Hello and thank you for being a DL contributor. We are changing the login scheme for contributors for simpler login and to better support using multiple devices. Please click here to update your account with a username and password.

Hello. Some features on this site require registration. Please click here to register for free.

Hello and thank you for registering. Please complete the process by verifying your email address. If you can't find the email you can resend it here.

Hello. Some features on this site require a subscription. Please click here to get full access and no ads for $1.99 or less per month.

WHET Karen Lynn Gorney: Saturday Night Fever

She was unknown before this blockbuster. Her visibly counting while dancing with Travolta leads me to believe there were probably better choices for this role. So why Karen Lynn? After the success of the film did she shy from the spotlight or was she ghosted by the industry. I have no idea, but I would like to know.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 183December 6, 2023 4:19 AM

Compare Swayze with Lisa Nieme. Now this is a beautiful partner dance. Scrub to 55 sec.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 1December 3, 2023 7:04 AM

She was on All My Children for years as Tara

by Anonymousreply 2December 3, 2023 7:21 AM

She ran off with that guy that does those commercials. You know who I mean. You know, that guy. Him.

by Anonymousreply 3December 3, 2023 9:08 AM

Simple. She sat down on the Casting Couch, lifted her skirt (no panties!), spread her legs, laid back, and lifted her legs up to Jesus. Either that or she was related to one of the producers.

by Anonymousreply 4December 3, 2023 10:42 AM

Surely they had more attractive girls on the casting couch for a movie like that, though? I mean, she is a rudimentary dancer and actress and also not very attractive at all by the standards straight men usually go for.

My guess is that whoever had the power to cast her was after Travolta, and wanted both women in the film to be girls who had no chance of attracting Travolta's attention. (We know now that would be a fond hope anyway, but then it might not have been as clear.)

by Anonymousreply 5December 3, 2023 12:38 PM

She was placed in a convalescent home for senior citizens in 1977.

by Anonymousreply 6December 3, 2023 12:40 PM

I’m pretty sure her father had something to do with the movie production. I agree she was absolutely terrible, and deserved to have no career whatsoever.

by Anonymousreply 7December 3, 2023 12:41 PM

I've never seen this movie, but in that little dance sequence at OP, she didn't seem any worse than John Travolta?

by Anonymousreply 8December 3, 2023 12:45 PM

Her bio on Wikipedia is funny.

[quote]In 1977, Gorney co-starred in her third film, and biggest role to date, as Stephanie Mangano in Saturday Night Fever, alongside John Travolta.[1] The next year, she appeared as a celebrity panelist on Hollywood Squares.

Her big follow up to Saturday Night Fever was an episode of Hollywood Squares!

by Anonymousreply 9December 3, 2023 12:47 PM

Angie getting gang banged was the best though.

by Anonymousreply 10December 3, 2023 12:47 PM

Well then she was holding him back. His solo dance number is sensational.

by Anonymousreply 11December 3, 2023 12:47 PM

She looked like she could be Travolta's mother.

by Anonymousreply 12December 3, 2023 12:48 PM

When she was on All My Children she was awful, but more than that when her character got excited her nostrils would flair in and out, almost a flutter. After a moment it was all you could see. My older sister would mock her by grabbing the sides of her nose and pushing her nostrils in and out

You just knew she was headed nowhere

by Anonymousreply 13December 3, 2023 12:49 PM

John Travolta is one of the greatest dancers you will ever see. Karen, Lynn is as stiff as a board. The movie doesn’t make sense that she would be his partner. There must have been better dancers he could have chosen.

by Anonymousreply 14December 3, 2023 12:50 PM

I vaguely remember she had a coke problem after Saturday Night Fever. So there’s that.

by Anonymousreply 15December 3, 2023 1:02 PM

[quote] John Travolta is one of the greatest dancers you will ever see

Seek help, r14

by Anonymousreply 16December 3, 2023 1:14 PM

In a weird way, casting her as the female lead was fitting

It showed as damaged John Travolta’s character was, that he thought she was beautiful, a good choice and role model.

Not sure if that’s how the director/casting wanted to project, but that’s how I take it.

by Anonymousreply 17December 3, 2023 1:19 PM

Bless your heart.

by Anonymousreply 18December 3, 2023 1:21 PM

For anyone alive in the mid 1970’s this was everything. The movie and the album were absolutely huge.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 19December 3, 2023 1:34 PM

I like the "Airplane" version...

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 20December 3, 2023 1:41 PM

I worked at the answering service she used in 1986. She was living in her car.

by Anonymousreply 21December 3, 2023 2:18 PM

Karen quit acting after botched surgery on her two left feet.

by Anonymousreply 22December 3, 2023 2:39 PM

So she needed some help counting, what else was she supposed to do, man?!?

by Anonymousreply 23December 3, 2023 2:45 PM

[quote] When she was on All My Children she was awful, but more than that when her character got excited her nostrils would flair in and out, almost a flutter. After a moment it was all you could see. My older sister would mock her by grabbing the sides of her nose and pushing her nostrils in and out….

One must LEARN to act with one’s nostrils…it’s an art.

by Anonymousreply 24December 3, 2023 3:00 PM

She got a bad rep for being late, stoned and uncooperative. She dissed Dinah Shore, who was doing a special for 'starlets' of 1977 or some such. She showed up and was in no shape to tape. That got around and there went her career. She was INCREDIBLY popular on All My Children, and many eons later came back to reprise Tara. She looked better and though the gig didn't last, it looked like she got herself straightened out.

by Anonymousreply 25December 3, 2023 3:14 PM

One thing I remembered about her is that her heavy Brooklyn accent didn't match her WASPish appearance.

by Anonymousreply 26December 3, 2023 3:57 PM

r25 "She dissed Dinah Shore"

Link, please?

by Anonymousreply 27December 3, 2023 3:57 PM

Some of these blockbuster movies you wonder- if the producers could have foreseen the mega box office- if they would have hired big stars. Mark Hamill for Star Wars? His career went nowhere.

by Anonymousreply 28December 3, 2023 4:05 PM

She was just in a play off off Broadway with a friend of mine. Sorry, didn't see it.

by Anonymousreply 29December 3, 2023 4:15 PM

When she made a few return appearances on AMC as Tara in the 90s, they had a few scenes where they revisited the Erica/Tara rivalry. Susan Lucci still looked awesome, but Karen Lynn looked frumpy and matronly.

by Anonymousreply 30December 3, 2023 4:25 PM

[quote]I worked at the answering service she used in 1986. She was living in her car.

You got a problem with that?

by Anonymousreply 31December 3, 2023 4:28 PM

Her father was Jay Gorney, who wrote the music for the classic Depression-era anthem, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?"

by Anonymousreply 32December 3, 2023 4:29 PM

NYT 1982 (the coke years?):

[quote]Miss Gorney ... craves to be noticed in public. 'There are two places I'm very happy,' she says. 'One is in the back of a limo, the other is wherever there's a camera on me. Then I come alive. As an artist and an actress, I feel part of my job is to be seen, to be a spokeswoman for my time.' Miss Gorney says she wishes the paparazzo Ron Galella would follow her.

by Anonymousreply 33December 3, 2023 4:31 PM

This article about the making of SNF has a bit about Gorney’s casting. It has a lot about Donna Pescow, who also eventually wound up on All My Children.

by Anonymousreply 34December 3, 2023 4:46 PM

She and Travolta seemed so much in love. Did they have an off-camera affair?

by Anonymousreply 35December 3, 2023 4:49 PM

Karen Lynn is a dumb name. Why not just Karen?

by Anonymousreply 36December 3, 2023 5:02 PM

Wasn't she dating someone involved like a producer?

by Anonymousreply 37December 3, 2023 6:39 PM

‘Cause she’s not a Karen. Duh

by Anonymousreply 38December 3, 2023 6:43 PM

[quote] One thing I remembered about her is that her heavy Brooklyn accent didn't match her WASPish appearance.

But her character was from Brooklyn. I'll totally agree that she should have been a much better dancer for Tony to be so dazzled by her footwork that he wanted to partner with her and was so insistent on it, but the character of Stephanie was never meant to be someone like, say, Finola Hughes' character in Staying Alive, or some dream glamour WASP who was totally unattainable. Stephanie was pretending. She was just as working class and stupid as Tony, only she was more insecure about it and put on airs. Tony was still a kid, naive, and took everything at face value. He had no idea this woman was full of shit. He didn't know anything beyond the 20 block radius of his neighborhood. He never even went into Manhattan until the end of the movie.

Outside of the dancing, I've never gotten all the vitriol for Gorney in this role. I thought she played those aspects of Stephanie well. We were all supposed to see that she wasn't what she convinced herself she was, and we did. That was the character, not because of a bad performance by Gorney.

by Anonymousreply 39December 3, 2023 6:51 PM

As a movie-watcher, I could believe that Tony would have been physically attracted to Gorney (physically). She was seen as classy and a cut above women like Pescow. I even believe he could have overlooked her lack of dancing skills.

Her acting was just bad. In her big scene, where she's busted for being a sugar baby, the acting was so horrible.

by Anonymousreply 40December 3, 2023 8:57 PM

The casting director was Shirley Rich who did the ABC soaps during the 70s. She cast Ryan's Hope and discovered Kate Mulgrew. She wanted Kate for the role but she was pregnant and couldn't do it. She knew Gorney from AMC and got her an audition but in the end it was up to Travolta and Badham who both liked her more than runner up Jessica Lange.

by Anonymousreply 41December 3, 2023 9:07 PM

And she was a full decade older than Travolta.

by Anonymousreply 42December 3, 2023 9:08 PM

I understand the pain John must have gone through having to be cast with much older co-stars, that's been my entire career!

by Anonymousreply 43December 3, 2023 9:11 PM

I'm glad Jessica Lange didn't get it. I don't think she would have been right for it, and the audience would have wanted them to wind up together romantically because Lange is so beautiful. She's the ultimate prize for a working class bum who wants to make it. And that wasn't Tony's path.

by Anonymousreply 44December 3, 2023 9:48 PM

"When she was on All My Children she was awful, but more than that when her character got excited her nostrils would flair in and out, almost a flutter."

I think she's TREMENDOUS!

by Anonymousreply 45December 3, 2023 9:56 PM

Donna Pescow was perfect in the role she played. She was hot and I felt bad for her.

by Anonymousreply 46December 3, 2023 10:20 PM

Donna should have gotten an Oscar nomination, especially when you consider Leslie Browne from The Turning Point got one instead.

by Anonymousreply 47December 3, 2023 10:24 PM

R8, Travolta for so much praise for his dancing back then, but he never seemed like a natural dancer to me. It all looked like such hard work.

by Anonymousreply 48December 3, 2023 10:36 PM

A quote fromher IMDB page: [on the lack of film work, post her breakthrough Saturday Night Fever] They didn't know what to do with me. I was ahead of my time, and they didn't know what to put me in.

by Anonymousreply 49December 4, 2023 1:46 AM

She seems modest. I like her.

by Anonymousreply 50December 4, 2023 1:47 AM

Pauline Kael wrote about Karen Lynn in Saturday Night FeVer:

You can't quite figure out whether it's the character or the actress that you're not sure about until Gorney wins you over by her small, harried tight face and her line readings, which are sometimes miraculously edgy and ardent.

by Anonymousreply 51December 4, 2023 2:03 AM

Actually, Lucille Ball was offered the role, but Gary talked her out of it.

by Anonymousreply 52December 4, 2023 2:10 AM

Terribly miscast, terrible dancer and looked 10 years older than Travolta. She’s the worst part of the movie.

by Anonymousreply 53December 4, 2023 2:12 AM

I think she could have been good in something that was close to her own personality. Like Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan.

by Anonymousreply 54December 4, 2023 2:21 AM

Ann Reinking would’ve been perfect for the Stephanie role.

by Anonymousreply 55December 4, 2023 2:53 AM

If Lange had been cast, she would've stolen the pic from Travolta, if only because the audience would have been concerned that she would have had a psychotic break at any moment. Jessica has always presented as way tooo unpredictable and erratic to play the female lead in SNF

by Anonymousreply 56December 4, 2023 3:11 AM

[Quote] Terribly miscast, terrible dancer and looked 10 years older than Travolta. She’s the worst part of the movie.

Not really. The scenes between Gorney and Travolta are better than those between Travolta and his family and that pointless subplot with his brother the priest.

by Anonymousreply 57December 4, 2023 3:50 AM

Her humble beginnings

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 58December 4, 2023 3:55 AM

As someone who didn’t see SNF until recently, I couldn’t believe this bleak and depressing film was such a monster hit.

by Anonymousreply 59December 4, 2023 4:08 AM

R19- You mean the LATE 1970’s. The movie 🎥 was released in December 1977.

by Anonymousreply 60December 4, 2023 4:13 AM

78-year Gorney made her film debut in Frank Perry's David and Lisa (1962) as a patient in a home for mentally disturbed adolescents

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 61December 4, 2023 4:14 AM

R59- The BLEAKEST part of the movie was Barry Miller walking away in those platform shoes 👞.

by Anonymousreply 62December 4, 2023 4:15 AM

The hardest thing to believe is that Karen Lynn Gorney is now

78 years old!

by Anonymousreply 63December 4, 2023 4:16 AM

The late 70s was a very bleak time. The movie very much of its time.

by Anonymousreply 64December 4, 2023 4:19 AM

[Quote] As someone who didn’t see SNF until recently, I couldn’t believe this bleak and depressing film was such a monster hit.

The Brooklyn we see in "Saturday Night Fever "reminds us of New York's Little Italy as Martin Scorsese saw it in "Who's That Knocking at My Door?" and "Mean Streets." The characters are similar: They have few aims or ambitions and little hope of breaking out to the larger world of success -- a world symbolized for them by Manhattan, and the Brooklyn Bridge reaching out powerfully toward it.-Roger Ebert

by Anonymousreply 65December 4, 2023 4:26 AM

R64- How was the late 1970’s bleak?

For gay men?

Everyone was alive and no one was sick yet - a few years later 1977 was the good old days for gay men.

If you’re referring to the United States in general- the late 1970’s was the last time we were a manufacturing powerhouse. By the early 1980’s it was all falling apart.

by Anonymousreply 66December 4, 2023 4:29 AM

I liked the part when her ex older boyfriend criticizes her for using the word SUPER.

by Anonymousreply 67December 4, 2023 4:31 AM

Wasn't New York bankrupt in the 1970s?

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 68December 4, 2023 4:36 AM

I think Travolta and Gorney did have chemistry. When he apologized to her and she looked at him, I thought that was a real moment. Yes, Mary.

by Anonymousreply 69December 4, 2023 4:38 AM

Check out her website.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 70December 4, 2023 4:40 AM

There was some early grumbling about Karen Lynn Gorney when filming began. Certain crew members felt she was too old for the part, and that her dancing wasn't up to par (she had sustained serious injuries in a motorcycle accident a few years earlier).

by Anonymousreply 71December 4, 2023 4:42 AM

Back to Brooklyn with Deney Terrio

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 72December 4, 2023 4:50 AM

Jessica Lange, Kathleen Quinlan and Carrie Fisher were all considered for the role of Stephanie Mangano. Amy Irving was one of the finalists for the role.

by Anonymousreply 73December 4, 2023 4:53 AM

During John Avildsen's tenure as director, Annette O'Toole was cast as Stephanie. To prep for the role, O'Toole got to dance with John Travolta at a Beverly Hills disco before Avildsen's axing ended her attachment to the film.

by Anonymousreply 74December 4, 2023 4:55 AM

Karen Lynn was an unknown before this blockbuster. She has also been an unknown after this blockbuster.

by Anonymousreply 75December 4, 2023 5:04 AM

[quote] Jessica Lange, Kathleen Quinlan and Carrie Fisher were all considered for the role of Stephanie Mangano. Amy Irving was one of the finalists for the role.

All of them totally wrong for the part. I do like the idea of Annette O'Toole, but I'm not sure how she came across in 1977, if she was just too young then.

by Anonymousreply 76December 4, 2023 5:24 AM

I love her art! I you love kitties and puppies like I do, I'm sure you'll agree!

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 77December 4, 2023 5:28 AM

If you scroll to the bottom of that link, you'll see that Larry Olivier owned one of her paintings! And more!!

"Ms. Gorney's works are owned by Johnny Williams, John Travolta, Janis Ian, The Bee Gees, Robert Stigwood, John Badham, Larry Olivier, Walter Mirish, Cybil Shepard, Mandrill, Player, Blue Mink, and the Yip Harburg Estate in addition to many fans."

by Anonymousreply 78December 4, 2023 5:31 AM

The '70s sucked for some heteros too, R66.

Inflation, stagnant wages, sky-high interest rates and unemployment were a big problem, which started under Nixon and carried through under Ford, Carter, and early Reagan.

I've talked with my dad about this. He and my mom, regular middle-class people (a factory foreman and an elementary school teacher) had to work and save for six years before they could afford to have a kid in the late '70s.

by Anonymousreply 79December 4, 2023 5:36 AM

Gorney was fine. Her character wasn't some blockbuster Broadway star—she was just a mildly talented chick who happened to live in Manhattan, which was Valhalla to Tony Manero.

What I find more amazing about the movie is that during filming, they were dancing to NONE of the Bee Gees songs—those were all dubbed in afterward. They were dancing to Boz Scaggs' "Lowdown" and Stevie Wonder.

by Anonymousreply 80December 4, 2023 5:44 AM

Travolta practices his solo dance with Denny Terrio with The Bee Gees “you should be dancing” and didn’t want to film it with a different song so the scene was filmed and the song stayed in.

SNF producers asked Boz Scaggs if they could use “Lowdown” in the film and in the soundtrack. At the same time, the producers of “looking for Mr goodbar” asked scaggs the same request. Scaggs didn’t think SNF would go anywhere so he choose “goodbar”. Using the song in “goodbar” and on the soundtrack earned him $50k. Had he chosen SNF he would’ve made around $3 million dollars.

by Anonymousreply 81December 4, 2023 5:57 AM

Talk about a sad sad truth and a dirty lowdown.

by Anonymousreply 82December 4, 2023 6:20 AM

A great movie that gets better with every viewing. I think she and Travolta have the right kind of chemistry; her limitations as an actress actually work for the Stephanie character in this.

by Anonymousreply 83December 4, 2023 6:27 AM

My viewing of John's dancing for "You Should Be Dancing" is that his timing is a little off from the beat.

by Anonymousreply 84December 4, 2023 1:08 PM

I go back to the Pleistocene Epoch. As such I saw SNF in its first run at the theatre.

I felt like the only human being alive who was not a fan of Travolta's dancing in SNF. To my eyes, he embodies Clod-hopper.

Otoh, I, by far, prefer Travolta's dancing in "Urban Cowboy." His particular movement suits the Country Western sound way more.

by Anonymousreply 85December 4, 2023 1:22 PM

Stephanie and Tony were supposed to be very close in age but she looked 10 years older than him. No way she looked like she was in her early 20s.

by Anonymousreply 86December 4, 2023 1:37 PM

[quote] The late 70s was a very bleak time. The movie very much of its time.

As bleak as my puberty…

by Anonymousreply 87December 4, 2023 2:14 PM

Ewww, she was such a Karen! Is her hobby speaking to managers?

by Anonymousreply 88December 4, 2023 2:57 PM

Kate Mulgrew would've been interesting.

by Anonymousreply 89December 4, 2023 3:29 PM

They needed someone ok looking but not gorgeous and someone Italian looking. Mulgrew is too British looking and Lange too Germanic. Maybe a Talia Shire type but she was too well known already.

by Anonymousreply 90December 4, 2023 3:40 PM

Is she dead?

by Anonymousreply 91December 4, 2023 3:42 PM

If Mulgrew had been cast, the character of Stephanie could've easily been changed from Italian American to Irish American without affecting the plot.

by Anonymousreply 92December 4, 2023 3:44 PM

I was in grade school when SNF came.out. We used to listen to this in some.classes for a while.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 93December 4, 2023 4:30 PM

Original trailer

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 94December 4, 2023 4:44 PM

I love this photo of John Travolta and Fran Drescher.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 95December 4, 2023 4:47 PM

[quote]$3 million dollars.

Oh, dear.

by Anonymousreply 96December 4, 2023 5:43 PM

Was Lily Tomlin not available?

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 97December 4, 2023 5:45 PM

(^.^) they look like siblings.

by Anonymousreply 98December 4, 2023 5:48 PM

Karen Lynn's website is hella old. But she will still do a signed SNF print for $30-50 US.

by Anonymousreply 99December 4, 2023 6:49 PM

She's my aunt. I taught her all the moves.

by Anonymousreply 100December 4, 2023 6:58 PM

I agree, SNF was extremely bleak and depressing in spite of its soundtrack. I think KLG goes along well with the "grit" factor. What she did well, was personify the type of girl who wasn't buying into Tony's shit and didn't fall all over him. She had her own shit. So, she did a good job with that as far as this movie. I never saw her on AMC, that I can recall. Before my time of briefly watching it in the 80s. Tony liked her because she just wasn't that into him. It wasn't all about her looks. Supposedly she could hold her own dancing with him in the movie, whereas the reality of the actors, isn't true.

by Anonymousreply 101December 4, 2023 7:02 PM

R76- If she were a bit younger Penny Marshall.

by Anonymousreply 102December 4, 2023 7:08 PM

Oh just fuck yourself r96. Get off the Internet if you can't handle grammar and spelling.

by Anonymousreply 103December 4, 2023 7:09 PM

R95- They both look

HARDCORE

Bridge and Tunnel.

by Anonymousreply 104December 4, 2023 7:11 PM

Well yes r104. That's what the whole movie was about.

by Anonymousreply 105December 4, 2023 7:12 PM

R105- Between you and me Fran Drescher’s husband or boyfriend at that time Peter Marc Jacobson was far better looking than John Revolta.

by Anonymousreply 106December 4, 2023 7:16 PM

R79- Interest rates were not sky high in the 1970’s. They were sky high in the 1980’s peaking at 18.61% in October 1981.

by Anonymousreply 107December 4, 2023 7:25 PM

Could Nancy Allen have worked? I guess she was more of an Annette than a Stephanie.

by Anonymousreply 108December 4, 2023 7:26 PM

r106 they were both very handsome.

Nancy Allen also couldn't act, but she was much closer in age to Travolta and she was much better looking than Gorney.

by Anonymousreply 109December 4, 2023 7:31 PM

Surely this was a role for DL fav Pamela Sue Martin.

Or DL fav Patti LuPone.

by Anonymousreply 110December 4, 2023 7:32 PM

I've seen the lost footage from the day she got fired and I can tell you, Helen Lawson was doing a lot more than the splits. One of those pickles hit Travolta in his good eye.

by Anonymousreply 111December 4, 2023 7:33 PM

Actually Patty Duke Astin, channeling Neely O'Hara, would have been great with Travolta in the role of Stephanie. She had the Brooklyn thing down, and the freak out scene on the bridge could have been her.

by Anonymousreply 112December 4, 2023 7:36 PM

Patty Duke would've been too old.

by Anonymousreply 113December 4, 2023 7:41 PM

[quote]Karen Lynn's website is hella old. But she will still do a signed SNF print for $30-50 US.

And throw in a blowjob for an extra $10.

by Anonymousreply 114December 4, 2023 7:42 PM

[quote] Patty Duke would've been too old.

Karen Lynn Gorney was older than Patty Duke.

by Anonymousreply 115December 4, 2023 7:46 PM

Patty Duke looked too old.

by Anonymousreply 116December 4, 2023 7:51 PM

Does she insist people call her Karen Lynn? Like, both names? That seems weird.

by Anonymousreply 117December 4, 2023 7:52 PM

What about Jennifer Beals? Maybe too good-looking and hard to cut in a body double for ALL the dancing. But I could see her with Travolta.

by Anonymousreply 118December 4, 2023 7:54 PM

Jennifer Beals was 13 years old when SNF was filmed.

by Anonymousreply 119December 4, 2023 7:57 PM

R107 shut the fuck up. The annual high point in 1979 was 17.6%.

by Anonymousreply 120December 4, 2023 8:00 PM

I remember being a teenager and going to see SNF. I thought it was a lighthearted romp, in the vein of Grease (think Grease came out after, but you get the drift)

I was like WTF, before WTF was a thing

by Anonymousreply 121December 4, 2023 8:26 PM

Karen Lynn is no Betty Lynn

by Anonymousreply 122December 4, 2023 8:27 PM

Who was no Vera Lynn.

by Anonymousreply 123December 4, 2023 8:30 PM

Not by the hair of her chinny chin chin.

by Anonymousreply 124December 4, 2023 8:35 PM

[Quote] As someone who didn’t see SNF until recently, I couldn’t believe this bleak and depressing film was such a monster hit.

Many 70s movies were bleak and gritty particularly those set in NY: Death Wish, The French Connection, Klute, Joe, Little Murders, Desperate Characters, Serpico, Lipstick, The Possession of Joel Delaney, Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, The Eyes of Laura Mars, Across 110th Street, Panic in Needle Park, Looking for Mr. Goodbar . . .so SNF didn't seem particularly bleak to me.

by Anonymousreply 125December 4, 2023 9:01 PM

The French Connection blew my mind! I only recently watched it (about 2 yrs ago).

by Anonymousreply 126December 4, 2023 9:25 PM

The Reincarnation of Peter Proud…watch that one and then slice your wrists.

by Anonymousreply 127December 4, 2023 9:42 PM

Kathleen Quinlan would’ve been great but I think she’s younger than Travolta.

by Anonymousreply 128December 4, 2023 9:58 PM

Bonnie Franklin proved she could successfully play Italian on ODAAT AND she would have looked about Travolta's age because her haircut made her cute and gamine. She really was timeless! Also she could dance!

by Anonymousreply 129December 4, 2023 10:00 PM

Dammit, Tony!

by Anonymousreply 130December 4, 2023 10:04 PM

R30- I remember this as well. Susan Lucci still looked like a million dollar bill and she looks like a total frump. I feel like hair and makeup and the costume department didn’t do her any favors as this clips shows. She looks like Joe Martin’s wife… not daughter! Side bar- I loved the Kelsey teenage pregnancy storyline. It tied so many families and characters together (Martin/Cortlandt/Grey/Santos).

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 131December 4, 2023 10:18 PM

I always think Kathleen Quinlan was that wan that was a vegetable for years but it was someone else.

by Anonymousreply 132December 4, 2023 10:30 PM

One of the reasons I love Datalounge. A place for Karen Lynn Gorney threads

by Anonymousreply 133December 4, 2023 10:30 PM

Karen Ann Quinlan. I always heard she mainlined peanut butter. Seriously.

by Anonymousreply 134December 4, 2023 10:43 PM

[quote]Kate Mulgrew would've been interesting.

I agree. I see why she was considered. She was really cute then, and people loved her as spunky Mary Ryan on Ryan's Hope.

I also see why she wasn't cast, though—she had an innate refined quality and would've had to work hard to tamp it down.

by Anonymousreply 135December 4, 2023 10:54 PM

Kate Mulgrew could've played working class Brooklyn, she's a great actress.

Here she is around the time of SNF, she was 21/22 so she would've been exactly the right age for Stephanie.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 136December 4, 2023 11:03 PM

Kathleen Quinlin is only 9 months younger than Travolta. She was a gymnast but not a trained dancer.

by Anonymousreply 137December 4, 2023 11:05 PM

Of all the supremely talented actresses/dancers, the producers chose Karen Lynn Gorney??? She is the only flaw in this classic film.

by Anonymousreply 138December 4, 2023 11:39 PM

Annette O’Toole would have been perfect.

by Anonymousreply 139December 4, 2023 11:42 PM

Kathleen Quinlan was everywhere for a bit a then just disappeared. Same with Brooke Adams and a few other actresses from that era.

by Anonymousreply 140December 4, 2023 11:45 PM

R133- and NUMEROUS Vivian Vance threads

by Anonymousreply 141December 5, 2023 12:01 AM

Kay Lenz would have been perfect as Stephanie.

by Anonymousreply 142December 5, 2023 12:18 AM

I'm so glad none of you became casting directors.

by Anonymousreply 143December 5, 2023 12:30 AM

R143 Same.

by Anonymousreply 144December 5, 2023 12:47 AM

Obviously, this move should have starred Miss Brenda Dickson as Stephanie.

Brenda would have brought a sense of realism to the role that Casting Couch Karen Lynn lacked.

by Anonymousreply 145December 5, 2023 12:54 AM

Our Lucy could have played Stefanie with a VERY raspy voice

BUT

unfortunately Gary talked her out of it.

by Anonymousreply 146December 5, 2023 1:00 AM

r143 several mentioned on this thread would've been better in the part.

by Anonymousreply 147December 5, 2023 1:02 AM

I think she was a one hit wonder. Did she use a casting couch to get the role?

by Anonymousreply 148December 5, 2023 1:18 AM

[quote]R132 I always think Kathleen Quinlan was that vegetable for years but it was someone else.

I mix her up with Kathleen Beller, because I only (rarely) see their names in print and have seen about 1 movie between them.

by Anonymousreply 149December 5, 2023 1:20 AM

Kathleen was a beautiful Jew with hair down to her knees. She was great but short lived in “Mary White”.

by Anonymousreply 150December 5, 2023 1:23 AM

Wasn't Kathy Beller married to Thomas Dolby? And of course, she had the worst character name in tv history: Kirby Colby.

by Anonymousreply 151December 5, 2023 1:33 AM

I was asked to play Stephanie more than once, but I had to turn them down because I was too busy filming my blockbuster smash hit "A Star is Born"!!!

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 152December 5, 2023 1:34 AM

[quote]r41 I'm so glad none of you became casting directors. — Shirley Rich

Trivia: Shirley Rich plays Our Faye’s modeling agent in “Puzzle of a Downfall Child.” She has several scenes and she’s perfect!

I wonder how they chose her.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 153December 5, 2023 1:36 AM

Kay Lenz would’ve been too pretty to play Stephanie. A lot of these names are beautiful/conventionally attractive so you would know why Stephanie acted so snotty and pretentious. Tony and Stephanie were both a bit delusional about themselves but in different ways.

Debralee Scott may have worked as Stephanie. She was around the same age as travolta

by Anonymousreply 154December 5, 2023 1:43 AM

R154- What about Penny Marshall?

by Anonymousreply 155December 5, 2023 2:00 AM

Penny was older than Gorney.

by Anonymousreply 156December 5, 2023 2:14 AM

[quote] What about Penny Marshall?

No.

by Anonymousreply 157December 5, 2023 2:19 AM

Kate Mulgrew didn't audition because she was pregnant out of wedlock. However, she was Shirley Rich's discovery and she really wanted her. Kate was very working class on Ryan's Hope and also showed a vulnerability she didn't in her later work. She was also pushy and often exasperating so Stephanie might not have been a stretch.

by Anonymousreply 158December 5, 2023 2:38 AM

[quote]She was also pushy and often exasperating so Stephanie might not have been a stretch.

Do you mean as her character on Ryan's Hope or her actual personality?

by Anonymousreply 159December 5, 2023 2:40 AM

What about LUCY?

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 160December 5, 2023 2:40 AM

Here is Kate on Ryan's Hope and she's so sanctimonious and smug. Very much Stephanie.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 161December 5, 2023 2:49 AM

The tension between Tony and Stephanie is palpable and in terms of the movie it works. It's one of the least cliched aspects of the film.

"Playing opposite him Karen Lynn Gorney whose facial style is as tense and hard as his is fluid and open. The story unfortunately introduces Stephanie in West Side Story lyrical terms as the wonderful dancer Tony wants to meet and Gorney is not much of a dancer; she's proficient she can go through the motions but the body is holding back. It takes a while before it's clear that Stephanie is a little climber and show off a Brooklyn girl who gives herself heirs and talks about the important people she comes into contact with in her office job in Manhattan's. Her pretensions to refinement are desperately nippy in high pitched she's a phony Tony spots that but with a drive inside her that isn't phony he spots that too. Gorney wins you over by her small harried tight face and her line reading which are sometimes miraculously edgy and ardent"-PAULINE KAEL

by Anonymousreply 162December 5, 2023 3:07 AM

Tony doesn't make her as a try hard until he goes to her Manhattan apartment and meets the douche she's living with.

That being said, in terms of looks and her stuck up attitude she was right for Tony who was fascinated by her. But her dancing stunk up the screen.

by Anonymousreply 163December 5, 2023 3:14 AM

[quote]Stephanie is a little climber and show off a Brooklyn girl who gives herself heirs

Heirs? Oy.

by Anonymousreply 164December 5, 2023 3:57 AM

Sandy Dennis would have brought that little something extra to the role.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 165December 5, 2023 4:00 AM

I would have too.

by Anonymousreply 166December 5, 2023 6:34 AM

I can't believe nobody has mentioned Charlene Tilton yet! She would've knocked it out of the park!

by Anonymousreply 167December 5, 2023 6:35 AM

Why not Bonnie Franklin. She could have tapped to the Bee Gee songs.

by Anonymousreply 168December 5, 2023 7:21 AM

Valerie Perrine? She could dance and flash a smile.

by Anonymousreply 169December 5, 2023 11:59 AM

Zara Cully would have knocked it out of the park.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 170December 5, 2023 1:39 PM

Karen Lynn Gorney was at CHILLER in Jersey a few years ago with Donna Pescow and some of the guys.

by Anonymousreply 171December 5, 2023 1:55 PM

A young Kathleen Beller reminds me of the very young girl that Jerry Seinfeld dated. Shoshanna something

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 172December 5, 2023 9:31 PM

Was Joyce De Witt not in the conversation for the part of Stephanie, she seems like she would have been a natural choice, ambiguously ethnic looking, could put on airs and I believe had extensive dance training.

by Anonymousreply 173December 5, 2023 10:26 PM

Joyce Bulifant would have been fantastic as Stephanie. She would have carried the role to much greater heights than some Karen ever could have.

by Anonymousreply 174December 5, 2023 10:30 PM

R170 funny, , but in another dimension I could see this having been another Diana Ross/Billy Dee Williams movie. Or maybe Diana Ross/Clifton Davis. I’ll see myself out

by Anonymousreply 175December 5, 2023 11:31 PM

I should have played Stephanie! But without dialogue! Who needs dialogue! We had faces then. And my face could open any door!

by Anonymousreply 176December 6, 2023 12:14 AM

Karen Lynn Gorney was one of the most memorable characters on Law & Order. She was a landlord responsible for the death of an infant all the while claiming that she was the victim.

by Anonymousreply 177December 6, 2023 12:20 AM

How did she killed the baby? Not providing heat to the building in winter or something?

by Anonymousreply 178December 6, 2023 12:24 AM

R177 That was my favorite episode of all time!

by Anonymousreply 179December 6, 2023 12:52 AM

[quote]R173 Was Joyce De Witt not in the conversation for the part of Stephanie, she seems like she would have been a natural choice… I believe she had extensive dance training.

This is the most inspired piece of casting in Hollywood history! Joyce was robbed.

I bet Bonnie Franklin FLIPPED when she heard Joyce was under consideration - bursting into the production office to slap execs viciously.

In the end, Bonnie cost them both the role.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 180December 6, 2023 1:32 AM

The casting drama was further intensified when Linda Lavin said she would take the role only if Stephanie was given two "adult contemporary scat songs" to perform solo at 2001 Odyssey.

by Anonymousreply 181December 6, 2023 2:09 AM

It's funny how so many people who watch Saturday Night Fever for the first time think they're going to see a fun disco movie because they're only familiar with the music, but are surprised that the movie is so dark, bleak and cynical.

by Anonymousreply 182December 6, 2023 3:11 AM

Karen Carpenter was told at her audition, “No fatties!”

It’s what led to a lot of her notorious problems[bold] : (

by Anonymousreply 183December 6, 2023 4:19 AM
Loading
Need more help? Click Here.

Yes indeed, we too use "cookies." Take a look at our privacy/terms or if you just want to see the damn site without all this bureaucratic nonsense, click ACCEPT. Otherwise, you'll just have to find some other site for your pointless bitchery needs.

×

Become a contributor - post when you want with no ads!