Cloris Leachman on Staying Young, Her New Book and 'Square' Ronald Reagan (Video)
By Andrew Belonski | 3-31-09 Editor’s Note: In honor of her new book, Cloris, legendary actress Cloris Leachman sat down with our managing editor. Here’s the transcript of that encounter. CLORIS: Hi. Hello. ANDREW: How are you, Cloris? Are you having a nice day? CLORIS: Oh, wonderful. ANDREW: Oh, good. That’s what I like to hear. So you’ve just published your first book, called Cloris. Tell me: What possessed you to write it? CLORIS: It was sort of part of a big plan to maybe do a one-woman show, do a book. Just sort of everything. ANDREW: In another interview you did with regard to the book, you said it’s not a tell-all. So what is it? CLORIS: Well, as old as I am, there are a lot of stories that aren’t here, but we tried to put the good ones in.
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ANDREW: What’s your favorite story that you’re sharing? CLORIS: Hang on a second, please. [Pause.] That’s my daughter. ANDREW: Oh? CLORIS: She’s coming over to cook dinner. She’s the best cook I’ve ever tried in my life, anywhere. ANDREW: And what is she cooking? CLORIS: Well, she lived in Sicily for three years and it just … I don’t know, it vaccinated her. She’s a brilliant cook. ANDREW: Great. Has she read your book? CLORIS: I don’t think so. None of the kids have read it. They haven’t had a chance. ANDREW: So what is your favorite story in the book? CLORIS: Well, there’s a good one about Katharine Hepburn. ANDREW: Oh, yeah? Can you elaborate? CLORIS: Well, you have to read it. ANDREW: So, readers, buy the book! Anyway, Cloris, you wrote the book with your exhusband, George Englund. Was that difficult? CLORIS: It was really not difficult at all. He knows all my stories, too, so that helps. ANDREW: He’s a good reference point for you? CLORIS: Yes. ANDREW: You two got divorced in the late ‘70s, right? Was it hard to stay friends? CLORIS: No, because I made a decision many years before that I would never get bitter about anything. And that helped a lot. That was a good decision, because it’s so easy to get bitter.
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ANDREW: Yes, definitely. CLORIS: And that was a wonderful thing that happened, and he’s a wonderful man and I adore him and he adores me. ANDREW: Do you remember when you made that promise not to get bitter, what had spurred that decision? CLORIS: No, I was little. I was very young. ANDREW: You must have been a very smart little girl. CLORIS: Well, I made some big decisions when I was about six. ANDREW: And what were they? CLORIS: This is also in the book. I was riding on a streetcar for the first time when I was seven, by myself, and everybody was white and gray and they were dead or dying or asleep or I don’t know what. Boy, I was shocked, and I thought, “I’m never going to let anything grind me down to be gray like that.” And I never have and I never will. ANDREW: And that’s how you stay so youthful? CLORIS: I thought, “If anybody’s smiling when I’m grown-up I’m going to give them a nickel.” ANDREW: I know that you appeared nude on the cover of Alternative Medicine Digest. Would you do that again? CLORIS: I thought about doing it. ANDREW: Really? CLORIS: I was 70 when I did it and I thought about doing it when I was 80 and 90, but then I changed my mind. ANDREW: Why? CLORIS: Well, I think it’s enough, don’t you? And everybody thinks I was trying to copy Demi Moore’s Vanity Fair cover, but I wasn’t. I didn’t even think about that. I was thinking about what would sell the magazine. I didn’t think just my face on a health magazine would sell anything. That’s how that happened.
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ANDREW: Hmm. But you know, I was actually just discussing this with other wOw staffers — you’re still sexy. Would you agree? CLORIS: I think my body’s better now than it was when I was 70. ANDREW: How’s that? CLORIS: Well, my tits are better and my ass is better. I’m in better shape. ANDREW: Other than not getting bitter and promising yourself as a seven-year-old that you wouldn’t become gray and look like you’re dying, what is your secret to remaining so youthful? CLORIS: You make a decision: “I’m not going to look like that.” And you don’t. You have to look the best you can for yourself. ANDREW: I see. CLORIS: I’ve also always tried to eat well. I think that’s mainly it. ANDREW: Are you a vegetarian? CLORIS: I have been for many years and I am a lot of the time, except when I’m on the road. It’s too hard to be a vegetarian on the road, I think. ANDREW: You’ve been in the spotlight for years and, thankfully, don’t seem to be fading. Are you surprised that you’re still so popular? Everybody loves you. CLORIS: I don’t know. Do you know why? Do you know why, really? ANDREW: You’re a pretty likable lady. You know what it is, actually? And this came up in your speech after you won an Oscar for "The Last Picture Show." Do you remember what you said in that speech? CLORIS: I remember talking about all my teachers. ANDREW: Yes, but you also said that you had worked really hard to not become a cliché. And I think that is something that has always really stuck with you and I think that’s probably why people are so attracted to you.
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