Campaigns Try Putting Stars in Voters’ Eyes

Here’s one mystery even Jessica Fletcher might not be able to solve: How do you persuade fed-up California voters to oppose term limits for legislators?

Fletcher, the earnest and friendly author on television’s “Murder, She Wrote,” has a knack for unraveling even the most devilish conundrums.

But now California’s legislative leaders have entrusted Angela Lansbury, who plays Fletcher on the popular CBS drama, with the task of saving their political futures. She is appearing on a commercial opposing Propositions 131 and 140 on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Lansbury was chosen to do the anti-term-limits commercial after weeks of speculation in political circles about which star would play that role. The names mentioned ranged from Ronald Reagan to Bill Cosby and just about everyone in between, including such performers as Robert Redford, John Forsythe and Bart Simpson. Sources say actress Sharon Gless of “Cagney & Lacey” fame is expected to do the campaign’s next commercial.

There is some debate within the advertising industry about how much these well-known faces help the million-dollar campaigns with which they are involved.

“The vast majority of Hollywood stars have not the slightest idea what they’re into,” said Hal Larson, who writes political ads. “There are exceptions, but the majority are people who are good actors and don’t know a lot about the causes they’re promoting.”

Campaign directors deciding whom to use in a commercial often research what the public thinks of the stars. One tool is the “Q-rating,” which was developed by New York-based Marketing Evaluations Inc. and purports to measure the likability of stars among people who are familiar with them.

The firm’s president, Steven Levitt, declined to provide the ratings for Lansbury or any other personality. But he said the firm obtains its information from national surveys of 8,000 people. Each is asked to say if the celebrity in question is among their favorites or is someone they consider to be “good,” “fair” or “poor.”

“It’s a measure of appeal,” Levitt said.

Lansbury’s ad has sparked spirited protests from supporters of both measures, who have complained that the ad is inaccurate and does not disclose the true source of its financial backing--legislative leaders Willie Brown and David A. Roberti. Proposition 140’s supporters have described the ad as “Distortion, She Wrote” and called for a nationwide boycott of Lansbury’s show.

The reaction to her political debut surprised the veteran actress of stage and screen, according to her son and spokesman, who said he hopes Lansbury’s first ad will be her last. The experience also illustrates the pitfalls faced by actors and actresses who venture into uncharted political waters--and by the campaigns that use performers as star witnesses.

“We thought the entertainment industry was rough, but politics, they’re really going for blood,” said David Shaw, Lansbury’s son. “She was just standing up and saying people ought to have a right to vote for who they want to represent them. She didn’t realize that there were going to be these repercussions.”

Lansbury and Gless apparently have high Q-ratings. Although some political insiders think Bill Cosby “cuts both ways”--turning off as many people as he excites--campaign media consultant Leo McElroy has only awe for the television superstar. A consultant to the Proposition 131 campaign, McElroy said he was “terrified” when he heard the rumor that Cosby might do the ads opposing the initiative.

“People love Bill Cosby and they not only love him, but he has credibility,” said McElroy, who once worked as a television newsman. “I think Cosby would have scared us. I think he has a tremendous message to deliver.”

Cosby is so well known that he has an aura all his own. Lesser stars often are used because the characters they play reflect a quality the campaign wants to project.

For one ad in the campaign in favor of Proposition 134, the “nickel-a-drink” alcohol tax measure, McElroy used “L.A. Law” star Richard Dysart.

“Dysart with the lawyer persona could easily do the analysis of what was good law and what was bad law,” he said.

But Larson, who wrote the alcohol industry ads opposing Proposition 134, said he does not think that spots relying on a fictional character, rather than the actor himself, are effective.

“There’s a certain leap of faith there,” Larson said. “First people have to identify him as being (a lawyer) and then believe in real life that he has that credibility.”

Larson’s ads have used Tony Randall, the veteran actor best known for his portrayal of Felix Unger in the television version of “The Odd Couple.”

“He has credibility with a certain segment of the population,” Larson said. “People understand that he’s a good person.”

Although Lansbury’s credits date to 1944, her widespread appeal comes mainly from her role as Jessica Fletcher in “Murder, She Wrote.” Her character is a sweet if no-nonsense woman whose integrity is without question.

“Jessica Fletcher has an effect on people,” Lansbury told The Times a week ago, before the controversy erupted about her role in the anti-term-limits ad. “If there are people like her around, God’s in his heaven and all is right with the world.”

But Lansbury, a naturalized U.S. citizen who is a resident of Brentwood and a registered Democrat, hasn’t always played such roles. Earlier in her career, she often played the sinister, evil part. In the 1962 film “The Manchurian Candidate,” Lansbury was the top communist spy in the United States, using her brainwashed son and feeble-minded husband in a plot to take over the American government--not exactly the image Democrats Brown and Roberti were hoping to convey in the commercial.

Lately, Lansbury said, she has turned down such parts. “It’s awfully hard to get away from playing an evil person,” she said. “It takes many years to live it down.”

Lansbury wouldn’t comment about the uproar over the term limits campaign. Her son said she has no intention of retracting the ad. But she probably won’t be doing this kind of work again.

“She’s not going to back off,” Shaw said. “In retrospect, maybe she shouldn’t have been so quick to do this thing. I can’t speak for her. But as a member of the family, I’d say let’s just stay away from this in the future. Let’s just go vote.”

Times staff writer Virginia Ellis contributed to this story.