~3 gossipy articles~

TV'S SEXY NEW MEN
(unkn.) (?/82)

They're starring in separate new series this season but have a splashy fall mini-series in common - Bruce and Joel both get to romance Genie Francis in Bare Essence, about the jet-set perfume biz (see p. 38).

Bruce, now on the big screen in the video-game flick Tron, is ecstatic about his new role as big game collector Frank Buck, who stalks the jungles of Malaysia to Bring 'Em Back Alive. "I've always loved swashbuckling roles and hoped I'd be playing them some day. I love it," he enthuses, similarly pleased that Cindy Morgan, his Tron co-star whom he recommended to series execs, landed the part of his love interest on the show. Born in Elgin, IL, a CPA's son, he progressed from high school plays to Chicago children's theater, stock, and stage tours, eventually making his way to L.A. After a five line part on Mary Tyler Moore, his TV career was launched - he has since starred in East of Eden, The Macahans, The Last Convertible, The Gambler, Fly Away Home, and How the West Was Won. His sister in that miniseries was played by Kitty Holcomb, whom he married in May, 1977 - they now have a two-year-old son, Sam. An antiques collector and history buff, outdoorsman Bruce is an avid hiker and horseman.

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TV'S HOT NEW MEN
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His days of stalking the jungle as Frank Buck are over, but Bruce is back, minus his moustache and plus a lovely partner, Kate Jackson, in the new series Scarecrow and Mrs. King. The producers sought Bruce from the start, and he was intruigued by the script and the idea of working with Kate, whom he didn't know before ("actually we'd met but she didn't remember," he laughs) yet clicked with instantly. Though he'd been offered a role on The Yellow Rose, the contemporary western milieu of which he liked, Bruce had a good feeling about Scarecrow and Kate ("she's a good lady") and his secret agent character, Lee Stetson.

"He's kind of adventurous, I'm an armchair adventurer so it's exciting to step into that warld. I'm attracted to characters who live on the edge, people who live dingerously," says Bruce. A reader of Ian Fleming and Robert Ludlum novels who pictures Lee as "a would-be James Bond -- he never quite gets it." Lee is always getting in trouble for bending the rules: "That's why I like him -- he's a bit of a rebel." Bruce also likes playing the hero. "I enjoyed every bit of Bring 'Em Back Alive, I have no regrets about it. That's the way it goes -- I chalk it up to another of life's experiences," he reflects, though he's glad to share the spotlight and pressures with someone else this time out. He likewise finds romantic scenes fun. "Most fo the time I feel pretty at ease doing them. I flirt around a lot anyway," he laughs, but says filming them is more technical than romantic. "You can't get too close or you'll throw a shadow on her face."

His list of leading ladies includes Genie Francis, Linda Evans, twice (see p. 39 for info on their latest tandem effort), and now Kate, but Bruce's favorite leading lady is his wife Kitty, his one-time sister on How the West Was Won. She plans to return to acting soon and could pop up on Scarecrow as "a sultry spy or double agent." The key to their marriage's success is "not living in Hollywood," Bruce believes. "It's a healthier atmosphere out here," he says, referring to their rambling suburban ranch. He admits they've had their marital differences, but "the secret is talking to each other -- and listening."

Kitty and their son Sam, 3, accompanied Bruce to the Arizona location of The Gambler II, where he combined some very hard work with R&R. "I still want to get away to an island somewhere," he says, hoping Scarecrow's writers will send him on assignment to Tahiti. Down the line, Bruce, who grew up on the ballfields of Mt. Prospect, IL, would love to do a biofilm about a sports figure, and Robert E. Lee, though at "only 33, I have to get a few years older." Bruce and pal Jameson Parker have also discussed doing a project together.*

Since his beginnings in Chicago theater and TV debut on The Mary Tyler Moore Show a decade ago, Bruce has come a long way -- and with "one foot in Tinseltown and the other in reality, he's sure to stay on top!

*See TVGuide Insider 11/90

Movie Mirror 5/84

Does this diapered tot look like a swashbuckling adventurer or a secret agent? Baby Bruce Boxleitner grew up to be the handsome leading man in two fantasy-filled series, Bring 'Em Back Alive and Scarecrow and Mrs. King. [PHOTO]

"I had a very vivid imagination. I always wanted to be in the movies though I didn't know how to go about it," says Bruce Boxleitner, who idolized Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, John Wayne, and Cary Grant as a kid growing up in Illinois. A CPAs son with "a nice combination of a rural and urban upbringing," Bruce used to build hay-bale forts on his grandfather's farm and pretend he was Errol Flynn. Now he's living out his childhood fantasies as a secret agent Lee Stetson on Scarecrow and Mrs. King, but before his second year in high school he was unsure of his future.

Born on May 12, 1950 in Elgin, IL and raised in nearby Mt. Prospect, Bruce was a below average student and a mediocre athlete. "I was nerdy and pimply with two left feet. I was never good enough for the team," he confides. But in his sophomore year he tried out for a play, won the lead, and starring roles from then on. Despite the fact that his grades dropped further, necessitating summer school, Bruce was happy: "I'd found my niche."

He was admittedly a late bloomer socially, but the attention he got from his theater activities helped in that areas. So did having three sisters. "I've always been comfortable around women," Bruce says. With professional theater experience in Chicago and New York under his belt, Bruce headed for Hollywood, where he debuted on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and later met his wife Kitty on How the West Was Won. Now one of Hollywood's most popular leading men, he's living proof that childhood fantasies can come true!

Thanks to Jim, Susan, and Karen S!