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Welcome to Double Feature Dolls Newest Section, our
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
THEATER!
Here, we highlight those vivacious vixens who left their mark on the small screen
and mirthfully, in our hearts.
This Weeks Feature Doll...
Adrienne Barbeau
How many Made-For-Television movies and Grade Z films did I sit through just to ogle sexy, stacked Adrienne
Barbeau? Unashamedly, I proclaim "every last one that I could." Although California born, Adrienne exudes that
East Coast toughness that has made her a great choice for femme fatale and scream queen parts (which have made up the bulk
of her television and film career).
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The eldest daughter of Armenian-American
parents, Adrienne was raised in San Jose, California. Upon graduation from high
school she received a scholarship offer to San Francisco State University. However, the calling in her life was
for the stage, not the books. Forsaking the road to higher learning, Adrienne
followed her dreams of stardom and joined the San Jose Light Opera (where she would tour the Pacific entertaining military
troops).
New York City was next on the map for Adrienne, as she decided to try her hand on the Big White
Way. Breaks came hard for the fledgling actress. Just to make ends meets, Adrienne took a stint as a go-go dancer.
Finally, in 1968, fate shined a glimmer of light down upon Adrienne and she landed a part in the Broadway smash hit Fiddler
on the Roof.
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Adrienne continued to build up her theater resume' and as the 70's rolled in, she gained some notoriety
as she starred in the risque' nudie-musical Stag Movie (of which nude photos of her would later surface, much to
the pleasure of her male fans). Fortunately, for the adventurous actress, true fame lied just around the corner.
In 1972, she was cast in the Broadway play Grease. Taking on the role of the tough-talking, gum-chewing Rizzo,
Adrienne quickly made the part her own. Suddenly, Broadway was taking notice, as she earned both critical praise and
a Tony Award nomination for her work.
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Hollywood also took notice of Adrienne talents, as acclaimed televison producer Norman Lear signed
her for his then-latest project Maude. The show would introduce Adrienne to an entirely new audience, which
she would quickly win over as title character Bea Arthur's feisty, liberated and sexy daughter Carol. After Maude's
successful six year run (1972-1978), Adrienne landed a string of made-for-television movies such as The Darker Side
of Terror and Someone's Watching Me, both in 1979 (the latter directed by her then-husband John Carpenter).
In fact, it would be with hubby Carpenter's help that Adrienne would make her strongest push towards a big screen career.
In 1980, she played the sexy-voiced DJ Stevie Wayne
in Carpenter's classic horror film The Fog. The following year, Carpenter cast her in arguably her most memorable
role, as sexy but tough-as-nails Maggie in the apocalyptic film Escape from New York.
For her next film, Adrienne decided to take a break from
the monsers and mayhem and have some fun. In the zany Burt Reynolds-Dom DeLuise comedy The Cannonball Run,
Adrienne played Marcie, the cleavage flashing, spandex wearing, Lamborghini driving winner of this wacky race. Needless
to say, this was the role which firmly cemented her as one of Hollywood's hottest sex symbols (as the pic of her on this page
attest).
Adrienne's string of B-Movie success continued with back-to-back hits in 1982. Returning to
the comfortable surroundings of the horror genre, she first starred in DC comic book adaptation of The Swamp Thing (directed
by Wes Craven). Next came the excellently scary Creepshow (continuing Adrienne's association with the best
of the horror genre as this place her under Night of the Living Dead's George A. Romero). In the film, Adrienne
is a joy to hate, as Hal Holbrook's nagging wife Wilma ("just call me Billie, everybody does") who hal diabolically introduces
to his "hungry friend" in the segment titled The Crate.
By the middle of the decade, dark clouds began to settle over Adrienne's personal life and career.
In 1984, after five years of marriage, she and John Carpenter divorced. Her film career buckled as well, as she struck
out with such duds as 1985's Seduced, Open House in 1987 and the absolutely horrible Cannibal Women in the Avocado
Jungle of Death in 1989.
Fortunately, brighter skies lied ahead for Adrienne as the 1990's rolled in. Cupid's arrow
would pierce her heart in the form of producer/actor Billy Van Zandt, and the two would marry in 1992. Switching back
to television, Adrienne resurrected her career with impressive performances in The Burden of Proof in 1992 and the
1998 tear-jerker A Champion's Fight. She also used that sexy voice of hers to give the Dark Knight's Catwoman
life in the animated series Batman (1992 to 1995). In 2003, Adrienne resurfaced as the mysterious snake charmer
Ruthie in the hit HBO cable series Carnivale, gaining a new generation of fans, even earning a Golden Satellite Award
for Best Supporting Actress.
What is it about Adrienne Barbeau that makes her our dream girl as much today as in the 1970s?
Maybe it's her never snobbish, natural sexuality, or maybe her sensuous voice? Or maybe it's her ability to show strength,
while injecting an underlying vulnerability? Whatever it is, all I know is Adrienne's got it and she's got it in buckets.
And judging by the number of websites and groups created in her honor; I'm not the only one with a hankering for the sexiest
Scream Queen of all time.
Click here to check out past Saturday Dolls!
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