Behind the scenes on My Three Sons with Barry Livingston who reveals an incredible family secret

[Music] well Barry Livingston this is great to see you it's been a been a struggle to get together with you guys but cheers I know cheers look at that you got a nice nourishing cup of tea there very Christmasy got my snowman and all that oh wow it's be to see you again Barry and I also want to say that I spoke to your brother Stanley oh a month or two or maybe three back time does go like that doesn't it uh and ever since that interview went up here on Celebrity drop uh there have been a cavalcade an avalanche literally a tsunami of requests from fans of yours saying please Barry Livingston please can you bring us some Barry Livingston so look via the joys and wonders of Zoom here am I zooming into your Los Angeles home you're booming into mine and I know now officially there are fans all around the world very excited I'm shocked and always surprised urised that the uh it how much I've affected people and and how much my three sons obviously is still the 800 pound gorilla in my world uh but yeah it's it's lovely you know that that people still remember and are interested in what I'm doing now well it's not just my three sons you've had the most diverse and Showbiz rich life I mean think about it 66 years that you've been kind of burning things up in Tinsel Town yes I 66 years that's a hard number to swallow uh yeah you know I uh was lucky I started very young my mother was probably the the driving force and all of that not that that she had a burning desire to get us Stan my brother Stan who has preceded me in the business yes but U we we used to go to a swim school and this was back in the 50s in Hollywood and it was the baby boom and and at this particular public it wasn't a public pool it was a private pool but but a lot of Industry people would take their kids there producers directors casting people and we got spotted Miss Stan got spotted by somebody to stunt double uh for John Provost I believe in the original Lassie a drowning episode and so that started the ball rolling and the light bulb went off in my mother's head to go uh this could be fun and make a few shekels for the family and next thing you know we're in movies with Paul Newman and working with Azie and Harriet Nelson and U then my three sons came along and and that's where it all started your mom and dad though were not in the buiz anyway were they well uh yeah sort of they were they were from Baltimore my dad owned uh burlesque theaters and my mother was you know from dripsy Ros Lee she was a fand dancer you know a stripper pretty much well then how wrong am I they were in the biz they were in the biz but at a very low rung In The Biz but but to this day I I think it's I think it's a hoot and if you ever met my mother you you'd understand yeah she was perfect perfect material for that world and for that profession uh and so yes that that was their exposure to show business back in the day the theaters that they owned uh the Clover the globe they had a two or three that they had in Baltimore it was a 247 operation you know there would be the feature film The a movie the B movie a cartoon there would be a documentary there would be live acts comedians there would be dancers like my mother and and it went on all night long um you know so so that was they were familiar with Show Business and new stars and they knew the names of people but they didn't know anybody when they they came out here I guess in 1950 from uh from Baltimore and then you know wound up at the that pool that I was talking about and met people and that's sort of where it went do you ever remember as a kid your mother kind of practicing her fan dance around the living room No in fact I think it was I didn't find that out honestly till after she passed away and she sadly kind of died young uh and my aunt who is also a friend of hers back in the day she you know I always thought she she would always say oh I was a dancer I said oh great you know I'm picturing the you know the bolshoy ballet the you know Paris really high-end things and of course I was enlightened by my my andt who said oh no dear we were we were strippers we were we were like you know we were at Gypsy Ros Le fan dancers as a what and I was like oh everything then clicked I went oh okay cuse she was salty and swore like a pirate and drank and smoked pot and everything else you could figure and I went okay now that that makes perfect sense now now that I I found out that little clue uh yes that's that's who my mother was and so uh she was a a pretty wild free spirit so yeah oh how wonderful it sounds like she'd be the perfect Target of a a biop pick quite frankly look you booked your first movie role I think it was 1957 the Paul Newman Joanne Woodward movie rally round the flag boys how old were you well again it was another um serendipitous moment I I competed my brother to an audition at at 20th Century Fox Studios and he was reading for one of the uh one of the sons that Paul Newman and joean Woodward one of the characters in it you know in those days you go in I sat in the outer office with my mom producers come out with Stan after he read for them they go yeah we love your kid I think we're going to hire him and they go and they saw me sitting there and they go who's who's that and they go well that's his brother and they goes does he act and and she and you know I didn't know my mother's going you know elbing me nod yeah say yes and uhhuh and so they go well you know we're going to cast two two kids here so as it turned out I don't know if I went I don't even recall if I went in the room or they just gave me the role uh but that was that was the first job that I had was was playing Paul Newman and John Woodward's son in rally around the flag boys and you what about four or five years old four years old for but to complete the story to complete the story in the middle of I my eyes randomly you know uncontrollably started crisscrossing uh and I wasn't wearing glass classes at the time and the director and producer were getting very upset with me because they thought I wasn't look you know when you have crossed eyes you I can be looking at you but it looks like I'm looking across the room and they C got you know we shooting a scene and they wanted me to just look straight ahead at a TV and I thought I was and that's all I had to do in the scene really ignoring Paul Newman who had just walked into the room and said hi boys and we're just supposed to ignore them well it looked like I was looking over here when anyway this long story short they rushed me to a hospital and they because I thought maybe I was having a seizure or something and then they said no no no he's got he's got a problem with his eyes he's got a stigmatism he needs glasses came back to the set a day or two later and uh they said Barry needs glasses he got to wear glasses from now on and the director and producer looked at each other go we didn't see Paul Newman's son having glasses in this and so I was fired on the spot and I'm still in the movie in the very first scene I'm upside down because they joean Woodward and a guy Percy Kilbride who was a character actor had me I swallowed some coins and they were swinging me so the kid you see upside down that's me in the rest of the movie when the kid is standing upright or sitting it's it's a whole other child actor that they hired to replace me how did that feel at four years of age being unceremoniously dumped like that and yet your brother Stanley is still in the movie that must have hurt pretty crappy I remember remember very vividly strangely enough one of them my of being taken to a limousine put into and Paul Paul came into the the uh well in fact my mother made one of these grandiose statements because they said you know we have to let Barry go but he can be on you know he can stay on he can be the stand in for this other boy you know my mother went no no no no he's Barry's going to be a star so anyway Paul came in and you know was very sweet and you know and had some very nice kind words and don't worry kid things work out and then it was led to like a li limousine driven off the lot fired uh Welcome to Hollywood you know un just dropped like a hot potato and that was that was uh my my first big gig which you know lasted for about a week or so and then yeah well you know I think that's what they call baptism by five but at least you're in the movie but you had some remarkable memories of working with Paul like for instance he crawled inside the TV set to try and help you he really wanted to bring the best out of you didn't he well he knew the director Leo a guy named Leo McCary old school you know what this 19 uh 57 58 so Leo McCary had been around since the 20s probably silent era and he was an old-fashioned screamer you don't see these directors like that anymore and he was losing his mind screaming at me that I'm not paying attention and you need to look at the TV and then Paul intervened and said hey hey hey hey you know come on it's a little kid here you know like somebody get me a puppet you got you got the establishing shot you saw the kids on the sofa me walk in we'll do it in close-ups because he was thinking like a director already back then said somebody give me a puppet give oh it was a big old boxing 1950s St he climbed in it and started waving a little puppet at me and trying to keep my attention on on the box and they were getting a closeup of us and still you know it looked it looked weird to the camera that I wasn't paying attention so so Paul did his best to try to save my ass unfortunately wasn't good enough but he was great you know he you know Paul was famously an actor studio uh you know method actor kind of guy and he would come into the classroom this before I was fired and he'd sit down at the in our classroom and and try to go over homework with us or or math problems because he was really trying to establish a relationship with Stan and I as like you know a father a mentor so I didn't understand it then I just thought okay well whatever and but you know he was kind of taking the extra effort to to bond with us which I thought was really sweet you had a small role in a Jerry Lewis movie called The Aaron boy uh do you have any memories of Jerry Lewis At All uh I do recall him again I was very young but I do recall being filming the scene it's a kind of a funny little moment in the Aaron boy where we're on a studio lot we come into the candy store three kids and we keep making him going up and down a ladder to get jelly beans and I he was directing the film as well and had written it and starring in it and I do recall him being very manic just being manic that that as a kid to me caught my attention that he was running all over the place and you know behind the camera in front of the camera doing you know but at a very high speed and I thought that's really odd you know and I remember we were kind of they were doing practicing a dolly shot with the camera and he was so oblivious and so running around he just like right in front of the camera the guy like slammed into him and knocked him down I was like man this guy's you know he's nuttier than most kids I know but your star really began to shine in the 60s and you referenced it just a moment ago in that wonderful series The Adventures of Aussie and Harriet what are your memories of working on that show well you know again Stan had had opened the door there he he had already started doing some some guest roles on that aie was aware that I was an actor you know I'd done the Aaron boy and a couple other U feature films and things so he knew I was an actor and he I could see him kind of looking at me and and he was that kind of guy that he liked working with family and people that he could feel comfortable with and so he knew knew us through my my my brother working there and he said you know I'm going to put your your brother Barry in this one scene and and again strangely enough it was a school room a classroom scene and I was too short to to be seen by the camera at the back of the room to go up to the chalkboard and write something out I was like way down here and the kids heads were here and the camera was there so he uh said I don't think we can do this with Barry and anyway so one thing led to another Stan eventually got on my three sons very very quickly after that in 1960 I guess when my three sons was originally uh broadcast the pilot and everything and so then he started using me in place a stand so I wound up doing maybe 16 episodes of the aie har show got my first guest star billing on their show um they were just a lovely group of people lovely family you got to work with Lucille Ball in The Lucy Show on several occasions and of course there's that classic episode Barry where she gives you a haircut uh and I guess it's no great shock that that was actually a a wig uh that you were wearing that kind of made you look like a a young incarnation of Elvis what was the Lucille Ball like to work with that that you got to see well you know behind the scenes she was uh you know an executive producer had a lot of wasn't just an actress for hire she was obviously the star of the show but she a Taskmaster and when she didn't think a thing was funny or working she would make that quite well known to the writers and uh you know and she was she was blunt I mean she was she was she was in control and um very sweet to me and I actually I think I was already working at my three sons as the friend next door so literally I next door to my three sons Sound Stage was her stage where she was doing The Lucy Show yes and so she would you know I think she had her eye on me and she used me as Mr Mooney Gail Gordon was the boss at the bank and she worked in in this this series so I was Arnold Mooney uh in that episode and one other one I did where uh we were Boy Scouts and yeah you know eventually I got a bigger role on my three sons because I think she she requested to be you know I could be used again and the people that now had me under contract for and my three sons said no you know we need Barry on this exclusively and so um but I'd see her on the lot because she owned Desi Lou which was the studio that we worked at and uh you know she was always like you know I'd see her kind of racing by in her in her golf cart from her dressing room and offices down to the set and you have the bandana on the cigarette out of her mouth and and she'd be like all Barry and I was like oh jeez that's she just knew my name she just only ran me over too but but that was that was Lucy that just said hi to me and she knew who I was and that that always kind of that always kind of pleased and shocked me I do love that episode where gives you the haircut it truly is one of those Classics yeah that was that was another kind of fun little show to be part of 1962 you make a movie with Debbie Reynolds and I got to say it was a hell of a cast of fabulous people yes no I I I mean I'm gonna recite some of the names because I just it was Hans the the support was starring it was David Jansen clip Robertson Debbie Reynolds but then it was all the Alice gley Victor buono uh Hans con re on and on and on eight or nine really really top tier character actors that were in that as well um and G Champion was the director of it and uh he was a huge huge Broadway director at that time anyway yeah I was it was Debbie was wonderful she was she was everything that you probably thought she would be she was tremendously supportive and and and sweet and kind to the kids um and strangely enough she was actually doing double duty while we were shooting that she was you know probably the biggest female star in Hollywood at that point and she while she was shooting my six loves at Paramount on the weekdays she would fly out on on the weekends and go down to Kingman Arizona or and was shooting How the West Was Won and my brother Stan was playing her grandson in in that movie so she was getting a double dose of Livingston at that at that point but she um and she said you know she came to my mom one day and I something I've always kind of thought is a very nice thing and she said you know Barry Barry has natural comedic timing and she said it can't be learned you know but just know that that he that he has a natural com it's very relaxed very you know it's what it is you know you can't be forced and if you got it you got it and if you don't you don't so um I I always thought that was very cool if I'm remembering Alice Pierce who was glattus Kravitz from Bewitched was also in that movie you just referenced Alice goley who was umer I think wasn't she in Bewitched as well Jim bakus was another guy you know uh it's got to be two or three other names that I just the other day went through it again and going oh my God look at the cast that they assembled for this not just the top tier Stars yeah but every great character actor of that era you know was was part of this show seven eight nine really top tier people which which you know just said how much uh how how much clout and Prestige Debbie had at that time oh Absolut and there was little all you in the middle of it all and I was Sherman the toilet flusher yes that was but look 1963 few Along Comes My Three Sons uh you signed on as Ernie of course a role that turned you into arguably one of American television's first official nerds right I wear that mantle proudly I yes I think I was a uh prototype nerd because you know before that most of the kids on on TV series particularly were were really good-look little boys like much like my brother Stan they were usually blond haired and cherubic and lovely little little little specimens and I came along with you know wild bold cut and buck teeth and glasses and and um you know and it it was kind of a yeah I think it was just a dose ofy reality that was that was being introduced into to films that not every kid looked like like glassie and Johnny Provost or Stan Livingston they there was a few muts running around out there and I uh I kind of got that that tag and I think it uh it was it was a cool thing to have so just refresh my memory barriers to how Ernie came to be part of My Three Sons the My Three Sons family because he was the adopted son as I recall it yes I was uh why they felt they needed an adopted son and a friend next door I don't know but you know I think they're they I was never told because the original oldest son Tim conine who played Mike I think was already getting restless I think he he was looking for other things to do I know he wanted to direct some of the episodes and and they let him direct one I think MC Murray who was you know again the 800 pound gorilla in the room said I don't want my boys you know I don't want to be doing this regularly we'll give one shot and that'll be it so you know they maybe had me in the bolt pen they kind of brought me on as the Kid Next Door a friend of Chip and uh then you know when Tim who we all loved he's just a great great guy in fact I think he wrote me one of the best episodes that I had prior to being a son uh where I played James Bond had just exploded in in the world and I played you know some kind of secret spy in this little episode um but it was a takeoff on James Bond and Tim wrote the episode so he kind of really boosted my my profile on on the show and then when uh you know then again when Tim went uh and his contract was up they had somebody like me kind of waiting in the wings to come in again I don't know if that was pre-planned or just they just looked around and go oh you know this this will work yeah and they knew what I could do and they they all liked me and had already kind of established my my credibility in their little three sons family they knew me and they knew me from other work um so it was just a natural transition to become a son there was Don Grady of course who played Robbie you Stanley your older brother he was chip but it's interesting Barry a little bit of trivia because during the show's 12 year run there were actually I think four sons and a daughter yes there was uh Dodie was the little girl when when Beverly Garland came to the show in the last two or three years she had a daughter so that was a new new person to come into the fold um yeah and then the four Sons because it was really me Ernie chip Stan Don Grady is Robbie and and Tim conine is Mike so four Sons but you know the way television Works once Mike went man you never you never heard from him again I think he went to Peru and got lost in the jungle or something like that they said he in South America working on some project and that was it he never never name was never mentioned again and then there was the wives Tina Cole Ronnie troop so the cast kept growing you know by the end it was it was a lot of lot of regular characters Fred McMurray of course was the father but I mean he was a Hollywood Superstar you know I mean he'd been in movies like Double Indemnity and really he was one of the first Hollywood movie stars that kind of broke that mold didn't he became a television actor back in the days when that was almost unheard of how did you find Fred McMurray to work with was he an auster man was he warm and generous and friendly he was he was friendly cordial um never raised his voice at us or if something on the set that he didn't like you know you clearly understood he's the king of the of the Kingdom there uh but again he was not an effusive not a not a Jolly guy you know but not morose either he was a real Straight Arrow Midwestern American Midwestern guy and and uh no by this time in his career he had a he has twins that he adopted he was a family man he didn't really want to do edgy movies anymore he did a bunch of Disney films um he was very conscious of his of His Image as you know the Prototype American Dad so he was trying to live up to that I guess I mean you know but again he he was um you know like the head of the corporation we were the junior Executives all treated well with respect but not like ever invited to his house for a party or Christmas presents you know that just wasn't part of who Fred was but we all we all loved and respected him he was he was gen a genuinely sweet man but but again a little bit kept his distance between us and and and you know know that world well of course the thing about Fred McMurray is he was a really great saxophone player and there are rumors that he might have played the Sachs on that fabulous my three sons theme song is that true he loved money so unless they paid him scale plus 10 to come in and do that saxs part I seriously doubt he would have taken time away from his golf game to come in and record that that was somebody but I I do you know here's an example of Fred u i I wrote a song uh and it's you can find it up on YouTube It's called The Ballad of Fred McMurray and I just at one point about four five six years ago I said you know I'm gonna I'm gonna write a little tribute song to to dad and my brother Stan put together a really nice little video so I went to one of his daughters lri and I and I said you know I just want your approval and get your take on what you approve of it and and she loved it and it I think it's it's actually a really cool little song knew man I called him dad on a TV show my three sons but before leaving she said you know uh you know did I know you're a guitar player have you ever seen Dad's guitar and I said what I know he played sax you go oh no he was a really good guitar player I said you're kidding I mean he' saw saw me on the set you know day in and day out with my guitar trying to learn to play he'd walk by me he never never ever went oh I can let me show you something I can I know how to play the guitar too when Lori told me that I was like wow that that's just weird to me that that he would not have in that moment just gone hey that's pretty good I can do that too let me let me show you something no never and anyway she took me to a little little room and they had this beautiful Martin acoustic guitar I was like wow that's a really nice guitar it's probably worth 20 grand or something and she said oh yeah no he played with George Goble on on a on a George Goble special and he and George did some duet I was like you're kidding me I just I was Gob smacked I just went wow you out to know that guy for as long as I knew him and not know that he could play guitar and not not ever have a moment that he shared that with me I wasn't hurt but I just thought I guess that's Fred you know he was a very private guy and kept a lot you know his personal life out of off the set you think of my three sons and of course immediately you are hit by that incredible theme everyone knows it it's just one of the most iconic TV themes around the great Frank Deval I think created that he did the Brady Bunch The Love Boat and so many others but it is one of those TV themes it's an absolute earworm isn't it oh it's you know those the theme songs of that era are are famously uh embedded in people that my generation you know you hear that and it's like Manchurian Candidate it like triggers some some primal thing in your head that I recall all that where everywhere I was when I sitting in my parents you know living room on the floor watching it with the whole family so yeah Deval is probably the richest guy in Hollywood from all of those theme songs that he wrote because they they he cornered the market on on big iconic sitcoms and other things too but yeah he he he was a definitely classic in that era now William froley of course one of the the brilliant character actors he played Bob on my three sons the Granddad of course the rumors have flown around for a long time that he was fond of a little drink on a hot day sometimes you were tasked with getting him back to the lot uh after a lunch how did you manage to do that Barry well he he loved Stan and I uh and we were uh the only two people that he he he wouldn't chew out if we if we address the fact that you know lunch started at at noon and we're supposed to be back at 1 and it's 5 after one and he's still ordering another cyark uh you know and but if we would go oh hey Uncle Bill oh no we got to go back to work it's time to you know we got to go what what I finished my calou and ice cream and I got another drink coming and they go yeah but like and so you know oh all right you know and then he would get up and go back to work and and pretty much pass out sometimes in the afternoon because he just nodded off from having three or four doubles at lunch and uh you know you could never get away with that stuff today but they put up with it you know they actually indulged his you know let him do what his indulging was and uh you know whether Fred Fred could be very protective and I think he loved Bill too and you know if there was any indication that they were displeased with what he was doing I would guess that Fred stepped in and G you know no he's Untouchable we you know don't don't and William deis replaced him when William could not get pass an insurance physical that was what I'd heard is that coming up to season four or five everybody had to go to see a doctor to get approved that you're not going to drop dead in the middle of of shooting and you know and cost the company Millions so uh what I'd heard is that that bill was was very his heart was so weak and so undetectable that they said you just can't you know he's he's on the verge of something catastrophic so they they uh sadly had to make a decision and go you know he's we're going to have to cut you loose which he he he really was upset about because he you know at that stage of his life he he had found fulfillment in being everybody's favorite you know grandfather and so um he didn't really want to go but you know that's the way the business works like I got fired when I was four years old old yes him when he was 84 uh and then you know there was that weird day where there was the crossover where they brought in William demist and they I think they had been lifelong competitors throughout the 20s and 30s and 40s and 50s because they were cut from the same cloth and they were professionals but icy I could see the icy kind of relationship that they had because you know they had a handing off the Baton here handing off the apron to the kitchen and uh then William Demis kind of moved in but again he was not he was not a little more of a prickly little little little little edgier kind of grouchier but yeah a grumpy bum a grumpy bum I think your your brother Stanley described him as not mean but but not the funny kind of alcoholic that that William fry was he was kind of a lovable guy and always like liked to make us laugh and and Demis was a little little different in that area Don Grady passed away it was 2012 you saw him not long before he left the world what what took him Barry well I think he got a very aggressive form of cancer in the jaw um and I you know it's after all after the fact you know Monday morning quarterbacking that he he he didn't really address it with traditional medicine uh right away you think he tried to do holistic things and and um you know maybe maybe it would have progressed anyway but in the end he tried to do the more traditional chemo and radiation all that but it just was too advanced and um you know he eventually succumbed to to cancer on a lighter note was the family dog in my three sons and he had this extraordinary neck for being able to lick your ears I wanted to know how it was that was able to lick your guy's ears lick on Q well lick on Q that's it little thing called Gerber's baby food which apparently had a real love of and they would smear a little of it behind your ear and uh and you know that was the key that was the that was the trick that if you were going to get a big smooch from he was just going up there to get that baby food off your face and uh that was the trick I knew there was a secret there Barry I did um tell me about riding around in Elvis Presley's limo I uh again right place right time I was shooting my six loves at Paramount and Elvis was on the lot shooting one of his movies at Paramount and um I was on my bike you know killing some time just riding around the lot blowing off some some kids Steam and the Lim big white limousine was parked outside of a a sound stage and was idling the back door was open and I kind of thought oh this looks cool and I stopped and stuck my head in looked and like oh wow look at that you know a limousine o i was you know really impressed by limousines and still am I guess but when you're a kid a Cadillac limousine that's pretty crazy and it was you know all tricked out inside it was you know all fur and gold and white leather tuck roll leather and then um and a television it was like oh wow a television and a car couldn't believe that you know this is 1962 or three and I was like holy that's like Jetson's kind of kind of the future is here today and then I heard a voice behind me going oh yeah you like it son you know turned around it was who it's Elvis you know a big fan so uh he hopped in said uh you know just had it customized delivered you know Chuck Baris did some work on it want to go for a ride and I was like oh yeah sure you know great and uh you know I looked around my mother would have probably freaked out if she saw me get in a car with somebody but I went hell with that it's El I'm going and uh so none we didn't say much and in retrospect too it's funny and didn't occur to me till not not not that long ago Sam Nelson who who is Rick Nelson's son were friends and he said you know Elvis was a huge fan of the Aussie and Harriet Show he loved Rick and he loved watching that show and I went of course he knew me from the Aussie and Harriet Show I wasn't just some random kid you know standing next with limousine go come you want to come with me kid he he knew I was an actor and he knew me from azy and Harriet I was like of course that makes total sense why he would think me as a as a fellow actor and this would be cool so uh anyway yeah you know we didn't do much 10minute little drive around a lot and he started pushing buttons and window going up and down and turned on the TV and we watched Popeye the Sailor the cartoon and uh and little chitchat that you know nothing terrible had a Coke and came back to where we started and see a kid you know and that was it and what did you say to your mom when I finally did tell her whatever it was a week or two a year later she was like what well how come I didn't get to go you know like one of those things I was like you weren't there I don't know you know it just happened by accident uh so um yeah you know it was fun it was crazy your career flourished as a child star and of course you've continued working consistently couple of years ago now you wrote a bestselling Memoir The Importance of Being Ernie but you were very candid in that Barry talking about the fact that there were some wild moments with you you didn't go completely off the The Rails uh which is a blessing but you you did have your moments didn't you did my share of drinking did my share of smoking did my share of other things nothing nothing terribly dangerous nonetheless that's what all my peers were doing and I and and my peers at North Hollywood High School maybe somewhere in Cleveland it wasn't going on as as as much but in Hollywood North Hollywood particularly it was it was a hot bed of rock and roll and you know everybody's tuning in turning on dropping out yeah I wasn't doing that because I still had a job that I had to take care of uh but nonetheless I was participa I was connecting to my peer group and and uh yeah you know I mean it it could have gone the other way I think for some of my other friends it might have of that era uh they indulged a little too much but again I I I found it to be you know certainly one of the best times of my life growing up and I'm you know I'm grateful that I went back to public school and was exposed to a lot of things that had I gone to uh the Hollywood Professional School which is where a lot of child actors went a very very you know protected insulated world not a good thing you know I mean I was I was challenged by a lot of of my peers that uh suddenly you're in algebra class and Ernie is sitting next to you you know like okay I'm gonna I'm gonna pick on this see see see where this goes it was it was a good experience all the way around what's interesting too when your Hollywood career slowed a bit and it happens as everybody kind of transitions through life you moved to New York you took acting classes and you start on Broadway so that was a whole new dimension to your career wasn't it well and again my parents you know in in their one of their wiser moments of of advice was um you know you've got to train if you really want to pursue this as as a professional not just a child actor who gets by on his cuteness and you've got to learn craft and you've got to be uh you know you've got to feel confident that you're that you're can handle all kinds of different roles so yes I I and i' loveed the theater when you know was a late teen and in my 20s and I went a I read the book good night sweet prince about the life of John baramore and I thought well that sounds cool and I think I'd like a little of that fun and uh so yes I I was very fortunate um that was probably 75 but i' had done another series after my three sons called Sons and Daughters um it was a very cool show in about the 50s and and CBS aired it for season but and then I had done a number of well in fact one of the the biggest prompters to to pursue a real profession was Rody McDow when I did movie called the elevator was a very very big child star in the 40s I guess 30s 40s uh and I I said whatat did you do Rody you know I know you you've transitioned really well into an adult career and he said go to New York go to New York you know you'll learn about life you'll learn about U you know your craft uh you'll get outside of the crazy you know BS of Hollywood and uh find your find yourself and so that was great advice and uh and yeah I was very fortunate to kind of fall into a couple of really big shows back there um and make some lifelong friends and establish a whole other sense of who I was in a in a very different environment so um yeah it was it was really fortunate and that you know that helped that transition period coming out of a Big Show and being known as Ernie you know uh forever the nerd so uh you know I mean I I wore that well I liked being Ernie but I was had my eye on the future and that was a place to go and and work with me I mean some people you go there and sit on your butt for the rest of your life but I got very lucky real quick there and then of course you came back to Hollywood and for the past gosh 20 years you've start in some of the biggest shows there's been around Mad Men the nanny Will and Grace NCIS the westwing has there been a favorite role for you of of all of those television credits you've notched up well I'd have to go decade to decade because there's just so much but probably post my three sons early 70s I did Streets of San Francisco with Michael Douglas and and Carl Malden that was a highlight uh you know in the 80s I had a really nice recurring role on Lois Lois and Clark The New Adventures of Superman played uh Sheldon Bender Lex Luther's lawyer that was fun H into the 90s I started doing some feature film work Masters of the Universe uh that was a trip to do that and uh and then you know started doing some really top-notch big love was a i just discovered a note in my my drawer the other day a very very sweet note from Bill Paxton I had sent him some note I don't know what I was talking about even but his response was congratulations absolutely something to brag about best regards bill and I was like what the heck did I even I forget what I even mentioned to him but he was you know most supportive genuine great actor um but big love was great working with Harry Dean Stanton and mad madman was a was a great experience um yes it's hard to single out I mean most recently I think we discussed a little bit notorious Nick was a a feature film what a great movie because that was based on a real story old story about a guy named Nick n who only had one arm he's born with a congenital defect so he only had you know one good really arm to sock with his left arm maybe it was his right his forearm was deformed had didn't have anything there but he persevered against all the naysayers and the people who said don't follow your dream and you know and he got into MMA against everyone's advice and you're going to get your ass kicked every time you go out they brain damage nonetheless he uh ignored all the those people and pursued a career that led him to finally fighting for the MMA championship in his Division and and winning you got to work with the great Clint Eastwood when he was directing the Jersey Boys movie was that pinch yourself wow moment it was it was really the the pinch yourself wow moment for me was not not just working with Clint is Clint is old school you know rightly so the old guys before there was v a video capture feed you know now everybody sits what they call video Village and they're far away from the actual set sometimes the director a few other people that are watching the cam with the camera's filming and then they'll shout out something or assistant director will come up and give you a note from the director but but Clint liked to stand next to the camera like the old guys would do stand the camera and look at you watch your performance in real time and so you know he doesn't say action doesn't say cut you know they go okay lights camera um you know take speed and he and then is the you're waiting for the director to say action he doesn't say that he goes whenever you're ready in a very kind of dirty hairesque voice whenever you're ready and you go oh my God I was ready I was ready till I heard that until I heard Dirty Harry talking to me off camera that was weird uh you get used to it and then he doesn't say cut he goes stop and you go oh okay it's not cut it's stop uh and whatever you know it was it was a thrill to to actually work with with a legend like that I can imagine Adam Sandler too I read somewhere Barry that um he cast you in one of his movies but moreover he is a My Three Sons Super Fan you know I did a little movie in his Universe called Dicky Roberts former Child actor and and happy Madison which is his company produced it um small role the little Cameo kind of thing and and then one day I was on the lot over at Sony and I knew his where's offices were and I thought yeah I'll be a little proactive here I'll go over there and try to you know say hi if he's there if he's not nobody was in the office and I walked out but as I left he came speeding up in his golf cart covered in sweat he's a big basketball fan like player I went okay you know here it goes I go hey Adam I don't know I'm Livingston oh man oh yeah I said yeah I did Dicky Roberts and oh oh yeah yeah yeah sure sure I said man I'd love to be one of your movies sometime oh sure I'll put you in one my movies yeah absolutely no problem I was like okay great so from that point on I would get a call and then probably he did maybe one two three movies in a row he did The Longest Yard a couple other things kind of came along and I'd get a call to come in and read and I know my agent's not not getting that making that happened so I always went well that's must be Adam anyway finally got to You Don't Mess with the Zohan I got the call to come in and read and and then they were like okay met read with casting and then I got a call coming can you go to a table read and you don't have the role yet but you know they're requesting you go to a table read which is all the you know stars of the show and it's at the studio and but you know I thought well you're still auditioning really I mean you know anyway Adam came up behind me and he goes oh see she I told you I'd get you something good I told you and I was like this is like five years later I'm going oh my God this guy remembered you know after the reading he kind of gives me the thumbs up and I'm going damn you know that was that was that was cool uh and lo and behold I got the part so you know he he's a mench he's a good man well of course and there was a My Three Sons day declared in Los Angeles back in 2012 that must have been kind of surreal yeah that was surreal everything's surreal at this point but you know that that seemed extra surreal just that that uh you know that somebody City Hall I guess um I forget who the city councilman was that put that forward um but nonetheless yeah my three sons I don't know what it gets me a free free you know dut in the cafeteria at City Hall or something you know get out of jail free card or something but fun oh you got to get into jail first that's the thing Mar isn't it but I tell you what not only is your career flourishing and right now you're in general hospital playing the carut which for you must be a bit kind of odd because however many years ago didn't you play a role of somebody ra who had an axe in their back well you know I'm a honestly I'm a journeyman actor and I get whatever roles come along some are nice some are not so nice I usually take whatever comes to me uh but yes I did to General Hospital probably 20 years ago and I played uh you know real minor little role but I was an ER Doctor Who stumbles into like you know the operating room and got an axe in my back with some Maniac embedded into my skull or something it was like well so uh that was it I I kind of knew that was not going to be a recurring role fast forward 20 years later I'm I'm U playing a coroner in a couple episodes of General Hospital um but you know I've done I I had a nice I've had a nice recurring role on Bosch the medical examiner on Bosch for you four four or so episodes so uh maybe they saw that and thought you know he he he can play that guy so lessons in chemistry of course lessons such a great show such a great great show um it was so much fun to work with Bri Brie Larson and Bo Bridges who I talked to him a little bit and he was oh yeah I was like one of my very first shows was with you I was like really goes yeah yeah yeah you know my three sons one of my very you know was just starting out and I got a roll probably one of Robbie's friends or something and you know had a small role in in my three sons and so yeah it was it was fun Mrs Davis of course that wonderful miniseries with Betty Gilpin um you're naked in that you notice how that feel it's difficult not to notice look at my age I thought what have I got to hide it was an interesting day at the office I never had done anything quite like that I knew it would be done discreetly and then Betty was supposed to take her clothes off too although I i' heard after the fact she um you know she had a stunt double and body double you didn't you you were all you I hope all me baby it's all me right fabulous but it it read pretty quick you know clearly he's legs are crossed sitting at a bar all the important bits are not being shown uh but nonetheless everything else boom you know take it for what it is uh so yeah it was it was oddly liberating and it was it was kind of a blast it was kind of a fun day uh they treat you you know very carefully these days you know people are very conscience conscientious about meing anybody and not saying their own things and being being polite and not uh so um I you know they have a an intimacy coordinator is a new job on set but you know they they get your robed up and the second they get ready to shoot they take the robe off and you're sitting there and you're going it's kind of chilly sudden I was little pretty good with that robe on now and then uh but then you know you have the scene very funny scene very very lovely scene uh and uh and so and Betty was great and then you know cut and then they come up and wrap you up and so you know it was it was fun and during the strike it was funny the actor strike recently I was walking down the street at Paramount and I was going to you know march with the strikers and a guy was parking his car on the street and he goes hey hey can you help me get in it's a tight spot and I said yeah yeah true anyway he Parks I go down walk and he comes walking at me goes were you and Mrs Davis I said oh yeah and of course I I was naked and then I know where he's going with this and he goes I wrote that scene he says I I'm the guy who wrote that scene for his name is alal rodon because I was one of the producers I wrote that scene I was like oh my god well here let me give me a big hug because that that was one of my favorite little little spots little Littlest rolls recently and it's a very funny little scene you'll have to watch it well I also think that somewhere in in the afterlife your mother she'd probably be thrilled she was probably looking down and smiling and going good boy yes yes but you make sure you get paid you don't take your clothes off without getting paid and uh fortunately I I got my paycheck uh well you know something else uh that that deserves some fabulous Applause thunderous even uh because not only is your career flourishing but you've been blissfully wed to your wife Karen since 1983 and that is 40 years Barry Livingston another odity in Hollywood a four deade en counting happy marriage how how did that happen I have the most tolerant levelheaded bright the sweetest human being on in the world as my partner you know if I can only do half as much for her as she does for me I I I I think it would be it would be somewhat reciprocating uh but yes we we are a fairly good match and uh it's wonderful you know I mean how how lucky I me I went through a few pretty weird relationships prior to meeting my wife um I'll tell you my real quick we're probably ending things here but I but we met at a bar in 1980 uh a very large kind of a big big club and it was around 11:30 and it was a real meat market it was just you know people hooking up left and right right during the Urban Cowboy area so loud loud country music blaring and I'm sitting at the bar and I'm smoking a cigarette and she sat down next to me and I'm going oh well that's lucky me and so anyway we spoke for a few seconds or so and I said let's go somewhere quieter because it's it's uh you know it's so loud in here I can barely hear you we walk outside Saturday night 11:30 crowds out on the sidewalk and I spot this girl laying on her flat on her back in the on the lawn in front of this restaurant club called it's the red onion and I said well let's go over and see if she's okay it looks weird walk up to the girl and she's drenched in blood her her dress she had a white dress on as we got closer I thought oh it looks what's that roses like oh my God and she had slashed her wrist we're we're about 15 minutes into our relationship here at this point and I'm going and she was in med school and so uh she uh immediately sprung into action tied a tourniquet the girl she'd listen she goes she's breathing but she has no pulse this is 1980 there's no cell phones there's no 911 so I had to run back she go get help so I ran back in plowed through a line which nobody was happy about that because I'm trying to get to the front of the the you know the entrance and I finally got there and I said some girls out on your front lawn here she's not gonna make it she's you know she looks like she's almost dead and they did one of those got the word to the band the band stop playing if there's a doctor in the house please come to the front immediately and so anyway that that was the end the doctor did come out Karen got her breathing you know stabilized tried to tourni it it on and the ambulance came and and that was our first our first 15 20 minutes of our of our relationship and I said oh this this girl's got life-saving skills that's that's that's nice uh and I went this could work and uh and it has well 40 years on there you are still happy and I tell you what you will never forget that first night you met no we will not and apparently the girl survived Karen's sister worked at a hospital nearby and she said oh a Jane do came in around midnight that was the girl and she made it so you know we we did the right thing and and how nice it is that you're able to know that too so that kind of tidies up hopefully that story Barry it's been lovely chatting to you you are fabulous anything coming up in the future you'd like to chat about that you can share with your fans have you got any more movie or TV projects what about another Memoir I know there was the importance of being Ernie is there another book in you do you think or you know that's a project that's a real commitment that's a real real I got once I got the ball rolling it was fun to do I'm not sure I could get that ball rolling again although that that came around the time that I was in The Social Network and U I just kind of felt wow my career has come kind of a full circle I started in you know my three sons a big blast of Fame that hits you the post FL what I did to survive all that it kept you know fighting my way back into somewhat of a career and the social network was an academy award-winning movie and I thought well that's kind of nice book endings of things so um I'm not I mean I guess I could probably do it again but I not not yet I don't know not yet well we'll watch this space and stay tuned as they say yes please do please

Channel: Celebrity Drop

Views: 10,413

Keywords: william frawley, my three sons theme song, bosch tv, bosch tv series, lessons in chemistry, general hospital, ozzie and harriet tv show, burlesque, paul newman, joanne woodward, jerry lewis, i love lucy, lucille ball, Debbie reynolds, fred macmurray, roddy mcdowall, streets of san francisco, masters of the universe, bill paxton, big love TV, big love tv show, lois and clark, mad men, Notorious nick movie, clint eastwood, adam sandler, beau bridges, brie larson

Id: eqI2_48ihNk

Length: 55min 2sec (3302 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 09 2023