Dawn Wells Talks About Gilligan's Island and Cookbooks

We always considered ourselves way more of Mary Anns than Gingers. Down home girls. Jeans and checkered shirts not sparkly evening gowns. More cute than pretty. So when we heard we were going to get the chance to talk to the Gilligan's Island star, we were thrilled. And of course getting to speak with her the same night as Kathy Garver (Family Affair) and Alison Arngrim (Little House on the Prairie) just sweetened the deal.

But why were the three doing a book signing together? Apparently the stars of TV days gone by know each other from various autograph signing shows and retro TV reunion specials. So when Kathy Garver wrote The Family Affair Cookbook, she asked Dawn to contribute the forward.

Dawn told us, "She came to me and said 'Would you be interested?' And I said, 'Well, I love cookbooks.' So I did it."

The TV star penned her own cookbook in 1993 called Mary Ann's Gilligan's Island Cookbook. She was signing copies of that as well.

We asked what her favorite recipes from the memoir were and she said there were four, mostly family favorites from her mother and grandmother. "My mother was a genius," she exclaimed.

The first was Weenie Linguini (Italian sausage, not hot dogs), then Seesaw Coleslaw (with peanuts and blue cheese), followed by a Turkey Casserole (featuring Thanksgiving leftovers, tortilla chips, and chili peppers). Finally she told us she loves the Mary Ann Birthday Cake.

She told us, "My mother and I were born the same day. From the time I was little, I got the birthday cake once a year from her. If I was in college it came UPS. At 91 she said to me, 'I think you better learn to make this yourself.'"

And though she hasn't written a book since 1993, Dawn has a new idea in the works. She says she wants to write a dialogue between Mary Ann and Dawn. She thinks it will be a guide for today's young girls.

She pondered, "Where did Mary Ann go? What would Mary Ann say? There is no Mary Ann today. There's no young virgin. There's no young girl with good values... So where are those values? Are we losing them? 80% of the men I meet say, 'I married a Mary Ann.' Where are they? That girl worked hard. Would have been fair. Cooked and cleaned. Cute. All of that. Where are they? It's all drugs and partying and all of this now. Have we lost her?"

She went on to describe a conversation that might take place between herself and her iconic character about retirement. She related, "Mary Ann would say, 'I want to go to Kansas, and I want to sit on the front porch and smell the lilacs and watch my grandchildren playing on the lawn and have an iced tea and watch the sunset.' Dawn says, 'Mamet's opening a play on Broadway. I wonder if I can get in on the first [run]... and I wonder if Southwest is better...' May Ann says, 'Do you ever think of smelling the roses?' So she has something to teach me, too."

Dawn also revealed that there is a Gilligan's Island movie in the works, but neither confirmed nor denied a cameo appearance.

She admitted. "It's coming out. It's a go... They've been trying to do this for 100 years and it keeps falling apart. When it was finally announced who was doing it, I sent them a coconut cream pie and said, 'I want to know something. How are you going to treat us? Are you going to be kind to us? We're revered characters. Are you going to make Skipper and Gilligan gay? Are you going to make Ginger a transvestite? Are you going to honor who we are?'"

She went on to say that the producers are in fact going to treat the television legends with respect and it will be a family show. But, she was mum about any casting ideas.

Dawn is grateful for her legendary TV role, and talks about Mary Ann often and fondly. But she doesn't live entirely in the past. Her latest moment in the spotlight? She says "Google Dawn Wells Potato. 11,000,000 hits... on how to peel a potato." Wonder if she learned this on the Island with Gilligan? Watch it below, you will be amazed.



For more of our interview with Dawn Wells, Kathy Garver, and Alison Arngrim check out:


Our Interview with Mary Ann, Cissy, and Nellie


Kathy Garver is Cooking up a Family Affair


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Stephanie Zimbalist Takes on Katharine Hepburn

When we first learned that Stephanie Zimbalist was playing Katharine Hepburn in a one woman show, we were nervous. Not that we don't think that the former Remington Steele star is a talented actress in her own right. But, Hepburn is an icon... and one with the kind of very distinct, easily overdone speech affectation that can go terribly wrong when put in the wrong mouth. But we were pleasantly surprised by the show Tea at Five at the Falcon Theatre in Burbank-adjacent Toluca Lake, California.


As is always the case at the Garry Marshall owned playhouse, the production values were excellent. The set transported the audience to the Hepburn family beach house in 1937. A film flop addled Hepburn was waiting for the big call—would she get the career reviving part of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind?


We all know how that worked out. But we didn't know some of the more interesting details about Hepburn's personal life—her brother's tragic death, her failed marriage, and her conversation with Spencer Tracey's wife when he passed away.


Zimbalist pranced about the stage in Act 1, playing then 31-year-old Hepburn, with the physical agility of a star who seems destined for her mainstream comeback next season on Dancing with the Stars. But the beauty of her performance was how emotionally grounded she was as the guarded 77-year-old actress in Act 2.


If you're a fan of Hepburn of Zimbalist, Tea at Five will not disappoint. Credit is due to director Jenny Sullivan, as well.


For more information on the show, which runs through November 14, visit the Falcon Theatre website.


And don't miss out on the Falcon's always entertaining holiday show. This year they're mounting a production called The First Jo-el (as in Billy) from December 1 through January 16. Tickets go on sale on November 9.

This Week's Inspirational Pop Culture Moments

Funny or Die takes on the very serious issue of voting, a Fairy Jobmother helps families get back on their feet, and Major League Baseball stands up to Cancer —here are this week's most inspirational pop culture moments.

A Celebrity Reminder to Vote: It Only Takes Ten Minutes 

Voting in next week's elections is no joke. But the masterminds at Funny or Die have gathered a group of actors to remind people that they shouldn't let the day slip by without dropping their pick in the local ballot box.

Among the socially conscientious stars are Aziz Ansari and his Parks and Recreation co-star Adam Scott, Ron Livingston from Office Space, and Donald Glover from Community. Their message—it takes ten minutes to vote and there are worse ways to spend that time.

They're even kind enough to suggest some alternatives.
 
Harold and Kumar star and former Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Engagement, Kal Penn, suggests that you could, "Stay on hold with your insurance company to dispute a denied claim."

Or, perhaps, like Mary Lynn Rajskub from 24 recommends you could, "Try to sell raw meat to people stuck in traffic" or "drink your espresso in a thousand tiny sips."

We think we'll just go to our local polling place next Tuesday. And we hope you do, too.
For more of this week's inspirational pop culture moments visit Beliefnet.com.

An Interview with Hayley Taylor, The Fairy Jobmother

Photo by Lifetime

The Fairy Jobmother premieres tonight on Lifetime at 11:00 PM. It's one part Supernanny, one part The Apprentice, and one part Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The show centers around a take no prisoners host, Hayley Taylor who gets to the route of the problem, during a series of job interviews that can change some one's life forever. And it pretty much guarantees that the audience will cry each and every week from the heartwarming stories.

Hayley is an international career specialist who travels the country helping financially devastated unemployed families get back on their feet through a series of tough love tasks and motivational approaches.

We spoke with Hayley about what advice she has for getting back on your feet financially and the most rewarding aspect of the doing the show.

Q: With so much reality television on the air these days, what will help a show like the Fairy Jobmother stand apart from other reality based series?

HAYLEY: I think the answer to that would be that we don’t just deal with the unemployment. We go back and deal with everything that caused the general feelings of depression and low self-esteem and low self-confidence and address absolutely every issue. I think that’s the thing that makes Fairy Jobmother stand apart because with a lot of documentary and reality programs, what you see is what you get. What we’re trying to do is make something that has a lasting impression, a lasting affect on the families that we work with.

Q: Where did you find the families that you helped? How were they located? Were did they come from?

HAYLEY: Studio Lambert, they sent out a casting call for families, families that weren’t employed to see if we could help them, who wanted to come forward. We have a research team also… and then we look through the families and we see who need it the most.

Q: While you were living and working with these families, was there anything that you learned that surprised you that you hadn’t anticipated?

HAYLEY: That actual thing I think that hit me the most was the amount of debt that some of the families were in. That was the overriding thing that hit me more than anything else. They’ve obviously gotten themselves into situations where it’s not easy to get out of. Bills aren’t being paid. They’re struggling to try and manage... I think I would say it was the debt. The debt was the overriding thing that struck me most.

Angela Kinsey & Ellie Kemp on "The Office" Halloween Episode

Tonight The Office brings us a very special Halloween Episode. There's a costume contest at Dunder-Mifflin, which will no doubt turn ugly.

We spoke with Angela Kinsey and Ellie Kemp about their costumes on the show, their real life Halloween ideas, their favorite childhood memories of the holiday, and whether or not Ellie had any advice for newcomer Timothy Olyphant.

See what they had to say:

Angela Kinsey and Ellie Kemper on Their Office Halloween Costumes

Angela Kinsey and Ellie Kemper on Their Real Life Halloween Costumes

 

Angela and Ellie on Their Favorite Childhood Halloween Costumes

Angela and Ellie on Ellie's Advice to Timothy Olyphant  

The Sound of Music Cast Reunites after 45 Years

Here’s the thing about Oprah Winfrey. She knows how to suck people in. Clearly she’s been building her army of followers for decades—wooing them with free cars and trips to Australia, tugging at their heartstrings with human tragedy, and luring them into her book club.

We admit, we’ve been holdouts—never willing to put her on our daily DVR list. But Oprah rises above the other hosts for one reason—tenacity. Slowly but surely she captures the stragglers who have managed to elude her net.

So, how is Op finally converting the Passionistas to her fold? How else? Musicals. Today, Lady O is reuniting the cast of The Sound of Music, bringing them together for the first time in 45 years.

It may not be surprising that the Von Trapp children will all be present and accounted for (answering to each personalized whistle sound we hope). After all, Oprah doesn’t call computer programmers and floral designers every day. The real treat is that, not only will the legendary Julie Andrews appear, but Christopher Plummer will be on hand as well.

Plummer was notoriously absent from the 40th anniversary party, despite the fact that he contributed commentary to the DVD. And it’s long been reported that he refers to the film as The Sound of Mucus. Hopefully, Oprah will get the real scoop on his feelings about the classic.

But maybe Plummer was just too busy in 2006 to swing by the soiree. After all, he’s an acting machine. In fact, at 81 he’s still going strong. He garnered a Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar nomination last year for The Last Station and he’s been cast in the highly anticipated The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo due out next year.

Despite the sad truth that Julie Andrews blew out her flawless voice many years ago, she too, is still in high demand. This year alone she appeared in Tooth Fairy and voiced characters in Shrek Forever After and Despicable Me.

But what of the Von Trapp children? Here’s a rundown:

Charmian Carr—Liesl

According to IMDb, Carr made only one film in her entire career. Luckily for her it was The Sound of Music. After a couple of TV appearances in 1965 and 1966, she married and left showbiz to be a full-time mother. When here kids were grown she became an interior designer with clients like Michael Jackson and her onscreen sister Heather Menzies, who played Louisa. In 2000, she released a memoir called, Forever Liesl: A Memoir of The Sound of Music.

Nicholas Hammond—Friedrich

There are urban legends about lots of child actors—who really did play Richie Petrie, anyway? But some Sound of Music fans might be surprised to learn that Nicholas Hammond really did play Peter Parker in the live action ‘70s TV series The Amazing Spider-Man. Actually, he’s had a steady career in television and film his whole life.

Heather Menzies-Urich—Louisa

After playing the squeaky clean Von Trapp daughter Louisa in Sound of Music, Menzies decided to tweak her image a bit. In 1973, she did a nude pictorial for Playboy and her most famous non-Music roles are in the cult classics Piranha and Logan’s Run. But her greatest off-camera achievement is her 27-year marriage to Spenser: For Hire and Vega$ star Robert Ulrich until his death in 2002.

Duane Chase—Kurt

Like Carr, Chase left show business not long after the Sound of Music. A former fire fighter for the forestry service, he’s now a software engineer who lives in Redmond, Washington.

Angela Cartwright—Brigitta

Angela Cartwright was the only Von Trapp child that had a big career before signing on to do the film. She had already been acting on TV and in movies for nine years and starred on The Danny Thomas Show. Her career continued to skyrocket after the film when she joined the cast of the TV show Lost in Space. She’s continued to act and had her own boutique in Toluca Lake, California. In 2009, she reunited with her former Lost in Space cast mates Bill Mumy, Marta Kristen, and Jonathan Harris for the animated short The Bolt Who Screwed Christmas. It would be Harris’ final performance. Her latest project is another holiday movie called Elf Sparkle and the Special Red Dress, due out in 2011.

Debbie Turner—Marta

Turner retired from acting not long after the film and became a bit of a ski bunny. She met her husband on the slopes and went on to become the West Coast racing champion. The mother of four daughters lives in Minnesota and has her own floral design company called The Vinery, which provides arrangements to upscale weddings and events. She also creates collectible Santa Clause dolls.

Kym Karath—Gretl

The youngest Von Trapp child went on to have a career in television before getting a degree in Humanities from USC and moving to Paris to model and study art history. She, too, took time off to raise a son but is back in Hollywood pursing her career in acting again.

Hollywood Treasure Star Joe Maddalena’s Quest for the Ruby Slippers

Ever wish you could own a piece of movie history? What would you pick? We personally would love to have Mary Poppins carpet bag. And, interestingly enough, we just talked to the guy who has it.

Joe Maddalena is the master of movie memorabilia. The son of antique dealers, Maddalena has always had a passion for collecting and even started the first baseball card show in Rhode Island when he was just 12 years old.

He went on to found Profiles in History, the premiere memorabilia company on the planet. It seemed only a matter of time before Joe got his own show and that time has come. Hollywood Treasure premieres tonight at 10:00 PM PST/9:00 PM Central on Syfy.

We recently spoke to Joe on a conference call interview and he told us about how the show came about, some of his best finds, and the ongoing quest for Dorothy’s ruby slippers ($10,000 reward and all).

Daytimes True Supercouple: Bill and Susan Hayes

Photo by Pop Culture Passionistas

In 1968, 43-year-old actor Bill Hayes joined the cast of the soap opera Days of Our Livese. Little did he know how important a decision that would be. He’d earn two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series playing Doug Williams, stay on the show for over 40 years and counting, and most importantly found the love of his life.

Now that last part might sound like a made up soap storyline but it isn’t.

The same year that Bill signed on to Days, a 25-year-old actress named Susan Seaforth joined the cast, playing Julie Williams. On-screen, Doug and Julie fell in love and became daytime’s first supercouple. Off-screen, Bill and Susan married in 1974.

They became so popular they actually appeared on the cover of Time magazine in 1975. And, when Doug and Julie wed on camera, they exchanged the same vows as the real-life couple had on their big day.

Sadly for many Days fans, Doug and Julie’s marriage didn’t last. But Bill and Susan are still going strong.

We talked to them on behalf of the Archive of American Television at an event Celebrating 45 Years of Days of Our Lives. And honestly, we’ve never seen a cuter couple—especially in Hollywood. See them finish each others’ sentences in this exclusive interview.

Bruno Schiavi & Ashley Johnson on the Biggest Loser Clothing Line

Last week celebrity stylist and clothing designer to the stars Bruno Schiavi released a Biggest Loser activewear apparel line for the average women, BL Body. It contains items they can work out in and feel good doing it. During Bruno's research he went to the BL ranch and met Season 9 second runner-up Ashley Johnston.

Bruno asked Ashley to be the spokesperson for his line because as he said, "She's a prime example. She's an inspiration to women not just in the U.S., but around the world. She lost more than 187 pounds on the show."

BL Body has hit the Home Shopping Network while Ashley and Bruno have hit the streets to promote it. The line features shaping panels so every piece lifts and tugs exactly where it needs to. As Bruno said it holds in your "jiggly bits."

And instead of a dark or black color palette, BL Body designs come in an array of the bright, vibrant Biggest Loser team colors. All 27 styles come in XS-3X to accommodate any size and body type.

Check out our interview with Bruno talking about why he chose Ashley as the BL Body spokesperson.

Also check our YouTube page to see more about BL Body and the message behind the fashions, Ashley's diet hints during the holidays, and Bruno's tips for dressing your best at parties.

For other celebrity interviews check out:

Our Interview with Mary Ann, Cissy, and MaryAnne

Nina Garcia Discusses Project Runway

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A Set Visit with the Cast and Crew of Elevator

We recently visited the set of Elevator, an independent film that takes place on, you guessed it, an elevator. During a party for the Barton Investment Company, nine people end up trapped in the elevator of a Manhattan hi-rise and discover someone has a bomb. The result is a story of racial tension, financial scandal, scorned lovers, and revenge.


The key here is that the action occurs ENTIRELY on an elevator. With the exception of one brief establishing scene at the start of the film, the nine-member cast spends 90 minutes confined to a small metal box as the drama unfolds around them.


It is written and produced by Marc Rosenberg, a Texas native transplanted to Australia, who is back in the States making his first U.S. film with Norwegian director Stig Svendson. Tor Arne Øvrebø, Svendson's line producer on many projects prior to Elevator, is also producing and handling post back in Norway.


Ovrebo, described the movie saying, "It's not only a thriller, but it's also a social commentary of archetypes of society."


Marc told us the idea for the film was an effort to make a low- budget movie with a very simple production. He stated, "The film just came out of trying to keep an intensity going in a limited location over 90 minutes. So we had nine different stories. And making it current led us to incorporating some of the drama with the economic meltdown."


The nine stories in the suspense film are told by a few familiar faces. Most in the spotlight these days is John Getz who plays morally corrupt investment banker Henry Barton. Getz is in the current box office hit The Social Network in the role of Mark Zuckerberg's lawyer.


Read more about Elevator after the jump and see a slideshow of the cast and crew at Examiner.com.

Goodbye to the Heart of Hershey, PA

 

There are so many national treasures that we haven’t seen yet. Someday we’ll make it to Mount Rushmore. Inevitably we’ll pull over to check out the world’s largest ball of twine. And, one of these days, we swear we’re going to take that ferry and walk all the way to the top of Lady Liberty’s crown.

Sadly, we’re going to have to cross one item off of our pop culture to do list without having been able to experience it. Despite our deep passion for chocolate, and our love of a good “making of” tour, we are never going to be able to walk the floor at Milton Hershey’s place in Pennsylvania.

Granted, tourists haven’t been allowed to actually tour the original facility for some time—now the famous smokestacks are spotted from the monorail. Instead, they can visit Hershey’s Chocolate World nearby, take a simulation ride of the candy making process, play with packaging, and ride an old fashioned trolley. But once upon a time, families could go to the town of Hershey and actually see their favorite chocolate bars made right before their eyes.

Milton knew not only how to please the fans, but the best way to keep his employees happy, too. He even built them their own amusement center in 1907, Hersheypark, which later opened to the public and has expanded to over 60 rides. Locals and visitors could enjoy a fun filled day under the nearby stacks of the Hershey Factory at the corner of Cocoa and Chocolate avenues.

But things are a little less joyful there these days. The old manufacturing plant is closing and a new state-of-the-art chocolate making facility will open on the outskirts of town. 500 employees will lose their jobs to modern technology. And Chocolatetown, USA just won’t smell as sweet.

This Week's Inspirational Pop Culture Moments

Photo by Pop Culture Passionistas

Too many stars gathered for Autism education, five sons from Sudan bust a move for their Mom, and one of TV's favorite daughters plays mother to needy kittens—here are this week's most inspirational pop culture moments.

Comedians Get Funny for Autism

Comedians gathered for a cause during the " Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Concert for Autism Education" which aired on Comedy Central on Thursday night. Hosted by "The Daily Show's" Jon Stewart, the evening featured performances, sketches, and a live auction raising money to help fight the neural disorder that affects one in every 110 children.

Stewart was joined on stage by Steve Carell, Ricky Gervais, Robin Williams, Tracy Jordan, Tom Brokaw, Julie Bowen, Dax Shephard, and many more. Also on hand was Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, the alter ego of writer/comedian Robert Smigel, who's been the driving force behind the charity and has a son with autism.

The highlight of the evening just might have been Chris Rock, who took part in the live auction. The highest bidder, a woman named Desiree, won a live, on-stage phone call by Rock to "curse out her ex." Desiree seemed thrilled to have Chris give her old beau a verbal beating for posting photos of another woman on his Facebook page.

Tina Fey's swimsuit calendar (featuring her head on scantily clad female models and a Mr. Universe-style body) was given to callers who donated more than $100. Fey joked she made it "because nobody gives money to charity unless they get something in return."

If you missed your chance to donate during last night's event, have no fear. The online portion of the auction continues through the weekend.

Currently the item with the highest bid is the Jon Stewart Rally To Restore Sanity signed poster going for $3,500. His on-screen rival Stephen Colbert is not fetching as much with his March To Keep Fear Alive autographed poster (currently at $1,025). Another big ticket item is a copy of Sarah Palin's autobiography signed by Tina Fey (current bid $1,009).

If your pockets are not that deep, you might consider bidding on a Spanish textbook signed by Joel McHale (current bid $127.50), a canned ham autographed by David Letterman (current bid $274.69), or an English Muffin bag signed by "The Daily Show's" John Oliver (current bid $89).

Since 2005 the "Night of Too Many Stars" had raised over $7 million for various Autism education charities. 


For more of this week's inspirational pop Culture Moments visit Beliefnet.com.

Susan Olsen Fosters Kittens for Precious Paws

Photo by Pop Culture Passionistas

Speaking of Bradys, we were excited to meet one of our favorite childhood TV stars recently, Susan Olsen who played Cindy on “The Brady Bunch.” And our enthusiasm quickly turned to inspiration when Susan told us about a cause near and dear to her heart—Precious Paws animal rescue.
 
Long before she got involved with the organization, Olsen has been saving kittens as an official Bottle Baby foster parent. She explained that process to us, “I would take in the little teeny-tiny kittens and puppies, although it’s almost 99% kittens that come in. And sometimes they don’t have their eyes open and they may still have their umbilical cords. They’re these little things that get left in front of the door at night. The shelter workers will come in the morning and there’s a box full of… kittens. And they don’t have the time to take care of them so they train people in the community to be bottle baby parents.”
 
Then she met Georgyne Lalone, Founder and President of Precious Paws, who also happened to be a former co-worker of Susan’s old “Brady Bunch” co-star Chris Knight. She told Susan how the organization originated following the 1994 earthquake. Susan told us, “She started doing rescue by saving… a feral colony on the Paramount lot. These cats were descendants of the cats I used to feed when I was a little girl growing up at Paramount.”

Georgyne asked how Susan could take care of the kittens and put them back into a shelter system, where no one knew what happened to them. Susan said, “Well, as far as I knew there wasn’t any alternative except adopt them all myself. And I’m not going to be the crazy cat lady in the neighborhood. And [Georgyne] said, ‘No, work with me and you’ll usually meet the people who adopt your babies.’”
 
Olsen isn’t the only celebrity chipping in at Precious Paws. An upcoming auction ,which starts on October 28, will feature items donated by a wide range of stars. Fans can vote on everything from “My Fair Brady’s” Adrienne Curry’s BHC Chopper to lunch with Susan and Erin Murphy, who played Tabitha on “Bewitched.”
 
To learn more visit the Precious Paws website.

How the Days of Our Lives Actors Are Like Their Characters

Soap opera characters have always been a little on the outlandish side—wild exaggerations of real life personalities. And some soap actors play a part for so long, their fans can't distinguish between the person and the character.

So at the recent red carpet event Celebrating 45 Years of Days of Our Lives at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, we couldn't help but ask the cast members how they are similar to their characters and how they are different.

See how Alison Sweeney, Ty Treadway, Nadia Bjorlin, Shelley Hennig, Molly Burnett, Galen Gering, Joe Mascolo, and other cast members compared themselves to their on-screen counterparts in this video we shot for the Archive of American Television.

For other celebrity interviews check out:

Days of Our Lives Turns 45

The Real Housewives Take Over Beverly Hills

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The Real Housewives Take Over Beverly Hills

Photo by: Adam Olszewski/Bravo

Many people would contend that there isn’t much that’s real in Beverly Hills. But the new school of housewives on Bravo’s powerhouse franchise might disagree. The latest clique, includes a pair of former child star sisters, a soon to be ex-Mrs.-TV-star, and the owner of a mega-sports franchise. And as with the stars in the other shows of the series, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills promise to pack just as much drama—with a touch more Hollywood glamour to boot.

In a recent conference call interview, we spoke with co-owner of the Sacramento Kings Adrienne Maloof, Nanny and the Professor Star Kim Richards, and restaurateur Lisa Vanderpump. Sadly, Kelsey Grammer’s almost-former wife, Camile wasn’t a part of the call, but as we saw in last week’s premiere we’ll get to see plenty of her in the season ahead.

See what Adrienne, Kim, and Lisa had to say about what separates their series from the other Housewives’ shows and what makes them distinctly Beverly Hills.

Kathy Garver is Cooking up a Family Affair

Photo by Pop Culture Passionistas

While some little girls were dreaming of being Marcia Brady or Laurie Partridge, we had more cosmopolitan tastes. We wanted to be Cissy from Family Affair. After all she lived in a high-rise apartment in New York City, with a gruff but lovable uncle, and a butler. That beats the heck out of sharing a bathroom with five siblings, if you ask us.

So meeting Kathy Garver, who played Cissy on the show’s run from 1966 to 1971, was a real treat. Kathy was at Larry Edmunds Bookshop in Los Angeles recently for a signing of her book The Family Affair Cookbook.

There, she was joined by two more Hollywood TV legends—Dawn Wells aka Mary Anne from Gilligan’s Island and Alison Argnrim, Little House on the Prairie’s Nellie Oleson. Garver had met Arngrim at a TV Land convention and has known Wells for a long time, reuniting with her on a Still Hip Chicks from the ‘60s special that also included Barbara Eden from I Dream of Jeannie and Barbara Feldon from Get Smart.

The women have an understandable bond, which Garver described, “We shared that common experience of doing a television series… during a time where there was a kind of a goodness about the shows that were on.”

And like her friends and fellow authors, Garver went to her TV roots when it came time to write her first book. She explained how the idea came about, “I had been cooking for a while and I had been gathering recipes. I was going to write a biography type of thing—All that Glitters or Surviving Cissy—but I wanted to cook. So I got all my recipes together and was starting to do it."

But Kathy had a few obstacles to overcome first, “ My house burned down in 2003… So I lost a lot of recipes, a lot to water damage. And then my computer crashed. And so then I had to regroup.”

But the optimistic actress, who frequently gives a speech called the Power of Preserverance found a silver lining, telling us, “The timing actually happened to be very good because they were coming out with the [Family Affair] DVDs.”

And the book is well worth the wait for fans of Family Affair and food. Kathy discussed how the two are married together, “The beginning of the book, it’s all whenever a food was mentioned on Family Affair there’s a corresponding recipe. So when there were grape leaves, it says what episode it was in and who mentioned it.”

And each of Cissy’s family members are represented. Obviously Mr. French gets a chapter, which Kathy defined as “much more sophisticated, very gourmet. It was back in the time of the rich and famous where they had pheasant under glass.”

While she personally enjoys Uncle Bill’s chapter, which she called “potent potables—martinis shaken and stirred and Manhattans.”

There are a few culinary goodies that were mentioned on Family Affair that didn’t make it into the book, she confessed, “There was some maple fudge that was mentioned and not in there and chicken marengo.”

But she has a solution to address the omissions—a second book, “Yes, the biggest oversight was the fudge. And [the next book] will be Surviving Cissy, with a couple added recipes.”

Beyond the recipes, Kathy includes some behind the scenes stories for Family Affair fans, she revealed, “There’s also anecdotes and how the show got started and what’s happening to the characters and the people now.”

We were happy to see that Kathy still has a deep affection for the show that made her a household name. When we asked her about her favorite episode, she quickly replied, “I think maybe ‘Waltz from Vienna.’ I am a quarter Austrian and I had a wonderful grandmother who lived to 1-0-1… So this took place in Vienna and I got to wear a beautiful gown. And one Christmas... I learned... on the piano ‘The Waltz from Blue Danube.’ Da-da-da-da-duh da-duh da-duh. So they played it in the episode. It was really very much of a Family Affair episode and I got to wear the pretty dress and my hair all up and it was about me marrying a prince. It was very kind of a lovely episode. That’s my favorite.”

And as for her time off-screen on the series, she has many fond memories of that as well. She shared this story with us about her downtime on the set, “The kids were young, I was 18 by this time, and they would have their little schoolroom set up. So I would go with Mrs. Deeny and the two little kids. And I’d say, ‘Oh, what are you guys doing?’ And they’d say, ‘Oh, we’re making potpourris and sticking cloves into an orange.’ [And I would say], ‘I’ll do that.’ A little bored hanging out so I did needlepoint and went into the classroom to make little cloves.”

In addition to the second book, Kathy has several other projects in the works. She records audio books including her most recent, Chicken Soup for the Soul: A Book of Miracles. She’s going to star as Sister Augustus in the upcoming film Santa’s Dog. She conducts voiceover classes at the Voice One Studio and has a talk show called BACKSTAGE! with Barry and Kathy along with her partner Barry Barsamian in San Francisco. And she still does those inspiring speeches.

So to what does she attribute her continued success in the dog eat dog world of Hollywood. She summed it up for us, “I’ve been in this business for over 50 years and I’m still here. Power of perseverance, my dears.”

For more pop culture stories read:

Our Interview with Mary Ann, Cissy, and Nellie 

A Conversation with the Star of A Conversation with Edith Head

A Very Special Florky Watch: Week 5

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