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| Ruth Buzzi enjoys life on her Texas ranch. (Photo: James Pylant) |
Ruth Buzzi, Golden Globe winner and five-time
Emmy nominee, appeared in hundreds of television shows, dozens of movies,
and is now retired on a Texas ranch in northern Erath County where she and her
husband raise cattle and horses.
James Pylant:
You learned to perform in front of crowds as a high school cheerleader. When did you realize you wanted
to get into acting? What sparked
that interest?
Ruth Buzzi: I knew that my father was serious
about furthering my education after high school. I really wanted to just be a
housewife but that would have disappointed him, so I was forced to choose
another career involving higher education, and acting seemed like the most
interesting thing I could pursue. I had
the lead in a high school play, The
Heiress, and was in all the school variety shows we put on. I always played a funny part of some kind.
They considered me the gooney one. I was
head cheerleader, and that was performing, too, and that showed me how much I enjoyed
performing in front of a crowd. There
were 14 of us, all girls, and we had to do flips, cartwheels and gymnastics—all
that sort of thing. I loved the
rehearsals, the training, everything about it. Somewhere along the way I realized acting and performing was what I
really enjoyed the most. So I decided to
go to the Pasadena Playhouse College of Theater Arts.
JP: Where did you discover your talent for comedy? How did you come to realize you had
this gift?
RB: I always enjoyed making people
laugh, from as early as I can remember. I had fun with talent shows in school,
and comedy came rather naturally to me.
My mother was a very funny person, and I must’ve picked up some of her
sense of humor. I had a little talent
for sketching and painting, too—my father was a really great artist and
sculptor—and because I usually drew “funny” pictures, Dad suggested I might end
up a cartoonist. But performing for
people was more appealing to me than working all day at a desk, drawing
pictures.
JP: By the
time Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In came along, you had already appeared in
TV shows such as The Garry Moore Show, Your Show of Shows, and The Steve Allen Comedy
Hour. At what point did you realize that you had “arrived”?
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| Ruth with husband Kent Perkins (Courtesy of Kent and Ruth Buzzi Perkins) |
RB: I realized when Laugh-In was a number one hit show that I was probably destined to
make a decent living at acting. I never sat back and thought, “I’ve arrived!”
but our hit show on NBC gave me the confidence to buy a house in the Hollywood
Hills and to pursue my career with a little less anxiety. Really, though, most
actors never get over the insecurity that comes from living job to job, and
always wondering whether the offers would continue to come in. That may be why
I enjoy retirement so much—not having to think about it! I am grateful for the
success I had, which I never took for granted, but equally grateful for the
opportunity to have a “life after show-biz.”
JP: We have
to talk about Gladys Ormphby. You played several characters on Laugh-In, but
none were as popular as Gladys. How did that character come about?
RB: I created the costume for a character in the
show Auntie Mame. I played the dorky secretary, Agnes Gooch. Gladys Ormphby is
a name I made up, trying to give my ugliest character a name to match her
looks. It worked!
JP: Is it
true you have a horse named Gladys? What prompted that?
RB: The horse was born with markings on
her forehead that looked just like Gladys Ormphby’s hair, and even had a dot in
the middle of the forehead like the knot on Gladys’s hair net, so calling the
horse Gladys was totally natural!
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| Ruth with Gladys (Courtesy of Kent and Ruth Buzzi Perkins) |
JP: Tell me
about being honored on This is Your Life. Was this a complete
surprise?
RB: Unbeknownst to me, it had all been
set up for them to come when the cast was doing the last number of a Monday
night Laugh-In show taping. They came onto the stage, which was lit for
the last number, and Ralph Edwards walked up and said, “Ruth Buzzi, this is
your life!” It was a wonderful, emotional experience. They put me into a limo and took me to their
studios to finish doing the show. I was shocked at the amount of research
they’d done into my background and life. I was amazed at the level of detail! And
it became very emotional to be reunited with so many people who had contributed
to my being where I was in life—friends and relatives, teachers—it was
unforgettable.
JP: Of all your roles, which was your
favorite?
RB: The French ones that arrive at the dinner
table very hot, with lots of garlic butter.
