By Joan E. Vadeoncoeur
It's no surprise that changes are in the wind for "Chicago Hope." The pressure has been on for creator David E. Kelley to devote more time to the medical series, which just completed its sixth season.
The hit series has lost Christine Lahti, the tough Dr. Kate Austin, allegedly to pursue a directing career, and Jayne Brook, the dimpled Dr. Diane Grad.
The medical drama has survived the loss of other stars, most notably Mandy Patinkin as the crude but superior surgeon, Dr. Jeffrey Geiger. Also long departed is Roxanne Hart, who was Nurse Camille, who divorced Adam Arkin's character, Dr. Aaron Shutt. Thomas Gibson, the romantic Dr. Daniel Nyland, who hit paydirt in half of the title role in "Dharma & Greg," will be seen in the Tom Cruise-Nicole Kidman film "Eyes Wide Shut," which opens July 16.
Long before their flight, E.G. Marshall's Dr. Arthur Thurmond disappeared from the screen. Also gone over the seasons are Diane Venora and Margaret Colin, both cast as doctors.
Kelley shifted Peter MacNichol - the legal expert Alan Birch - from "Hope" to "Ally McBeal."
Although it hasn't been widely publicized, series surgery has been performed on Vondie Curtis-Hall, the sympathetic Dr. Dennis Hitchcock, and Peter Berg as the hotheaded Dr. Billy Kronk.
In fact, take it from Hector Elizondo, who has gone the series' entire route as Dr. Phillip Watters, chief of staff, only four cast members are returning for the show's sixth season.
"The series has been reinvented," he says tightly. "Only me, Mark Harmon, Rocky Carroll and Adam Arkin made the cut. I think they overdid it a little. Some people are going to be very hard to replace."
In that category, Elizondo says, is Brook. "They should never have gotten rid of Jayne," he says with a touch of bitterness in his voice.
As for Lahti, the whole story hasn't been told, he claims. Her departure was not entirely her own move, Elizondo says. Certain terms she asked for were not met, so she left.
The 62-year-old actor almost joined the ranks of the departed. He's on a year-to-year contract and so was up for renewal. " I thought of leaving. But positive changes for my character have been promised," he says, adding with a smile, "It's a nice day job, and you don't have to schlepp all over the world and stay in hotels without a good restaurant."
Still, none of the comings and goings has sunk the series, not even the departure of Patinkin. Elizondo reports good news on that front. He says Dr. Geiger is going to make recurring appearances in the new season. "Every so often" is how he phrases it.
At least three more cast members will be added to the four "survivors," the balding actor reports. Leading contenders are Lauren Holly, who toiled for Kelley on "Picket Fences," and former Oscar nominee Barbara Hershey.
Meanwhile, refreshed from a vacation in Spain, Elizondo is helping director Garry Marshall promote their latest film together, "Runaway Bride," which reunites them with superstars Julia Roberts and Richard Gere from "Pretty Woman."
Marshall gave Elizondo his finest big-screen role in his 30-year motion-picture career when he cast him as the hotel manager who befriended Julia Roberts' hooker in that blockbuster of almost a decade ago. "Bride" finds the veteran actor as the photographer-husband of Gere's ex-wife.
"We don't hang out," says Elizondo of his relationship with Marshall.
But, apparently, the director is superstitious about the actor's presence, since Elizondo says, "He says it's on his contract (to hire me)."
Hiring the actor is a given, but the periods he can work are far shorter than when Marshall first signed him.
"I can only work three or four days, then I have to run back and do a liver transplant," he jokes.
Although the actor isn't shy about his baldness, Marshall told him he wanted a different look for "Bride" than "Pretty Woman." They lined up three toupees, and Elizondo pointed to one he wanted. It was a done deal.
The actor is heard but not seen on commercials for a food supplement. Yes, he says, he uses it. No, he won't go on camera: "I don't have to clean up and dress up."
Joan E. Vadeboncoeur writes Monday through Thursday in CNY, Fridays in Weekend and Sundays in Stars Magazine.