ICAM. I'm not aware of everything that's available now on streaming, but what I am aware of, I'm in no rush to watch.
I'd say Burt and his own struggles had a lot to do with Loni's career momentum stalling in the '80's, beginning with "Stroker Ace," which was a DISASTER at the box office, setting them both back professionally. In a way, I can't fault Burt wanting to do the picture in the first place (and turning down Jack Nicholson's Oscar-winning part in "Terms of Endearment") as a gesture of loyalty to director Hal Needham, who had directed him in several other pictures, including "Smokey and the Bandit," but everyone involved should've known better.
IMO, Loni was another actor who, like Delta Burke, was wrongly vilified by the tabloids in the '90's. The press enjoyed portraying her as Burt's clawing ex, and a washed-up bimbo who was clinging desperately to the shreds of a once-promising career. As I see it now, though, Loni was really an abused wife, married to a narcissistic pillhead, who couldn't cope with the fact that he had trashed his own career through bad decisions and ego.
That's why I felt so bad for Loni when people snickered at her joining NBC's "Nurses" just as the whole "Burt vs. Loni" saga was still playing out publicly. I'm sure Loni knew "Nurses" was a crap show, but I also believe she took the job for two reasons: 1) to rebuild her career and prove herself again as a comedienne after taking a back seat to Burt and his career for so long; and 2) to keep their adopted son, Quinton, in the lifestyle to which he was accustomed.
Poor Farrah. IMO, she was a much better actress than people ever gave her credit for. Her performances in "The Burning Bed," "Extremities," "Small Sacrifices" and even the short-lived sitcom she did with Ryan O'Neal (and which was supposed to be Ryan's big comeback vehicle) bear this out. Yet, all anyone ever talked about were the damn hairstyle and the pinup poster. (I call it "Rita Hayworth Syndrome," lol).
Living with Lee must've been paradise, though, compared to living with O'Neal, an s.o.b. who knocked out his son's teeth and hit on his own daughter at a funeral. As Sophia Petrillo would say, "he makes Wallace Beery look like Adolphe Menjou."
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Khan ·
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