Laugh Lines: Conversations With Comedians Read Free Page B

there in cinematic glory. I’m sure David wishes we hadn’t done it. We certainly wish it hadn’t been filmed; that’s what happened. I can only own it. It’s what I did. I’m not sure I won’t do it again.
     
    Corey: You, Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton are all gay icons. Do you think the movie was somewhat responsible for that?
     
    Lily: Not for Dolly and maybe not for me. Gay people are just hip. I’ve said many times, ‘There’s no excuse for a square gay person.’ We’ve been interesting artists over the years. Ernestine went a long way toward creating my aura, and Dolly created her own. And Jane was Barbarella for heaven’s sake.
     
    It’s just the way of it. In my opinion, our sensibility is just hipper. I mean the gay community’s sensibility is hipper.
     
    Corey: I had to bring up ‘9 to 5,’ because growing up—and now it’s still one of my favorites—I related to your character, having a strong, single mom in my life. There’s been talk of a sequel. Please don’t.
     
    Lily: I know; like doing the musical. It was difficult. They closed on Broadway or at least planned to over Labor Day. And Jane and Dolly and I went to the premiere in Los Angeles and New York. It was pretty surreal. It looks just like us onstage. And I’m friends with Allison Janney, of course, from ‘West Wing.’ Megan Hilty even kind of mimics Dolly a little vocally, little laughs. The audience just cheers when they do. The old costumes are even iconic. The things we wore are so recognizable because that movie played so much.
     
    Corey: There’s something very special about that movie—so many great lines. I just visited with a friend who lives in L.A. He was just doing scenes verbatim.
     
    Lily: We’re the ‘Mommy Dearest’ of this era.
     
    Corey: Is there a ‘9 to 5’ line that stands out for you?
     
    Lily: I love when Dolly goes back there and finds the wrong body in the trunk and leans up, ‘Violet, honey, could you come back here for a minute?’
     
    Corey: What was your first impression of Dolly?
     
    Lily: I was friends with Dolly before that. I went over to the Porter Wagoner studios a couple times. This was when Dolly was just sort of cresting, getting known outside the country field. I saw all the letters she wrote to Porter on the wall. That was ’74, ’75. And then ’77, I was on Broadway in the first show we did. She played The Bottom Line in New York. That was one of the big crossovers from country to pop. She came to my show, and I went to her show. I was friends with her since then.
     
    And Jane, too. I was friends with Jane because of political stuff, when she was married to Tom Hayden. In fact, Jane came to see one of my shows in ’75, the last show of that year. That’s when she started working to create ‘9 to 5.’ On the way home, Dolly was on the radio, and in that moment she thought, ‘Lily and Dolly and me will be in this movie about office workers.’ How that computes, I don’t know.
     
    Corey: Sometimes those little magical things come together. You mentioned ‘Laugh-In.’ Were you there when Nixon was on the show?
     
    Lily: No, I didn’t go on ’til the third season. The last season, I left early. Paul Keyes, big Republican speech writer for Nixon, he was responsible for bringing Nixon on the show in that early season. Paul came back to the show as head writer. I didn’t want to have to do his politics. I agreed to do a limited number of shows. I had offers to do specials. I owned all my characters, so I was lucky in that way. I could take my characters and go. I’m still close to George Schlatter, original producer and co-creator with Rowan and Martin.
     
    Corey: I still don’t know what sweet bippy is.
     
    Lily: You bet your sweet bippy? I wonder what it means. I can guess. I’d probably be pretty accurate.
     
    Corey: What do you want to be when you grow up?
     
    Lily: Yeah, that’s a good question. What I want to be is a hammock layer. I want to just lie in