The show “Hotel” Cast, Pictures, and Trivia!

This series is based on the book called “Hotel”, by Arthur Hailey.

It is about the lives and activities of passing guests, as well as both the personal and working lives of the staff at the elegant and beautiful, St. Gregory Hotel in San Francisco, California. It is run by the kindly, aristocratic and wealthy, Mrs. Victoria Cabot (Anne Baxter). Mrs. Cabot is the sister-in-law of hotel owner Laura Trent, (Bette Davis) and she runs the hotel very efficiently but with a gentle touch. She is generous and compassionate and always strives to keep her employees satisfied. She is aided by the hotel’s general manager, Peter McDermott (James Brolin). Peter is handsome and kind with a somewhat foreboding look…..until he smiles. He is always a hit with women, but at the same time he manages to gain the respect of men. He is always concerned about his employees and goes to great lengths sometimes to show this. Underneath Peter is Christine Francis, (Connie Sellecca) Assistant General Manager. Christine has that unusual combination of both looks and brains combined into one. She is stunningly beautiful, with long dark hair, gorgeous eyes and a riveting smile, but she is also incredibly good at her job, plus she enjoys it. And although this does not happen for a while, the chemistry between Christine and Peter is obvious from the start, something which the two of them try their best to ignore, but despite all their efforts, slowly continues to build.

Hotel: The First Season on DVD. Click Here.

  As for the rest of the staff, this includes Guest Relations Director, Mark Danning, and (Shea Farrell) who sort of has that “pretty boy” look about him, but is also known to be good-natured and kind. The head of hotel security is Billy Griffin, (Nathan Cook). Billy is a sweet, friendly and sometimes comical man who does his job with a wink and a smile. He is quite efficient at what he does and always trustworthy, which is somewhat odd considering his past history as a conman, though this makes no difference to anyone else as he is very well liked. The Reception Manager is Julie Gillette, (Shari Belafonte) an attractive woman with a sweet personality and a fantastic smile. Then of course there is the favorite married couple of the hotel staff, Dave and Megan Kendall (Michael Spound and Heidi Bohay). He is a bellhop and she is a desk clerk and both are personable, bright, and attractive and always seem to be smiling. They are perfectly matched and seem to be friends with everyone. Lastly is the bartender, Harry, (Harry George Phillips) who is always willing to listen to everyone discussing their problems. Over its five seasons, there were a few cast members removed or added, but for the most part this was the extent of the “Hotel” family.

My Opinion

This show, although not as fascinating to watch as a typical nighttime soap opera, did have its moments. It had good storylines and a wonderful cast that really complimented each other. I give this series 6 out of 10.

The Cast

Peter McDermott-James Brolin
Christine Francis-Connie Sellecca
Billy Griffin-Nathan Cook
Julie Gillette-Shari Bellafonte
Dave Kendall-Michael Spound
Megan Kendall-Heidi Bohay
Mark Danning-Shea Farrell
Victoria Cabot-Anne Baxter
Harry, the bartender-Harry George Phillips

Recurring Cast

Kei-Michael Yama
Teri-Robin Hoff
Cheryl Dolan-Valerie Landsburg
Eric Lloyd-Ty Miller
Ryan Thomas-Susan Walters
Charles Cabot-Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
Dr. Kellin-Paul Kent
Elizabeth Bradshaw Cabot-Michelle Phillips
Nancy Kim-Michele B. Chan
Brian Larson-David Wallace
Maitre d’-Gil Mandelik
Flower Clerk-Larry Randolph
Elizabeth Evans-Deborah Adair
Grace Harlan-Vera Miles

Trivia

James Brolin (Peter McDermott) is married to legendary singer and actress, Barbara Streisand.

Anne Baxter starred in many films, but her most famous role was probably that of Queen Nefretiri in the film, “The Ten Commandments” with Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner in 1956.

Shari Belafonte (Julie Gillette) is the daughter of famed singer, Harry Belafonte.

One of the draws to the show in the beginning was supposed to be that legendary actress; Bette Davis was supposed to be a regular on the show as hotel owner, Laura Trent. She appeared in the pilot episode of the show, but then fell ill and was forced to withdraw from the series. To replace her (but not her character) they then hired actress Anne Baxter. Baxter who was also well known and coincidentally played opposite Davis in the 1950 film, “All About Eve”, was to play Davis’ character’s sister-in-law, Victoria Cabot. After Davis’ health improved, they had every intention of bringing her back, but due to several factors, Davis declined.

Michael Spound (Dave Kendall) met his wife, Heidi Bohay (Megan Kendall) on the set of Hotel. They married in 1988, and nearly thirty years later, are still together.

Nathan Cook died at the age of 38, due to a severe allergic reaction to penicillin.

After acting for 18 years, Shea Farrell (Mark Danning) now works in production.

Connie Sellecca, (Christine Francis) before her marriage to John Tesh, was married to actor, Gil Gerard.
When she started dating Tesh however, they had a traditional courtship, which included no living together and no sex until their wedding night. They dated for two years.

In 1985, during the run of the Hotel series, Anne Baxter died. She was hailing a cab in New York City, on Madison Avenue, when she suddenly had a brain aneurysm. She died eight days later at the age of 62.

James Brolin is the father of actor, Josh Brolin.

Heidi Bohay (Megan Kendall) and her husband Michael Spound, (her former Hotel co-star) have three sons together. They are Zachary, Jonah and Gabriel.

Shari Belafonte posed for Playboy magazine in 2000.

The series was based on a novel written by Arthur Hailey in 1965 with the same name. The book also spawned a feature film in 1967. The only difference between the novel and the film was that the hotel was set in New Orleans,Louisiana.

Connie Sellecca was born, Concetta Sellecchia.

Anne Baxter was married three times and had three children as well.

Still close friends, in 1992, James Brolin attended the wedding of his former co-star Connie Sellecca, to actor, composer and former co-host of “Entertainment Tonight”, John Tesh.

Before her acting, Shari Belafonte was a successful model. She has appeared on more than 300 magazine covers.

Since the St. Gregory Hotel was actually fictitious, all the outside shots along with some of the inside ones, were actually from The Fairmont San Francisco hotel, which actually is located in San Francisco, atop of Nob Hill. This hotel has been used in numerous films, including the very popular Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery film, “The Rock”. In 2002, The Fairmont San Francisco was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Nathan Cook (Billy Griffin) graduated from Penn State University.

In a TV Guide article, Connie Selleca talks about how she liked to play strange practical jokes that for the most part involved her faking her own death. Reportedly, her husband at the time, Gil Gerard, would get so accustomed to returning home and finding her laying prone in a pool of fake blood, that he eventually invented a critiquing system for it.

Anne Baxter was good friends with the famous and celebrated costumer designer, Edith Head. Head was the godmother of one of Baxter’s daughters, Melissa Galt. When Head died in 1981, Galt was bequeathed her entire jewelry collection.

Shari Belafonte is affiliated with several different animal and children’s charities. In addition, she is the spokesperson for the “Starlight Children’s Foundation”, and has been named one of the ten top celebrity endorsers by the Wall Street Journal.

James Brolin’s real name is Craig Kenneth Bruderlin.

The series, which was produced by Aaron Spelling, was heavily dependent upon a long list of well-known guest stars, which was similar to that of one of Spelling’s other series, “The Love Boat”. Some of these guest stars were: Emma Samms, Robert Culp, Tippi Hedren, Jon-Erik Hexum, Eddie Albert, Nolan Miller, Tracy Scoggins, Ken Howard, Erin Moran, Bruce Davison, Ted Shackelford, Melissa Sue Anderson, Johnny Depp, Mackenzie Astin, Jean Simmons, Tori Spellin, Julia Duffy, Patrick Duffy, Scott Baio, Alec Baldwin, McLean Stevenson, Morgan Fairchild, Sarah Jessica Parker, Elizabeth Taylor and countless others.

Anne Baxter’s (Victoria Cabot) grandfather was famed architect, Frank Lloyd Wright.

James Brolin, who has been married three times, met his first wife, Jane Cameron Agee in 1966, and married her after only twelve days. They had two children together (one of them being actor Josh Brolin) and stayed together for 18 years before divorcing. She died in 1995, just one day after their son Josh’s 27th birthday.

Nathan Cook only had 14 acting credits to his name, due to his very premature death. One of them was the film, “National Lampoon’s Vacation”.

Michael Spound is both an actor and a writer, and he is known not only for the Hotel series, but also for “The Ring”, and “Must Love Dogs”.

After her death, Anne Baxter was buried on the estate of her grandfather, Frank Lloyd Wright, at Lloyd Jones Cemetery.

Heidi Bohay was hostess of the shows, “Party at Home” and “American Baby”.