The National Enquirer, sometime in Mid-1974:
"Sam Westwood was let go after filming five days on Irwin Allen's all-star disaster epic The Towering Inferno. Sources say the actor, 29, who was also let go (some sources say fired) from Arthur P. Jacob's upcoming production of Dune, had been miscast. Despite the rumors, co-stars Judy Garland, Paul Newman, and Jeffrey Hunter all apparently tried to help him out on set. Sources say Westwood passed out, allegedly from the stress of non-stop TV appearances following the Dune debacle. Westwood was replaced at the very last minute by former Mission: Impossible actor Peter Lupus in a reduced role.
Will Westwood, a recent Golden Globe winner for his role in The Last American Hero, be able to turn his career around, or will he continue to have difficulties on future film sets?"
From Sam Westwood's Hollywood
Sam: The tabloids constantly tried to find ways to make me look bad. When I had that small run of bad luck, they got off on it. I don't want to boast, but when I got nominated a second time, it felt good because in a way it was sort of flipping a middle finger to The National Enquirer.
On the other hand, when I was outed, they once again had a field day with me--
From a 1984 People Magazine profile on actor Scott Newman.
The son of Paul Newman is talking about how adopting a healthier lifestyle and practicing meditation might have saved his life.
"I thought Peter Lupus was kind of pushy about health and fitness at first, but he helped saved my life. Being the son of Paul Newman was really difficult for me. I was coping through drugs and alcohol. I could never give up wine, though--"
From a cassette tape belonging to the archive of Nolan Hendricks. This one is labeled 'Sam Westwood, 1990'.
Sam: Paul and Joanne are still really close friends. Scott--it took a while for Scott to warm up to us.
Harris: I wanted to be friends with Scott once he came back into the picture. We were the same age and we'd both struggled with addiction. But he was a bit aloof around me at first and I mean, yeah, it hurt.
Once we did become friendly, he confided to me that because I was still relapsing when we met, and especially after my incident on Ian Noble's yacht, he was afraid that if we got too close, it might cause him to relapse as well.
I wasn't insulted. I don't know if I would have wanted to be friends with myself in the mid-'70s either. Hell, I'm surprised Sam here stuck around.
Sam: It wasn't easy, I gave him an ultimatum, and he decided he'd rather get the help than lose me. And I did reach out to Scott who extended an olive branch to Harris. But it took a while.
I think it was also the fact that he probably didn't want to hang out with his dad's friend.
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The Towering Inferno (20th Century Fox/ Warner Brothers, December 14th, 1974)
Directed by John Guillermin
Produced by Irwin Allen
Screenplay by Stirling Silliphant (Based on The Tower by Richard Martin Stern and The Glass Inferno by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson)
Music by John Williams
Cast (Main Cast Only)
Paul Newman as Doug Roberts, the Architect
Natalie Wood as Susan Franklin, Doug Roberts' fiancée
William Holden as James "Jim" Duncan, the Builder
Jeffrey Hunter as Roger Simmons, the Electrical Engineer, and Duncan's son-in-law
Judy Garland as Lisolette Mueller
Fred Astaire as Harlee Claiborne, the Con-Man who flirts with Mrs. Mueller
Peter Lupus as Michael "Mike" O’Halloran, SFFD 5th Battalion Chief
Ken Norton as Harry Jernigan, the Chief Security Officer
Erin Gray as Patty Duncan Simmons, James Duncan's daughter
Robert Vaughn as U.S. Senator Gary Parker
Richard Chamberlain as Dan Bigelow, the Public Relations Officer
Susan Flannery as Lorrie, Dan's secretary
Gregory Sierra as Carlos, The Bartender
Dabney Coleman as SFFD Deputy Chief 1
Mike Lookinland as Phillip Allbright
Scott Newman as Young Fireman
Maureen McGovern as Singer at Party
Trivia from IMDB
Former Mission: Impossible actor Peter Lupus was cast as O'Halloran after first choice Steve McQueen died in a late-1973 car accident and replacement Sam Westwood collapsed of nervous exhaustion on set.
Judy Garland beat out several actresses for Lisolette including Jennifer Jones. Garland would later admit to taking the role because she felt it would be her last chance at fulfilling Fred Astaire's wish of doing another film together.
Peter Lupus introduced Scott Newman, the then troubled son of Paul, to the world of fitness and healthy dieting.
William Holden wanted top billing but was quickly shot down by producers.
Reviews were positive. Ebert especially praising Inferno, calling it the best of the wave of disaster films.
Erin Gray's career hadn't really gone anywhere after a promising debut in the Sam Westwood vehicle The Grifters. Subsequent films had done little, and Gray had been relegated to television and further modeling work before the offer came up to play William Holden's daughter in this film.
"Sam Westwood was let go after filming five days on Irwin Allen's all-star disaster epic The Towering Inferno. Sources say the actor, 29, who was also let go (some sources say fired) from Arthur P. Jacob's upcoming production of Dune, had been miscast. Despite the rumors, co-stars Judy Garland, Paul Newman, and Jeffrey Hunter all apparently tried to help him out on set. Sources say Westwood passed out, allegedly from the stress of non-stop TV appearances following the Dune debacle. Westwood was replaced at the very last minute by former Mission: Impossible actor Peter Lupus in a reduced role.
Will Westwood, a recent Golden Globe winner for his role in The Last American Hero, be able to turn his career around, or will he continue to have difficulties on future film sets?"
From Sam Westwood's Hollywood
Sam: The tabloids constantly tried to find ways to make me look bad. When I had that small run of bad luck, they got off on it. I don't want to boast, but when I got nominated a second time, it felt good because in a way it was sort of flipping a middle finger to The National Enquirer.
On the other hand, when I was outed, they once again had a field day with me--
From a 1984 People Magazine profile on actor Scott Newman.
The son of Paul Newman is talking about how adopting a healthier lifestyle and practicing meditation might have saved his life.
"I thought Peter Lupus was kind of pushy about health and fitness at first, but he helped saved my life. Being the son of Paul Newman was really difficult for me. I was coping through drugs and alcohol. I could never give up wine, though--"
From a cassette tape belonging to the archive of Nolan Hendricks. This one is labeled 'Sam Westwood, 1990'.
Sam: Paul and Joanne are still really close friends. Scott--it took a while for Scott to warm up to us.
Harris: I wanted to be friends with Scott once he came back into the picture. We were the same age and we'd both struggled with addiction. But he was a bit aloof around me at first and I mean, yeah, it hurt.
Once we did become friendly, he confided to me that because I was still relapsing when we met, and especially after my incident on Ian Noble's yacht, he was afraid that if we got too close, it might cause him to relapse as well.
I wasn't insulted. I don't know if I would have wanted to be friends with myself in the mid-'70s either. Hell, I'm surprised Sam here stuck around.
Sam: It wasn't easy, I gave him an ultimatum, and he decided he'd rather get the help than lose me. And I did reach out to Scott who extended an olive branch to Harris. But it took a while.
I think it was also the fact that he probably didn't want to hang out with his dad's friend.
*******************************************************************************************************************************************
The Towering Inferno (20th Century Fox/ Warner Brothers, December 14th, 1974)
Directed by John Guillermin
Produced by Irwin Allen
Screenplay by Stirling Silliphant (Based on The Tower by Richard Martin Stern and The Glass Inferno by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson)
Music by John Williams
Cast (Main Cast Only)
Paul Newman as Doug Roberts, the Architect
Natalie Wood as Susan Franklin, Doug Roberts' fiancée
William Holden as James "Jim" Duncan, the Builder
Jeffrey Hunter as Roger Simmons, the Electrical Engineer, and Duncan's son-in-law
Judy Garland as Lisolette Mueller
Fred Astaire as Harlee Claiborne, the Con-Man who flirts with Mrs. Mueller
Peter Lupus as Michael "Mike" O’Halloran, SFFD 5th Battalion Chief
Ken Norton as Harry Jernigan, the Chief Security Officer
Erin Gray as Patty Duncan Simmons, James Duncan's daughter
Robert Vaughn as U.S. Senator Gary Parker
Richard Chamberlain as Dan Bigelow, the Public Relations Officer
Susan Flannery as Lorrie, Dan's secretary
Gregory Sierra as Carlos, The Bartender
Dabney Coleman as SFFD Deputy Chief 1
Mike Lookinland as Phillip Allbright
Scott Newman as Young Fireman
Maureen McGovern as Singer at Party
Trivia from IMDB
Former Mission: Impossible actor Peter Lupus was cast as O'Halloran after first choice Steve McQueen died in a late-1973 car accident and replacement Sam Westwood collapsed of nervous exhaustion on set.
Judy Garland beat out several actresses for Lisolette including Jennifer Jones. Garland would later admit to taking the role because she felt it would be her last chance at fulfilling Fred Astaire's wish of doing another film together.
Peter Lupus introduced Scott Newman, the then troubled son of Paul, to the world of fitness and healthy dieting.
William Holden wanted top billing but was quickly shot down by producers.
Reviews were positive. Ebert especially praising Inferno, calling it the best of the wave of disaster films.
Erin Gray's career hadn't really gone anywhere after a promising debut in the Sam Westwood vehicle The Grifters. Subsequent films had done little, and Gray had been relegated to television and further modeling work before the offer came up to play William Holden's daughter in this film.
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