Annette O’Toole/ Sarah Douglas: Supergirls
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Talent…
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… These are the lovely ladies and gorgeous girls of eras gone by whose beauty, ability, electricity and all-round x-appeal deserve celebration and – ahem – salivation here at George’s Journal…
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Thirty years ago this year the cinematic excrement that’s Superman III appeared in flickatoriums, but its saving grace must be it established a place in the Superman firmament for the ravishing redhead thesp Annette O’Toole. Two years earlier, the little-less-dafter-than-a-brush but much more entertaining Superman II made big moolah at the box-office and confused pre-pubescent boys everywhere – why were they attracted to Sarah Douglas’s bosomy, nubile baddie Ursa while simultaneously wanting to run away from her? Nowadays, those grown-up boys don’t have to worry about such things (well, probably not); instead what they have to worry about is why they haven’t yet checked out this pictorial tribute to these two beautiful, talented actresses – for yes, peeps, the Kryptonian crackers Annette O’Toole and Sarah Douglas verily make up the latest double-entry in this blog’s Talent corner…
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Profiles
Names: Annette O’Toole/ Sarah Douglas
Nationalities: American/ English
Professions: Actress, singer, songwriter and dancer/ Actress
Born: April 1 1952, Houston, Texas/ December 12 1952, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire
Known for: Annette – playing Clark Kent’s first crush Lana Lang in Superman III (1983), appearing opposite Nastassja Kinski in Cat People and as Nick Nolte’s girlfriend in 48 Hrs. (both 1982). Mind you, Annette’s actually had a long and fruitful career as a performer, beginning as a Hollywood child actress and dancer in the ’60s and ’70s, before hitting the big time in the ’80s, a decade during which she also starred with Barry Manilow in a CBS TV adaptation of the musical based on his hit tune Copacabana (1985). She then focused on the small-screen, appearing in the mini-series version of Stephen King’s It and being Emmy-nominated for The Kennedys Of Massachusetts (both 1990), while later guest-starring in Nash Bridges (1996-2001) and taking the lead role in her own series The Huntress (2000-01). She returned to the Superman universe to play the hero’s ‘mother’ Martha Kent in Smallville (2001-11), in which her second husband Michael McKean – of This Is Spinal Tap (1984) fame – played Daily Planet editor Perry White. Together, the couple have appeared in cabaret, at Spinal Tap concerts (Annette as a backing singer), as Topanga Lawrence’s parents in Boy Meets World (1993-2000) and co-wrote an Oscar-nominated song (A Kiss At the End Of The Rainbow) for the McKean-starring mockumentary movie A Mighty Wind (2003).
Sarah – appearing as Ursa, Kryptonian cohort and squeeze of Terence Stamp’s General Zod, in first Superman (1978) and then much more memorably Superman II (1980), as well as in several other fantasy film and TV roles, such as Queen Taramis in Conan The Destroyer (1984), Pamela in mini-series V: The Final Battle (1984), sorceress Lyranna in Beastmaster 2: Through The Portal Of Time (1991) and as the heroine in The People That Time Forgot (1977). Between 1983 and ’85 she had a recurring role on California-set soap Falcon Crest (1981-90) and guested in the likes of Space: 1999 (1975-77), The Professionals (1977-81), Return Of The Saint (1978-79), Bergerac (1981-91), Remington Steele (1982-87), Sledgehammer! (1986-88), Babylon 5 (1993-98) and Stargate SG-1 (1997-2007). In recent years she’s acted on the UK stage and lent her voice to animated TV series and many audio dramas.
Strange but true: Annette won her first major film role as a beauty pageant contestant in Smile (1975) after doing an impression of a ‘dead cockroach’ during an audition/ between 1981 and ’84 Sarah was married to fellow thesp Richard LeParmentier, whom played Admiral Motti in Star Wars (1977), the Imperial officer Darth Vader strangles to death via The Force after finding his ‘lack of faith disturbing’.
Peak of fitness: Annette – easy, the swimming pool sequence in Cat People; yes, you know the one/ Sarah – it has to be wearing those outrageous, fantastic and utterly revealing outfits in Conan The Destroyer.
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CLICK on images for full-size
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