What famous persons life story do you think would make a great movie?

[gilligan fanatic]

I didn't know if to post this here or in movies but since we aren't discussing movies really I thought I would post this here.

Anyway there are some people who I think have such interesting stories. The first being Johnny Horton. He had a very modest life and didn't start to get popular to the last two years of his life. He had a dream he was going to die and he took classes on how to avoid and get out of dangerous situations and just a few days latter he died in a car crash. He was friends with a lot of other people including Hank Williams (his wife was married to him before he died) Glenn Cambell, Johnny Cash, and many others. He is a very interesting person.

Second is Barry Sadler, not really that famous of a person, but he had one really hit song (Ballad of the Green Berets) and wanted to continue writing songs. I have heard about 20 other songs of his and I like them all. He struggled trying to get back on the top and even wrote a series of books that have a cult following (I have never read the books though) He was shot while walking down a street one day and was in a coma for a long time. At one point his body was even stolen but latter put back. Another interesting person who doesn't get the recognition they deserve.

Third person is Ricky Nelson. Pioneer in music and on longest running live action sitcom in history. Another interesting person who was successful for many years but had it rough towards the end. Never made it into the 70's (minus Garden Party). Died in a plane crash almost 26 years ago when things were finally starting to look up for him.

Fourth person is Tony Randall. Just read Jack Klugman's book Tony and Me. Explains basically everything I would say here.

Some other people include Dave Aikeman, Jim Reeves, Sherwood Schwartz, and Bill Bixby.

Who do you think could be the basis of a movie.

[Ireneparalegal]

Ricky Nelson did have a movie made of his life. It was a tv movie, and not a very good one, IMO.

[gilligan fanatic]

Ricky Nelson did have a movie made of his life. It was a tv movie, and not a very good one, IMO.

hmm, I didn't know that. I am going to have to look for that even if it isn't that good.

[Ireneparalegal]

As a matter of fact, it was just on television a few weeks back, but I can't recall what channel it was on.

[dawsongirl]

Bill Bixby.

I agree. That would be a sad movie.


Interesting stuff about Barry Sadler.

[Ireneparalegal]

This person is NOT famous, but her life story is worthy of being told...she has a book out on her life and she is a phenomenal woman. She went from foster care, to prostitution, to drug addict and is NOW AN ATTORNEY!

Cupcake Brown (yep, that is her real first name):


http://www.cupcakebrown.com/main.php?NAV=about&PIC=about

(CBS) Every so often, a story comes along that reminds people of both the best and the worst that life has to offer. Such was the case of Cupcake Brown, whose amazing and moving story (video) was featured on The Early Show Tuesday.

Her life began with no hint of the pain that was to come.

"I had a mom and a dad and I lived in a wonderful neighborhood," she told Dave Price, "in a big Victorian style house. And I had my own bedroom. I had a white princess canopy bed."

Brown grew up in San Diego, in a loving and stable home. But everything changed when she was 11 years old and her mother died of a seizure. "Sometimes it hurts like it happened yesterday," she said.

To make matters worse, her step-father, Tim Long, who had raised Brown all her life, tried to get custody but lost when her biological father came to claim her.

"There was nothing I could do. She was taken away," Long said. "She was there and I could not get her back."

Her biological father put her into foster care, which, Brown says, was an utter nightmare.

"In foster care, I was raped and beaten. And so I ran away," she said. "I'm 11 years old, I'm on the streets. I'm cold. I'm hungry."

Brown says she met a prostitute that night who showed her some kindness and a way to make some money. Within weeks of her mother's death, she says she was well on her way to a life on the streets.

In her new memoir, "A Piece of Cake," Brown writes that she hitchhiked up and down the coast of California, joined a gang at 14, and was shot at 15. At 17, she found her way back to her stepfather, all grown up and all strung out. To convince herself she wasn't really a hopeless junkie, she wanted to work.

"If you work, you can't be an addict, so keep a job. You've got to keep a job," she said.

Attorney Ken Rose hired Brown, unaware, at first, of her problems.

"She wasn't the perfect image of a secretary from the way she dressed, but other than that, just being kind of a bit funky, no, I did not have any idea," he said.

Brown did good work for Rose but, within months, her addictions caught up with her job.


"She was absent a lot," said Rose, "and I really felt I might have to terminate her employment."

It was when she saw her reflection in a window one day, after a four-day crack binge, that Brown knew this life was over.

"For the first time I really, really saw myself," she told Price. "My eyes were sunken in my face. My lips were scabbed and burnt from the crack pipe … and I knew then that I was dying. And it was then that I realized that I didn't want to die like that. And that was the beginning of the beginning."

With Rose's support, she kept her job and went into rehab, where she met a sponsor who inspired her to reach for more.

"She said, 'What is a dream you had that drugs and alcohol stole from you?' " Brown said. " 'I want to be a lawyer.' And she said, 'Well, steal it back.' And I thought, 'Steal it back?' And she said, 'Yeah, steal it back.' And I said, 'Well, how am I going to steal it back?' And she said, 'Well, Cup, how do people become lawyers? They go to school.' "

Brown spent the next 11½ years in college and then law school, graduating in the top 10 percent of her class.

"I think everybody was shocked, including me, when I ended up in the top 10 percent. At the same time, I worked my butt off for that," she said.

David Balabanian's San Francisco law firm hired Brown and he became her mentor.

"What impressed me at the time was her extraordinary good cheer, enthusiasm, energy," Balabanian said. "I was completely unaware of her background and what she had been through prior to getting to law school."

At 41, and now a fifth year associate at one of the nation's top law firms, Cupcake Brown is taking inventory of her life and considers what her mother would say if she could see her now.

"I think she would say what I think God says, 'Well done, my child.' "

Brown is taking four months off for a book tour and a vacation, her first in more than a decade, and then she intends to return to her work as an attorney.

[gilligan fanatic]

As a matter of fact, it was just on television a few weeks back, but I can't recall what channel it was on.

is this the movie?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212468/

I rarely watch the Early Show but I think I saw that. You are right, I just hope if that is made Lifetime doesn't do it.

I agree. That would be a sad movie.


Interesting stuff about Barry Sadler.

I didn't realize how much stuff he did. I knew he acted in a lot of series but he directed almost as much as he stared in.

[gilligan fanatic]

I don't really follow this completly at all, but has anybody been reading this thread here? D.B. Cooper (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=146269)

Since it has so many replies I have been recently following it. The widow of Cooper has been commenting the last few months and somebody yesterday said they should make a movie about her. That is what got me the idea for this thread.

[Ireneparalegal]

is this the movie?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212468/

I rarely watch the Early Show but I think I saw that. You are right, I just hope if that is made Lifetime doesn't do it.



I didn't realize how much stuff he did. I knew he acted in a lot of series but he directed almost as much as he stared in.
Yep, that's the movie!

[Courtnee]

Marilyn Monroe

[Tootie]

Dave Pelzer

[LuLu Rogers]

John Ritter
Harry Anderson
Katey Sagal
Marilyn Monroe

[Hollow]

Dave Pelzer
i agree with that.

i think my own life would make a good movie or book, actually.

[SBTB Geek]

Lisa Lopes

[PZelda]

Irene, I agree about Cupcake. I want to buy her book - people like her fascinate me. It is amazing when they turn their lives around like that. It takes major determination and the will to do so. It's not very easy to change your life around.

[Ireneparalegal]

Irene, I agree about Cupcake. I want to buy her book - people like her fascinate me. It is amazing when they turn their lives around like that. It takes major determination and the will to do so. It's not very easy to change your life around.
I want to buy her book too. She was featured on Oprah and that's how I first heard abt her. Fascinating lady.

[Brad Russ]

I'd love to see bio-pics of these people:

Budd Dwyer
Owen Hart
Keith Green
Christine Chubbuck

Kind of weird that all the biopics I'd like to see, involve people who died tragically, but I just think that all four would make for very interesting stories.

[dawsongirl]

Christine Chubbuck

Is she the one that shot herself on the air or something?

[Brad Russ]

Is she the one that shot herself on the air or something?

Yep, back in 1972, or 1973 I believe it was. Iv'e read up alot on her over the past year or so, and her life was incredibly sad!! Budd Dwyer also committed suicide on live tv, during a news conference in 1987. I'm actually surprised Oliver Stone hasn't already made a movie about him, since it involves politics, and the terrible end to a prominent Republican Senator.

[Wawwie]

Who do you think could be the basis of a movie.
I think a TV movie about Todd Bridges would be very interesting.

[Buffyboy323]

Drum Roll please..........

Paris Hilton ;)

[Wawwie]

Paris Hilton ;)

I wouldn't watch it. She repulses me.

TODD BRIDGES!

[APPLEI]

I think a TV movie about Todd Bridges would be very interesting.
Todd Bridges lifestory would be a very good movie!
however Michael Jacksons would be a sick horror movie for those who like horror movies.
his sister Latoya could play Michael!
i have heard she needs the work:lol:
Christoper Reeves life would be an interesting movie.
Dean Cain could play him;)

[Sharop]

I'm a member of the Words Mailing List (which is a mailing list about the Bee Gees) and about fifteen months ago, I recall one of the members stating in a message that Andy Gibb would have been a good candidate to have a biographical film made about him, as all the necessary ingredients were there - Andy's sudden rise to fame, his rather quick dropping in fame, his drug problems, his much-publicised romance with Victoria Principal, and his early death, at age 30.

I agree that Andy's story is interesting (and tragic.) I also feel that a film about the Bee Gees would be interesting - after all, they've been recording songs and having hits since the 1960s - they first released a single in Australia (having emigrated there from England in 1958) in 1963, when Barry was 16 and Robin and Maurice were 13 (and little Andy was 5.) They've had ups and downs in their career - in the late 1960s they were successful, then they had disagreements in 1969, which led to Robin quitting the group in March of that year - then they reunited in 1970, had a few hits, and lose their popularity - then they came back in 1975, and were hugely popular until 1979 - then they declined in popularity again. Throughout the 1980s, they wrote songs for other artists - Chain Reaction for Diane Ross, Heartbreaker for Dionne Warwick, Guilty for Barbra Streisand, Islands in the Stream for Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. Then they had a number 1 hit in Britian in 1987 (You Win Again.) Then Andy died in March 1988, and they've continued releasing successful albums and singles throughout the 1990s, until their last album in 2001 - and then Maurice died in January 2003. Real interesting story!

[Janice]

Ted Williams
John Walsh
Peter Duel
John O'Neill
Mary Todd Lincoln
Dana Plato
Jim Croce
John Denver
Jack Cassidy

[James"Thunder"Early]

Not really famous, but I'd like to see a movie about Ma Duncan. She was insane, here's a description of a book about her

Book Description
Elizabeth Ann Duncan was a future daughter-in-law’s worst nightmare. Filled with deep-rooted instability, jealousy and obsession toward her son Frank, an obsession that far surpassed normal motherly love, Ms. Duncan, known to the world as "Ma Duncan," planned the murder of her pregnant daughter in law during the 1950’s. Detailing this heinous crime, Jim Barrett delves into Elizabeth Duncan’s turbulent past, reflecting on her numerous marriages, financial fraud, suicidal tendencies and above all, her unnatural obsession toward her son and her hatred toward her daughter-in-law. As the story is revealed, Barrett creates a work that is frighteningly captivating, emphasizing the fragility of the human mind and the extent to which one woman went to fulfill her obsession.
Written with vivid details chronicling this infamous murder, "Ma Duncan" not only uncovers gaps that have been left exposed in Elizabeth Duncan’s story, but incorporates interviews, pictures and Barrett’s own expertise in criminal law enforcement to complete the whole story.

[dawsongirl]

Not really famous, but I'd like to see a movie about Ma Duncan. She was insane, here's a description of a book about her

Book Description
Elizabeth Ann Duncan was a future daughter-in-law’s worst nightmare. Filled with deep-rooted instability, jealousy and obsession toward her son Frank, an obsession that far surpassed normal motherly love, Ms. Duncan, known to the world as "Ma Duncan," planned the murder of her pregnant daughter in law during the 1950’s. Detailing this heinous crime, Jim Barrett delves into Elizabeth Duncan’s turbulent past, reflecting on her numerous marriages, financial fraud, suicidal tendencies and above all, her unnatural obsession toward her son and her hatred toward her daughter-in-law. As the story is revealed, Barrett creates a work that is frighteningly captivating, emphasizing the fragility of the human mind and the extent to which one woman went to fulfill her obsession.
Written with vivid details chronicling this infamous murder, "Ma Duncan" not only uncovers gaps that have been left exposed in Elizabeth Duncan’s story, but incorporates interviews, pictures and Barrett’s own expertise in criminal law enforcement to complete the whole story.
:eek: That would be a wild film.

[dawsongirl]

Yep, back in 1972, or 1973 I believe it was. Iv'e read up alot on her over the past year or so, and her life was incredibly sad!! Budd Dwyer also committed suicide on live tv, during a news conference in 1987. I'm actually surprised Oliver Stone hasn't already made a movie about him, since it involves politics, and the terrible end to a prominent Republican Senator.
Oh wow....never heard about him. That must have been scary to watch either one.

[cmcb06]

It would be great to see a movie on the life of Doris Day. She was a fab actoress and i would love to see a movie about her.

[Tundra Wolf]

Forrest Gump.

...Oh wait.

[TheGreatPretender]

River Phoenix

[bad_boy]

James Dean

[bad_boy]

Oh, and Justin Timberlake! Da Man!