Willard whyte howard hughes

The Jimmy Dean Show premiered in September and was notable not only for giving wider exposure to country performers but also for the weekly appearance of Rowlf the Muppet dog.

Muppets creator Jim Henson also started in Washington and Dean knew his work from Henson's Sam and Friends show on the NBC station, as well as a wildly popular series of coffee commercials that featured early versions of the Muppets.

Dean invited Henson to join his new series, giving Henson and the Muppets their first national exposure. Dean's show was a Thursday night hit for two seasons, but ABC moved him to Friday nights at 10 for his third year, putting Dean directly opposite the hugely popular second season of The Man From U.

By April , Dean's show was off the air. He later turned up in a few episodes of those refuges for stars of another era, Fantasy Island and Murder She Wrote. He had a recurring role in Dale Robertson's short-lived series J. Starbuck, and appeared in the feature film "Big Bad John" that was supposedly inspired by his song. Early in , production of the seventh James Bond picture, "Diamonds Are Forever," was getting under way.

The film's most notable angle at the time was Sean Connery's return to the role of Bond after he'd grown weary of the character, the films and their attendant mania, and had refused to appear in the previous picture, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service. But Dean played an entirely new character dreamed up by producer Cubby Broccoli: an alliteratively named, publicity-shy billionaire who lived in a Las Vegas penthouse and hadn't been seen in public for years.

The character of Willard Whyte was obviously a knockoff of Howard Hughes, the eccentric producer Broccoli knew from their days in Hollywood but who was best known by then as a reclusive, oddball billionaire who rarely ventured out of his Las Vegas penthouse. Dean actually was working for Hughes, performing at the Desert Inn — the Las Vegas hotel owned by Hughes which he so secretively lived atop — when Broccoli arrived to scout locations, saw Dean's act and decided he was the one to portray the film's ersatz Hughes.

After Bond presumably killed Blofeld, rescued Tiffany Case and destroyed Blofeld's lair, Whyte and Felix bid Bond and Tiffany farewell, with Whyte jokingly remarking "If you are having a good time, I will have the captain steer the ship in circles! The character of Whyte takes several traits from eccentric industrialist Howard Hughes such as the similar name and notably the reclusive behavior. Around the time of filming Hughes too was secluded at a Las Vegas hotel, similar to the character in the movie.

Although Whyte wasn't seen until later, Jimmy Dean dubbed for Charles Gray while he impersonated the billionaire. Connery Dr. On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The Living Daylights Licence to Kill. Broccoli dreamed Howard Hughes has been replaced by an impostor. Dean would later reminisce on how potentially risky his decision to play the role was; noting that they sent Howard Hughes the first 16mm print of every James Bond movie and he may not have appreciated how he was represented.

James Bond Wiki Explore. Hunt Tom Mankiewicz. Ken Adam Syd Cain. John Glen Peter R. Hunt Norman Wanstall. Albert R. Hunt Tom Mankiewicz Michael Kitchen. Connery Dr. On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The Living Daylights Licence to Kill. James Bond Jr. Project video game. Explore Wikis Community Central.

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