Episode 255

The word 'Queen' gets thrown around a lot but actress, comedian, director, writer Renée Taylor is legitimate show biz royalty!

This month she turns 93 (or is it 39?) and in honor of the occasion, she is gifting us with a performance of her extraordinary one-woman show, My Life on a Diet, on March 18th in Palm Springs. Renée joins us to talk about her remarkable career, her devoted marriage to Joe Bologna and her resolution to no longer measure her worth by way of her dress size.

Renée traces her sense of humor back to her childhood, where by the age of four she knew she would grow up to write about the outrageously nutty character that was her mother. And she has!

She tells us how her mother’s belief in destiny shaped her path. Named after silent screen star, Renée Adorée (the poor child had to learn how to type to two acute accents into her name!) She was also, strategically conceived to be astrologically positioned to become an actress!

Family would become creative fuel throughout her career. Renée and her late husband and writing partner Joe Bologna drew constant inspiration from their colorful Jewish and Italian families, weaving their relatives into scripts, characters, and stories. 

Their collaboration produced beloved and award-winning works, including Lovers and Other Strangers and Made For Each Other. Renée speaks movingly about her romantic and artistic bond with Joe, which is ongoing, beyond his passing. She does hear from him and she has honored him in a play which tells their unique story called, Dying Is No Excuse.

Renée also reflects on being among the first wave of women writers who broke into the business, and she tells us about her formative friendship with Elaine May, who encouraged her early efforts (even when her first ideas arrived as scribbled thoughts on scraps of paper bags.) Elaine’s advice? “You’re a writer, get some pens and a notebook.”

From stage to screen, her stories span entertainment history: She recalls Barbra Streisand opening for her during her early stand-up days and she shares how she landed the role of Eva Braun in The Producers. Mel Brooks says she was an audition standout because she delivered her German lines with a Bronx accent.

Of course, we dive into her unforgettable role on The Nanny, where she based her character partly on her own aunt while borrowing nuance from Fran Drescher’s real mother. 

Renée shares hilarious behind-the-scenes stories, including how a costume designer’s insistence on a girdle helped shape her character’s physicality, what it was like working with Steve Lawrence as her husband Morty and with her own husband Joe as her secret paramour, and why Elizabeth Taylor charged her for a photo together.

We also talk about her book and now solo show, My Life on a Diet, as Renée reflects on body image, Hollywood and humor in the face of heartache, and a round of IMDB Roulette that takes us from Black and White cinema to Bob's Burgers!

In current recommendations --

Lisa: Netflix documentary, Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model

Weezy: Movie Eleanor the Great, now streaming