Lee Montgomery in Girls Just Want To Have Fun

'I wanna be the one to walk in the sun.'

I'm not sure there's anything that screams the eighties more than Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt in their dance gear for shots promoting the 1985 film 'Girls They Want To Have Fun.'  I was reminded of this film last month when TCM again aired Burnt Offerings.(below)  The network plays the 1976 Bette Davis horror flick most years around Halloween, and I always try to catch it when I can.

It was through Burnt Offerings that I first discovered then child actor Lee Montgomery.  I went on to catch Lee in Ben, the 1972 rat film that inspired the Michael Jackson song.  Ben is the follow-up to Willard, another film I caught over the last few years on TCM.   I first featured Lee in my 'rat' themed day back in 2018, (HERE:) and also found his one on-screen nude scene, a brief flash of butt in 1985's Prime Risk. (HERE:)

I was motivated by a few reasons to post about Lee again.  After seeing Burnt Offerings again last month, I revisited my original post.  After checking out the caps for Lee's shirtless basket ball scene, I thought it was time to actually time to actually watch Girls Just Want to Have Fun. 

In addition to Montgomery, Parker and Hunt, the film also features Shannen Doherty and Jonathan Silverman.  I can't honestly say I watched the entire film, but I did enjoy Lee's dance scenes and the fact his stomach was visible in pretty much every scene he was in.  The movie is so eighties, it's almost cringe worthy at points with a dance off featuring Montgomery and Parker, and their very obvious dance doubles.

I also wanted to feature Lee again as he's one of those actors that I'm sad to see didn't go on to have a bigger impact in the business.  As a child star in the 70's, the young actor worked steadily throughout the decade in film and on TV including appearances on Columbo, Dallas and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.  His career seemed to be on the up-swing until 1985's Girls Just Want To Have Fun.

While Hunt and Parker went on to television success and additional feature films, Montgomery's career came to almost a stand still.  A few guest shots on TV followed, then mostly stints in short films and videos including a part of the zombie chorus in Lady Gaga's Born This Way.  Montgomery's last credit is voice work back in 2011.  Given his talent, his looks and charisma, he's really an actor who really should have worked much more.

Ben's Friend: Lee Montgomery

Today's posts did not start out to be all 'rat' themed. After watching Willard, I was inspired to seek out more of Bruce Davison's work and it was only going to be one post. But... after watching Ben, it was clear there was much more to explore. The actor playing Ben's friend, little Danny Garrison was familiar to me initially, but after a google, I discovered it wasn't the first time I enjoyed Lee Montgomery on screen.

With Meredith Baxter in Ben (1972)

In my quest to watch the entire collection of Bette Davis, I watched Burnt Offerings about a year ago. Davis played several mysterious and eccentric older ladies in horror films late in her career and Burnt Offerings is one of the better ones. The film has developed a bit of a cult following, especially after it's 2015 Blu-ray release.

Burnt Offerings (1976)

In Burnt Offerings with Oliver Reed (above) and Bette Davis (below)

I also remember Lee from his brief appearances on Dallas. Lee played Christopher Atkins room mate Jerry in the shows sixth season, and I bought the season on DVD in order to make some caps of the many appearances of Atkins' blue speedo. Unfortunately Montgomery never joined him in the pool, but I remember wondering who he was as he looked incredibly hot in the scene in which he wore his sunglasses up on his head.

Dallas (1984)

In addition to Dallas, Montgomery made a number of guest appearances on TV in the seventies and eighties. Some of his most notable appearances included roles on; Fame, Columbo, Family Ties, CHiPs, Kojak, Adam-12 and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The actor also had a few more features on his resume, the last of which was The Legend of Wolf Lodge in 1998. According to wiki, Montgomery retired from acting and has been working in real estate in California. He has resurfaced at a few Hollywood Collector Shows and in an interview on the special features of the Burnt Offerings Blu-ray.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985)

Montgomery is maybe best know for his role alongside Helen Hunt, Jonathan Silverman and Sarah Jessica Parker in the totally eighties flick Girls Just Want To Have Fun. Based on the 1983 song by Cyndi Lauper, Lauper's version of the hit song isn't actually a part of the film. Due to licensing reasons, a dubbed version is used.

Montgomery plays the perfect 80's rom com hunk. Not only incredibly hot, he also dances and plays basketball shirtless. The directly also wisely let the young actor keep his chest hair which was clearly a hit given all the images when you google Montgomery's name.

Lee Montgomery in Prime Risk

Last week, during my salute to rats, well... a salute to the 70'a rat movies Willard and it's sequel Ben, I profiled child actor and eighties teen idol Lee Montgomery. (Ben's Friend) As most FH readers know, whenever I profile an actor, I try my best to include images and caps from any nude scenes they may have appeared it. Although I did my research, and checked out my usual list of actor sites, except for some hot shirtless scenes, I didn't come up with anything for Lee.

After the post, a blog reader who saw the post on Lee shot me an e-mail about a brief butt scene in the 1985 crime thriller Prime Risk. I of course had to check it out to ensure my profile of Lee was complete! So, after tracking down a copy of the film, I made some caps and a clip to share. It is quick, and just a brief butt glimpse, but given it's Lee, was well worth checking out.

I have only capped the scene, and not watched the entire film, but in the few minutes that I saw, it was so very 80's in feel and with music. I look forward to watching the whole movie. Thanks to the FH reader for the tip!

Archives: Blast From The Past

Peter Barton

When I started FH, one of my goals was to only featured some of today's hottest and most talented hunks, but also feature men who impacted my, and others in the past.  So many sites are all about the men of the moment, the current and hottest bodies and moments.  As we all know however, it's hard to stay front burner for too long, at least not without burning out.

Patrick Duffy

Blast From The Past began as my way of spotlighting some of the models, actors and singers who I grew u with.  It soon became so much more.   Although I had connections with many of the men that I featured, I also included actors who I discovered later in life.  There are many actors, who I either didn't like or didn't notice that I looked at differently when I got older.  

Terry Lester

When I was a kid, I remember thinking that Tom Selleck was sort of 'gross'.  He seemed old, and I hated his moustache, and how hairy he was.  Then... when I hit my thirties, I started looking back on all those shirtless shots of Selleck with a different perspective...   There are also several classic stars from the 40's, 50's and 60's that I never heard of when I was a kid.  Thanks To TCM, I quickly began crushing over actors, many of whom are in their 80's, 90's or no longer with us at all.

Adrian Zmed & Scott Baio

This list includes most of those actors, performers, singers and models that I've blasted back to the past with.  I say most, as there are many former heart throbs who showed up in my birthdays or movie section that I have yet to include.  I hope to add them in once I have time to fully research the blog, but this list is a pretty good beginning.   Looking back at some of the posts, especially those from the site's early days, I realize many need an update.  Some were done before I had the ability to cap and create images on my own, and before learning how enlarge an image.  Hoping to update a few of my favorites soon.

Ted Shackelford

Willie Aames | Bruce Abbott | Jeb Adams | Steve Antin | Richard Dean Anderson | Christopher Atkins | Scott Bakula  | Jimmy Baio | Scott Baio |  Lajos Balázsovits | Christopher Daniel Barnes | Doug Barr | Peter Barton | Steven Bauer | Randall Batinkoff | Warren Beatty | John Beck | Michael Beck | Dirk Benedict | Tom Berenger | Helmut Berger | Kevin Bernhardt | Michael Biehn | Hunt Block | Brian Bloom | Steve Bond | Jesse Borrego |  Joseph Bottoms | Timothy Bottoms | Bruce Boxleitner | Greg Bradford | Brady Boys | Beau Bridges | Woody Brown |  Tom Byrd | 

Billy Hufsey

Bill Cable | Stephen Caffrey | Dean Cain | John David Carson | Maxwell Caulfield | Byron Cherry | Brian Patrick Clarke | Nicolas Clay | Jack Coleman | Christopher Collet | Jeff Conaway | Nicholas Cortland | Christopher Crabb | Brett Cullen | William Kirby Cullen | Rad Daly | Brad Davis | Mac Davis | Brandon De Wilde | Matt Dillon | Troy Donahue | Patrick Duffy | Keir Dullea | Sam Elliott | Greg Evigan | Shea Farrell | Jay R. Ferguson | Jon Finch | Steve Forrest | Sami Frey | Tony Ganios | Leif Garrett | Jonathan Gilbert | Grant Goodeve | Richard Grieco | Steve Guttenberg

John Allen Nelson

Antony Hamilton | Randy Hamilton | Tye Hardin | Mark Harmon | Jim Harris | Gregory Harrison | Rodney Harvey | David Hasselhoff | Richard Hatch | Martin Hewitt | Charlton Heston | Jon-Erik Hexum | Darby Hinton | Tom Hodges | Lee Horsely | Billy Hufsey | John James | Doug Jeffery | Christopher Jones | Sam Jones | Steve Kanaly | William Katt | Omri Katz | Alan Kayser |  Andrew Keegan | Brian Kerwin | Perry King | Wyatt Knight | Martin Kove | Kris Kristofferson | 

Kevin Bernhardt

Matthew Laborteaux | John Lafayette | Burt Lancaster | Lorenzo Lamas | Michael Landon | Perry Lang | Lawrence Lau | Scott Layne | Terry Lester | Tony Lo Bianco | Jason London | Simon MacCorkindale | Fred MacMurray | Ed Marinaro | Steve Mateo | Lee Majors | Paul Mercurio | Leigh McCloskey | Matt McCoy | Ted McGinley | Scott McGinnis | Todd McKee | John McMurray | William McNamara | Jimmy McNicol | Steve McQueen | Robert Mitchum | Lee Montgomery | Rick Moses | William R. Moses | Ben Murphy | Timothy Patrick Murphy |

Jon-Erik Hexum

Michael Nader | James Naughton | John Allen Nelson | Rick Nelson | Anthony Newley | Paul Newman | Tony O'Dell | Michael O'Keefe | Miles O'Keeffe | Ryan O'Neal | Cyril O'Reilly | Ken Olandt | Ken Olin | Jameson Parker | Michael Parks | Michael Paré | Robert Parucha | Alain Patrick | Don Michael Paul | John Payne | Bruce Penhall | George Peppard | Radames Pera | Joe Perry | Pat Peterson | Aidan Quinn | Robert Redford | Christopher Reeve | Burt Reynolds | Christopher Rich | Brian Robbins | Charles Robinson | Cliff Robertson | Rick Rossovich | Kurt Russell |

Greg Evigan

John Savage | Devon Sawa | Jack Scalia | John Schneider | Ricky Schroder | Tom Selleck | Ted Shackelford | Stephen Shellen | Marc Singer | Mark Slade | Rex Smith | Star Trek | Andrew Stevens | Parker Stevenson | John Stockwell | Rob Stone | Adam Storke | David Tiefen | Richard Thomas | Oliver Tobias | Barry Tubb | Robert Urich | Tim Van Patton |  Jan-Michael Vincent | Jesse & Alan Vint | Ralph Waite | Clint Walker | Kelly Ward | Ted Wass | Grant Wilson | Brian Wimmer | Ray Wise | Tom Wopat | Jeff Yagher | Michael York | Jim Youngs | William Zabka | Adrian Zmed |

Scott McGinnis

Billy Gilman: Like Ben

Ben, the two of us need look no more

We both found what we were looking for

With a friend to call my own

I'll never be alone, and you, my friend, will see

You've got a friend in me

It always amazes me the nexus which connects many of the pieces that I do for FH. When I watched Ben, the 1972 sequel to Willard, I didn't know the connections that would be made. When I was a kid, I remember hearing that Michael Jackson's song Ben was written about a rat. I don't really remember it registering though. Jackson was eccentric so it was not really shocking, and I had no real reference, having not seen the film.

The song was indeed sung by Danny (Lee Montgomery) in the film, and although I didn't have a connection to the film, or the rat, I did have a connection when I was younger to the lyrics. Not only did I sing it a few times myself, I still have a VHS copy of Billy Gilman singing it on the 2001 Michael Jackson Anniversary concert and special. I remember the special for many reasons beyond the performances. It was filmed just days before September 11th, and aired shortly after in November 2001.

The special became a bit of an escape for me at the time, and although not a huge fan of Jackson, I was a fan of a lot of his music and loved the special and the huge music stars that appeared. Some of you may remember there was some controversy over how long it took to film it, and with Whitney Houston, and whether her chest was edited for TV given how thin she was during the time of her performance. In addition to the great performances, it was also a bit surreal to see Jackson sitting next to the stage flanked by Elizabeth Taylor and Macaulay Culkin.

My favorite performance of the night was definitely Billy's, and the then 13 year old's performance of Ben. Billy's belted the hell out of the song, and I replayed that VHS tape over and over. I had not heard of Billy when I first saw him on TV, but later learned he was a hugely successful country artist at the time with his 2000 song One Voice a chart topper on both the country and Billboard charts.

Inspired by country singer Ty Herndon coming out in 2014, Gilman posted his own coming out video shortly after Herndon's video went public. Although I am watching and enjoying The Voice this season, I have haven't watched in a few seasons and sadly missed Billy on the shows eleventh season in 2016. Billy was the season's runner-up and thankfully, most of his performances are on Youtube if anyone wants to check them out.