Do you ever find yourself catching an old flick and wondering, "Oh man, where did that actor disappear to?" Then you scramble to Wikipedia only to find out that they died of bone cancer in 1978 and you become completely despondent for the rest of the evening (John Cazale anyone?)
Sometimes actors or actresses don't have as sad of a fate as Cazale, but they simply stop acting or fizzle out. Sometimes we miss them. The guys and gals listed below don't need to make a "comeback." A comeback makes it sound like they fell out of favor with society and they've been thrust into the naughty corner until society says they can come out — no, they simply need to come back. Come back into our lives and make us whole again.
Here are a list of actor and actresses I liked to see put back on first billing:
Rick Moranis
I could write an entire post about The Moranis, or as I like to call him, "My Little Nugget." For those of you keeping track, Moranis hasn't acted in a non-animated feature film since 1997. There has been mumble that Moranis may reprise his role as the sexy Louis Tully in Ghostbusters 3, but who the heck knows if that movie is ever getting made (and do we want it made?) So why did Moranis leave the business? Unfortunately, the actor lost his wife to cancer and he found it difficult juggling an actor career while raising small children. Moranis has left the biz and barely looked back.
So what has be been doing since he quit? Well, recording satirical country-western albums, of course. Moranis released, "The Agoraphobic Cowboy" in 2006 which can be heard at www.rickmoranis.com. I respect any person's desire to leave show business, it's a soulless industry that noms on babies with forks, but I would love to see Moranis come out of retirement. Heck, if he did a variety show with his SCTV buddies again, I'd be in (My Blue) heaven.
Deborah Foreman
In my mind, there was no 80s teen vixen prettier than Deborah Foreman (ok, except for Phoebe Cates — see below). Who is Deborah Foreman, you ask? Like, are you for real? Foreman was only Julie Richman in Valley Girl, duh. When Foreman wasn't gawking at a young Nic Cage's perfectly trimmed V-shaped chest hair (who wasn't?), she was playing psychotic rich girls (aren't they all?) in April Fool's Day, hot chauffeurs in My Chauffeur or...or, I think that's about it.
After starring in a handful of low budget films, Foreman began focusing on other endeavors such as graphic design and yoga. The former actress owns both a successful web design company and pilates studio. Her website, www.deborahforeman.net, states that she is still interested in acting. Do you hear that, Hollywood producers? Like, she's even more of a babe at 50, ya know?
Phoebe Cates
If you Google photos of Phoebe Cates, one of the first images to come up is of her and her boobies. Even as a straight woman, I can comfortably say it is a beautiful photo. Cates' career is not a vast one, but she definitely left a permanent mark on the minds of young males in 1980's with her performance as Linda in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Other enjoyable performance of Cates' included Gremlins, Bright Lights, Big City and Drop Dead Fred. Cates left the business in the mid-90s to focus on raising her children with actor Kevin Kline (the two are still married after 23 years — way to go!).
Recent endeavors include opening clothing boutique, Blue Tree, on Madison Avenue. Non-boobie photos of Cates shows that the woman hasn't aged a freakin' bit. She's still just as beautiful as ever and her pretty face and sweet demeanor has been missing from Hollywood. Considering her kids are acting now (son Owen starred in The Squid and the Whale), I think it's time she come back to us!
Tim Curry
Curry has never really stopped acting but all his performances after Rocky Horror Picture Show and Annie have been the visual equivalent of adult speak in Peanuts. He's mostly spent the last decade doing voice over work for various animated television show and movies. I would like to think that Curry has been pickled in time and that he could still don the garter and high heels, but I think all I would see if a sixty-something pasty English dude with a jiggly belly and hairy back. I'm not sure why, but Curry went from 70s sex God to being type casted as stuffy, puffy English dudes for the majority of his career (well, maybe it's because he became a puffy English dude).
I say it's time for Curry to go to the gym and get back to playing the sultry chanter that we know and love. Rocky Horror Picture Show sequel anyone? (let's pretend Shock Treatment never existed).
Who would you like to see "come back"?