Strong, independent, women in TV comedies have always been a hallmark of the genre. Dishing out laughs, while solving problems with wisecracks, is comedy gold. For 11 seasons, starting in 1993, there was one woman on NBC who perfectly sliced and diced the punchlines with her sharp tongued delivery. This is Still Here Hollywood, I’m Steve Kmetko. Join me and today’s guest from Frasier, Peri Gilpin.
This is Still Here Hollywood, I’m Steve Kmetko. Join me and today’s guest from Frasier, Peri Gilpin.
Strong, independent, women in TV comedies have always been a hallmark of the genre. Dishing out laughs, while solving problems with wisecracks, is comedy gold.
For 11 seasons, starting in 1993, there was one woman on NBC who perfectly sliced and diced the punchlines with her sharp tongued delivery.
Steve Kmetko
Yes, I'm still here Hollywood. And coming up on today's episode.
Peri Gilpin
I get addicted to Housewives. I mean Beverly Hills, Housewives. I get addicted because they get to be, many of them are friends and many of them are people I've known or been acquainted with over the years, and several are, but you just get like, you're like, I wonder what's happening over there today. Like you really do.
You bring them a bag of money every night. And I'm like, give me that because I don't know how much we're going to, I think you have to pay cash to leave this hotel. And I don't know what they're going to, I don't know. I don't know what anything costs. It doesn't say anything anywhere.
I got hacked at my own. I did it. Somebody called me and asked me for a code and I gave it to them. Don't know Apple. No one will ever call you and ask you for any of this information. Do not give anybody information on the phone.
Steve Kmetko
Strong independent women in TV comedies have always been a hallmark of the genre. Dishing out laughs while solving problems with wisecracks is comedy gold. For 11 seasons starting in 1993, there was one woman on NBC who perfectly sliced and diced the punchlines with her sharp tongue delivery. This is still here, Hollywood. I'm Steve Kmetko. Join me in today's guest from Frasier, Peri Gilpin.
Steve Kmetko
Hi Peri.
Peri Gilpin
Hi, Steve.
Steve Kmetko
It's so nice to see you.
Peri Gilpin
Thank you.
Steve Kmetko
How are you doing today?
Peri Gilpin
I'm good.
Steve Kmetko
I watched; I just caught this morning on Roku. Thanks to Roku, the most recent episode of the Frasier reboot. You weren't in it enough was my impression. I wish you were in it longer, although you had the best first line.
Peri Gilpin
I think so.
Steve Kmetko
You look like crap.
Peri Gilpin
Right.
Steve Kmetko
Do you miss playing Roz all the time?
Peri Gilpin
I did miss, I do. It was a great character and I loved her. I loved how what a, like, how adventurous she was at in the beginning, and then it was such a huge change when she had a baby Alice. And so, I really missed the I don't want to say the word freedom, only because, but the freedom of just doing whatever you want to do, be pre-kids. And I always knew that. But once I even had a, I didn't, you know, my sisters-in-law were all having babies while I was fake pregnant. And I would talk about my pregnancy and I would have to be reminded that I wasn't really pregnant but some, but because my character was, there were some things that I experienced before I ever had children that I gave me pause, gave me stuff to think about and not pause. I wanted kids, but I just, wow. Life really does change.
Steve Kmetko
How close were you to Roz in terms of who you are and who she was?
Peri Gilpin
Pretty close, I think in a lot of ways. I was, I had my wild years earlier, once I moved to LA I was kind of like most people here, kind of in a bedroom community, kind of early to bed, early to rise, healthy eating. And not well my anyone hears that, they'll laugh at their off, but I was not like her at the time. I had been more adventuresome in my personal life. And so, but I didn't know anyone that wrote on the show at that time. So, I don't know where they got their information, if it was based on me. But I think really what she was based on was, I think she was what everyone in the, she was a creation of that fabulous writer's room. And particularly the women in the writer's room I think.
Steve Kmetko
She was saucy.
Peri Gilpin
Yeah. And good at what she did really good. And she really was self-reliant. And she felt confident about her work and about who she was, which I just loved playing. Because that's the opposite of me.
Steve Kmetko
And she knew how to keep Frasier in line.
Peri Gilpin
Yeah. And that was part of the job was to she was saddled with, was this guy that didn't know what he was doing, but it was actually really good once he got going. You know, we just had to get him like just the technical part of it. And I think that was, I love where we came into the story in the pilot, which was a few weeks in. So, they were used to each other's idiosyncrasies at that time, but she was still dealing with his greenness.
Steve Kmetko
Do you ever watch old episodes?
Peri Gilpin
I hadn't for a long time, but when watching these, they'll kind of roll right in to them. And we start, we was my husband and I and kids have watched a couple and they just are amazingly good.
Steve Kmetko
I think. And I know I'm on the crowded side of the room in this regard. I think it's one of the best sitcoms ever in the history of television. So, it's right up there, the writing, the acting, the casting was perfect. Was it easy to get right back into it when you did this most recent reboot?
Peri Gilpin
I was worried. I was really scared, like, what am, how am I going to do this? But I walked on the set and it was a different sound stage, but it was but it was on the same at Paramount. And I just sort of walked in and Kelsey was in just in the middle of it all. He was he directed it, he directed that episode and I always loved working with him as a director. He is a great director. And it just, I don't know. And the cast was so friendly and there were several people I'd worked with for all those years and kept in touch with. So, there were a lot of people around to just enjoy it and lap it up and really just make the most of it. So, I was scared, but once we started, and he did a great thing at when the door opened and he responded so hugely it kind of gave the audience permission to do that too, where, I don't know, queued them to do it, I want to say. But it was very sweet and I felt very thrilled to be there. And it was thrilling to hear them respond that way. And it was thrilling just to be on the stage with Kelsey again.
Steve Kmetko
You know, there's one episode in particular that I watch whenever I'm in a bad mood, or whenever I want to see something that makes me feel comfortable. There's the episode Ham Radio, which I thought was so hysterical where you do this radio play a mystery that is just so very funny. And the timing and everything was so great. And you had dental work, Roz had had dental work and she's trying to do her part. And that one line that always cracks me up is I can't believe one of my guests could be a multiple mood road. So funny.
Peri Gilpin
And who wrote that was David Lloyd who wrote, chuckles The Clown. He was on Mary Tyler Moore, and he had written for Dick Cavet and Johnny Carson, and he was our consulting producer and his son, Chris Lloyd ran the show. And of course, we had just the most amazing creators of the show were David Lee, Peter Casey, and David Angel. And besides that, fabulous bunch of writers, there was a whole writer's room and we just had the most, I mean, we just had the most amazing writers. That's just all there is to it.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. It was a classic landmark series.
Peri Gilpin
But what I was going to say is David Lloyd phonetically wrote out Mob Buzz like, so he knew, he didn't just leave it up to me, which he was always such a so kind. He would've been fine if I wanted to do it myself, but I was like, oh my God, you went into all this trouble. This is perfect. I know just what to do. Like, then also, you're not just trying to do it over and over again and do you know, you can actually do it the same cause you've phonetically done it. But it was so great in the script. And another time they did that to John, they put, like, he was supposed to be talking about a town in Korea when he was in the Korean War, I guess. And so, they put it in the script and he went and did his homework. And so, he pronounced it perfectly at the table read, and they all went, whoa. And he got a ovation and then not a standing, he got a clap, they clap for him. But then after that, for the rest of the week, that town got name got longer and longer and John kept, and it was just very funny cause they the writers and the actors on that show just really had a great time together.
Steve Kmetko
Does it seem like it was that long ago that you actually began work on Frasier? It's like, what, 30 years or so, isn't it?
Peri Gilpin
Yeah.
Steve Kmetko
Does it seem that long?
Peri Gilpin
Yeah.
Steve Kmetko
Oh, it does. Time doesn't fly when you're having fun.
Peri Gilpin
Well, no, I mean, I think about all the time and those are marked pretty clearly on in social media. You know, it's been 22 days and three, 22 years since Frasier. Like, you see it all the time. I wouldn't have thought about it if it weren't for social media, but they do kind of mark that. And so, you think about it, it makes you think about it and I think that's good. I think it's good to remember how long it's been.
Steve Kmetko
Why?
Peri Gilpin
Well, because I think LA at that time sort of sneaks up on you a little bit. There's no season, there are seasons, but there's no really marked seasons. And you can, I think we are all, because we're all you do the same thing your whole life, you know what I mean? Like you, so it's sort of, you're like, I'm doing what I did at 20 now, and that is that what I had planned? Is that what I wanted to do? And it is but it's also like, wow, I've been doing this a long time. And a lot of times you'll have the exact same discussions with your colleagues, about this or that. And it's funny because there's, it all comes down to the roll of the dies, you know?
Steve Kmetko
Yeah, it does in this town, doesn't it?
Peri Gilpin
It does.
Steve Kmetko
Are you glad you came here? Are you glad you do what you do?
Peri Gilpin
Yeah, I am. I'm very glad I have no regrets. I have always, I grew up in a family of actor’s sag. I was on SAG insurance as a child, my family, my whole, my mom, but local actors in Dallas, people that did commercials and things like that. And so, we, everyone's always lived kind of audition to audition or job to job. And you have to, you're freelance, so you are prepared for the downtime and you try to stay prepared for the downtime. And I think sometimes you don't, I always say if you want to get a great job that you can't turn down or that you have you can't even argue with by a non, refundable ticket somewhere, you're dying to go. You know, it's just always like, you're always tied to this place. And I wish I would've had a few more adventures, but I will. And I think also the pandemic is making me feel that way. And the that time we all spent indoors. I just really, I enjoyed it at the time, but now I really want it back. But there's tough.
Steve Kmetko
What was the best decision you ever made regarding your career?
Peri Gilpin
Auditioning? Well, I think the best decision I ever made was I produced a play. A friend of mine came to me here in LA who was dating a guy. I don't know what happened to her the last time I ran into her at a coffee shop. So, at that time, she was working on Survivor. She was on the production team for survivors. I don't know what's happened since. So, if, but she was dating somebody here, and she lived in Chicago, and I think she had a whole other life in Chicago. But she was dating somebody here, and she wanted to, she met me through him and she said, I'm going to give you $65,000 to produce a play. And all I ask is that you put him in it. So, I was like, are you sure you want to do that?
And she said, I am. And so, I partnered up with a guy that's still a great friend who'd gone to Yale Drama School, and I spent a lot of time at Williamstown Theater Festival and knew them. And I spent a lot of time in New York. I lived in New York, and I knew those, I knew this kind of group of people. And so, he and I started looking for a play, and we would invite, we'd find a play, we'd invite all of our friends over to we'd rent out like a dance studio or something, invite everybody over to listen to the play. And about four times people would go, don't, don't, no, do not spend that money on this. This isn't worth it. And finally, we found this great play written by Richard Greenberg while he was at Yale.
And it's about a lot of Yales. And Neil knew him, and it was his first play, and it was called The Moderate. And we loved this play. It was hilarious. And we got Ron Link, who was fabulous comedic director to direct us, and we did it at the Tiffany Theater. And I had always kind of had a little bit of a snobbery, because I came from theater and I came from, I went to school and studied a lot of theater before I got here. And I was like, everyone on stage in this town looks like they're auditioning for a TV show. Like, why don't just but then also, you know, they wouldn't have good pro props, like walls would go like this. And I remember somebody like trying to answer a payphone and the whole phone came down and I'm like, oh my God.
You know, because everyone's just trying to get to TV or film, right. So, but I'm like, but use your stagecraft, it would bother me. So, I wanted to do this play. And we did this play, and Jeff Greenberg came to see it, and he said, he let waited for me. And he goes, I want you to come. I want you to come audition for this pilot that I'm working on. And I did, and I got it. And it was for Jimmy Burroughs. I auditioned for Jimmy Burroughs. It was called Flesh and Blood. And I was just, so, first of all, he saw me there and based that decision based on my work, which I was so thrilled about. So, I auditioned for television in my theater thing, but also I was so warm.
You know, I was not rusty. I was like, ready to go. I was a well-oiled machine. And anything that was asked of me in the audition, I felt like I could do. And I felt like I could do it well. And I just felt so good. And I got it. And I wound up doing that. And I wound up doing another show for Jimmy, and then I wound up doing Frasier. And I think that producing that play was probably the best decision I ever made. Thanks for asking.
Steve Kmetko
You're welcome.
Peri Gilpin
Never thought about before. It was a long answer. Sorry.
Steve Kmetko
No, that's okay. This is a long show. Was your career since you came from a family of actors and auditioners, and was it predestined that you would become an actor?
Peri Gilpin
Probably, but I didn't look at it that way. My mom was a school teacher when I was born, and I was born while she was actually in, at Baylor in college, studying to be a teacher. But and she'd married a, they married very young. She married a guy that was trying to be a pastor. And I was born nine months to the day. And it was like, I was really born nine months to the day. I mean, there was nothing. So, they were very sheltered. And she was, in her finals. I was born May 27th. She was in her finals of her sophomore year. And so I am, I grew up with my mom and I wanted to be a school teacher all the years. She wanted to be a school teacher. And then after about six or seven years of being a school teacher, she would team teach with this other young teacher.
And they had both taught special ed classes in, in their student teaching days. And once that's on your resume, you can't not do that anymore. And she just burned out. They team taught 60 kids. They had 30 a piece that they combined. And that's just, no one can do that for very long. And so, then she went to her first love, which is why she went to Baylor to begin with, was to study with Paul Baker. And she remarried my stepdad. And he said, be an actress if that's what you want to do. So, I saw her in a play. I saw her in picnic, she was playing Midge, she was on the stage, and the lights lowered on her. She was dreamy looking up, you know, thinking about, I can't think of the name of the guy, of the character, but she was, her sister, the guy was in love with her sister. So, she was feeling di it'll never happen for me. And she was a little sad. And the lights dimmed. And my sister went, mama. It was, and my mom, I just saw as the lights went out, my mom went. And I was like, that looks like fun. That is fun. That's what I want to do now. So, I did it.
Steve Kmetko
It's so funny that you should mention Born Being Born nine months to the Day. My father was a Baptist minister, and my mother was more strict than he was in terms of religion. And I remember when my sister got married, she had my first niece, their first granddaughter, nine months to the day after they got married. And it was like, she made certain, everybody knew sounds like you had kind of the same background.
Peri Gilpin
Totally. My dad was wanting to be a Baptist preacher. He was at Baylor. He played football at Baylor, and he was second string. And I think the coach put in a third string guy, and he got upset and he left, left school, left seminary. He wasn't really in IES in school. He had gone to seminary yet and became a DJ.
Steve Kmetko
Left the ministry behind.
Peri Gilpin
Yeah. And he was a, and he went all over the country as a DJ. And in fact, one of our writers on Frasier, Ken Levine finally put it together. He goes, I interviewed your dad when I was in college. He ran the station here in LA. And so he always sends me air checks. So he was, he wound up in Philadelphia, and then he was a weatherman in Philadelphia. He was like the first action news Channel six in Philly, the weatherman. And he'd make it really funny cause he wasn't a meteorologist. And he was like, why are you making me the meteorologist? I don't know how to, I can't, I don't, I haven't studied this. So, he made it funny and everyone loved it. And I hear story, he died in a parachuting accident in 1983. But I hear stories about him once a month. Somebody, tells me something hilarious that they thought was hilarious that he did on air. But my favorite one is that they were interviewing some woman in a towel. Like it was the local, WPVI, they're interviewing a woman in a towel. And when they and for some reason she was in a towel when they came back to the weather, he was standing there in a towel.
Just to take it funny. I think that's so funny. But anyway, so he was, he was a young guy. He was parachuting, and he left us, but they were both raised in churches in Dallas, in Houston actually, in very, they were very religious. That's why they were at Baylor. And but honestly for both of them, and I'm telling something a little bit out of school, but I think it's okay they both were adult, they were children of alcoholic fathers. And they were both the dad, both of their dads were married to women that didn't know. No one knew it was a disease. No one knew that it was something that they could do something about.
Steve Kmetko
Get treatment for.
Peri Gilpin
Get treatment for. And one of my grandfathers had come from World, just basically back from World War II like that. And the other one, didn't, that wasn't the situation, but they were both severe alcoholics and their children were terrified and they found church, and they got really, really involved in church. And it was all about church. So, they really followed those rules. And in Texas, it's no drinking and, no gambling, no movies. A lot of people were upset with my mom later when we all started doing movies and stuff. And as time went on my mom went to my pastor's house one day and he poured her a glass of wine, and she was like, Bruce won't go. She enjoyed it. But that was a big deal. But he's like, it's not, that's okay. You can have a glass of wine. But it was a big deal.
Steve Kmetko
It was in my family. My father was a Baptist minister, his brother was a Baptist minister. But his brother was in Phoenix. He ended up in Phoenix. And my father was in Cleveland. And in Cleveland, you're much you, I don't know at the time, you stuck closer to the rules. There was, I remember in our household growing up, no drinking, no dancing, no smoking, no playing cards,
Peri Gilpin
No cards.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. And his brother on the other hand would enjoy a glass of wine now and again, and my mother's eyebrow would go up and she'd develop a tick. But it's funny how those good behaviors, I don't know how else to describe it, but it's a different kind of an upbringing.
Peri Gilpin
It really is. I mean, it really, I was raised to think that drinking was such a taboo. And then it's, that's like a that's like a Romeo to Juliet. I mean that's like, make it even more interesting. Why don't you?
Steve Kmetko
Right. Well, I've been through rehab, so oh, I'm an AA.
Peri Gilpin
Congratulations.
Steve Kmetko
Thank you very much. I celebrated eight years recently.
Peri Gilpin
You did?
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. I had gone 10 years and then moved back to Chicago and was triggered. But I'm back and feeling really good. Anyway.
Peri Gilpin
Well, one of the most amazing experiences I ever had was at, my sister was in rehab at Sierra Tucson. And I'm sure I'm not supposed to, but my sister has passed away. But she we were at family week and she had a son who was about six years old. And we were doing this circle and there was this, we'd been divided up into groups and there was about a, maybe a 65-year-old man in this group with us. And I really wasn't sure why he was completely alone. There was a lot of us, but in our family there. And he was part of our group, and was a very sweet guy. So, he did the circle, and he didn't have anyone there. He had no family to do the circle with. So, they said, you can just do it to sit in the chair and we'll guide you through it, and you can talk to whoever you wish was here or want to be here.
So he did this thing with his mom, and it was all about, it was kind of about an incident that had happened that had really, really scarred him. And he needed to talk with her about it and kind of forgive her. It was incredibly powerful. It was the most dramatic thing I've ever seen on film in a stage, anything. It was really powerful and beautiful, him talking to his mom. And I realized that's why we're in, he's, we're all in the same group because my sister needs to hear, her little boy needs to hear what her little boy might be feeling when he gets to be 65. It's sort of like the cycle of life. And it was really, really powerful. And it was helpful to all of us.
Steve Kmetko
I was in a place in Poconos also.
Peri Gilpin
Oh, really?
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. It was a really good experience to be removed from your normal setting. And we had the same kind of family situations role playing. And none of my family could be there either. But they had other people in the program who would sit and role play to help you out. And my sister, who was also in AA came down to visit me there finally. But she was going through cancer. She had cancer at the time, and it was the first time I'd seen her in ages. And she came down and she'd been getting chemotherapy and she was bald. And I had to see her like that. And she was my big sister and she's since passed away. But it's funny, the thing, life things that life throws your way.
Peri Gilpin
That's a memory. I was going to share a memory with you that you brought up earlier, that ham radio. That episode, my mother had had cancer for 15 years, and she'd been living with me for about six months. And she passed away that week. And Kelsey called me, David Lee, one of the producer, one of my great friends, he called, he goes, okay, what do you need? And I go, what do I do now? And he gave me the name of, he knew what to do then. And then my we were do, my stepfather and sister were at that taping, and Kelsey called me that day, of course, when she passed away. She passed away on Friday. And we would always shoot on Tuesdays. And he goes, you don't have to do this. We can go down for a week if you need to. And I was like, no, no, no. I need to do this. I need to be there with you guys. And so, David Lee made me do that multiple members thing about 500 times. I swear we did it a hundred takes of that. And the audience would just laugh and we'd all laugh. And it was the best medicine, truly is.
Steve Kmetko
What's the best piece of advice you've gotten since you were in your career? Or who made the big biggest impact on you?
Peri Gilpin
I think Jeff Greenberg said to me once, he goes, you are really strong. You don't have to play strong. I don’t know why that makes me laugh, but he's really and I unfortunately told my husband that, so I hear that a lot.
Steve Kmetko
You're really strong.
Peri Gilpin
You know, like as strong character, you don't have to come in the door. Like, you don't have to add that in as something to play. It's already there, which I thought that was pretty good advice.
Steve Kmetko
Do you think that's true?
Peri Gilpin
I don't know. I think it's true in acting. I don't, I'm not sure if it's true in real life.
Steve Kmetko
Do you like living out here?
Peri Gilpin
Yeah, I do like living out here. I love California.
Steve Kmetko
If you hadn't been an actor, what would you be doing?
Peri Gilpin
Well, I grew up in Texas and Texans have a very, very strong sense of being a Texan. At least we did. My family did. And I was very proud. I'm the kind of person who really takes that on too. Like, I really love being a Texan. I don't always love being a Texan these days, but I do want to say that there are a lot of fabulous, wonderful Texans. And I don't think their voices are being heard right now necessarily. And that's, I don't live there anymore. I don't live there now, so I don't, I'm not trying to take that on as we all have our things. We need to decide how much of our time we're going to give, to help make it the way we think it should be. But I do love Texas and so I feel so guilty saying how much I love California, but I do love California and I love the us. I love being in the American, but I love to travel too. Why do you keep asking me that? Where do you want to be? Do you like being in Chicago?
Steve Kmetko
Not this time of the year. Yesterday when I was sitting on a plane waiting for the wings to be deiced. You know, I wasn't too happy about it then. And with my Uber driver being an hour late, and I was afraid I wasn't going to make it. And it's a whole bunch of anxiety. I tell people you know, when I first moved back after having lived in California for 30 years a lot of people would say, what are you going to do about winter? Well, I grew up in Chicago, so, I was used to winter. I had forgotten what it was like. And the first I remember the first few times I went out driving my car and winter and getting stuck. Because I didn't have snow tires, and I had front wheel drive or rear wheel drive, whichever. But I would, wave money outside the window of my car to young men who were passing by to push me out of whatever snow drift I was in. Of course, some parts of the country could get arrested for that but nevertheless it seemed to work.
Peri Gilpin
Oh, that's nice. That's nice to think. I can't even imagine that that wouldn't work everywhere.
Steve Kmetko
We'll be back for more in a moment.
Peri Gilpin
Kelsey called me that day, of course, when she passed away. She passed away on Friday, and we would always shoot on Tuesdays. And he goes, you don't have to do this. We can go down for a week if we need to. And I was like, no, no, no. I need to do this. I need to be there with you guys. I always think of that song, the Best is yet to come. I always think of that. I mean, LA is a place where you can slip so easily into ageism and feeling what is the word? Victimized by growing older. But my mom died at 55, my dad died at 43. And my mom used to say, old people are the survivors. Those are the people that got to do it. You know, so they get to do it.
Because she was terminal for a long, long time. So, I don't, I had that experience and that I think that really helped me try not to get too down. I also have 19-year-olds. I had kids later in life, I was older than most of the moms around. Not all of them. There were a lot of, there were a few my age, but that was really funny. Like, there was this one mom who would let, she'd say, well, there are off, there were in the golf cart on PCH. And I'm like, What? And then I realized she's 33 years old, she's a kid or she doesn't know what, can you call me for? Like, oh my God. But it was, I'm like, she’s just living her life.
Steve Kmetko
Well, I go on sites now that are like dating for seniors.
Peri Gilpin
Oh God, don't do that.
Steve Kmetko
Too late.
Peri Gilpin
Don't go on those sites.
Steve Kmetko
And you look at the pictures and you think, oh my God, these are old people.
Peri Gilpin
I don't want to date an old person.
Steve Kmetko
Exactly. Is that how screwed up is my thinking? Oh, well, and I have regrets about that too. I made some bad choices and left some people behind that I shouldn't have in retrospect.
Peri Gilpin
But you had a good reason at the time and you probably, it would still probably be the same Reason.
Steve Kmetko
Did I?
Peri Gilpin
I don't know.
Steve Kmetko
I second guess everything I do.
Peri Gilpin
Yeah. I can tell not good, well, I mean, but Divvy really, I said this the other day. I was regretting something and this person said to me, are your reason still good? And I go, absolutely. It's like, well, they, nothing's changed about that. No. So then I wouldn't, there, I only regret that it didn't go a different way. I don't regret what I did. Why I'm like I'm preaching to you.
Steve Kmetko
Well, I appreciate it.
Peri Gilpin
We're the children of preachers.
Steve Kmetko
Yes. And I was talking to you the other day on the phone about I think the first time I met you was at the Cannes Film Festival when you were there to host that charity auction. And I remember you being somewhat nervous about what to do. What am I, what do I do?
Peri Gilpin
Well, it was, I didn't know. Okay. So, I lovely Lily Tartikoff, who I adore, and I read an article about her when I first, not in the, my early years here. I remember getting the LA Times and feeling like an adult that I was reading the paper. Of course, all I ever wrote was Calendar. And there was this big her, she was married to Brandon Tartikoff and they were the golden couple. And it was all about her years as a dancer. And how what she wanted to do while she was here on this earth was work for people with breast cancer. And she was really involved. And I just remember absorbing this article and thinking what an awesome person this is. So, I say this with, I revere her, but I hadn't seen her for a long time. Her Hus Brandon had died and we all went, I'd gotten involved with the National Breast Cancer Coalition after my mother died.
She died of a very rare form of sarcoma. But I got my friend Arlene Sorkin got me involved with the National Breast Cancer Coalition. So, we were going to a luncheon where Dr. Susan Love was speaking. And I walked in with Jane Leaves and Maggie Randall, our, my, our producer and our line producer, Maggie. And we were signing in. And I look over and Lily's signing in, and I go and her, I don't think her husband had been gone a month. And I'm like, what are you doing here? She goes, I can't get enough Like this is, I'm like, oh my God. It was just so sweet that's what she did for comfort, was to go listen to someone, speak about helping people get better and how to deal with it psychologically. So, she asked us all if as a cast, we would go to Cannes and host this party for a, it was for a breast cancer event.
And everyone I guess said, no, I got the last phone call. And she goes, you have to. Because everyone else has said no. And I'm like, but I'm getting married this summer and I'm now throwing my brother's wedding. In June and I'm getting married at the end of July. And well, you'll just still have to go. Anyway, we get there. My husband goes, another couple went with us, turned out to be the most, I think she gave us our room. Our room was the most beautiful room at the Hotel Du cap, which is just a fantasy. And I think she, I don't know how we got that room. But anyway, my husband and Chris went to, what's the name of the fabulous like it's where James Bond was, it's where they all the casino there.
In Cannes, Carlton's, I think they all went there every night and ate these hamburgers. They were called the America They Hamburgers with French fries in them. I'll just never forget the French fries were in the hamburger. It was genius. And he would just was doing well. He'd bring them a bag of money every night. I'm like, give me that because I don't know how much we're going to, I think you have to pay cash to leave this hotel. And I don't know what they're going to, I don't know. I don't know what anything costs. It doesn't say anything anywhere. I'm scared to death to ask. So, we go downstairs and we've got our cash and there's, there'll be no charge, Ms. Gilpin. And I'm like, I'm so relieved. So relieved. But also, that's, she was just so generous.
Okay. So, but she was so generous. But every morning I had to get up and get my hair done and go do something and my makeup and all that. And you have seen for yourself what an ordeal that is. And so, then I go to this party. Okay, so the party was Calvin Klein and Esau Razzi, am I saying his name. Had given all of this stuff to QBC to auction off about the beach, like beach towels, tanning stuff, sunglasses, bathing suits, all this stuff. And the party was going to last until all that got auctioned off. So, I'm like, what? That could be hours, you know? And I don't really know. They're all movie stars that I don't know. It's not the Emmys, you know, it's not tv. I don't mean it that way.
It's not the Television Academy. It's a group that I don't know very well. And so, I start walking around. My husbands behind me at one point, and he's doing that thing where, you act like you're walking down the stairs and then you act like you're walking out. Because he just because we don't know what to do anymore. And that what was brilliant was it all sold out in like 45 minutes. So, I didn't have to do it very long, but I had on a million dollars’ worth of jewelry. I'd never had anything like that. And I was, I just, my makeup and hair and my dress, I mean, she just treated me like a princess. But so, I really wanted to do a good job. But what was really cool was I was interviewing people like Jeff Goldblum and our and people knew so much.
And I ran into Selma Hayek. And so, I just, I'm like, will you talk to me for a minute? She wouldn't, of course I will. And I said, the National Breast Cancer Ola shows, and she just started rattling off more information than even anyone at the organization is. She was a complete advocate. She was really there for that reason and she gave so much information and it was an opportunity to talk about breast cancer with people that obviously really cared about it. But knew a lot and it was just, I was so nervous going in. It turned out to be a blast.
Steve Kmetko
I remember we were talking.
Peri Gilpin
And you could tell I didn't know how to finish that story. I could see that. You could tell I was trying to wrap it up.
Steve Kmetko
No. I just the thing that I remember so clearly is that we were talking just about what you were doing there and what you were going to be doing and the whole setting is so spectacular. And at one point you remarked that there was a guy who looked like Greg Louganis. I said, it is Greg Louganis he's here with me.
Peri Gilpin
Oh.
Steve Kmetko
Yes. And that was the real Oh, that's right. It's like, oh, I knew that.
Peri Gilpin
Well, you guys, oh, yes.
Steve Kmetko
At the time. Yes. I see.
Peri Gilpin
I forgot about that. I did forget about that.
Steve Kmetko
It was just such a good time.
Peri Gilpin
He said, you keep in touch, right?
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. I just know I was watching him.
Peri Gilpin
I used to do yoga classes with him in Malibu. I used to do yoga classes with him in Malibu. Do you know Scott Henderson?
Steve Kmetko
No, I don't.
Peri Gilpin
Scott is, was I think at the Olympic, he's a ice skater. I think he was at the Olympics with him that year, whatever. And they're good friends.
Steve Kmetko
Those Olympians hang out together.
Peri Gilpin
They do. Why wouldn't you?
Steve Kmetko
I don't know.
Peri Gilpin
You know, I played the mom of an Olympic athlete on a show called Make It or break it and it was all about elite athletes and how they, basically, it was for A, B, C, it was for A, B, C family. So, it was really it was about teenagers, but it's also one thing that we really delved into was how those kids really don't have a childhood.
Steve Kmetko
No, they don't. Greg, I remember went to live with his coach at a very young age. But he was so gifted that it worked out well for him. Four gold medals one silver. I remember the first time I went to his house; he had a 12-foot-deep swimming pool in his backyard and had the Olympic rings on the bottom of the pool. And me being a smart said Well, don't just stand there. Dive something. So, he went from a seated position on the platform. He went into a handstand. No trouble at all. And so, I'm, I know that he was probably fabulous at your yoga class too, because he was the most flexible person I've ever seen. But he went into a handstand and then, did a pike and right into the pool, and it's like, oh my God, you are regular games, aren't you.
Peri Gilpin
He really did bring a lot of great, good positive attention to that sport.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah, he did. I just saw on the news last night, he was honored by Orange County into some hall of Fame there beginning for athletes or noted Orange County residents, former residents. I was going to drop him a note.
Peri Gilpin
You should.
Steve Kmetko
I will. I'll send him. I have his email address, and we're Facebook friends and we'll be right back.
Peri Gilpin
I get addicted to Housewives. I mean Beverly Hills Housewives. I get addicted because they get to be, many of them are friends and many of them are people I've known or been acquainted with over the years, and several are, but you just get like, you're like, I wonder what's happening over there today. Like you really do.
Steve Kmetko
How much time do you spend on social media? Do you like it?
Peri Gilpin
I really got, I was doing a little independent movie with a bunch of friends and I was saying, what's Twitter? You know what's Twitter? And they're like, come, here, come, I'm signing you up. You're going to love it. And so, I really, really got way, like, into the rabbit hole of Twitter. And then somebody, I got hacked at my own. I did it. Somebody called me and asked me for a code, and I gave it to them. Don't no Apple, no one will ever call you and ask you for any of this information. Do not give anybody information on the phone. But anyway, the only thing they did was hack my Twitter account. They changed the password and I couldn't get in. And I thought, okay, that's a sign. Stop it. And then also Elon Musk was taking it over, and I just have such a problem with how he's handling everything. Who doesn't? He's a madman. But anyway, so I do believe that he's right about free speech. I think we, I believe in free speech, but you have to be ready for the consequences. And if you're inciting violence, then there should be consequences. And how can you do that? It's free speech.
Steve Kmetko
Right. I'll, I'm biting my tongue.
Peri Gilpin
You are?
Steve Kmetko
Yes. I'm
Peri Gilpin
Why do you, it's your show. You can say whatever you want.
Steve Kmetko
Thank you. What do you watch?
Peri Gilpin
I'm not telling you.
Steve Kmetko
But I watched The Amazing Race. I've liked that for a long time.
Peri Gilpin
Yeah. That's great. I want my daughter and husband to do that. I think they'd be a, actually either daughter and their dad. It would be great. Both. I think that's a great show. It is.
Steve Kmetko
I enjoy it. It keeps me involved.
Peri Gilpin
I get addicted to Housewives. I mean, Beverly Hills Housewives. I get addicted because they get to be, many of them are friends and many of them are people I've known or been acquainted with over the years, and several are, but you just get like, you're like, I wonder what's happening over there today. Like, you really do.
Steve Kmetko
Doesn't it seem sometimes though, when you're looking at social media that a lot of the stuff that appears on it, are people showing off or saying, look at me. Which is says the guy who's on television, or was?
Peri Gilpin
Well, I, what I think is what I mean, of course, it's fun to get into, let's see, what is it? I guess what it is its sort of like, it's made me listen to the news. I listen to it several times a day on NPR, like the Five Minute News. And then NPR politics is gorgeous. It's just an amazing show, but it made me realize that there's, it's so easy to get the wrong information if that's where you're getting it. But I think I had a sense of that maybe because of my age, or maybe because of just growing up in a different time, I always had a sense of, well, who's saying this? You know, what's the source? But I do think social media, Twitter and Instagram has sort of scrambled that up a little bit. So, people think they don't, look, my husband will show me a headline.
I'll go, where's it from? You know what I mean? Because that's sounds like a little bit of propaganda. And then the other thing, I think the social media has sort of been weaponized in a big way. And I think that recent things that have happened have shown me that. So, I want to know what my friends are doing. I want to know what people I don't know that I admire are doing. I do, I'm curious, and I get into it, but I think you have to like, and especially with AI and all the different ways that things can be misrepresented, and you think you're just, you think it's somebody telling you something. You know, there was this great, there was an avenue cue, but then there was this great video that my husband bought at an art show, and it was all about, it was kind of giving, sending up Sesame Street. Like if someone talks to you like this with a puppet, they can tell you just about anything. Right. It's like that You have to be careful.
Steve Kmetko
You should have done the podcast like that.
Peri Gilpin
Yeah.
Steve Kmetko
What haven't you done that you'd like to do before the career is over? Or before you hang it up?
Peri Gilpin
I would love, it's almost a cliche, and it's like, and my friends in the business that I will laugh at me, but I would still love to do Broadway. I would love to do a play on Broadway, not a musical. That would not be possible. But that's not in the realm of reality, but I would love to do a play on Broadway.
Steve Kmetko
Put it out there. Let the universe take takeover. He said. Thank you, Peri. I've really enjoyed this.
Peri Gilpin
Me too.
Steve Kmetko
I could go longer, but I'm afraid.
Peri Gilpin
What will happen?
Steve Kmetko
What we'll go into.
Peri Gilpin
So, we've already probably.
Steve Kmetko
Well, we've talked about a lot of stuff. I lost two sisters at an early age. I had a sister who was out here visiting me, and I came home from work one day to find, she drowned in my swimming pool.
Peri Gilpin
Oh my god.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. That was a rough one. And I was saying earlier today, I just feel as though there's the older I get, the more and more people I'm losing.
Peri Gilpin
Well, I've lost all my siblings. My little brother just passed away over the summer from a glioblastoma, and he was the third.
Steve Kmetko
I think I read that.
Peri Gilpin
And my sister Patty died during pandemic of the same sarcoma that my, our mom had. And my other little sister died a few years ago, and she was 47 years old and had a heart attack. And I think there was a lot of I smoking involved. So that's a really awful place to be. I'm the oldest, and to have lost all three of my siblings is heartbreaking.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. I had three sisters, my brother, and then there were three girls and they all passed away. The youngest was 13. I was 10 when she died. She was profoundly, I hate to use the word retarded, but I don't know what the word to use. She had severe disabilities. And that was hard. I remember that was hard. And my other two sisters the one who drowned. I, what, well, it's like having to pick up the phone and call your parents and say.
Peri Gilpin
No.
Steve Kmetko
Becky's dead.
Peri Gilpin
Oh my gosh.
Steve Kmetko
That was hard. And she had two daughters. And she'd come out to visit me like she did every year. And she had an asthma attack in the pool. They determined.
Peri Gilpin
That is traumatic.
Steve Kmetko
The best memory I have of her is she came out one year and she was a big Barbara Streisand fan. And I was invited to a screening of the movie, sweethearts Dance was the name of the movie. And it starred Don Johnson. And at the time, Barbara was dating John or Don. And it was a charity benefit screening. And I asked my sister, would you like to go? Barbara Streisand's going to be there. And sure enough, after the screening, there was a little reception and her publicist came over and said, would you like to meet Barbara? My sister was just in seventh. My nieces would say, did you have to do that? That's all she talks about meeting Barbara Streisand. And of course, Barbara was very sweet. And it was a wonderful memory that I have. You know, I thought.
Peri Gilpin
Yeah, well you were able to do that. I always think about the good stuff. Like, I just, I actually just wrote an email to a friend about, and sort of like summarized the last year or so that all of some really insane things have happened this past year. But it's like you, it makes you, it puts a spotlight on all the good stuff. It really does for me. Because Emma, a Pollyanna Baptist girl from Texas, but I love seeing David Hyde Pierce and here we are. It's a great show in New York.
Steve Kmetko
I saw him in Hello Dolly. He was wonderful.
Peri Gilpin
Wasn't he great?
Steve Kmetko
Yes. He was.
Peri Gilpin
And I got to do a little play this past summer with a, right after my brother died, I went and did this reading for a friend of mine. She was stepping down after three years as an artistic director at a theater in New Jersey. It's called the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey. And she was starting this classical reading program for kids, because she said, after the pandemic, she goes, they're not coming back. I mean, people are terrified to go into a closed space like that. So, she felt like her, what she could do for her theater was really intensely do outreach towards children to get kids back in the theater, so that they grow up and want to come. And so, she did The Little Prince. And I have never understood that book. I tried to read it to my kid.
It's the most read and the most sold book in the world of all time. I tried to read it to my kids, couldn't understand it. I just really didn't get it. But performing it and being directed and understanding what the other characters were doing, I finally understood the, it's heartbreaking. It's actually about losing a sibling. The whole book is. But this little boy that played The Little Prince was such a fabulous young actor. He is about eight years old, maybe 10. And it reminded me so much of my little brother who was an actor, a child actor. And it was within two weeks of his death. And he left behind two boys in high school, which is so depressing and sad. But they were so loving to him. They were with him every second, so was his wife. They just circled the wagons.
They just created a warm loving place for him. And that mean, that's a lot of families can't or aren't able to do that. They don't get the opportunity as, you know. But this, having this experience was so cathartic because I got to work with this young little boy actor, and I just kept seeing my little brother in him. And I'm like, this, what a gift this is, to be able to, I just sit off stage and think about, this is a good place for me. This business is a good place for me because it feels safe. So, I think yours, I think it feels safe for you too. So, I think you're doing the right thing.
Steve Kmetko
Thank you. I need to hear that. I think we're done Jim. Jim is such a good producer.
JIM
He shakes his head well.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah.
Peri Gilpin
No, I agree. You were totally, we got this all worked out in a couple of emails and texts.
Steve Kmetko
One of the, I backtrack just a second.
JIM
We also need to do like a real goodbye.
Peri Gilpin
Okay.
Steve Kmetko
Okay.
Peri Gilpin
Well, it was great talking to you.
Steve Kmetko
Thank you, Perry. I have a good really enjoyed having you here. Thanks for saying yes. You know, we're feeling our way through this. I've never done a podcast before, and so this is all new to me.
Peri Gilpin
Well, I think it's the same thing you've always done, right talking with people.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. Big names, famous people.
Peri Gilpin
Yeah. Big names. Eric McCormick's pretty great.
Steve Kmetko
You're right up there with Betty Davis and More O'Hara. Some of my favorites.
Peri Gilpin
Oh my God. We used to live in a apartment. When I first moved to LA I lived in this apartment building on Miller Drive, like right above Sunset. Miller's like, if you go up La Senega and you cross Sunset, that's Miller. And we lived in this old Spanish apartment building. Like, it was like Melrose's place. Melrose's Place was on when we lived there. But it was also, it had been a hotel at one time, and Betty Davis had lived there, and there was, and all kinds of people had lived there.
Steve Kmetko
Is it called Villa?
Peri Gilpin
Villa Madrid.
Steve Kmetko
Villa Madrid. I've seen pictures of it. I'm sure I've driven past it too.
Peri Gilpin
Yeah. Well, anyone that came over. And it was the man that, the guy that managed the building. It other than us, you had to have some kind of a statue. So, there was like Donna Mockney and her, Tony were in there. And all, everyone had some kind of award. I'm just trying to, Michael Jeter was there stocker Channing was there, like every, it was, as he had taken over the building, you could only get in if you were an award-winning for Performer, which was so funny. In very LA.
Steve Kmetko
Very LA. So, Hollywood.
Peri Gilpin
Well, and they were all wonderful people. And the people that already lived there were wonderful too. They enjoyed the people coming in.
Steve Kmetko
Well, I think a lot of the people who come out here is because of the history, and you want to be, feel like you're a part of it somehow.
Peri Gilpin
Another friend of mine, I told you has a podcast called From Beneath the Hollywood Sign. And he is it's so funny because he wrote this blog for years. He's just upset when he was at University of Tennessee, Ann Rutherford came to do a play and befriended him. And he, she said, you should come out to LA. So, he did. And they were like the best of friends. And he tells these great stories of, she'd take them through Beverly Hills, through the Alleys. Because that's where people throw out all their stuff. And they'd go, dumpster diving. And at one point they were picking up something out of the alley to put her car, and they saw through the window, there was an actress that used to be married to Howard Hughes, who was well known at the time. I don't know her name now, but they saw her through the window and she was just sort of stopped in time, just sort of staring.
And he wrote this whole blog about it. And it was a beautiful, it was, he loves these people. And so now he's got this great podcast called From Beneath the Hollywood Sign, and he tells these stories. And but he'll do groups like this week he's doing female character actors, but he won't, he doesn't talk about the ones, you know, he goes, I love Thelma Ritter. I love Lover, but we all know her. Let me tell you about this other person, and they'll get into something and it's just like, it's so much fun. So, I think there's room for anything you want to do in that world.
Steve Kmetko
Roz had a little Thelma Ritter in her.
Peri Gilpin
Yeah, for sure. Yes.
Steve Kmetko
I met Anne Rutherford once. We were doing a whole bunch of things on the, what was it, the 50th anniversary of Gone with the Wind in 1989. But I met her and Evelyn, I can't remember Evelyn's last name.
Peri Gilpin
Well, he got to know this guy named Hal, I want to say Al Morley. Al Morley was the man's name. And I don't know what he had done earlier in his life, but he would throw this dinner part, instead of giving, sending a Christmas card or doing anything for the holidays, he would just throw this big dinner party at the Magnolia, that piano bar. And I mean, I literally walked in there once and Paige, Paige Bucha, like this fabulous 90-year-old piano player. And they had a mirror on the keyboard, and he was just, and then he was Downing Champagne. They’re like, Paige, stop it. They were trying to get him to stop drink.
And he and Marsha Hunt. Do you know who Marsha Hunt?
Steve Kmetko
Yeah.
Peri Gilpin
She was a great friend of Al's and of Steve Combines. And they, one night we all went somewhere together and I said, she lived really close to me. And I said, I'm going to bring my twins over to see you someday. And she goes, call first she didn't want to meet my twin babies. That was, she actually just passed away at like 104 years old. But she was blacklisted. And then she went with that whole gang to Washington, DC Humphrey Bogart, and all of them. And then they all kind of got turned when they got there. And she was the one that didn't turn. And she was just completely blacklisted. But later it, I was there at I think they held it at the DGA, because it was the biggest place. But Sag, the DGA, the WGA equity, all the unions apologized to the few that were left. Do you remember that?
Steve Kmetko
Don't remember.
Peri Gilpin
It was like 20 years ago. And one of them died on the way to the luncheon in a car accident. You know, one of the big the writers.
Steve Kmetko
Bad timing.
Peri Gilpin
He wrote Spartacus. It was,
Steve Kmetko
I not Dalton Trumble.
Peri Gilpin
Yeah. Well, it was the other one. Dalton Trumble was there, and then it was the other one. So maybe I have, but it was the, so he was on stage thanking everybody. We got to hear him give his, thank you for thanking us and thank you for this. And then the next day he was driving to a luncheon and died in a car accident on the way to the luncheon. Isn't that the crazy?
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. Did you know Ronnie Chason at all?
Peri Gilpin
Yeah.
Steve Kmetko
She was a publicist out here, big name publicist for a long time. She was going home from a party for burlesque. And she was shot and killed in her Mercedes-Benz in Beverly Hills on her way home.
Peri Gilpin
What did they ever?
Steve Kmetko
Yeah, it was, well, I don't know the guy off himself eventually, but he was in a flea bag hotel downtown. And lots of people said not very kind things about him, but it was just such a shock.
Peri Gilpin
Shock. I do remember waking up that morning to that.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. Well, thank you so much. I'm so glad you did this.
Peri Gilpin
You're so welcome. I, me too.
Steve Kmetko
Still here Hollywood is a production of the Still Here Network, all things technical run by Justin Zangerle. Theme music by Brian Sanyshyn and executive producer is Jim Lichtenstein.