WEBVTT - Bonnie Bartlett Meets World 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:22.200 I have a rant. I have a I have a 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:24.880 kids these days style of I. 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:26.000 Love a parenting rant. 0:00:26.320 --> 0:00:29.120 Okay, actually this isn't apparent rant, well kind of, this 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:34.360 is this is my video game rant I. I don't 0:00:34.600 --> 0:00:37.479 play video games that much, Like I never got into it. 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:40.239 I played computer games when I was younger, but like 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:44.680 console games like sitting down and like playing. And I realized, 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:47.879 like what I liked back in the day, like the 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:52.520 only times I really enjoyed console games were GoldenEye, okay, 0:00:52.760 --> 0:01:00.440 and Mario Kart and street Fighter too, and uh, Blades 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:02.959 of Steel was a hockey game. And what I realized 0:01:03.000 --> 0:01:06.520 is they were games you played as a group, like 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:09.160 you sat together and you played it. 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:10.119 With one other person. 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:14.160 Yeah, you these do not exist anymore. And I am 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:16.200 so like, and what that's what I want to do 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:18.039 with my son, Like I don't want to play video 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:20.120 games where like I'm watching him play a game or 0:01:20.160 --> 0:01:22.560 he's watching me play a game. And if you look 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:27.080 online you try and find games, there are literally only 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:30.600 like four of what they call couch co op or 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:32.200 couch multiplayer games. 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:35.479 Couch co player everything online with other people. 0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:39.520 Yes, that's the thing. It's like now there's there's multiplayer games. 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:41.479 You get to play with people, but they're all sitting 0:01:41.480 --> 0:01:44.040 on their own screens with their headsets. And maybe that's 0:01:44.080 --> 0:01:46.479 like a fun social experience, but to me it seems 0:01:46.560 --> 0:01:50.800 so isolating. So I am giving a shout out to 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:55.200 there's there's like one game designer who I've discovered who 0:01:55.240 --> 0:01:59.880 makes great uh couch games. His name is Joseph Farre. 0:02:01.040 --> 0:02:03.160 It's like a guy, it's not really one. 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:06.440 Guy, and he has made the greatest games. He started. 0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:10.280 He made this game called Brothers, a Tale of two sons, 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:12.640 and you get to play Brothers, and the whole point 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:15.560 of his games. And then he made this game called 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:19.360 It Takes Two, which Indian I became obsessed with. You 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:22.200 get to play in It Takes Two. You play two 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:26.120 parents who your daughter you're getting a divorce, and your 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:28.760 daughter cries over her dolls that her parents are getting 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:32.240 a divorce, and the parents magically get transported into the dolls, 0:02:32.639 --> 0:02:35.200 and so then you play as the parents and the 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:39.320 screen is split and you run around shrunken dolls and 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:41.120 you have to try and get back to your daughter, 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:44.799 and of course you learn about your relationship. Game No, 0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:47.760 it's incredible character development. It's hysterical. And then he has 0:02:47.800 --> 0:02:49.400 a new game that Indian and I are in the 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:52.160 middle of the plane and we are having so much fun. 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:55.400 It's called split fiction, and again you're two different characters. 0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:57.960 You're split and you have to work together. The gameplay 0:02:58.200 --> 0:03:01.639 keeps evolving every level, but it's just so much fun 0:03:01.880 --> 0:03:05.520 to be in a room together, laughing, experiencing a story. 0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:07.640 We have to help each other, so like if one 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:09.440 of us is not like very good at the game, 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:12.000 it like actually stops the game. So we have to 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:14.360 like learn patience. I have to, like, you know, Indy 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:16.160 will be like, dude, you're not doing a round. I'm like, 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:18.280 hey man, I'm maybe not as good at video games 0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:20.600 as you are. And like we like engage. It's a 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:24.240 social experience. So shout out for these games. And you 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:27.600 want to play games with your kids, I highly recommend, like, 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:29.440 if you want to get into video games, do this, 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:31.400 Like find a game where you actually sit next to 0:03:31.400 --> 0:03:34.120 each other. Yeah, and you play together because and and 0:03:34.160 --> 0:03:35.960 what's great is you're not fighting each other. You're not 0:03:36.000 --> 0:03:38.480 like shooting each other like Golden Eye. You know, you're 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:41.400 actually just playing together and you're you're laughing and you're 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:44.000 experiencing a story. These are really good games. The other one, 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:47.520 I would say, there's this game called Unraveled or actually 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:51.800 Unraveled too, where you play two little yarn people and 0:03:52.000 --> 0:03:54.440 you just it's a it's the most calming, beautiful game. 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:57.360 There's no dialogue, there's just beautiful music and you're these 0:03:57.400 --> 0:04:00.480 little yarn people and you help each other swing from 0:04:00.520 --> 0:04:02.480 like trees and you have to like go through this 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:06.200 world like swinging each other and it is so soothing 0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:08.120 and Indian and I have played this game like three 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:11.200 times start to finish because we'll just sit there and like, 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:14.960 uh laugh and like have these moments. It's so fun. 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:19.080 So couch co op games highly recommend. I wish there 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:21.680 were more of them because I. 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:24.320 Think we all played a great one when we were dating, 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:27.159 called A Way Out. 0:04:27.520 --> 0:04:27.880 What's that? 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:31.800 It's a game where you are are you brothers in it? Jensen? 0:04:32.720 --> 0:04:35.600 Are you just friends? I think you're friends? 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:39.480 Okay, you're friends, but maybe you're in jail and you 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:43.359 have to break out of jail together and it's the 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:46.880 two of you up against everybody else and it's what 0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:54.159 we had so much fun. So oh yeah, we played 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:56.039 it for a long time. Untill we beat the game. 0:04:56.560 --> 0:04:58.480 There has to be like, there should be more games 0:04:58.520 --> 0:04:59.160 like that right now. 0:04:59.160 --> 0:04:59.919 It kind of really is. 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:02.159 It was a story together. It's so fun. 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:02.719 Oh. 0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:06.279 Also, Danielle, when we first started dating, my friend Justin, 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:08.320 shout out to Justin and I stayed up all night 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:11.520 long playing Until Dawn, which was that like horror game 0:05:11.640 --> 0:05:12.200 that we loved. 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:15.080 Yes, I remember I'm a movie, but that was really 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:15.560 fun too. 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:18.080 So there's another one for you to check out, right 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:21.240 that's too horror? Yeah, so maybe, but A Way Out 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:23.680 wasn't horror, but it is. You know, you're getting your 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:25.400 breaking out of jail. There's a jail break and you 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:27.279 know it's Yeah. 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:30.279 Also, so much did you finish Brothers because I don't 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:32.320 want to tell you what happens. Oh, it's pretty tragic. 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:36.240 And Indy was like devastating. He was like emotional. He 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:38.640 was like he was like really sad about it, and I'm like, oh, 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:40.880 I didn't realize this game was going to get this emotional. 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:43.680 But that's what I like about all because also it 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:46.760 takes two you know, it's kind of grown up. But Indy, 0:05:46.880 --> 0:05:50.600 because you're a doll, but like, you know, I don't know, 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:53.760 like it's It was a really cool way for him 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:56.039 to get into a lot of sophisticated feelings. Like it 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:57.760 was like, you know, we're just playing a game, but 0:05:57.800 --> 0:05:59.760 we also he was like, oh, the parents are going 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:01.800 to get back together and the daughter is sad because 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:03.359 they're going to the divorce. It was like we were 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:06.120 able to like actually have conversations and it was, man, 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:08.840 it's so fun, like, yeah. 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:09.080 Well this, uh. 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:13.320 We recently started playing a wrestling game with Adler. It's 0:06:13.360 --> 0:06:15.800 not it's not a story based game, but it is 0:06:15.839 --> 0:06:18.600 a game where two players. You don't have to play 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:20.680 with two players, like he can play against the computer 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:22.960 if he wants to, but it's it is a game 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:26.440 where Jensen and Adler or Adler and I can play 0:06:26.480 --> 0:06:27.120 against each other. 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:28.679 I want to play. I want to play. 0:06:29.160 --> 0:06:34.839 Ww E two K twenty five ww two K twenty five. 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:37.839 Okay, So and you get to play real wrestlers, like 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:39.039 real characters from. 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:42.520 Yes now that we are WrestleMania. Now he's gonna have 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:45.200 some expertise in it. I think he's really gonna like it. 0:06:46.240 --> 0:06:48.960 We should also let all of our dear listeners know 0:06:49.279 --> 0:06:52.240 mister Wilfredell is not joining us for today's episode. 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:54.680 He had a previous. 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:56.920 Commitment he needed to do, and so we we are. 0:06:57.040 --> 0:06:59.720 We miss him, but it's a he probably would have 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:02.599 been a a good person to ask about video games today, 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:05.200 although I don't know that he plays modern games. 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:08.280 Yeah, I don't think he does anymore. Welcome to Pod 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:11.800 meets World. I'm Danielle Fischel, I'm right strong, and there's 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:13.080 no seat four C. 0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:29.920 As the duo of pro wrestling experts we now are, 0:07:30.280 --> 0:07:33.280 it is easy to compare this week's guest to the 0:07:33.320 --> 0:07:38.040 infamous barbershop incident of nineteen ninety one with Brutus the Barber, 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:41.640 Beefcake and the Rockers Sean Michaels and Marty Jeannetti. 0:07:41.800 --> 0:07:43.280 You of course know what I'm talking about. Writer. 0:07:43.560 --> 0:07:47.480 You see, the Rockers were the most promising young tag 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:52.440 team in the then WWF. They were former champs, undeniable babyfaces, 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:55.840 but they were never seen apart, always seen as a team. 0:07:56.160 --> 0:07:58.120 But it was on the set of this barber shop 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:02.720 interview segment where that all changed. Shawn Michaels, signaling the 0:08:02.800 --> 0:08:06.400 duo's breakup and the start of his own legendary heartbreak 0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:10.760 kid character turned on his best friend Marty super kicking 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:12.800 him through a plate glass window. 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:15.680 Now do we see this week's. 0:08:15.360 --> 0:08:19.360 Guest turning on her internationally beloved ninety eight year old 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:23.560 husband and sending him through plate glass No, but we 0:08:23.720 --> 0:08:27.440 are ready for her Shawn Michael's close up. With an 0:08:27.480 --> 0:08:31.480 acting career that spans seven decades, our guest has done 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:34.120 it all, from her early work in daytime dramas to 0:08:34.240 --> 0:08:37.280 roles in classic TV series like Little House on the Prairie, 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:38.480 Golden Girls. 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:39.160 And Home Improvement. 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:42.400 She became a go to actor when you needed a 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:46.240 real pro, and that resulted in two Emmy wins for 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:49.800 Best Supporting Actress in a Drama For Saint Elsewhere, where 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:53.520 she played missus Ellen Craig alongside her real life husband 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:57.920 William Daniels, known to this podcast as mister Feenie. And 0:08:57.960 --> 0:09:00.680 then she join us all on Boy Meets World, starting 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:03.520 in season five and culminating in four episodes of season 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:07.920 six as the Penbrook Dean Lila Bolander. She's also an author, 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:09.920 a mother, a grandmother. 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:10.320 An icon. 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:15.440 She is the Sean Michaels of Boy Meets World. This week, 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:21.520 we are talking to Bonnie Bartlett. Yeah, there you're there, Bonnie. 0:09:21.559 --> 0:09:24.480 It's so lighter enough, like can you see me? 0:09:24.920 --> 0:09:27.600 I can see you. You look fabulous as always. 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:29.959 I'm young old. 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:33.559 We're so sorry. Will is not here today. 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:36.720 He had an appointment with his wife that he couldn't miss, 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:39.439 and so he's not joining us for this episode. It's 0:09:39.480 --> 0:09:41.800 just going to be writer and I today to talk 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:42.120 with you. 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:47.080 You know, I got a note from Will's father. He's 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:49.880 done some legal work for me, even in Canada. 0:09:50.080 --> 0:09:51.720 So he got. 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:55.480 A lovely birthday, Bill birthday, and nice to his Father's 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:56.280 a lovely. 0:09:56.040 --> 0:09:59.959 Guy, isn't he thought the Captain. 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:01.440 Yeah, he's the best. 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:04.400 So great, well, Bonnie, We are so happy to have 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:07.719 you back on our podcast, this time by yourself, so 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:11.800 we can focus on only you for season six and 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:16.319 the emergence of Dean Lila Bolinger. Right, so let's start 0:10:16.320 --> 0:10:20.320 with your origin story. When did you first find yourself 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:21.440 wanting to be an actor? 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:25.600 I think I was born that way. I was really 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:29.680 born that way. I was imitating all of the May 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:35.040 West and all those blondes, you know, the movies, and 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:40.079 I was very busy imitating them, entertaining people with stories, 0:10:40.240 --> 0:10:45.400 you know, and stuff like that. And I my father 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:49.559 had been an actor. We just we watched stuff together 0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:56.760 on we listened rather radio to all the LUNs and 0:10:56.840 --> 0:10:57.880 Helen Hayes. 0:10:57.679 --> 0:11:02.840 And all those wonderful people. And I was there from 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:04.760 the start. I can't remember when. 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:07.360 I didn't want to be an actress, but I wanted 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:08.920 to go to New York. I didn't want to be 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:11.520 a movie actress. I wanted to be in New York. 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:13.440 Oh wow, you want to do stage? 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:15.120 Yeah, I want to be on the stage. 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:17.280 How did you find out you were any good? Did 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:20.960 you get to do like theater school in school? 0:11:21.040 --> 0:11:25.320 Because I think it was in junior high school, the 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:27.000 beginning of junior high school. 0:11:27.040 --> 0:11:29.960 And we had a little class of some kind. 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:35.680 And and I read from I did I'm a good. 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:37.600 Girl, I am my fair lady. 0:11:37.920 --> 0:11:41.439 Yes, but the play, the play that it came from, 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:45.240 was and I did the whole play for them and 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:46.120 the class. 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:49.400 It wasn't meant to be a performance. It turned out 0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:50.120 to be a performance. 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:53.240 They all laughed, they loved it and everybody, and I thought, 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:54.960 oh boy, this is neat. 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:58.520 And then I started to do any play that was around. 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:02.600 Was your father supportive of you following in his footsteps? 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:03.400 Or did he? 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:03.880 Yeah? 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:05.880 Did he warn you about all the hardships. 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:09.440 Oh I knew about all that. Yeah, I knew about 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:09.640 all that. 0:12:09.679 --> 0:12:13.000 But he he really wanted me to just be a 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:16.040 wife and mother. He did a teacher, want me to 0:12:16.080 --> 0:12:19.320 be a teacher, and he didn't want me to go 0:12:19.440 --> 0:12:23.680 into the business. And but I did. 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:25.319 Yeah, you did it anyway. 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:28.040 He didn't want me to go to New York when 0:12:28.080 --> 0:12:31.560 I was eighteen, so I went to Northwestern, Okay, which 0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:35.199 was good because that's where I met Bill Yes and 0:12:35.840 --> 0:12:39.920 did a lot of bit wonderful plays there and just. 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:43.360 Did you have to audition to get into Northwestern? 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:45.240 At Northwestern did you audition? 0:12:45.679 --> 0:12:47.880 Yeah? Oh yeah, yeah, well. 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:50.280 You had to do audition as a matter of fact. 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:54.440 My freshman year, well, first of all, we did a 0:12:54.440 --> 0:12:57.760 play where you did a little workshop thing that everybody 0:12:57.840 --> 0:13:02.160 that the famous acting teacher said, wow, that's an actress. 0:13:02.480 --> 0:13:06.079 And then I got the lead in a play called 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:10.880 Dark in the Moon, played Barbara Allen, and I got 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:13.280 the I won all the awards and it. 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:16.040 Was perfect part for me. At that time. I was 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:18.280 just it was a great little show. 0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:22.440 So I won the fresh even though I was a freshman, 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:24.760 I won the Acting award, which is very unusual. 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:28.400 Wow, you know, Charlotte Ray was. 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:31.960 There and she she was doing a wonderful thing, and 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:34.000 she said, ah, you beat me, you got the. 0:13:35.440 --> 0:13:36.000 She was a. 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:39.840 Senior and she always Charlotte and I are good friends. 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:43.320 But I mean she's gone now, but she always had 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:47.079 a little bit of a space there because yeah, I 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:48.080 beat her or something. 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:50.200 You know, we will. 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:53.720 We we're an all competitive but good friends, good friend. 0:13:53.880 --> 0:13:54.840 She was wonderful. 0:13:55.679 --> 0:13:58.040 When you moved to New York, you found yourself studying 0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:00.840 with the legendary Lee Strasburg when you moved. When you 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:04.760 moved there, So for listeners who don't know about that method, 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:08.000 what did you take away from studying with him? 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:10.560 Well, I was with him for so long, and I 0:14:10.679 --> 0:14:14.560 was also his personal friends of the family and so forth. 0:14:14.800 --> 0:14:18.520 When I get away from him, pro and con Yeah. 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:23.960 He could be very destructive to an actor, or he 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:26.520 could be amazingly constructive. 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:33.680 It depended how. I don't know what he was. He 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:35.160 had an amazing. 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:40.840 Ability to help you discover your problems as an actor 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:43.800 and help people that. 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:49.480 It was very intuitive and very amazing with Bill. 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:54.280 Bill always says, because Bill I dragged him into later 0:14:54.720 --> 0:14:58.080 then he always said, Strasburg said to me, I don't 0:14:58.120 --> 0:14:58.920 know what to do with you. 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:00.840 I look at you, and I don't know what to 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:03.360 do with you. Let's find out who you are. 0:15:05.000 --> 0:15:08.400 And that was extremely helpful to Bill, who had all 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:15.920 the early you know, fake things that they teach little kids. 0:15:16.480 --> 0:15:20.040 You know, he was performing, and so he learned to 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:24.200 be very fake because that's what they did in those 0:15:24.280 --> 0:15:30.160 days and right, so that even at Northwestern he had 0:15:30.520 --> 0:15:33.200 he still had some of that. He was a wonderful 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:38.200 character actor Bill. At at Northwestern his best parts were 0:15:38.680 --> 0:15:39.240 old men. 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:40.840 He was wonderful at that. 0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:48.440 But anyway, so Strasburg, I would say, helped Bill enormously in. 0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:51.440 A very quick time, very quick time. With me. 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:54.840 I had to go through a lot of emotional problems 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:57.160 I had to go through. I was also in therapy 0:15:57.640 --> 0:16:00.040 at the same time, so they helped. 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:02.520 The therapy and Lee. The therapy and Lee. 0:16:02.920 --> 0:16:10.120 It helped, painful, sometimes hurt, hurting. He could hurt me, 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:15.880 but he also was trying to help me get rid 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:19.800 of a lot of problems that I had with my 0:16:19.880 --> 0:16:20.920 father and so forth. 0:16:22.600 --> 0:16:25.560 What was your first TV role? What was the first 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:26.800 job you booked on TV? 0:16:27.480 --> 0:16:32.800 It was on a Pilco playhouse and I played the part. 0:16:32.880 --> 0:16:35.000 It was a nice part, and. 0:16:35.160 --> 0:16:40.920 I remember I was on a bus and having conversations with. 0:16:40.920 --> 0:16:42.200 People on a bus. 0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:49.320 Okay, and my whole family around the country turned into 0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:54.520 Philco that night. And now the first really good part 0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:58.040 that I had. I played a lot of little stuff. 0:16:59.320 --> 0:17:02.680 Philco. We had Robert Montgomery Presents, We had. 0:17:02.560 --> 0:17:04.679 All those shows then, and I did a lot of 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:10.119 little stuff on that, But that Philco was the first that. 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:13.359 And then later I got a lead on a soap 0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:15.280 opera and that was too much work. 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:18.560 Was that called Love of Life? In nineteen fifty five. 0:17:18.600 --> 0:17:19.400 Love of Life? 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:21.720 Wow? There was that a New York or was that in. 0:17:21.800 --> 0:17:24.080 La New York, New York? 0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:28.000 And it was very well paid and Bill wasn't making 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:31.399 any money, so we could certainly use that money. It 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:35.240 bought us the apartment. And but you know, it's no, 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:39.199 it's not good acting. It's not acting. 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:40.240 You don't have any time. 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:42.399 I'm just going to say, how could how could it 0:17:42.440 --> 0:17:42.720 be good? 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:45.320 When you're doing multiple episodes in a day or in 0:17:45.359 --> 0:17:46.560 a week, it's no good. 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:50.000 You just do it, you know, and you you get facile, 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:55.119 very facile. And finally they brought in Teleprice. I couldn't 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:56.200 use teleprompters. 0:17:56.320 --> 0:17:58.680 It just only time I could use tell. 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:02.080 If I had a telephone conversation, I could use the 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:05.159 teleprompter because read it off there. 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:05.840 And nobody would know. 0:18:06.280 --> 0:18:08.840 Right, I can't do that. 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:12.600 But some of the men that I worked with use teleprompters. 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:14.600 I don't know how they did it, but you know 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:18.040 they were I don't know how they did it, but 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:21.640 they did, and I guess it didn't. It wasn't bad. 0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:23.880 So were you miserable the whole time you were doing 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:25.720 the soap opera? Were you just like waiting to get 0:18:25.720 --> 0:18:26.200 off of it? 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:26.960 Yes? 0:18:27.400 --> 0:18:32.360 Yeah, yeah, I needed the money, but it doesn't At 0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:37.000 that time, really good actors in the theater like to 0:18:37.080 --> 0:18:38.680 be on a soap, but they didn't want to sign 0:18:38.720 --> 0:18:41.760 a contract. You know what I mean that we would 0:18:41.800 --> 0:18:44.080 have wonderful actors who would come in to do a week, 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:46.960 pick up some money. They would come in to pick 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:50.239 up some money, but then they their theater was the 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:54.040 main thing. So we had some one especially character people, 0:18:54.160 --> 0:18:57.120 wonderful character people who would come along for a week 0:18:57.680 --> 0:18:59.040 or a little short timent. 0:18:59.160 --> 0:18:59.919 No contracts. 0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:04.600 See, And when I left the soap, I said, I'll 0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:07.000 do a soap, and I think I did a couple 0:19:07.040 --> 0:19:11.240 after that, but I said, no contract, no contract. 0:19:11.520 --> 0:19:13.359 So how many years were you on Love of Life? 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:17.120 Three and a half, three and a half too much, 0:19:17.200 --> 0:19:17.640 too long? 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:22.639 And then on a larger nighttime TV scale, you played 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:26.399 Gray Snider Edwards on the incredibly popular Little House on 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:27.280 the Prairie. 0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:30.399 When I came to New York because many years later, yes, 0:19:30.640 --> 0:19:32.919 I didn't work because I had the two little boys, 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:34.080 and I did some theater. 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:35.920 But when we came to. 0:19:35.920 --> 0:19:40.800 New York, I mean California, Bill's agents because Bill was 0:19:41.000 --> 0:19:43.400 by that time, he was working a lot making all 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:48.800 these interesting movies. Yeah, And his agent sent me over 0:19:48.920 --> 0:19:55.359 to Michael and he said, it's just a general appointment. 0:19:55.400 --> 0:19:58.080 But as it turned out, he hired me that day. 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:00.240 He met me and he said, I've got a part 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:02.720 for you and starts, and I did it in the 0:20:02.760 --> 0:20:06.480 next couple of days and turned into Grace. She was 0:20:06.560 --> 0:20:10.080 not she was never a. 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:10.560 Michael Landon You're talking. 0:20:10.400 --> 0:20:15.240 To Michael, Yeah, nice guy, really nice guy. And and 0:20:15.320 --> 0:20:18.120 he he hired me for that, and I was always 0:20:18.160 --> 0:20:23.000 on the show. I never had a contract, which was 0:20:23.040 --> 0:20:26.040 fine with me, but I didn't know that that was 0:20:26.080 --> 0:20:29.239 a good thing in Hollywood. Yeah right, I didn't know 0:20:29.280 --> 0:20:30.800 that it makes a difference in the money. 0:20:31.359 --> 0:20:33.520 But I was happy. I was so happy to do 0:20:33.560 --> 0:20:35.120 that show. I loved the part. 0:20:35.640 --> 0:20:37.800 And so what year was that that you because you 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:39.680 said you had two small kids. I would love to 0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:42.000 talk to you about the decision you made and when 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:45.919 it was When did you have your first child? And 0:20:45.920 --> 0:20:48.159 and and what was that you decided to take some 0:20:48.200 --> 0:20:50.199 time off from work, and what was that like for you. 0:20:51.400 --> 0:20:53.240