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Post by petrolino on Oct 19, 2018 20:40:20 GMT
Some actors join the clergy. They may become ordained ministers, for example. Across the religions, I'm sure many movie industry figures have taken up different faith-based roles. Can you think of any?
Chaplain Stephen Macht stands central with the cast of Robert Aldrich's police procedural 'The Choirboys' (1977)
J.D. Hinton, Dorothy Stratten & Stephen Macht in William Sachs' science-fiction fantasy 'Galaxina' (1980)
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Post by spiderwort on Oct 19, 2018 21:41:57 GMT
Hugh Beaumont of Leave it to Beaver fame was an ordained Methodist minister.  And the incomparably wonderful Ellen Burstyn. . . 
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on Oct 19, 2018 21:58:00 GMT
I heard that "Susan" from EQUINOX (1970) became a minister.
And also the naked woman at the end of THEY LIVE.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Oct 19, 2018 23:10:40 GMT
 Fred Rogers Ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1963. The Presbyterian church ordained him and charged him with a special mission: in effect, to keep on doing what he was doing on television. From its premiere on February 19, 1968, until its end on August 31, 2001, 895 episodes of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968) were produced, all of which he wrote and executive produced. |
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Post by mikef6 on Oct 20, 2018 1:10:29 GMT
Although it is not mentioned in his biographies on neither IMDb nor Wikipedia, actor Gregory Walcott (Plan 9 From Outer Space, The Eiger Sanction) would occasionally take the pulpit. He was probably not ordained, but a talented amateur. I attended one night of a revival meeting he held at First Baptist in Dallas. That would have been about 1966.
Edward Clements only has two movie credits, a small role in a Star Trek film and a large role in “Metropolitan” (1990) for which the Screen World annual for the films of 1990 picked Clements as one of 12 “Promising New Actors of [Whatever Year]” – a feature in every yearly volume. At about the same time Clements had a religious experience and dropped show business completely. In 2007 he was pastor of a church in Toronto. In 2009 he was Minister of Pastoral Care & Cathedral Productions at Queensway Cathedral, also in Toronto. That year he did an interview that can be seen on YouTube in two parts. Here is part 1 if anyone is interested.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Oct 20, 2018 1:38:33 GMT
George Foreman, boxer and grill maker and occasional actor became an ordained Christion minister between his boxing careers. 
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Post by petrolino on Oct 20, 2018 1:57:13 GMT
George Foreman, boxer and grill maker and occasional actor became an ordained Christion minister between his boxing careers. In Arkansas, I believe President William Jefferson Clinton, top saxophonist, knows my main soul man, the right honourable Reverend Al Green ... of the 'Beverly Hills Cop' franchise. 
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Post by marshamae on Oct 20, 2018 2:49:38 GMT
Jay Underwood , from THE BOY WHO COULD FLY and a lot of tv is a Baptist minister in California.
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Post by teleadm on Oct 20, 2018 16:50:37 GMT
Dolores Hart, the star of such movies as Love Me Tender, King Creole, Where the Boys Are and Come Fly with Me She jumped of the band wagon and became a nun.  Hart visited Hollywood again in 2006 after 43 years in the monastery to raise awareness for idiopathic peripheral neuropathy disorder, a neurological disorder that afflicts her and many Americans. A documentary film about Hart's life, God Is the Bigger Elvis, was a nominee for the 2012 Academy Award for Best Documentary shorts. |
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Post by MCDemuth on Oct 20, 2018 17:13:07 GMT
I know this is a bit off topic... Because it is the reverse of what is being discussed here... but I was just reading up on this today, and I thought it would be interesting to add it to the discussion...... Sam Kinison, was a Pentecostal preacher, before he became a comedian, and then an actor: ("Back to School" (1986))! I can only imagine what his sermons were like: " If you are not a good person, You are going to HELL... AAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH!" " If you don't pray with me right now, You are going to HELL... AAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH!" ROTFWL! I loved his "Solving World Hunger" bit! They are starving because they live... IN A FUCKING DESERT... With all that sand, where nothing will ever grow!
Don't send them food, send them U-hauls! |
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Post by petrolino on Oct 26, 2018 21:26:47 GMT
There's an organisation I know very little about called the Universal Life Church. I've read that they can fast-track people through training to become ordained ministers, allowing them to administer church weddings, though these weddings might not be recognised outside of the Universal Life Church. All sounds quite mysterious, but Cyd Charisse is said to have undergone the process to become a Universal Life Church Minister.
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Post by telegonus on Oct 28, 2018 8:04:22 GMT
I don't have a picture to post but I imagine most people here would remember the face of longtime character actor Harry Townes, who appeared in many episodes of dramatic TV series of the Fifties-Sixties. Fans of Perry Mason should recognize him right away. He appeared in a number of "Perrys" over the years.
Townes also appeared in episodes of many horror and supernaturally (sic?) themed anthology series such as The Outer Limits, One Step Beyond, The Twilight Zone, Thriller and The Outer Limits. Townes was the D.A. who prosecuted Dennis Weaver's character in the Shadow Play episode of The Twilight Zone; and later that year an unusual pair of spectacles came into his possession in The Cheaters episode of Thriller.
With his refined features and classically trained voice, Townes was particularly well suited to playing professional men, though he seldom played strong men, as he seemed to specialize in playing secondary characters, not heroic ones. I've always liked his acting, was pleasantly surprised to learn that in late middle age Mr. Townes enrolled in divinity school and became in time an ordained Episcopal minister.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Oct 29, 2018 21:24:14 GMT
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Post by amyghost on Oct 29, 2018 21:54:07 GMT
I don't have a picture to post but I imagine most people here would remember the face of longtime character actor Harry Townes, who appeared in many episodes of dramatic TV series of the Fifties-Sixties. Fans of Perry Mason should recognize him right away. He appeared in a number of " Perrys" over the years. Townes also appeared in episodes of many horror and supernaturally (sic?) themed anthology series such as The Outer Limits, One Step Beyond, The Twilight Zone, Thriller and The Outer Limits. Townes was the D.A. who prosecuted Dennis Weaver's character in the Shadow Play episode of The Twilight Zone; and later that year an unusual pair of spectacles came into his possession in The Cheaters episode of Thriller. With his refined features and classically trained voice, Townes was particularly well suited to playing professional men, though he seldom played strong men, as he seemed to specialize in playing secondary characters, not heroic ones. I've always liked his acting, was pleasantly surprised to learn that in late middle age Mr. Townes enrolled in divinity school and became in time an ordained Episcopal minister. Love that shot of Townes from Finian's Rainbow, tel. Was this on Broadway? Did he replace David Wayne, or is this another production altogether?
Whatever the case, he certainly had the voice for the pulpit. I'm betting he had no problem holding his congregation's attention!
I can think of another 'reverse' instance in addition to Sam Kinison: child evangelist Marjoe Gortner, who left the revival show circuit in disgust, once he reached the age he could escape from his manipulative parents' authority. His story is compellingly recounted in the documentary Marjoe, and he's had a modest film and tv career over the years.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Oct 29, 2018 21:59:28 GMT
I don't have a picture to post but I imagine most people here would remember the face of longtime character actor Harry Townes, who appeared in many episodes of dramatic TV series of the Fifties-Sixties. Fans of Perry Mason should recognize him right away. He appeared in a number of " Perrys" over the years. Townes also appeared in episodes of many horror and supernaturally (sic?) themed anthology series such as The Outer Limits, One Step Beyond, The Twilight Zone, Thriller and The Outer Limits. Townes was the D.A. who prosecuted Dennis Weaver's character in the Shadow Play episode of The Twilight Zone; and later that year an unusual pair of spectacles came into his possession in The Cheaters episode of Thriller. With his refined features and classically trained voice, Townes was particularly well suited to playing professional men, though he seldom played strong men, as he seemed to specialize in playing secondary characters, not heroic ones. I've always liked his acting, was pleasantly surprised to learn that in late middle age Mr. Townes enrolled in divinity school and became in time an ordained Episcopal minister. Love that shot of Townes from Finian's Rainbow, tel. Was this on Broadway? Did he replace David Wayne, or is this another production altogether?
According to the Internet Broadway Database, Townes indeed replaced Wayne in the original production. We did that show in high school and, if I recall, "Og" had at least two song solos. I'd like to have heard Townes's singing voice (perhaps richer than Wayne's, I'd imagine). |
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Post by BATouttaheck on Oct 29, 2018 22:02:59 GMT
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Post by amyghost on Oct 29, 2018 22:09:40 GMT
Love that shot of Townes from Finian's Rainbow, tel. Was this on Broadway? Did he replace David Wayne, or is this another production altogether?
According to the Internet Broadway Database, Townes indeed replaced Wayne in the original production. We did that show in high school and, if I recall, "Og" had at least two song solos. I'd like to have heard Townes's singing voice (perhaps richer than Wayne's, I'd imagine). He quite probably did have a good set of pipes, though a great speaking voice doesn't always equate to talent as a singer, as some actors have demonstrated. But I'd have liked to witness both him and Wayne playing Og, whom I've only ever seen brought to life in the Coppola film, by Tommy Steele (I like the film version rather more than it probably deserves, and Steele--along with Keenan Wynn--is one of the main reasons why). |
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Post by amyghost on Oct 29, 2018 22:14:32 GMT
Great photos! If you ever saw Marjoe, I see no way you could possibly be taken in by these tent-show wonderworkers ever again. That is one harrowing film. His experiences qualify as true child abuse.
He was actually a not bad actor--I doubt if he ever held the stage so completely as he did in childhood, but if you've ever seen him in the film version of When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?, it's evident that he had some definite degree of commanding film presence.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Oct 29, 2018 22:34:39 GMT
According to the Internet Broadway Database, Townes indeed replaced Wayne in the original production. We did that show in high school and, if I recall, "Og" had at least two song solos. I'd like to have heard Townes's singing voice (perhaps richer than Wayne's, I'd imagine). He quite probably did have a good set of pipes, though a great speaking voice doesn't always equate to talent as a singer, as some actors have demonstrated. But I'd have liked to witness both him and Wayne playing Og, whom I've only ever seen brought to life in the Coppola film, by Tommy Steele (I like the film version rather more than it probably deserves, and Steele--along with Keenan Wynn--is one of the main reasons why). Good point about singing vs speaking voices. And I never thought of Townes as "elfin," but as the photo BATouttaheck posted, he was in those early days. Ah, youth! Funny thing about the Coppola film version: I liked it much more seeing it years later than I did when it was first released. I suppose that after a decade away from them, 1968 audiences were expecting another "Fred Astaire musical," which it very much wasn't, and perhaps in the sociologically-charged atmosphere of the time, a light musical of the immediate postwar period with underlying political and racial commentary was considered miscalculated timing. |
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Post by amyghost on Oct 29, 2018 22:41:41 GMT
He quite probably did have a good set of pipes, though a great speaking voice doesn't always equate to talent as a singer, as some actors have demonstrated. But I'd have liked to witness both him and Wayne playing Og, whom I've only ever seen brought to life in the Coppola film, by Tommy Steele (I like the film version rather more than it probably deserves, and Steele--along with Keenan Wynn--is one of the main reasons why). Good point about singing vs speaking voices. And I never thought of Townes as "elfin," but as the photo BATouttaheck posted, he was in those early days. Ah, youth! Funny thing about the Coppola film version: I liked it much more seeing it years later than I did when it was first released. I suppose that after a decade away from them, 1968 audiences were expecting another "Fred Astaire musical," which it very much wasn't, and perhaps in the sociologically-charged atmosphere of the time, a light musical of the immediate postwar period with underlying political and racial commentary was considered miscalculated timing. The funny thing is, that although the film remains not well-regarded critically, it probably has more relevance to an audience today than at any time since its initial release. I've always had a soft spot for it, and think it was one of Astaire's better latter-day roles. |
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