''Chance of a Lifetime'' is a 1991 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

directed by

Jonathan Sanger Jonathan Sanger (born April 21, 1944, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American film, television, and theater producer and director. Early life and career Sanger spent much of his early childhood traveling with his family around Central and South Am ...

and written by Lynn Roth. It stars

Betty White Betty Marion White (January 17, 1922December 31, 2021) was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of Golden Age of Television, early television, with a television career spanning almost seven decades, White was noted for her vast work i ...

Leslie Nielsen Leslie William Nielsen (11 February 192628 November 2010) was a Canadian actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he appeared in more than 100 films and 150 television programs, portraying more than 220 characters. Nielsen was bo ...

, and Ed Begley, Jr., and aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

on November 18, 1991.

Plot

Workaholic

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

business owner Evelyn Eglin receives news from her doctor that she only has six months to live. She sets off on a vacation to Mexico where she meets a man named Lloyd Dixon, and the two fall in love. The pair are both widowers and spend time "learning to live again", but Evelyn soon finds out that her original diagnosis was wrong. Faced with the fact that she has longer than six months, Evelyn has to decide whether she wants to stay in a relationship with Lloyd.

Cast

as Evelyn Eglin *

as Lloyd Dixon * Ed Begley Jr. as Darrel Eglin * Michael Tucci as Randall *

William Windom William Windom (May 10, 1827January 29, 1891) was an American politician from Minnesota. He served as U.S. Representative from 1859 to 1869, and as U.S. Senator from 1870 to January 1871, from March 1871 to March 1881, and from November 1881 ...

as Dr. Edelman * Ann Turkel as Tippi van Norden *

Elaine Stritch Elaine Stritch (February 2, 1925 – July 17, 2014) was an American actress, best known for her work on Broadway and later, television. She made her professional stage debut in 1944 and appeared in numerous stage plays, musicals, feature films a ...

as Sybil Sedgwick *

Orson Bean Orson Bean (born Dallas Frederick Burrows; July 22, 1928 – February 7, 2020) was an American film, television, and stage actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He was a game show and talk show host and a "mainstay of Los Angeles’ small ...

as Fred Novins *

Annabelle Gurwitch Annabelle Gurwitch (born November 4, 1961) is an American author, comedic actress, television host most recognizable from her stint as hostess on ''Dinner and a Movie on TBS','' and activist associated with environmental issues and secular huma ...

as Sherry *

Lincoln Kilpatrick Lincoln Kilpatrick (February 12, 1932 – May 18, 2004) was an American film, television, and stage actor. Biography Career Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Kilpatrick attended Lincoln University and earned a degree in drama before he began acting. ...

as Amos * Mitzi McCall as Bea * Susan Brown as Barbara

Production

The script was written especially for

. When asked by

if there was a project she hadn't done before that she was interested in, she requested "a love story". Filming took place while White's show '' The Golden Girls'' was on hiatus. The Mexico scenes were filmed in

Oxnard, California Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...

References

External links

* 1991 films 1991 romantic comedy films 1990s American films 1990s English-language films American comedy television films American romantic comedy films Films about businesspeople Films about vacationing Films about widowhood Films set in Cleveland Films set in Mexico Films shot in Ventura County, California NBC network original films Romance television films {{US-tv-film-stub