Wendie Malick

five years. Hello, Hello, and welcome everybody back to Off the Beat. I am once again your host, Brian Baumgartner. Today is a good day. I mean I could be described as giddy in fact, because today Wendy Malick is joining me on the podcast. In truth, don't tell anybody else. She's one of my favorites. She has had quite the career. She worked as a model and also briefly in politics before even starting to act. And speaking of acting her acting career, incredible does not even begin to describe it.

Wendy has quite the range. She has worked on everything from sitcom's like Frasier two, animated projects like bo Jack Horseman and the Emperor's New Groove, and how rare is this? Wendy has appeared in not one, not two, but three television series that ran for at least six seasons, the groundbreaking HBO comedy Dream On Hot in Cleveland with Betty White and not the Awards Are Everything, but Wendy was nominated for two Emmy's and a Golden Globe for her role.

Unjust shoot me. Honestly, this entire podcast could be devoted to just listing her accomplishments. But I do want you to actually hear from Wendy, so I won't do that, at least not this time. With that, please welcome my friend and two time co star, the legendary Wendy Malick. Bubble and Squeak I love it, Bubble and Squeak, Bubble and Squeaker Cookie every month left over from the Nut People. Hello, how are you? I'm good? How are you? I mean, I'm so spectacular now that I'm talking to you. I

don't think that you realize this. I've started doing this podcast specifically so that I can talk to you. How many times I've just said that? I have said that exactly zero od times? Well, it's it sure is. It's sure is a pain in the ask to get on your stupid Google thing. This is not made for people over sixty, I have to tell you. It's also not made for me either, But I luckily had a tons of did you start did you start doing this? During COVID Steve, you stay here, stay here, stay Sorry, I

have dogs. There may be noise. I can't control this, so no, that's totally I hear you have a zonkey or a donkey, a miniature donkey, miniature donkey. Uh. We have three horses now down to three. Yeah, three horses, one minuature donkey and two dogs. Used to be eight of them, but now it's the horri of attrition. We're all getting older, so as they go, we don't replace them as much as we used to. Does the miniature donkey does it like? Does it walk through your house?

Oh no, no no no. He stays down in his stable, but he will put his head on your shoulder and lift his little leg up and try to sit on your lap. And I have friends who come over just for that experience because it's it's pretty pretty fabulous. That's awesome. Yeah, he looks like Shrek. He looks like the Shrek Donkey. He looks like Donky. Yeah he does. He talks like Eddie Murphy though he doesn't talk, but he he speaks to you with his eyes. That's that's Phoebe in the background.

L L Yeah, yeah, good girl, good baby. Um. When I was going back and I was, I was researching you. And I'm not expecting you to remember, by the way, because I was reminded, do you know that we've worked together twice on two different shows? You're never going to get it were No, I wasn't on dream On. I wasn't lucky enough to be in dream On. I was on kind of my first significant um like kind of

lead guest star roles. It aired like maybe the week that The Office started was actually aired, but now we had shot The Office like a year before. Jake in Progress. You were on Jakin Progress. That was the strangest show. It was a very odd show, but but it had its moments. There was some interesting time. I didn't have much to do with you. I was Julie Bowen's high school college boyfriend. Wow was Julie Moan on that crazy?

It's so crazy? At this point, how many like short lived shows we've done and you kind of they kind of blurred together after a while. Yeah, I've ended up working with around a bunch of different things over the years, but always a pleasure to see you. Even remember you being on that show? Well I didn't. I didn't fully either, Okay, So I want to go I want to go back.

I want to go back back. You grew up in or around Buffalo, right, like Niagara Falls ish Well, I mean Diagara Falls is not too far, but a suburb of Buffalo Williamson, Okay. And it's Mike Michael o'doonnni who once said, um, you know, you can take the girl out of Buffalo, but you can never take Buffalo out of the girl. And I know where that is a badge of honor because people from Buffalo are very tough but friendly, and they drink well and they make the

most out of difficult situations. They're survivors. Well you have to be, Yeah, you do, you do. It's a very hard place to live, and it doesn't have all of the cultural advantages of Chicago, but you have the same kind of weather, which is very challenging. But I have to say, every time I go back, I'm reminded of how much I like those people that I came from, even though I wanted to get out really early. Honestly, Okay, this town is way too small for me. I gotta go.

When did you leave? Did you leave early? I mean after high school. I only went back summers, but my parents lived there throughout. My dad died in the spring at a hundred and one. My mom is still alive, and she'll be ninety three this summer, and she's there, so I go. We go back and not rent this little farmhouse um every other month and go see her, and I see old friends from high school and my youth. So you're back, You're back quite a bit? Then, Yeah, Yeah,

I've been. I've been back quite a bit, particularly these last few years as my parents have gotten older. Yeah. But I used to go back every summer, and we had a wonderful cottage on like Gary on the Canadian side, and uh, it's beautiful. I mean, you know, it's crazy people. It's always like, okay, hit me with your best shot. When you say here from Buffalo. It's like, just go ahead, have your way with me. But in fact, it's quite

a wonderful place to grow up. When did you get the bug or get an idea that you want to pursue? I was pretty young. Yeah. My my grandmother was an opera singer before she had kids. We have a rather they're quite an undergening family. But they always they had like the musical comedy albums of everything, and I would act out and dance and sing all of them whenever I could, And on the walking down the beach, I

used to pretend I had an orchestra behind me. When i'd go on vacation with my family, I would pretend I was from another country and I didn't know them, and then I'd called me over and then my whole cover would be blown. But I think I wanted a more glamorous life than I had, so I invented it. Right. Did you do like theater in high school? Or oh? Yeah?

And then I and if it wasn't, I didn't have enough to do at school, then I just made up place and I directed them and put myself with all the neighborhood kids and made my younger sister and brother probably carry lights or have a minor role. Yeah, you were always a star. I was the eldest, and I kind of yeah, I kind of directed things, and as they say, I still tend to do that, but they're horror. Okay, this is what we're gonna do. Uh. You started professionally

modeling first, Is that right? Yeah? My mother was a model in New York before she got married. She went off and lived at the Barbazone for women, and dad went and said, no, please come back and marry me and let's have babies. And she did. But she modeled just sort of part time as we were growing up, and dragged me along and I thought, oh, this is pretty fun. And I got on a team word at one of the at one of our department stores, and it was great. That's how I could afford to buy

my own clothes and save some money. And so it wasn't until years later when I was in New York making seventy five a week doing dinner theater at Club Banet in New Jersey, and someone approached me in the tickets line and Times Square instead, Have you ever modeled? I said, yes, this a matter of fact, in high school in Buffalo, in glamorous Buffalo, I did. They said, I think you'd be right for will Almina. You should come see her. And I went and visited with her,

and she said, yeah, you belong here. You just have to practice not smiling crooked, and don't ever tell anybody that you're twenty five, because it's way too old to start. So I I spent the next five years pretty much traveling the world. It was just the best way to see the world. Lived in Paris, went to the Orient, worked in Africa. I mean it was really this was like, you know, this late seventies, and it was It was a great time. It was entertaining, It was a very

very excellent time. Yes, I don't remember sleeping very much, and a lot of wine was drunk, for sure. But I just I'm a good clothes horse. So I got to do all of the collections and then they'd send me off to some beach somewhere to get tan real fast and do editorial stuff and great fun. Now I have to I have to ask you. I'm assuming this is before this you were working for Jack Kemp. You worked for this, this was what in your early twenties. I was no, this is right after college. Well, yeah,

I guess I was saying. It was like and he we used to to ski with his family. He was our congressman, and my dad was a supporter of his, and we were off skiing with them one time and he said, listen, when you get out of out of college, if you want to come and just see what DC is like, let me know and you can come and intern. And I thought, what a great opportunity. And it was during Watergate, so it was just a really exciting and crazy time to be in d C. It was I'm

really glad I had the experience that they did. It very clear that I did not want to be in politics, but I got to see it from the inside. It was pretty pretty cool. And he was very tolerant of the fact that I was wearing a George McGovern button and OK, but every day that would be like a new scandal and another shoe would drop, and it was it was pretty thrilling. Wow, how was that working then for a Republican senator or congressman during Watergate? That's that's crazy. Yeah.

When I was there, you know, it was sort of astonishing how quickly the whole thing unrabbled. But there was such momentum to like do the right thing on both sides, and that was when people stayed in DC for the weekends and they actually socialized together. Now everybody goes home in fundraises, but that was when they would work out deals and say, I'll help you with your bill, you help me with mine. And it worked. It actually really functioned in a strange way. And Jack was he was

very moderate. He was really much more towards the center and had good friends on both sides. He would sort of not only did I have to stuff envelopes in the basement, which is like the most boring thing, but he'd sent me to take notes when they were merging the a f C and the NFC to form the NFL, so I got to go and sit in on these Senate hearings. That was really fun. And he'd take me to lunch in the Congressional dining room and introduced me

to people. And he got a kick out of the fact that I was wearing this McGovern button every day to work to show how tolerant he was. But he was one of the good guys, he really was. Um. I admired people on both sides of the aisle. I thought it was so there was an interesting group there. It was particularly interesting to see all the young interns working in all the offices and on Friday nights they dimmed the lights and dance to Motown. It's like, wow,

that's awesome, what an incredible experience to have. It was, it was it's all fudder, you know, it's all a fudder. It's like, I always feel like one of the hardest things if you were an actor, if you became too famous to be a people watcher, if you can spy on other people and steal from them, you know, I mean, you get some great stuff just from being in the room, if you're able to sort of candidly observe the characters around you. And I have a big file now, no,

I'm sure. Okay, so you go, you have this incredible modeling career you're but pretending to be one or yeah, so what brings you into acting? From that light? Started out as an act just when I went to New York, that was the whole plan. But but but then you're only that just wasn't feeding the old travel bucket or buying me close, for getting me a decent apartment. So um, I decided I'll take this five years and just do this for a while. And I did, in fact, and

came back and and got my first job. It was on a soap opera and I was nurse Jones. It was so boring, I can't even tell you. But um, that was my entry back into television and movies and and then slowly I was really really I'm a very late bloomer. I mean I never did dream on until I turned forty. And that was really my sort of entree into comedy, which kind of gave me my career. Right, So you you weren't really specifically interested in comedy. Oh I love comedy, No, I love it. But I just

was tall and brune. But in the beginning, yeah, yeah, and um, and people just often cast me as a lawyer, a doctor divorce, or a murderer. You know, I killed the bunch of husbands one year, and various I've heard three three you killed three husbands in one year, because you know, it's all in there. We all have all this stuff. It's just tapping into it and making it real large and then there you are. I mean, who hasn't been piste off by their husband or there was

at some point. That's so funny. I was thinking about that you you killed three husbands in one year. This is not a joke. This is back in my theater day. In one year, I played three women totally different projects. Totally because if you're highly developed, Feminine said, actually, it's because you have such beautiful skin. They figured they can throw out some hair on you and it's a dundee. Yes. So nineteen ninety Yes, Judith Tupper on dream On, this

is an innovative People don't realize. I think now like changes the whole dynamic of television. I mean, it's HBO's first comedy series. Well there had been. There had been I think first in ten or something else that didn't really you know, it just didn't really connect. But this one was so innovative and so fresh. Although hardly anybody had HBO at the time, but everybody in our business did, so people noticed it, but it was still very under

the radar. And I'm so sorry that they sold it to Fox because Fox tried to air it on a network and they had to take all the sex and the swearing out of it and put commercials in there and a laugh track, which was the kiss of death. It was because it was such a brilliant, innovative show, and so many shows borrowed from it after that. But when that aired with Larry Sanders. That kind of I

think put HBO on the map for original programming. That was their first really big like wow, they brought something completely fresh to the dance. Yeah, I mean both of those two shows at the time. I mean aesthetically in terms of the comedy. I mean also just a comedy that had like you said, like sex was sort of inappropriate, dark and completely a grew to us. They take no bones about it. It was just like, you know, the neighbor would show up to braw sugar naked except for

like a scuba mask and flippers. Was like what. But it was such a genius use of of all those clips at the Universal Oaned, you know, Martyr Coffin and David Crane figured out a way to use those that nobody had quite done before, and it was genius and we had the most amazing guests. I mean, over the years,

everybody wanted to come play on that show. And we shot it in a warehouse in Sun Valley that you could hear gunshots tonight, and it wasn't it wasn't sound proof, so every time it would hail or rain hard, we just have to have to loop the entire scene. Really it was just crazy. Yeah. Yeah, And we used to shoot it in three days, and then they expanded to four and finally to five because I think Brian Benmam was going to have a nervous breakdown if they pushed

him any harder. But it was a real gift to all of us. Yeah, you've said that it changed your life. What Oh? Yeah, because it got you into comedy. Yeah, I know. I was the straight man for him the first couple of episodes, and then they sort of found out that I was funny and decided to make my character not the together psychologist, but she's actually way more

erotic than anybody else in the whole shows. And you started to see the little fractures in her, in her personality, and and that just makes it so much more fun to play. I had a blast with that. I read something. I did not know this, and I feel like I know everything about you, having having been obsessed with me for all these years, having created a podcast just so that we can do this. You go, you go listen to the openings. I've never said that for I read

that you audition for Diane Cheery. Okay, was this is like? Did you come close? I don't know. I didn't get it, so that's the endgame. I also got it. Had a screen test with George Lucas and Steven Spielberg for for Um Grace and Raiders of the Lost Dark, Yes, in their hotel room, and I guess Stephen had seen me in an Excedrin commercial and that's how he used to find unknown actresses and had me come in and I chatted with them and they thought it was great and

said come back and we'll put you. We'll give you a screen test next week. And I came back and it was anyway, it's a long story, but anyway, clearly I didn't get that one either, which really pissed me off. But I did a terrible audition, which I was unprepared for. But that's a whole other story, and I don't like to look back in anger, right right. Did you have many auditioned meetings in hotel rooms. I've had one. Um, you know, they used to do that, and these guys

were fine. They weren't creepy at all, it was they really weren't. They were lovely and they have big suite, which is where they does sound. Really they probably wouldn't do it now because it just just could be accused of something. But they were lovely. Okay. Yeah, I don't know how many I've had in her I don't think a lot, but certainly in the eighties that happened more often. I think that was that was a leftover from the old days and without the extra Yeah. Yeah, so this

starts a relationship with you. By the way, dream on. I know, I'm skipping Cheers, but you end up going to work on Fraser Um hilarious and memorable. SERI you did ten twelve episodes or something, right, Yeah, I was in the last season. It was after Just Shoot Me Wrapped, and I had some friends who are writers on that show, and they said can she sing? And I said, you know, not very well and they said, that's actually perfect if

you're not that good. So I found the perfect wig and uh and went in and I remember the day I went in and met with all the writers there, and it just felt like one of those things that was meant to be. It was so much fun and he was so delightful. I have to say, John John Mahoney was so yummy. He's he's such a fine actor, but he also was an incredible singer, dancer, and we got to do a whole dream sequence of buzzby Berkeley

like dance thing and for our wedding. It was just it was such a gift and they all were so gracious, And of course then Jane and I ended up being together on hot in Cleveland. After that, I said, good, I said, I used to be your mother in law, now in your roommate. Uh, well, I have to I have to ask you first about just shoot me to me one of my favorite female performances in all of comedy. And I mean that sincerely, Nina van Horne. What's your

process for creating character? How do you approach that? Is it all about the writing or talk to me a little bit about But I mean that's you know, that's the map. And if you have a great map to uh finding out what makes her tick, that's such a

You got most of it right there. And Steve Levitan said when I met with him, he said, I was looking for a Wendy Mallec type, you know, someone who you could believe had been a model and just has a great sense of comedy and comedic timing said, And then I realized maybe we should just get and he said, and you know, and she's sort of kicking and screaming

her way into turning fifty. And you know, I just so loved this character from the first time I read the pilot, and I thought, this is a woman who has so many parallels to my own life, except that I'm moderate and she's not. I can't tell you how many people have come to me over the years and said, oh my gosh, I'm so much like Nina. You have no idea, And I said, well, then you need to get into rehab immediately, because there's no way that woman would have still been a lot today that my husband

often described her as an idiot savant. She had great style, excellent style. You know, she just acted like it was five forever and really didn't get that you have to sort of change with the times and that you can't get away with murder like forever. Right. I mean, I think that's the genesis of my question here, here's how

I view that character. And I think that there are certainly elements in your other work, but what what I felt like you were so genius at and found something so specifically different than anybody else that I've ever seen before, where it was high status but an idiot, right like that like of like embracing that high status cy I do the opposite, right, I'm just an idiot. It's just it's just trance apparently an idiot, and try to find a love ability within that idiocy, which you you very well,

you're a love pidious. Well, thank you, thank you. I hope that was saying you know, there is there is that.

I think what you're getting at is there's just enough of overlap between Nina and me and having had some very similar situations and the circumstances and experience over the years, that I could tap into my own experience of all that and then think, what if you had absolutely no filters and unapologize and no and no compass and you were really still having a good time and not concerned about any of that, that it's still kind of working for you, and so you just sort of don't see

the problem, and living like you lived twenty thirty years ago, you're just going to keep doing it until you probably dropped. But there was just something about that chemistry with those five people that I always tell people people when they've asked me, why do you think that one really worked? And we are still such good friends after all this time, and was so hard to lose George last year, who

was like the anchor of all of it. Um. But I think it was one of those great things that you never know if you have it until you're all in the room together, like you had with the Office. It's like everyone occupies a different place in this universe, but all the planets makes sense, and you can believe they belong in the same universe, but they're all totally specific.

Nobody overlaps each other. Really, it's kind of you all have your own space, and you all make each other better and more interesting, and each relationship is its own unique relationship. Right. I had this conversation a year or so ago with Kevin Riley, actually, who I don't know if you know what. He was happy. I know him very well and we were on board together for ages two and he was with NBC all those years. Yes, and I love him. I think he's so so smart.

And he talked about the history of workplace comedies, right, And part of the conversation about the Office was people were saying which I'm sure was similar to at least dream On back when you started with, which was like this is so different this is weird, and the cameras moving, and what he said to me was, he goes, I don't understand what people are talking about. It's a workplace comedy, which has been a staple on television forever. And I

think there are shows like Just Shoot Me. I mean, Mary Tyler Moore sort of started the whole thing where it just follows in the succession. And the thing that is what you just said, which is what all of those shows share, is an ensemble of characters that fit together perfectly, or at least try to fit together perfectly. All have sort of a different you know, well you high status idiot or whatever, like all the characters that sort of fit together that bring that sort of special ensemble, yeah,

and provide and provide conflict. It's it's like just a mini it's a many world that you create where there are people who are going to rub up against each other and and you know, be attracted to each other and drive each other insane. And yeah, it's it's like that little microcons them and so many of them. Taxi was another one that just worked so beautifully and over the years, and I think, you know, at first, I really was sort of taken aback doing a single camera comedy.

I thought, what are we going to miss not having the audience doing that? But then something else is allowed to happen when you move into single camera stuff. I missed the audience leaving that, but I also appreciate that you can allow for much more nuanced I think that was one of the great things about Frasier is that they often ended a scene where you were left feeling a little unsure of what was going on. And it wasn't always you know, leaving you on a high note

on a joke. Sometimes you just have to sit with it and sort of, yeah, what when did you realize that it was going to be the massive success that it was? Was it early on? Did it catch on pretty quickly? Just shoot me? Um? Yeah, that happened pretty fast. We were kind of we kind of were in the top ten there for a while, and then they kept moving us around at different timeslots, and eventually it kind

of ruined it. But um, and I have to say, like so many shows that go on for that long, we had seven seasons, and some seasons were stronger than others. You know, there were times where I felt like it became more of a sophomoric kind of you know, that going for the low hanging fruit, the sex jokes, which you know are fun, but after a while you want something a little deeper. But there were seasons where it

was just some of my favorite stuff. I mean, the two I think of always for me were when they did the A and E biography of Nina van Horne, which was what a present for an actor to have. For some of you have built your whole bible. This is where you come from. You were an orphan. You were first discovered by this guy from New York in the middle of Arkansas or something, and they put you on a seed catalog thing, and that opened up your

modeling career. I mean, the whole thing was so completely outrageous, but we had everybody in that. It was just it was so much fun. And Eileen Cohn and her husband wrote the one where it was a word of the day calendar, and David Spade and Rico Colin Toni their characters decided to give me a fake sort of word

of the day. So I just made up these words that were complete gobbledy book and went on like NPR and started talking to a feminist and being a real show off about it, and I completely and Larry Miller was the host and he fell madly in love with me and allowed me to just carry on with all this gobbledy book that meant nothing, but it was such a smart, wonderful script, and I that kind of stuff made me so happy. Yeah, would you say that comedy

is your favorite thing to do? Now? It's pretty damn fun when the writing is great, I have to say, but I love it all. I love things where you get to bring it all to the dance. And that's one of the things in talking about, you know, moving to single camera that you get a chance to bring in a lot more colors. I think, although really good situation comedies even multi camps a lot of times. I remember the first time I realized that was I think watching a taxi episode and I thought, oh my god.

In twenty two minutes, this show has almost brought me to tears. It touched me so and made me laugh out loud. And that's an extraordinary feat with commercials, so you know, and now and now, how network is competing with cable is almost impossible. I mean, if you have a breakout show, it's pretty crazy. I'm the principal on Young Sheldon, which is doing very well, but it's one of the few sort of and that again as single camera.

But but I think when you have to compete with with shows they can do like twelve a year, and I work on some of those, and they really get to fine tune and hone them more and you don't have to deal with the commercials and you can watch whatever you want to and you know it. Certainly, I think in a lot of ways, they've been a gift to us. But it's just changing the way it used to be when you stand around the water cooler, if anybody actually did that and talked about what you saw

the night before, I think those days are over. No, I think so too, because honestly, I really think that sports is the only thing that does that anymore. Seems to be the only thing that people watch live. And that's the difference. As you can talk about squid game or you know. But it's all sort of gradual. I haven't seen it yet, don't. Oh, I'm on episode two. I'm you know, so you can't. You can't sort of

engage in the same way. It's like, oh, last night at nine o'clock, we were all watching right to shoot me or whatever. Yeah, yeah, yeah, And in a way I'm sorry about that because as we have become more homebodies in the last two years too and not going you know, I was thinking about we went back to Disney Hall when they reopened this season, and I just was so thrilled to be in that hall with all

those people sharing that glorious music. And I was just at the Ammonds and the other night and and the same thing of those shared experiences of our culture and things that make us laugh, that inspire us, that bring us to tears. All of that that shared humanity is something that we are so lacking, and I think it's it's part of how we got to where we are right now, with this kind of lack of common purpose and of all being in it together. You know, we

we physically haven't been in it together for so long. Yeah. No, you're absolutely right, And it's not just you know, it's not I mean, you bring up live performance events, certainly there's that, but even the experience of going to a movie on Saturday night and you're sitting with a hundred other people and you're laughing or you're you know, yeah, that sort of communal experience. Somebody tell me, and I'm not sure who this was, and maybe it's not even true,

but I love the idea of it. But someone said they had researched this and done some some experiments, and they found that in live theater, the audience can get caught up in it and after a certain period of time. Maybe it's in a drama, I don't know, maybe it's across the board. They actually their heartbeats get in sink because you are kind of breathing at the same time, and you hear that that sort of community or laugh or whatever it is, but that it's like girls who

are roommates get their period at the same time. But there's something about that. Whatever yourself, you're aware of it. Three times you were you were in okay, yeah, sorry, okay, I'm now I'm going to get in trouble. You're also doing a ton of voiceover work. I have been doing more of that the last few years. Enjoy that, the experience of creating a character that way. Probably love it. Yeah,

of course, I still am so physical. I'm always using my whole body in my hands and all of this, and they always have to tell me not to move around so much because I'm making too much. I love it. Um, you know, my two favorites have been probably have been bo Jack Courseman, where I got to be his mother and they gave me such a great storyline and it was so heartbreaking, and I mean, those guys are just geniuses. And I'm doing one for Disney called The Owl House

and it's such a groundbreaking story. I play this fabulous wish and she's got one snaggle tooth. She's just really fun. She's like Rosalind Russell the Witch, but with the snaggle tooth thing. But in it, the young girl who's the sort of lead character who who goes down in the down Under. It's kind of like Alice in Wonderland. She goes through the rabbit hole and ends up in this this other land, the Boiling Aisles, and wants to become a witch. And I take her under my wing that

she becomes attracted. She's like thirteen, has a girlfriend and kisses her. And I mean, young kids are so thrilled that there are people who reflect right, young lesbians and young witches and uh, and it sort of just gives people a chance to see someone who maybe is kind of like them out there, and it's been it's been a culturally a very interesting thing for Disney to do. No, I don't know if they're going to keep us in there, but I think after what's going on at Disney World,

it would be a very good idea. Yeah, yeah, it's very fun. And speaking of what you, I do the same thing with my hands and my moving right stuff. And when all you have is your voice, you realize that you're using your face and you're just you know when I run when I yeah, I mean it's that's how you emote. Yes, you got to work with one of the greats very recently, hot in Cleveland. I don't mean me, by the way, Betty White, but Betty White. Um,

by the way. I'm sorry to interrupt my question to say something else that this also occurs to me an actor's dream three different shows that go over six seasons, one seven, I mean, how well actually to be to be fair, dream on I think was only five, but we still got to a hundred and thirty shows or whatever it was. I well, you know what's funny, and

this is from memory right here. I saw a hundred and twenty and I and I think it's six because I went what I did the reason I'm saying this, and by the way, you should remember not me as I was going it was twenty episodes a year like that. That may be true because after yeah, after the first year, because the first year we did like, you know, six or ten or something, so probably after that we picked up on it. But as a cable show, yeah, no, that was I think they just realized they hit paid dirt.

They just went right, let's keep cramming these things for sure right now. But to back to your question about Betty, Betty, I will forever be great to have turned sixty on that show. When she was turning ninety, that was such a gift. And Jane and Val were both on the verge of their fiftieth We all, you know, we were so stunned that anybody wanted to do a show about women of our age anyway, like to build it around us and not just be the mom or the boss

or the whatever. Being with her. She had such a total renaissance of her career, not that she ever stopped working, but this was after Saturday Night Live and the Snicker's commercial and to be around her and see what was going on with this woman who was going to turn nine the next year was such a revelation for all of us. It was like, Wow, we're not done. My next birthday will be the beginning of my third act.

And that was such a different way of framing how I have gone forward since then to realize that, you know, it's so much of it as your attitude and in your head and if you you know, stay vital and love what you do and leave it on them at every time, and try to be to be a good soldier and play with with others nicely, which I do because I love sets, I love collaborating, I love being on set with people, and I wanted to be enjoyable

for everybody. And I think when people show up and they're prepared and they are happy to be there, there's no reason why you can't have a blast and make good stuff, you know. I just feel so blessed to have this career and to still be doing it at my age. But I I really credit Betty with my having faith and uh and not freaking out about about my age. She really was an enormous mentor in that way to so many women everywhere. Yeah, and the experience also,

I mean I was there. I know you saw obviously so much more. But what was so incredible to me about watching her at ninety or whatever it was when those cameras came on, she always found a way to yep, exactly, Yeah, she came alot, came alot, and she was radiant, that woman. There was something about her face and her eyes, but she had those amazing dimples and her eyes just sparkled.

And when you look during all the tributes when she died and you saw her, especially when she was around Alan, who every time she talked about in her eyes with water, and she just she was so madly in love with him. They were so wild about each other, but she still had it. And she was someone you just couldn't take your eyes off. Is it off of You're not supposed to end with enough, But for whom you could not take off your was trying to help you, for whom

you could not take off your eyes. No, that doesn't make sense. That's definitely you know what I'm saying. And kind and generous, humble and now she just she she was the real package and you could really see that. Nobody ever had an unkind word to say about Betty ever Is there anyone Hollywood that you would like to work with? Is there is there any dream person out there?

So many? Yeah, I just but anybody who wants to work with me, I'm here, yes, okay, I mean everyone will know that now now now there, so so I am available for work and yes, no, I have to say, it's been really fun now playing the mother of grown up people to know I'm a grandmother. There's something kind of free about getting to this stage that maybe you

don't sweat the small stuff as much. He recently played a d A in a movie and I thought, Okay, this is where the challenging part is, when you have to know that that kind of legally stuff and do the final argument to the jury and on that ship right, so that stuff in the medical stuff. It's always been a little tricky for me. But I do love still just jumping in of a bunch of people and seeing seeing how good we can make it. I recently did a movie in Hawaii that I produced on and so

I'm helping with editing, which is really fun. It's like a whole different hat to wear. And helped with casting it. And the premise was they never found Amelia Earhart's body. So what if she survived that crash and went and lived under an assumed name in Hawaii and it is now the eve of her eightieth birthday? Okay, and you're editing it now. Yeah. And I got to play Amelia, so that was pretty interesting. And that's like a different hat to wear, which I love. And I'm also writing.

So I wrote a short play that got produced and published, and so it's kind of like, what's the worst thing that can happen? You can fall on your face, but trying new stuff when you're in your third act. I highly recommend it. It keeps things very interesting and then you have an alternative. You know, things slow down in one area you can kind of plug into another one. Yeah. Have you directed? I have to acted readings, but never any long form of anything. No desire. Possibly possibly, I

think perhaps something that I write. Like I wanted to direct the play that I wrote, but I was working here and couldn't and it was on the East Coast. So yeah, I could see directing something of my own, but I don't think I would direct an act in something. Okay, well you did when you were a kid, I did well, and who knows, Maybe I'll get there again and just think I can do everything. I'll write it, i'll direct it,

i'll shoot it, I'll do it all. But that idea of collaboration, to me is one of the most desirable aspects of working because I have no intention of retiring because I like what I do too much. I like I have no interest in doing on one woman show because I wouldn't know who to debrief with at the end of the night. You know, who do you say, see on the ice too? Um, that's just that's not why I do this. Yeah, you know I've done three Really, were any of them women? Any of them women? You

were going to say that. I knew you were gonna say that. No One. One though, was an hour and forty five minutes in with an Irish accent, and I don't really do accents, by the way, So that went well. It was a lot of work. It's interesting that you say that, because I found it really, really difficult. Now, I had close collaborations with the directors and even designers

on some of that, but it's not the same. And I think in our business, well, especially in comedy, I think that collaboration that give and take, that even if it's not straight improv is yeah. Yeah. And then even in the doing of it, particularly in live theater, the tennis game you play with each other, and how you can bail each other out of trouble and surprise each other, there's just it's it's that's so delicious, and that's something I wouldn't I wouldn't want to trade. You've talked about

it a little bit. You have a lot of animals. You love animals. I've heard that it was written that you said that was horrible sentence, that you wanted to be a vet if you weren't an actor. You've done advocacy work with Humane Society and other animal organizations. What sparked this love or interest? Is this life long or is this oh? Yeah? Yeah. My older sister growing up was a colleague Bonnie. Yeah, she was my first best friend. You know, I have always preferred the company of animals

to people pretty much, uh more consistently. You know, I love I love. I love people too, but they are much easier to love and they forgive you everything and know they're my crew. And I feel this is such a gift that I got to end up living on a ranch and I get to live with animals. No,

they're they're my my best needs for sure. And it's interesting because my I probably would have gone into veterinary medicine, but I sucked it science and I also love theater, so I had, okay, theater science, and Matthew, you can't three science, and that we'll have to go this way. So it was it was by necessity. But my daughter is Um had started out being an aspiring thespian was pretty good, and she's now in college at bart and she's pre med and going to be a vet and

equine vet. She's been riding was five years old. But yeah, she said, you know, I was thinking about it, and I know how lucky you feel you are that you get to work at the thing you love. But I've also seen your friends who get so frustrated because they just don't have enough to make a living. And I think I would be so depressed if that were me, she said. But the other thing I love is animals, and there is a real need for equine vets. You know,

there are a lot of small animal vets. But she's worked every summer and a return to Freedom of Horse Saint Wild Horse Sanctuary and really gotten her feet wet. She's like fold little horses, and she stuck her hand into wounds and cleaned them out and she doesn't have any problem with that. And she she said, I want to do this. So she's now immersed in science and math and looking at a long road ahead. But it's so great that she figured out that where she belongs.

Would you do that? Stick your hand up there, and yeah, oh yeah, I'm I'm pretty I'm pretty fearless when it comes to I will touch all things animal. They don't gross me out at all. It's so different from people. Okay, I want to leave that one alone. Um, congratulations on all the projects you have coming up. I cannot imagine you as an eighty year old Amelia Earhart, but I'm going to watch it. Nonetheless, I actually kind of seld it. I think, yeah, imagine me with white eyebrows, blue eyes,

white hair, a few age spots. But I didn't need too much. All I had to do is look down a lot net. I was amazing how little it took a little it took um truly, Wendy, thank you so much. It it is not a line, It is not bs. You just make me laugh. It's really It's truely, it's as simple as that. And even though I forgot that we worked together before HUT in Cleveland, I think I was just too nervous that I thank you for coming and talking to me. I know, Brian, you make me

laugh too, so it's mutual. There you go, all right, Wendy Malick, thank you. You're welcome. You know, Wendy, it was an absolute pleasure having you on the podcast. In case you can't tell, I'm a big fan. I cannot tell you how much this conversation has meant to me. You are, in fact, one of the great ones. To the rest of you, well, you're great too, and I will see you next week for another episode of Off the Beat. In the meantime, like subscribe, I follow at

Off the Beat. You know the drone. All right, we'll talk to you soon. Off the Beat is hosted an executive produced by me Brian Baumgartner, alongside our executive producer Lang Lee. Our producers are Diego Tapia, Liz Hayes, Emily Carr, and Hannah Harris. Our talent producer is Ryan Papa Zachary. Our theme song Bubble and Squeak, performed by my great friend Creed Bratton, and the episode was mixed by seth Olandski.