Cristina Raines: September 2011

Cristina Raines on Flamingo Road - Pic #15

Here is a nice closeup shot of Cristina Raines from Flamingo Road. It is from the episode 'The Bad and the Beautiful' which was originally shown on TV on April 13, 1982.

Cristina Raines on Flamingo Road - Pic #14

Here is another picture of Cristina Raines from the Flamingo Road episode 'The High and the Mighty'.

Cristina Raines on Flamingo Road - Pic #13

This image of Cristina Raines as her Flamingo Road character Lane Ballou comes from the second season episode 'The High and the Mighty'.

Cristina Raines and Fernando Allende

Cristina Raines and Fernando Allende were both on Flamingo Road on the early 1980s. However, she was a permanent cast member appearing in just about every episode of the show, whereas he is only credited for 15 episodes. This meant that they didn't get to share the screen very often, but in the second season episode titled 'The High and the Mighty' they did two scenes together. Both of the images on this page are from that 1982 episode.

Cristina Raines on Flamingo Road - Pic #12

Here is a picture of Cristina Raines in 'No Dice', an episode of the night-time soap Flamingo Road which originally aired on March 23, 1982.

And here is a bonus pic from the same episode:

Cristina Raines on Flamingo Road - Pic #11

Here is an image of Cristina Raines embracing John Beck in the Flamingo Road episode 'The Dedication' which was originally broadcast on March 2, 1982.

Cristina Raines smokes on screen!

In the first image above from the 1982 Flamingo Road episode 'The Dedication' Mark Harmon lights a cigarette for Cristina Raines. A moment later, in the second image, Cristina Raines and Mark Harmon have a discussion while she holds the cigarette. Like in many TV shows and movies, she does not actually ever take a puff.

There are at least two other memorable instances where Cristina Raines smokes onscreen. In 1983, as you may know, Cristina Raines appeared in the first segment of the horror anthology film Nightmares as a smoker who risks everything for a pack of cigarettes.

Earlier in her career, in the 1975 film Nashville, she also lit up a cigarette during a memorable scene wheres he smokes while applying a face cream and giving an interview.

Cristina Raines may have smoked in other films or TV shows...I'll have to see if I can locate any other occasion where she might have done so.

Cristina Raines and Mark Harmon together!

Here is a publicity photo from 1981 of Cristina Raines and Mark Harmon for their television series Flamingo Road. What a nice looking couple!

(Click the picture to make it even bigger!)

Cristina Raines as Poppaea in Quo Vadis?

In 1985, Cristina Raines took part in a wonderful miniseries called Quo Vadis?. The project featured an international cast and a great group of actors and actresses. Cristina Raines portrayed Poppaea, wife of the Roman Emperor Nero (played by over-the-top by Klaus Maria Brandauer). Poppaea has been played by man actresses over the years (including Theda Bara, Claudette Colbert and Brigitte Bardot just to name a few) and Cristina Raines turns in a fine performance (marred slightly by the fact that, at least in the version I saw, her voice was dubbed over). Her portrayal is somewhat haunting and I can't remember many other instances where Cristina Raines was able be so silently powerful, seductive and evil. Her performance is in perfect contrast to the other female stars in Quo Vadis?, Barbara De Rossi as the beautifully saddened Eunice and Marie Therese Relin as the lovely young Lygia.

If you haven't seen Quo Vadis? I would highly recommend you take a look at it. The miniseries has been, somewhat inexplicably, badly or lukewarmly reviewed by many professional and amateur critics. I had read a few reviews before I sat down to watch Quo Vadis? and was expecting it to not be very good. To the contrary, I found it to be immensely enjoyable, with great performances by all involved, a solid story and excellent art direction. If you like miniseries, ancient Rome or any of the actors involved, I would certainly recommend you track Quo Vadis? down.

Here are some images of Cristina Raines as Poppaea in Quo Vadis?: