James Stacy

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James Stacy is the stage name of retired actor Maurice William Elias, born December 23, 1936 in Los Angeles, California to a waitress and a bookmaker. Stacy made his 1957 movie debut in Sayonara, which starred Marlon Brando, and his TV debut in Highway Patrol. He had a recurring role as "Fred" in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet from 1958 to 1963. In the 1960s he sporadically appeared in TV shows, including Gunsmoke, Hazel, The Donna Reed Show, Perry Mason, Have Gun - Will Travel, and Combat! As an actor Stacy is best remembered as a star of the 51-episode western series Lancer (1968-1971), playing the character "Johnny Madrid Lancer". He was in several movies from the 1950s through the 1970s, including a minor part in the musical South Pacific. On September 27, 1973, Elias lost his left arm and leg and his girlfriend, waitress Claire Cox, was killed when they were struck by a drunk driver while riding a motorcycle. A 1974 celebrity gala, whose attendees included Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand, raised $118,000 for his expenses, and in 1976 he won a $1.9 million lawsuit against the bar that had served the drunk driver. After his recovery, Stacy appeared in roles created to accommodate his handicap. His comeback film was the 1975 Kirk Douglas western Posse, in which he was cast as newspaper editor "Harold Hellman", a part Douglas had written for him. In 1977 he starred in the TV movie Just a Little Inconvenience, playing a double-amputee Vietnam veteran, and in Walt Disney Pictures 1983 fantasy film Something Wicked This Way Comes. James Stacy starred in and produced the TV movie, My Kidnapper, My Love, in 1980. His brother, Louie Elias, a bit actor and stuntman, wrote the screenplay, based on the novel by Oscar Saul, to accommodate Stacy’s handicap. Elias was also the associate producer. Other TV appearances included Cagney & Lacey, Hotel and Highway to Heaven. His last TV role was in five 1990 episodes of the cop series Wiseguy, playing "Ed Rogosheske." After that Stacy was reportedly too inebriated to work and retired. Elias was twice nominated for an Emmy Award: for Just a Little Inconvenience (1978: Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series) and the Cagney & Lacey episode "The Gimp," (1986: Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series). Stacy has married twice, to actress and singer Connie Stevens (1963-1966) and actress Kim Darby (1968-1969), with whom he had a daughter named Heather. On November 9, 1995, Elias pled guilty to a felony charge of having fondled the genitals of an 11-year-old-girl.^[1] The daughter of friend and neighbor Patrice Loher had been invited to swim in his Meiners Oaks, California pool on several uneventful occasions, but on March 26, 1995 he bought the girl a pizza in exchange for a massage, during which he molested her. He later protested that his action wasn't really molestation because "I touched her for five seconds." On December 7, 1995, Elias didn't appear for sentencing in Ventura County Superior Court. He was arrested the next day in a Honolulu, Hawaii hospital after fleeing and trying to kill himself by downing a pint of whiskey and leaping off a 1200-foot cliff. He landed on a ledge just 45 feet from the top. By the end of December he had waived extradition and was returned to California. On March 5, 1996 he was sentenced to a six year prison term. The prosecutor in the case said that Elias might have received probation for the molestation, but in June 1995 he had been twice arrested for prowling at the homes of other girls. As a result, 150 concurrently served days were added for one prowling charge while several others were dismissed. Elias' attorney argued that he suffered brain damage from his accident that "affect[ed] his judgment in terms of inappropriate behavior." The judge rejected that assertion, saying to Elias, "I do not think that your celebrity or your injuries or your alcohol problems are mitigating factors." At his sentencing Elias apologized for molesting the girl, telling the court, "I hope it didn't interrupt her innocent mind." He added, "I'm sorry also to her mother for causing her this pain." The mother said that Elias had offered $2,500 for therapy to help her daughter deal with the molestation, but the prosecution claimed this was a bribe to induce the mother and daughter to not cooperate with the investigation. After sentencing, the mother said, "I feel justice has been served. My daughter just wanted this man in jail." In a prison interview with People Weekly, Elias reportedly said his conviction, "makes me look like a goddamn pedophile." He served his sentence at the California Institution for Men, at Chino. Elias can be located in California's sex offender registry, with "James Stacy" as one of his aliases.

References

^ The formal charge was "Lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years," 288(a).

Sources

Breuer, Howard. "Hearing postponed for actor James Stacy accused of child molestation", Daily News (Los Angeles), Valley edition, April 15, 1995, p. N4.
"Actor pleads guilty to molesting girl", Daily News (Los Angeles), Conejo edition, November 10, 1995, p. TO2.
"Ojai actor arrested in Honolulu after missing hearing", Daily News (Los Angeles), Simi edition, December 9, 1995, p. SV4.
"Extradition waived in molestation case", Daily News (Los Angeles) Valley edition, December 12, 1995, p. N8.
"Extradition returns actor Stacy to jail", Daily News (Los Angeles), Conejo edition, December 28, 1995, p. TO4.
Coit, Michael. "Actor receives 6-year term for molesting girl", Daily News (Los Angeles), Simi edition, March 6, 1996, p. SV1.
Rist, Curtis and Gordon, Jeanne. "Trouble: Hitting bottom after fighting back from a grisly accident actor James Stacy, his life in tatters, goes to prison", People Weekly, May 13, 1996 v45 n19 p89(3).