Case in point: today we were researching who Tomorrow's Birthday Boys and Girls would be; we were frankly a bit disappointed that Susan Saint James was about as fabulous as it got -- but bloggers can't always be choosers. Frankly, SSJ leaves us pretty ambivilant -- and we always mix her up with Kate Jackson, for some reason.
Anyway, as we halfheartedly Googled "Susan Saint James" for a reasonably fabulous photo, we happened upon a striking image which suggested that SSJ's off-screen life, at one time, was at least marginally more exciting than her appearances on McMillan & Wife or Kate & Allie would suggest:
For once, Susan Saint James actually looks like someone we'd strike up a conversation with! The actor by her side is Peter Duel, whom we'd never heard of before; so, of course, we Googled him, as well. Apparently, he was quite a popular television actor in the late 1960's and early 1970's, before depression and alcoholism led him to suicide. We were most intrigued by his first starring gig: on a 1966 sitcom obviously taking its cue from the then-wildly successful Neil Simon play, Barefoot in the Park. Called Love on a Rooftop, it starred Duel and Judy Carne as charming young things in love and in Manhattan.
Despite solid reviews and ratings, Rooftop wasn't picked up for a second season. We're anxious to finally see an episode, so we can only speculate that one reason for its cancellation was that leading lady Judy Carne realized her baby-faced co-star made her look like his grandmother.
See? We start off bitching about Susan Saint James, get detoured being fascinated by the suicide of a minor TV heartthrob, and finish things off with a few snarky comments about Judy Carne's sex appeal. A very simple, logical trip from Point A to Point B.
