The film “Airport” was released on March 5, 1970, starring our own WDGY DJ Johnny Canton!  Well, he had one line.  But without it, Maureen Stapleton wouldn’t have known where the gate to Rome was.  Screen grab courtesy Pavek Museum of Broadcasting.

The movie was filmed in Minneapolis, and also included local actress Nancy Nelson (billed as Nancy Ann Nelson) as Bunnie, the girl who sold the bomber his travel insurance.  Nancy was a hip chick in the ’60s, costarring on “A Date With Dino” (see TV Shows), writing a column and being the secretary for Twin City a-Go-Go (see Publications), and doing a stint as the go-go booted “Saturday Night Weather Girl” just before Dave Moore’s “Bedtime Newz.”  Her debut on local TV was at age 3, where she sang “Good Night Ladies” on “Toby Prin’s Talent Show.”  While working on “Mel’s Matinee Movie” she interviewed Don Stolz and started working as an actress at the Old Log Theater.  She was also “Princess of Prizes” on Don Dahl’s Bowlerama.  She spent a year as Miss Minnesota, and in 1970 she married local heartthrob Bill Carlson.  John Denver wrote “Follow Me” for them and sang it at the wedding (which I think is a little weird if you listen to the lyrics and think of a couple with two big careers).  Danny’s Reasons also played at the event.  She and Bill had competing talk shows for awhile until she moved to Los Angeles, commuting home every weekend.  She later became the queen of infomercials, doing almost 100 of them.  She was inducted into the Museum of Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2009, where she declared that as a child she could never stop talking and could memorize anything.