Then 23-years-old, Dianne Kay played 18-years-old Nancy Bradford on 'Eight Is Enough'. "I wish I had a hard luck story to tell about breaking into show business, but I came to Los Angeles to attend a friend's wedding and I've been working ever since," Dianne told the press in 1978. Dianne graduated from the University of Arizona in 1975 with a bachelor's degree in mass communications. In 1976, "I came out here (to L.A.) with my fiancé, Kevin (Inch), to attend one of his cousins' weddings. Two days later I met my agent. I soon got guesting parts and within 6 months I'd landed 'Eight Is Enough.'"
Dianne was the daughter of a Phoenix Arizona state legislator. "My dad's really into his politics," Dianne told 'Compulog'. Her mother was a marketing researcher. Back in 1978, Dianne told Andee Beck, "Kevin and I went back to Tucson a while ago to see the University campus again, and the places where we lived. Everything had changed. The little hamburger stand had grown into a restaurant, the quiet streets were built up. Kevin and I just turned to one another and tears poured down our faces. But then we realized, hey, everything changes. Now (in 1978) I try to live for the moment. If you plan for the future or dwell in the past, you forget to live today. I can't tell you what's to come. But one thing I know for sure. I’ve never been so happy as I am right now."
Back in 1982, Dianne shared about her "out-of-body" experience. It occurred when Dianne was 3. It was reported Dianne's parents' friends gave her a toy and asked Dianne how old she was. When Dianne smiled and held up 3 fingers, she found herself floating above looking down. "It was like the shadow of me. The spirit of me was above, like a vaporous thing, looking down at these adults and at this little person showing 3 fingers. It was the most incredible experience I remember being up there, laughing and thinking: 'Oh, this is fun.'"
"In its heyday (1977-1981), 'Eight Is Enough' rarely found itself out of the Top 20 in the Nielsen ratings," Mark Abrams noted. Based on Thomas Braden's book about his family, Dianne described 'Eight Is Enough' to Steve K. Walz of 'Compulog', "This is a family type show which deals with real situations with contemporary comedy-drama overtones." The 8 children ranged in ages 8 to 23.
Dick Van Patten recounted, "I was really surprised when I selected to star in 'Eight Is Enough'. When I was in
'When Things Were Rotten' Fred Silverman signed me to an exclusive contract with ABC. I really wondered at the time if it was the right thing to do. I was in the pilot of 'Love Boat', playing the doctor. Then Lorimar Productions tested 150 actors for the role of Tom Bradford in 'Eight Is Enough'. Lorimar didn’t even want me to test for the role, but Fred Silverman jammed me down their throats. Three days after I tested, my agent called and said, 'Don't feel bad. You weren't right for the role.' Three weeks later he called back and said they had let the lead actor go and they wanted me."
It was understood when Dianne was 15, "an irresistible force made her rise from her bed, go to her desk and begin writing furiously on a pad." Dianne recalled, "My hand just took over and started writing. There were a lot of messages about life after death, which I had never studied. I knew nothing about reincarnation." Dianne said she wrote for 6 hours and the experience never happened again. "I visited doctors and psychics because I was concerned there was something wrong with me. I thought I was going crazy."
Betty Buckley reportedly attracted the attention of Lorimar Productions when she appeared in her first movie, 'Carrie'. Betty was hired to play Sandra Sue Abbott, nicknamed Abby. "After the series ended, a lot of producers and directors didn't want to meet with me because of the character I played," Betty told the Associated Press in 1984. "But there are those of us who learn to do our craft and hang in there until the right thing comes along. Who would have guessed that after 'Eight Is Enough' I would wind up playing outrageous women and whore cats?
"We were the No. 3 show in the ratings during our 4th (and final) year. Maybe the sales department figured there were enough shows to go into syndication. Maybe it was too expensive to continue a 10-person ensemble show. It was disappointment because we all had worked so hard to maintain the quality. I knew it was time for me to move on. But one more season and I coulda been rich."
Dick Van Patten was 7 when he first appeared on Broadway plays. He did a total of 27 plays until 1970, the year he moved to L.A. "I made about $250 a week in many of my Broadway roles. My first show paid $35 a week. My second paid $25. Finally, Actors Equity got scale up to $57.50 a week and that's what I got for 'Skin of Our teeth.' I was shocked at the money here (in L.A.). I feel now (in 1978) I was never paid enough. I think of the 30 years I spent taking what they offered. So I moved my family out here (to L.A.)."
When she was 17, Dianne was driving through Carmel, California. Suddenly she felt an urgent need to talk to her best friend who was living in Arizona. The friend at the time was supposed to be visiting Canada. Dianne then said she felt a strong urge to stop at a little cheese store in Carmel. It was inside the cheese store Dianne was stunned to see her friend there.
It was reported Dianne's friend told her the visit to Canada had been delayed and she was just passing through California. "It was so weird," Dianne remembered. "She had felt that I needed her. She saw the store and I felt she needed to go in there. She hadn’t been in the store more than 2 minutes when I walked in. I think I sent a psychic message out to her to be there … and she received it. We were that close."
Dianne told Andee Beck in 1978, "I was the type of kid who, when my friends were listening to the 'Big Ten Countdown' on radio, I was glued to classical music. When I was 5, before I could write, I'd draw picture stories and then act them out for my friends. I guess I lived in my own world. You know, I feel like I live in an Alice in Wonderland world. That's important. It’s like Eistein said, ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge.’ I never want to stop believing that. I never want to grow out of my childhood."
When she was 17, Dianne was driving through Carmel, California. Suddenly she felt an urgent need to talk to her best friend who was living in Arizona. The friend at the time was supposed to be visiting Canada. Dianne then said she felt a strong urge to stop at a little cheese store in Carmel. It was inside the cheese store Dianne was stunned to see her friend there.
It was reported Dianne's friend told her the visit to Canada had been delayed and she was just passing through California. "It was so weird," Dianne remembered. "She had felt that I needed her. She saw the store and I felt she needed to go in there. She hadn’t been in the store more than 2 minutes when I walked in. I think I sent a psychic message out to her to be there … and she received it. We were that close."
Dianne told Andee Beck in 1978, "I was the type of kid who, when my friends were listening to the 'Big Ten Countdown' on radio, I was glued to classical music. When I was 5, before I could write, I'd draw picture stories and then act them out for my friends. I guess I lived in my own world. You know, I feel like I live in an Alice in Wonderland world. That's important. It’s like Eistein said, ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge.’ I never want to stop believing that. I never want to grow out of my childhood."
