Episode 251

From her first job right out of high school on a USO tour through Asia during the Vietnam War to Maude to screen queen classics, Adrienne Barbeau has costarred with snakes, rats, bugs, Swamp Things, a man-eating ape and Batman!  

Adrienne joins us to talk about iconic roles, larger than life co-stars (like Rodney and Reynolds) and how at 80, she's doing everything BUT riding into the sunset.  

At 19, she moved to New York City with a clear promise to herself: She would give theater her absolute all and settle for her backup plan, if need be, only at age 25. By then she was starring on Broadway as Hodel in Fiddler On The Roof with costar Bette Midler as Tzeitel.   Adrienne shares firsthand stories from the birth of Grease (MUCH edgier at its inception), where she originated the role of Rizzo. She recalls the electric audience response during previews, and how, fueled by that enthusiasm, producers pushed forward despite harsh critical reviews.   

From there, Adrienne was discovered by Norman Lear and offered the part of Maude’s daughter Carol in the first All In The Family Spinoff.  She found Bea Arthur to be an artist who exemplified collaborative grace,  always putting the show ahead of any individual performance.  Adrienne opens up about her curious relationship with Burt Reynolds… in fact, a psychic saw her dating a man who was laying on a bearskin, even before she had met him or he had done that! She then shares stories from the chaotic set of  Cannonball Run, where she was trying to take the work seriously while many cast-mates were mostly taking alcohol.   

We talk about her collaborations with John Carpenter and George A. Romero. We delve into Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death (which turns out to have surprising literary roots in Heart of Darkness). We play a sizzling round of IMDB Roulette and hear about Adrienne's latest project, the short film Oddities.  The episode closes on a meaningful note as we say goodbye to Fritz in his final episode as co-host, and welcome Lisa Arch, who will be joining Weezy for our next episode.  

In current media--  

Weezy: Song Sung Blue, in theaters and streaming 

Fritz: Marty Supreme, in theaters and streaming