Barbara De Rossi in La Piovra

In 1984, Barbara De Rossi appeared as a heroin-addicted countess in the Italian mafia miniseries La Piovra (translated to The Octopus in english). This was the first of three Rai (an Italian television company) miniseries she did between 1984-85 (followed by Quo Vadis? and Mussolini and I, both in 1985).

Here are a couple of images from La Piovra:

Jill Townsend

Jill Townsend is a wonderful actress from the 1960s and 70s. She is perhaps best known for her role as Dulcey Coopersmith on the 90 minute CBS western Cimarron Strip. I originally had sought out an episode of that show which featured Tuesday Weld in her final television guest appearance, but was pleasantly surprised to discover Jill Townsend when I sat down to watch it. I went on to check out some of her other small screen guest star roles and have been consistently satisfied. She did some really fun episodes of The Wild Wild West and The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., and displayed some incredibly graceful aging in an episode of Space: 1999. Jill Townsend appeared in some other famous works, like Alfie Darling (the not so well remembered sequel to Alfie), Sitting Target (with Oliver Reed), The Awakening (with Charlton Heston) and the distinguished miniseries Poldark...but I haven't gotten around to watching them yet.

Kate McNeil in Monkey Shines (1988)

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Wendy Kilbourne in North and South

North and South

Wendy Kilbourne is perhaps best remembered for her role as Constance Flynn Hazard in the popular North and South miniseries trilogy.  It was a big break for her career; previously she had only made a handful of guest appearances on shows like Knight Rider, Riptide, and the A-Team. 

Wendy Kilbourne on Midnight Caller

Midnight Caller

Wendy Kilbourne portrays Devon King, owner of a San Francisco radio station.  She hires ex-cop Jack Killian (played by Gary Cole) to host a late-night radio call-in program.  Jack never shies away from controversy and Devon always comes along for the ride as hard-hitting moral dilemmas are tackled each week.

Kate McNeil in Beach House (1982)

Beach House

Kate McNeil

I first saw Kate McNeil in The House on Sorority Row, a pleasing little horror film from 1983.  When I saw her next, in George Romero's 1988 simian paranoia flick Monkey Shines, I barely realized it was the same actress (due to what I felt was a significant change in appearance).  Sufficiently impressed by her performances in both films, I began to seek out more of McNeil's work and quickly became a confirmed fan.

The bulk of Kate McNeil's career has been in the television realm, with scattered feature film appearances over the years. Look here for more detailed information.