Women in TV, Film, and (why not) everywhere!

As I work on my book (and yes, I have only 7 more chapters on which to do a substantial re-write and edit!), I think how lucky I have been to be able to pursue a career that I wanted. It wasn’t always so easy for women to choose anything that excited them and go for it.

I have been lucky in my life that I was born into a family where I had many strong women as role models. My paternal step-grandmother was a judge, a mayor, and was, in general, a no-nonsense kind of woman! My great aunt was an obstetrician, one of the first females to graduate in the early 1900’s with a medical degree. There was also a distant cousin who was an Arctic explorer in the early 1900s! So it never occurred to me that I couldn’t do whatever I wanted because I was a woman. It just never entered my mind.

 In high school, most of my classmates were going on to be either nurses or teachers. It seemed a pretty limited selection to me, but I already knew I was going to be a dancer, so what did I care?

 By the early 1970’s I was living in Los Angeles, and it’s not to say that there weren’t obstacles to overcome as a woman. It was difficult at that time, if not downright impossible, for a woman to buy a house without a father or husband to co-sign. Can you imagine! Do you remember Edith Bunker trying to get a loan at the bank? The 1970s were a tumultuous time with all sorts of reexamination of women’s rights going on, and women such as Gertrude Stein, and Erica Jong and Germaine Greer drawing attention. And of course, the demand for equal rights and the sexual revolution changed so much in how we could lead our lives. It was an intoxicating period, with the promise of greater freedom and power!

 And as I started my transition to my career in costume design, many of the top television producers, stars, designers were women. Think Murphy Brown, Designing Women, and Gilmore Girls. The very first producer who took a chance on me, hiring me for The Facts of Life, was a woman, and many of the producers (and a few directors) I worked for in television subsequently were women, including Penny Marshall, Yvette Lee Bowser, Irma Kalish, and Lisa De Cazotte.

 I still believe that it’s important not to feel that you are coming from behind, but that you are starting from the same start line, and that excellence in what you do is the thing that will propel you forward. Not nepotism, not cronyism, not anything but commitment and talent and passion. Call me naive or an optimist, but I’d like to think even men wouldn’t be dumb enough to ignore someone who is really really really good at what they do!

WORKING WITH PENNY MARSHALL

I just saw Penny Marshall on The Today Show, and I have ordered her book. Can’t wait to read it!

I had the interesting experience (and yes, I would say, the pleasure) of working with her in 1992 when I was hired to costume design the TV series A League of Their Own. The movie had been a huge hit, and the TV series was the hot ticket - everyone in Holllywood wanted to be involved.

A man I had previously worked with on several other series was producing it and set up a time for me to come in and meet with Penny. She was sitting behind her desk in her huge office at Sony Studios when I entered, and was eating from a large bowl of spaghetti! She apologized, saying she had not had a moment to have lunch, and to please sit down and show her my portfolio. It was a bit disconcerting, and I was nervious. She was so droll! In my nervousness I said that I was experience in the “thirties” costumes that would be needed, and without missing a beat and without looking up she said “forties”. I had nearly blown it! World War 2 story - of course 1940’s costumes!

I started work early before the cast was set, as she wanted me to have enough 40’s clothing to outfit all the actors doing screen tests. Every actress in town wanted to be cast and therefore were so sweet and appreciative of my efforts to make them look the part. Only later when we were well under way filming did the seven “Peaches” girls start to get competitive and fight for rank!

Penny was always droll, both in production meetings and while filmling, and she had her favorites. She was never big with compliments or lots of touchy feely stuff, though I think I would have heard about it if she hadn’t liked what I was doing. She expected top level work from everyone, but didn’t see any need to draw attention to what she thgouht was the norm.  Her brother,  Garry Marshall, on the other hand, was the exact opposite - outgoing, mellow, kind, full of smiles and compliments all around. I reminded him that he had nearly cast me as Gwendolyn PIgeon in the TV series The Odd Couple  some years back (while I was still an actress) and he was kind enough to say I was a wonderful and he wishes I had got the part! He may not even have remembered me, but I didn’t care!

We only filmed 6 episodes, and Penny directed a couple of them. Tom Hanks came in to direct one episode too, though at first I didn’t recognize him, as he had just finished filming Philadelphia, and was still thin and growing his hair back from that Oscar winning performance.

Only two episodes aired, in mid summer. The show got bad ratings, and was plucked off the air. I however, was incredibly honored to still get nominated for my first Emmy  for Best Costume Design for a Series.