# Carol Lynley passes at age 77. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 7, 2019, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carol-lynley-passes-at-age-77/839835 "2019-09-07T12:30:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carol-lynley-passes-at-age-77/839835/1 "2019-09-07T12:30:36Z")
Carol Lynley died of a heart attack on September 3 at her home in Pacific Palisades, California. The news articles focus on her role in _The Poseidon Adventure_ (the original, of course). She had a pretty good run of stuff in the early 60s: _Harlow_ (title role), _Bunny Lake Is Missing, The Pleasure Seekers, Under the Yum Yum Tree_, and _The Stripper_. Turned to doing _Fantasy Island_ and other TV guest stuff for the most part in the 70s despite _Poseidon_. Was fairly active up to the 90s. Oblig. IMDb [link](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0528595/). It is sort of surprising for a film so old that 4 of the group in _The Poseidon Adventure_ are still going. (Pamela Sue Martin is the only one still working in the biz.) Am I remembering things wrong or was she sort of the love interest of Red Buttons in the movie? She was 30, he was 51. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carol-lynley-passes-at-age-77/839835/2 "2019-09-07T13:14:48Z")
You remember correctly. Two words: HOT PANTS! ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carol-lynley-passes-at-age-77/839835/3 "2019-09-07T13:54:35Z")
I didn’t realize until much, much later that she was Carl Kolchak’s girlfriend in the original, “The Night Stalker,” TVM. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carol-lynley-passes-at-age-77/839835/4 "2019-09-07T14:49:43Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I didn’t realize until much, much later that she was Carl Kolchak’s girlfriend in the original, “The Night Stalker,” TVM. Also the girlfriend of Christopher George’s character, Ben Richards, in “The Immortal” TVM. (Both “Immortal” and Night Stalker" were were ABC “Movie if the Week”. Both spawned series that lasted one season. Ran across this amusing tidbit from IMDB: “Notice in the TV movie “The Night Stalker” (1972) when the refrigerator containing blood is opened there’s blood labeled “Benjamin Richards”. Obviously a left over prop.” ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carol-lynley-passes-at-age-77/839835/5 "2019-09-07T14:59:37Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Also the girlfriend of Christopher George’s character, Ben Richards, in “The Immortal” TVM. (Both “Immortal” and Night Stalker" were were ABC “Movie if the Week”. Both spawned series that lasted one season. Have we uncovered a **Carol Lynley Curse** (à la Paula Marshall)? > [@](#): > > Ran across this amusing tidbit from IMDB: “Notice in the TV movie “The Night Stalker” (1972) when the refrigerator containing blood is opened there’s blood labeled “Benjamin Richards”. Obviously a left over prop.” 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carol-lynley-passes-at-age-77/839835/6 "2019-09-07T18:17:47Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > … > Am I remembering things wrong or was she sort of the love interest of Red Buttons in the movie? She was 30, he was 51. From IMDB: > [@](#): > > Red Buttons and Carol Lynley, whose characters fall in love in the movie, actually disliked each other intensely during filming. They refused to have anything to do with each other, except when the cameras were rolling. Ironically, after being constantly reminded of this, they ended up becoming great friends in later years. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carol-lynley-passes-at-age-77/839835/7 "2019-09-07T18:21:56Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Ran across this amusing tidbit from IMDB: “Notice in the TV movie “The Night Stalker” (1972) when the refrigerator containing blood is opened there’s blood labeled “Benjamin Richards”. Obviously a left over prop.” Not to hijack, but it does beg the question: What would happen if a vampire drank the blood of an immortal? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carol-lynley-passes-at-age-77/839835/8 "2019-09-07T18:48:37Z")
Wait just a minute: Ben Richards is the name of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character in, “The Running Man.” What’s going on here? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carol-lynley-passes-at-age-77/839835/9 "2019-09-07T20:31:16Z")
Ben Richards was the name of Christopher George’s character in the late 1960’s TV movie and later Series “The Immortal”. It was based, loosely, on a novel by James Gunn (no, not the director guy) and was about a guy whose blood made him age and disease proof. It was discovered that a transfusion from him would temporarily confer this same immunity to the recipient. This resulted in him being persued by a couple of billionaires who wanted to use him as their own private blood bank. I’ve seen “The Running Man”, based, loosely, on a novel by Stephen King (no, not the racist Congresscritter) originally published under his Richard Bachman pen name, but did not recall that it (the movie, not the book) used the “Richards” name for its protagonist. Perhaps it was an homage. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2019, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carol-lynley-passes-at-age-77/839835/10 "2019-09-08T00:20:51Z")
An early crush of mine. Back when the Saturday night babysitter would let us watch TV until the folks got home. She was in a couple movies that turned up on the Saturday night movie. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2019, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carol-lynley-passes-at-age-77/839835/11 "2019-09-08T02:03:28Z")
I liked her in _Bunny Lake is Missing_. Keir Dullea was his co-star. Guess what he was like? ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carol-lynley-passes-at-age-77/839835/12 "2019-09-09T12:55:51Z")
I happened to catch _Bunny Lake is Missing_ in TCM yesterday, and it I thought “oh, I forgot Carol Lynley is in this” which led me to think of _The Poseidon Adventure_. I wonder if it was shown because of her passing or if it was a coincidence. RIP, Carol. You are a big part of my best tv and movie viewing history. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carol-lynley-passes-at-age-77/839835/13 "2019-09-09T13:36:19Z")
I saw it too. They had a note on the screen after the movie which said it had already been planned for showing, before her recent death. She was very beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carol-lynley-passes-at-age-77/839835/14 "2019-09-09T15:53:30Z")
I caught Bunny Lake on TCM also. First time I watched it from beginning to end, a better movie than I remembered. It’s the movie I remember her from. She did a lot of TV but I rarely noticed, in my mind she was a movie star. I am always on the lookout for the Carol Lynley version of Harlow. I recall seeing a bit of it very long ago, Efram Zimbalist Jr. was in this version the only way I know it wasn’t the Carol Baker movie. It didn’t get great reviews but I’d still like to see the whole thing some day.