Happy Birthday to Joey Heatherton!

[spike3]

Posted: 9/14/12 at 3:50pm

Only 2 Broadway appearences. But in her time, one hell of a dancer/singer.

TV and all the big nightclubs were her venues.

Shes 68 today, living in L.A.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 9/14/12 at 3:52pm

Try to find BLUEBEARD sometime. One of Richard Burton's real low points. A total hoot.

Updated On: 9/14/12 at 03:52 PM

[WOSQ]

Posted: 9/14/12 at 4:06pm

There was almost a third Broadway appearance by Joey Heatherton.

Joey was announced and may have even started rehearsals in the lead for Drat! The Cat! (circa 1965) but was replaced by Lesley Ann Warren. I don't know why she left the show.

This has one of the most delightful scores for a one week flop that I know of.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 9/14/12 at 4:27pm

I had to look twice to make sure that this wasn't an old thread of mine.


"Now here is the incredible thing: During all of these flashbacks and gory tales, and despite the fact that she herself has seen the dismembered bodies on ice, Joey Heatherton never for a second betrays fear! It isn't that she acts as if she were brave. She really is oblivious to the implications of her situation. She tries to talk her way out of it.

This, and her open mouth and sweet face, make her seem something like a more beautiful Goldie Hawn, a sexier Doris Day. Innocence falls lightly upon her like sunlight. Her voice, so fresh and uninflected and American, has the same effect. She is sensual on the screen like Marilyn Monroe was sensual, because she gives the impression that there is no artfulness involved. There's an interplay between her direct and naive performance and the sheer awfulness of the movie. And that is, finally, what you wind up watching. There is no longer any novelty in watching the sad disintegration of Richard Burton's acting career."

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19720913/REVIEWS/209130301

And yep, the movie's on YouTube:

Bluebeard (1972)

Updated On: 9/14/12 at 04:27 PM

[spike3]

Posted: 9/14/12 at 4:31pm

There was also talk of Ms. Heatherton going into WOMAN OF THE YEAR on Broadway when Raquel Welch left the show. Alas, it never happened.

[Playbilly]

Posted: 9/14/12 at 4:45pm

Joey and Lola Falana...those were the days of sex symbols

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 9/14/12 at 5:05pm

Poor Joey Heatherton...she was always in Ann-Margret's shadow

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 9/14/12 at 5:17pm

Joey on The Dean Martin Show

[Jim Colyer]

Posted: 9/14/12 at 5:30pm

Wow! Joey Heatherton. That's a fantasy from my past!

[Jon]

Posted: 9/14/12 at 7:05pm

She played a major role in my puberty.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 9/14/12 at 10:18pm

To those of us old folks here, I do believe her dad was none other than Ray Heatherton a/k/a The Merry Mailman

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/15/12 at 12:00am

Joey Heatherton and two boys choreographed by none other than Michael Bennett:

http://youtu.be/0p6swrw-4Ew

[MisterJosh85]

Posted: 10/5/21 at 6:13pm

Ms. Heatherton turned 77 this year. At her best her voice sounded clear and trumpet-esque, and her high kicks had better extension than Reinking. Unfortunately, by the end of the 70s she seemed worn down and prematurely aged. The trials and tribulations of her life had taken their toll. Some of the major events that I'd imagine hit her the hardest were her divorce from Lance Rentzel, the fact that her movie career never really gelled, and probably a lot of mistreatment by men in the 1960s before second wave feminism entered the public conciousness. I'm not sure if her drug use started post 1972 or earlier on, but in her late 70s and early 80s MDA telethon appearances she seems obviously under the influence of coke. (Like Liza was in certain performances around the same time.) She comes off like a wind up toy who's dancing as fast as she can, and looks near anorexic. Maybe with better mentorship like Ann-Margret had with George Burns she could've navigated it all better. She would have been a good replacement (in either role) in the original Broadway production of Chicago if she had been more in control of her life and career around that time. Regardless, she's still with us, so she must be doing something right. It's just unfortunate that she wasn't able to parlay such a promising start on Broadway and television into a more impressive body of work.

Ain't We Got Fun w/ Frank Sinatra Jr.

Tea for Two

Joey on The Dean Martin Show

Joey & Paul Lynde

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/6/21 at 7:51am

My dad was a BIIIG fan back in the day.