Jo Ann Pflug

[johnbear]

[Findcandor]

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Looking fantastic in 1979, at nearly forty

I fell into the usual VEF trap with my last post. The idea was to share a rare photo with VEF'ers, regarding the forgotten 1970s TV series Search. Yet then I got bogged down with more materials featuring the lovely actress of that thread. As so happened, the spot where I got the Search photo provided other stills with performers from that series, and another happened to be Jo Ann Pflug:


Jo Ann played a doctor in 1972's "Moonrock"
episode of SEARCH; pictured with Hugh O'Brian.

As with the other post, the idea was to put this up, and that was supposed to be that. Yet I have reservations with putting up just one rinky-dink photograph (don't wanna come across as skinny as a rail, especially when there is no skin to speak of). So I figured I would take a quick look around to inject a little more meat into this post.

Unfortunately, the kind of meat we would all prefer when it comes to Ms. Phlug is as rare as the follicles on Vin Diesel's head. In addition, there is not all that much out there on Ms. Pflug in general (which is surprising, since she was a "name" during her time).



Naturally, while looking around, my goal was to pick whatever poses that were available which contained a dash of sex appeal, limiting the choices even more. When I found the uncommon photos where she said "cheese" while offering her cake, I would go through this modest thread (and by now it has become obvious you can't go through a thread just once if the idea is to avoid dupes), and who wants to bet our diligent fellow contributors had not already put them up? So I would save the acceptable photos, and then had to keep deleting them. Here are the handful that have been missed (including the image directly above, which called to be cropped; it didn't really qualify as "sexy," but I liked it):


When it comes to the knockers of Pflug,
no one may say "ugh." (Actually, her
name is pronounced as "floog." So no
one may say "oog.")

That was it! To top it off, this photo had a ghastly watermark, which called to be minimized. (I wish I could be like Member "George Anson" — who started this thread in 2010 — and other talented VEF artists who can get rid of watermarks without anyone knowing, but my skills fall short.) This meant more time being spent. (I'm telling you, spending time on this post wasn't the plan.)

Now you might ask, how could that be it? Just one measly photograph? Actually, a second bosomy shot came up in my search for Pflug that had miraculously escaped this thread. (See? It's part of the gallery for this post.) Yet while seeing the photo with the one from above made me wonder... could that be someone else? Turned out to be Markie Post. Since I felt that was such a wonderful photo, I put it up on Markie's thread. (More time spent, for God's sake. One thing always leads to another.)


In 2015, Member "Togolane" offered views of the actress in a bikini:

Originally Posted by togolane

McCloud: "The Barefoot Stewardess Caper"

Here's another view below, as the actress showed a little skin. (It appears beautiful flight attendants were the villains in this episode. Britt Ekland was also in the cast.) Alongside Jo Ann are Patrick O'Neal and Marlene Clark. (The second photo is also from this episode, when she had the audacity to put something over her bikini.)




I then went into the Getty archives, and that's when I hit paydirt as far as images that do not easily surface in searches. (Problem with Getty is the distracting watermarks. So I had to do what needed to be done to present images that were as clear as possible. Looks like I started to get bogged down again.)



The 1967-1968 poorly animated Fantastic Four is close to my heart, and I have learned it was Ms. Pflug, after she began her screen career in 1966, who provided the voice for Sue Storm, or Invisible Girl. Very cool! (Her screen debut was in Cyborg 2087, with Michael Rennie as a do-gooding "Terminator," traveling from just sixty-four years from now to change the future. Our lady played "Woman in Control Booth," and at least she was credited.)




One of Jo Ann's most notable roles was in 1970's M*A*S*H. It's been eons since I've seen the film, and I don't remember her all that well (although I vividly recall yummy Sally Kellerman). I'm reading "a large portion of her role was left on the cutting room floor," but "she still made a spectacularly sexy impression." (The poster from above advertised a re-issue, so she probably would not have received the same respect upon the film's original release, but notice how she was listed among the other stars. In other words, Jo Ann became a relatively big deal in the industry.) She played "Lt. Dish," which surely shed light on the chief purpose for her role. The film was a huge hit, served as her big breakthrough, and led to her many other screen appearances, especially on television.


With Elliott Gould; in the second, Fred Williamson, Sally Kellerman, Donald Sutherland may also be seen. In the last, Director
Robert Altman poses with the Palme d'Or on May 17, 1970 during the 23rd Cannes Festival. Among others are actress Candice
Bergen. Sally Kellerman and Jo Ann Pflug are at right, next to director John Boorman. The fact that Jo Ann was allowed in this
event reveals that even in 1970 she was a force, given how her scenes were mostly cut.




With Peter Sellers, playing a corrupt doctor, in 1972's Where Does It Hurt. Jo Ann had star billing. (The wonderful Uschi Digard exposed her breasts. Jo Ann did not.)

....

Jo Ann appeared in seventy-one episodes of Match Game, from 1973-1978. In the first photo are Michael Landon, Richard Dawson, Vicki Lawrence and Jack Klugman. Seated, Jo Ann, host Gene Rayburn, and Anita Gillette. Image dated: June 10, 1973. In the next photo, Jo Ann Pflug appeared with hunky hubby Chuck Woolery in another game show, Tattletales, which featured celebrity husbands and wives. This one aired in 1974. Others: Betty White and Allen Ludden, host Burt Convy, Pat Harrington and Marjorie Harrington.



What a doll.

The actress appeared in three episodes of Love, American Style, from 1971-1973. (She was also in a 1986 episode of New Love, American Style.) Here she is with Jim Hutton and Paul Picerni (last shot), from "Love and Murphy's Bed" (January 22, 1971).




Love kept following Jo Ann around. (Love may make people stupid, but Love itself isn't stupid.) She also appeared in four episodes of The Love Boat, from 1978 to 1984. The photo at left above is from her first time, in 1978's second season, and she's with actor David Doyle. The second photo is from 1979, where she appeared with Vic Tayback.




Well, this was gold; Phlug was caught phlaunting it. She was attending "the 11th Annual Alan King And Caesars Palace Tennis Classic Pro-Celebrity Party And Draw on April 24, 1982 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada." (I know Bugsy Siegel was a disgusting criminal, but thank you, Bugs. If not for your efforts to put Vegas on the map, Jo Ann may not have put herself on display, in this fashion.)


....

In the first photo, Rich Little played a computer genius widower who created a pair of robots to help rear his kids; the great Eve Arden played what appears to be his mom, and Jo Ann almost certainly served as the love interest, in 1981's TV movie, Nuts and Bolts. The last two views feature her beautiful face, from the one 1973 episode she appeared in of the very short-lived TV series The Delphi Bureau (where reluctant spy Laurence Luckinbill possessed a spectacular talent; he could read about a subject, and attain the related skills).


....

Between 1981-1982, Jo Ann Pflug appeared in twenty-two episodes of The Fall Guy, with Lee Majors. The last two views feature her fine countenance from 1979's unsold ABC-TV series pilot for I Do, I Don't.



These views are from 1978 episodes "The Hunkle-Crandall Affair" and "Operation Spleen";
actor is Robert Hogan.

Between 1978-1979, Jo Ann appeared in ten episodes of the TV sitcom Operation Petticoat, starring John Astin in the first season (he did not return in the second season, nor did Jamie Lee Curtis.) Jo Ann was in the second season; based on the 1959 comedy with Cary Grant and Tony Curtis, female nurses feminize a WWII pink submarine.



One of the three women in the photo above is Melinda Naud (remaining one is Hilary Thompson), for whom I prepared a post on the "Classic American Lesser Known Celebrities" thread over a year ago, in which I wrote (among other similar photos), "The best one (where Melinda and the others show off their legs) was offered by Member 'George Anson' in the 'Jo Ann Pflug' thread; I've stolen one to show you..." Well, I stole it again! (I wanted to remind you of the "leggy" view. Turns out these photos were in the Getty archives to begin with.)


....

Tireless paparazzi Ron Galella was at work once more in 1982, when Jo Ann almost pulled off a "Britney Spears" peek-a-boo (don't worry, I guarantee you Jo Ann had her panties on) while getting out of a car, as she attended the Jane Wooseter Scott Art Exhibition at DeVille Galleries in Beverly Hills. In the second set, Jo Ann Pflug and her legs attended "the Fourth Annual Clint Eastwood Celebrity Tennis Tournament at the Beach and Tennis Club in Pebble Beach, California, on July 7, 1973."


....

Speaking of tennis, she participated in a "celebrity tennis event, benefitting the Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital of Denver, Colorado, at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, on March 28, 1973." I don't know whether she won or lost, but as may be seen in the first pair of photos, she was definitely a bust. In the last photo, Jo Ann looked positively enchanting at "An Evening in Monaco Gala to Benefit the International Foundation for Learning Disabilities on October 14, 1983 at Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills."

So why are the "body" views so difficult to find (although she did graciously make some exceptions, as documented on the thread), especially when the lady's heyday was during the permissive seventies? Revelations from her IMDb page offer significant clues. One item claimed that Jo Ann "turned down the Valerie Perrine role in the film Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)."

Originally Posted by rodak

Valerie Perrine from SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE.

The reason? The role required "sexual content."

Another item: "She claimed to have become a born-again believer after being baptized in Pat and Shirley Boone's home swimming pool."

Most tellingly, a "personal quote": "After M*A*S*H (1970), I was sought to do nudity. All nude roles. And I turned down a lot of pictures because of the nudity. I would not do nudity because of my upbringing. I'm not going to wait 30 years from now and have my children saying, 'oh, there's mommy on the screen, nude.' I don't think so."


Well, what do you know. While finishing
up this post and conducting further research,
I came upon this shot that has been passed
by on the thread, where we get to see a bit
more of the lady. Her daughter, Melissa Pflug,
looked adoringly at mom, in the original.

The children! Always the children..! What about us, Jo Ann? What about the membership of Vintage Erotica Forum? (It wasn't very Christian to ignore the overgrown kids here now, was it?)




It looks as though she may have gone through a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree-turn as far as her politics. In the shot above, she is seen with Marlo Thomas and Warren Beatty (at Thomas's house in Beverly Hills, California, on June 5, 1972) for "a pre-victory party for George McGovern." (Were they mad? McGovern had zero chance of "victory.")



Let's fast-forward nearly four decades later; at the Kravis Center, West Palm Beach, Florida, February 24, 2011, was a "Lincoln Day Dinner" hosted by the dedicated conservative, now ex-Congressman Allen West, who was part of the Republican wave during the 2010 midterm U.S. elections. The keynote speaker was former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, seen in the next photo with the beautiful woman.




Shaking it at age sixty-eight (2008), at the "Easter Beagle Presents Canine Couture at Palm Beach Fashion Week sponsored by Warner Home Video to celebrate the release of the newly remastered deluxe DVD 'It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown,' at the Gucci Courtyard Worth Avenue March 8, 2008 in Palm Beach, Florida."











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[Findcandor]

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Well! It certainly was not my intention to dive into the Phlug pool once again, since my recent prior post above was meant to be a "quickie," and I didn't have an overriding appreciation for the actress.



Yet while digging through the photographic references, I came upon mention of a film I had never seen, Where Does It Hurt? (1972), and was intrigued that this was a Peter Sellers film, a fellow whose talent cannot be denied. This film has been pushed into practical oblivion (its no-holds-barred criticism of the medical industry may have been a factor), but there was a version put up on YouTube, and I watched it. As with many movies on YouTube, this version was a few minutes shorter than the official running time. (Sometimes YouTube movies are significantly shorter.) For example, the delightful nude scene of Uschi Digard mentioned in the previous post was deleted.


Here's all that survived of Uschi in the YouTube offering. You may ask, what's Uschi Digard
doing in a post devoted to Jo Ann Phlug, and the answer is, I dig Digard. Sorry!

The unfortunate thing is that the YouTube print was among the most pathetic attempts for a film print that may be found, and this is why I did not grab as many frames as I would have liked. Some of the frames were painful to snip, the quality being so under par. I suppose we should be grateful we have these at all, and maybe one day a dedicated VEF'er will put up the clearer views we deserve.



This film was actually pretty amusing, although loaded with ethnic humor that would be outlawed today. What I appreciated, however, was that it was a "social message" film disguised as a comedy, the kind of movie rare to come by these days in Hollywood fare. The hospital Sellers is in charge of entraps patients to charge them inordinate fees for procedures that are not needed, so that money may be made hand over fist. The primary victim is "Lester Hammond" (played by likable actor Rick Lenz, and one reason why he was chosen was probably his 6'4" height, the rare man in the cast Jo Ann, who had a love scene with him, did not tower over) who is mistaken for "Epstein" so that the script may make several Jewish jokes. (One that wasn't flattering was made by Sellers' character, and you have to give the man extra credit, since Sellers was Jewish himself. These were different times.)


Jo Ann screens patients as they walk in the door, and when an easy mark surfaces, she signals
the lab technician (Pat Morita, so that he may fix the lab report) through a button device with
her toe. The last photo was a critical shot, since Jo Ann hated the idea of nudity, and any part
of her body that was not concealed came to be an event to celebrate.

Although I was aware of this actress with the name of "Jo Ann Phlug" (since she was once everywhere on television), I never paid attention to her. Now that I've watched this film, the first thing that struck me was that she was wearing low-heeled shoes (see shot above), or flats. The reason compelling me to study her footwear had to do with how she towered over everyone else, and I thought the reason had to have been very high heels. (Not the case at all.)



In the shot above, she's almost twice the size of The Karate Kid's Pat Morita, but that was no big feat, since Mr. Morita was short of stature (Peter Sellers called him a "dwarf" at one point in the film).



...On the other hand, Sellers, who many will remember from his Pink Panther films, was of average height. What the heck! Jo Ann made him look like a "dwarf." (Jo Ann was 5'10". A rival in the film for Sellers' affections was an actress named Eve Bruce — who has been ignored on VEF, and I am planning on giving her attention in the "American Actresses ~ Vintage" thread — who was an inch taller, and with whom Jo Ann would later engage in a knock-down drag-out fight that was pitifully all too brief. By the way, Eve's breast was exposed. Jo Ann's wasn't.)



Regarding Sellers, years ago he was in a TV commercial (for American Express or something) where he attempted an American accent. I remember thinking, how come this guy, known for his mastery for voices, did such a bad American accent? (Especially when you consider the many British, Australian and New Zealand performers over the last few decades who have deluged Hollywood, every one of whom can manage a pitch-perfect U.S. accent.) Upon viewing this film, I must say I have been Sold on Sellers all the more. Not only did he manage a flawless U.S. accent, but his inspiration was Robert Vaughn (I suppose given Vaughn's cool, detached persona, which suited Sellers' administrator character). Peter Sellers sounded exactly like Vaughn! (Think about it. Who has ever done an impression of Robert Vaughn? Then we have to consider the ability to do such an impression perfectly.)



In the scene above, Jo Ann is walking down the stairs, and Pat Morita is leeringly looking up her skirt from below (the scene served as a reminder that the lady had the loveliest legs on her legs) and then he says, "Sweetheart! You made my eyes round... I love you." (I have to give you another example of the film's now-forbidden humor. On the hospital's board of directors is a middle-aged man of color, and he is seen dancing at a party scene by film's end. Another Black character, played by an actor named William Elliott — who was excellent; the film's cast was wonderful overall, especially with Harold Gould, and a fellow who really impressed me, named Paul Lambert — turns to the side and remarks, "Who says we all got rhythm?")



Jo Ann wants something from Pat, and Pat asks, "What's in it for me?" She answers, "A girl's most precious possession." Pat counters with, "You'd give that to me?" Her response: "Not exactly give... but you could use it for a while."

If you read the last post, you learned Jo Ann has not been forthcoming in roles that emphasize sexuality (and nudity was particularly verboten). Maybe also because she came to be known from her sexy role in M*A*S*H, and she was anxious to distance herself from being perceived in that fashion. This film becomes important, because sexuality was a part of her character. For example, there was a make-out session with Peter Sellers, whom she was anxious to marry:



She then attempts to seduce Hammond/Epstein, who is threatening to make trouble for the hospital (after they removed his appendix to make money). She unbuttons her dress, the dress falls off, and the camera pans to her bare legs and feet as she walks to the bed. (Sigh!)






At the end of the scene, she catches Peter Sellers spying on the lovemaking, but rival nurse Eve Bruce can't keep her hands off of him (thus making a racket). Jo Ann then turns to Epstein and vows revenge on the two-timer.



That doesn't mean Jo Ann has no score to settle. Cue the catfight.



What that also means is that as though screen capping from an awful print isn't bad enough, the quality of action frames being captured becomes all the more atrocious. (You are just going to have to use your imagination.) Then she enters the room with Sellers and the state medical commissioner to offer the goods on Sellers, but she's all disheveled and her dress is ripped, a sight none of us can resist.



Now that I've paid attention to Jo Ann Phlug in action, allow me to tell you she was one talented actress. Her screen presence was one to reckon with. Her beauty is undeniable. What also struck me was her voice; her voice was extremely feminine, and sweet.











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[cuzzyman927]

Misidentified by Getty as Daliah Lavi but actually Jo Ann Pflug, you can see other poses with that rifle round belt here & here.

[Sonnet]

M*A*S*H promotional photos | 1970



A Step Out Of Line promotional photos | 1970



HQ pics | Linked Gallery HERE

[Sonnet]

Operation Petticoat promotional photos | 1978



HQ pics | Linked Gallery HERE

Also pictured: Hilary Thompson & Melinda Naud

[Sonnet]

Harry Langdon photoshoot | 1979



HQ pics | Linked Gallery HERE