Which Old Hollywood stars would you put into DYNASTY?

[Snarky Oracle!]

For some reason, people tend to view DYNASTY as paying homage to Old Hollywood in some way -- even though they really didn't do that at all. Even FALCON CREST made more of an effort at it.

DYNASTY had, briefly, Charlton Heston and Barbara Stanwyck before they spun off to THE COLBYS, but not much more than that.

Which bright lights of the Golden Age would you have inserted into DYNASTY, if only for a story arc, and what role would you give them?

Base it on who you'd see as "fitting" the show.... but they had to be alive in the '80s, so it can't be Jean Harlow.

 

[Ked]

Audrey Hepburn. I'd cast her as Alycia Anders. Cuz why not?

 

[Willie Oleson]

Well, if Alexis couldn't be queen (even for just 1 or 2 episodes) then at least there should be a queen mother.
Imagine the worldwide commotion if they had managed to rope in someone like Greta Garbo or Marlene Dietrich.

 

[Rove]

Bette Davis. She could have played Blake Carrington's elder sister. She certainly would have added some spice to the series.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Bette Davis. She could have played Blake Carrington's elder sister. She certainly would have added some spice to the series.

Of course, I've always seen Bette Davis and Sable's mother.





And Gloria Swanson as Alexis' and Caress' mother who could appear briefly in the fall of 1982 (only 6 months before Swanson died) just after her daughter inherits Cecil Colby's fortune -- and the timing isn't lost on Alexis.

How about Orson Welles, only weeks before he died, as the head of the Moldavian resistance who oversaw the massacre?

 

[ClassyCo]

I think the use of old Hollywood stars in guest or long-running roles is something Dynasty should have done more of for sure. All the glamour it had could have used some of the silver screen's greatest beauties and handsomest gentlemen.

I don't know who I would have brought in per se, but I'll toss some names around fun.

Ann-Margret
Anne Baxter
Farrah Fawcett
Eva Marie Saint
Joanne Woodward
Paul Newman
Elizabeth Taylor
Doris Day
Cary Grant
Debbie Reynolds
Jaclyn Smith
John Gavin
Lana Turner
Anthony Perkins
Janet Leigh
Faye Dunaway
​

I know all these aren't old Hollywood, but they are some I would have loved to seen mixed into the show somehow.

​

 

[Willie Oleson]

Omar Sharif as Rasheed Ahmed.

Burt Reynolds as the coach of Blake's football team.

 

[Rove]

Lana Turner..yes. Did enjoy her moment in the sun at Falcon Crest but I felt she would have been better suited for Dynasty with her glamorous look.

 

[Rove]

I'm surprised Aaron Spelling didn't move Heaven and Earth to acquire Elizabeth Taylor to play the sister of Alexis or the character of Sable. I'm guessing Elizabeth would have asked for too much money. Imagine the fun watching these two classic English actors bouncing off each other.

 

[ClassyCo]

I'm surprised Aaron Spelling didn't move Heaven and Earth to acquire Elizabeth Taylor to play the sister of Alexis or the character of Sable. I'm guessing Elizabeth would have asked for too much money. Imagine the fun watching these two classic English actors bouncing off each other.

Yes, I'm sure Elizabeth Taylor would have been far too expensive to pay. Had they got her (and that was a long shot), I seriously doubt they could have afforded to keep her beyond the span of a few episodes.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Lana Turner..yes. Did enjoy her moment in the sun at Falcon Crest but I felt she would have been better suited for Dynasty with her glamorous look.

Although, to me, Lana can never be anyone but FC's Jacqueline Perrault, arguably the soap mother to end all soap mothers, who was worth even more to the show dead than alive (although they never exploited that sufficiently).

I'm surprised Aaron Spelling didn't move Heaven and Earth to acquire Elizabeth Taylor to play the sister of Alexis or the character of Sable. I'm guessing Elizabeth would have asked for too much money. Imagine the fun watching these two classic English actors bouncing off each other.

Yes, I'm sure Elizabeth Taylor would have been far too expensive to pay. Had they got her (and that was a long shot), I seriously doubt they could have afforded to keep her beyond the span of a few episodes.

I always want to see Elizabeth Taylor in S5 as Lady Ashley (I don't like the name "Ashley Mitchell" because the GWTW connection is far too transparent -- I'd call her "Ashley Fonteyn" or "Ashley Foche" or something like that). So she wouldn't have to do more than a handful of episodes.

Taylor appeared that fall, September of 1984, in the second season premiere episode of Spelling's HOTEL (what a waste!), so she wasn't un-gettable or unaffordable for a few appearances.

HOTEL:

But the slimy front office of DYNASTY pissed her off when they started spreading gossip that Taylor was indeed headed for the show in Season 5. Taylor released a statement saying, "I am not joining the cast of DYNASTY and I want the rumor stopped."

Too bad. Had the show done anything to earn her, it would have been quite a casting coup.... but HOTEL???

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I always want to see John Geilgud as either Alexis' father, Stephen Morell, or (since Cary Grant would never do it) Blake's father -- although I'd never call him "Tom" as that never fails to makes me think of BIG VALLEY's dead patriarch Tom Barkley (I want to call Blake's dad something biblical like "Ezekiel" or "Abraham," etc).

 

[Willie Oleson]

Liz also guest-starred on North & South, was it 1985 or 1986?
I don't think I would have liked to see the super-tanned Liz Taylor on Dynasty, she looked like a shiny bonbon in haute couture. And that awful hair!

But her 1970s look would have worked for "Alexis":

Definitely!

 

[Karin Schill]

I think Elizabeth Taylor should have played Alexis sister.
I agree with you @Snarky's Ghost that Dynasty would have been a step up from "Hotel".
Seriously it would have made more sense from a career point of view.

Also Elizabeth only had that blonde hair for about a year. The way she looked around 1987 was better. She was absolutely stunning!

 

[Daniel Avery]

Liz famously did a guest-starring role as Helena Cassadine on General Hospital when that show was at the top of the ratings (1981). Helena put a curse on the show's star couple, Luke and Laura at their wedding, and everything after that was...well, cursed. In this case she only appeared because she was a fan of the show, not because she wanted a big pay-day. She was famous enough that she could pick and choose when to work and what to do. Everyone knew it was a short-term gig, so she was a big deal--but only briefly. Had she joined the cast full-time, it would have been a totally different situation (more like...ironically, Joan Collins's stint as Guiding Light's Alexandra Spaulding).

Hiring someone that famous (Liz on Dynasty OR Joan on GL) to be a regular on your show rather than a cameo or guest-star gig would almost force you to make them the lead character, not some member of an ensemble, because fans tuning in would feel short-changed if THE Elizabeth Taylor or THE Joan Collins was forced to be a supporting character who didn't have a lot of screen time. Also, the producers often feel they need to make sure they're getting their money's worth; hiring Liz Taylor at a Liz Taylor-level salary would mean she would become more of a "star" of the series than part of an ensemble due to the salary differential alone.

I think star "stunt casting" works a lot better for guest stars and cameos than luring them into full time roles. The Colbys went much further in hiring full-fledged movie stars than Dynasty ever did, but it didn't make the show any more attractive to me.

 

[Rove]

Battle of the cleavage..."Honey you're in my space."

 

[Willie Oleson]

The Colbys went much further in hiring full-fledged movie stars than Dynasty ever did, but it didn't make the show any more attractive to me.

That's how I felt about most of Falcon Crest's Big Guest Stars. I liked Lana Turner and Kim Novak, but I don't even remember what Ursula Andress did. Something with that stupid white slavery storyline.

Ava Gardner's guest appearance on Knots Landing was impressive, and her character even managed to influence the storyline (big time), so it didn't feel like "a famous face just because we can".

 

[Daniel Avery]

Some of these stunt castings were just that: stunts. You often got the idea if X celebrity had not become available, they would not have created that role/story otherwise (Gina Lollobrigida, lookin' at YOU). FC may have snagged the best Old Hollywood stars (likely due to Jane Wyman reaching out to old friends), but they didn't do a good job of making the appearances seem like a logical progression of the stories. The cart was in front of the horse, as it were; actors were cast and then stories written to suit them, rather than the more logical writing of the story and than casting roles.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Gina Lollobrigida, lookin' at YOU

Well at least she danced for the money.

 

[Rove]

Reminds me of the time Rock Hudson appeared on Dynasty. Cannot remember the story-line but I do remember his appearance caused an almighty fracas in the media.