Intimate Portrait - Judith Light 1998 full episode

it is true you are right Mark odain was blackmailing me Judith Light first became a star on the daytime drama One Life to Live her moving performances as Karen wollick a prostitute by day and Doctor's Wife by Night earned her two Emmys and a place in the annals of television history eventually Judith went from daytime to prime time she starred as Angela Bauer on the top rated sitcom who's the boss Angela was the endearing single mother with a career and a live-in male housekeeper you'll have to watch those by hand you don't really want me to wash your skivvies do you Judith has always played characters which reach beyond the television screen and touch people's hearts her gift became apparent early in life born in Trenton New Jersey February 9 1949 Judith was the adored only child of Sue and Sydney light her mother was a homemaker and her dad was a Salesman for an industrial food company a precocious little girl Judith memorized the poems her mother read to her nightly it soon became clear that Judith was a little girl with a lot of talent my father was sitting in the living room and then there was the dining room area and I was performing Twas the Night Before Christmas and I remember finishing the piece um and to all a good night and I look at my father and he has tear streamed me down his face and I ran to him and he just held me my feeling was so overwhelming like I wanted a grip or an eat her up she was just so cute and I remember having the thought oh I want to do this forever I want to be an actress and I can remember her first narrative report card and the kindergarten teacher wrote Judy shows unusual dramatic ability and the and the children enjoy her reciting poetry and then in fourth grade they had a Christmas play and Judith played the poor little girl and she cried real tears and the letters from the different classes were all set we love the part where you cried real tears [Music] even though money was tight Judith's parents nurtured her budding talents with ballet tap dance piano speech and voice lessons when she got Parts in Community Theater sometimes as much as 40 miles from her home her dad made sure Judith was there despite the fact that he only got a few hours of sleep on those nights it was 45 minutes from our house and my father who had to get up at three o'clock in the morning to go to work would drive me to the theater and I was embarrassed for him to see me practicing them I wanted them to see me in the full-blown performance and so my father would sleep in the car even in the winter and wait for me and then drive me back home and they were extremely dedicated they still are [Music] cider usually kids don't know when they're so young what they want to do and what their goal is and where they're going in life and so I was different than a lot of the other kids and I think I was too dramatic and sort of I put people off and so I didn't have a lot of friends I was alone and so I would go up into my room and I would memorize Shakespeare and I would read poetry and perform in front of the mirror judah's first real Turning Point came at the age of 12 when her parents sent her to a special summer camp in Pennsylvania it was a performing arts school for the summer and I felt like oh my God here are my people here are all these people that have also felt outside and we're going to do plays and we're gonna do ballet and we're gonna we're gonna study and we're gonna talk to each other and all of a sudden I felt like a different person I felt like there I didn't just get dropped from another planet there is a place where those of us who came from the other planet got to get together [Music] and only child Judith was used to and expected to be the center of attention I was a spoiled child when I did the play of the Diary of Anne Frank at the Burlington County footliders I remember I took off my costume and I dropped it on the floor as I did every night and the director came up to me a wonderful man named Faron Schubert and farron said to me those are your clothes on the floor I said yes the costume person will pick them up and I was maybe all of 14 years old and he said oh I don't think so and he took all the clothes and all the costumes of everybody else in the entire plane he threw them on the floor and he said you will pick all of these up including your own so I yes I I was spoiled seeking a good education for Judith her parents sent her to Saint Mary's Hall in Burlington New Jersey but her sense of being an outsider was intensified again she was one of only six Jewish girls in an all Episcopal High School we wore Chapel veils and uniforms and I think three of the girls in my graduating class were pregnant when we graduated and um it was just it was a fabulous School except for the fact that they wouldn't let me be the Virgin Mary in the Christmas mystery play that really really bothered me I want to say you don't understand you know those people that family they were Jews so I mean I could be the Virgin Mary there Judith met Ruth strand a Drama teacher who recognized and nurtured her talents served as the coach guiding the talents of her emerging star they became lifelong friends in 1966 Judith graduated with a degree in Theater Arts from Saint Mary's Hall her senior yearbook was a revealing portrait of Judith's High School career Saint Mary's answer to Sarah Bernhardt God that would be right sophomore class secretary I was God I don't remember ever doing anything that had anything to do with with anything secretarial terrible in typing a basketball manager I was the basketball manager and what I did was I picked up the dirty towels I did I was the basketball manager because I could not play basketball I just happened to be a little tall and they thought oh this is a good thing we're going to give her we're going to put her on the basketball team and then they said oh my god get her out of here just get rid of her you had to pick a quote don't ask me where I got this it's pretty incredible acting is no mere translation or abstraction from life it is life itself to follow her dream Judith applied and was accepted at Carnegie Mellon University the oldest and one of the most prestigious drama schools in the nation this program is as rigorous and exacting as theater itself and they weren't kidding so I didn't get to really Act uh really performed for two years it was a lot of class work and a lot of crew and building props and sewing costumes which I am terrible at and so I had to learn how to do it [Music] eventually she made it on stage Judith did Shakespeare got Parts in avant-garde and traditional plays she traveled throughout Europe with a Uso troop four years later she graduated with a Theater Arts degree she hit the road honing her craft in Repertory Theater around the country Milwaukee Seattle and California finally it was time to head for the mecca of theater Broadway I remember flying into New York though for the first time knowing that I was moving there and I looked down from the plane and I said oh this is going to be gonna be this is this is the dream come true this is going to be great and I'm gonna make it City would put her talent to the test she had a dream some experience and an abundance of spirit now all she needed was a break the combination of talent experience prestigious play with an internationally famous star the first play that I did was a dollhouse with Lee woman and it was on Broadway which was one of the places I'd always set my sights on and then I worked a lot and then I didn't work for a while and that's when things got more difficult for me I didn't have a lot of money so I managed to live on ten dollars a week and I I would take the newspaper out of the garbage cans so that I could read the newspaper I asked my parents for money and I said I need this amount to get by and my father said we'll give you half that I was oh my God and I thought much later after therapy I I realized what a favor he was doing me he they wanted to make sure that I was going to be able to do it on my own that I was going to be able to manage and that I was going to be able to function and I think that was terribly important I appreciate them for that now I just certainly didn't then what I do now for almost a year times were tough the dreams seemed to be elusive when things didn't work out according to the plan that I had had I dealt with it very badly I wanted it the way I wanted it when I wanted it and life doesn't happen like that because there was something very real going on emotionally but there was also something that was just me being a spoiled brat so I went to a therapist and I said I want to get out of the business I want to do something where I can be of service and he said don't do anything about leaving the business yet because something's going to happen within this next week and well he wasn't Clairvoyant that I knew of but he ended up to be right and that was how um I left his office literally went to a phone booth called my agent they said they want to see you as an understudy for One Life to Live I said an understudy on a soap opera my heart sank and I said oh it's okay it's just an understudy but I really needed the money I don't have to be on camera so nobody's ever going to see me do it so I don't have to be really embarrassed I'll get the money and that'll be great didn't turn out like that you know unfortunately there are a lot of ridiculous rumors going around Jenny please I really don't want to hear about them I feel that I I just blame myself enough for what happened to Larry [Music] The Producers saw something special in the new young actress and gave her the part of Karen Wallach a doctor's wife by night and a common hooker by day but Judith refused to be the stereotypical soap star both in appearance and performance this was the first role that would make her a star she turned what was considered a pathetic manipulating woman into an empathetic character but she was warned it wouldn't be easy people will hate you they will yell at you on the street they will be angry at you you will not be a lovable character so you just need to know that I didn't really know what they were talking about and I thought there's a person inside there that needs to have to have some light shed on her who she is why she is the way she is and that was the way that I always like to work that there are many layers to human beings they're not just two-dimensional and so when I began to explore why she was the way she was it started to come to life in a whole different way [Music] the audience embraced Karen wolek and took off not long afterwards Judith met herb Hampshire a renowned psychologist at a humanitarian convention herb would have a profound influence on Judith's work and life he soon became her friend later her manager and occasionally her acting coach should say I'm having trouble with this scene and I don't know why I think I can tell you why you're having difficulty with this because this scene requires you to find something in yourself that you are uncomfortable having there and so this this character has some unattractive features and unconsciously I think you're you're wanting to say oh no I can't be that and and I said part of what an actor has to do is to find everything no matter what it is inside you Herb's observation had a dramatic effect the director came back to her and said what happened what what did you do over lunch uh it really made a huge difference when we first started to work together he said if you cannot view yourself like a bottle of ketchup like a commodity he said I can't work with you he said if you're going to be spoiled I won't work with you he said I am not going to Pat you on the behind and blow in your ear he said he said I can promise you that it won't be easy if we work together he said but I can promise you that I can promise you that it will be alive and I said I want that I want that more than anything what was the name of that hotel what was that name would you speak up ington hell thank you Judith created a character so powerful her courtroom Revelation became a defining moment in the world of soap operas 78. I think the reason people are touched by the courtroom scene is that it is a woman literally coming out of the closet about who she is she is frightened she is scared she is a person who above all else wants to help her friend she really wants to have an experience of herself having integrity and she is bearing everything according to TV Guide this riveting courtroom scene was one of the top 100 moments in television history what do you want from me you are blood you want me to say that I'm lower than the lowest business to come you want more Phil you want more slime you want more names I'll give you another name Talbot I thought that he was my first John he was the first in a string of so many men I don't even remember their name no [Music] no you satisfied Judith's performance galvanized viewers she got stacks of mail some from prostitutes who wanted to get off the streets she suddenly realized that acting could have a direct effect on people's lives a teacher wrote me a letter and said um foreign but she said he was like six years old he had never spoken he was autistic and she said they had the television on in the day room and he was walking through the courtroom scene was on and he looked at the television and he pointed and he said cry and she said I don't know how to tell you that you changed my life in relation to him and you changed his life and I read the letter and I said okay I can die now that's enough for me that's enough that's that's it that's it that's the gift there's nothing better than that I don't think Mexico 's career was skyrocketing in 1980 she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award we were sitting at Rockefeller Plaza and Sammy Davis Jr Who Loved soaps and was on our show we'd worked together Sammy ran over from his table over to our table and they were about to announce it and he whispered to my ear and he said and I thought the combination of Sammy Davis Jr and the possibility of winning an Emmy was thrilling it was wonderful [Applause] oh God I'm so thrilled I really really really wanted this I have to tell you and I want to tell you something else that I am so honored to be included with all of these ladies I think they're remarkable and I respect their work enormously the Emmy would change her career and she was about to meet the actor who would change her life I'm Jill eichenberry dude is like an intimate portrait it was 1981. Robert desiderio was cast opposite Judith on One Life to Live a role that was meant to last just two weeks neither could have known that the chemistry between them would change the show and their lives I knew I was attracted to her from the very beginning I had never met a woman like that it was I mean I didn't know her I didn't ever watch soaps as I saw him on the set and I thought I felt like I knew him I felt like we were connected in some very deep Primal way she was like those the European actresses that I love you know she just had she was Judith was earthy and is earthy and um I just passionate I loved working off of that because there was a lot of physicality that we did and we started working together and we started doing scenes together and they started seeing the chemistry between us and they just started writing to it you can't deny your love man after last night it was incredible I I had never been able to open up with another person let alone another woman before in my life and I felt safe enough to be vulnerable and I didn't have to you know buy into all the you know the masculine male stuff and here was somebody who was not competitive with me and somebody who really took joy in what I was doing and what I was about and the places that I wanted to go and the things that I thought about he was just a man and sure of himself and and challenged me and great to look at [Laughter] after dating for six months they moved in together now their personal and professional lives were in sync dude's career successes continued as she won her second Emmy winner of Two soapies and a soap opera Hall of Fame award Judith graced the covers of dozens of magazines and even guest hosted good morning New York [Music] oh well but it wasn't enough Judith wanted new challenges and started thinking about leaving the show I knew that there was a deeper level inside of me and I had more to give the support of her family and friends Judith Found the courage to leave One Life to Live after five very successful years [Music] they brought me back to finish up her storyline and our characters ran off together and we ran off together in life and added on the soap foreign Judith had achieved what most people only dream of Love Fame and success but there was one secret battle she had been fighting all those years her weight when I was really little I I wouldn't eat at all I remember actually the first night and I don't remember how old I was that I ate everything on my plate and I completely cleaned my plate and I said oh this is very good this is a very good experience and it was a um it was an experience that I that I deeply connected to because I felt like I had accomplished something well that was sort of the bad news because it was the turning point for me continuing to want to clean my plate and uh I cleaned my plate probably right up until One Life to Live and a little bit beyond that actually [Music] Wade had never been a deterrent to her professional success or her personal love life but it undermined her self-esteem so Judith went on the diet roller coaster losing and gaining until she ultimately peaked at 175 pounds I look at how I looked and I know that the way I look now and the way I look then it it's two different people it was a woman who was coming to grips with low self-esteem so I went to the therapist and I said I want to lose weight and he said well you don't you never learned how to eat and so you have to learn how to eat and he said so I want you to go eat and I became enraged I was so angry and I said that is not supportive that is not a way to tell a person to to help a person lose weight and he said no you don't understand he said you have no permission he said you don't understand what's going on in you he said I want you to eat which Judith did with a Vengeance she went home and ate whatever and whenever she wanted to I was just in the closet about it I was eating all the time anyway I I was eating half gallons of ice cream at a sitting I was eating whole cage whole cakes and boxes of cookies but I didn't have any permission I was it was a secret it was I was in the dark about it and now it was as though there was a light shed on it so I opened the refrigerator door and as I was fond of saying I opened the light went on and I did 20 minutes and I just sat there in front of the refrigerator and ate everything and over a period of time I would go to the refrigerator and I said okay I can eat whatever I want I can eat whatever I want as much as I want and I remember the day I opened the refrigerator and I said well since I can had have anything that I want what do I want and it was a revelation for me and I said oh I'll have a little bit of that and a little bit of that and a little bit of that and then I was done and then I started to lose weight ultimately it took two years to lose 50 pounds and keep it off it was another lifetime goal accomplished I couldn't believe it you know when the first time I met her and she said I used to be fan it's like come on what do you know from it but she says no no I used to be fat and it's very hard for me to stay this weight and I exercise and have to watch when I ate and I said sister losing the weight allowed Judith to reinvent Her Image her manager herb would help refocus her approach to acting and to life [Music] by the early 80s Judith and Herb Hampshire her manager had developed a unique working relationship he had become an indispensable guide for both her personal life and her career he comes with me to everything that I do he's there to support me in every project and people say oh God I wish herb were with me I wish I had a herb to be with me and be on the set I wish my manager would be on the say it's like this isn't party time I mean he keeps my feet up against the flame all the time so that I'm not selling out on myself because I don't want to be on my deathbed and look back at my life in that moment and say oh my God if I had just worked a little harder thought a little more given a little bit more my life would have been so different Judith was looking for new challenges so in 1983 she and Robert moved to California later herb and His companion Jonathan who was Judith's Financial Manager followed finally in October she had the opportunity to commit to a sitcom pilot she did but then herb convinced her to audition for another sitcom even though she wouldn't be able to take the job if it were offered the show was tentatively titled you're the boss it was about a woman executive who hires a live-in male housekeeper I went to the audition and I walked in and I met Tony Danza and we had instant chemistry and I thought to myself oh my God I made a terrible mistake Judith auditioned with four other women for the part of Angela Bauer to play opposite Tony Danza Angela Judith Light take one these are never before seen audition tape and this is the moment that cinched the deal for Judith you have a bad dream honey no no I didn't even get to sleep oh the bid was as they walked out the girls walked out and me being who I am as the actresses actors walked out I sort of looked you know check them out and each one of them went to the to their Mark sat down and we did the scene well Judas was the last one and so as soon as she walked by I just knew he was going to be looking at me as I walked in front of him and I just turned around and I looked at him and she caught me he turned her I said what are you looking at I said Gee you know just checking you know I got both blood blushed and uh and um that was it chemistry luckily for Judith the show she originally committed to didn't work out she was then free to join the cast of the newly retitled who's the Boss her home for the next eight years may I help you well if you're Angela Bauer I'm here to help you I beg your pardon I'm Tony Miceli I'm here about the job oh I'm sorry there must be a mistake this job is for a housekeeper that's me Mr Goodman Judith hit the jackpot again 30 million people watched as she transformed herself from a soap opera Diva to a prime time comedian there's nothing like working with her I mean she's you know she's she's the bravest blonde in in Hollywood that's for sure we had a saying around the show that I mean she'd do anything for a laugh since I've got carpool I want you out front of the school in exactly 115 because you have a haircut at 1 45 then we've got to get back here no later than 305 because that's when I penciled in to go to the bathroom I skipped that yesterday morning morning Angela again is there a problem well I sort of wanted scrambled eggs you want scrambled you gotta scramble she sobbed incessantly for years on that on that on that the soap opera um and so you know I learned a little bit of that from her and she learned a little bit of uh you know how to be the fool but for me I think going down the path with my bubble bath [Applause] Tony taught me about comedy he would say things like we're gonna jump off a building today and I would say okay nothing bothered her I'll tell you what Judas you're gonna hit this trampoline and stuff that ball in a 10-foot basket okay will they laugh yeah don't worry you know when she do it you know and then if they didn't laugh she'd look at me they're dirty finally after eight years 196 episodes and millions of laughs who's the boss ended in 1992 the last show on who's the boss was the end of an era and a completion and um it was important to me also because we come through and we've been successful and Tony and I were really deeply connected by that time what are you doing well I uh I heard you were looking for a housekeeper and I also knew how much I was going to miss him it's very difficult to say goodbye because you really are saying goodbye you move on to other things sure we keep in touch and sure you know she knows as I know that we're both thinking of each other and stuff but but that constant hey what's happening how you doing today what's going on you missed that what are your qualifications uh well um [Laughter] you got the job no kidding though her professional romantic relationship was ending her personal romance with Robert was there for the long run but marriage was not going to be an easy decision for either of them foreign Berry Robert and Judith first met in New York two years later they moved to California but they wouldn't make a commitment to marriage until years later neither of us had ever been married Judith did not want to particularly get married I did so I pursued it from that point of view and herb and Jonathan were very instrumental in helping us facilitate the discussions what we didn't like about marriage our preconceived ideas of what it meant and our fears I don't remember a specific moment for the proposal it was a year-long process so we got married in Aspen January 1st 1985. herb and Jonathan were the only people at the wedding my mother had just had a very severe heart attack she'd had a massive coronary and I knew that it was going to be very complicated for them to try to help me plan a wedding so we did it very simply and very quietly and the guys were there and that was it and what was great about it was that the day was truly about us and our relationship and our marriage and what our future was going to be and it wasn't about all the presents we got and it wasn't about gold overlays and pink underlays and what flowers were going to be there and is the dress right and all of that stuff it was very simple and very beautiful foreign we're moving in New Directions she was not afraid to stretch herself singing dancing and playing a wide variety of roles in television movies Judith lent her considerable Talent energy and humor to one of the most fun projects I ever did a TV movie called My Boyfriend's Back In which Sandy Duncan Judith and I played a girl group from the 60s who's called out of retirement for a reunion concert it turned out to be a fantasy we all shared and we had a ball [Music] he was just one of 15 films Judith his maid many of them confronted taboo subjects there are very few times in your life when you get to feel like you make a difference judah's choice of films is a reflection of her human rights commitment betrayal of trust with Judd Hirsch focused on the true story of a woman who exposed the sexual abuse of patients by their psychiatrist men don't tell with Peter Strauss was the first movie to deal with male spousal abuse her movie a step towards tomorrow featured Christopher Reeve in his first acting job after his tragic accident the movie dealt with spinal cord injuries I choose my projects by what I feel will support people and women to grow to see something in themselves that will make a difference and that will possibly change their lives in 1989 a script arrived that would ignite the other passion in Judith's life activism the Ryan White story was about the young boy who got AIDS from a blood transfusion afraid of catching the disease his own Community turned against him even Banning him from the public school Ryan's plight galvanized the nation and added a child's face to the gallery of victims of that tragic disease best known for who's the boss Judith wasn't the obvious choice to play Genie white Ryan's mother so Judith researched the role by spending a lot of time with Genie I was so impressed because she actually was very attentive and listened really listened she was really really wanting to know you know like what it was like to to watch Ryan you know live with this disease and that the pain and the agony I think that we went through but no it not by me just going to school I know that I just came from the school they won't listen they are afraid to take a chance they say it's a communicable disease well what do they want me to do sit around here and do nothing what am I gonna do they don't want you back I think she put her heart into my heart and she put her heart into our family and I think that's a real unique thing to do we didn't have a lot of people feeling that way Genie was very powerful with Ryan much of where Ryan comes from comes from Jeannie this woman who had no exposure to anything in this business or anything at all of this world got herself out there and she became a spokesperson these are these women that take the World by storm in their Simplicity and I have such admiration for them what do you want to know what I'm with Mommy you want to go to school yes I want to go to school then you will give it you will did Judith know that working with Ryan would affect her in much the same way went down the set Ryan was talking to somebody and tell us some of the things that happened and he said well somebody spit at me and called me a and I just killed me it didn't just kill me for Ryan because he was one of the sweetest Souls I ever knew that wasn't just what it was it was it wasn't okay for me about herb and Jonathan it wasn't okay for me about this country human beings don't really have the right to treat each other like that [Music] Ray people became Judas she was to become a highly visible vocal and ceaseless fighter against AIDS and against discrimination of gays and lesbians she can't be neutral when people are being injured in some way she's an American who believes that that America actually should act the way it pretends to be Judas took up the torch and in 1993 she spoke before half a million people during the gay and lesbian Human Rights march on Washington this call is everyone's cause it is a battle to replace divisiveness with acceptance condemnation with compassion rigidity with diversity and most of all hatred with love thank you all Middle America looks at her and they respond she's a woman that's come into their lives all these years on TV they respect her as a straight woman and it they listen I think when she speaks I think for the gay community it's nice to know that somebody cares that isn't gay that doesn't have to care you know based on their own Survival for her it's it's that she wants to and that she thinks it's important since 1995 she served on the board of directors for the gay and lesbian center in Los Angeles it's a place where people can come where diversity is accepted discrimination is appalled and it deals with human rights and The Human Condition I think that the greatest thing about Judith Light is that she has a very big heart and it's made of gold she just is involved and interested and it's always spurred by the fact that she cares she reminds me of that remember that Star Trek where they meet this woman that when they're wounded she hugs them and the woman gets the wounds and then she has to rest for a while and then she's better well that's like Judith she's that woman I think Judith has devoted her life to her activism her acting and her family but his caring and nurturing as Judith is she and Robert have made the conscious decision not to have children I would not be doing what I'm doing right now if I had children I think it's extremely important and my desire would be to be home with the child and every once in a while I look at it and I say um I don't have that I see a mother and a daughter having lunch or I see them at the ballet together or something like that and I think or a mother and her son and I think I don't have that and there is a place in me that misses that I have very maternal Soul that's in there and I think it comes through I think it definitely shows in the work and they keep giving me moms to play and so I get to do it that way too hey Judith is working on a new sitcom pilot called the simple life that herb helped create for her the lead character Sarah Campbell is a TV star who tries to teach audiences how to have a Charming lifestyle despite the overwhelming demands of Modern Life and we cut behind the scenes in her real life Judith is a woman fighting tirelessly for causes she believes in celebrity is great I've said this a lot before celebrity you get lots of perks but the real perk for me comes in having the celebrity to be able to make a difference in the world otherwise it's extremely shallow for me I just want to be a person that says stand up and be counted I'm with you I want to lend my support [Music] it's light actress activist and loving friend for intimate portrait I'm Jill eikenberry in 1999 Judith took on her greatest acting challenge yet she shaved her head to play a college professor struggling with ovarian cancer in the Pulitzer prize-winning Broadway play wit the part earned her rave reviews plus Judith says I've discovered that how I look is not a function of anything as ephemeral as my hair Bravo Judith for intimate portrait I'm Meredith Sierra

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Id: vLAG9p1OWAY

Length: 40min 26sec (2426 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 30 2022