The Rise and Fall of Karen Cellini

[Brian Carrington Colby]

Searching the internet for the cached original pages of my old thread "Dynasty - The Newspaper Articles," I found the cached page for the old Soap Opera Digest article on the firing of Karen Cellini from Dynasty. Unfortunately the images that forum member Old Timer originally posted are gone, I decided i would repost the newspaper articles I originally posted that record Catherine Oxenberg's dismissal from Dynasty, Karen's hasty hiring, and her just as hasty firing. I will look to see if I saved the original images of the Soap Opera Digest article to add to this thread. If anyone saved them feel free to post them here! An on we go, from August 2010.....


Thanks Old Timer for posting the Karen Cellini Soap Opera Digest article. It's a fascinating read on the state of Dynasty during Season 7. Along with the TV Guide interview with Leann Hunley from 1988, the recent Terri Garber interview posted on this forum, and the musings of Kate O'Mara that have been posted here as well, it's amazing how these actressess all say the same thing, that the producers were more concerned with trivial things while having no clue about the bigger picture like solid scripts, casting, and acting.


To add to Old Timer's original post, I found two newspaper articles from October 1986 about the rise and fall of Karen Cellini. It's sad how in hindsight she was caught in the line of fire of the producer's incompetence.


The first article is from the Deseret News, Thursday October 9, 1986. The article is aptly named "Cellini: Dreams to Nightmares?" and gives maybe the first hints that Karen was fired and puts forth the rumor that the Amanda character will be killed off mid-season. Click the link to see the article. I've also attached the article below as well.


http://news.google.ca/newspapers?id=08soAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FYQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7030,4409320&hl=en


The second article is from the the Victoria Advocate, Sunday October 12, 1986. The title of this article is "Goes to Show, Nobody's Indispensable." This is more a profile on Karen, and though it states that she is not winning the critic's hearts in the role of Amanda, there is no mention of her being fired or the Amanda character being killed. Still, it's an early indication at the start of Season 7 that there were problems with Karen as Amanda. Again, click to read the article below.


http://news.google.ca/newspapers?id=zZQnAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FlYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2267,3052933&hl=en

 

[Brian Carrington Colby]

Karen Cellini in happier times....


I found this picture of Karen and her sister from the Times Daily newspaper from Saturday August 2, 1986. They are celebrating her getting the role of Amanda on Dynasty. Sad to think that in two months it would end in disaster for Karen. Click the link to see the newspaper page. I've attached a copy of the picture as well.


http://news.google.ca/newspapers?id...AAAIBAJ&pg=4017,258887&dq=karen cellini&hl=en

 

[Brian Carrington Colby]

Here's another article from October 12, 1986. This article, under the appropriate title "TV Traumas," is from the Spokesman Review. This article, like the one from the October 9 Deseret News, again states Karen Cellini's being let go from Dynasty and the Amanda character being killed in the 13th episode of the season.


Spokesman Review, October 12, 1986:


http://news.google.ca/newspapers?id...J&pg=5582,6893626&dq=catherine oxenberg&hl=en


Right beside the Karen Cellini blurb is a mention of Kate O'Mara doing double duty on Dynasty and a play in England.


**** Okay, I just discovered that the above link is dead. But, back in 2010, I also pasted a screen capture of the above article/blurb. After searching a bit I found said blurb on an old hard drive. So, don't bother clicking the link, just look at the attached photo!

 

[Brian Carrington Colby]

To put Karen Cellini's rise and fall in perspective, it helps to maybe start with Catherine Oxenberg's fall from grace the summer of 1986. The short announcements that Catherine had been let go from Dynasty came mid July, 1986. Speculation was that she parted ways with Dynasty over a salary dispute. Not much more info was given other than Karen Cellini had been hired to take over the role.


Gainsville Sun, July 16, 1986, Page 2A - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6j1WAAAAIBAJ&sjid=--kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6636,223337

Sarasota Herald-Tribune, July 16, 1986, Page 2A - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VoUeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zmkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5259,214667

Gadsden Times, July 16, 1986, Page C3 - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=T7IfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=T9cEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3234,3064641

The Montreal Gazette, July 17, 1986, Page E1 - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=n0YwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DKYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5735,2674032

Schednectady Gazette, July 17, 1986, Page 42 - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QgwhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UXIFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2678,3952510




It soon became apparent that it wasn't a mutual parting of the ways for Dynasty's producers and Catherine Oxenberg, as Aaron Spelling soon declared "She was FIRED!!!"


Lakeland Ledger, July 19, 1986, Page 2A - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pbBOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cPsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7047,1069781

Herald-Journal, July 24, 1986, Page 4A - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_T8sAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nc4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6704,6595696




In October of 1986 an article appeared that gave Catherine's side of the story, for the most part:


New Straits Times, October 19, 1986, Page 7 - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=atRHAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vY4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5780,932948

 

[Brian Carrington Colby]

Once August of 1986 hit, the Dynasty publicity machine ramped up and articles started to appear showcasing Dynasty's new Amanda:



The Evening News, July 26, 1986, Page 5B - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mt5GAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xDMNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2406,2780911

Sumter Daily-Item, July 30, 1986, Page 7C - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3V0yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=oK0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=2336,4834535

Times Daily, August 2, 1986, Page 8B - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZCMrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UZ4FAAAAIBAJ&pg=4017,258887

Rome News-Tribune, August 3, 1986, Page 12 - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GW8wAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MDYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4359,922793

The Dispatch, August 6, 1986, Page 20 - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3eQbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qlIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6610,4072726

The Lewiston Journal, August 7, 1986, Page 4B - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aCNHAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qfMMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4301,825133

Park City Daily News, August 8, 1986, Page 14 - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=izQqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZUcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5381,2036720

The Free Lance-Star, August 9, 1986, Page TV-3 - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wQNOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1o0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5265,4253515

Ocala Star-Banner, August 23, 1986, TV Week Page 11 - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Nc9PAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9wYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5055,4098563

 

[Brian Carrington Colby]

It's interesting to see from the very beginning of Karen being hired that things weren't quite right. The fact that she was describing the character of Amanda as "nice" and "good" indicated that she didn't have a grasp of what the character was. Though not a true "villain," Amanda was petulant, moody, spoiled, not exactly "nice" in the sense of say Krystle. And, just the roller-coaster way she was hired and thrown on set within a matter of days speaks volumes about the state of the Dynasty production as a whole.

 

[Ked]

It's interesting to see from the very beginning of Karen being hired that things weren't quite right. The fact that she was describing the character of Amanda as "nice" and "good" indicated that she didn't have a grasp of what the character was. Though not a true "villain," Amanda was petulant, moody, spoiled, not exactly "nice" in the sense of say Krystle. And, just the roller-coaster way she was hired and thrown on set within a matter of days speaks volumes about the state of the Dynasty production as a whole.

Yes, I recall Karen describing Amanda as "warm". And that's when head-shaking sets in; that was first true sign that things were not going to go well, not when the actor doesn't know or understand the character. Of course, they could have made Amanda *become* warm and such, which would have been an interesting bit of character growth, but... well, this is DYNASTY.

 

[Brian Carrington Colby]

Throughout September of 1986, Karen Cellini is mentioned in various articles highlighting the changes to various TV shows for the upcoming television season:


Toledo Blade, September 17, 1986, Page P-4 - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TBNPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2wIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6907,1896631

The Spokesman-Review, September 23, 1986, Page B5 - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GBNQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RwgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6781,5146261

 

[Brian Carrington Colby]

The Dynasty 7th season premiere episode hit the air September 24, 1986. Viewers got their first look at Karen Cellini in the role of Amanda in the "Last Time, On Dynasty" Season 6 finale recap at the beginning of the episode. Karen reshot parts of scenes that Catherine Oxenberg appeared in in the finale episode. The first thing you notice is Amanda no longer has an english accent.

In the opening credits, Karen's segment is shot to duplicate Catherine Oxenberg's opening credit sequence.

 

[Brian Carrington Colby]

Of course, we now know that by the time here first episode aired, Karen Cellini's time on Dynasty was to prove short-lived. For the sake of the timeline, here are the above three articles again:


The Deseret News, October 9, 1986 - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=08soAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FYQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7030,4409320

The Victoria Advocate, Sunday October 12, 1986 - http://news.google.ca/newspapers?id=zZQnAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FlYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2267,3052933&hl=en

Star-News, October 14, 1986, Page 2D - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0E1OAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2BMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6850,4114752

 

[Brian Carrington Colby]

From January, 1987, the episode description for the last Dynasty episode Amanda Carrington would appear in.


Gadsden Times, January 7, 1987, Page D8 - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_7QfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=M9cEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3054,1091659

 

[Brian Carrington Colby]

What do you know, I found the images from the 1987 Soap Opera Digest article titled "Anatomy of a Murder" on the firing of Karen Cellini that Old Timer posted years ago! I have attached the four pages below. I apologize for the third image as it might reproduce very small. That is the size it was when I originally copied the image from the old thread. I think you can still read the text though. Here it is....

 

[Don Howard]

They kept the London background in the intro, yet had the new actress not use the English accent and made her warm. Not too many heads were screwed on tight at the Dynasty front office.

 

[bmasters9]

They kept the London background in the intro, yet had the new actress not use the English accent and made her warm. Not too many heads were screwed on tight at the Dynasty front office.

She's originally from Philly (born there 1958), so how could she use an English accent?

 

[tommie]

She's originally from Philly (born there 1958), so how could she use an English accent?

I think she had a slight English accent in the first scene or two she appears in, but it quickly disappears after that.

Mind you, I would not want her have an English accent... it feels like it would've been torture.

 

[bmasters9]

Mind you, I would not want her have an English accent... it feels like it would've been torture.

It probably is torture for American actors/actresses to pull off foreign accents, and possibly vice versa as well!

 

[tommie]

It probably is torture for American actors/actresses to pull off foreign accents, and possibly vice versa as well!

Yeah, Joan van Ark pretty much gave up on doing a Texan accent after a while on Knots Landing, poor Amy Locane (Sandy) on Melrose Place came across as having a multiple personality disorder on her short 13 episode stint - although they could've worked that into later seasons I guess. Some actors manage to do it though - I was pretty surprised to hear Josh Bowman (Daniel, Revenge) talk in an interview and he had a English accent.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

It probably is torture for American actors/actresses to pull off foreign accents, and possibly vice versa as well!

Depends on the actor, obviously, but British actors seem better at capturing the various American accents than vice versa. Americans usually sound like they're laughably putting on airs, and frankly come off better if they just openly burlesque it.

But they say the middle American accent, most often heard in the national media, is very flat and neutral and therefore more easily captured by actors from other parts of the world.

That said, Emma and Maxwell often sounded like they were about to break into a verse of 'Chim Chim Cheree' at any given moment.

 

[tommie]

Depends on the actor, obviously, but British actors seem better at capturing the various American accents than vice versa. Americans usually sound like they're laughably putting on airs, and frankly come off better if they just openly burlesque it.

But they say the middle American accent, most often heard in the national media, is very flat and neutral and therefore more easily captured by actors from other parts of the world.

That said, Emma and Maxwell often sounded like they were about to break into a verse of 'Chim Chim Cheree' at any given moment.

But pray tell - what accent did Stanwyck had?

For some reason I can just imagine her yelling "whoooooooooooooooooooooooreeeeeeeeeeee" in my head and I don't know where that came from.

 

[Michael Torrance]

The image maker tells Alexis the support of her children is important in season eight: 'They are Adam, Steven, and Fallon, correct?'
She forgets how she used to brag she had given birth to four and completely leaves Amanda out. Earlier Blake had divided DC equally among his three children: Adam, Fallon, and Steven. I mean, what a terrible actress you must be if the show felt the need to erase you from its memory--a character that was once so important it dragged the whole show over to another continent for the Moldavia mess. Of course the shame is on the show for hiring her-- much less on her for accepting the part.

Now I know DYNASTY has done that elsewhere--David Paulsen did not give a single word of reference to poor Leslie in season 9--but I would think an Alexis and Blake child is a core character.

It's interesting that for the abysmal Reunion movie Amanda is nowhere to be found but Oxenberg is with Corley, Martin, Thomson, and the Evans/Collins/Forsythe trio in the FiLoLi DYNASTY special. The one moment of the whole true family.