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Here’s a trivia question for everyone: What’s the connection between Star Trek: The Original Series and the movies The Goonies, Throw Momma from the Train, and Scrooged? The answer is… Logan Ramsey, the late, great character actor whose career spanned from 1948 to 1999 and who would have turned 104 on March 21, 2025.

Star Trek fans will recall that Ramsey low-key chewed the scenery as Proconsul Claudius Marcus in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode “Bread and Circuses.” He’s the character who gave his slave, Drusilla (Lois Jewell), to Captain Kirk (William Shatner), so that Kirk could enjoy “some last hours as a man” before his execution. Sadly, Ramsey died of a heart attack at the age of 79 in 2000.

In addition to Star Trek, he counted among his many theater, movie, and television credits The Devil’s Disciple and The Great Indoors, both on stage; the films Head, Walking Tall, Any Which Way You Can,...

You wouldn’t necessarily think it from the damage he sustains over the course of “Novocaine,” but Nathan Caine ranks among the most risk-averse action heroes the genre has ever seen. That’s because the junior manager of a San Diego bank has a rare disorder known as congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (or Cipa). One cut could have life-threatening consequences, if not felt and dealt with quickly enough. So it’s kind of a big deal when normally hyper-cautious “Novocaine” (as the other kids called Nathan at school) goes into berserker mode to rescue his crush from bank robbers.

Cipa is a real thing, affecting fewer than one in 100 million people. Technically, that means screenwriter Lars Jacobson is the insensitive one here, not Nathan. If that bothers you, don’t buy a ticket. If it doesn’t, well, Paramount is doing sneak previews on March 8, a week before the film opens wide.

Many actors have a sliding doors moment in their career when they pass up a choice role in a soon-to-be iconic movie. For some, it isn't a huge deal. Denzel Washington, for example, already had two Oscar nominations and one win under his belt by the time he decided he didn't want to star in David Fincher's "Se7en." Sure, he later came to regret turning away one of the defining films of the '90s, but he was already an established star and would be just fine without it. That isn't always the case when an actor hasn't quite built up the body of work to go around rejecting great parts –- just take Henry Winkler and Danny Zuko in "Grease."

Winkler was virtual unknown when he won the chance to play Fonzie on "Happy Days." Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli started out as a minor supporting character but quickly...

Romancing the Mummy.

After concluding April with discussions of Ciarán Foy’s Eli (listen), a horror version of The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, and the pseudo-sequel to Videodrome in David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ (listen), we’re kicking off May with a revisit to one of our favorite years for cinema: 1999! The film we’ve selected is Stephen Sommer‘s action-adventure-horror-romantic-comedy The Mummy!

In the film, adventurer Rick O’Connell (Brendan Fraser) travels to Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead, with librarian Evelyn “Evy” Carnahan (Rachel Weisz) and her older brother Jonathan (John Hannah). While there, they accidentally awaken Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo), a cursed high priest-turned-invincible mummy, and must stop him before he sacrifices Evy in an attempt to resurrect his former lover (Patricia Velásquez).

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn,...

The Devil is in the Details.

After kicking off April with discussions of Matt Damon’s demon twink in The Talented Mr. Ripley (listen) and the perfect balance of horror and comedy in John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London (listen), we’re heading over to Netflix to look at Ciarán Foy‘s horror version of The Boy in the Plastic Bubble in the 2019 film Eli.

In the film, a young boy with a rare autoimmune disease named Eli (Charlie Shotwell) is brought by his parents (Kelly Reilly and Max Martini) to a private medical facility owned by Dr. Isabella Horn (Lili Taylor). After beginning an experimental medical procedure to cure him, Eli begins experiencing strange, seemingly threatening hallucinations of Dr. Horn’s past patients, and must figure out what’s really going on beore it’s too late.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday.

John Travolta's iconic performance in Welcome Back, Kotter made him a pop culture icon and launched his path to film stardom. Despite the success of the show, its decline was inevitable due to the aging cast and the departure of key actors like Travolta. The final season of the show saw major changes, including the absence of Gabe Kaplan and John Travolta, leading to a disheveled conclusion.

When the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter debuted on ABC in 1975, the show was intended to be a starring vehicle for Gabe Kaplan, who plays Gabe Kotter, a flippant but well-meaning teacher who returns to his Brooklyn alma mater, James Buchanan High, to teach a group of unruly remedial students known as the Sweathogs. However, the ensuing popularity of Welcome Back, Kotter is most attributable to the incomparable presence of John Travolta, whose dynamic performance as Vinnie Barbarino, the resident heartthrob and unofficial leader of the Sweathogs,...

Randal Kleiser was one of the first Hollywood filmmakers to hop on the Travolta Train — after watching John Travolta on Welcome Back, Kotter, the young director cast him in two of his earliest films: the television movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble and his big-screen directorial debut, Grease. Kleiser told us that, after working with him on their first film, having Travolta as the lead in Grease was a no-brainer. (Click on the media bar below to hear Randal Kleiser) https://www.hollywoodoutbreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Randal_-Kleiser_Grease_john_Travolta_.mp3

Grease is currently streaming on Max and available on DVD, Blu-Ray, 4K, and most digital platforms.

The post ‘Grease’ Director Knew John Travolta Was The One That He Wanted appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.

Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:

Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys

2023 Emmy Predictions:

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or TV Movie Dahmer. Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. (L to R) Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer, Richard Jenkins as Lionel Dahmer in episode 108 of Dahmer. Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. Cr. Courtesy Of Netflix © 2022

Weekly Commentary: There...

Composer Mark Snow started his professional music writing career in 1976 with the release of the notorious TV movie "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble," starring a young John Travolta. Paul Williams wrote the theme song for the movie, but it was Snow who composed the incidental music. He was about 29 years old. 

Since then, Snow has been a regular presence in the TV world, having written for shows like "Starsky & Hutch," "The Next Step Beyond," "Vega$," "The Love Boat," "Dynasty," "T.J. Hooker," "Pee-wee's Playhouse," and "Dark Justice." Snow's popularity exploded in the popular consciousness in 1993, however, with the debut of Chris Carter's paranormal investigation show "The X-Files." 

"The X-Files" was about a pair of FBI agents who operated out of a basement and were given the weird, ghostly, monster-y, alien-related cases no one wanted. Mulder (David Duchovny) was a believer, Scully (Gillian Anderson) was a skeptic. Snow, who...

Over a year after his untimely death in May 2022, Ray Liotta has just been honored with a Primetime Emmy nomination for his supporting performance on the Apple TV+ limited series “Black Bird.” This recognition comes after he received Critics Choice and Gold Derby TV Award notices for the same role. As the 11th person (and first in 25 years) to posthumously compete for an Emmy as a non-continuing program performer, he is just one step away from breaking new ground as the first deceased limited series acting winner in TV academy history.

Liotta’s “Black Bird” character, James Keene Sr., is the father of real-life convict James Keene Jr., whose 10-year prison sentence for dealing narcotics was ultimately shortened after he helped coax a confession out of serial killer Larry Hall. Taron Egerton and Paul Walter Hauser also received 2023 Emmy nominations for their respective lead and supporting performances as Keene Jr.

Lance Reddick’s unexpected death in March 2023 halted a thriving acting career that consisted of many memorable performances, including several voice-over gigs on TV series like “Castlevania,” “Duck Tales” and “Rick and Morty.” In addition to half a dozen mid-production projects, his legacy could include a posthumous Emmy victory in honor of his vocal work on the Amazon Prime Video animated series “The Legend of Vox Machina.” After Chadwick Boseman, who won the 2022 Best Character Voice-Over prize for “What If…?” two years after his death, Reddick would be the second posthumous recipient of any voice acting Emmy.

Reddick joined the recurring cast of “The Legend of Vox Machina” in its second season, which concluded less than a month before he died. His character, Thordak, is the leader of a group of dragons known as the Chroma Conclave, whose destructive plans are encumbered by the heroic, interspecific members of Vox Machina.

Click here to read the full article.

Deep Throat star Harry Reems was hired to play Coach Calhoun in the 1978 Paramount blockbuster Grease. It all unraveled, however, when studio executives caught wind of the plan and forced producer Alan Carr to fire the adult film star from the production.

That surprising detail came out on the latest episode of It Happened in Hollywood, the Hollywood Reporter podcast that revisits the making of classic films, told by the people who made them.

Joining the podcast this week is Grease director Randal Kleiser, who was 31 when he was tapped to helm the splashy Broadway musical adaptation at the urging of star John Travolta, then 23, whom Kleiser had directed in the ABC TV movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble.

“[Alan] actually hired him,” recalls Kleiser of Reems. “And the studio said, ‘No no no. You can’t do that.’ And so they had to fire him.

Chadwick Boseman’s final role has won him another award.

On Saturday night at the 2022 Creative Arts Emmys, the late “Black Panther” star won Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance.

Read More: Lupita Nyong’o Pays Tribute To Chadwick Boseman Two Years After His Death

Boseman won the posthumous award for the Marvel animated series “What If…?”, in which he put a different spin on his superhero character, playing him as the “Guardians of the Galaxy” mash-up Star Lord T’Challa.

Also nominated this year for posthumous awards were Norm MacDonald and Jessica Walter, who was nominated in the same category at Boseman for her role in “Archer”.

Taylor Simone Ledward — Photo: Matt Winkelmeyer/WireImage

“When I learned that Chadwick had been nominated for this award, I started thinking about everything that was going on when he was recording it, what was going on in the world and what was going on in...

The late Chadwick Boseman won Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance at the Creative Arts Emmys on Saturday for playing T’Challa one last time in the Disney+ animated series “What If…?”

In his final performance before his death from colon cancer in 2020, Boseman put a new spin on his “Black Panther” character, playing him as Star Lord T’Challa.

Boseman was one of three actors to earn posthumous Emmy nominations this year, alongside Norm MacDonald and Jessica Walter, who was nominated for “Archer” in the same category as Boseman and is the only performer to earn two post-death Emmy nods (she was nominated for “Archer” last year after passing away).

“When I learned that Chadwick had been nominated for this award, I started thinking about everything that was going on when he was recording it, what was going on in the world and what was going on in our world and...

History was made when the 2022 Primetime Emmy nominations were announced, as Chadwick Boseman (“What If…?”) and Jessica Walter (“Archer”) became the first pair of direct competitors to be recognized posthumously. They are both up for the Best Character Voice-Over Performance prize after having passed away in August 2020 and March 2021, respectively.

Walter is now the only performer to ever receive two post-death Emmy bids, having just contended in the same category last summer. Now including Boseman, the list of departed acting Emmy nominees consists of 26 entrants, four of whom were honored with wins.

The first actor to be nominated for and win an Emmy posthumously was Alice Pearce, who was awarded the Best Comedy Supporting Actress trophy for “Bewitched” two months after her death in 1966. The other three champs, all of whom triumphed for TV movie performances, are supporting players David Burns and Diana Hyland and lead Raul Julia.

Two more...

The spirit of “Black Panther” and Chadwick Boseman still lives on. The Television Academy gave one last honor to the late actor’s greatness with an Emmy nomination Tuesday morning.

With the announcement of the Primetime Emmy Awards nominations, Boseman received a posthumous nom for outstanding character voice-over for his famous role of T’Challa in the animated series “What If…?” from Disney+ and Marvel Studios.

Boseman also received a posthumous Oscar nomination for his performance in George C. Wolfe’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Anthony Hopkins ultimately won that year for his work in “The Father.”

Boseman, who died of colon cancer in August 2020 at 43, has a legacy that remains prominent in pop culture and in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially with the upcoming sequel “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” scheduled to hit theaters later this year. The first film became the first superhero movie to be nominated for best picture,...

Lenka Peterson, the Tony-nominated actress and charter member of The Actors Studio who also worked in films including Panic in the Streets, The Phenix City Story and Dragnet, has died. She was 95.

Peterson died Sept. 24 in her sleep at her home in Roxbury, Connecticut, her family announced. Survivors include her daughter, actress Glynnis O’Connor (Ode to Billy Joe, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble).

Peterson appeared in 10 Broadway productions over a span of nearly 40 years and received her Tony nom for best featured actress in a musical in 1985 for Quilters.

She also acted in Truman Capote’s The Grass Harp in ...

Lenka Peterson, the Tony-nominated actress and charter member of The Actors Studio who also worked in films including Panic in the Streets, The Phenix City Story and Dragnet, has died. She was 95.

Peterson died Sept. 24 in her sleep at her home in Roxbury, Connecticut, her family announced. Survivors include her daughter, actress Glynnis O’Connor (Ode to Billy Joe, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble).

Peterson appeared in 10 Broadway productions over a span of nearly 40 years and received her Tony nom for best featured actress in a musical in 1985 for Quilters.

She also acted in Truman Capote’s The Grass Harp in ...

Film and television executive and producer Leonard Goldberg passed away on Wednesday due to injuries sustained during a fall. He was 85. He died surrounded by his family.

Goldberg most recently served as an executive producer on the popular CBS drama series “Blue Bloods,” which is in its tenth season. He was formerly the president of 20th Century Fox, during which time the studio produced hit films like “Broadcast News,” “Die Hard,” “Wall Street,” “Big,” and “Working Girl.” Goldberg also executive produced a number of films under his own production banner, including “WarGames,” “Charlie’s Angels,” and “Sleeping With the Enemy.”

He was also formerly the head of programming at ABC, during which time he helped pioneer the made-for-television movie format. Hit shows like “Mod Squad,” “That Girl,” and “Marcus Welby, M.D.” all came during his time at the network. As the producing partner of Aaron Spelling, Goldberg also worked on hit shows like “Charlie’s Angels,...

The trailer for Netflix’s Eli, arriving on the streaming giant beginning October 18th, looks like a modern Gothic reimagining of 1976’s The Boy in the Plastic Bubble! Give it a spin at the top of the article. Synopsis:Eli is the story of a young boy plagued with an unknown, debilitating illness that requires him to […]

The post Trailer: Netflix’s Eli is a Modern Gothic Reimagining of The Boy In The Plastic Bubble appeared first on Dread Central.

This year, Emmy voters paid respects to Anthony Bourdain, who committed suicide on June 8, with six nominations for his CNN series “Parts Unknown,” and another for its digital expansion. But whether these accolades end up in the win column as well remains to be seen. If history is any judge, the Academy delivers a mixed bag on posthumous trophies, with sentimentality playing an uneven role.

“The Emmys are quirky,” says awards consultant Jonathan Taylor of Robertson Taylor Partners. “With peak TV there [are] so many shows that anybody who says they know how voters are going to vote is lying.”

Ingrid Bergman won her Emmy for “A Woman Called Golda” in 1982, a month after she died of breast cancer. Audrey Hepburn earned hers in 1993, several months after her death, for “Gardens of the World.” Raul Julia died in 1994, but earned a trophy the next year for “The Burning Season.”

Diana Hyland,...

Ah, young adult fiction, that fertile crescent of storytelling where any plot device or genre convention, no matter how hoary, can be given new life by the insertion of a misunderstood teenage dreamboat with soulful eyes. In the case of Warner Bros.’ new teen tearjerker Everything, Everything—based on the Ya novel by author Nicola Yoon—the inspiration is a weird one: It’s essentially a multiracial, digital-age update of the 1976 TV movie The Boy In The Plastic Bubble, with The Hunger Games and Mr. Robinson’s Amandla Stenberg in the John Travolta role and Jurassic World’s Nick Robinson as the (literally) untouchable boy next door.

Stenberg stars as Maddy Whittier, an 18-year-old girl who hasn’t left her immaculately clean, Scandinavian-furnished home in the suburbs of Los Angeles since she was only a few months old. Maddy suffers from a collection of symptoms known as severe combined ...

“Everything, Everything” is an updated, gender-reversed and more engaging version of “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble.” Hollywood loves stories of young pretty people with terminal illnesses. Think “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” “The Fault in Our Stars,” “Dying Young,” “Love Story,” and many more. So it’s no surprise that Nicola Yoon’s 2015 Ya novel was adapted for the screen. The lead actors are attractive and charismatic and give nuanced performances. Unfortunately, the dialogue they are given to speak is often trite and too many plot strands are unconvincing. Amandla Stenberg (“The Hunger Games”) brings an appealing openness to.

This weekend, it’s all about 20th Century Fox. The studio is in the unusual position of opening two sequels, Ridley Scott’s “Alien: Covenant” and “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul.” With the second weekend of “Snatched” and the long-running “The Baby Boss,” that should give them four titles in the top 10.

Read More: Why ‘King Arthur’ Flopped: You Can’t Make a $300 Million Movie Without Women, and Three More Reasons

Joining the two new titles is “Everything, Everything” (Warner Bros.), an adaptation of the young-adult novel about the first love of a chronically ill teenage girl. Those three, along with the continued strength of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” could propel top 10 grosses into a second straight week of improvement over last year. A robust Mother’s Day actually pushed last weekend slightly ahead of 2016’s.

“Alien: Covenant” will provide the bulk of the new films’ total,...

Now there's something you don't see too often — an Emmy night that actually makes good television. The Emmys are usually one of those pop-culture Zen koans: Why is an award show for TV such a painful little hate-watch? But this year's model was easily the most entertaining Emmy bash since Conan O'Brien hosted in 2008, a welcome change after last year's debacle. Jimmy Kimmel kept things moving and got the whole event done and dusted in three hours — with a minute or two to spare, actually. Yes, there was still plenty...

It will be a cornucopia of nostalgia when FX takes us back to the Golden Age of Tabloid Television with "American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson", a 10 part miniseries revisiting the sensational case 20 years after it reached its divisive verdict. In an announcement today, the network revealed the series ensemble will also feature one of the great pieces of nostalgia casting of recent times, with John Travolta taking on his first television role an astonishing 36 years he departed the little screen at the conclusion of “Welcome Back, Kotter”s four season run. Despite career ups and downs in the decades since, Travolta has apparently never looked back at the medium that he so dominated in the heartthrob role of Vinnie Barbarino, as well as his first major dramatic turn in the Made-for-tv movie, “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble.” After suffering a career-near-death slump in the 1980’s...

Diane Haithman is a contributor to Deadline’s TV coverage. It was an emotional moment at the Emmys when the late Henry Bromell won a posthumous writing Emmy for Homeland’s intense and grueling ”Q&A” episode. Unfortunately his wife, Sarah Bromell, was only allowed a brief onstage moment. “I accept this award on behalf of Henry with deep appreciation for the Academy,” she said. “Thank you so much.” And as Homeland star Claire Danes accepted her second consecutive Emmy for lead actress in a drama, she said of Bromell, who died in March, “He was a brilliant person and so kind, and we think of him every day on a show that help define.” While no stats were immediately available from the Academy, posthumous wins are extremely rare in any category. The last one is thought to be actress Diana Hyland in 1977 for The Boy in the Plastic Bubble.

You haven't seen Iranian Kidney Bargain Sale? Then you haven't dipped a toe into the motliest crew on record

The other day I finally got a chance to see Iranian Kidney Bargain Sale, a documentary I'd been meaning to get to for some time. Chronicling the adventures of assorted young Iranians who sell their kidneys to buy a taxi, or finance their ­education, or pay off debts, Iranian Kidney Bargain Sale is not the kind of movie that is readily available at most local video stores. But it is available – free – in the movie section at YouTube. So is a lot of other stuff.

Mostly when I visit YouTube it is to watch cats falling off chairs, parodies of Heath Ledger's turn as the Joker or sportscasters being tormented by stalking sock puppets. But it was recently pointed out to me that YouTube also has a section that is...

Aaron Spelling, the amazingly prolific television producer whose hits ranged from Charlie's Angels to 7th Heaven, died Friday after suffering a stroke last Sunday; he was 83. Spelling passed away at his Los Angeles home, where he had been resting since his stroke on June 18, for which he was briefly hospitalized. Born in Dallas, Spelling was the fourth son of immigrant Jews and grew up in poverty on the self-proclaimed "wrong side of the tracks," ostracized in his early years because of his religion and orthodox parents. After serving in World War II, he enrolled and later graduated from Southern Methodist University, quickly moving to Hollywood, where he worked briefly as a bit-player actor (he was a gas station attendant in an episode of I Love Lucy) and married the actress Carolyn Jones (later of The Addams Family fame) in 1953; they later divorced in 1964. Spelling found greater success as a writer for such shows as Playhouse 90, and soon was hired as a producer by Dick Powell for Four Star Productions, and his first hit was the crime drama Burke's Law, starring Gene Barry. After Powell passed away, Spelling teamed with actor-producer Danny Thomas, with whom he scored a major hit in The Mod Squad in 1969. At the dawn of the 70s, Spelling signed an exclusive contract with ABC, a network his programming would come to dominate for the next decade; former ABC programming chief Leonard Goldberg joined him as a producing partner in 1972. The two produced innumerable television films (including The Boy in the Bubble, starring heartthrob John Travolta) before striking series gold with action shows SWAT, Starsky & Hutch and The Rookies, as well as the acclaimed Emmy-winning drama Family. It was a trio of huge hits, however, that cemented Spelling's fame and success: the Saturday night revolving guest-cast shows The Love Boat and Fantasy Island, and the phenomenally popular Charlie's Angels, which launched the careers of Farrah Fawcett and Jaclyn Smith (among others) and single-handedly invented "jiggle television," shows featuring beautiful women in revealing clothing. Other shows followed -- Hart to Hart, Hotel, Vega$, and TJ Hooker among them -- before Spelling struck gold again in the 80s with Dynasty, a pop-culture phenomenon that challenged the popular soap Dallas and for one season was the number one show in the country. Oftentimes, his Los Angeles mansion, which he bought in 1983 with second wife Candy Spelling and boasted 123 rooms, a bowling alley, swimming pool, gymnasium, tennis court, screening room and four 2-car garages, was compared to the excesses of Dynasty's fictional denizens. When the quintessential 80s show was cancelled, Spelling found himself for the first time without a series on the air, which he said caused him to fall into a major depression. Nevertheless, after a year Spelling was back, this time with the teen soap Beverly Hills 90210, which helped launch the fledgling Fox network as well as his daughter Tori Spelling's acting career, a circumstance she would later affectionately spoof in her own comedy series, So NoTORIous. Spinoff Melrose Place quickly followed, as well as a number of other California-set series that were less memorable. Still, even into the new century, Spelling found himself with two hits on the WB network: the witchy fantasy Charmed, which ended only last season, and religious family drama 7th Heaven, which after a brief cancellation earlier this year was resurrected by the new CW network for the upcoming fall season. Though derided for his shows' superficiality, Spelling preferred to call his hits "mind candy," and his success and endurability was also marked by acclaimed programming that included the TV films The Best Little Girl in the World and the Emmy-winning AIDS drama And the Band Played On. Spelling also produced a number of feature films, including Soapdish, California Split, and Mr. Mom. Spelling is survived by his wife Candy, daughter Tori, and son Randy Spelling. --Mark Englehart, IMDb staff...

Aaron Spelling, the amazingly prolific television producer whose hits ranged from Charlie's Angels to 7th Heaven, died Friday after suffering a stroke last Sunday; he was 83. Spelling passed away at his Los Angeles home, where he had been resting since his stroke on June 18, for which he was briefly hospitalized. Born in Dallas, Spelling was the fourth son of immigrant Jews and grew up in poverty on the self-proclaimed "wrong side of the tracks," ostracized in his early years because of his religion and orthodox parents. After serving in World War II, he enrolled and later graduated from Southern Methodist University, quickly moving to Hollywood, where he worked briefly as a bit-player actor (he was a gas station attendant in an episode of I Love Lucy) and married the actress Carolyn Jones (later of The Addams Family fame) in 1953; they later divorced in 1964. Spelling found greater success as a writer for such shows as Playhouse 90, and soon was hired as a producer by Dick Powell for Four Star Productions, and his first hit was the crime drama Burke's Law, starring Gene Barry. After Powell passed away, Spelling teamed with actor-producer Danny Thomas, with whom he scored a major hit in The Mod Squad in 1969. At the dawn of the 70s, Spelling signed an exclusive contract with ABC, a network his programming would come to dominate for the next decade; former ABC programming chief Leonard Goldberg joined him as a producing partner in 1972. The two produced innumerable television films (including The Boy in the Bubble, starring heartthrob John Travolta) before striking series gold with action shows SWAT, Starsky & Hutch and The Rookies, as well as the acclaimed Emmy-winning drama Family. It was a trio of huge hits, however, that cemented Spelling's fame and success: the Saturday night revolving guest-cast shows The Love Boat and Fantasy Island, and the phenomenally popular Charlie's Angels, which launched the careers of Farrah Fawcett and Jaclyn Smith (among others) and single-handedly invented "jiggle television," shows featuring beautiful women in revealing clothing. Other shows followed -- Hart to Hart, Hotel, Vega$, and TJ Hooker among them -- before Spelling struck gold again in the 80s with Dynasty, a pop-culture phenomenon that challenged the popular soap Dallas and for one season was the number one show in the country. Oftentimes, his Los Angeles mansion, which he bought in 1983 with second wife Candy Spelling and boasted 123 rooms, a bowling alley, swimming pool, gymnasium, tennis court, screening room and four 2-car garages, was compared to the excesses of Dynasty's fictional denizens. When the quintessential 80s show was cancelled, Spelling found himself for the first time without a series on the air, which he said caused him to fall into a major depression. Nevertheless, after a year Spelling was back, this time with the teen soap Beverly Hills 90210, which helped launch the fledgling Fox network as well as his daughter Tori Spelling's acting career, a circumstance she would later affectionately spoof in her own comedy series, So NoTORIous. Spinoff Melrose Place quickly followed, as well as a number of other California-set series that were less memorable. Still, even into the new century, Spelling found himself with two hits on the WB network: the witchy fantasy Charmed, which ended only last season, and religious family drama 7th Heaven, which after a brief cancellation earlier this year was resurrected by the new CW network for the upcoming fall season. Though derided for his shows' superficiality, Spelling preferred to call his hits "mind candy," and his success and endurability was also marked by acclaimed programming that included the TV films The Best Little Girl in the World and the Emmy-winning AIDS drama And the Band Played On. Spelling also produced a number of feature films, including Soapdish, California Split, and Mr. Mom. Spelling is survived by his wife Candy, daughter Tori, and son Randy Spelling. --Mark Englehart, IMDb staff...

Aaron Spelling, a onetime movie bit player who created a massive number of hit series, from the vintage Charlie's Angels and Dynasty to Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose Place, died Friday, his publicist said. He was 83. Spelling died at his home in Los Angeles after suffering a stroke June 18, according to publicist Kevin Sasaki. Spelling's other hit series included The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Burke's Law, The Mod Squad, Starsky and Hutch, T.J. Hooker, Matt Houston, Hart to Hart and Hotel. He kept his hand in 21st-century TV with series including 7th Heaven and Summerland. He also produced more than 140 television movies. Among the most notable: Death Sentence (1974), Nick Nolte's first starring role; The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976), John Travolta's first dramatic role; and The Best Little Girl in the World (1981), which starred Jennifer Jason Leigh.