James Stacy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008) |
 |
Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (February 2008) |
| James Stacy | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | Maurice William Elias December 23, 1936 Los Angeles, California |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1957-1991 |
| Spouse(s) | Kim Darby (1968-1969) Connie Stevens (1963-1966) |
| Official website | |
James Stacy (born Maurice William Elias on December 23, 1936), is a former American actor whose career was effectively ended in a motorcycle crash which left him an amputee and took the life of his girlfriend. Returning to acting after his recovery, Stacy retired from acting in 1991. He was arrested and convicted of child molestation in 1995, serving a six year sentence in California Institution for Men, at Chino.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Stacy was born in Los Angeles, California to an Irish-Scottish waitress and a Lebanese-American bookmaker.[1]
[edit] Early career
Stacy made his 1957 film debut in Sayonara, which starred Marlon Brando, and his televison debut in Highway Patrol starring Broderick Crawford. He had a recurring role as "Fred" in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet from 1958-1963.
In the 1960s he sporadically appeared in TV shows, including Gunsmoke, Hazel, The Donna Reed Show, Perry Mason, Have Gun - Will Travel, and Combat! As an actor, Stacy is best remembered as a star of the 51-episode Western series Lancer on CBS from 1968-1970. He played the character "Johnny Madrid Lancer", a former gunslinger. His costars were Andrew Duggan, Wayne Maunder, and Paul Brinegar. Stacy was also in several motion pictures from the 1950s through the 1970s, including a minor part in the musical South Pacific.
[edit] Motorcycle accident
On September 27, 1973, Stacy lost his left arm and leg, and his girlfriend, waitress Claire Cox, was killed when they were struck by a drunk driver while riding on a motorcycle.[2] A 1974 celebrity gala, whose attendees included Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand, raised $118,000 for his expenses, and in 1976, he won a $1.9 million landmark lawsuit against the bar that had served the drunk driver.[2]
[edit] Comeback
After his recovery, Stacy appeared in roles created to accommodate his handicap. His comeback film was the 1975 Kirk Douglas western Posse, in which he was cast as newspaper editor "Harold Hellman", a part Douglas had written for him. In 1977, he starred in the TV movie Just a Little Inconvenience, playing a double-amputee Vietnam veteran, and in Walt Disney Pictures 1983 fantasy film Something Wicked This Way Comes.
Stacy starred in and produced the TV movie, My Kidnapper, My Love, in 1980. His brother, Louie Elias, a bit actor and stuntman, wrote the screenplay, based on the novel by Oscar Saul, to accommodate Stacy’s handicap. Elias was also the associate producer.
Other television appearances included Cagney & Lacey on CBS, Hotel on ABC, and Highway to Heaven on NBC. His last TV role was in five 1990 episodes of the cop series Wiseguy, playing "Ed Rogosheske." After that Stacy was reportedly too inebriated to work and retired. Elias was twice nominated for an Emmy Award: for Just a Little Inconvenience (1978: Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series) and the Cagney & Lacey episode "The Gimp," (1986: Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series).
[edit] Personal life
Stacy has married twice, to actress and singer Connie Stevens (1963-1966) and actress Kim Darby (1968-1969), with whom he had a daughter named Heather.
[edit] Arrest and conviction
On November 9, 1995, under his birth name of Maurice Elias, he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under fourteen years for having fondled the genitals of an 11-year-old-girl.[3]
On December 7, 1995, he failed to appear for sentencing in Ventura County Superior Court. He was arrested the next day in a Honolulu, Hawaii, hospital after having fled. He attempted suicide by downing a pint of whiskey and leaping off a 1,200-foot (370 m) cliff. He landed on a ledge just 45 feet (14 m) from the top. By the end of December he had waived extradition and was returned to California. On March 5, 1996, he was sentenced to a six-year prison term. The prosecutor in the case said initially that she believed he might have been eligible for probation for the molestation, but his behavior after his arrest, coupled with two arrests in June 1995 for prowling at the homes of other girls, led her to seek a prison sentence.[4] As a result, 150 concurrently served days were added for one prowling charge, while several others were dismissed. He served his sentence at the California Institution for Men, at Chino.
[edit] References
- ^ James Stacy Biography. James Stacy.com.
- ^ a b Misery Worth Millions. Time Magazine. 31 May 1976.
- ^ California's Registered Sex Offenders. Meganslaw.ca.gov.
- ^ Elias, Paul. Actor Stacy Sentenced in Molestation. L.A. Times. 6 March 1996.
