In the Nineties Gretchen Mol had a big push from her studio as “the new It Girl,” including a cover of Vanity Fair IIRC, and then was hardly heard from again.
I came in here to post this. There was a six-month period during which Ormond was on every magazine cover there was. Many of the articles mentioned how hard she was being hyped.
But Gretchen Mol actually WAS hot. Not sure why she never caught on. And she was in that Betty Page movie not so long ago. Not sure if that counts as being in a huge hit though.
Probably not. She does seem to be working pretty regularly, though: Gretchen Mol - Wikipedia
Color me unsurprised, though he done real good with St Jude’s. Everybody has one or two clay feet. 
Well, I do, but Clyde had the stuff until his arm gave out, so I don’t think he counts.
Starting with Annette, or was there one before her? She, at least, was hot, unlike Hayley Mills, who also wasn’t even the best actor on Saved by the Bell.
I’d disagree. His career ended because he had AIDS and died in 1983, not from lack of talent. I just listened to some of his songs and read the comments on YouTube and people not only remember him they love him. I have to say I enjoyed his music having heard it for the first time ever. It’s a shame he contracted AIDS and never got a chance to really shine.
Watch “Little Dreamer - Jobriath” on YouTube
Little Dreamer - Jobriath: http://youtu.be/HYtjM9BjbBE
Ann-Margaret
Tammy Grimes
Nancy Sinatra
Linda Thorson
That one’s a tough call, April, but considering the IMMENSE hype surrounding him ten years before he died Jobriath still counts. He was talented, but would have needed to be the Second Coming of Gay Jesus to meet expectations.
Then were all the Next Beatles, like Klaatu, especially with the rumors that they were really the Beatles in disguise.
No, no, no! The Bay City Rollers were the next Beatles; everybody knows that! :smack:
Sadly, not a lick of talent among them, except for maybe Grimes, but Thorson was especially screwed because she wasn’t Emma Peel.
Almost went with them but they didn’t have Klaatu’s rumors.
I remember when VH-1 debuted a half-hour late-evening program featuring hard rock videos. It was quickly obvious that the show was created solely to give Buckcherry’s “Lit” video a forum for airplay, since this was after MTV stopped playing videos except during the overnight hours.
There were a ton of manufactured power trios in the late 1970s, too. Most of them sank without a trace.
Hey, they made their American debut on Howard Cosell’s Saturday Night Live! That’s, like, right up there with the Beatles appearing on Ed Sullivan! 
Sorry, but Nancy Sinatra knocked the James Bond theme song "You Only Live Twice"right outta the park. She had talent, but her stuff kept getting Vegased up.
Not a bad rendition, but she ain’t no Shirley Bassey or Tom Jones, IMHO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAQ-nG0AlSgI guess Ann-Margret’s talent could be disputed, but she was featured in a lot of films…she may not have been as huge as people thought she was going to be, but most people have at least heard of her and can name things she’s been in.
You have me there. Better than Bassey for my money. Love Thunderball because the movie’s title is wedged into it senselessly, except the Academy used to require the title in the lyrics so you couldn’t offer up any hit song for an Oscar. See: Against All Odds.
The Bosstown Sound.
In 1968, MGM promoted several groups – Orpheus, The Beacon Street Union, The Ultimate Spinach, et al.-- together with the idea that the Boston music scene was as hip and groovy as the San Francisco scene of the time. The fact that no one has heard of these groups today shows how well it worked.
The groups actually had some talent, but the hype prevented them from finding succcess, and the Bosstown Sound connection kept them from being taken serioiusly.