It seems like straight men of my dad’s generation almost uniformly have/had a thing for Angie Dickinson. What’s up with that? Of course she was and is attractive and seems nice enough when I see her on talk shows or interviews or whatever, but I’m missing what it is about her that landed her on so many “celebrities it’s OK to cheat with” lists. Enlighten me.
Angie Dickenson in “Policewoman”
Next question.
I always thought she looked kinda hard and slightly skanky myself.
The question is why her and not some other woman of relatively equal attractiveness from the same era?
That’s why!
She’s got that slightly skanky thing going on. She’s like, the sexy older woman. She has the aura of dirty about her.
I think she exuded a brassy, ball-busting toughness that set her apart from a lot of actresses. She wasn’t known for romantic roles as much as the woman who was able to fit in with “the boys”. I think a more contemporary example would be Ellen Barkin.
Plus, she was hot.
There weren’t that many beautiful tough women characters back then. This was right on the cusp of the Women’s Liberation movement, and she probably represented a side of feminism that was a big plus to men, as opposed to the battleaxe diesel dyke side that tended to be more visible on the News as they waved placards and burned underwear.
I can only vaguely recall her, and must admit that as a 5 year old I didn’t really find her all that appealing (and then, as I grew older, along came Charlie’s Angels instead).
Eminent film critic David Thomson, in his A Biographical Dictionary of Film:
Her debut,* Rio Bravo*, is one of my alltime favorite films. And the life she brought to Point Blank, another alltimer, is a huge part of what makes that movie. Plus, she was a member of the Rat Pack; men who wanted to sleep with Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra could think of her as a proxy.
Her “debut” in Rio Bravo? She had eleven credits before that, including as the half-caste girl in Samuel Fuller’s China Gate, and as Rod Steiger’s girlfriend in Cry Terror.
sorry; meant to say breakthrough.
Dean Martin? Well, if you’re into popping cocktail cherries, I guess.
Dude, Dean Martin was one of the biggest sex symbols of his day.
IIRC she ws also the only one to walk away from a typical surprise “This is Your Life” segment. She freaked out and walked away (literally). All the guests and relatives they had lined up from her past and the show were caught flat footed.
I can believe it when Sammy Davis was the main competition.
So waitaminute. You’re saying that red blooded heterosexual guys of a certain age like Otto’s Dad who have the hots for Angie Dickinson secretly want to boff Dino and/or the Chairman of the Board?
Angie Dickinson’s gone through several stages in her career. For the peak of her tough, sexy older woman (okay, with a wee bit o’ the skank) period, rent Big Bad Mama.
That was a plot on The King Of Queens. Jerry Stiller meets an old woman who claimed to once yadda yadda yadda with Frank.
Take a pass on Rome Adventure. She has a cameo trying to steal Troy Donahue from Suzanne Pleshette. Thanks Mom for making me watch dreck.
I opened this thread hoping beyond hope for info on Overboard, a better movie Mom liked. Made for TV movie starring Angie Dickinson and Cliff Robertson from 1978.
Not available in the US, but tedious eBaying showed me it was released on VHS in Australia (PAL of course). I say tedious 'cause I have to wade (!) through dozens of tapes of Overboard with Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.
I don’t know what keeps it unmarketed. Music licensing problems like Heavy Metal and Lathe Of Heaven? Something to do with the reported black-balling of Cliff Robertson?
It was a staple of local TV afternoon movies…
Good Og, I got to the third reply before finally getting Angie Dickenson and Angela Landsbury straightened out in my mind. This was starting to get weird.
Oh yes, Miss Fletcher, I’ve been a baaaad sleeper agent!
Angela Lansbury was actually pretty hot in her prime, although that was a very long time ago now. She’s been Jessica Fletcher to me since I was a kid, and I was pretty darn surprised to see her playing Sibyl in the old Picture of Dorian Gray movie!
A quick Google didn’t turn up many old photos of her, but Art.com has this and this. I think she looks a lot like Nicole Kidman in the second one. . .and that is a compliment, although I realize not everyone shares my high opinion of Ms. Kidman’s appearance.