James Stacy

James Stacy (born December 23, 1936) is an American actor whose career was effectively ended in a motorcycle crash which left him a multiple amputee and took the life of his girlfriend. Returning to acting after his recovery, Stacy retired from acting in 1991.

Early life and career

Stacy was born Maurice William Elias in Los Angeles, California to an Irish-Scottish waitress and a Lebanese-American bookmaker.^[1] Stacy made his film debut in 1957's Sayonara, and his television debut in Highway Patrol. He had a recurring role as "Fred" in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet from 1958-1963. In the 1960s he sporadically appeared in TV shows, including Gunsmoke, Hazel, The Donna Reed Show, Perry Mason, Have Gun - Will Travel, and Combat! As an actor, Stacy is best remembered as a star of the Western series Lancer on CBS from 1968-1970. He played the character "Johnny Madrid Lancer", a former gunslinger. Stacy was also in several motion pictures from the 1950s through the 1970s, including a minor part in the musical South Pacific.

Motorcycle accident

On September 27, 1973, Stacy lost his left arm and leg, and his girlfriend, waitress Claire Cox, was killed when they were struck by a drunk driver while riding on a motorcycle.^[1][2] A 1974 celebrity gala, whose attendees included Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand, raised $118,000 for his expenses, and in 1976, he won a $1.9 million landmark lawsuit against the bar that had served the drunk driver.^[2]

Comeback

After his recovery, Stacy appeared in roles created to accommodate his handicap. His comeback film was the 1975 Kirk Douglas Western Posse, in which he was cast as newspaper editor "Harold Hellman", a part Douglas had written for him. In 1977, he starred in the TV movie Just a Little Inconvenience, playing a double-amputee Vietnam veteran. The role earned him his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama or Comedy Special. In 1980, Stacy starred in and produced the TV movie, My Kidnapper, My Love. His brother, Louie Elias, a bit actor and stuntman, wrote the screenplay, based on the novel by Oscar Saul, to accommodate Stacy’s handicap. Elias was also the associate producer.

Other television appearances included Hotel, Cagney & Lacey (for which he was nominated for a second Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series), and Highway to Heaven. His last TV role was in five 1990 episodes of the cop series Wiseguy, playing "Ed Rogosheske."

Personal life

Stacy has married twice, to actress and singer Connie Stevens (1963-1966) and actress Kim Darby (1968-1969), with whom he had a daughter named Heather.^[1]

Arrest and conviction

In November 1995, Stacy was found guilty of molesting an 11-year-old-girl.^[3]

On December 7, 1995, he failed to appear for sentencing in Ventura County Superior Court. He was arrested the next day in a Honolulu, Hawaii, hospital after having fled. He attempted suicide by downing a pint of whiskey and leaping off a 1,200-foot (370 m) cliff. But as he leapt from the high ledge of the mountain cliff, a gust of wind sudden blew his body against the mountainside, and landed on a ledge just 45 feet (14 m) from the top. His high-profile rescue from the peak by Hawaii authorities made the nightly news. Weeks later, after recovering, Stacy had waived extradition and was returned to California. On March 5, 1996, he was sentenced to a six-year prison term. The prosecutor in the case said initially that she believed he might have been eligible for probation for the molestation, but his behavior after his arrest, coupled with two arrests in June 1995 for prowling at the homes of other girls, led her to seek a prison sentence.^[4] He served his sentence at the California Institution for Men, at Chino.^[3]

Filmography

References

External links

• James Stacy at the Internet Movie Database
• James Stacy at Allmovie
• James Stacy at Yahoo! Movies
• James Stacy at TV.com
• James Stacy Web Ring