Three Stars Are Still Shining Over Texas

W hat impact did “The Last Picture Show” have on the principals? A look at the nearly two decades in the careers of three of the stars who are returning in “Texasville.”

Cybill Shepherd

After the release of “The Last Picture Show” in 1971, Shepherd followed with roles in “The Heartbreak Kid,” “Taxi Driver,” “At Long Last Love” and “Daisy Miller,” among others. Her performances in the latter two films--both directed by Bogdanovich--drew ridicule from critics. After this rocky start in Hollywood, Shepherd moved back to her hometown of Memphis and did regional theater. In the 1980s, her career took off again when she returned to Hollywood and got cast with Bruce Willis in the flashfire TV hit “Moonlighting.” “I was sad to see it over,” Shepherd says of ABC’s decision last spring to cancel the show, “but it’s also a relief.”

Shepherd’s personal connection to “Texasville” goes beyond her affair with Bogdanovich. After “Picture Show,” she developed a close relationship with author Larry McMurtry: He even dedicated the book “Texasville” to her.

For the record, Shepherd says she was petrified about doing the famous diving board scene in “Picture Show” in which she strips in front of several guests at a pool party. “I was waiting for God to strike me dead,” she says.

Jeff Bridges

“The Last Picture Show,” says Bridges, “changed my life a hell of a lot. It really put me on the map as an actor.”

Since then, Bridges has been all over that map, proving himself as both one of Hollywood’s most reliable leading men and one of its boldest gamblers. “I seem to be attracted to anything that’s risky or challenging,” he says.

Bridges has played conventional strong leading men in such pictures as “Jagged Edge” and “Against All Odds,” but he has also taken on such offbeat roles as the alien visitor in “Starman,” for which he won a best-actor Oscar nomination, the luckless dreamer in “Nadine” and a quirky failed inventor in Francis Ford Coppola’s “Tucker.”

Many of Bridges’ early films weren’t box-office hits but are still considered favorites among film officiandos--including “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot,” “Fat City” and “Rancho Deluxe.” In “Picture Show,” Bridges played Duane, boyfriend to the beautiful and flirtatious Jacy (Shepherd). Thirty years later in “Texasville,” Duane is married to the impetuous Karla, played by Annie Potts, star of TV’s “Designing Women.” But his flame for Jacy lives on.

Timothy Bottoms

As Bridges’ friend Sonny Crawford, Bottoms arguably was the star of “Picture Show.” But his career nose-dived during the 1970s and never quite recovered. Compared to co-stars Shepherd and Bridges, Bottoms has a relatively small part in “Texasville” and is being paid only $175,000.

“Picture Show” followed Bottoms’ critically acclaimed performance in Dalton Trumbo’s “Johnny Got His Gun.” In 1973, he appeared in “The Paper Chase,” but most of his films after that were not memorable ones.

Now Bottoms spends most of his acting time in European productions. “It’s not that I’m not interested (in Hollywood),” Bottoms says. “I’m just not offered the parts. It’s all so political.”

In the meantime, the actor lives on a cattle ranch in Santa Barbara with his family and is active on American Indian and environmental issues. “I’ll never make the big money or be a giant star,” he says, “but I’m having a great life.”