Instead of answering a specific reader question this week, I'm going to tell you about an interrogative that I frequently receive via my e-mail
account.
I have persistently been asked this question since I first began blogging in 2005:
“What really
happened to Katie Saylor?”
Who
is Katie Saylor, you ask?
Well,
to those of us of a certain age, she is a movie icon and sex-symbol of the
mid-1970s.
She
starred in Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973), and Supervan (1977), and she
played Liana on the short-lived cult-TV series The Fantastic Journey (1977),
which I have blogged about frequently.
But
here’s the apparently enduring mystery: Katie Saylor departed that sci-fi series before it ended, and
did not appear in the final two Fantastic Journey episodes “Riddles” and “The Innocent Prey.” Her role in "Turnabout" appears...abbreviated.
Legend
has it that Ms. Saylor was diagnosed with a terminal disease while making the series, and immediately
left to tend to her health. This may, however, be mere internet rumor.
Other
accounts suggest that Ms. Saylor lived until 1991 -- more than a dozen years later -- when she then, actually, passed
away.
I
have also read rumblings on the Net since recently that she is alive and
well, and that she merely chose to leave Hollywood behind.
I
don’t believe in prying into a performer’s personal life, or into the details
of a family tragedy (if that is what this mystery concerns...), but I can absolutely attest to the fact that I am frequently asked “whatever happened to Katie Saylor?"
And alas, I have no answer.
And alas, I have no answer.
So
if anyone does know -- and would be
willing to provide some evidence that I could share on line -- I’d be very gratified
to see this matter resolved.
Judging by the frequency of the question, I’d say that a lot of people of my
generation love, adore, and remember Katie Saylor, and cherish her small and silver screen work to this day. I have always felt she created a strong character on The Fantastic Journey, and one whose empathic/psychic abilities didn't come across as annoying or irritating, as was often the case with Counselor Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation's early years.
Don’t
forget to ask me your questions at Muirbusiness@yahoo.com.
As a boy in '77, I always enjoyed her on Fantastic Journey. I hope this mystery can be solved.
ReplyDeleteSGB
I always wondered this about Belinda Montgomery on Man from Atlantis also. With only two episodes she apparently left the show; they even removed her from the credits. Just seemed odd she didn't stick around for the entire 13 episode commitment. Maybe she walked off the set after "Imp."
ReplyDeleteAdam: I have no clue as to why Belinda Montgomery left "The Man From Atlantis", but I do remember her appearing in the mid-eighties as Sonny Crockett's ex-wife on "Miami Vice".
ReplyDelete