Interviews: Classic TV, Movie Stars at the Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show

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StarCindy Morgan, Lacey Underall in “Caddyshack”

The legendary Caddyshack was a film at the right place and right time. Tapping into the popularity of Saturday Night Live, and cast members Chevy Chase and Bill Murray, it also featured the career surges of Rodney Dangerfield and Ted Knight. Among all those zany guys was Cindy Morgan, who played Chevy’s erstwhile girlfriend from the country club, the luscious Lacey Underall.


Cindy Morgan, Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show, September 26th, 2010
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com: The rumor is that the whole of Caddyshack was produced ‘under the influence.’ True or false?

Cindy Morgan: To the best of my knowledge, very true.

HollywoodChicago.com: What role, person or job was the key to your first big break in show business, and what was it?

Morgan: My first break in show business was working in Chicago doing morning drive radio on the frequency that eventually became the Loop (WLUP). I had to run my own production board, and I made $135 a week. And I wasn’t able to supplement my income with commercials because I was their on-air disk jockey. So I said the heck with you guys, I’m moving to Los Angeles. They said I’d never get a job. I shot back that I would have a billboard on Sunset Boulevard within a year. I had one in eight months.

HollywoodChicago.com: What was the best advice anyone ever gave you about acting or show business?

Morgan: Never listen to your agents, because you’re responsible for your own decisions.

HollywoodChicago.com: What do you think most people don’t know about Cindy Morgan that they should know?

Morgan: That this year people will finally know that Lacey Underall is also Yori from the original ‘Tron.’ I’m very grateful to the Tron fans for the ‘Yori Lives’ campaign.

HollywoodChicago.com: At what point in your career did you stop and wonder, ‘how did I get here?’

Morgan: The first day I was on the air, when I was in college I was working two radio stations at the same time in DeKalb, Illinois. But they told me that by using my real name, Cindy Cichorski, I couldn’t be on both places. So I had to pick another name. I said ‘Morgan,’ because I had read a story about Morgan le Fay [King Arthur Sorceress] when I was 12 years old. I sent out resumes after college using both names, and Morgan got hired.

StarDavid Naughton of “An American Werewolf in London”

David Naughton had a string of successes starting around the late 1970s. After starring in the ubiquitous “I’m a Pepper” commercials for Dr. Pepper, he was on the short-lived sitcom “Makin’ It” in 1979. Although the show didn’t succeed, his version of the show’s theme song became a Billboard Top Ten hit, actually staying on the charts longer than the show was on the air. He followed that up in 1981, playing David Kessler, the title role in An American Werewolf in London, directed by John Landis.


David Naughton, Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show, September 26th, 2010
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com: Did you or anybody on the production have any idea that An American Werewolf in London was going to be a hit?

David Naughton: Well, we knew the script was good, we had director John Landis fresh off of ‘Animal House,’ and we had Rick Baker, the monster make-up expert. But otherwise we were by ourselves, off-balance around London, and it felt at times we were making the film in secret.

HollywoodChicago.com: What kind of whirlwind did you experience when the Dr. Pepper ads led to the hit song, which led to the werewolf movie?

Naughton: It was a good time, the 1970s were happening. It was a terrific time in my life that I look back upon fondly.

HollywoodChicago.com: What is it like to here your own voice coming out of all those radios during the spring and summer of 1979?

Naughton: First I was happily and pleasantly surprise, because it was so unusual that the song hit two months after the show went off the air. Then I was elated when it took off. People used to call me and tell me to ‘turn on the radio,’ as if I was to drop everything and find the station. [laughs] I didn’t want to cause an accident trying to find it on my car radio. It was all part of the fun.

StarJennifer Korbin of the Cinemax Series “Lingerie”

The Cinemax premium movie channel would have never got its nickname of “Skinemax,” if it wasn’t for original adult programming like “Lingerie.” The “After Dark” series follows a cadre of scantily clad gals and guys, under the auspice of Lacey Summers, played by Jennifer Korbin.


Jennifer Korbin, Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show, September 26th, 2010
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com: This is your second season as Lacey on Lingerie. What can we expect in this current season?

Jennifer Korbin: The cast is twice as big, and Amber Smith joins us playing my professional nemesis Giovanna. Last season I complained that I didn’t get to wear any lingerie, I just designed it. So for this season I pretty much walk around all the time in it. [laughs] It’s a funny show, and the director we have now likes to bring out the humor.

HollywoodChicago.com: What role or person was the key to your first big break in show business?

Korbin: When I got to Los Angeles, I got my SAG card pretty quickly and started doing bit parts in various shows. Perhaps my first break came on the show ChromiumBlue.com, which aired on Showtime.

HollywoodChicago.com: What is the best advice someone ever gave you about acting and what was it?

Korbin: Don’t take yourself too seriously.

HollywoodChicago.com: What other career ventures have you tried, and how did they eventually help you as an actor?

Korbin: I have three college degrees and two certifications that have nothing to do with acting. My undergrad degree is in psychology and criminal justice, and I worked with abused women and children. I was a rape crisis counselor, certified in assault. I’ve trained police dogs, I’m an animal rights activist, and that was all in my home state of Texas. Then I came to Los Angeles and did a 180.

HollywoodChicago.com: Since you are now part of the Cinemax After Dark ethos, do you think shows like yours are healthy or do they cater to the puritan America who want to sneak and watch it after 11 pm?

Korbin: I think the gap is being bridged. Cinemax is owned by HBO and I have a good relationship with HBO. They are kind of using Lingerie to create a more mainstream attitude towards After Dark, and what I find in public is that it’s not so much men that come up to me, but women. They are watching the shows with their husbands, so in that regard it’s healthy.

HollywoodChicago.com: So how do you personally handle both the nudity assignments and the simulated love scenes in Lingerie?

Korbin: Nudity I never had a problem with, but when it came to doing the love scenes, I had to consume a nice big bottle of wine to first do that. In fact, my first on-screen kiss was followed by my first love scene, and that was on Lingerie. It’s gotten easier, but the simulated love scenes are always odd.

The Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show is back in Chicago on Saturday, March 26th and Sunday, March 27th at the Hilton Rosemont/Chicago O’Hare Airport Hotel. Click here for details.

HollywoodChicago.com senior staff writer Patrick McDonald

By PATRICK McDONALD
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

© 2011 Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com

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