Every so often, I get nostalgic for specific 80s movies. And a few weeks ago, I caught the 1988 John Candy-Dan Aykroyd classic The Great Outdoors. This movie has everything: pontoon boats, subtitled trash-eating raccoons, and a legendary bald bear. I learned some early life lessons from this film when I saw it 25 years ago: 1. Never water sky behind a boat named “Suck My Wake”, 2. Hot dogs are made of pigs’ “lips and assholes”, and 3. Love at first sight.
I will admit, this 12 year old was smitten with Cammie, the waitress townie that Buck falls for during the family vacation.
It wasn’t a starring role, like her turn in The Boy Who Could Fly, but she caught my young eye nonetheless. At the time, I thought she was going to be a big star. She went on to star in Disney’s Cheetah, then did some TV movies and a few episodes of Law & Order. Then…gone.
According to a People Magazine feature from 2001, she didn’t have the passion for acting that would sustain a long career. She was quoted as saying, “I love acting, but I didn’t love it enough to not do anything else.” She worked as an EMT, a firefighter, and boat builder after acting. She met and married a sculptor and they have two children together. In 2007, she earned her law degree from the University of Washington and now is a practicing attorney for a law office in Denver, CO.
You can take the Cammie-Buck subplot out of The Great Outdoors and it’s still a classic comedy that holds up today. I quote it easily once a week, or make references to it in real life situations. Yet seeing Lucy Deakins brought me back to being an awkward kid on the cusp of manhood. She must have made an impact on me- I named my daughter Lucy.
I was SOOOOOO in love with her too, but from “The Boy Who Could Fly.” I used to daydream I was her little brother in the film so I could watch her undress while playing with my G.I. Joe figs.
Bet you she’s still fine as all hell, too…
I can report that if you google her name plus attorney, it will bring you to her law firms website with a recent photo.
Happy early birthday to Lucy Chapman!
Thank you Hail Mary!!
Chet was John Candy’s character. I believe his son’s name was Buck. I love that movie.
When I hear Lucy, I think the first that comes to mind is the girl from Charlie Brown & Peanuts.
Happy Birthday to your daughter!!!
Corrected! I knew that!!! (brain fart)
She was my early crush as well. Just as the movie begins to slow to a crawl. She comes on screen and brightens it up with her dimples and Bucks well placed pool cue which she expertly disarmed him of. Man, those are some powerfully thighs. One quick twist of her hips and she disarmed him. To tell the truth. All she really needed was one well placed smile, complete with those dimples.