John Shea (12/79 Hussy)
Excerpt from Variety 12/31/79: John Shea | Hussy
Review: ‘Hussy’
December 31, 1979 | 11:00PM PT
John Shea’s performance as Helen Mirren’s lover, a transient American working as spotlight operator at the London stripjoint where she hosts and hooks is mostly bland, but occasionally effective in hinting at a murkier past than his guileless looks suggest. Mirren would have come off better had she been directed towards a less ponderous conception of the role. Neither lead is helped by dialog which badly needed that ruthless impartial eye; as it is, there are some leaden, even laughable, moments.
© Variety
Excerpt from New Straits Times 9/29/92: John Shea
Shea Wins Fame for role as Baby M's Dad
After a series of Shakespearean roles on stage Shea went to Britain to play opposite Helen Mirren in Hussy, a film about a destructive relationship.
© New Straits Times
Excerpt from Toronto Star 5/21/94: John Shea, posted by amac on Lois and Clark Message Board
By Jim Bawden Toronto Star May 21, 1994
For years Shea starred in a succession of often brilliant art house movies. The small audiences who saw him often raved about his quirky performances. How many people caught him with Helen Mirren in Hussy (1979) a film noir love story set against London's underworld of sex clubs and prostitution?
© Toronto Star
Excerpt from SFX 1/02: John Shea, on John Shea Fans
SFX January 2002 interview
Adam's presence provides the show with a weighty central character to balance out the bevy of male and female beauties, many of whom have only just entered this old business called "show". "For some of them, this is their first major piece of work; they're really just beginning," he confirms. "And I do feel more like a veteran here: 40 feature films; this is my third television series, and I've been in 20 plays in New York. I've done films all over the world, including England. My first feature film in England was a film with Helen Mirren called Hussy." Great title! "It was about a guy that worked nights in a nightclub where all these strippers hung out. I had a great time with that! She was my love interest in the film and we shot some wild scenes." He laughs cheekily.
© SFX
Excerpt from Video Business 7/10/06: John Shea
Hussy
By Cyril Pearl -- Video Business, 7/10/2006
Story Line: In early '80s London, Beaty (Helen Mirren), a hostess and prostitute at a seedy burlesque hall, gets romantically entangled with Emory (John Shea), a mysterious American who works the lights at the club. Wanting a more serious relationship with Beaty and her young son, Emory gets his co-worker involved in a dangerous drug deal in the hopes of moving them all out of the city to a new life in the English countryside.
....
Color, NR (mature themes, violence, language, sexual situations, nudity), 91 min., DVD $19.98
DVD: no extras
Street: July 25, Prebook: now
First Run: L Int'l., May 1980, NA
Director: Matthew Chapman
FIRST RUN
© Video Business