I didn't know much about Chris Noel until recently.I didn't even recall much about her other than being the pretty friend of Shelley Fabares (remember our meeting with her?) in the Elvis Presley movie "Girl Happy".
I must admit to being struck by her in her limited role in one of the handfuls of Elvis flicks that I can never seem to pass up when I see them on television, which is a weakness that dates back to childhood insomnia on late night movies.
Off and on over the years, I would wonder why she didn't make it, not on acting ability because who really knows who can and cannot act based on Elvis films(!), but because she was so obviously beautiful in an era where that one gift can make a career appearing in films.
Last week, I went out with my friend Greg to Sam's Club and there was a terrific price on the entire series of Bewitched.
While I was a much bigger fan of I Dream Of Jeannie, I would consider myself a fan of Bewitched and grabbed it to watch at work at that price.
I am still watching the first season, but on one of the first episodes, I almost jumped out of my seat.
That's Chris Noel! Now remember I've seen most of the Bewitched episodes, but the first two black and white seasons were rarely in syndication, so the shows that drilled into my mind as a fan were the other color episodes.
Seeing Chris in this episode finally occurred at the right time for me to look up what happened to her and I was quite surprised to see the results...
Chris turned out to be quite committed to our servicemen in the Vietnam War and put her career on hold to attempt to help with entertaining the troops.
Noel was stunned to see the condition of veterans during a hospital visit in 1965 (the same year as Girl Happy) and decided to devote her time to the cause.
Noel joined the Armed Forces Radio Network and would do a daily one-hour radio program titled "A date with Chris" to give something to help the troops get through the day.
Noel would do these shows from Los Angeles but would make several trips of multiple week stints to Vietnam to entertain and visit troops live.
Chris was considered so important that the Viet Cong put a sizable bounty on her head during these visits-I.E.-Kill her to take away what helped troops feel a little better even if just for an hour a day.
No matter your opinions on the Vietnam War, one has to realize the polarizing effect that war, in particular, has in this country even to this day, and with the majority of people in control of the film and television industry lean towards the liberal side, so most likely Chris's stance hindered if not eliminated a successful return to the business.
Chris still is tirelessly working for Vietnam vets with her Vetsville Cease Fire Houses, which is a series of homes for homeless veterans and sometimes their families as they try to transition to the working world.
It's a pretty interesting story and I was quite intrigued while working on this post.
We welcome Chris Noel to the Forgotten Superstars universe and thank her for her service to our veterans!
For more on Chris Noel, her website is here.
Photo Credit: Unknown
No comments:
Post a Comment