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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»TV by Decade»TV Shows - 1980s
    TV Shows - 1980s Variety 3 Mins Read

    Fame

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    1 9 8 2 – 1 9 8 7 (USA)
    60 x 60 minute episodes

    The summer of 1982 was the summer of Fame. The NBC series spun off from Alan Parker’s 1980 film about New York City’s renowned High School for the Performing Arts.

    Most of the movie cast members – Debbie Allen, Gene Anthony Ray, Albert Hague and Lee Curreri – reprised their roles in the series.

    The show was about a group of students planning to become performing artists – dancers, comedians, singers, musicians, etc at the school designed to provide a curriculum that would prepare its graduates for careers in show business.

    It was there that they learned to deal with competition and rejection, as well as the problems of growing up.

    Among the students were:

    • Bruno (Lee Curreri), a talented but arrogant keyboard player and composer
    • Coco (Erica Gimpel), a singer/dancer driven to succeed and in a rush to get into the professional scene
    • Danny (Carlo Imperato), a bright comedian who would break into a monologue at the drop of a hat
    • Doris (Valerie Landsburg), an actress-writer-comedienne whose easygoing nature hid an ego as strong and determined as anyone’s
    • Leroy (Gene Anthony Ray), a dancer from the ghettos of New York, who graduated and became an assistant dance instructor at the school
    • Montgomery (P.R. Paul), who was trying to follow in the footsteps of his successful actress mother
    • Julie (Lori Singer), the outsider from the backwoods of Grand Rapids, Michigan, who was an accomplished cellist adjusting both to the school and the high-energy environment of New York City

    The faculty was even more dedicated than most of the students, with hard-driving, beautiful dance teacher Lydia Grant (Debbie Allen) being the most prominent.

    fame_tv

    Other teachers/instructors included Professor Shorofsky (Albert Hague), the much-revered white-bearded music teacher; Mr Crandall (Michael Thoma), the drama instructor and Elizabeth Sherwood (Carol Mayo Jenkins), the English teacher.

    There were changes in the cast throughout. David Reardon (Morgan Stevens) replaced Mr Crandall (when actor Michael Thoma died suddenly during the season) as drama instructor and he was later replaced by Paul Seeger (Eric Pierpoint).

    Mrs Berg (Ann Nelson), the scatterbrained school secretary, became a regular, and Quentin Morloch (Ken Swofford), the unchanging principal (later replaced by Bob Dyrenforth, played by Graham Jarvis) who came to realise that this was no ordinary high school, was added.

    New students included:

    • Dwight (David Greenlee), an awkward, overweight tuba player
    • Holly (Cynthia Gibb), a vivacious drama major
    • Jesse (Jesse Borrego), a Hispanic dancer who became Leroy’s protégé
    • Nicole (Nia Peeples), a beautiful singer/dancer who was tragically killed in a car accident
    • Christopher (Billy Hufsey), a talented but cocky dancer
    • Ian (Michael Cerveris), an English guitarist who loved rock music

    In later shows, Lou’s bowling alley/restaurant became a regular hangout for the students.

    Lydia Grant 
    Debbie Allen
    Coco Hernandez 

    Erica Gimpel
    Danny Armatullo 

    Carlo Imperato
    Bruno Martelli 

    Lee Curreri
    Doris Schwartz 

    Valerie Landsburg
    Leroy Johnson 

    Gene Anthony Ray
    Montgomery MacNeil 

    P.R. Paul
    Elizabeth Sherwood 

    Carol Mayo Jenkins
    Prof. Benjamin Shorofsky 

    Albert Hague
    Julie Miller 

    Lori Singer
    Mr Crandall 

    Michael Thoma
    Mrs Charlotte Miller 

    Judy Farrell
    Angelo Martelli 

    Carmine Caridi
    David Reardon 

    Morgan Stevens
    Dwight 

    David Greenlee
    Mrs Gertrude Berg (Alice Bowman) 

    Ann Nelson
    Holly Laird 

    Cynthia Gibb
    Christopher Donlon 

    Billy Hufsey
    Quentin Morloch 

    Ken Swofford
    Cleo Hewitt 

    Janet Jackson
    Jesse Valesquez 

    Jesse Borrego
    Nicole Chapman 

    Nia Peeples
    Mr Lou Mackie 

    Dick Miller
    Laura Mackie 

    Carolyn J. Silas
    Dusty Tyler 

    Loretta Chandler
    Mr Bob Dyrenforth 

    Graham Jarvis
    Reggie Higgins 

    Carrie Hamilton
    Kate Riley 

    Page Hannah
    Ian Ware 

    Michael Cerveris
    Jillian Beckett 

    Elisa Heinsohn
    Mr Paul Seeger 

    Eric Pierpoint
    Maxie 

    Olivia Barash
    Miltie Horowitz 

    Robert Romanus

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