Spotted: KL Actors in Other Roles

[Daniel Avery]

Fun Fact: Several summers ago, ABC revived the old 1970s/1980s Battle of the Network Stars as a summer series. Donna Mills had frequently appeared in the original, and ABC coerced her into also being in this for a bit of carry-over star power. She was ~75 years old, but of course carries herself like a woman twenty years younger. She represented her team in the tennis competition and was pitted against Shari Belafonte. Instead of a proper tennis match, they had a ball machine spitting at the ladies and the highest number of returned balls was the winner. SB was no Spring Chicken herself (probably 60 or so) but here was Donna Mills, a bona fide star in her mid-70s returning more of the balls than not just her immediate competitor Belafonte, but more than any competitor in the entire season of episodes.

 

[Seaviewer]

I'm rewatching the Sharon Gless series The Trials of Rosie O'Neill and Lynne Moody appears as a DA in a 1990 episode that must have been made fairly soon after she left Knots. (S1E7: "When I'm 44").

 

[Holly46]

A long-running show like Knots Landing will usually have a long list of guest players. If they're lucky, they might end up taking a one-shot guest performance and turn it into something more, like a recurring player. Others might appear once or twice in a pivotal role, but their performance is so memorable that they may make a mark much larger than actors who appeared more often.

This afternoon I was watching two, back-to-back episodes of the sitcom Benson on FamilyNet, a cable channel that airs a lot of classic sitcoms. In the first, Laurence Haddon (infamous as Val's evil Dr. Ackerman) played an undercover officer trying to weed out corruption in their fictional state. Seeing him in this reminded me that he was a frequent guest star on many shows (even Dallas). Seeing him play comedy was an interesting switch, since Dr. Ackerman was one of the most humorless characters ever on KL. But in the very next episode, Benson has a lobbyist girlfriend played by Saundra Sharp, who played Dr. Ackerman's accomplice, Nurse Wilson on KL.
Oddly, the two actors did these guest spots back-to-back in 1981, several years before they worked together on Knots.

Rather than generate a thread just to share this entertaining coincidence (and give this thread the title "Before they Were Baby-Snatching Felons"), I thought others might share some of their experiences spotting KL actors in other roles, especially the supporting/featured actors who likely only thought of their Knots roles as one in a long line of performances.

Who else have you spotted, and where?

Michele Lee was a celebrity judge on the Gong Show. Also, Joan Van Ark was on a short-lived sitcom titled "We've Got Each Other" with Oliver Clark, who appeared in the episode where Richard held Laura hostage.

 

[Seaviewer]

Joan Van Ark was on a short-lived sitcom titled "We've Got Each Other"

Yeah, I remember that. I was already a fan of hers from Temperatures Rising and that was made shortly after.

 

[TaranofPrydain]

This one just reeks of chutzpah.....

Kathleen Noone (Claudia Whitaker) appeared in four episodes late in the run of LA Law in the role of the mother of an autistic woman (Kathleen Wilhoite). The kicker? Most everyone here knows that LA Law was in the same timeslot as Knots for years.... And one of Kathleen's four episodes ( "Bourbon Cowboy": Season 7, Episode 21) was aired directly opposite the Knots series finale! The same night, no less! So she was simultaneously appearing on two networks at once that night. How very Claudia of her.....

 

[Daniel Avery]

After KL had coldly fired Constance McCashin, her husband Sam Weisman won that year's (1988) Emmy for Outstanding Director in a Drama Series for an episode of LA Law. I can't recall if they attended, but if they did, CM would have naturally been sitting with the cast at the LA Law table at the ceremonies, while KL (who rarely got any Emmy love) probably didn't even get invited. And she was probably the most fun person at that table!

 

[AndyB2008]

Michele Lee (Karen) voiced Cousin Mel in the animated feature Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer, directed by Phil Roman.

 

[Billy Nolan]

I knewJoey Gian from "Inspector Hooperman" years before he appeared as "Tom Ryan" in Knots Landing.

 

[Billy Nolan]

Kevin Dobson, Kelly Mc Gillis and Alec Baldwin in "Sweet Revenge" (1984).

 

[Seaviewer]

Kevin looks like he's stolen Devane's hair.

 

[Billy Nolan]

Kevin looks like he's stolen Devane's hair.

he often looked as if he had stolen someone's hair. LOL

 

[Billy Nolan]

Teri Austin 1985 in "The Fall Guy".

 

[TaranofPrydain]

StartTV here in the states this morning had a 1996 episode of Touched by an Angel with Ted Shackleford as a former soap actor who was having an affair with a younger woman named Karen.... This was followed with a Murder, She Wrote episode with Hunt Block among the Amish.

 

[WarriorsFan]

Murder She Wrote episodes that featured Knots Landing main cast members.
December 30, 1984: Death Casts a Spell - Michelle Phillips
December 14, 1986: Stage Struck - John Pleshette
September 12, 1993: A Death in Hong Kong - Teri Austin
November 7, 1993: Bloodlines - Don Murray

 

[Seaviewer]

Michele Lee is in an 1961 episode of Dobie Gillis called "Crazylegs Gillis". She's rather different to most of his ditzy girlfiiends, being something of a problem solver. I suspect that episode may have been written for the semi-regular no-nonsense Zelda character but for some reason Sheila James (who played Zelda) was not available.

 

[Billy Nolan]

Murder She Wrote episodes that featured Knots Landing main cast members.
December 30, 1984: Death Casts a Spell - Michelle Phillips
December 14, 1986: Stage Struck - John Pleshette
September 12, 1993: A Death in Hong Kong - Teri Austin
November 7, 1993: Bloodlines - Don Murray

January 19, 1992: Incident in Lot 7: Lar Park Lincoln
October 1, 1989: Seal of the Confessionel: Hunt Block
April, 28, 1991: Murder, Plain and Simple: Hunt Block
March 14, 1994: Programmed for Murder: Hunt Block

​

 

[Billy Nolan]

Lisa Hartman, Ricardo Montalban and Pamela Franklin in an episode of "Fantasy Island" in 1979.

 

[Mustard]

I'm currently watching Thriller, the British anthology series from 1973-1976 created by Brian Clemens. These episodes often had some American actors and actresses to appeal to US audiences. Donna Mills is in 3 of these Thriller episodes, titled "Someone at the Top of the Stairs", "One Deadly Owner" and "Killer with Two Faces". My favourite of these 3 episodes is One Deadly Owner, which is about Donna's character (Helen Cook) being paranormally urged into buying an expensive car, the car often acts erratically, going to a few places by itself. Nobody believes her protests when she explains the car's odd behaviour, and she meets the previous car's owners. It turns out that someone previously murdered was paranormally using the car to take Helen Cook to the place where the body was concealed, and the murderer is a surprise person.

 

[TaranofPrydain]

I'm a night owl, so I've been watching Providence (1999-2002) on Start TV at 2 AM. Stacy Galina (Kate/replacement Mary-Frances) popped up in last night's episode, and it seems she will be in 4 more. The episode also had a brief appearance by Dynasty's replacement Steven, Jack Coleman.

 

[Toni]

I'm a night owl, so I've been watching Providence (1999-2002) on Start TV at 2 AM. Stacy Galina (Kate/replacement Mary-Frances) popped up in last night's episode, and it seems she will be in 4 more. The episode also had a brief appearance by Dynasty's replacement Steven, Jack Coleman.

Good show with a lot of heart. Keep tuned in and you will see the Master of Birds (Tippi Hedren) and the Queen of the Principal (Secret,,,). Probably my favorite non-Dallas appearance of hers...