Occupation: I'm a union actor, having done mostly character and comedy roles, and a voiceover actor, though older people have a very hard time finding work. I was the executive secretary and then production coordinator for a major record company, a
Occupation: Iâm a union actor, having done mostly character and comedy roles, and a voiceover actor, though older people have a very hard time finding work. I was the executive secretary and then production coordinator for a major record company, and assistant director and producer of Kentucky Opera Association, when we lived down south. One of my most exciting memories is when I was a senior at Barnard College, I sang for Queen Frederika of Greece, at the United Nations. I organized a few young women to sing American folk songs at a reception for the queen and her daughter, Princess Sofia, who later married King Juan Carlos of Spain.
Family: Iâve been married to Kenny since 1972, and we have a son, Michael, who lives in New York with Kim and our 27-month-old granddaughter, Emma.
Pets: We have a cat named after the New York newscaster Sue Simmons. We always name our cats for famous people.
How long have you lived in Newtown? Kenny and I moved here last March.
What do you like to do in your free time? I was president of the League of Women Voters in Larchmont, N.Y., and on the board of directors for the Westchester City League. Iâm very politically oriented. Iâm an activist for people with chronic illnesses and a patient advocate, helping people find doctors. I teach people coping strategies, the easiest and most pleasant of which is belly laughing, which effects the secretion of endorphins, our pain-reducing neurotransmitters. I like to cook, and I self-published a cookbook four years ago, called The Abnormal Cookbook: for the Kitchen Phobic, the Time Impaired, and the Chronically Ill with a Chronic Lust for Good Food. I like to read and I enjoy museums, art, and music. I was a music major in college.
Do you have a favorite book? I like all good writers. There is an absolutely wonderful, wonderful book called Life Mask by Emma Donoghue. My two favorite bookstores on earth are in Washington, D.C., and one posts staff recommendations. Life Mask was on their list.
Do you have a favorite travel destination? My two favorite places are Italy and Bali. Iâve only been to Bali once, and itâs the epitome of Shangri-la. I adore the people. Iâve been to Italy many, many times, and I speak Italian. I like the food in Italy â who couldnât?
What is the best thing about Newtown? Itâs so New England, and quaint. Itâs a very warm, typical New England town.
Do you have a hero? I have two heroes, both women. One is Dolly Parton. She is honest, in addition to being talented. Sheâs forthright, and nice to people, and very generous. I love her for that. The other woman Iâve met twice. Her name was Jeanne Daman, from Brussels, and she is now deceased. She was a woman who during the Holocaust saved many Jews, at great risk to her own life. Being with her was like being close to God.
Do you have a personal philosophy? I believe, as Jean-Paul Sartre did, that the way you conduct your life is to behave as if you are setting an example for society, in all you do.
What makes you happiest? Laughing and eating, and not necessarily in that order. Iâm a comedienne. I love to make other people laugh.