“It was the longest and best party I’ve ever attended.”
Actress Cindy Morgan, best known by golf fans for portraying blonde-haired bombshell Lacey Underall in the 1980 comedy “Caddyshack” died in late December. She was 69.
A representative for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on Saturday – as first reported by TMZ – that the actress died due to natural causes a “few days ago.”
Morgan’s roommate called police in Lake Worth Beach, Florida, after returning from a holiday trip on Dec. 30 and knocking on her door and receiving no response. The roommate, who had reportedly last seen Morgan on Dec. 19 smelled “a strong odor emanating from inside.” When the police entered her room, they found her dead. Morgan’s final social media post was on X on Dec. 21.
Morgan was born as Cynthia Ann Cichorski in Chicago on Sept. 29, 1954. According to a story posted by the Los Angeles Times, Morgan first gained notice as a model who appeared in commercials for Irish Spring soap. “Caddyshack” was her feature film debut as the attractive niece of Judge Smails, Bushwood’s founder played by Ted Knight.
In a 2012 interview, Morgan said of her role: “Caddyshack was my first film and I’ll say that the end product was so completely different, it was originally about the caddies. So at first, I had nothing to lose to audition. It was fun. All I did was focus on making the person sweat. Look ’em in the eye, do that thing many women know how to …”
In recent years, Morgan was a regular attendee at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, signing autographs and posing for pictures with her adoring fans.
Super Sky Point to Cindy Morgan, aka Caddyshack’s stunning Lacey Underall. First Hutch and now this. 2024, you can knock this bullshit off pronto or you and I are going to have a problem. #RIPpic.twitter.com/ddkxu2Yeer
First listed for sale five months ago, the boat is now owned by a marketing professor from Rhode Island.
Seafood, the yacht owned by Rodney Dangerfield’s character in the movie ” Caddyshack,” has a new owner.
First listed for sale for $350,000 five months ago, the boat – complete with a Bushwood Country Club pin flag – was purchased by Jay Oliver, a marketing professor from Rhode Island, according to unitedyacht.com.
Oliver’s agent, tells the publication that when his client was growing up “his family bought their first VCR and the very first movie they rented was ‘Caddyshack.’ ”
Fandom has stuck ever since.
The boat was built in 1979 and then appeared in the iconic golf movie, which was released in 1980.
In the movie, Al Czervik, played by Dangerfield, carelessly steers Seafood just short of the new sailboat of Judge Smails.
Then Czervik drops an anchor right through the hull of the small sailboat.
Over the years, Seafood has served as a day charter as well as an Airbnb rental. Oliver intends to keep the boat in the Hilton Head, South Carolina, area and will keep it available for overnight rentals.
July 22, 2022, marks the 34th anniversary of the box office release of the movie.
Caddyshack, it is almost universally agreed, is the best golf movie made.
It’s also almost undoubtedly true that the sequel, Caddyshack II, is the worst golf movie ever made.
The original, released in 1980, is a sports movie classic starring Billy Murray, Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield and Ted Knight. Famous lines from the movie continue to be spoken on golf courses across the country decades later.
Released in 1988, Caddyshack II was panned, scorned, mocked, you name it. Even prominent participants in the film almost instantly regretted their decision to be involved.
If you haven’t seen it, it’s probably best you don’t.
Nonetheless, July 22, 2022, marks the 34th anniversary of the box office release of the movie.
Here are five things you should know (but probably wish you didn’t) about Caddyshack II.
“We don’t need Amazon. We’re doing it ourselves,” said Jamie Lane, a co-producer of “Birdies.”
WILMINGTON, N.C. — Sinking a hole-in-one is always against the odds. But at least credit the filmmakers behind the Wilmington-made comedy “Birdies” with swinging for the fences.
If that’s a bit of a mixed sports metaphor — and it is — consider it a tribute to the passionate and entertaining, if not always bright, characters who populate the independent movie.
Since, then, the film’s producers, some of whom double as the film’s actors, have been aggressively marketing “Birdies.” They’ve bought ads not only on billboards but also online, targeting social media sites like Facebook and Instagram and trying to appeal to golf enthusiasts who might want to watch a comedy about the drunken denizens of a down-on-its-luck golf course trying to recapture its former glory.
People pack Thalian Hall for the premiere of the comedy “Birdies” in Wilmington, N.C. The comedy is available to screen via the internet. (Photo by Matt Born/Wilmington StarNews/USA Today Network)
Instead of going the festival route or trying to get distribution through Amazon and other large streaming sites, which are both strategies often employed by independent filmmakers, the makers of “Birdies” have employed a direct-to-the-consumer approach.
It recalls a digital version of the “four-walling” of decades ago, when filmmakers would rent space in theaters across the country to ensure their movies were available to audiences.
“We’re trailblazers. We’re the future. Actually, the present,” said Jamie Lane, who’s a co-producer of “Birdies” and also plays its primary villain. “We don’t need Amazon. We’re doing it ourselves.”
The story of “Birdies” goes back a decade or more, when writer and co-director Troy Carlton first came up with the idea for the film. His first attempt was thwarted when the North Carolina General Assembly and then-Gov. Pat McCrory rolled back film incentives, causing many productions — and the local crew members who worked on them — to flow south into Georgia and Louisiana.
Once film production returned to North Carolina, Carlton decided to try again only to run up against the pandemic shutdown. This time, he decided to forge ahead, calling in favors and assembling a solid cast (led by the L.A.-based comic Ryan O’Flanagan and Wilmington’s own Sydney Penny) and professional crew to get the movie made “at a time when no one else was making movies,” Lane said. “This is a passion project.”
He wouldn’t reveal the film’s budget, but “microbudget” would be a fair description.
Three of the producers were also actors, he added: “I’d shoot my scene then grab a boom mic so we could shoot the reaction shots.”
“Birdies” certainly captures that spirit of camaraderie while also evoking other, off-the-wall golf movie comedies like “Happy Gilmore” and, the gold standard, “Caddyshack,” whose us-against-them storyline “Birdies” pays homage to.
Longtime Wilmington actor Zach Hanner plays Charlie Conroy, the owner of the run-down Twin Pines course, where day-drinking among the staff, including the jocular Nick (Nate Panning), starts early. (“Welcome to hell,” quips the club bartender Fred, played by Lily Nicole, one of several well-timed zingers).
The financial situation at Twin Pines is predictably dire. But when Charlie spots a potential new golf pro named Jake (O’Flanagan, in a funny and completely natural performance) who could help Twin Pines prevail at a tournament of rival clubs.
It all builds to a showdown with the most annoying of those clubs, whose mercenary owner (Richard Wentz) has his eye on shutting down Twin Pines. The only problem is, Jake’s girlfriend, played by Aerli Austen, won’t be intimate with him until he quits golf, which she associates with his past indiscretions.
There are plenty of laughs along the way, with the drunken ineptness of much of the Twin Pines crew both serving as the butt of jokes while also giving the audience someone to root for once the tables start to turn.
“We know we have a great product,” Lane said, which is why he and his co-producers thought they’d be better off skipping the festival circuit, which isn’t traditionally kind to comedies, and trying to get “Birdies” out on their own.
Thalian Hall in Wilmington, N.C., hosted a sold-out premiere of the comedy. (Photo by Matt Born/Wilmington StarNews/USA Today Network)
Early results have been promising, Lane said, with about $2 in sales for every marketing dollar they spend. He said if they can recoup their production budget, he’ll consider it a win.
Next up is an online push targeting fans of The Masters, which tees off April 7. Long-term, Lane said, the goal is to help bolster the independent film infrastructure in Wilmington, a campaign that’s also been taken up by such local production companies as Honey Head Films.
Also on the horizon, Lane said, is a second serving of Wilmington golf comedy: “Birdies 2: Double Bogey” is in the works.
Contact John Staton at 910-343-2343 or John.Staton@StarNewsOnline.com.
Michael O’Keefe, who played Danny Noonan in “Caddyshack” was back in action at WInged Foot on Monday.
MAMARONECK, N.Y. — Nostalgia plays well at Winged Foot, so it was fitting to see Michael O’Keefe back at work Monday with a familiar red Bushwood hat on his head and a cumbersome Titleist staff bag on his shoulder.
The 65-year-old actor was a caddie here for two summers and went on to play Danny Noonan in Caddyshack.
He was on social media last week lobbying for a loop here, just hoping to get back inside the gates to see the U.S. Open up close and in person. He picked up a couple days of work when local club professional Danny Balin responded with an invitation.
The introduction was made by golf instructor and television commentator Michael Breed and Monday, at 8:51 a.m., Noonan and Balin were off to scout the back nine.
Sep 14, 2020; Mamaroneck, New York, USA; Actor Michael O’Keefe, left, caddies for golfer Danny Balin during a practice round for the 2020 U.S. Open golf tournament at Winged Foot Golf Club – West. O’Keefe is known for playing Danny Noonan in the movie “Caddyshack.” Mandatory Credit: Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports
“I’ve given a lot of interviews this year because it’s the 40th anniversary of the release of the movie,” said O’Keefe, who’s a Larchmont native. “I knew the Open was going to be here. My brother, Billy, is a member here and a former (club) president and I was thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun if somebody put me on their bag?’ And I thought the chances of that happening were about as likely as Carl Spackler winning the Masters, but the next thing you know, I get a call from Mike Breed and he said, ‘Hey, are you serious?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, why?’ He said, ‘Start doing some push-ups, I think it’s going to work out.’ ”
Balin loved the idea from the start.
“I had a Team Titleist event with Michael Breed, and afterward Michael pulled me to the side and told me he thought it would be a great thing to do,” said the 38-year-old Valhalla resident, who is the head pro at Fresh Meadow Country Club on Long Island. “We had spoken and kind of agreed that it would be great, two locals, him having grown up here me being here as a club pro and one of the only locals in the field. We both have a little history here at Winged Foot and I thought it would just be great for golf, great for the 40th anniversary of the making of Caddyshack. And getting some notoriety in the area is a good thing for me, for the club that I work at and all the members I work with.”
The pairing is also spotlighting a fundraising effort started by Winged Foot member Bill Fugazy to aid the club’s full-time caddies who have lost work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Right now, the Richie’s Gift campaign on GoFundMe.org is nearing $250,000.
O’Keefe has kicked in money.
“We just did our first nine together and it was a blast,” he said. “It was so much fun to be back out there and get a feel for the course again. Danny has got game. He has made my dream come true, so I owe him everything for that.”
They will be together again on Tuesday and Balin’s regular caddie, Marc Mondelblatt, a Penn State fraternity brother, will be on the bag the rest of the week.
“It was sort of a lark when I wrote it and then we got like 50,000 social media hits and then Danny jumped on it,” O’Keefe added. “I’m just here having a blast and I’m hoping the poison I gave his caddie Marc will kick in sometime later tomorrow and he’ll have to put me on his bag Thursday and Friday.”
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Balin, who grew up in Maryland, figures he’s seen Caddyshack 15 or 20 times.
“Any time I would caddie or go even play golf with somebody, it was always like, ‘Danny, do you do drugs? … Every day.’ So between that and, ‘Be the ball. Be the ball, Danny,’ I got it a lot,” Balin said. “The movie was great. Michael was a lot of fun.”
Since the pandemic shut down qualifying events this year, Balin got into the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open by virtue of a top five at last year’s PGA Professional Championship.
“It was a lot more firm today than it has been,” Balin said of the West Course. “Yesterday, the wind was a little different, I hit a 5-iron into the 18th green. Today, I hit a pitching wedge. So as with every major, every golf tournament, the course plays a little harder throughout the week and today showed that. It’s amazing.”
And the rough?
“It’s five inches of Dante hell,” O’Keefe said.
He was a caddie at Winged Foot in 1971 and 1972, following in the footsteps of Billy, a former caddie of the year.
“It was not unlike (the Hollywood version), without the celebrity play,” O’Keefe said of the experience. “(Caddie master) Gene Hayden was an incredibly tough taskmaster. He scared the hell out of everybody. If you got a loop, just the call of your name would put the fear of God in you.
“Some of the older caddies were amazing because they had been around forever and they really knew the course and could size up a golfer while he was taking a practice swing on the first tee. They were great about sharing the shortcuts, where you want to drop the bag, where you could save a couple of steps, teaching you about the grain and the putts breaking back toward the clubhouse.”
He again looked the part aside from the hat.
It was almost too perfect, clean and perfectly shaped, begging a question about the location of the original Bushwood cap from the movie.
“Probably in some bar in Davie, Florida, somewhere,” said O’Keefe, referencing the film shoot’s off-the-beaten path location.
Mike Dougherty covers golf for The Journal News/lohud, a member of the USA Today Network. He can be reached at mdougher@lohud.com, or on Twitter @hoopsmbd, @lohudlacrosse, @lohudhoopsmbd and @lohudgolf.
Don’t adjust your screen. That photo above is indeed of Danny Noonan … er, actor Michael O’Keefe … from Caddyshack caddying a practice round at the 2020 U.S. Open at New York’s Winged Foot Golf Club.
He’s on the bag for Danny Balin, the head pro at Fresh Meadow Country Club who will play this week.
But why is the actor caddying? There’s a very good reason for that: he grew up in Larchmont, New York and actually caddied at Winged Foot in the early 1970s. So he decided to write a post on Golf.com earlier this month aimed at anyone playing at this year’s Open, volunteering his services.
“Why now?” he wrote. “If not now, I may never have another chance! I’m 65 and not getting any younger, though my wife tells me I’m still devilishly handsome.”
So Balin took up NOONAN! on the offer, but just for his practice rounds.
“I try to take this somewhat serious, so I would never do this during a tournament round,’’ Balin said. “But I was like, ‘Yeah, this will be cool. Danny Noonan. Monday and Tuesday.’ It’ll be a fun couple of days. It’ll lighten the mood up.’’
And yes, he’s wearing a Bushwood Country Club hat in a nod to the iconic golf comedy. It’s so perfect.
July 25, 2020, will mark the 40th anniversary of the release of perhaps the greatest golf movie ever made, “Caddyshack.” The 1980 film produced some of the most quoted movie lines ever: “A former greenskeeper … about to become the Masters champion…” …
July 25, 2020, will mark the 40th anniversary of the release of perhaps the greatest golf movie ever made, “Caddyshack.”
The 1980 film produced some of the most quoted movie lines ever:
“A former greenskeeper … about to become the Masters champion…”
“Well, we’re waiting…”
“Remember Danny: Two wrongs don’t make a right but three rights make a left.”
“Gambling is illegal at Bushwood, sir, and I never slice!”
And don’t tell us you never uttered “Noonan!” when one of your friends faced a tricky three-footer.
We could go on, of course.
Made for $6 million
Harold Ramis made his directorial debut with the film, which was reportedly made for $6 million. It went on to gross $40 million at the box office.
(Caddyshack II, released eight years later, made just $11 million and that’s as much as we’ll say about that movie.)
Ramis looked to his youth for inspiration. He once worked as a caddie, as did many of the actors, who would create a legendary cast of characters in the film.
Hungry for some more Caddyshack trivia? Let’s start with where the movie was shot.
Given how 2020 has played out, we probably should have seen this one coming.
Sunday was supposed to be the day that Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady squared off in The Match, a televised charity event to raise money to support efforts related to the coronavirus pandemic. For the first time in what seemed like forever, there was a U.S. sporting event that you could mark your calendar to watch.
But the weather had other plans — at least temporarily.
The event at Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Fla., was delayed due to rain and honestly the conditions on the course didn’t look great.
Yet, even under soggy conditions and the prospect of a postponement, golf fans made light of the delay. They responded to photos of the flooded greens by making the same joke from Caddyshack. It was inevitable.
To promote ‘The Match: Champions for Charity,’ a sponsor is creating deepfake videos of Peyton Manning appearing in ‘Caddyshack.’
Peyton Manning and Tiger Woods will team up to take on Tom Brady and Phil Mickelson in The Match: Champions for Charity on Sunday. The golf match will air on TNT to help raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts.
Michelob ULTRA is one of the sponsors for the event and they teamed up with Manning to create a deepfake video of the former quarterback appearing in Caddyshack, Bill Murray’s 1980 golf comedy.
You will never be able to unsee this:
We’ve all been waiting for golf to come back. This Sunday at 3pm EST, watch The Match: Champions for Charity. To support their charitable efforts, we’re donating to the @RedCross . We encourage you to join us. pic.twitter.com/rIL3lQDDlE
As a sponsor of the event, Michelob ULTRA is giving fans extra incentive to tune in to the match. If any of the four participants sink a hole-in-one, Michelob ULTRA will give a free six-pack of beer to all U.S.-based sports fans 21 and older (see the rules here).
Manning and Woods, who golfed together at four Memorial pro-ams in the past, are considered betting favorites over Brady and Mickelson. The match will air on TNT at 1:00 p.m. MT on Sunday, May 24.
We have compiled a fantastic list of sports movies that you’re able to watch while being stuck at home during this time.
We have compiled a fantastic list of sports movies that you’re able to watch while being stuck at home during this time. We know everybody is looking for some sports action while all of the leagues are on hiatus. Check out our list of top streaming movies below and revisit old times with some classics on the list.
There are some solid choices on here and some most people may not have seen. There is the One and Done showing Ben Simmons journey from College to the NBA and Kobe Bryant’s Muse which is a must-see for all you NBA or Kobe Bryant fans.
We recommend interesting sports viewing and streaming opportunities. If you sign up for a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee.
