'Dallas' to 'Bonanza': MidSouth Nostalgia Festival celebrates classic TV and movies
In 1980, all of America — or at least enough people to inspire Time magazine to put actor Larry Hagman on its cover, with the caption "Whodunit?" — were asking "Who shot J.R.?"
The question was in reference to the attempted murder of evil oil tycoon J.R. Ewing (Hagman) on the cliffhanger third-season finale of "Dallas," the CBS prime time soap that was a ratings blockbuster for more than half of its 14-season run, from 1978 to 1991.
Actor Patrick Duffy, in the role of J.R.'s younger brother, Bobby Ewing, was among the suspects. In the first week of June, he'll be in Greater Memphis (Olive Branch, to be precise) to discuss the "Who shot J.R.?" international media frenzy and other aspects of his career during the MidSouth Nostalgia Festival, the region's longest-running film-and-television convention.
Originally organized and still run by dedicated film-buff volunteers, the festival began in 1972, and primarily was devoted to B-Westerns during its early years.
Eventually, it expanded its focus to celebrate the golden age of television and classic cinema in general, showcasing veteran stars in panel discussions and autograph sessions while also presenting marathon screenings of classic cinema and hosting a "dealers room" filled with on-sale movie memorabilia for sale.
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The event was known for most of its existence as the Memphis Film Festival, but it rebranded in 2022, to avoid confusion with the Indie Memphis Film Festival and to underline its emphasis on classic rather than new movies. Whatever the name, the convention — with longtime organizer Ray Nielsen at the helm — has brought a veritable Who's Who of singing cowboys, leading ladies, two-fisted heroes, backstabbing heavies, character actors, comic-relief sidekicks and even Oscar winners to Memphis, including such Hollywood-and-beyond stalwarts as Angie Dickinson, Stella Stevens, Buster Crabbe, Tex Ritter, Lash LaRue, Audrey Totter, John Agar, Spanky McFarland, Mike Mazurki, Elisha Cook Jr., "Iron Eyes" Cody, Clint Walker, Kim Darby and Huntz Hall, to name a few. (If you don't recognize these names, please devote less time to Netflix and more time to Turner Classic Movies.)
Attracting festivalgoers is increasingly a challenge, Nielsen admitted. The fans of these movies and TV shows and the actors who appeared in them are not getting any younger. This year's event will be only the third since 2017 not attended by Robert Fuller, the ruggedly handsome star of the TV dramas "Laramie," "Wagon Train" and "Emergency!," who — unbeknownst to the general public — maintains a fiercely loyal fan following of almost Beatlemaniacal proportions. According to Nielsen, dozens of mature-aged women travel to the festival from around the country every year, specifically to see Fuller.
Perhaps Duffy will attract fans of his own. An actor equally at home in the undersea civilization of Atlantis as in the oil-rich environment of Dallas, Duffy also starred as the web-fingered title hero in the 1977 NBC science-fiction series "Man from Atlantis." He'll be accompanied at the convention by his partner, Linda Purl, whose long career includes regular roles on such disparate series as "Matlock" (she played the Andy Griffith character's lawyer daughter) and the modern comedy, "The Office."
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Some of the other notables scheduled to be in attendance are Patrick Wayne, the son of John Wayne, who battled a host of Ray Harryhausen stop-motion monsters as the title Arabian Nights swashbuckler in "Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger" (1977); Darby Hinton, who played the frontiersman's son, Israel Boone, on "Daniel Boone"; and Mitch Vogel, the youngest member of the Cartwright clan during the final three seasons of "Bonanza."
For tickets and more information, visit midsouthnostalgiafestival.com.
MidSouth Nostalgia Festival
Thursday through Saturday, June 6-8, Whispering Woods Hotel & Conference Center, 7300 Hacks Cross Road, Olive Branch.
Film screenings, memorabilia vendors, Thursday night "sock hop," and panel discussions and meet-and-greet signing with celebrity guests, including Patrick Duffy ("Dallas"), Greg Evigan ("B.J. and the Bear"), Linda Purl ("Matlock"), Darby Hinton ("Daniel Boone"), Patrick Wayne ("Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger"), Mitch Vogel ("Bonanza"), Belinda Montgomery ("Doogie Howser, M.D."), and more.
Cost: $35 admission Thursday; $35 Friday; $20 Saturday. $135 three-day package price includes gala/banquet ticket.
To register or for more information, visit midsouthnostalgiafestival.com.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Patrick Duffy among stars set for MidSouth Nostalgia Festival 2024
