Meet Wally Sparks
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Peter Baldwin
Roseanne Barr
Jerry Springer
Cindy K Ambuehl
Lesley-anne Down
Marzia Greif
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Is America ready for Wally Sparks? Television viewers often accuse today's talk show hosts of crossing the line when it comes to good taste and wise judgment. Ladies and gentleman... meet Wally Sparks. A fast-talking host of a tactless, uncouth TV tabloid show, Wally makes half of America laugh hysterically and the other half cringe. Showcasing alien-lesbian-Elvis impersonators and men in love with their wives' dogs, Wally's show doesn't just push the envelope of decency--it obliterates.
Director
Peter Baldwin
Cast
Roseanne Barr
Jerry Springer
Cindy K Ambuehl
Lesley-anne Down
Marzia Greif
Andre Rosey Brown
Rob Glushon
Michael Stadvec
Michael Rooker
Scott Schwartz
Morton Downey
Nils Allen Stewart
Ryan Tomlinson
Kay Gerhard
Karen Duffy
Alana Stewart
Cindy Williams
Barry Nolan
David Ogden Stiers
Michael Weatherly
Sandy Helberg
Carmen Filpi
Gilbert Gottfried
Connie Danese
John Henson
Eamonn Roche
Edmund L Shaff
Richard Beymer
Debi Mazar
Alan Rachins
Dee Booher
Bob Saget
George Greif
Lenny Clarke
John Melendez
Randy Kiyabo
Rolanda Watts
Tony Danza
Rodney Dangerfield
Julia Sweeney
Mark L. Taylor
Burt Reynolds
Gabrielle Carteris
George Hamilton
Sally Jessy Raphael
Michael Bolton
Patricia Forte
George Wallace
Jay Leno
Rita Mckenzie
Glenn Harris
Janice Hart
Ron Jeremy
Jennifer Koppelman Hutt
Lewis Arquette
Jeff Bell
Geraldo Rivera
Big Nate Kanae
Albert Able Eisenmann
Laura Basil
Lisa Thornhill
Harry Basil
Tim Allen
Crew
Ralph Abalos
Joe Abramson
John Alden
Gary Alexander
Molly Allen
Rebecca Alling
Tina Ameduri
Robert Anderson
William Angorola
John Armstrong
Billy G Arter
Sherri Arter
Peter Austin
Holly Ayn
Harry Basil
Harry Basil
Harry Basil
Mark Basler
Mindy Bazar
Benjamin Beardwood
Dan Beers
Jody Bergman
Aaron S Berkowitz
P. J. Bloom
Charmaine Boos
Justin Bourret
Michael Boxer
Jesse Don Brackenbury
Charles Brewer
Paul Broucek
Steve Buck
Brad Bustin
Anthony Joseph Camaioni
Craig Campbell
Erik Carter
Mike Carter
Violet Cazanjian
Fern Champion
Patrice Chanel
Michel Colombier
Buck Compton
Kevin Crawford
Grover Dale
Rodney Dangerfield
Raúl Dávalos
Nancy C Degan
Edward Dilks
Eddy Donno
Steve Doolittle
Rodney P Dowell
Lisa A Doyle
Patrick Duchesne
Mark A Echevarria
Cris Edwards
Albert Able Eisenmann
Josh Elliot
Paul Emmons
Eric Erickson
Richard Favazzo
Pablo Ferro
George Fisher
Geoff Foster
Marie France
Penny Franks
Vic Fraser
John Frayer
Beau J Genot
Don Givens
Thor Gold
Kenny Golde
Barbara Gordon
Debbie De Gorter
Marian Green
Leslie Greif
Leslie Greif
Robert Guastini
Steve Hagerman
Stephen Halbert
David Halpert
Tabby Hanson
John Hartigan
James B Hebenstreit
Vivian Hengsteler
Ellen Heuer
Shawn Honea
Phyllis Housen
Maurice Howard
Tony Jenkins
Peter Jensen
David Jobe
Jeff Johnson
John P Johnson
Bryan Jones
Zachary Jones
Eddie Kalpa
Steve Karman
Donna Keegan
Spencer Keimon
Evyen Klean
Paul Kline
Richard Kline
Richard Kline
Dave Knudson
Suzanna Kontonickas
Tom Kramer
Kimberly Lambert
George Lane
Jane Lanzner
Robert Leveen
Margie Levers
Michael Levine
Gary Lewis
Timberlake Lewis
Diane Linn
Susan Lonergan
Chris Loring
Gary Marullo
Antoine Mascaro
Jacqueline R Masson
Chris Mcgeary
Brian Mcmillan
Vicki Mcmillan
Marc Meisenheimer
Paul Mercier
Phillip Mershon
France Metz
Anna Miller
Mary Lou Miller
Alyson Moore
Robert Morgenroth
Dan Muscarella
Patricia Nedd
Delores Nemiro
Myron Nettinga
Robert New
Kyle "snappy" Oliver
Ralph Osborn
Mark Paladini
Cinnabar-dave Park
Victor Paul
Michael Perman
Ashlee Petersen
Charles Picerni
Charles Picerni
Sandra Plazinic
Dave Powledge
Gary Price
Philip Romano
Ronnie Rondell
Elena Rosenblatt
Elliot Lewis Rosenblatt
Elliot Lewis Rosenblatt
Sandy Roveta
Clive Sacke
Robbie Saeks
Louis Saint Calbre
Jim Sanfilippo
Ben Schneider
Julie Schultz
Domenic Sfreddo
Robert Sharman
Matthew Siess
Bill Sillcock
Lisa Smith
David Snell
Andrew M Somers
Ted Sprague
Cecilie Stuart
Allen Sweeney
George Sweney
Jayne-ann Tenggren
David Terry
Suelan Thwaites
Stephen J Ullman
Jerald Vincent
John Vohlers
David Waine
Alllan Walls
R Ruddell Weatherwax
Tom Weber
Alexandra Welker
Brian Welker
Beth Wernick
Craig Wescott
David J White
G Scott Wilder
Glenn Wilder
Kathleen A Wildman
Woody Woodrow Wood
Robert Yesk
Lorie Zerweck
Gabriella Zielinski
Gabriella Zielinski
Film Details
Technical Specs
Articles
Rodney Dangerfield, (1921-2004)
He was born Jacob Cohen in Babylon, Long Island, New York on November 22, 1921. His father was a vaudevillian performer who played professionally as Phil Roy. Known as something of a cut-up in high school, he started performing comedy when he was 20, and spent the next 10 years working alongthe Atlantic coast under the name Jack Roy.
His career was temporarily sidelined with family responsiblities - he married Joyce Indig in 1949 and she soon gave birth to two children: Brian and Melanie. With a family to support, he sold aluminum siding and lived in New Jersey, yet still held onto his dream of being a stand-up comic. In 1961, he divorced his wife (by all accounts his marriage had been an unhappy one), and he hit the road again as Rodney Dangerfield. By the mid-60s, Rondey was hitting his stride, following a some successful nightclub appearances in Manhattan and Atlantic City. At this point, he had developed his stage persona as a harassed schmo, always tugging at his tie and padding down his sweated brow. His persistancy paid off when he made his first television appearances in 1967: The Ed Sullivan Show and The Merv Griffin Show both raised his profile, but what really made Rodney was his July 29, 1969 debut on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. With his flurry of one-liners, goggle eyes and, of course, "I don't get no respect!" plea, audiences loved him and Rodney would make over 70 appearances over the next 30 years on The Tonight Show for both Johnny and eventual host, Jay Leno.
Around this time, Rodney garnered his first film role, as an irritable theater manager in The Projectionist (1971), but he would have to wait almost 10 years later before he struck box-office gold. The film was Caddyshack (1980), and as Al Czervik, the loudly dressed, obnoxious but lovable millionaire who crashes a snotty Golf Club, Rodney may not have displayed great acting skills, but his comic personality was vibrant and engaging, and with the comedy being one of the biggest hits of the year, he was now a star.
His follow-up to Caddyshack, Easy Money (1983), followed the same formula (he played a baby photgrapher who inherits money), but the tone was much nastier, and the crirtics panned it. He rebounded though with the biggest hit of his career, Back to School (1986). The plot was simple, a self-made millionaire goes back to college to prove his son his worth only to fall in love in the process, grossed over $100 million. Indeed, it looked like Rodney Dangerfield had all the respect in the world.
His career kept taking surprise turns in the '90s: he was an in-demand "guest voice" on such animated projects like Rover Dangerfield, The Simpsons, and Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist. Yet, the biggest surprise by far was his dramatic turn as an abusive, alcoholic father in Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers (1994). For his performance, he received glowing reviews, but ill-health was becoming an issue for him, and Rodney had to curtail his schedule considerably after this.
He returned to the screen as the Devil in the Adam Sandler comedy Little Nicky (2000), but on his 80th birthday (November 22, 2001), he suffered a mild heart attack, and in the Spring of 2003, he underwent brain surgery to improve his blood flow in preparation for an upcoming heart-valve replacement surgery. This year started off brightly for him: he made another film appearance, Angles with Angles; released his autobiography in May entitled It Ain't Easy Being Me and in just the past two months appeared on television for Jimmy Kimmel Live, and in an episode of the CBS sitcom Still Standing playing a wisecracking, next-door neighbor. Sadly, this flurry of reactivity was not to last. On August 24, he entered UCLA Medical Center for heart valve-replacement surgery, but complications from an infection after the operation led to a coma, and he reamined in vegetative state for the last six weeks of his life. He is survived by his wife of 11 years, Joan Child; his son, Brian; and daughter, Melanie.
by Michael T. Toole
Rodney Dangerfield, (1921-2004)
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States Winter January 31, 1997
Released in United States on Video May 13, 1997
Project was once in development at the Edward R Pressman Film Corporation.
Completed shooting September 20, 1995.
Began shooting July 10, 1995.
Released in United States Winter January 31, 1997
Released in United States on Video May 13, 1997