TC (Teresa Laughlin, aka Teresa Kelly) was 11 when ‘Billy Jack’ was made. She played her part like a seasoned pro, far beyond her years. But her body was right on time at 11, and proved it by losing a tooth during the filming of the I Just Go Berserk scene in the soda parlor.
Tom (Dad) did what most dads do when their kids loose a tooth: he got it on film. Only in 1969 we didn’t have video, and Tom didn’t have his handy 8mm movie camera with him. But he did have an entire film crew with a real movie camera, so he set up a surprise ‘pickup shot’, didn’t tell TC what is was for, and once the camera started rolling, scared TC (yes, that’s fear on her face at first) by highlighting the missing tooth.
I found this on one of the pallets of footage I received from WB when we recovered the rights. How cute was TC?!
[NOTE: None of the outtakes have sound, not because we don't have the sound, but because we don't have the manpower to sync all the sound to all the outtakes. We have almost 30 hours of outtakes - everything that was printed from the shoot. Hundreds of cuts, if not thousands. We have to find the sound, match to picture, and sync. You can help us out by contributing on eBay or just making a simple donation via PayPal.]
I think Teresa is awesome in Billy Jack! I love when she sings the songs! I loved them so much I bought the 45 with her two songs on it. I’m only 20, but Billy jack is my favorite movie ever. I wish I could have been around to see those days!
You can… for 1:55 minutes. (The Blu-ray version is the better of the time machines)
I’m 52 years old . I was 11 when BillyJack first came out. I just watched it with my 13 and 16 year old daughters. I told them I had a crush on Teresa way back then, so they harassed me through the whole movie.
At least you had good taste, Steve.
Wow.
That is hysterical! I did look pretty terrified, didn’t I?
This doesn’t need any sound. Teresa’s expressions say it all.