The unglamorous ‘Vice’ stars

Press, 24 July 1986, Page 23

The unglamorous ‘Vice’ stars

Thousands of dollars are spent on designer clothes for each episode of “Miami Vice,” yet two of the series’ stars are dressed in the worst taste possible.

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RICK WILSON

Detective Sonny Crockett looks dazzling in his $2OOO threads designer •linen jackets, baggy pants and custom made T-shirts in pink, mauve, lavender or buttercup yellow. His law enforcement partner, Ricardo Tubbs, a suave New Yorker a heart, opts for double-breasted, peaklapel suits with pastel silk shirts and lizard shoes. Together, the “plain” clothes cops cruise Miami’s streets and dirty money launderers in a jetblack Ferrari convertible.

Their back-up team, however, seems less fortunate in the clothes department. Crammed into a green van of unknown make and origin, Detectives Switek and Zito apparently tax “Miami Vice’s” wardrobe budget for a mere $3.98 per season. Unlike their trend-setting counterparts, they dress in Salvation Army fashions that include fluorescent slacks and short-sleeved shirts that appear to have been stolen from the bowling alley. They wear socks, the white athletic variety, tucked into running shoes. “We’re basically there for comedy relief and dress accordingly,” says Michael Talbott, aged 31, who plays easy-going Stanley Switek. “I believe that they find my disgusting clothes in second-hand golf shops, but at least they’re made of cotton rather than polyester — like Zito’s stuff. The worst outfit in my collection has to be the hot pink pants and shirt with four pockets on it. You could see me coming during a solar eclipse.” Says John Diehl, aged 36, the low-key Larry Zito: "We’re only there as contrasts to Crockett and Tubbs, meaning that we’ll be written out of the show if we get into Italian designer clothes. To date, the crummiest outfit has been a blue shirt with a priest’s collar, coupled with a pair of blue pants with sail boats on them. I wore the pants twice and they were so bad that the writers decided to blow up my house — with all

my clothes in it — so I wouldn’t have to wear those pants again.” But it is all in fun, according to Talbott, who claims Switek and Zito are the names of two genuine cops in Chicago. “That’s where the executive producer, Michael Mann, is from and he says it’s true,” he says. “John and I chose the first names of the characters, however. I picked Stanley because I figured Switek is Polish, drinks beer, loves bowling, takes care of his mother and wants to be a good cop.” Diehl has made a living (“though not always a good one”) at acting for the last five years with increasingly larger roles in feature films such as “Stripes,” “Angel,” “D.C. Cab,” "Vacation” and “Escape from New York.” His numerous TV guest shots includes “Hill Street Blues," but he regards “Miami Vice” as his ultimate stroke of fortune (“there is no way of measuring the importance of a steady paycheck”). Talbott, a former footballer and all-round athlete, got his foot in the

acting door after spotting an advertisement in a trade newspaper calling for a football player with a knowledge of acting wanted for a TV movie called “Bloodsport.” “I got hired immediately as though it was the way it was supposed to be — I was only 18 and didn’t know any better,” laughs Talbott. “Reality sank in when the job was over a couple of weeks later and I spent the next year working in a frisbee factory.” “I got back on tack with two Gary Busey features, oddly enough, ‘Big Wednesday’ and ‘Foolin’ Around.’ In recent years, I’ve been fortunate enough to be part of films like ‘Heart Like a Wheel’ and ‘Racing with the Moon.’ Things really picked up when Michael Mann decided to cast me in his movie, ‘Thief,’ and he remembered me for ‘Miami Vice.’ A loyal man, he also cast me in his upcoming picture, ‘Red Dragon.’ I’m forever grateful.” — Entertainment News Services; Los Angeles Times Syndicate.