Fame

Cast

Cast timeline

Cast notes

Main cast

Debbie Allen as Lydia Grant, dance teacher and choreographer, reprising her role from the original film

Lee Curreri as Bruno Martelli (seasons 1–3; guest season 6), music major and keyboard virtuoso, reprising his role from the original film

Erica Gimpel as Coco Hernandez (seasons 1–3; guest seasons 4, 6), music major and talented bi-racial singer/dancer, replacing Irene Cara from the original film

Albert Hague as Professor Benjamin Shorofsky, classically trained music teacher, reprising his role from the original film

Carlo Imperato as Danny Amatullo, aspiring comedian and drama major

Carol Mayo Jenkins as Mrs Elizabeth Sherwood (seasons 1–5; guest season 6), liberal English teacher, replacing Anne Meara from the original film

Valerie Landsburg as Doris Schwartz (seasons 1–4; guest season 6), Jewish drama major, replacing Maureen Teefy from the original film

P. R. Paul (Paul Ray Rosenbaum) as Montgomery MacNeill (season 1; guest season 6), drama major and son of a famous actress, replacing Paul McCrane from the original film

Gene Anthony Ray as Leroy Johnson, dance major, later assistant dance instructor, reprising his role from the original film

Lori Singer as Julie Miller (seasons 1–2), music major and talented cellist

Morgan Stevens as David Reardon (season 2; recurring season 3, guest season 4), drama teacher and struggling actor

Cynthia Gibb as Holly Laird (seasons 3–5; guest season 6), drama major

Recurring characters

Michael Thoma as Gregory Crandall (season 1)

Carmine Caridi as Angelo Martelli (seasons 1–2)

Judy Farrell as Charlotte Miller (seasons 1–3)

Madlyn Rhue as Angela Shwartz (seasons 1–3)

Michael DeLorenzo as Michael (seasons 1–3)

Bronwyn Thomas as Michelle (seasons 1–4)

David Greenlee as Dwight Mendenhall (seasons 2–5)

Connie Needham as Kelly Hayden (season 2)

Stephanie E. Williams as Stephanie Harrison (season 2)

Jimmy Osmond as Troy Phillips (season 2)

Phoebe Yardon-Lewis as Alicia Morgan (season 3)

Sam Slovick as Cassidy (season 4)

Dick Miller as Lou Mackie (seasons 4–6)

Robert Romanus as Miltie Horowitz (seasons 5–6)

Caryn Ward as Tina Johnson (seasons 5–6)

Carolyn J. Silas as Laura Mackie (season 6)

Denny Dillon as Corky (season 6)

Guest stars

Notable guest stars include Paul Bartel, Frances Bay, Milton Berle, Carol Burnett, Art Carney, John Carradine, Nancy Cartwright, Marge Champion, Don Cheadle, Brian Patrick Clarke, Keith Coogan, Elizabeth Daily, Fran Drescher, Dominique Dunne, Greg Evigan, Fionnula Flanagan, Randee Heller, Arte Johnson, Russell Johnson, Tuesday Knight, Kevin McCarthy, Donna McKechnie, Dermot Mulroney, Bebe Neuwirth, Anthony Newley, David Paymer, Sydney Penny, Richard Simmons, Brenda Vaccaro, Gwen Verdon, Nancy Walker, Ray Walston, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, and Betty White.

Production

Fame was produced by MGM Television and aired Thursday nights at 8:00–9:00 on NBC beginning on January 7, 1982. NBC promoted its Thursday line-up (Fame, Cheers, Taxi [later Night Court], and Hill Street Blues) as "The Best Night of Television on Television!" Despite glowing reviews from critics, ratings were less than impressive, and NBC cancelled Fame after only two seasons. However, by special arrangement with LBS Communications, MGM revived the series for first-run syndication in the fall of 1983, where it continued for four more seasons, with the last first-run episode airing in the US on May 18, 1987. Production on the series ultimately allowed MGM to retain the intellectual property on the Fame franchise for future use despite rights to the original film going to Turner Entertainment and now being held by Warner Bros., as Turner would sell the studio to United Artists shortly after acquiring it in 1986.

Four cast members from the original movie appeared in the television series. Lee Curreri portrayed the character Bruno Martelli, an introverted musical genius. Gene Anthony Ray portrayed Leroy Johnson, a tough hood from the projects with a natural talent for dance, who muscles his way into an audition and wins. In the film, Leroy is also semiliterate, but this was dropped in favor of him having "fourth-grade reading level" in the television series. Albert Hague played teacher Benjamin Shorofsky, a German music teacher who constantly battled with Bruno Martelli over musical styles. The final cast member from the film was Debbie Allen, who portrayed Lydia Grant. Allen only appeared briefly in the movie, but her character was expanded in the series. She also became the show's original choreographer, in addition to directing several episodes and co-producing one season.

Several characters were carried over from the movie, played by different actors. Irene Cara portrayed Coco Hernandez in the film, but the part on TV was played by Erica Gimpel. Paul McCrane played gay student Montgomery McNeil in the film, but P.R. Paul portrayed Montgomery for TV and the character was no longer gay. English teacher Elizabeth Sherwood was played in the film by actress Anne Meara, but in the series was played by actress Carol Mayo Jenkins. The character Doris had her name changed from Doris Finsecker (portrayed by Maureen Teefy) to Doris Schwartz (Valerie Landsburg). The character of Ralph Garci (Tommy Aguilar inheriting the role played by Barry Miller in the film) appeared only in the pilot.

Additionally, two new characters were introduced in the TV series: cello player Julie Miller (Lori Singer), and actor-comedian Danny Amatullo (whose last name is derived from the associate producer, Tony Amatullo) played by Carlo Imperato. All subsequent characters were created for the series.

International broadcasts

Canada: Aired in first-run syndication

France: Series started on March 6, 1982, on TF1

United Kingdom: Series started on June 17, 1982, on BBC1. Only the first four seasons were screened on BBC1; the full series was broadcast on The Children's Channel in 1992. The BBC also helped pay for seasons 3 and 4. On November 7, 2021, music channel Now 80s begin showing the series.

Sweden: Series started on September 5, 1982, on SVT1

Israel: Series started in 1982

Italy: Series was renamed "Saranno famosi" (literally, "They Will Be Famous"), started in January 1983 on Rai Due who also helped pay for seasons 3 and 4

Brazil: Series started in 1983 on Rede Manchete

Australia: Aired on the Seven Network

Hong Kong: Aired on Asia Television on Saturdays in 1984–85

Germany: Aired on Das Erste in 1984/85 (a collection of 26 episodes from the first two seasons)

Discography

The Kids from "Fame" was the group name of several cast members from the series. The main vocalists of the group were Debbie Allen, Lee Curreri, Erica Gimpel, Carlo Imperato, Valerie Landsburg, Gene Anthony Ray, and Lori Singer. They performed live concerts and released several albums.

Home media

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the first season of Fame to DVD in Region 1 on November 1, 2005.

20th Century Fox, under license from MGM and MGM Television, released the complete first and second seasons of Fame on DVD in Region 1 and Region 2 on September 15, 2009. On January 12, 2010, Fox released seasons 1 and 2 in separate collections.

DVD releases also followed a similar pattern in Europe and Australia. Due to licensing issues, all DVDs contain some unspecified music substitutions.

Awards

The series won a number of Emmy awards, and in 1983 and 1984, it won the Golden Globe Awards: Television, Best Series, Musical/Comedy. Actress, director and choreographer Debbie Allen, who had a small role in the motion picture, but played a major character in the television version, also won several awards.

Bring Back...Fame

On 27 December 2008, Channel 4 in the United Kingdom (despite Fame having originally been aired in Britain on BBC1) aired a 90-minute special titled Bring Back...Fame, which sought out and reunited some of the original cast members of the television series.

Hosted by Justin Lee Collins, and apparently filmed the previous summer, the show followed the presenter around the United States as he tracked down actors from the series and then staged a reunion. The program showed Collins appearing to surprise the former cast members in locations, including restaurants, a recording studio, a gym, Los Angeles airport, and a cinema, before interviewing them and persuading them to take part in the reunion.

The actors featured were Debbie Allen, Carol Mayo Jenkins, Lee Curreri, Erica Gimpel, Valerie Landsburg, and Carlo Imperato. Also interviewed were Irene Cara and the mother of Gene Anthony Ray. Whether other actors from the series had also been approached but had declined to take part was not stated. Excerpts from the TV series were shown throughout the programme. The final scenes showed the six principal actors and a number of backing dancers taking part in a recreation of the title sequence of the TV programme.