Now, now, settle down. It's not quite what you think.As you well know, or should have guessed by now, cheftestant Betty Fraser, known affectionately to us as Spice Rack (see photo, left), used to be an actress.
Shocking, we know. Actors, after all, are reputed to be temperamental, egotistical monsters, able to be bubbly and smiley one moment, and then to fly into foul-mouthed, full-lunged rages. How is it possible our very own Spice Rack was ever one of their number?
But a recent profile of Spice Rack in the L.A. Independent reminded us of her, uh, thespian past. As our favorite paragraph in the entire profile says:
Fraser, who started her career as an actress, starred in various stage productions and played a “hooker with a heart of gold” on the 1980s television “Wolf” before becoming a full-time chef, and sees some parallels between the two professions besides the small screen stardom she’s found.
Oy, where to start? First, let's discuss the importance of good grammar and clear writing. That bit about "the two professions" comes awfully close to suggesting parallels between being a chef and whoring. So inconceivable is this--cough, Emeril, cough, Batali--that we surmise the author meant parallels between acting and cooking. Still, let it be a lesson to you.
But you know us all too well, and so of course you know we were thrilled to see that Spice Rack played a "hooker with a heart of gold" in a cheesy 80s television series. We were, of course, also shocked and surprised (see photo, left).
Intrepid little reporters that we are, we delved into the history of "Wolf." We turned to the estimable IMDB.com, but found no mention of Spice Rack in the cast. There was one actress listed as playing "Purse Woman," but no "Prostitute with Two Aureous Ventricles." Perhaps Spice Rack had a nom de poon?
At any rate, the show looks like a winner:
"Tony Wolf, a San Francisco cop, is framed on a drug charge by the criminals he has been pursuing. Thrown off the force, he gets a job as a private detective working for the attorney, Dylan Elliott, who led the fight to have him thrown off the force. Dylan came to believe that Tony had been framed and attempts to help him prove his innocence. Tony lives with his father, Sal, on a boat that always needs repairs, and spends most of his free time with Connie, his girlfriend."
How is it possible the show didn't make it past its first season?
7 comments:
I don't even remember Wolf! Watching Betty act would be a rare sight indeed.
Nor do I, Ms. Place. I'm on the fence with you about Betty - can't quite figure her out, and I agree wholeheartedly about her attacks on Marcel (hmmm...maybe watching her act isn't as rare as one might think!)
Wow...I have just run across this blog and it's proof that blogs are indeed the place where those with no writing talent hide.
Yeah...bust Betty for a reporter not being clear. What Betty did go on to say about the similarites between being a chef and an actor I found to be right on the mark.
"I’m sure it’s no accident that I went from acting to cooking,” Fraser says. “They’re both about creativity and what you can bring to it; they’re both about creating a final product for others.”
Also, perhaps you just neglected to mention that on the IMDB site, it lists the series cast of the show Wolf. Did Betty mention in the article that she was a series regular? Perhaps she appeared on only one or two episodes. Perhaps she did have another name at the time. People do use stage names or get married, right? Great research.
If you are going to try and go all Matt Drudge on us, at least try to do it with a semblance of skill. Oh, that's right. Blogs aren't about facts. They are about making things up and thinking people really care about your opinion. Good work then.
Charlus and Miss XaXa, congrats on your second @#&%! comment.
Not quite sure how I feel about your site other than to say I did enjoy some of your articles. A buddy told me he was reading something in here and the series Wolf came up. I went back and saw what you wrote about the Top Chef girl appearing on the show but wasn't listed in IMDB. Just to let you know, I did five or six episodes of that series and I'm not listed on the page either so maybe she really did do the show. IMDB misses a lot. Best of luck.
I see "Betty Frasier .... A Prostitute" listed.....
Betty's talent in the kitchen was pedestrian compared to Marcel's. Plus, I don't buy her lame excuses of making "comfort food". Hell, we all make comfort food of some sort. Show me a chef!
-paul mc
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