Celebrity (American TV series)

American television drama series (1984)

Celebrity

Genre| Drama
Based on| Celebrity
by Thomas Thompson
Written by|

* William Hanley

Directed by| Paul Wendkos
Starring|

* Michael Beck
* Joseph Bottoms
* Ben Masters
* James Whitmore

Composer| Leonard Rosenman
Country of origin| United States
Original language| English
No. of seasons| 1
No. of episodes| 3
Production
Producer| Rosilyn Heller
Editors| James Galloway
David Newhouse
Eric A. Sears
Running time| 313 minutes
Original release
Network| NBC
Release| February 12 (1984-02-12) –
February 14, 1984 (1984-02-14)

Celebrity is a television miniseries based on a novel by Thomas Thompson. It was broadcast from February 12 to February 14, 1984, on NBC.[1][2]

## Series overview

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Celebrity is based on a 1983 novel by Thomas Thompson.[2] The series was filmed in Texas, New York and Los Angeles and is altogether six and a half hours long.[3] In Germany, the UK and North America the series is published on VHS.[4][5][6] The series was shown in Spain, Brazil, Finland, Turkey and Canada.[7]

## Plot

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During their days as high school students in Texas, three friends – T.J. Luther, Mack Crawford and Kleber Cantrell – are involved in a rape. While only one of the boys commits the crime, the others watch and do nothing. The victim dies, and the boys hide the body and promise each other to never speak of it again.

All three grow up to be very successful in their fields. 25 years later, Kleber is a world-famous journalist, Mack is a movie star, and Luther is a demagogic evangelist who runs a controversial church. When they meet up again, the meeting ends in tragedy. One of the friends is shot dead, the other one is critically wounded and the third one is the murderer.

### Cast

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Starring

* Michael Beck as T.J. Luther
* Joseph Bottoms as Mack Crawford
* Ben Masters as Kleber Cantrell

Guest starring

* James Whitmore as Clifford Casey
* Tess Harper as Susan French
* Karen Austin as Ceil Shannon
* Ned Beatty as Otto Leo
* Claude Akins as Uncle Bun Luther
* Dinah Manoff as Missy Craymore
* Debbie Allen as Regina Brown
* Jennifer Warren as Martha Dalton
* Hal Holbrook as Calvin Sledge

Co-starring

* Bonnie Bartlett as Mabel Hofmeyer
* Rhonda Dotson as Laurie Killman
* Jerry Hardin as Jonah Job
* Peter Nelson as Jeffie Crawford
* Anne Haney as Millie
* Stephen Pearlman as Arnold Beckman
* Kelli Maroney as Joanne
* River Phoenix as Young Jeffie Crawford
* James N. Harrell as Dr. Taler
* Sherman Howard as Director
* John M. Jackson as Detective

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## Awards and nominations

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### Nominations

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Primetime Emmy Awards

* 1984: Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or a Special (Philip H. Lathrop)

Edgar Allan Poe Awards:

* 1985: Best Television Feature or Miniseries (William Hanley)[8]

## Critical reception

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John J. Connor (The New York Times) mentions that the series has a strong cast. Furthermore, the series has a great script, which includes the major events during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, such as the Vietnam War or the assassination of John F. Kennedy.[3] Tom Shales (The Deseret News) adds that the tale is very well plotted and "irresistible as a good rumor".[2] According to Arthur Unger (Monitor) Celebrity is easy to watch and once started is difficult to stop.[9]

## References

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1. ^ "Celebrity (1984 TV Mini-Series) Episode List". imdb.com. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
2. ^ a b c Shales, Tom (February 11, 1984). "'Celebrity' Mini series is irresistible". The Deseret News. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
3. ^ a b John J. O'Connor (February 10, 1984). "'CELEBRITY,' A MYSTERY IN THREE PARTS". The New York Times. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
4. ^ "Celebrity - Der Ruhm". Amazon. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
5. ^ "Celebrity". Amazon. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
6. ^ "Celebrity". Amazon. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
7. ^ "Celebrity. Release Info". Imdb.com. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
8. ^ "Celebrity (1984 TV Mini-Series) Awards". imdb.com. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
9. ^ Unger, Arthur (February 10, 1984). "Networks are heating up potboilers for 'sweeps' period". csmonitor.com. Retrieved June 25, 2014.

## External links

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* Celebrity at IMDb

*[No.]: Number