THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 15, 1995 TAG: 9503150416
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Staff and wire report
LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
The Tailhook drama that played out last year in a Norfolk courtroom moves to the TV screen with an ABC movie now in production.
``Tailhook'' is the title of a docudrama based on the story of Navy Lt. Paula Coughlin, who was groped by fellow aviators while attending the 1991 Tailhook convention in Las Vagas.
The cast: Gail O'Grady of ``NYPD Blue'' plays Coughlin, the former Norfolk helicopter pilot and a one-time student at Old Dominion University who shook the Navy by going forward with her complaint; Hal Holbrook is Adm. Frank B. Kelso II, the retired chief of naval operations whose career was tarred by the scandal; Rip Torn is Rear Adm. John W. Snyder Jr., Coughlin's boss and the man accused of stalling her complaint; and Robert Urich is Rear Adm. Mac Williams, who directed the Navy's investigation only to become the subject of scrutiny himself.
Most of the charges arising out of Tailhook were heard by a Navy judge in Norfolk. He dismissed the government's cases in February 1994 and criticized the top Navy brass for their role in the investigation. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Coughlin
O'Grady
KEYWORDS: TAILHOOK U.S. NAVY SEXUAL HARASSMENT
ASSAULT TELEVISION MOVIE by CNB