Mac Davis, the writer of Elvis Presley’s “In the Ghetto” and a former ACM Entertainer of the Year winner, has died. He was 78 years old.
He also used his considerable reservoir of laid-back country charm to become a likable actor as well. He was cast well when he made his movie debut as a fictionalized version of Don Meredith in North Dallas Forty.
Helen Reddy, also 78, is most famous for having popularized the feminist anthem “I Am Woman,” but she was no one-trick pony. She had more than a dozen “top 40” hits back in the 70s.
North Dallas 40 stills holds up as one of the best sports movies
That it is, Poot. That it is.
ditto…that is an excellent sports movie. Usually they are unwatchable.
Peter Gent’s book is an excellent sports book as well, largely because it’s pretty much a true story, with only the names changed to avoid getting sued by guys like Tom Landry, Billy Bob Harris and Roger Staubach. Like the movie, it is a football-based story with very little mention of the actual game play. The character played by Nolte in the film is Gent and the Mac Davis character is the legendary Dandy Don.
I liked it so much that I picked up a couple of Gent’s other books. They were sort of OK, but they were novels and lacked the spot-on, soul-baring truth of ND40, which was basically an autobiography.