Hotel

Photo Courtesy of ABC

Based on the book of the same name by Arthur Hailey, Hotel follows the lives of the staff and guests at the elegant St. Gregory Hotel in San Francisco, California.

The hotel is run by Mrs. Victoria Cabot (Anne Baxter) the kindly, aristocratic and wealthy sister-in-law of the owner Laura Trent, (Bette Davis). Mrs. Cabot runs a tight ship but does so with a gentle touch, always striving to keep her employees happy. She is aided by the hotel’s general manager, Peter McDermott (James Brolin), handsome and kind with a foreboding demeanor that’s transformed when he smiles. Always a hit with women, Peter is also respected by men. Like Mrs. Cabot, he is a caring employer who is prepared to go to great lengths to support his staff.

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Reporting to Peter is Assistant General Manager Christine Francis (Connie Sellecca), who combines beauty with brains and a love of her job. The chemistry between Christine and Peter is obvious from the start, and grows throughout the series despite their best efforts to ignore it.

A cast of other staff take part in the daily life of the hotel. Guest Relations Director, Mark Danning (Shea Farrell) is kind and has a boyish charm, while friendly and efficient Head of Hotel Security, Billy Griffin (Nathan Cook), is liked and trusted by everyone, despite his history as a conman. Reception Manager Julie Gillette (Shari Belafonte) brightens up the front desk with her sweet personality and winning smile, and the married couple of the group are Dave and Megan Kendall (Michael Spound and Heidi Bohay). Both personable, bright and attractive, bellhop Dave and desk clerk Megan are a perfect match and seem to be friends with everyone. Rounding off the group is bartender Harry (Harry George Phillips), who is always on hand to lend a willing ear to everyone’s problems.

Photo Courtesy of ABC

Main Cast

Character	Actor
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

Photo Courtesy of ABC

Additional Cast

Character	Actor
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

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Trivia

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

Of Anne Baxter’s many film roles her most famous was probably that of Queen Nefretiri in the 1956 film The Ten Commandments, which also starred Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner.

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

Legendary actress Bette Davis was supposed to be a regular on the show as hotel owner Laura Trent, but after appearing in the pilot episode she fell ill and was forced to withdraw from the series. Wanting another big name to attract viewers, the producers drafted in Anne Baxter to play Davis’s character’s sister-in-law, Victoria Cabot. Baxter had coincidentally played opposite Davis in the 1950 film All About Eve. Davis was invited back to the show when her health improved but declined the offer.

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

Nathan Cook died at the age of 38 after suffering a severe allergic reaction to penicillin.

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

Before her marriage to Jon Tesh, Connie Sellecca (Christine Francis) was married to actor Gil Gerard. Her two-year courtship with Tesh was, however, a traditional one: they did not live together and did not have sex until their wedding night.

Anne Baxter died in 1985 in the midst of a series of Hotel. She suffered a brain aneurysm while hailing a cab on Madison Avenue in New York City and 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 and former Hotel co-star Michael Spound have three sons together, Zachary, Jonah and Gabriel.

Shari Belafonte posed for Playboy magazine in 2000.

The series was based on a novel of the same name written by Arthur Hailey in 1965. The book also spawned a feature film in 1967 which, unlike the novel, set the hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Connie Sellecca was born Concetta Sellecchia.

Anne Baxter was married three times and had three children.

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

Photo Courtesy of ABC

The Fairmont San Francisco hotel, which sits on top of San Francisco’s Nob Hill, was used for the exterior and some interior shot of the fictitious St. Gregory Hotel. It’s not the only time it has appeared on screen, having been used in numerous films including The Rock, starring Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery. 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 talked about how she liked to play strange practical jokes that for the most part involved her faking her own death. Reportedly, her then husband, Gil Gerard, became so accustomed to returning home and finding her laying prone in a pool of fake blood, that he invented a critiquing system for her efforts.

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 and is the spokesperson for the “Starlight Children’s Foundation”. She 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 was produced by Aaron Spelling and like The Love Boat, another Spelling series, was heavily dependent upon a long list of well-known guest stars. These included 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 Spelling, Julia Duffy, Patrick Duffy, Scott Baio, Alec Baldwin, McLean Stevenson, Morgan Fairchild, Sarah Jessica Parker and Elizabeth Taylor.

Anne Baxter’s 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. Jane died in 1995, just one day after their son Josh’s 27th birthday.

Nathan Cook died young and had only had 14 acting credits to his name. One of them was the film National Lampoon’s Vacation.

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Michael Spound is a writer as well as an actor. In addition to his role in Hotel, he is known for The Ring and Must Love Dogs.

Heidi Bohay hosted the shows Party at Home and American Baby.