Commander X
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- Joined
- Apr 6, 2018
One of Curry's best villain roles was on the CBS crime drama Wiseguy, where he was the antagonist of the "Dead Dog Records" story arc in the second season. Series protagonist Vinnie Terranova (Ken Wahl), undercover agent for the Organized Crime Bureau, a (fictional) division of the FBI, takes over a small record label that was seized by the DEA in a case and uses it as a front to investigate corruption in the music business. He takes on a washed-up but knowledgeable hustler of a talent agent as the public face of the label, played by The Eagles' Glenn Frey and signs on once famous singer Diana Price (Debbie Harry) to record a single ostensibly as part of a comeback attempt - (said single is actually a version of "Brite Side" as heard on one of Harry's solo albums) and soon the label comes to the attention of Curry's Winston Newquay, a sleek, sophisticated, ruthless and incredibly crooked record mogul who tries to buy out the label and steal Ms. Price away (he also happens to be her former manager/lover, and is perhaps still obsessed a bit with her). A mesmerizing performance, Curry plays a devilish and smug industry shark so well, especially after he dodges legal consequences for his various shady deals but starts to descend into madness after suffering a series of professional and personal humiliations.
And there's this moment where he's in jail and approached menacingly by another inmate, played by Steven Williams (who played "Mr. X" on the X-Files) who as it turns out, just recognizes Newquay and wants to audition for him:
And there's this moment from said descent into madness where he's dressed in black, oiled up his hair like a 50's hot-rod greaser and is singing Gene Vincent's "Be-Bop-A-Lula" into a mirror
The episodes from this arc are on YouTube because, alas, due to the use of licensed music they've been excluded from any official home video or online release.
And there's this moment where he's in jail and approached menacingly by another inmate, played by Steven Williams (who played "Mr. X" on the X-Files) who as it turns out, just recognizes Newquay and wants to audition for him:
And there's this moment from said descent into madness where he's dressed in black, oiled up his hair like a 50's hot-rod greaser and is singing Gene Vincent's "Be-Bop-A-Lula" into a mirror
The episodes from this arc are on YouTube because, alas, due to the use of licensed music they've been excluded from any official home video or online release.