A-Z Challenge 2013: K is for Caren Kaye!

K, it's time for the eleventh post in this April 2013 A-Z Blogging Challenge - and this one is full of Caren sympathy - because after all -

K is for Caren Kaye!

Caren Kaye was a mainstay in my TV watching as a kid, popping up on shows like The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and Saturday morning's Monster Squad.

Steaming up The Love Boat with Christopher George.

Even before puberty I was enamored of her sunny personality and beach blonde good looks. She was born in New York City in the early 50's, but I couldn't find much more about her early life.

After discovering her in those early TV appearances - I got to see her a lot more when she and husband Renny Temple hosted the Showtime cable network. In the evening before the big movie, there would be a short 2-3 minute segment with Caren and Renny doing a little comedy shtick, then verbally telling the audience the next three or so shows airing that night on the cable network. I'm not sure how long they did this - but I'm guessing a couple of years. Here's the only clip I could find of the couple's hosting - it's shot off a TV screen - so the quality isn't high def - but it'll give you an idea:

Not long after this - I gained a whole new level of appreciation for Caren Kaye when this happened:

Caren Kaye's performance as the older woman who tutors Mr. Olivia Newton John through his French class was a revelation.

Oh, to have been a teenager that year - with this movie, Zapped!, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High all coming out - sheer pubertic bliss!







I'm not the only guy of a certain age who found himself enamored of Ms. Kaye after the release of My Tutor - here's a video clip tribute to her taken from the movie - and kept to a PG rating...

After the movie - Caren Kaye continued in television - with one notable series teaming her with a young Jason Bateman and David Garrison (later of Married with Children) in an NBC series called It's Your Move, which pitted brainy jerkweed teen Bateman against mom Kaye's brainy jerkweed boyfriend Garrison. It was a cute show, but in the end, having 2/3 of your main cast playing jackwagons did not endear the series to Mr. and Mrs. America, and It's Your Move was cancelled after one season.

Caren Kaye continued acting into the mid 90's, but then decided to take her life onto a different path. Retiring from acting, she earned a Doctorate in Psychology, and was working with New Age and holistic alternative medicine at last report.


But to me she'll always be the French tutor I never had. Zut Alors!

"L" I'll be - we're already done with this post - now it's a waiting game for the next one - and until then, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!