What Happened To The Cast Of Silk Stalkings?
Silk Stalkings hit CBS in 1991 and joined the "Crimetime After Primetime" lineup of adult-oriented criminal investigation shows that titillated many viewers. It's easily the most memorable of that lineup and focused on a series of crimes of passion in the upscale community of Palm Beach, Florida. Even though it did plenty to enthrall its audience with its suggestive plotlines, Silk Stalkings also lasted as long as it did due to some clever writing and a strong cast.
The series swapped networks from CBS to USA after two seasons, and it went through a few stumbles when some of the original cast left and their replacements didn't quite meet the expectations of the audience. All the same, Silk Stalkings lasted for a total of eight seasons and 176 episodes — an impressive run considering that most people think of it as nothing more than a sexy diversion.
Today, we're taking a look at some of the most memorable cast members from Silk Stalkings' run. Here's what they got up to outside of "Crimetime."
Mitzi Kapture - Rita Lee Lance
Mitzi Kapture played Sergeant Rita Lee Lance, one half of the lead duo in the original few seasons of Silk Stalkings. Though Lance and her partner, Sergeant Chris Lorenzo, could be considered as "equal" roles, Lance was generally the focus of Silk Stalkings. She often provided narration for episodes, and the audience often saw events as she did.
Despite having a fairly impressive career beginning in the late 1980s, Kapture seems to have moved away from acting in recent years. She seemingly moved away from the show when she gave birth to her children — one pregnancy was even incorporated into a series storyline — and her final episode came in 1995. Not long after, Kapture landed a recurring role as Alex Ryker on Baywatch, appeared in a few TV movies, and played Anita Hodges on The Young and the Restless.
That said, Kapture's most recent appearance came in a guest spot on the series Rules of Engagement in 2010. As of this writing, she has reportedly been cast in a comedy movie called The Executive, but it is still in production.
Rob Estes - Chris Lorenzo
The other half of Silk Stalkings' original duo, Seargeant Chris Lorenzo, was played by actor Rob Estes. Sgt. Lorenzo and his partner, Rita, eventually became an item after several near-death scrapes, and the two tied the knot in the show's fifth season. Spoiler alert: Chris is shot and killed in the very next episode, ending his run on the show. Actress Mitzi Kapture would also leave at the end of the fifth season, effectively ending the show's "original" run.
Estes stayed extremely busy while filming Silk Stalkings. He actually was on Melrose Place at the same time, playing Sam Towler in a few episodes before starting a long run as Kyle McBride afterward. He went on to have roles in several other television series, including Suddenly Susan, Providence, The Evidence, and Women's Murder Club.
More recently, Estes had a regular role in the 2008 series 90210 as Harry Wilson, and he's appeared on several crime procedurals. He also appears as Ken in the After film series, based on the books by Anna Todd.
Charlie Brill - Captain Harry Lipschitz
Veteran character actor Charlie Brill actually has the most appearances of any actor on Silk Stalkings. He joined the series in its second season as Captain Harry Lipschitz and continued in that role until the series ended in 1999. He'd already had a professional acting career of more than 30 years when he was cast and has continued to take on generally minor roles in the last couple of decades.
Brill is probably best remembered from Silk Stalkings for his comedic scenes with his real-life wife Mitzi McCall, who played his character's wife on the series. The two regularly appeared together in comedy sketches and game shows over the years. Brill may also be recognizable to Trekkies — he played a character named Arne Darvin on an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series and later reprised the role on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He also did work as a voice actor.
After Silk Stalkings ended, Brill slowed down considerably in the roles he took. He had guest roles on a few popular shows like The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and 7th Heaven, appeared in a few short or independent films, and did a little more voice work for animation.
Janet Gunn - Cassy St. John
After the original team of actors Mitzi Kapture and Rob Estes left Silk Stalkings, the series was at a crossroads. Tyler Layton and Nick Kokotakis were originally tapped as the new leads, but they only lasted for a handful of episodes. Shortly after, Silk Stalkings got some traction back with a different pairing of actors, Janet Gunn and Chris Potter.
Gunn played Detective Sergeant Cassandra "Cassy" St. John and had actually appeared in an early episode as an entirely different character. She joined the show from a different CBS "Crimetime After Primetime" series called Dark Justice. She also flirted briefly with film stardom, but none of her projects took off. You might have caught her around the same time in movies like The Nurse, Carnosaur 3, or the Jean-Claude Van Damme flick The Quest.
Gunn has mostly stuck with television work in more recent memory. She appeared in guest spots on shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Crossing Jordan, and The Fugitive but hasn't had a regular role since Silk Stalkings. Her most recent credit came in 2013 in the film Lost on Purpose.
Chris Potter - Tom Ryan
The other half of the reconfigured lead team, Detective Sergeant Tom Ryan, was played by actor Chris Potter, probably the most successful starring actor from Silk Stalkings. Potter continues to work in movies and television today and has had several starring roles to his credit over the years.
Before being cast as Tom Ryan, Potter already had a starring television role as Peter on Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. He also provided the voice of Gambit in the 1990s X-Men cartoon. Once Silk Stalkings concluded in 1999, Potter moved on to several other recurring or starring television projects. Some of his more notable role include Dr. Cameron on Queer As Folk, Dan Lennox on Wild Card, and Jake Russell in The Good Witch TV movie series.
Potter's most recent role comes on the CBC series Heartland, where he plays Tim Fleming. Potter has appeared in almost every episode of the show — over 200 total. Not bad for the second-string Silk Stalkings actor.
Ben Vereen - Captain Ben Hutchinson
He only appeared on a handful of early episodes of Silk Stalkings as Captain "Hutch" Hutchinson, but award-winning actor Ben Vereen brought some major gravitas to the series. Vereen is more known as a stage actor — he has won a Tony Award for his Broadway work — but he has had plenty of television and film work to prove that his talent transcends mediums.
Vereen had already made quite a name for himself before being cast in Silk Stalkings, with appearances in movie musicals like All That Jazz and Funny Lady and more traditional acting roles like in Roots. He probably would have played a much bigger role on Silk Stalkings, but one bad day in 1992 almost ended Vereen's acting career — and life. In a single day, he was in a car accident, suffered a stroke, and then got hit by a car. He was worried he'd never walk, let alone act, again.
Thankfully, Vereen recovered and continues to act. Some of his more recent gigs include recurring roles on Star, How I Met Your Mother, and Sneaky Pete. Vereen pops up in guest spots frequently — keep an eye out, and you'll probably spot him.
Robert Gossett - Lieutenant Hudson
With actor Ben Vereen's role on the show cut short by his real-world accidents, his character had to be replaced. Silk Stalkings brought in a commanding presence in actor Robert Gossett to play the new character, Lieutenant Hudson, and he stayed on the series through the third season.
After appearing in a few seasons of Silk Stalkings, Gossett made a run at movie success and appeared in some fairly notable films. He appeared in the Sandra Bullock thriller The Net and had a supporting role in Arlington Road. However, his biggest success has come in the world of television. He was cast as Russell Taylor in TNT's The Closer and also had an extended run on its spin-off, Major Crimes. Gossett's role in The Closer netted him some award nominations but no wins.
In recent memory, Gossett has continued to find success in television. He has had recurring roles on multiple series, including The Oath, Greenleaf, The Enemy Within, and The Young and the Restless.
Mitzi McCall - Fran Lipschitz
Silk Stalkings had some pretty heavy dramatic lifting due to the nature of the crimes being investigated, so it often tried to punctuate that aspect with some comedic tension relief. That often came in the interactions between Harry Lipschitz and his wife, Fran. The duo was played by real-life married couple Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall, who got married in 1960 and still remain together.
McCall has frequently used her comedic talents in voice acting. She has worked on several video games, including Spider-Man 3, No More Heroes, and a few Clifford games. She has also done voice work in shows and films like Hey! Arnold, American Dad!, and Ice Age. She has done plenty of on-screen acting as well, often in guest spots on shows like Chuck.
McCall was born in 1932, so she has slowed down considerably in recent years. Her most recently released credit came in the gothic film Crimson Peak, where she provided some voice work for various elements.
Fred Melamed - Announcer
Fred Melamed is practically the definition of an "I know that guy!" actor. He actually didn't appear in Silk Stalkings, but you can hear his dulcet tones throughout the series as the announcer/narrator. Melamed has appeared on-camera in many movies and television series, but he's probably best known as a voice actor.
His voice work encompasses animation and video games alike. He voiced Cris Formage in two Grand Theft Auto games and also can be heard in Fallout 76. On the animation side of things, he voiced multiple characters in Courage the Cowardly Dog and can be heard as Gumbald on Adventure Time.
In movies, Melamed often appears in the Coen Brothers' films, with roles in Hail! Caesar and A Simple Man, among others. Recently, he has done much more television work, frequently popping up with recurring guest roles on various series. His last major, recurring role came on Maria Bamford's esoteric sitcom Lady Dynamite, where he played Bruce Ben-Bacharach.