‘Mission: Impossible’ ACTRESS BARBARA BAIN WILL BE HONORED WITH STAR ON THE HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME

 

Hollywood Chamber to Honor Barbara Bain with Walk of Fame Star

Hollywood, Calif. –  Actress Barbara Bain will be honored with the 2,579th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 28, 2016 at 11:30 a.m. PDT The star in the category of Television will be dedicated at 6767 Hollywood Boulevard in front of The Stella Adler Theatre where Bain studied acting.

Helping Emcee and Hollywood Chamber President/CEO Leron Gubler to unveil the star will be Walk of Famers Ed Asner and Dick Van Dyke.

“We are pleased to honor an actress who starred in many different shows and especially in the popular “Mission: Impossible.”

 

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce that actress Barbara Bain will be honored with the 2,579th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 28, 2016 at 11:30 a.m. PDT The star in the category of Television will be dedicated at 6767 Hollywood Boulevard in front of The Stella Adler Theatre where Bain studied acting.

Helping Emcee and Hollywood Chamber President/CEO Leron Gubler to unveil the star will be Walk of Famers Ed Asner and Dick Van Dyke.

“We are pleased to honor an actress who starred in many different shows and especially in the popular Mission: Impossible, one of the most important franchises in television and movie history,” stated Gubler.

Barbara Bain, three time Emmy® winner (Mission: Impossible), was born in Chicago and attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It is there she discovered her life-long passion: modern dance. Relocating to New York, Bain worked as a fashion model while studying with the master of modern dance, Martha Graham. Further exploring her interest in the performing arts, Bain began her acting training in the private class of the most famous and respected acting teachers, Lee Strasberg. After a successful audition, Bain accepted an invitation to become a member of the legendary Actors Studio.

After studying for 1½ years, Bain was cast in every one of the first three roles for which she auditioned. She also toured 26 cities with the Broadway road company of Paddy Chayefsky’s Middle of the Night, a tour which landed her in Los Angeles. Not long thereafter, she found work on some of the most popular television shows of the day. She appeared opposite Larry Hagman in United Artists’ Harbormaster and Darrin McGavin in the popular Mike Hammer series, and was cast in the recurring role of Karen Wells, love interest of David Janssen, in the seminal private-eye series, Richard Diamond, Private Detective.

Bain continued to appear in numerous television series: Tightrope, The Law and Mr. Jones, Straightaway and Adventures in Paradise. She also had the opportunity to flex her comedy skills in one of the classic The Dick Van Dyke Show, created by Carl Reiner. Bain also shined in her comedic role as Alma Sutton in the spy-comedy, Get Smart, created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry. In between these two well-remembered appearances, Bain continued to be in demand, appearing in The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Hawaiian Eye, 77 Sunset Strip, Wagon Train, Ben Casey, My Mother the Car, and Perry Mason.

It was in 1966 that Bain would bring to life the role that would make her an international star. Created by Bruce Geller, Mission: Impossible which is celebrating its 50th anniversary was an espionage-thriller series, the likes of which had never appeared on television. Bain played Cinnamon Carter, a secret agent with beauty (her specialty was distraction) and the brains to match. For this role, Bain would become the first actress in television history to win three consecutive Emmy® awards for Lead Actress in a Dramatic Series, a record that would stand for nearly two decades.

In 1969, Bain appeared in a number of television movies: Murder Once Removed with John Forsythe, Goodnight, My Love directed by Peter Hyams, A Summer Without Boys and Steven Spielberg’s Savage.

In 1973, Bain accepted the invitation from British producers Gerry and Sylvia Anderson to appear in their new television series, Space: 1999, opposite her then-husband Martin Landau and actor Barry Morse ofThe Fugitive fame. Set some twenty-five years in the future, Space: 1999 was, at the time, the most expensive science fiction television series ever produced with feature film quality special effects. Bain appeared in Space: 1999 for two seasons as Doctor Helena Russell, a role that earned her much acclaim and millions more fans worldwide.

Following Space: 1999, Bain continued to make guest appearances in some of television’s hottest shows: The New Mike Hammer, Moonlighting, The Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Murder, She Wrote, My So-Called Life, Walker, Texas Ranger, Millennium, Strong Medicine, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and Likely Suspects. She also appeared in numerous feature films including American Gun (with James Coburn),Skinheads, The Spirit of ’76, Forget Me Not, Nothing Special (with Karen Black),Panic (opposite William H. Macy and Donald Sutherland) and the forthcoming Silver Skies with George Hamilton and the late Alex Rocco. Recently, she has appeared in many short films, including Grace, Lost Music, Match Made and Pacific Edge, for which she was awarded Best Actress awards at both the Los Angeles Independent Film Festivaland the Golden Door International Film Festival.

Although Bain continues to work steadily in film and television, it is her stage to which she has dedicated much time. She has garnered Los Angeles Critics Circle and DramaLogue Awards for her acting in such plays as Arthur Kopit’s Wings, Eugene O’Neill’s A Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days and Eugène Ionesco’s The Chairs.

A continuing member of the Actors Studio where she teaches and directs, Bain has also directed numerous plays in 99-seat theater venues in Los Angeles. This June she returns for the 8th year working with the Blank Theatre’s Young Playwrights Festival, mentoring young writers aged 9 to 19 and directing their plays for production on the stage of the Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood.

Twenty years ago, Bain founded the SAG Foundation’s (now SAG-AFTRA) BookPALS (Performing Artists for Literacy in Schools) program. She would travel weekly to Grape Street Elementary School in Watts for the next 15 years to read to kindergartners and first graders. Over the years, BookPALS has grown exponentially. Its mission to develop a love of reading and literacy amongst children has become an overwhelming success. Currently over 22,000 actors read in the classroom to 60,000 kids weekly in the United States.

 

2016 Walk of Western Stars Honorees are Johnny Crawford, star of Rifleman and Hal Needham, director and stuntman.

Santa Clarita, Calif. – The annual Walk of Western Stars inductees for 2016 have been announced and will be honored during the 23rd Annual Santa ClaritaCowboy Festivalpresented by Logix Federal Credit Union.  This year’s honorees are Johnny Crawford and Hal Needham.  The Stars recognizing the careers of these important Western film and TV professionals will be unveiled at a ceremony on Thursday, April 21, 2016, at 6:30 p.m. on Main Street between Market Street and 8th Street, and will be followed by a Movie Night event at Hart Hall, in William S. Hart Park, located at 24151 Newhall Avenue.

Johnny Crawford appeared in over twenty Western television shows and movies in his long career, and is best known for his role on the popular Western show The Rifleman, which ran from 1958 to 1963.  In the show, Mr. Crawford portrayed Mark McCain, the son of the Rifleman himself, Chuck Connors.  Mr. Crawford also appeared in shows such as The Lone RangerHave Gun-Will TravelWagon TrainBranded, and Little House on the Prairie.  His film work included roles in Westerns, such as El DoradoIndian Paint, and two of the Kenny Rodgers as the Gambler TV Movies.

Hal Needham was a legendary director, stuntman, and actor who did stunt work in over 250 Western films and television shows, and appeared in over 140 Westerns.  Mr. Needham, who passed away in 2013, is perhaps best known for his directing work on the Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run films with Burt Reynolds, but he also directed the 1979 Western The Villain.  His work as a stuntman, stunt coordinator, or actor on classic Westerns includes Blazing SaddlesThe Man Who Shot Liberty ValanceLaramieLittle Big ManMcLintock!How the West Was WonBandoleroRawhide, and The Wild, Wild West.

The Unveiling Ceremony of the Walk of Western Stars plaques will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 21, 2016, on Main Street in Old Town Newhall.  The ceremony will take place between Market and 8th Streets on the west side of the street, just north of the middle of the block.  The unveiling is free and open to the public.  Mr. Crawford will appear in person at the ceremony. 

The unveiling will be followed by a Movie Night event at William S. Hart Park.  The Movie Night includes dinner and a presentation of a montage honoring Mr. Needham and a showing of Mr. Crawford’s favorite episode of The Rifleman, which is entitled “The Ordeal.” There will also be a question and answer session with Mr. Crawford.  The doors will open and dinner will be served at 7:00 p.m., with the program starting at approximately 7:45 p.m.  Tickets are still available for the Movie Night event, and can be purchased at CowboyFestival.org.