WEBVTT - I Choose…Legendary Hollywood Lessons with Barbara Eden 0:00:01.639 --> 0:00:09.200 You're listening to I Choose Me with Jenny Garland. Welcome 0:00:09.200 --> 0:00:12.200 back to I Choose Me, where we dive into the 0:00:12.280 --> 0:00:18.279 choices that shape our lives. Today's guest is someone I've 0:00:18.320 --> 0:00:22.119 admired for decades and someone I had the chance to 0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:26.239 work with very early in my own journey here in Hollywood. 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:30.960 In nineteen eighty nine, I starred alongside her in A 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:34.440 Brand New Life, one of my very first TV shows, 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:38.720 and it was an experience I will never forget. Barbara 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:43.239 Eden is a Hollywood icon. She starred opposite Elvis Presley, 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:48.080 made memorable appearances on I Love Lucy, The Johnny Carson Show, 0:00:48.320 --> 0:00:51.240 Perry Mason, and Gun Smoke, just to name a few. 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:53.920 I loved her work in How to Marry a Millionaire, 0:00:54.000 --> 0:00:57.000 the TV series It's so good you should watch it, 0:00:57.480 --> 0:01:00.880 And of course she became a cultural touch stone as 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:04.319 Genie An I Dream of Genie. But behind the fame 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:09.399 and Sparkle is a woman who's made powerful, quiet choices 0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:14.680 throughout her life. Choice is about identity, love, resilience, and 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:19.480 self respect in an industry that hasn't always made those easy. 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:23.040 She's also a New York Times bestselling author and most 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:28.200 recently released a beautiful children's book called Barbara and the Gin. Today, 0:01:28.319 --> 0:01:32.160 we're going behind the curtain talking about what it really 0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:35.800 takes to build a life on your own terms and 0:01:35.880 --> 0:01:38.960 what Barbara's learned from a career and a life that 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:43.840 has been anything but ordinary. Please welcome Barbara Eden to 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:48.880 the podcast. Barbara, Barbara, Barbara, you have no idea how 0:01:48.920 --> 0:01:50.880 excited I am that you are sitting in front of 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:51.440 me right now. 0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:53.080 I'm so happy to see you. 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:59.880 Yeah, been a minute, my daughter mom, Oh my gosh. 0:02:01.160 --> 0:02:03.440 We did Brand New Life together in nineteen eighty nine. 0:02:03.720 --> 0:02:05.160 Yeah, and with Don Murray. 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:08.160 With Don Murray, and I remember thinking, oh my god, 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:11.840 I'm playing Barbara Eaton's daughter. And I also remember thinking, 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:15.240 oh my god, I'm like two degrees away from Marilyn 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:18.400 Monroe because of Don and bus stop. Oh yeah, you know, 0:02:18.480 --> 0:02:21.240 I was just like in all every day at work. 0:02:21.320 --> 0:02:24.040 Yeah, you know, Marilyn and I had the same stand 0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:27.000 in you did because we were under contract of Fox 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:32.360 and Jee's character. That is cool, It is fun. 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:37.440 You just have no idea how you were the foundation 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:41.680 of my career because I had just moved to la 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:45.760 and I think this was my first acting job. Really, yes, 0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:49.919 playing your daughter, My goodness, you were wonderful. Oh thanks, 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:52.320 But I watched everything you did. I don't know if 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:55.320 you noticed me stalking you at all times, but I 0:02:55.480 --> 0:02:58.600 was just glued to you, and I wanted to see 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:02.560 how you did everything. And you I always credit you 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:05.560 as being the one who taught me how to have 0:03:05.639 --> 0:03:10.440 set etiquette. Like you were the gold star in my mind, 0:03:10.840 --> 0:03:14.280 and I always tried to live up to just being 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:16.200 like Barbara on set. 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:17.720 Because there's so feel so good. 0:03:17.840 --> 0:03:22.200 Yeah, you were so warm and welcoming and professional, and 0:03:22.280 --> 0:03:24.400 I just I really look back on that time, so 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:25.640 finally I remember watching you. 0:03:26.200 --> 0:03:28.000 I remember watching in the makeup trailer. 0:03:28.160 --> 0:03:31.440 Not to be creepy, but I remember just watching you 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:34.960 get your makeup done and watching the whole process. And 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:37.320 I remember you used to get makeup on your hands. 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:41.320 And at the time I was sixteen, Yeah, I thought, 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:44.120 why are they putting makeup on her hands? 0:03:45.200 --> 0:03:48.440 And now that I'm fifty three, I know why. Yeah, 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:51.760 I get the hand makeup now. Well, I've always had 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:54.640 to do that even younger. Really, because my veins are 0:03:54.720 --> 0:04:00.360 very blue. My mother, you're fair. I used to say, why, mommy, 0:04:00.400 --> 0:04:02.680 Why did she say you're a blue blood. 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:06.760 Okay, that's an answer, But I don't like them. I 0:04:06.800 --> 0:04:10.280 know it's so true. They are very blue mine too. Yeah, yeah, 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:13.600 Well nobody knows because we always have our hand makeup on. 0:04:15.480 --> 0:04:20.120 I know that when you were younger, you've had this 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:24.920 incredible career that has spanned decades. I know that when 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:29.279 you were younger, before Hollywood, you wanted to be a singer, 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:31.240 and you studied singing and acting. 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:35.320 When you study acting, you do everything. You know, a 0:04:35.320 --> 0:04:37.240 little bit of this, a little bit of that. I've 0:04:37.240 --> 0:04:40.880 seen you dance, So you've got it. Well, thank you, 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:44.560 I have done it, but you've done it. But I 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:48.800 had very little training. It was really acting. Yeah, theater. 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:51.760 How did you know? How did you know you wanted 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:57.320 to be a performer? Well, it wasn't It wasn't something 0:04:57.360 --> 0:04:59.520 I thought about a lot. We had a lot of 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:05.240 music in our house. My grandfather had been with the 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:08.320 opera company in San Francisco at the turn of the century, 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:14.640 and he always had well classical music in the house. 0:05:15.640 --> 0:05:19.000 My mother sang a lot, and we'd sing together doing 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:22.960 the dishes, and it just sort of evolved. I was 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:27.839 in the choir church and one of my mother's friends 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:32.560 said she should study. And we didn't have a lot 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:35.479 of money at that time, but she gave me one 0:05:35.560 --> 0:05:39.480 hundred dollars billow and said go. At that time that 0:05:39.640 --> 0:05:42.920 was a lot of money. Yeah, And that started me. 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:45.360 And then I got a job and I could pay 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:48.479 for my own lessons at the Conservatory of Music and 0:05:48.920 --> 0:05:54.920 San Francisco wonderful. And one day I was singing at 0:05:54.920 --> 0:06:00.200 home and my mom came in and said, Barbara, you're 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:04.080 singing every note perfectly, but you don't mean a word 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:08.800 just singing. I think you should study acting. Oh that's 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:11.560 so I was. I think I was fourteen or fifteen 0:06:11.640 --> 0:06:20.480 at that time. So I did, and it was so helpful, 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:23.600 so helpful for the singing and for the everything. You know, 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:27.600 theft I'm sure you have you studied. I have studied. Yes, 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:33.479 I studied dance and acting. Ever singing, yeah, see me, 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:38.680 never dancing. What was it that you broke through? Like, 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:40.400 what was it you said, I want to be in 0:06:40.440 --> 0:06:42.560 the business. How did that happen? How did you come 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:44.920 to be? Oh? I just wanted to make a living. Okay, 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:47.080 good reason it was, this is what I was going 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:49.839 to do to make my living right away? I mean, 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:53.960 that's there was no question about it. My tea shirt. 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:59.440 Miss Holloway in San Francisco, after I'd been with her 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:02.880 for about oh, I don't know, through high school and 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:07.000 and one year of college, and she's in fact, she 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:09.480 was the one that said stop, you don't need college. 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:15.960 She said she she gave credit anyway, you know, and 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:21.680 said stop, come full time and study because I was 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:26.160 in there at night after school. So I did. I 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:30.000 did that for a couple of years, and then again 0:07:30.320 --> 0:07:33.880 she had me in her office in Barbara. You have 0:07:33.960 --> 0:07:36.800 to get out of the nest. I said, oh really, 0:07:38.200 --> 0:07:42.239 She said yes, she said, you're you're too safe. You're 0:07:42.280 --> 0:07:47.040 you're At that time, I was singing with dance bands 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:49.600 around the Bay Area, and I was a member of 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:53.960 Actors Equity. I had done a lot of theater and 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:56.800 she said, I either go to New York or LA 0:07:57.800 --> 0:08:03.040 but there's nothing more for you here. And I didn't 0:08:03.080 --> 0:08:06.000 know anyone in New York. I had an aunt and 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:08.800 uncle in San Marino, right down the hill from you, 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:13.160 and that's where I went. So I went from one 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:17.560 nest to another. Yes, but you got a taste of 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:26.560 that independence, and I did. When another friend or new 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:30.160 person I met here said, you have to move to 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:35.000 the Studio Club. San Marino isn't going to get you anywhere. 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:39.360 Where was the studio Club. The Studio Club was in Hollywood. 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:43.719 Haven't you heard about it? No? Oh, it was wonderful. 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:47.920 It was wonderful. It was. It had been started by 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:50.960 oh God, I can't think of her name now, an 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:58.040 actor in the thirties, actress, and she said, young women 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:04.960 need a place to stay were It isn't expensive and 0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:10.559 they can get started. Anyone in the industry, Writers, secretaries, 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:14.560 actresses could live in this place. But it was pretty 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:19.080 tough to get in. It was difficult. No men were 0:09:19.120 --> 0:09:23.120 allowed above the first floor, which is a big change 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:27.800 for today. Yeah, but you were with your contemporaries. You're 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:31.640 with people who were in the field. And I know 0:09:31.720 --> 0:09:33.960 when there was an audition, we all raced out an 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:34.959 audition for it. 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:39.200 What was that like living in a home with women 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:42.800 that were young actresses, all wanting the same thing. 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:46.520 It was wonderful, it was. It was wonderful. Yeah. In fact, 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:52.080 my roommate Barbara Wilson, and I would go on the 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:54.880 She'd get an audition and I'd go with her. I'd 0:09:54.920 --> 0:09:58.880 get one she'd go with me, the two of us, 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:05.679 and at one time that she was a brunette, beautiful, 0:10:05.840 --> 0:10:10.520 beautiful young lady. We went on the interview and they said, well, 0:10:10.760 --> 0:10:13.280 of course these are very small parts. I'm talking about, 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:17.120 not talking about starring in the room. And the director 0:10:17.200 --> 0:10:20.280 who was interviewing us said, well, I guess I just 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:24.120 have to take both of you. You know that hat off. Yeah, 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:28.199 two of us. We had a good time. It was wonderful. 0:10:29.000 --> 0:10:33.760 You always knew what was going on. You see, you 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:34.439 were at the hub. 0:10:34.600 --> 0:10:37.880 You were right in the middle of them. Oh yeah, 0:10:38.760 --> 0:10:40.280 that sounds so fun. 0:10:41.920 --> 0:10:44.800 Well it was. It was. Also they also gave you 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:49.920 breakfast and dinner. I rarely ate there because I was 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:55.880 out in the street looking for work, but yeah, it was. 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:58.920 It was a wonderful place. I'm so sorry it's the 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:05.600 building is still but I guess no one wanted. Well 0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:10.480 everything's changes, doesn't it. Yeah. Yeah, everyone wants their own 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:15.760 little apartment. I would rather have all the women around. 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:19.240 And yeah, that sounds really fun. I can imagine how 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:23.120 fun that must have been. You came up in a 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:29.240 time when women in Hollywood were often cast as symbols. 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:33.400 They were beautiful or they were charming, but they were 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:36.240 rarely taken seriously as equals. 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:40.960 Did you feel that? No, no, I didn't. When I 0:11:41.120 --> 0:11:43.520 first came down and I was still staying with my 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:48.400 aunt and uncle, there's a man at Warner Brothers I 0:11:48.480 --> 0:11:53.880 was sent to meet. He was head of casting and 0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:58.080 I talked to him. He talked to me. He knew 0:11:58.080 --> 0:12:01.800 my background. I told her everything. You know, where I studied, 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:04.480 what I did, how many plays I'd done, and I 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:09.440 was a member of actor's equity. Okay. And he looked 0:12:09.480 --> 0:12:13.680 at me and he said, you're just not Hollywood. I said, 0:12:14.520 --> 0:12:17.319 you know, I'm a very young girl, holding my gloves 0:12:18.760 --> 0:12:23.079 and I just listened, and he said, this is what 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:25.320 they want. He showed me a picture of his daughter, 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:32.720 big tits. Well, I want to tell you right now, 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:37.080 that doesn't seem like much. But then I mean my father, 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:41.080 my uncle's never said that word. No, I never heard 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:43.640 that word in my life. But he said, but you're 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:47.240 just not pretty enough. You're just not what they want. 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:50.040 So I went out to the car my uncle had 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:51.600 driven me. I didn't know how to drive when I 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:58.160 came down here either, and holding back the tears, and 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:00.000 told my uncle what was said he was ready to 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:06.120 go back in have words. Yeah, but uh. Interestingly enough, 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:12.959 like eight months later, I was going to the coach 0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:15.400 at Warner Brothers. He had seen me somewhere and said 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:19.000 work with me, and I said okay, and so I 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:22.840 would go on the lot. And one day I was 0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:27.200 walking to where I was going to study and I 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:32.760 heard hey, hey, you hey, And I couldn't pay attention 0:13:32.880 --> 0:13:35.120 because first of all, I was an under contract there, 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:38.600 and I thought he's gonna throw me. Somebody's gonna throw 0:13:38.640 --> 0:13:41.600 me out, you know. He said, you with the yellow pants, 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:44.880 I had yellow pants. That was you. And I turned 0:13:44.880 --> 0:13:48.880 around and it was that man. You should be nameless. 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:53.240 I know his name. It's somebody forever. Yeah. He said, 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:56.240 are you going up to so and so's room, you know, 0:13:57.240 --> 0:13:59.280 for the class? I said, yes, I am. He said, 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:05.040 we're going to test you. The same man that told 0:14:05.120 --> 0:14:08.120 me I wasn't pretty enough, I didn't have big tits. 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:11.800 You know what blows me away about that story is 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:13.240 not that he said big tits. 0:14:13.280 --> 0:14:16.720 It's that he showed you a picture of his daughter. Yeah. 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:20.000 Well that just there's no way I can't wrap my 0:14:20.040 --> 0:14:24.480 head around that. Yeah yeah, yeah, well wow and look 0:14:24.520 --> 0:14:27.840 at you. So now he's ready to test you. Yeah, 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:32.280 just the same person. It's uh interesting. 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:36.400 I mean, yes, you were so young and so fresh 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:38.560 to the biz, the Hollywood biz. 0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:39.520 Yeah. 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:43.280 I mean that must have been pretty devastating. It must 0:14:43.360 --> 0:14:44.240 have gotten in your head. 0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:47.240 Oh it did. I went back to my aunt uncle's 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:51.080 home and then I cried. Yeah, and then I thought, 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:57.520 not everyone looks alike. You need different characters for every play. 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:01.240 What is going on here? I don't care. I'll be 0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:03.760 a character actress. I don't care if I'm not pretty enough. 0:15:04.560 --> 0:15:08.800 Yeah, yeah, yeah, that is just crazy that. I've heard 0:15:08.800 --> 0:15:10.680 some stories, but I think that one tops it. 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:18.040 Summer is this season of love. Sum are loveing. Here 0:15:18.080 --> 0:15:20.720 we come. If you're old enough to remember Summer Loven, 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:23.720 you're old enough to find and I do Part two. 0:15:24.120 --> 0:15:26.640 Listen each week as our hosts make it their goal 0:15:26.800 --> 0:15:29.280 to find you the next true love of your life. 0:15:29.480 --> 0:15:34.080 Jenny Garth, Jana Kramer, Alexia Napola, Cheryl Burke, Jen Fessler, 0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:38.080 Kelly Ben Simone, Amy Robot, and TJ. Holmes are dedicated 0:15:38.080 --> 0:15:41.080 to helping you fall in love again. It's time to 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:43.440 make it hot, hot hot this summer. 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:46.600 Listen to I do part two on the iHeartRadio app, 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:55.440 Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Okay, So, 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:59.720 how did you choose to hold onto your identity when 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:02.760 in the face of that story and when everybody was 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:04.880 trying to define you by your looks. 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:08.760 I don't think I noticed it, you know. I began 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:14.840 to get small roles, and then the real breakthrough for 0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:21.640 me was the Laguna Theater. I did a play there 0:16:21.680 --> 0:16:24.600 with John Drury. I don't know if you remember John Drury. 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:28.560 He was very popular and it's a two person play. 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:31.120 So if they came to see John, they came to 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:36.320 see me. And by the way, I found out about 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:41.640 it through the Hollywood Studio Club because several of the 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:44.080 girls said, you know, John's looking for someone to do 0:16:44.120 --> 0:16:47.080 this with him, and nobody wants. No one wanted to 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:50.360 do a play. Well, you know, I was raised on 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:53.680 them and that was equity, and so I said, I'll 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:57.240 do it, I'll do it. And because I did that, 0:16:57.960 --> 0:17:05.120 they found me a twentieth century Fox. Because I was shocked. 0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:08.760 I was so surprised. I got really good reviews, which 0:17:08.800 --> 0:17:11.760 is lovely. I don't think I've had any of that 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:18.400 good sense. But yeah, they brought me in and tested 0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:23.919 me and put me under contract, under contract, And I've 0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:28.160 always said it was my finishing school, you know, for acting. 0:17:28.240 --> 0:17:31.680 It was taught me the camera taught me lights things 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:35.359 i'd never think about. How old were you? Oh god, 0:17:35.400 --> 0:17:39.680 I don't remember now. Were you in your teen twenty? No? No, no, 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:43.800 I was but young form my age, very wet behind 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:48.960 my ears. You know, we all start there, we all 0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:51.679 start there. What are some of the hard. 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:55.760 Lessons that you have faced when you look back and 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:58.240 you were trying to find your way in Hollywood. 0:18:01.000 --> 0:18:04.359 Well, first of all, you don't pay any attention to 0:18:04.400 --> 0:18:10.680 anything anyone says, because you will get so much criticism, negativity, 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:16.280 or too much you know, a puff thing. So just 0:18:16.560 --> 0:18:20.240 be true to yourself. Block all that out. You must 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:22.199 be true to your in life. You have to be 0:18:22.240 --> 0:18:28.480 true to yourself. But when you're if you recognize the 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:32.720 fact that you're being judged, get rid of it. Leave 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:37.080 it in the wings. Don't be judged. How do you 0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:39.240 do that? How do you leave it in the wings? 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:43.480 I don't know. You just do you just do this? 0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:48.720 Do it's gone, That's all right. But because I've had 0:18:48.760 --> 0:18:53.399 too many experiences where they've been proven wrong. You know. 0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:56.280 I love that you've proved them wrong all these years. 0:18:56.480 --> 0:19:02.280 That's so good. Well, thank you. Yes, you are such 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:06.000 a knockout. Can I say that you're a babe? You're 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:10.280 a hottie? Hey, you think so? You are gorgeous. 0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:15.119 But when Hollywood was new and shiny, like we talked about, 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:19.360 did you find it difficult in the face of what 0:19:19.400 --> 0:19:23.280 that man told you? Did you find it difficult to 0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:26.919 be taken seriously in the Hollywood world? 0:19:27.440 --> 0:19:30.119 That No, The most difficult thing for me was getting 0:19:30.440 --> 0:19:33.520 an SAG card. And because I would go on an 0:19:33.520 --> 0:19:37.640 interview for small parts, you know things, and they'd asked 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:41.560 me if I belonged to the Union, I belonged to Actors' Equity, 0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:46.879 not screen actors killed, you know, And I wouldn't say. 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:50.040 I wouldn't tell them that I did belong to actors Equity, 0:19:50.880 --> 0:19:54.200 and they didn't tell me either. If you know the 0:19:54.359 --> 0:19:59.080 union thing, because if you belong to equity, you automatically 0:19:59.480 --> 0:20:02.280 could be an SAG At that time, I didn't know. 0:20:02.320 --> 0:20:07.480 It took me a while before I had a part 0:20:07.720 --> 0:20:11.679 in a film where they were willing to do all 0:20:11.760 --> 0:20:17.000 the paperwork to get me my sag card. That was 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:21.400 the most difficult thing for me, dealing with the negativity 0:20:21.720 --> 0:20:25.639 or the I didn't have a problem with that really. 0:20:27.240 --> 0:20:33.640 I know people have talked a lot about the casting couch. Yeah, 0:20:33.640 --> 0:20:37.840 but I didn't. You never had that problem? No, Oh, 0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:40.560 I love that. Ever, did you know? 0:20:41.520 --> 0:20:45.760 And I feel as if we are a very narrow 0:20:46.359 --> 0:20:48.320 category of women that didn't have to deal with that. 0:20:48.480 --> 0:20:55.040 I guess so I just never did unless they chose 0:20:55.080 --> 0:20:58.159 to do that. I knew a lot of girls that 0:20:58.760 --> 0:21:02.199 got jobs because of it, but they didn't get the 0:21:02.280 --> 0:21:07.400 important work, you know, they didn't they get the one 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:09.400 line or the two lines or whatever. 0:21:09.800 --> 0:21:11.800 It really sounds like you had your eye on the 0:21:11.840 --> 0:21:15.240 prize and you were very focused about what you wanted 0:21:15.280 --> 0:21:18.359 and like you said, just continue to be true to yourself. 0:21:18.960 --> 0:21:22.840 Yeah, that's that's all you're here for. Yeah. I mean, 0:21:22.880 --> 0:21:30.760 we're all individuals and different individuals, and like I should 0:21:30.800 --> 0:21:32.840 have told that man at Warner Brothers. You know, there 0:21:32.840 --> 0:21:36.800 are a lot of different kinds of people and they 0:21:37.000 --> 0:21:39.399 and they have to be in a movie or whatever 0:21:39.440 --> 0:21:44.119 you're doing and play the part. Yeah, they were looking 0:21:44.160 --> 0:21:47.000 for something very specific at that time. It sounds like 0:21:47.119 --> 0:21:53.080 I had another time. This is after I did have 0:21:53.280 --> 0:21:57.600 my SAH card and I finally had an agent. And 0:21:57.640 --> 0:22:00.960 the reason I had an agent is because the studio club, 0:22:02.119 --> 0:22:05.760 I heard about an actor who wanted who is being interviewed, 0:22:06.359 --> 0:22:08.520 but he needed a girl to do a scene with him, 0:22:09.280 --> 0:22:11.720 and none, none of the girls at the club wanted 0:22:11.760 --> 0:22:13.920 to do it. And I said, okay, I'll do it. 0:22:14.960 --> 0:22:19.400 You know, I do anything at that point, and because 0:22:19.520 --> 0:22:23.359 I worked with him. As I was walking out, the 0:22:23.400 --> 0:22:26.240 agent came over to me and said you're pretty good, 0:22:26.560 --> 0:22:29.720 and I said thank you, and he said who's your agent. 0:22:30.119 --> 0:22:32.320 I said I don't have one, and he said, oh 0:22:32.400 --> 0:22:35.760 you do. Now that's how I got an agent. 0:22:36.440 --> 0:22:40.080 Wow, And that's how it happens. Yeah, the right place, 0:22:40.119 --> 0:22:41.119 at the right time. 0:22:41.000 --> 0:22:44.480 That's true. And he at one time. Then I started 0:22:44.520 --> 0:22:48.840 acting in small parts and things and there was an 0:22:48.880 --> 0:22:54.840 interview at CBS and they wanted a blonde, sexy blonde 0:22:54.880 --> 0:22:58.760 you know. Yeah. So I had one dress that was sexy, 0:22:59.720 --> 0:23:03.919 one dreading the spaghetti straps and he said wear the 0:23:04.000 --> 0:23:07.680 dress on the interview. I said okay. So I went 0:23:07.760 --> 0:23:11.360 to CBS. By then I could drive. I didn't drive 0:23:11.400 --> 0:23:15.600 a car. I did it and it was cold, and 0:23:15.640 --> 0:23:18.400 I had a white fluffy coat, and I went up 0:23:18.440 --> 0:23:23.080 and got up into the room. Oh well, outside it 0:23:23.119 --> 0:23:27.959 was cold. Inside it was colder. CBS went in and 0:23:28.000 --> 0:23:31.399 had an interview with the director. Told him, you know 0:23:31.560 --> 0:23:35.919 what i'd done where I'd studied, blah blah blah. You know. 0:23:36.760 --> 0:23:40.320 He said, thank you very much. I went back and oh, 0:23:40.359 --> 0:23:42.639 I didn't take the coat off. You kept the coat off. 0:23:42.680 --> 0:23:43.320 I kept. 0:23:43.960 --> 0:23:47.440 I will tell you. Yeah, I was cold. And when 0:23:47.480 --> 0:23:50.200 I got back to the studio club, my agent called 0:23:50.240 --> 0:23:53.440 and said what happened. I said, well, I didn't get it. 0:23:53.600 --> 0:23:56.160 I know I didn't get it. He said, they told 0:23:56.160 --> 0:23:58.720 me you didn't get it. Tell me what you did. 0:23:58.960 --> 0:24:01.720 And I said, well, I think part of the reason 0:24:01.760 --> 0:24:07.240 maybe I didn't take my coat off. So but in 0:24:07.280 --> 0:24:10.040 a couple of weeks they this was the Johnny Carson Show. 0:24:10.080 --> 0:24:13.960 He was not the nighttime show. He had a daytime thing. 0:24:14.160 --> 0:24:17.560 And he said, Barbara, they want to see you again. 0:24:18.320 --> 0:24:22.800 Take off your coat. Oh boy, So I said, okay, 0:24:23.880 --> 0:24:28.520 I did. I was freezing cold, and lake can be cold, 0:24:28.600 --> 0:24:31.479 you know. I took the coat off in my car 0:24:32.240 --> 0:24:37.359 and walked in had the interview with the same director. 0:24:37.920 --> 0:24:43.320 You know, and I know again I could tell, you 0:24:43.359 --> 0:24:45.880 can tell, you can tell. And I was walking down 0:24:45.920 --> 0:24:48.280 the hallway and there were some men at the water 0:24:49.240 --> 0:24:52.800 stand and as I walked by, they made lesser remarks, 0:24:53.200 --> 0:24:57.840 you know, kept walking, and then one of them detached 0:24:57.920 --> 0:25:00.639 himself and took my arm. Said you don't mine, do you? 0:25:01.240 --> 0:25:04.159 And I said, no, I don't mind. What's to mind. 0:25:04.320 --> 0:25:08.240 You know, we're here in a hallway and I'm going 0:25:08.240 --> 0:25:14.520 to the elevator, that's okay. And we were talking back 0:25:14.600 --> 0:25:19.240 and forth, joking, and I got into the elevator and 0:25:19.280 --> 0:25:22.280 he stopped it and he said, were you in saying 0:25:23.040 --> 0:25:25.600 seeing the director? I can't remember the director's name at 0:25:25.640 --> 0:25:28.040 this time, I said. He said, did you get the job? 0:25:28.080 --> 0:25:32.199 I said I don't think so, and he said like that, 0:25:33.760 --> 0:25:39.120 and that's how I got started in the elevator. Well 0:25:39.160 --> 0:25:45.160 that's how really I did fourteen or fifteen of those shows, 0:25:45.920 --> 0:25:49.480 I think mainly because I was used to live audiences, 0:25:50.960 --> 0:25:55.880 you know, and I've done a lot of theater. But yeah, 0:25:56.520 --> 0:26:01.960 and he apologized to me, the director, he said, I'm 0:26:01.720 --> 0:26:05.560 I'm so sorry. He said, I fell into that habit 0:26:05.640 --> 0:26:11.080 that directors are casting people do, of thinking that they're 0:26:11.119 --> 0:26:15.120 not actors, but they can't be something else other than 0:26:15.160 --> 0:26:18.800 what they are. I wanted a dumb blonde who could 0:26:18.880 --> 0:26:25.360 sing off key. You studied at conservatory. You were extremely intelligent. 0:26:25.600 --> 0:26:30.240 Little did he know at the level, but you could. 0:26:31.240 --> 0:26:35.800 But he said, I just realize you were an actor. 0:26:36.520 --> 0:26:40.360 You could act and do those things be stupid. 0:26:41.280 --> 0:26:45.440 Yeah, that's that's the best story ever. 0:26:45.560 --> 0:26:46.440