Three more celebrities added to lineup for second Great River Film Festival

QUINCY — The Great River Film Festival committee has released the names of three more celebrities who have agreed to take part in its second annual event.

Joining the lineup will be Jon Provost, Ruta Lee and Caryn Richman. They will be joining Patrick Wayne, Kim Lankford, Rebecca Holden, Nancy Stafford and Trina Parks.

Event director Mike Marx says he hopes to have final cast of former movie and TV personalities completed by early this summer. He is expecting to sign agreements that will boost the list of stars to about “a dozen or so.”

The second Great River Film Festival is scheduled Oct. 5-7 at Town & Country Inn and Suites, 110 N. 54th.

“Scheduling an event like this can always be difficult due to the stars’ last-minute schedule changes,” said Marx, a Northeast Missouri resident and former Hollywood talent agent who put together the first local film festival in 2019. 

The pandemic of 2020 and post-pandemic complications that limited public gatherings forced Marx and his associates to postpone any further attempt at such a convention until this year.

Provost, 73, was the star of the “Lassie” TV series. Lee, 87, appeared in a number of feature films, including 1954’s “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” film. Richman, 67, starred in “The New Gidget” series that was part of the network TV lineup in 1965-66.

Marx and friend O.C. Latta coordinate the non-profit Hannibal (Mo.) Entertainment Group, the organization behind the festival. The $20 daily and $45 weekend tickets for the festival help cover the plane fares and lodging expenses for the stars taking part in the festival.

Marx, 80, worked from 1969-99 in Hollywood prior to retiring and returning to his hometown of Hannibal. 

Wayne, 83, a son of legendary film star John Wayne, was a guest at the 2019 festival in Quincy. Among his major movie credits are “The Searchers,” “McLintock!” and “The Green Berets.” 

Parks, 75, portrayed “Thumper” in the 1971 James Bond film, “Diamonds Are Forever.” 

Lankford, 68, is best known for her role of Ginger Ward on “Knots Landing.” 

Stafford, 68, portrayed Michelle Thomas on “Matlock” and played Joan Halloran on “St. Elsewhere.”

Holden, 64, was a regular on “The Knight Rider” series and appeared in about a dozen other prime-time shows. 

All of the film and TV stars will be signing autographs for a charge.

Marx is working in cooperation with the Quincy Visitors and Convention Bureau. He helped coordinate a similar event for 38 years in Winston-Salem, N.C., before moving it closer to his home area.

“An event like this is always popular, because it allows fans to rub elbows with and actually talk with some of their favorite performers from the past,” Marx said.

For more information about the festival, contact Marx at 217-242-2505.