Actress Angie Dickinson is back on the small screen tonight for a special movie premiere on the Hallmark Channel.
The Golden Globe winner is starring in the original movie "Mending Fences" at 8 p.m. tonight.
When I lunched with Dickinson last spring in Chicago and chatted about this new film, she said the character she plays that prompted her to sign the film deal.
The one-time Pepper Anderson ("Police Woman") also emphasized she didn't accept a new project "just to play a rocking chair aficionado."
As no-nonsense Ruth Hanson, the living legend is a force to be reckoned with as she portrays a woman fighting to keep her family's ranch and repair her tumultuous relationship with her daughter.
At age 77, Dickinson admits it straight out. She doesn't get offered a lot of scripts.
"They're usually the grandmother role or the mother role," she said.
"They don't amount to much."
But when Hallmark Channel called, the actress, notoriously choosy about the roles she'll play, perked up.
"I'd been wanting to do a Hallmark movie for ages," she said.
"There's a sense of credibility, that it's something worthwhile or special."
And the role of Ruth was more than just a typical background-mother role.
"She's not just a convenient tool for the story," Dickinson said.
"She's a woman who had a terrific life on this piece of property with nature, animals and peace and quiet and she's not about ready to let all of that beauty and specialness not be passed along to her family."
The actress admits she was unprepared for the speed with which the movie was shot. But something else weighed on her mind during the shoot.
Not only was this the first acting she'd done in several years, it was the first role she'd taken on since the loss of her daughter Nikki in 2007.
And to play a mother on top of it all, Dickinson admits, made this "special" role that much more so.
"I knew it would be hard for me to take on the part," she said.
"A couple of times, I barely got through it, but I pushed aside my feelings most of the time. This wasn't my story, it was Ruth's. If I were playing my story, it would be different."
Telling the Dickinson story is like taking a trip through Hollywood's last Golden Age. Born in North Dakota, Angeline Brown was transplanted to California during World War II when her family relocated. The film capitol of the world quickly touched her with its magic.
Over the years, she's never gone halfway in her associations with some of Hollywood's biggest names, working with iconic directors ranging from Howard Hawks (1959's "Rio Bravo") to Brian DePalma (1980s "Dressed to Kill"). She also was romantically linked with Frank Sinatra and President John F. Kennedy. She's been married twice, once to Gene Dickinson, whose last name she kept, and once to legendary songwriter Burt Bacharach. She's single today.
When asked who she loved best, she's very tactful: "No man was the love of my life. I wouldn't say that. I loved them all, let's put it that way."
She married Bacharach in 1965 and they had Nikki the following year, but their daughter was born three months prematurely and suffered from a number of ailments throughout her life. Dickinson said she was instantly devoted to her.
"We were together constantly and forever and adoring, so it's not like she was a kid you only saw once a month or something," she said.
Wanting to keep a close eye on Nikki was one of the reasons Dickinson signed on to what would become her signature role as Sgt. Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson in "Police Woman."
Dickinson had appeared in "Police Story" in a guest part, but even while that role was being shot, Dickinson says "scuttlebutt" was emerging about turning her role into a series.
The death of her daughter, who committed suicide at age 40, left a gaping hole in her life, and she backed away from acting for several years.
"The truth about the love of my life?" she asks. "It was Nikki. That will always be true."
The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at philip.potempa@nwi.com or 219.852.4327.
Today's Celebrity Birthdays
Former South African President Nelson Mandela is 91. Astronaut John Glenn and Dorothy Letterman Mengering (mother of David) are 88. Olympic skater Dick Button is 80. Director Paul Verhoeven ("Basic Instinct," "Showgirls") is 71. Singers Brian Auger and Dion DiMucci are 70. Actor James Brolin is 69. Blues guitarist Lonnie Mack and singer Martha Reeves of Martha and the Vandellas are 68. Guitarist Wally Bryson of The Raspberries is 60. Country singer Ricky Skaggs is 55. Drummer Nigel Twist of The Alarm is 51. Actress Audrey Landers ("Dallas") is 50. Actress Elizabeth McGovern is 48. Keyboardist John Hermann of Widespread Panic is 47. Actor Vin Diesel is 42. Rapper M.I.A. and guitarist Daron Malakian of System Of A Down and of Scars On Broadway are 34. Drummer Tony Fagenson of Eve 6 is 31. Actress Kristen Bell ("Veronica Mars") is 29. Singer Ryan Cabrera is 27. Drummer Aaron Gillespie of Underoath is 26. Actor Chace Crawford ("Gossip Girl") is 24.
