Bring More Stars of ’80s Back to Silver Screen
Balki, Diane deserve another big hair day in the sun
NEW YORK — Sam J. Jones, the blond, bronzed star of 1980’s famous flop “Flash Gordon”? He’s back in Seth MacFarlane’s new comedy “Ted” as a cocaine-snorting version of himself who parties as though the go-go ’80s never went away.
In some ways, they haven’t. Adam Sandler’s “That’s My Boy” features a supporting role from Vanilla Ice, while the hair-metal musical “Rock of Ages” includes cameos from such real-life rockers as Night Ranger guitarist Joel Hoekstra and Skid Row front man Sebastian Bach (and, for some reason, Debbie Gibson).
If these folks are back in the spotlight, who’s next? Here are five 1980s stars who could be overdue for a comeback. —Bronson Pinchot He nearly ran away with “Beverly Hills Cop” (1984) as the fey gallery assistant Serge, then starred in the popular ABC sitcom “Perfect Strangers” as the ethnically vague Balki Bartokomous. And now? He hosts a home-renovation show on the DIY Network, “The Bronson Pinchot Project.” —Shelley Long She won an Emmy and two Golden Globes for playing the smart but vulnerable Diane on NBC’s “Cheers,” though her role opposite Tom Hanks in “The Money Pit” (1986) didn’t quite turn her into a movie star. Long now has a recurring role as the unbalanced DeDe Pritchett on ABC’s “Modern Family.” —Nastassja Kinski She became the face of European chic by posing naked with a Burmese python for photographer Richard Avedon in 1981, then starred in the steamy 1982 horror film “Cat People.” Her last major film role was a small part in David Lynch’s “Inland Empire” in 2006. —Dabney Coleman Still one of the best screen villains ever, Coleman played mustachioed chauvinists in “9 to 5” (1980) and “Tootsie” (1982), plus a small role in “WarGames” (1983). He now plays Steve Buscemi’s mentor on HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire.” —Michael Schoeffling As Jake Ryan in 1984’s “Sixteen Candles” — tall, dark, handsome, athletic, sensitive, chivalrous — this dreamboat actor became a fantasy for an entire generation of women, then virtually vanished, leaving a Schoeffling-shaped hole in many a heart. He reportedly lives in Pennsylvania with his wife, a former model, and two children.