#5 Country Music Actor
On 11-24-2008
at 9:09 pm
Do you remember the days when HBO ran telethons? There was a time when HBO would set aside a weekend to broadcast for free to entice subscribers. This feature was like Christmas for me. We would set the VCR to record movies like Ghost Busters, Willow, and Indiana Jones. It was about this time that I saw the film Six Pack. People have always had an afinity for films that feature misguided children being reared by a reluctant father figure. I guess it started with The Cowboys starring John Wayne. Six Pack is not in the same league as The Cowboys, but people have duplicated the formula, and generally it works every time.
Even though I was around 8 years old when I saw Six Pack, I still remember most of the plot. Kenny Rogers stars as Brewster Baker. His stock car racing starts to take a turn for the worse, but then he happens upon six orphans that have turned to lawlessness(they were stripping his car) to make ends meet. They team up with Kenny, as his pit crew, and his career shifts into overdrive. Rogers does not give an oscar-winning performance, but he does have a knack(unlike other musicians) for becoming somebody else. Of course, being a musician/actor has it’s perks. He had a huge hit from the soundtrack “Love Will Turn You Around.” Of course you know by now who my #5 will be. Kenny Rogers’ filmography mostly consists of films that were inspired from his hit songs. In Coward of the County he played ‘yellow’s’ preacher uncle. The film is tedius at times, but it was a great made for tv movie. Who can forget the popular series The Gambler? It churned out 4 sequels. As sequels go, these resemble a matroyshka doll, each one becoming lesser of a film than it’s predecessor, but no one can deny that Rogers and Bruce Boxleitner didn’t have chemistry. Maybe they could film one last sequel. The supporting cast could be made up of current poker champions. Phil Helmuth could be the bad guy.
Kenny will never do any serious film work. However, I think his acting has earned him the right to be labeled a pop culture icon. Hear me out. He appeared as himself on the hit Comedy Central series Reno 911, and was quite funny. Six Pack was briefly mentioned in the ridiculous Adult Swim show Squidbillies, and Will Ferrell and Will Sasso have impersonated the country crooner. You can even connect Kenny Rogers to Kevin Bacon in under six degrees. Kenny Rogers was in Rio Diabo with Stacy Keach. Stacy Keach was in American History X with Edward Norton. Edward Norton was in Fight Club with Brad Pitt. Brad Pitt was in Sleepers with Kevin Bacon. That is in 4. Kenny you will always be #5 in my book.
