Behind the scenes at Hollywood

Press, 11 April 1984, Page 14

Behind the scenes at Hollywood

“On and Off Camera,” (One, 10.35 tonight) will take viewers behind the scenes of show business, face-to-face with the most famous names in Hollywood for a candid look at the movies, the stars and the people they play. Through the years, special movies have focused on special women who succeeded despite incredible odds. In “The Lady is a Champ” viewers will meet some of the famous actresses who have portrayed those women. In lush sequences from “Cleopatra,” Elizabeth Taylor is seen as Queen of Egypt — one of her most famous roles. In “Adam’s Rib,” Katharine Hepburn juggles both her career as a lawyer and her marriage to her screen-husband, Spencer Tracy. Ingrid Bergman, in her Emmy-winning role, portrays Israel’s head of State, Golda Meir, in the miniseries, “A Woman Called Golda,” There are also scenes from “Wilma,” the story of Wilma Randolph, who won an Olympic gold medal in sprinting, despite a crippling childhood handicap. In “Norma Rae,” Academy Award winner, Sally Field, portrays the mill worker who organised a labour union in the South. Sissy Spacek, another Oscar recipient for her role, shows how Loretta Lynn, “The Coal Miner’s Daughter,” became one of America’s top country singers. In “Julia,” Jane Fonda

plays the famous playwright, Lillian Hellman, who risked her life in a dangerous journey through Germany on the brink of World War 11. Diana Ross, nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal of the hapless first lady of jazz, plays Billie Holiday in “Lady Sings the Blues,” and in “The Other Side of the Mountain,” Marilyn Hassett recreated the role of Jill Kinmont, a ski-ing champion, who would have competed in the Olympics had it not been for an accident that left her a paraplegic.

In scenes from “First Monday in October,” Jill Clayburgh has a role as the first lady Justice in that venerable men’s club, the Supreme Court, and in “China Syndrome,” Jane Fonda portrays an investigative reporter who uncovers a life-threatening situation in a nuclear power plant. Finally, in “Heart Like a Wheel,” Bonnie Bedelia recreates the role of Shirley

Muldowney, champion racing car driver, who became one of the most important figures in the history of American car racing and the first woman to break the sex barrier in American professional motorsport racing. “On and Off Camera” was produced by Gayle Hollenbaugh and written by Rick Sublett for 20th Century-Fox Television.