In reviewing a Tim Robbins' movie in 1994, Hillel Italie made the point, "Art and politics, as we all know, don't mix. Art is too undisciplined; politics too rigid. The most charismatic performer becomes bore when trying to save the world." Of the "political" label, Tim Robbins had insisted, "It's not politics — it's advocacy. But you do a little advocacy and you are political."
At the same time the British program, 'Spitting Image', went on air in 1984, Australian audiences were treated to the political satire TV show, 'Rubbery Figures', featuring political puppets making political comments on the week's news. Produced by Peter Nicholson, the hand puppets were created from Latex rubber. "A sculptor is not trying to make his subject look funny, but to bring out something of his character," Peter Nicholson explained.
"You can look at a footballer 200 meters away and know who he is by the way he moves. If you can catch signs of that movement in a bust, you may also give him signs of energy." Paul Jennings was credited for his "astonishing voice mimic", "The gifted Melbourne voice mimic Paul Jennings did virtually all the voices for 'Rubbery Figures' in the studio's tiny recording booth. He would do the voices one after the other, changing voice (and facial expressions) at lightning speed."
In 1982, Marcia Hines spoke to 'TV Week' to promote the album, 'Take It From The Boys'. "I'd hate to be a jack of all trades and master of none. You have to know what you’re good at … Singing is acting, I guess. It requires emotional commitment. And I won't sing songs I don't like, because I couldn't project the right feeling through them. The ABC-TV variety series I did a couple of years back taught me a lot about this. It taught me to project warmth before a lens and that's helped me with other TV and photographic work. I try to do the best I can with my work, but I am not a gambler. I like to be professionally sure of things."
Bruce Barry was best known as George Baxter on the Australian TV series, 'The Flying Doctors'. As an actor, Bruce believed "you can draw on real emotions" to play a role convincingly. "I try to put as much of myself into roles as I can. I want to reach the character's 'soul center' and not just be a great technician or an imitator of emotions."
Marcia Hines also made the comment, "I don't know if I'm really a natural actress. I would have to have a good coach, one who was honest enough to tell me straight from the shoulder if I didn't have what it takes. I couldn't accept being lied to, because the most important thing is to be good at what you do. I know I am a clown. I just love clowning. I am a very sensitive person, but I try to hide it. I'm an idealist and a perfectionist. I expect the same qualities from others and when it doesn't happen I become a little disillusioned. But I'm also vain and egotistical – and anyone in this business who tells you he isn't, isn't telling you the truth, But I think my ego is still under control."
Of the song 'What A Bitch Is Love', Marcia told Jill Fraser, "A lot of people have questioned the record because they've misunderstood what it's trying to say. They think I'm putting down love. But I'm not. I think love is great. I think it's euphoric and fulfilling. But love has two sides, and the songs are about the one we sweep under the carpet."
"Comedy is being terribly serious," Beatrice Arthur observed. Set in Miami, Florida, writer Stan Zimmerman recounted, "'Golden Girls' was an amazing experience. You don’t get your lines read by better comedy actresses. And it touched so many people, of all ages." It was, Bea added, "one of the funniest, most literate, most adult things" on television at the time. "I'd sometime wake in the middle of the night and think of a line and I'd start laughing and can't stop."
Speaking to the 'Archive of American Television', Rue McClanahan remembered, "My agent from ICM, Sylvia Gold, called and said, 'I'm having a script send out to your house, I want you to read. (It was) from NBC. So, messenger came, pulled up at the driveway, came to the door, delivered the script. I took it out of the vanila folder. I looked at it and I said 'Ooh!' I mean, I looked at it before I opened. It said, 'The Golden Girls' and there was something about the script - that is the handwriting, the kind of writing that they chose, not the script that you are reading. And I said, 'This is going to be a hit.' I felt this is the winner. I can't wait to read it so I read it and I love the role of Blanche."
Of writing, Jackie Collins argued, "People may criticize 'Hollywood Wives' and say the characters are cliches, but these people exist. Writing about Hollywood has always fascinated me. Not just the rich and famous, but the kids who flock to Hollywood from all over America to find fame and fortune. Some people have labelled 'Hollywood Wives' a scandalous book, all about sex and sin in big bad Hollywood.
"Actually, although the book is based on truth, I have toned down most of the wilder goings-on to protect the not-so-innocent. One of the questions I am constantly asked is: 'How do you do your research?' And I usually reply: 'Very, very carefully!' I get invited to a lot of parties, and the fun for me is to arrive, grab a ringside seat, sit back and observe. People watching is a fascinating occupation, and a constant source of ideas.
"In 'Hollywood Wives', I wrote a long party scene that lasted for several chapters. It is very authentic because while attending real-life Hollywood parties, I would saunter off to the bathroom and jot down notes of actual dialogue – amusing, accurate, outrageous, and very, very Hollywood! I also like to lunch with the ladies occasionally, because the ladies come out with things even I don't believe.
"They make a men's locker-room conversation seem tame! I can remember being in an exclusive Beverly Hills restaurant one day and looking around at a sea of lifted, impeccably made-up faces. These women were groomed to the eyeballs in designer clothes and diamonds. Yet they had no individual style – they all looked the same. Ah, I thought, 'Hollywood Wives'. And a book was born."
Actress Leila Hayes, a redhead of Italian-Welsh descent, played Bez Keegan on 'Sons And Daughters'. Leila had described herself as a trinity of three sides. "There's the tearaway in me that would like to be more Bohemian, there’s the side that seeks stability and serenity, then there’s the foul-mouthed fishwife who loses her temper. What it adds up is that I'm totally neurotic. I find that having a daily dose of nana-doing is a good release – it gets the blood flowing. Also, the temper and occasional swearing help to distance me from Beryl – it’s hard to keep her out of the house sometimes."
After three years of playing Beryl, Leila Hayes told Garry Shelley, "Doing my own things around my own house is very good therapy for me because over the past few months (before December 1984) I've noticed more and more how physically tiring, and emotionally and mentally draining the role of Beryl has been. I have to keep shaking her off, because in her own quiet way she's starting to take over.
"She's a much-loved and respected character, which I'm very proud of, but I recently had to leave her for a while and take an island holiday in order to find me. Unfortunately, I'm still looking. It's almost like Leila and Beryl are becoming enemies at times, so I have to physically keep Beryl separate. I always call Beryl 'her'. She has her house, I have mine. She's like a relative, or better still, your other half. It's hard to describe, it's all rather weird to me.
"I'm enjoying 'Sons And Daughters' and I have a tremendous loyalty to it. Naturally you have your ups and downs, but on the whole it's a lot of fun. It's a very heavy workload – so much to do in so little time. You have to do things quickly, honestly and realistically. I get so annoyed when people put down soap opera. When you consider what we have to do in the space of so little time, I think we're damn clever."
Speaking to the 'Archive of American Television', Rue McClanahan remembered, "My agent from ICM, Sylvia Gold, called and said, 'I'm having a script send out to your house, I want you to read. (It was) from NBC. So, messenger came, pulled up at the driveway, came to the door, delivered the script. I took it out of the vanila folder. I looked at it and I said 'Ooh!' I mean, I looked at it before I opened. It said, 'The Golden Girls' and there was something about the script - that is the handwriting, the kind of writing that they chose, not the script that you are reading. And I said, 'This is going to be a hit.' I felt this is the winner. I can't wait to read it so I read it and I love the role of Blanche."
Of writing, Jackie Collins argued, "People may criticize 'Hollywood Wives' and say the characters are cliches, but these people exist. Writing about Hollywood has always fascinated me. Not just the rich and famous, but the kids who flock to Hollywood from all over America to find fame and fortune. Some people have labelled 'Hollywood Wives' a scandalous book, all about sex and sin in big bad Hollywood.
"Actually, although the book is based on truth, I have toned down most of the wilder goings-on to protect the not-so-innocent. One of the questions I am constantly asked is: 'How do you do your research?' And I usually reply: 'Very, very carefully!' I get invited to a lot of parties, and the fun for me is to arrive, grab a ringside seat, sit back and observe. People watching is a fascinating occupation, and a constant source of ideas.
"In 'Hollywood Wives', I wrote a long party scene that lasted for several chapters. It is very authentic because while attending real-life Hollywood parties, I would saunter off to the bathroom and jot down notes of actual dialogue – amusing, accurate, outrageous, and very, very Hollywood! I also like to lunch with the ladies occasionally, because the ladies come out with things even I don't believe.
"They make a men's locker-room conversation seem tame! I can remember being in an exclusive Beverly Hills restaurant one day and looking around at a sea of lifted, impeccably made-up faces. These women were groomed to the eyeballs in designer clothes and diamonds. Yet they had no individual style – they all looked the same. Ah, I thought, 'Hollywood Wives'. And a book was born."
Actress Leila Hayes, a redhead of Italian-Welsh descent, played Bez Keegan on 'Sons And Daughters'. Leila had described herself as a trinity of three sides. "There's the tearaway in me that would like to be more Bohemian, there’s the side that seeks stability and serenity, then there’s the foul-mouthed fishwife who loses her temper. What it adds up is that I'm totally neurotic. I find that having a daily dose of nana-doing is a good release – it gets the blood flowing. Also, the temper and occasional swearing help to distance me from Beryl – it’s hard to keep her out of the house sometimes."
After three years of playing Beryl, Leila Hayes told Garry Shelley, "Doing my own things around my own house is very good therapy for me because over the past few months (before December 1984) I've noticed more and more how physically tiring, and emotionally and mentally draining the role of Beryl has been. I have to keep shaking her off, because in her own quiet way she's starting to take over.
"She's a much-loved and respected character, which I'm very proud of, but I recently had to leave her for a while and take an island holiday in order to find me. Unfortunately, I'm still looking. It's almost like Leila and Beryl are becoming enemies at times, so I have to physically keep Beryl separate. I always call Beryl 'her'. She has her house, I have mine. She's like a relative, or better still, your other half. It's hard to describe, it's all rather weird to me.
"I'm enjoying 'Sons And Daughters' and I have a tremendous loyalty to it. Naturally you have your ups and downs, but on the whole it's a lot of fun. It's a very heavy workload – so much to do in so little time. You have to do things quickly, honestly and realistically. I get so annoyed when people put down soap opera. When you consider what we have to do in the space of so little time, I think we're damn clever."
