I’ll watch that soon. From what I remember reading, during filming it became apparent to Donald O’Connor that the script was extremely fictional and that Buster had no say in that matter. The film would provide Buster with the money he needed to finally buy the modest home he'd always wanted. To what degree it had to be fictionalized to escape the legal wrath of Buster’s ex-wives (notably Natalie Talmadge) will be revealed when I finally watch it. Mostly I’ve read the film sucked but that O’Connor was very good in the role.

My dad watched Hee Haw quite a bit...he always swore it was for the music and the comedy, but we all knew it was for the Honeys!
I've always loved Shelley Winters and her over the top style of acting! I'll have to check out that movie. I remember watching her playing Elvis' mother in the John Carpenter version of his life.

[TheWrath of MadelineKahn]

Ditto Loni Anderson as Thelma Todd. Todd died at age 30 and Loni was in her mid-40’s when that TV biopic was made. Her hairstyle looks like a mish-mash between Marilyn circa 1956 and Thelma circa 1934.

Granted Loni's Thelma Todd didn't have the subtle nuances that her performance as Jayne Mansfield contained.

But everyone forgets there was apparently a huge shortage of busty blonde actresses available from 1980-1991, so poor Loni had to do everything.

[Aries65]

Annette O'Toole as Tammy Wynette (Stand By Your Man: The Tammy Wynette Story)

[SamiBamBam]

Does Johnny Depp as Hunter S. Thompson in "Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas" count?

[Dave62]

I've always loved Shelley Winters and her over the top style of acting! I'll have to check out that movie. I remember watching her playing Elvis' mother in the John Carpenter version of his life

If you really want to see Shelly over the top, see if you can find Wild In the Streets. Shelley is the mom of Christopher Jones, who plays a 1960's James Dean-type who (when the voting age is drastically lowered) ends up becoming President. Imagine a hybrid James-Dean hippie. Anyway, everyone over the age of 30 is placed into POW camps, including poor Shelley, who I seem to remember trying to climb over the barbed-wire fence of the POW camp, screaming "Let me outta here, I gotta go and have tea with the Queen of England !" Oh well, it didn't earn her an Oscar but it probably paid the rent for a few months.

[Crimsonams]

I've always loved Shelley Winters and her over the top style of acting! I'll have to check out that movie. I remember watching her playing Elvis' mother in the John Carpenter version of his life

If you really want to see Shelly over the top, see if you can find Wild In the Streets. Shelley is the mom of Christopher Jones, who plays a 1960's James Dean-type who (when the voting age is drastically lowered) ends up becoming President. Imagine a hybrid James-Dean hippie. Anyway, everyone over the age of 30 is placed into POW camps, including poor Shelley, who I seem to remember trying to climb over the barbed-wire fence of the POW camp, screaming "Let me outta here, I gotta go and have tea with the Queen of England !" Oh well, it didn't earn her an Oscar but it probably paid the rent for a few months.

WOW! I'm gonna have to track that one down!

[Dave62]

WOW! I'm gonna have to track that one down!

Thank God for Youtube, here's the scene, not quite as awful as I remember, but still quite ridiculous ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzBRLD_9YOs