I was an extra in Outrageous Fortune and got to meet both Bette Midler & Shelly Long. Shelly was cold as ice, but BETTE was absolutely charming, friendly, and funny! We had long wait times between takes and I got to teach the Divine Ms M a song in Spanish. Then we sung together and she harmonized a third above me like she knew the song her whole life! She will always be my most memorable celebrity encounter. Shelley Long? Meh... Not so much.
I was an extra, too. Shelley was very stuck up and reserved off the set and she cut in front of me at the refreshments table like I wasn't even standing there. Craft services said nothing was ever good enough for her.
Shelley Long gave a great performance in that movie... I can't picture her being "difficult" in the usual sense (e.g. Lindsey Lohan,) but in trying to get the character exactly right -- which might annoy some people, but - IMO - it's also understandable.
JMarsh02639 on Cheers she would irritate people for this reason. She wanted it to be perfect and to get it right, while everyone else wanted to move on. She took her craft seriously and got nominated every year she was on Cheers for an Emmy and won one. She carried that show and even Ted Danson admitted it was Shelley who made the show big.
@@t.wilson9432 It became a show where the ensemble cast came on and did their schtick which pleased the masses who wanted their expectations met. But it didn't have the originality and depth anymore. It looks like CBS did a poll a few years ago on the best episodes and almost all were from Shelley's first and last year. I had thought those were the two best years of the show myself.
She butted heads on that show too, hence her exit. I’ve heard she’s kind of the female Edward Norton. No offense though. Never had anything bad to say about her work.
Outrageous Fortune was filmed and released while Long was still on Cheers. But Long has a reputation for being a perfectionist and hard to work with. Her drug story didn't happen for another 20 years when she got divorced. I've also heard Middler can be difficult on set as well, so I'm sure the two divas just clashed.
@HearthSide Nothing faded about her. People are still watching Cheers. And the Sam/Diane relationship is considered one of the greatest love/hate romances in all of TV history.
@HearthSide I love watching Bette Midler act & be interviewed, she is really a kind person, I think a lot of people don't understand what all she has been through, some people don't know how to show compassion to her, I understand her childhood cause my grandsons went through even worse than what she did.
Midler sounds like she would be horrible to work with and she has a mental disease, look at some of her tweets. Shelly Long I liked in Cheers, no idea, she does still work, she played on Modern Family on a few episodes.
@HearthSide Shelley Long cemented herself in television history for good and bad reasons. The good: Diane Chambers is up there with Lucy Ricardo and Mary Richards in terms of iconic television characters. There never has and never been another character quite like Diane Chambers nor the love/hate relationship she had with Sam (Ted Danson). The bad: Shelley Long walked away from Cheers in 1986, when it was arguably the #1 show on prime time (when network shows we’re actually relevant). Her movie career was a major disappointment, so her career misstep is considered one of the biggest blunders in the industry’s history.
What puzzles me about Money Pit is I saw it once and in the scene where Tom Hanks is following her up a ladder there's the most amazing view of her skimpy knickers up her skirt - and I've never seen that scene included in the film since.
My very 'scary' first date a long time ago in a galaxy far far was with a guy I met at a bar. The movie was Outrageous Fortune. My heart still goes a little pitter patter thinking about it. 🙃
Perhaps she is always typecast, but with Shelley Long I always get the feeling the characters she plays are very similar to her own personality. In that case, I can imagine that she gets your nerves very quickly.
Shelley Long has had a reputation of being difficult to work with. Kelsey Grammer wrote in his biography that she actively campaigned to get rid of his character on "Cheers" because she felt that her character belonged with Sam (Ted Danson) and didn't like the idea of a third person in the equation. She wasn't particularly close with any of her fellow castmates on the show and rumour has it when she left the series in 1987 they were happy. That being said, Bette could also be difficult as well
I think in long's zeal to honor her craft she can unintentionally dishonor her colleagues. Danson basically said she can be condescending and a know it all.
Shelley Long did not try to keep Kelsey Grammer off the show, he corrected that afterwards, it was a misunderstanding. Everything else I believe is true
Big deal if they didn't get on some of the very best actors with the very best onscreen chemistry despise one another offset and do I care? not really I want to see the work they put on screen not what they get up too in their lunch break.
I love her honesty, however, I am sure there are some of Bette's former co-stars who might say the same thing about her. That said, Shelley Long got really full of herself rather quickly after her success on Cheers so she may have been difficult to work with. But I must say, whenever I watch Outrageous Fortune, those two ladies did have great on screen chemistry and both gave really good performances.
Both actresses were promised top billing for the movie. However, neither was willing to give up top billing to the other. The compromise was that Bette Midler would receive it in the East, and Shelley Long in the West. This agreement extended to the original LasesDisc and VHS releases of the movie. There was a sequel planned, but it never came to be because Bette would not work with her again and the studio did not want to get another actress.
And Bette is still getting work. Not like she used to, which is a shame! Love her in front of the camera. I don't know if she just doesn't want to or no good parts are being offered
And this is it? For all the rumors about her and Shelley supposedly clashing, or that Bette was upset because Shelley was "late for work"--all Bette actually said was "it was rough". AND...if the right script came along, she WOULD be willing to work with Shelley again. There's another interview in which Bette makes clear that her only "issues" during filmmaking involved 1) her pregnancy, and 2) some of the locations. In short...all the rumors about the conflicts are probably as nonsensical as the rumors of the "hatred" between Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anne Hathaway. Nothing more, nothing less. (Unless there's some other statements of Bette's out there I don't know about...?)
shelley was notorious for being late on 'cheers' (usually held up in hair and makeup) so i wouldn't be surprised if shelley being late was true (i would be picky about my makeup too if my face was being blown up on a 30 ft movie screen), but yea, it didn't sound like bette was LOOKING for a reason to work with shelley again, but it didn't sound like it was so awful that she would turn down a million dollar paycheck to do it again either.
girliboi Well, I met some actors from the two popular movies that Shelley worked on in the 1990's and they said she had some major issues. I am putting it very nicely. LOL. I am so disappointed to hear what I heard but Shelley was a diva on the set of these two movies that she did. I've always like Shelley but the diva rumors, unfortunately, are true. #whyshelleywhy???
JhomasE Apparently the "diva" thing is quite common with "method" actors and actresses. See Marlon Brando, for one of the biggest examples. I'd imagine that kind of devotion to one's craft might come across as "anti-social" at times.
Based on the fact that Shelley Long has never said anything negative about Bette Midler and Bette Midler has said in numerous interviews that Long was the difficult one in inclined to believe that Midler was the rough one to work with, Long is a perfectionist but she’s never been a diva, more people have said that Midler wasn’t a nice person and she’s still vile today, maybe Midler was pissed off that Shelley Long wasn’t as star struck and couldn’t care less about who Midler was but just wanted to get the movie done
Ted danson, not to insult her acting but explain how it is working with long said something like she is more like Diane Chambers than she would like to think. I think in her zeal to be true to her craft she can be condescending and break the ensemble. He was very complimentary of her acting.
gmawneydawgness. I see it differently. She wanted to indicate it wasn’t a joyful and pleasant experience, working together, but the result was good. So if a good script and successful movie could be in the works, she would be willing to go through the pain again.
Maybe you should read this part of my comment..Shelley “was a lot more like her character Diane " Cheers, NBC sitcom 1982-1993 but she left the show in 1987 " And yes when she left in 1987, Kirstie Alley was brought in to replace her.. IF YOU QUIT OR LEAVE & THE POSITION IS OPEN & NEEDS TO BE FILLED YOUR EMPLOYER HAS TO HIRE A REPLACEMENT...I said she left the show in 1987...How the hell does "That makes it sound like she was fired."
I heard two things and never knew if they were true. 1, Bette was supposed to play Shelley's part in Troop Beverly Hills then I read where Bette was set to play the arch nemesis.
I know several people who worked on the Disney lot when Bette had her own office there because of her Touchstone contract. Bette was NOT well-liked on the lot, according to them.
@@JM-ou3ybpeople act like a list actors are kept in vaults between films. I literally bumped into Penny Marshall in NYC by the Metropolitan Museum. She was very nice about it and I didn’t fawn over her. Move to Los Angeles and you will see that actors have these things called LIVES.
Long wasn't replaced with Alley. That makes it sound like she was fired. In fact, Long left of her own accord. They tried to talk her out of it because it would change the dynamics of the show (i.e. fish out of water; on-and-off again romance of Jack and Diane), but after five years she wanted to move on and primarily focus on feature films. Plus, like Diane she didn't click with the rest of the cast. They had different methods. She was more professional and they were jokesters.
I loved both Ladies in the film, but Shelley just played Diane chambers on the big screen for 2 hours. She personified the Diane again. I heard shelley can be difficult to work with from talk of the cast of Cheers. She made Kelsey work day hell.
Bette said I don't think so, then backtracked & said she would work with Shelley again. I met Bette in 2006 & she wasn't much to write home about either, huge chip on her shoulder.
She said she wouldn't work with her again, but it's a script came her way that was too good to ignore she would. Makes perfect sense to me. If I got offer a part that I would kill to play, even if I had to work with someone I didn't like, I'd still do it
I've never really liked Shelley Long, but I know Outrageous Fortune was filmed the year after she left Cheers. Wondering if thats why it was difficult to work with her...
When Outrageous Fortune was made, there was a disagreement between the two about who was going to get top billing for the movie. A studio Solomon came up with the compromise that half of all the promotional material would carry Long’s name first, and the other half would carry Midler’s
Bette Midler said it was rough working with Shelley Long not that she didn't like working with her but I've also read that Bette Midler was very difficult to work with also
Can we please get to know who that stunningly handsome man is who asked the question, what became of him, where he is today and if he’s still kind of hot? 😂🙈😉! Any info would be greatly appreciated ☺️🤗
All I care about is the final product. I don't care if the actors have a great time making a film, have a terrible time, get romantically involved, or become vicious enemies - that's their lives, not mine.
WoW!! Locw Bette's hair! Oh man...I loved the 80's hair!! It always looked like you took the time to fix your hair...today...not so much!!! BRING BACK BIG HAIR!!! lol
@@vegasjill21 hahahaha of course I can't PROVE it, but I have been doing hair for 30 years and that front hairline and the volume in the back look SUSPICIOUSLY like net weave and wig in the back. I DO know that she has talked A LOT about how she has worn wigs her whole life. I could be wrong....
I see this and I remember hearing what Bronson Pinchot had to say about her on the set of The First Wives Club saying how vile she was to the director.
U know when these celebrities are younger and at their height they think the studios will always tolerate them but as their star fades I'll bet they have regrets when the phone inst ringing anymore. U can tell who isn't difficult because they're still around working, jessica lange meryl streep, shirley maclaine
I like bette. I like shelley. Love outrageous fortune. Bette. No i dont think so. It was rough. She did an awesome job. Great project. If the right project came along. WTH?
Lisa looked very different in 1988. For starters, she was very much a brunette. I'm not sure if she had any surgery. Check out the guest spot on she had on Cheers in 1989 to give you an idea.
U know I've heard the cheers cast had a tough time working with shelly & henry Winkler who starred with her in night shift the role she had right before she started on cheers. So 1 person is maybe both sides were tough 2 people u start to wonder & 3 is a cast of people than u gotta think shelly now has a reputation for being difficult. Hollywood must have thought she had something bc not only did she do cheers ( which even the top people say just was never the Same without diane & that was a hof cast. ) & started as the lead in a string of 80s movies night shift, money pit , irreconcilable differences, outrageous fortune , hello again & the last movie where she declined downward was troop Beverly hills.
Number one is that some people are just hard to get along with. Number two is that Hollywood is very clearly a mans club and there is a strict pecking order for men, while women are just bitchy if they have any artistic vision. She's been called a perfectionist, adn thats a personality trait, and in a work environment it can involve everybody. Some other examples is that Harry Shearer is called that as well, but few doubt his talent. He tells the story that he wanted an 'old tyme' microphone for a bit, and the props people said nobody would care. He said HE cared and that all they had to do was go up two flights and get an old mic. Mike Myers was said to be difficult on his own damn movie because he actually cared about getting it right. Star Trek, The Next Generation would have been a nightmare but they cast Patrick Stewart and a bunch of soap opera actors realized they had to step up their game. I can't remember his name, but the guy who played The Sphinx on "Mystery Men" talked about how surprised he was that it was a whole cast that told jokes the whole time but never laughed, THATS how seriously they took 'being funny'. Even Sam Simon admits that the Charles brothers were probably spoiled by the Taxi cast who all bonded and worked as a team. That was clearly a little different on Cheers, but some actors take their craft pretty seriously because their livelihood depends on it. Shelley Longs CHARACTER was on the outside looking in, so maybe she felt it better if she was like that as well. But the joke in hollywood is always how much everybody loves one another and gets along, which is most certainly not true in a cut throat industry like that.
I was assistant production manager on that movie. Both of these actresses were extremely difficult to work with. The fat red head wanted more parts in the movie and the skinny pretty one wanted more money. True story.
I think it was Sophia. I think she was pretending to have extraordinary powers, and she said something like, "Shelley Long left Cheers, didn't she?" "Shelley Long got tired of Cheers." "No. I got tired of Shelley Long." (Thunderous applause) The scene went something like that and it's hilarious.
