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Intro

Willie Aames will always be known for his two biggest roles: Tommy Bradford and Buddy Lembeck. But that's ok, cuz for what they are, Willie played them well. He never quite broke out of that mold. Still, we liked watching him struggle his way through teenagehood in an all American family, and as the goofy sidekick in just another light sitcom.

Before Joining EiE

Willie Aames appeared in "The Courtship of Eddie's Fathere" playing "Harold, a classmate of Eddie's"

On Dec 27, 1971, Willie Aames appearred in the "Gumsmoke" episode "P.S., Merry Christmas". Written by William Kelley, Directed by Herb Wailerstein, Guest Cast: Jeanette Nolan, Jack Elam, Patti Cohoon,, Erin Moran, Josh Albee, Brian Morrison, Willie Aames, Todd Lookinland, Jack Collins, Herb Vigran, Maudie Prickett.

In 1972, Willie Aames appeared in "The Odd Couple" playing "Leonard" in episode: "Win One for Felix".

In the 1972-74 cartoon series "Wait 'Til Your Father Gets Home", one of the vocists was Willie Aames.

In 1973, Willie Aames was in the TV Movie "Frankestein"

In 1974, Willie Aames was in the TV movie "Unwed Father"

In 1975, Willie Aames was a regular in the "Swiss Family Robinson" TV Series as Fred Robinson aka "Island of Adventure" (UK)

In 1975, Willie Aames was in the "We'll Get By" TV Series as Kenny Platt

In 1975, Willie Aames was in the TV movie "The Family Nobody Wanted"

During EiE

In December 7?, 1979, Scavenger Hunt featuring Willie Aames opened in movie theaters. He played Kenny. The premise--would-be heirs to a fortune are sent out on a scavenger hunt--peters out long before the final scene.

After EiE

In the summer of 1981, Willie Aames was listed as a co-host of "The Krypton Factor" with host "Dick Clark" http://www.cs.ruu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/tv/game-shows/usa.html

In 1982, Willie Aames co-starred with Scott Baio in the movie "Zapped" as Peyton Nichols. Baio is a high school student with a bent for science, who comes up with a formula that gives him certain powers, like lifting girls' skirts at will. He and his horny buddy (Aames) go on an innocent rampage satisfying all their fantasies, and in the process those of their fans. He learns to utilize his new found ability in a variety of creatively funny ways.

In 1982, Willie Aames starred in the movie "Paradise" as David. Two beautiful youths in their first bloom of maturity discover sex while stranded in a lush tropical hideaway circa 1823. Not as good as than The Blue Lagoon.

In 1983, Willie Aames was a voicist in the cartoon series "Dungeons and Dragons"

In 1983-84, Willie Aames became a regular playing Robbie Hamlin in the soap The Edge of Night until the soap ended.

In Fall 1984-90, Willie Aames was a regular as Buddy Lembeck with Scott Baio in Charles in Charge.

In 1984, Willie Aames was in the movie Goma-2

In 1985, Willie Aames was in the movie Amazonia as Tommy

In 1986, Willie Aames was in the movie Killing Machine

In 1986, Willie Aames was in the movie Cut and Run. A lame-brain action- pic about an intrepid reporter and her faithful cameraman checking out a drug ring in the jungles of Latin America.

On Oct 18, 1987, Willie Aames was seen in the TV movie reunion "Eight is Enough: A Family Reunion"

On Oct 15, 1989, Willie Aames was seen in the TV movie reunion "A Eight is Enough Wedding"

In 1995, Willie Aames was seen here. Check out this Love Boat page http://www.helsinki.fi/~jiltanen/loveboat.html. Can anyone translate this for us? Hint: He's in the same episode with Susan Lucci of All My Children!

Latest News About The Former Cast Member

Actor Willie Aames brought the live version of his video character to life in the stage play.

Aames has traveled a long, rough road to become the "Mighty Avenger of Truth." For six seasons he played Tommy Bradford on the hit show "Eight is Enough." The strong family bond portrayed on the screen was dramatically different than reality for the young actor.

"I never got along with my family. I hated my parents. I didn't get along with anybody in high school, couldn't get a date to save my life. I felt like a misfit. I felt I didn't belong," Aames said.

Although he would rather have been a marine biologist, he began acting at the age of eight because, "Acting was a way I thought I could belong that somehow people would like me."

By the age of 19, he was making over a million dollars a year, "doing the sex, drugs, rock n' roll thing ... and I was flat out miserable."

Aames was looking for happiness, not finding it and liking himself less and less. "You get to a point where you have one of two choices. You either put a gun to your head or you pray," he said.

Willie met Maylo for the first time when he was guest-starring on a cable TV show that Maylo was acting in. She thought he was a geek, but I still asked her out to lunch. She said she'd go only if I invited the show's entire cast and crew, so I did.

He and Maylo were attracted to each other because they were both needy and broken and they could sense something special forming between them because they were both in the same place. Back then, before they accepted Jesus Christ, Maylo was the type of person who wore fishnet stockings and leather and he was in the process of breaking my addiction to cocaine.

Over the next few months, he entered 12-step programs with the support of his girlfriend, actress Maylo McCaslin. "She had purple hair, fishnet stockings, wearing a ton of leather and too much makeup and I was totally in love. I thought she was just awesome," he said with a boyish, lopsided grin.

Aames saw the light while reading Wired, the John Belushi biography. "I realized I might end up dead if I didn't change," he says. By the time he met Maylo, he had been clean six months.

"He talked about wanting to live on an island," says Maylo, 32, who kicked her own drug habit with Willie's help before their 1986 marriage. Aames stumbled upon their island of calm while visiting Kansas City to discuss producing a fishing video. "Life," he says now, "doesn't get any better than this."

Stuck in traffic one day, they heard a pastor who caught their attention. "It was like he was talking to me," Aames said.

They started attending the church and were baptized and married three months later on the same day.

The toughest time in their marriage came after Harleigh was born. Willie was suffering from postpartum depression and it didn't help that Harleigh screamed most of her first year. On top of that, Willie's TV series was ending, and because of their faith he started turning down acting opportunities due to the objectionable content of the programs.

Their biggest argument took place 24 hours before our wedding. They've both been married before and their previous experiences made them fearful of commitment. They resolved that argument when Maylo came back, knocked on Willie's door, and said, "I can't live without you!" They just talked through their fears.

Their biggest surprise in marriage is how little they now think of themselves. They've grown beyond being self-centered actors to become two people who think about how they can best meet each other's needs.

Their advice for other couples: Pray for your mate. Ask God to soften your heart and show you ways to be a better spouse.

Their marriage works because they're not in competition with each other. Instead, they want to serve one another. They talk together for hours every night, and theyspend regular time in the Word and in prayer for each other.

He left Hollywood during his run on the sit-com "Charles in Charge."

"Everybody thought I was nuts because I was on a hit show ... but I became increasingly aware that there was less and less that I could do as a Christian and maintain the integrity of my faith," he said.

There's no place like home, and Willie Aames has found his in Dorothy's state. In 1991, fed up with Hollywood, the Eight Is Enough star suggested to his wife that they move to the heartland. She cried. "Kansas was a word I hadn't even said before," recalls Maylo McCaslin Aames, who met Willie in 1984 on the set of Rocky Road, the cable sitcom in which she starred. "I pictured living in a bean field with people wearing braids."

They moved to Olathe, Kan., where Aames began a production studio, writing and directing work for Sprint and Northwest Airlines. About four years ago, he was approached with the Bibleman idea.

His first reaction was less than enthusiastic, but as he gave it consideration and prayer, he began to think it wasn't such a bad idea. At one point Aames had done the voice of Hank on "Dungeons and Dragons."

"Having been part of that whole machine that goes after kids, I was really feeling convicted that it was time for somebody to stand up and do something different," he said.

He writes, directs and stars in the video series. He tries to keep it fun and funny without sacrificing the action and adventure.

Bibleman (a.k.a. Miles Peterson) fights evil, wearing the armor of God (a flashy yellow and purple Spandex ensemble with cape). He outsmarts the bad guys using chapter and verse to prove his points.

He wants the show to be interesting to both children who go to church and those who don't.

Titles "Big, Big Book" and "Silencing the Gossip Queen" are available for $9.99 and the most recent, "Defeating the Shadow of Doubt," is $12.99 at local Christian bookstores.

Life on the road is hard. This tour started in February and won't end until November. Aames would rather be home with his wife and their 8-year-old daughter, Harliegh Jean.

"I enjoy what I do and I like what I do and I'm always blessed by what I do. But it's not what I want. What I want is to be home. But what God is blessing and where I am called to be is out ministering to kids."

So, for now, the universe is safe from evildoers and slimy-doubt-goo because Harliegh's daddy tells the children about Jesus in his own unique way.

Today, Willie Aames owns a production studio that produces videos, commercials and programs for television broadcast. He also produces and stars in Bibleman, a Christian video series for children.

Willie and his second wife, Maylo MaCaslin, also an actor, live in Olathe near Kansas City with their daughter, Harleigh. (Willie has a son, Christopher, from a previous marriage with first wife Victoria Weatherman, living in Costa Mesa.) The Aameses have been married ten years. The Aames live in a ranch house with a picket fence and a vast vegetable garden. "We're so happy here," says Aames, 35, who produces and directs for a video company in nearby Kansas City. "It's clean, and people are friendly."

What is Bibleman? about? According to the Willie Aames Worship Page, Bibleman is a super hero who defeats villains such as Dr. Decepto (is that a play on the Dr. Demento name or something?) and Madame Glitz with prayer and the sword of truth. The stories involve seven middle-grade kids (8-to 12-year-olds) who rehearse musicals in their garage and perform them at school. They confide their difficulties to their friend, Miles Peterson, who becomes Bibleman. He in turn is enabled to give inspiration and help through sharing some bad experience that he has overcome with prayer. Willie Aames plays Bibleman and his alter-ego, Miles Peterson.