‘Knots Landing’ Star Michele Lee Remembers Her 1969 Movie ‘The Love Bug’ (Exclusive)
Michele Lee, a true Hollywood icon, has been in the entertainment industry since she was 16 years old. She has done it all — recorded albums, performed on Broadway, acted in feature films, and, of course, starred in television, most notably Knots Landing. Lee recently appeared at the Hollywood Museum in Hollywood, CA, to help unveil their newest exhibit, “ICONIC RIDES: A Drive Through Time,” where one of her famous “co-stars,” Herbie, the Love Bug, from 1969’s The Love Bug, is now on display. Lee fondly refers to Herbie as her “grandson.”
Credit: Mike Pingel
In the movie — which also starred Dean Jones, David Tomlinson, Buddy Hackett, and Joe Flynn — Herbie is a 1963 Volkswagen Beetle racing car, numbered #53. However, he’s no ordinary car; Herbie can drive himself and has a mind of his own. With Herbie’s help, a washed-up race car driver (played by Jones) rises to become a champion. The Love Bug became the second highest-grossing film of 1969, earning over $51.2 million at the box office on a modest $5 million filming budget. The franchise has since expanded to include five movies, a short-lived TV series, and two video games.
ReMIND chatted with Lee about her experience filming the iconic Disney classic.
Can you share what it was like filming The Love Bug?
Michele: My Grandchild is the Love Bug #53 – I had so much fun. In those days when we used to have painted scenery, we didn’t have anything that people have now digitally. So, I would be in this car with Dean Jones — who I loved so, and he acted so funny in that movie — we would be in the mockup of Herbie and there would be nothing real around us. So, what we would be doing is pretending, ‘OK’, the director would say, ‘Pretend now you’re going to go over a river, and then action. Pretend now you’re hitting a bump.’ Real acting.
Everett Collection
What do you feel when you see Herbie?
Michele: When I see the Bug, it does bring me back to a wonderful time. I will tell you the movie title was not Herbie The Love Bug; it was The Love Bug. I guess they really didn’t know whether it was going to be what it became with many, many Love Bugs after me; the only reason, and I know this for a fact, that I didn’t do any of the Love Bugs after the one I did was because Dean Jones and I got married at the end of the first one. And so, I think, they had to lose me. It was like, wait a minute. How many girlfriends can he have in a year? I don’t know, but no, it’s great.
Because at that time in 1970, we were, by the way, the highest-grossing movie in 1969 ever. I think they bought it for very little money, and it just took off and became this incredible hit and I think one of the reasons is because it was called The Love Bug. The kids and everybody loved it.
Credit Mike Pingel
How do fans react to the beloved film today?
Michele: People come up to me to this very day to talk about the film, and it does say something about our backgrounds where we came from and the innocence of the time. How we loved and hopefully, as I say, seeing all these iconic cars around here, I’m just hoping that it brings us the memory of what we were and when we were, so that we can feel the friendship of people and love everybody.
If you want to check out ICONIC RIDES: A Drive Through Time, the Hollywood Museum is located at 1660 N. Highland Avenue, CA, 90028 (Hollywood Blvd. and N. Highland Ave.) and is open Wednesday-Sunday from 10am-5pm. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors (62+), $12 for students with ID and $5 for children under 5.
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Stars & Cars
April 2018
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