THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 9, 1995 TAG: 9503090050
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LARRY BONKO
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
EARLIER THIS week on ``American Journal,'' Norfolk beauty Debbie Shelton was portrayed as a washed up actress at age 42 who can't get work except in porn films. Wow!
When I heard that, I picked up the phone and called Shelton in Los Angeles to ask what she thought of the six-minute segment on the syndicated TV magazine. WVEC airs ``American Journal'' daily at 5:30 p.m. and repeats it at 1:05 a.m.
Shelton said she was ``blown away'' by the story and the opening tease delivered by ``American Journal'' anchor Nancy Glass.
``She was Miss USA and seemed set for stardom. But now she's involved in Hollywood's sleazier side.''
``American Journal'' suggested that after leaving CBS' ``Dallas,'' in which she played J.R. Ewing's mistress, Shelton couldn't find work in front on a camera unless she took her clothes off. ``American Journal'' brought on a celebrity journalist who said of Shelton:
``After `Dallas,' she dropped off the face of the earth, and only now it is revealed that she has been involved in porno movies.'' Then ``American Journal'' reeled off some steamy scenes of Shelton in a 1993 movie, ``Sins of the Night.''
Porno? No, said Shelton.
She called it an erotic thriller.
What really stung about the ``American Journal'' piece, said Shelton, was the notion that she was having a hard time finding work after being discovered by Brian DePalma in ``Body Double'' and landing the role of Mandy Winger on ``Dallas'' in 1984. She stayed with the series until 1987.
``Her career faltered, and then Shelton simply vanished to live in obscurity,'' said the ``American Journal'' report.
``Vanished? Not me,'' she said.
After her role on ``Dallas'' ended, Shelton stayed busy. In the past two years, she has appeared in six films made here and abroad, including ``Blind Vision,'' which was filmed in her hometown.
She's been in action-adventure films, science-fiction flicks and sexy thrillers since ``Dallas.'' ``I got to cause an avalanche, shoot two or three people, race up a mountain on horseback and had some nude scenes. I made great money doing it,'' she said.
Shelton also hosted a series on The Travel Channel. She told me she is in the cast of ``The Clinic,'' a pilot for a sitcom being shot in Los Angeles. She was up for a part in ``Extreme,'' the new ABC series starring James Brolin.
Living in obscurity?
Hardly, said Shelton.
The producers of ``American Journal'' did not contact Shelton before they put the story on the air.
``Why pick on me? And why now?'' Shelton asked. ``They must be in low cotton and hurting for stories to dredge this up. What happened to the O.J. Simpson trial?''
Shelton disrobed for ``Sins of the Night'' and makes no apologies for it. It was the part of a stripper who turned prostitute and then fell into an affair that turned ugly.
``It was not a mommy role,'' she said. ``I was not exploited. I chose to be in the project. I had no problem with the nude scenes. They were in character with the part I was playing.''
Anyway, asked Shelton, what is wrong with doing a nude scene? If Sharon Stone or Susan Sarandon shows flesh, it's considered art. ``If it's done in a movie with a lower budget, it's considered soft porn. What a puritanical, repressed society we live in,'' Shelton said.
One other thing bugs her about the ``American Journal'' story. It said that Shelton became a role model for America's youth because she was only 18 when she won the Miss USA title. That youth has been betrayed, said ``American Journal,'' because Deborah Shelton, a former beauty queen, is taking her clothes off in movies.
Hey, guys. It's only make-believe.
After seeing the ``American Journal'' report, a friend called Shelton to say that if other actresses in their 40s looked as hot as Shelton, they'd be doing nude scenes, too. Debbie Shelton's career is hardly faltering. by CNB