Stars who didn't like the roles that had made them famous....

[firepoint525]

Of the Brady Bunch kids, Eve Plumb (Jan) seems to have distanced herself from her role far more than any of her TV siblings have

She's the one who declined the BB variety show, right?

That is right. Geri Reischl (and I am probably misspelling her last name) played Jan in the variety show, which if I recall, was actually a very brief series (not just one episode) in the 1976-77 timeframe.

 

[firepoint525]

Kind of along the same lines, but only in the music business this time, Jeannie C. Riley is said to intensely hate the song "Harper Valley PTA," but it was indeed that song that made her a famous household name, at least for 15 minutes back in the '60s!

 

[Ultimajock]

...and then there's Robin Williams' attitude towards Mork...

 

[Corky Marlowe]

Fred Gwyne had a "love-hate" relationship with Herman Munster...He had a hard time distancing himself from the character, plus he hated the make-up. When he was approached about a Munster reunion movie in the 80's, he reportedly told his agent to ask for a ridiculous sum of money..NBC said yes, and he did the movie....In one of his last interviews though. when asked about his favorite roles, he said he couldn't help but like "Old Herman"

I'm guessing several hours at a time in the ol' makeup chair would factor into one's attitude about a particular role. I also remember reading that when "My Cousin Vinny" opened in theaters, Gwynne's first appearance as the judge ("Uh, what is a yute?") was greeted by people in the theater saying, "Look, it's Herman Munster!"

Another one that's related to TV (sort of, anyway)...Howard Stern has hated being in radio for going on 25 years now.

 

[Stanislav]

Fred Gwyne had a "love-hate" relationship with Herman Munster...He had a hard time distancing himself from the character, plus he hated the make-up.

Hence, the famous episode (and one of my favorites) in which Herman is struck by lightning and ends up looking like....Fred Gwynne! Gave him a few days break from the makeup and made for a funny concept with the family struggling to accept Herman now that he looks so "hideous." (Also Gwynne thusly engaged in a little self-deprecating humor, as he would be the first to admit he wasn't exactly the handsomest man in Hollywood....) ;D

 

[RicoGregg]

Around '97 or '98, I saw Ken Howard in a convenience store in Hollywood, surrounded by fans who were asking him standard fan questions about The White Shadow. I could tell that he was uncomfortable with the whole scene. He was giving terse, short answers, and had a grimaced look on his face the whole time. Finally, when someone asked him about what ever happened to co-star Joan Pringle, he apparently had enough and walked out of there with people still trying to talk to him. To be fair, Howard looked like he was already in a bad mood, and he did his best not to explode or snap at anyone.

As bad as this looked, I'm willing to cut the guy some slack. I later learned that about this period of time, Ken Howard was in dire need of a new kidney, and luckily, a match was found and he got the badly-needed life saving kidney transplant. He married the woman who donated the kidney to him.

I wish him health and happiness.

 

[LKellerIII]

Around '97 or '98, I saw Ken Howard in a convenience store in Hollywood, surrounded by fans who were asking him standard fan questions about The White Shadow. I could tell that he was uncomfortable with the whole scene. He was giving terse, short answers, and had a grimaced look on his face the whole time. Finally, when someone asked him about what ever happened to co-star Joan Pringle, he apparently had enough and walked out of there with people still trying to talk to him. To be fair, Howard looked like he was already in a bad mood, and he did his best not to explode or snap at anyone.

As bad as this looked, I'm willing to cut the guy some slack. I later learned that about this period of time, Ken Howard was in dire need of a new kidney, and luckily, a match was found and he got the badly-needed life saving kidney transplant. He married the woman who donated the kidney to him.

I wish him health and happiness.

I'm willing to cut these stars some slack. Just because they're grateful for being rich and famous doesn't mean they're always in a good mood, and always happy to spend time talking to fans. In the early 70s, I worked in a Westwood (LA) deli - a lot of stars came in and most were pleasant enough. Jerry Lewis was generally rude and unpleasant, so it's fair to say I didn't think much of him at the time. But I learned years later that he was in constant chronic pain as a result of all his past physical comedy stunts and pratfalls, and he was probably addicted to painkillers.

For some reason, I recall that Ken Howard married advice columnist Ann Lander's daughter. Was that the woman who donated Ken his kidney?

 

[Ultimajock]

Wasn't there a disc jockey in Chicago who was big on WLS & WCFL in the 70's only to later on "found Jesus Christ" and since then not only slammed his former stations like WLS but he bashed the radio business in general, even the great announcers of Chicago's past like Larry Lujack? I don't recall the man's name. Sure somebody knows out there in radio-info land.

...Jim "Captain Whammo" Channell was distinctly not fondly remembered when I was writing my old Chicago column for RadioDigest.com ten years back. I made a fleeting reference to him in one of the columns and got back at least five emails from then-current or '70s period Chi radio personnel describing unsavory encounters with the guy -- both pre- and post-conversion -- and one individual dismissed him as "a Doctor [Grady] Brock wannabe who wasn't fit to hold Brock's mic windscreen" ;-) (Doctor Brock was the evening guy on WCFL for a spell just before "Whammo" started doing his 'DHF schtick)...

 

[RicoGregg]

For some reason, I recall that Ken Howard married advice columnist Ann Lander's daughter. Was that the woman who donated Ken his kidney?

No. Ann Landers' daughter was a previous wife. For a full account of Ken Howard's nuptuals:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0397432/bio

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

Based on an interview he once gave, it appeared Hugh Beaumont didn't seem particularly interested in the role he did as "Ward Cleaver" in Leave It To Beaver. Although he appeared in other TV shows and films both before and after that series, he is seemingly always referred to as "Beaver's father" whenever he is seen on the screen.

While all of the others who acted in that series seem content to have the niche that "Leave It To Beaver" brought them, Beaumont never did. Ironically, at this writing, he is the one basic member of the cast who has passed away.

 

[only1moore]

Then there's Larry Hagman, who had mixed feelings about "I Dream of Jeannie."

 

[searadiofreak]

Tina Louise didn't like playing Ginger on Gilligan's Island, which is putting it mildly. Interesting to note that of the surviving cast members, only Dawn Wells (Mary Ann) and Russell Johnson (the professor) still have anything to do with the show, which is interesting and ironic (to say the least), considering that they were merely referred to as "and the rest" in the first season's (the black-and-white season) theme song.

Of the Brady Bunch kids, Eve Plumb (Jan) seems to have distanced herself from her role far more than any of her TV siblings have, although I should point out that at one time or another, each of the Brady girls has refused to appear in at least one of the reunion projects.

True, about Tina Louise, but she was the one Gilligan cast member who actually had a shot at movie stardom. She appeared in a significant role in the original "Stepford Wives", but not much after. I would guess some of this attitude came from this era. Today, I wonder if she would have a different perspective. Dawn Wells was doing local theater in Idaho up until recently, and she was always quite humble about her role. The rest of the cast has either passed on or not heard from recently.

 

[firepoint525]

From what I can tell, George Lindsey has had a love/hate relationship of his own with his "Goober" character. I believe he wanted to get away from it after The Andy Griffith Show, but yet later went on to become a (semi?)-regular on Hee Haw as George "Goober" Lindsey. Some folks probably think that "Goober" is Lindsey's middle name!

 

[mleach]

Kind of along the same lines, but only in the music business this time, Jeannie C. Riley is said to intensely hate the song "Harper Valley PTA," but it was indeed that song that made her a famous household name, at least for 15 minutes back in the '60s!

That is true. SOOOOOOOOOO True !!!

Back in 1982 my parents saw Jeannie C. Riley in concert at a high school in West Virginia. At the time Barbara Eden was doing the Harper Valley TV show plus I believe the movie version was still doing the drive-in circuit in some places even though the movie itself had already aired on TV. Anyway, of course everyone wanted to hear her sing Harper Valley PTA. Did she? NO !!

About halfway into the concert some guy stands up and shouts "...lady when are you going to sing the damn song". Riley went on to say she she "can't" sing Harper Valley PTA anymore because the song went against her faith and how Barbara Eden would be going to hell for doing that "dirty movie" and all sorts of weird comments. My parents for years really believed that Riley had some sort of mental problem because of making those statements, really Harper Valley PTA a "dirty movie"? Thats like calling Alvin & The Chipmunks porno.

Nonetheless after those statements, just about everyone in the audience including my parents walked out. Come to think of it I believe they got a refund from the money they spent to buy tickets for this "show".

 

[bpatrick]

Frances Bavier spent her last years in Siler City, NC, a town
frequently mentioned on "The Andy Griffith Show." Seems that
while she was in Durham taking the rice-diet treatment at Duke
University Hospital, she met some folks from Siler City who offered
to buy her a house. They did, but Ms. Bavier had little to do with
the townspeople. I've heard that she spent most of her time watching
public television and raising (I believe) 16 cats. Betty Lynn (Thelma Lou)
moved to Mt. Airy last year after her home in California was robbed a
couple of times.

George Lindsey has, in recent years, tried to distance himself from
the Goober character. On a radio talk show in Huntsville, AL, a year
or two back, he refused to answer questions about Goober.

I'm sure this has been mentioned elsewhere, but Fred MacMurray cared
little for "My Three Sons," refusing to work more than 65 days a year.
All his scenes for the season were filmed in 13 weeks; the rest were filmed
without him and edited into the proper episodes. I've heard that Brian Keith
did something similar on "Family Affair."

I know I mentioned once before that Robert Reed was a guest celebrity one
week on ABC's 1970s version of "Password," at a time when he was doing both
"The Brady Bunch" and a roughly every-other-week stint on "Mannix." On Friday,
Allen Ludden reminded viewers to watch Reed on "The Brady Bunch," and Reed
shot in, "and Mannix!"

 

[The Voice of Reason]

I don't know if she'd say she actually hated the role, but I have heard Lynda Carter talk about being
turned-off by all of the lewd, aggressive, over-the-top male attention she used to receive as a result of being Wonder Woman

Yet Carter, who claimed to be a born-again Christian, didn't mind going topless in her first movie role.

 

[Bob1370]

Leonard Nimoy has been mentioned earlier in this thread concerning his misgivings about Spock--he once even wrote a book (mid-1970s vintage) called "I Am Not Spock."

Then came the series of Star Trek films starting in 1979, which proved extremely lucrative and also made the Spock character more multi-dimensional. He changed his mind completely about it, and even wrote a sequel about the evolving character (and his evolving attitude about it) called "I AM Spock." He and Bill Shatner (who has been a close friend since 1966) even did a documentary/conversation film a few years ago, discussing the evolution of the Star Trek franchise, their respective characters, and their impact on popular culture, called "Mind Meld" (a West Coast acquaintance of mine produced it).

Nimoy's attitude toward Spock has evolved from boredom back toward affection and appreciation.

 

[John-Summers]

Fred MacMurray cared
little for "My Three Sons," refusing to work more than 65 days a year.
All his scenes for the season were filmed in 13 weeks; the rest were filmed
without him and edited into the proper episodes. I've heard that Brian Keith
did something similar on "Family Affair."

I recall reading someplace in the 1960s that this system was devised by the producer, Don Fedderson, as a way of attracting an actor like Fred MacMurray to do a TV series, and the same was true with Brian Keith. Doing it that way enabled Fred (and later Brian) plenty of time to do movies, which at the time was still considered more lucrative than TV. You'll recall that both of them appeared in lots of movies in the 1960s. How else would they have had the time, while doing 39 episodes of a sit-com. Can you imagine how confusing it must have been for the rest of the cast, shooting all those scenes from different episodes out of any logical sequence.

About Robert Reed: After starring with E.G. Marshall in "The Defenders," a highly-acclaimed legal drama of the early 1960s, it's not difficult to imagine that he would have found the Bradys to be somewhat lightweight. But really, what was he known for between those two series. Almost nothing that I can recall, except for a role in the Julie Andrews mega-flop "Star." That movie all but ruined the careers of just about everyone involved, including Julie and Director Robert Wise.

 

[cspotrun]

you might remember that after Star Trek Nimoy did a couple of seasons on Mission Impossible, i think his character was named paris..

 

[Stanislav]

you might remember that after Star Trek Nimoy did a couple of seasons on Mission Impossible, i think his character was named paris..

The character of Paris was a "master of disguise," one of the reasons Nimoy grabbed the role. It gave him the opportunity to show versatility by taking on all of Paris' various guises, thus venturing as far from Spock as possible.