Valerie Harper is best known for playing the iconic role of Rhoda Morgenstern on “The Mary Tyler Moore” show and then her own spinoff, “Rhoda.” She became so synonymous with the role that when it came time for her to write her own autobiography more than three decades after “Rhoda” went off the air, she titled it “I, Rhoda.” What many don’t know is that Harper had an impressive stage career both before and after playing Rhoda. In her early years, she was a dancer and then transitioned into comedy and acting. Despite the universal love for Valerie Harper (and Rhoda), she also faced challenges. She grappled with a very public contract dispute for the sitcom that bore her name, “Valerie,” which many believe tarnished her career. Then in 2013, Harper faced revealed that she had received a terminal cancer diagnosis and was told she had just months to live. But Harper would defy the odds, living six years longer than anyone had expected. This special Behind Closed Doors is the story of how Valerie Harper became one of the most popular television stars of all time, and how she persevered through her personal tragedy with grace, positivity and a spirited will to live.
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She started life as a girl from Queens with a lot of spunk, determination and talent. Armed with beauty, brains and what would turn out to be iconic voice, Fran Drescher knew from a very young age that she wanted to be an actor. Finding a kindred spirit in teenage soulmate Peter Jacobson, the two dedicated themselves to theater and then film and television, falling in love along the way. Early bit but standout parts in films like Saturday Night Fever saw her move from New York to L.A. where she worked regularly and where she and Peter got married. Frustrated with not being recognized for her unique abilities, a chance encounter with the head of CBS lead to her developing, pitching and selling the Nanny and launching her to superstardom. The dark side of fame came when the media uncovered and reported on a horrific assault she and Peter had survived years earlier. While in therapy to recover from the assault, Peter revealed that he was gay, severing their long-time relationship as colleagues and partners. With the end of the Nanny and her marriage, Fran didn’t want for work but couldn’t replicate the success of the Nanny. Shortly after the show ended, she learned that she had ovarian cancer. Surviving that gave her a new mission, an organization she founded called Cancer Schamncer, dedicated to teaching people how to avoid cancer and giving survivors support. Her battle with cancer, from which she completely recovered, brought her and Peter back together as soulmates, a special and unique relationship that continues to this day. With a new situation comedy Indebted on the air, tons of projects in the works, and the love and support of close family and friends, Fran Drescher embraces the future with love and laughter.
Anchored by a deeply personal and revealing interview with Valerie Bertinelli and including interviews with her family and closest friends and colleagues, Valerie Bertinelli: In My Own Words is a compelling revelation of the many triumphs and tragedies of one of the most popular and beloved stars of television films and situation comedies.
Born Mary Catherine Collins in Long Beach, California, Bo Derek stumbled into acting and then fame through sheer luck and circumstance. Her first role came in an independent film directed by John Derek, a man who would forever change her life. The two fell in love despite a 30-year age difference and the fact that Derek was married to Linda Evans, a beautiful and talented star in her own right. Labelled as outlaws from the start, the two married and began a long and controversial life together. A single phone call led to Bo being cast in the film “10,” turning her into a superstar literally overnight. But fame was fickle and after John bucked the studio system and directed Bo in his own films including Tarzan and Bolero, the media scorched the couple – Bo for being talentless and John for being a Svengali. Quietly Bo became an accomplished producer always bringing in her films on time and under budget, but the media ignored her skills, harping on her physical appearance and the couples’ age difference. When John passed of a heart attack, Bo reinvented herself, continuing to act but also embracing activism on behalf of veterans and animals. She also unexpectedly found another John, the actor John Corbett, and the two have been a happily unmarried couple for nearly 20 years. Today, Bo is as beautiful as ever, aging gracefully, enjoying her beloved horses and continuing to act.
On September 6th, 2018, news broke that Hollywood icon Burt Reynolds had died. Burt broke into the bigtime by winning the lead in gritty survivalist drama Deliverance in 1972, and became a household name in the late 70’s and early 80’s in light-hearted car chase movies such as Smokey and the Bandit, and Cannonball Run. Burt was box-office gold, but behind all the fame and fortune he was battling demons. Despite his easy-going image, Burt suffered panic attacks that were so severe that he needed to be hospitalised for checks. To combat this stress and anxiety Burt turned to large doses of anti anxiety medications. To make matters worse, to cope with the injuries he picked up doing stunts on film and TV, he added painkiller medications into the mix . His reliance on prescription pills turned into addiction and led to an overdose and a coma – but the star survived and went on to conquer his addictions after decades of struggle. Towards the end of his life Burt had appeared stooped and in pain in public appearances – so what had happened to reduce this former Hollywood hunk to a hunched, unsteady figure, and could it provide vital clues to his eventual death? World renowned forensic pathologist, Dr. Michael Hunter analyses the crucial details of Burt troubled life to find the answer.
On January 22nd 1994, just one day after his 72nd birthday, actor Telly Savalas died in bed at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Los Angeles, but he is immortalized in the most famous part he played, bald headed Detective Theo Kojak, the world’s best known and best loved cop. Telly rose from a roller coaster childhood which saw him pitched from private school and privilege into living in the harsh realities of New York’s Lower East Side during the Great Depression of the 1930’s. He never intended to be an actor but in his mid-thirties he attended an audition by chance and ended up winning the part which launched his on-screen career. He quickly won plaudits from critics and moviegoers alike as a screen heavy, playing chilling psychopaths who exuded an easy charm, before landing the part of hard-nosed but kind hearted cop Kojak on the small screen. He became an unlikely sex symbol, and embraced the Hollywood lifestyle eagerly, and that may have been his downfall. The death certificate states that he suffered kidney failure as a result of bladder cancer – but while almost half of those diagnosed with Bladder cancer survive for 10 years after diagnosis, Telly was dead within a month…and many still attribute his death to a different cause. What was the truth behind the rumors, and could his celebrated bald head be connected with what really killed him. World renowned forensic pathologist, Dr. Michael Hunter needs to analyze every detail of Telly’s life to piece together the facts of what happened to end it.
On July 19th 2014, the world was shocked and saddened by the news that beloved American actor and producer James Garner had died at the age of 86. James had made a name for himself as one of the most genuine stars of his generation boasting a career that spanned 6 decades. Starring in over 85 movies and television shows James created some of our most loved TV characters including Maverick and Jim Rockford from The Rockford Files. Born into poverty, James had a difficult childhood growing up in the small town of Norman Oklahoma at the start of the great depression. His teenage years were tough due to an abusive stepmother and a lack of interest in any of the numerous jobs he tried. Then In 1950 he became the first man from Oklahoma to be drafted to the Korean War where he sustained numerous injuries. James then caught his first acting break by chance after discovering an old friend had become an actor’s agent and following a contract with legendary film company ‘Warner Brothers’ the role of Maverick catapulted him to Hollywood stardom. He was one of the few actors that made it big in both film and television, in a time when it was rare to do so. James became a folk hero to other actors when he won huge legal battles against two of the biggest studios, breaking his contract and clawing back hidden revenues. Known for his effortless acting and his humorous anti-heroes he was one of Hollywood’s highest ranked actors but behind James’ smile there was hidden pain and we discover he had secretly battled ill health for over 35 years. James suffered from multiple life-threatening conditions, he underwent numerous surgeries and struggled both mentally and physically. James died of a heart attack at the age of 86. Why did one of our most treasured actors succumb to this fete? And how did he battle ill health for so long? World renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Hunter needs to analyze James’ history, lifestyle and medical past in order to find the answers.
Steve McQueen was a legendary actor probably best known for his roles in ‘The Great Escape’, ‘The Magnificent Seven’ and ‘Bullitt’. By the mid 1970s, ‘The King of Cool’ was the world’s highest paid movie star but on November 7 1980 he died almost unrecognizable in a hospital bed in Mexico at just 50 years old. His death fuelled wild rumors and allegations of conspiracy.
Forensic Pathologist Dr. Michael Hunter examines Steve’s extensive medical records to unravel the truth surrounding his death and attempts to reveal what really happened to this iconic star.
Sir Roger Moore died of liver cancer in 2017 at the age of 89. The famously modest and unassuming British actor had been many people’s favourite James Bond. Where Sean Connery had played 007 straight, Roger had played him for laughs. He’d identified the joke at the heart of the role – James Bond, the secret agent so familiar that everybody knows his favourite drink. For Roger Moore, Bond was a parody or he was nothing. But Roger’s swashbuckling, devil-may-care Bond had belied a life of serious health problems. He was not as robust as the movie image of indestructibility suggested. Roger’s life story read like a medical textbook with major ailments at every turn. It had started with near terminal double-pneumonia at the age of five – the doctor had told his father he’d be back in the morning with a death certificate. The son of a south London policeman, Roger had been forced to reinvent himself at RADA – the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art – after being told that his cockney accent wouldn’t do. This, coupled with his father’s advice to remember that success might be short lived fostered in him a sense of life’s precariousness. His international standard hypochondria and almost pathological self-deprecation were the consequence. His critics described his acting as wooden and shallow and deep down, he probably agreed with them. But as his friend, Sir Michael Caine says, making it look easy is the hardest thing. Sir Roger had made friends wherever he had gone, and long before the end of his life had been elevated to the status of National Treasure without ever quite understanding how. World-renowned forensic pathologist Dr Michael Hunter analyses the details of this fascinating case to unearth the truth behind Sir Roger Moore’s death. He had suffered years of ill health and fought three different types of cancer but had somehow made it to the age of 89. Maybe there had been more 007 in Sir Roger Moore than he had let on.
On October 31st 2020, the world was shocked by the news that legendary star of the silver screen and the man who optimized James Bond, Sean Connery, had died. As one of the original action heroes Sean had been dealing out thrills and spills to moviegoers for over sixty years by the time of his death. Born in the middle of the great depression Sean would rise from absolute poverty to become one of the most recognizable faces on the planet. When Sean was the first cast as Ian Flemmings literary super spy, James Bond, in 1962 he was relatively unknown, outside a few small roles on British television, but within just 7 short years, he would have five hit films with the franchise under his belt and millions in the bank as a wave of “Bondmania” took over the world. Life from the outside seemed to be all smooth sailing for Sean and he would die in The Bahamas surrounded by his loved ones at 90 years old. But behind closed doors, Sean suffered from cancer scares, potentially lethal throat polyps and in his later year’s severe dementia. Interestingly Sean’s death certificate would list old age as a contributing factor, this is unusual as old age itself is not a cause of death, no one dies from old age but rather the illnesses you contract in the later stage of your life and the bodies incapacity to deal with them. So if old age is listed as a cause, what did Sean do in his life to achieve such longevity and what really killed him? World-renowned forensic pathologist, Dr. Michael Hunter needs to analyze every detail available to piece together what was really happening in Sean’s body and how it lead to his death.
A Live Series following Law Enforcement Officers On Patrol across the country – all live and in real time.
A discussion of what’s in store for the upcoming episode of “On Patrol: Live” and a sneak peek of the departments and officers that the cameras will be following that night; the hosts also look back at the most memorable moments from past episodes.
A Live Series following Law Enforcement Officers On Patrol across the country – all live and in real time.
A Live Series following Law Enforcement Officers On Patrol across the country – all live and in real time.
