Michael Blodgett(1939-2007)

The handsome, well-built and engaging Michael Blodgett was born on September 26, 1939 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Blodgett attended the University of Minnesota and began his acting career in his hometown of Minneapolis. Michael earned a pre-law degree in political science from Cal State Los Angeles and attended Loyola Law School for a year. In the summer of 1967, Blodgett was the emcee on "Groovy", a weekly TV program of beach party music that was broadcast on Los Angeles' Channel 9. In 1968, Michael subsequently switched to Channel 11 and went on to serve as the host for "The Michael Blodgett Show", a 90 minute talk show in which he interviewed such guests as Connie Stevens, Agnes Moorehead, Pat Paulsen and Henry Mancini. He made his film debut as a beach bum in A Swingin' Summer (1965). Blodgett achieved his greatest enduring cult popularity with his excellent portrayal of blithely decadent and hedonistic playboy "Lance Rocke" in Russ Meyer's outrageously campy treat Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970). Other memorable movie roles include brash young prisoner "Coy Cavendish" in There Was a Crooked Man... (1970), free-spirited hippie "Lee Ritter" in the offbeat fright feature The Velvet Vampire (1971), and abusive masseur "Roger Hudson" in The Carey Treatment (1972). Blodgett had a recurring role on the short-lived TV series Never Too Young (1965). Among the TV shows Michael did guest spots on are McHale's Navy (1962), The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962), The Munsters (1964), Daniel Boone (1964), Night Gallery (1969), Ironside (1967), Barnaby Jones (1973) and Barbary Coast (1975). Blodgett quit acting in the late 70s and became a successful novelist and screenwriter. He penned the novels "Captain Blood", "Hero and the Terror" and "The White Raven". In addition, he either wrote or co-wrote the scripts for the Chuck Norris action vehicle Hero and the Terror (1988) (Michael also makes an uncredited cameo appearance in this particular picture), the hit comedy Turner & Hooch (1989), Rent-a-Cop (1987), Run (1991), the made-for-TV thriller Revenge on the Highway (1992) and The White Raven (1998). Michael Blodgett died at age 68 from a heart attack on November 14, 2007.