''Princess Daisy'' is a 1983 American television

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

directed by

Waris Hussein Waris Hussein ('' né'' Habibullah; born 9 December 1938) is a British-Indian television and film director. At the beginning of his career he was employed by the BBC as its youngest drama director. He directed early episodes of '' Doctor Who'', i ...

, based on the 1980 novel of the same name by Judith Krantz.

Plot

''Princess Daisy'' tells the story of a young girl who is sent to England to live with her father, Prince Valensky, after her mother's death in a car crash. Unfortunately, Daisy is immediately separated from her twin sister Dani, who is a special needs child not accepted by their father. When Daisy turns 16, their father dies in a plane accident. The girl is forced to take care of her life herself, especially when her half-brother starts seeing in her more than just a sister.

Cast

* Merete Van Kamp .... Daisy & Dani Valensky *

Lindsay Wagner Lindsay Jean Wagner (born June 22, 1949) is an American film and television actress, model, author, singer, and acting coach. Wagner is best known for her leading role in the American science-fiction television series '' The Bionic Woman'' (197 ...

.... Francesca Valensky *

Stacy Keach Walter Stacy Keach Jr. (born June 2, 1941) is an American actor and narrator. He has played mainly dramatic roles throughout his career, often in law enforcement or as a private detective. His most prominent role was as Mickey Spillane's fictiona ...

.... Prince Alexander "Stash" Valensky *

Claudia Cardinale Claude Joséphine Rose "Claudia" Cardinale (; born 15 April 1938) is an Italian actress. She has starred in some of the most iconic European films of the 1960s and 1970s, acting in Italian, French, and English. Born and raised in La Goulette, a ...

.... Anabelle de Fourdemont Valensky *

Robert Urich Robert Michael Urich (December 19, 1946 – April 16, 2002) was an American film, television, and stage actor, and television producer. Over the course of his 30-year career, he starred in a record 15 television series. Urich began his ca ...

.... Patrick Shannon *

Paul Michael Glaser Paul Michael Glaser (born Paul Manfred Glaser March 25, 1943) is an American actor and director best known for his role as Detective Dave Starsky on the 1970s television series, ''Starsky & Hutch''. In between his work writing and directing, Gla ...

.... Fred North *

Rupert Everett Rupert James Hector Everett (; born 29 May 1959) is an English actor, director and producer. Everett first came to public attention in 1981 when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film '' Another Country'' (1984) as a gay pupil ...

.... Ram Valensky *

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

.... Robin Valerian *

Barbara Bach Barbara Bach, Lady Starkey (born Barbara Goldbach in 1947) is an American actress and model. She played the Bond girl Anya Amasova in ''The Spy Who Loved Me''. She is married to former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr. Early life Bach is a nati ...

.... Vanessa Valerian *

Nicolas Coster Nicolas Dwynn Coster (born December 3, 1933) is a British-American actor, most known for his work in daytime drama and as a character actor on nighttime television series, such as ''Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the A ...

.... Matty Firestone * Rachel & Melissa Dennis .... young Daisy & Dani *

Alexa Kenin Alexa Jordan Kenin (February 16, 1962 – September 10, 1985) was an American actress known for her supporting roles in several films released during the 1980s, including ''Little Darlings'' (1980), '' Honkytonk Man'' (1982), and ''Pretty in ...

.... Kiki Kavanaugh

Critical reception

Richard Corliss Richard Nelson Corliss (March 6, 1944 – April 23, 2015) was an American film critic and magazine editor for ''Time''. He focused on movies, with occasional articles on other subjects. He was the former editor-in-chief of '' Film Commen ...

wrote of the miniseries, "Not even trash can guarantee the happy ending, and, alas, it happened to Jane Doe: ''Princess Daisy'' proved a small screen bust." However, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' was more positive; while it criticized the acting, it concluded, "Despite all that, ''Princess Daisy'' is much better quality kitsch than ''

Lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is divided into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

''. It has all the same, essential mini-series requirements: vulgar opulence, beautiful people, international locations, the lot. But it also has a strong, closely packed story line, with the kind of fairy tale elements—the mirror image twin, the evil step-relation—that can remind you of childhood frissons; and it has characters in place of those perambulating coat hangers we had last week. And if we customers don't take the trouble to distinguish between good and bad rubbish, you know exactly what kind we will get in future."

References

External links

* {{Waris Hussein 1983 television films 1983 films 1980s American television miniseries Films directed by Waris Hussein Films scored by Lalo Schifrin NBC network original films Adaptations of works by Judith Krantz