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<\/p>\nKaren Valentine recalls the bumpy path that led her to her award-winning role as a student turned teacher in the hit TV series Room 222.<\/p>\n
Catapulting her into stardom, the show, that last aired almost 50 years ago, is a love she still holds close, unlike her appearance on The Dating Game, that she admits was an \u201cawful\u201d experience, with no love lost.<\/p>\n
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Karen Valentine, 1971. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archive\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Before they became famous, celebrities like Suzanne Somers, Tom Selleck, Leif Garret and Farrah Fawcett appeared on The Dating Game, the first ever dating reality show that not only spawned hundreds of similar concepts in the future, but also acted as a launchpad for new actors.<\/p>\n
Karen Valentine was one of those stars, who after appearing on Chuck Barris\u2019 TV series Dream Girl of 1967, was invited on the dating show, that was also created by Barris.<\/p>\n
Valentine, a former teen beauty queen, was given the opportunity to interview three eligible bachelors who hidden behind a dividing wall.<\/p>\n
Admitting that she thought the appearance would be \u201charmless fun,\u201d she said her \u201cchoice\u201d made it a terrible experience.<\/p>\n
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Wikipedia Commons \/ ABC Television<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was awful, because the guy thought that this was really going to be a date, right? The Dating Game got more serious later where people would be sent on trips,\u201d Valentine, now 76, told Closer Weekly. \u201cI only got to go to the Ambassador Hotel to see a show, but the guy thought we were going to make out in the limo and it, was, like, \u2018You know this is a first date, right?\u2019 It was so sleazy. You\u2019d go to dinner and then to a show, which is the prize I won, but the guy thought this was serious. I wanted to get out of the date. You know, \u2018Save the money, who needs to go on a date? Let me do another show. Give me a shot at acting or something.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Leaving that regret behind, Valentine was then cast in the TV movie Gidget Grows Up (1969), which transitioned into her starring role in the hit TV series, Room 222 (1969 to 1974). The avant-garde TV show centered around a black high school teacher\u2013played by the award-winning Lloyd Haynes 1934 to 1987\u2013who tried to teach students to be tolerant.<\/p>\n
The show was created by James L Brooks\u2013the brainchild behind The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Taxi, and films like As Good as it Gets and Terms of Endearment\u2013and produced by Gene Reynolds, one of the developers and producers of M*A*S*H.<\/p>\n
In 1970, Room 222 cleaned up at the Primetime Emmy Awards, earning titles for Outstanding New Series, while Valentine and Michael Constantine, also known for My Big Fat Greek Wedding in 2002, both won supporting roles.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was kind of mind-blowing to have that happen so soon, so quickly,\u201d said Valentine of her first nomination and win. \u201cAnd to meet Carol Burnett and her saying, \u2018Well, congratulations for this.\u2019 It was like, \u2018Thank you.\u2019 But that Carol Burnett would know me? Just incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The young starlet recalls being starstruck when she met another legendary actor.<\/p>\n
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Wikipedia Commons \/ John Mathew Smith<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember I was taking singing lessons at the time, and I went to my singing class,\u201d Valentine started. \u201cAlso taking lessons was Gregory Peck\u2026 When he walked by, I was at the teacher\u2019s piano and he saw me through the window and kind of mimed, \u2018You did it!\u2019 I was like, \u2018Oh my God. It\u2019s Gregory Peck!\u2019 How was it that I had the fortune to meet these stars and talented people from the get-go?\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Closer Weekly, critics were praising Room 222 but in the fourth season, ratings took a dive, and the show was canceled mid-season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy things changed, I have no idea,\u201d Valentine said, recalling when the network told the cast the show was cut. \u201cBut they did have the wherewithal to give us the word that it was happening, and it was sad \u2026 well, it\u2019s always sad, but especially when you feel you have a good product and a good show, for it to be taken away. But in the end, the network made the decision to go in a different direction. That\u2019s what they always say, \u2018We\u2019ve decided to go in a different direction.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
When Room 222 was cancelled, she starred in her own show Karen (1975), which was created by Reynolds, but due to low ratings, it was canceled after four months.<\/p>\n
Describing the show\u2019s premise as \u201ccontroversial political stories that were a savvy, humoristic reflection of then-current headlines,\u201d Valentine said, \u201cThe original opening titles were a take-off of the opening of the film \u2018Patton.\u2019 Instead of George C. Scott, you had me marching up to an American flag background. Really clever, but never aired.\u201d She continued, \u201cIt was changed to me riding a bicycle around D.C. The network envisioned something softer, more romantic and personal, and not too complicated, as opposed to an issue-oriented drama\/comedy in the political arena. I\u2019d say it was ahead of its time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valentine, a stage actor who\u2019s also appeared in Broadway productions, kept her career alive as a semi- regular on The Hollywood Squares (1971 to 1977), and in episodes of TV shows like Murder She Wrote and The Love Boat.<\/p>\n
Her last film was Wedding Daze (2004), where she co-starred with John Laroquette, that was broadcast on the Hallmark Channel.<\/p>\n
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Karen Valentine attends the Chiller Theatre Expo at Sheraton Parsippany Hotel on October 26, 2013 in Parsippany, New Jersey. (Photo by Bobby Bank\/WireImage)<\/p>\n
Looking back on Room 222, that sprang success for her very early on, Valentine says she only has fond memories: \u201cWorking with all of those people, and to have that kind of experience first time out\u2013the show just brings back the fondest and best memories in the world to me.\u201d She adds, \u201c\u2026It also kind of spoiled me, because it set the bar really high. So when other things come to you, you think, \u2018What is this?\u2019 It was different, you know. But I was fortunate that I did get material that was pretty fun and well done.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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