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Audio: Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast – #220 Bruce Vilanch
By Earwolf and Gilbert Gottfried.
August 13, 2018

Gilbert and Frank welcome an old friend, legendary comedy writer Bruce Vilanch, who looks back at the “golden age” of TV variety shows and specials, including “Donny & Marie,” “The Brady Bunch Hour,” “The Star Wars Holiday Special” and “The Paul Lynde Halloween Special.” (all co-written by Bruce himself). Also, Margaret Hamilton makes her move, Robert Reed channels Carmen Miranda, Jack Benny does “The Match Bit” and Gilbert takes over “Hollywood Squares.” PLUS: Jack Palance! Bob Hope’s filing cabinet! “Wayne Newton at SeaWorld”! Bruce hangs with Tallulah Bankhead! And the Oscar joke that never made the air!

The post Podcast: Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast – #220 Bruce Vilanch first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Long before Ellen, Boy George, “Will & Grace,” and RuPaul, there was Bruce Vilanch.  You may know him from writing the most memorable moments on the Academy Awards, or from touring as Edna in “Hairspray,” or from being front and center on “Hollywood Squares,” or from writing for Bette Midler. 

No matter how you know him, and even if you don’t know him by name, one thing is certain — Bruce Vilanch always leaves you smiling.

To this gay boy growing up in a Boston suburb, that weirdly wonderful creature who regularly popped up on television brought endless joy – and promise. It proved that somehow, somewhere, there were more people like me; that I could fit in, thrive, work, and more than anything else, have a fabulous time. 

It seemed like it was a party wherever Bruce showed up. “Donny & Marie,” “The Brady Bunch Variety Hour,” “The Paul Lynde Halloween Special” and “The Star Wars Holiday Special.” 

Was it as much fun as it seemed? Vilanch sighs. “Even sex sometimes isn’t as fabulous on the inside as it seems from the outside!”

He regularly uses his gifts to benefit causes close to his heart. He’s been a tireless advocate for gay rights, raised countless dollars for the fight against AIDS and regularly participates in Pride events – you name it and Bruce has done it. When I ask what drives him, he says, “Renting my body was not an option.”

I remember being part of the invited audience for the dress rehearsal before he hit the road in “Hairspray,” slipping into Edna’s slippers. The first person in his dressing room afterwards was his beloved mother, Henne – who was immortalized in the 1999 documentary about Vilanch, “Get Bruce!” Bruce was still in full makeup (see photo).  Henne gushed, “You were WONDERFUL.”  She turned to me and said, “Isn’t my son wonderful?”  He certainly is!

How long have you been out and who was the hardest person to tell?   

I’ve never been in. Before Stonewall, the concept of being publicly out didn’t exist. And I’ve been around since before Stonewall. Shocking, I know. In addition, I was always fooling around with girls, until I realized that any woman I wanted to make a life with deserved more than a guy who would be trolling around looking for other guys. I chose to live an authentic life. When they say homosexuality is a choice, that’s the choice they’re talking about.

Who’s your LGBT hero? 

If I have to pick just one out of the herd, I guess it would be Noël Coward. He lived the life he wanted to live and nobody seemed to make a bother about it. Plus he was funny as shit.

What’s Los Angeles’ best nightspot, past or present? 

I am of the Studio One/Rose Tattoo era. I was too late for the Coconut Grove in its prime and now I don’t last as late, so I can’t enjoy Reflex in its prime, which is about 5 a.m.

Describe your dream wedding. 

It’s a thrupple. I’m not sure who the other two guys are, but one of them dresses left and the other dresses right and I’m the centrist.

What non-LGBT issue are you most passionate about? 

I’m a tribal Jew, so I’m concerned about my tribe. Working on AIDS-related causes for so many decades has made me more interested in other minority health issues, and being on the board of the LA LGBT Center has certainly gotten me involved in that. Of course, I am dogged about the arts and censorship and preservation and restoration.  And I worry — Tiffany Haddish — she really ready?

What historical outcome would you change? 

I try not to indulge in magical thinking. Magical drinking is enough.

What’s been the most memorable pop culture moment of your lifetime? 

Probably Woodstock, but that’s just because I am a boomer. I wasn’t really a hippie, I wasn’t really a rocker, I wasn’t really a stoner, but the idea of half a million people hiking into the woods to hear music and to tell the previous generation that there was a new world hatching is still pretty memorable. 

On what do you insist? 

Pleasure. And free WiFi.

What was your last Facebook post or Tweet? 

Probably a postcard eulogy of a friend.  They’re thick on the ground now…again.  But this is not because of a plague. This is Mother Nature and Father Time, who are both non-binary.

If your life were a book, what would the title be? 

There was a documentary about me called “Get Bruce!” Maybe the book will be “Had Bruce!”  With a much larger cast.

If science discovered a way to change sexual orientation, what would you do? 

By that time, I will be married to a Martian.

What do you believe in beyond the physical world? 

An ethical dimension. 

What’s your advice for LGBT movement leaders? 

Xanax. Just when we thought we had climbed the mountain, they moved the mountain. I don’t blame them for being depressed and a bit shell-shocked. Still, our enemies eat a lot of sugar and have boundless energy, and we have to shut down divisive politics amongst ourselves and confront the common orange evil. 

What would you walk across hot coals for? 

A swimming pool, and in a big hurry.

What LGBT stereotype annoys you most? 

Anyone who tells you if you disagree with them, you are worse than Hitler. And that’s an awful lot of gay people. We’re woefully intolerant of each other and rather than finding common ground, we carpet bomb. This isn’t new, but it is especially annoying in the era that began on November 9, 2016.

What’s your favorite LGBT movie? 

“Get Bruce!” of course, OK, that wasn’t even nominated for a GLAAD Award, even though part of the movie was my acceptance speech when I personally won a GLAAD Award. Aside from that, I am very partial to an indie drama called “Parting Glances,” which was the first AIDS movie that I can recall. If you don’t think you can handle it, know that the young Steve Buscemi is one of the leads and that alone should get you to Netflix and chill.

What’s the most overrated social custom? 

“How are you,”  “Thoughts and prayers,”  “Sorry for your loss,” referring to rich kids as “children of privilege.”

What trophy or prize do you most covet? 

The World’s Largest Penis, which is not the same as the World’s Largest Dick, which I have already been called.

What do you wish you’d known at 18? 

That pizza wouldn’t make me happy for more than a minute.

Why Los Angeles? 

I’m deeply shallow.

The post Long before Ellen, Boy George, “Will & Grace,” and RuPaul, there was Bruce Vilanch first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Playbill
The Judy Show’s Talkback Series “Continues” With Cynthia Nixon, Bruce Vilanch and More
By Michael Gioia
September 16, 2011

The Judy Show: My Life as a Sitcom, starring Emmy Award-winning actress and comic Judy Gold, has announced additional celebrities to be featured in “To Be Continued…,” the weekly talkback series where Gold chats with guests about their childhood anecdotes and memories following the performances at the DR2 Theatre.

New guests scheduled to appear in the “To Be Continued…” series include Cynthia Nixon (“Sex and the City,” Rabbit Hole) Sept. 21; Florence Henderson (“The Brady Bunch“) Sept. 24; Bruce Vilanch (“Hollywood Squares,” Hairspray) Oct. 11; Sherri Shepherd (“The View”) Oct. 12; and playwright Charles Busch (Tale of the Allergist’s Wife) Oct. 18.

Comedian Sarah Silverman and gossip columnist Perez Hilton will also be featured in the series. Dates will be announced shortly.

Previously announced appearances include Tovah Feldshuh (Irenaâ€s Vow, Goldaâ€s Balcony) Sept. 20; Julie Halston (“Sex and the City,” Gypsy) Sept. 27; and Frank DeCaro (Sirius Radio) Oct. 4.

During the Talkback series, Gold interviews her guests for a chat and a trip down memory lane, and audience members are given a chance to ask questions and continue the conversation.

“‘To Be Continued’… [is] a fun add-on to the show because thematically, The Judy Show is how my childhood and television sitcoms shaped me into who I am,” said Gold in a statement. “The talkbacks will open the whole thing up so it’s not just about my stories but about everyone’s stories.”

The solo show, written by Gold and Kate Moira Ryan, is directed by Amanda Charlton, who helmed the production’s earlier incarnation at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. The Judy Show also features songs by Gold and Ryan with additional material by Eric Kornfeld and Bob Smith. The limited engagement runs through Oct. 22.

The Judy Show, according to press notes, offers a “hilarious look at [Gold’s] life through the lens of the classic sitcoms of her youth. With multimedia, original music, laughter, and love, Judy shows us how she balances family and ambition with a little help from our favorite TV shows of the Seventies, Eighties, and Nineties.”

The production features scenic and projection design by Andrew Boyce, lighting design by Joshua Scherr and sound design by Alex Neumann.

The DR2 Theatre is located at 103 E. 15th Street, just east of Union Square. Tickets, priced $65, are available by visiting www.Telecharge.com or calling (212) 239-6200. For more information go to www.JudyGold.com.

The post Bruce Vilanch To Guest On “The Judy Show” Talkback Series first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Photo credit: Barry Gordin Photography

The John Drew Theater at Guild Hall event, titled “A Bipolar Evening With Friends: Florence Henderson and Bruce Vilanch,” benefited, in part, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, as Henderson literally passed the hat near the opening of her portion of the show.

Promising to “tell the truth” in this musical revue of her life story, Henderson — best known as the wife and mom on the hit ’70s TV series “The Brady Bunch” — dished about her apparently squeaky clean personal past. She says she was a virgin when she married Ira Bernstein, the father of their four children. She never had an affair with Richard Rodgers, her womanizing mentor who discovered her during an audition for the national tour of “Oklahoma!” She “probably could have,” but didn’t have an affair with Frank Sinatra. And, at 76 — she’s in terrific shape: “I do Pilates three times a week, but what happened to the men my age?” — the twice-married widow of eight years is open to dating again.

When asked at a reception after the show, Henderson said that while no one could top Christine Ebersole in the lead role of “Grey Gardens” (Ebersole comes to Guild Hall for a concert this weekend), the John Drew Theater should “deifnintely do ‘Grey Gardens,’ ” the Tony-winning musical set in East Hampton.

Bruce Vilanch, who connected with Henderson in the ill-fated “Brady Bunch Variety Hour,” which lasted all of nine episodes, opened with a standup routine about his career as a writer for beauty pageants, and for the last 21 years, the Academy Awards broadcast. He recalls introducing Sophia Loren to Jack Black. “She had no idea who he was and started talking in menu Italian. That’s when you know you’re in trouble.”

Despite his joke about Montauk Highway traffic — “I got a house out here in April and I’m still trying to get there on [Route] 27” — Vilanch, who lives in California, doesn’t have a place in the Hamptons. He brought along his mother, Henrietta, for the show.

Henderson, who also lives in California, said the Guild Hall show brought her to the Hamptons for only her second time. “It’s lovely,” she said, “except for the humidity.”

The post After The Show: Bruce And Florence In The Hamps first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Just when you think that you’ve seen everything in the Hamptons, East Hampton’s Guild Hall is bringing together an unlikely duo on July 24 in an event dubbed “A Bipolar Evening with Friends.”

The two performers on the bill, longtime friends, couldn’t be more different from one another. Comedy writer and performer Bruce Vilanch is best known for his raunchy one-liners and writing for just about every awards show you can think of, while actress Florence Henderson, who has starred on stage, television and in film, is best known for her role as the squeaky clean Carol Brady on TV’s “The Brady Bunch.” The two go back to the 1970s, when Vilanch worked as a writer for “The Brady Bunch Variety Hour.”

It was Vilanch who coined the event “A Bipolar Evening,” to Henderson’s delight. “Nobody expects the two of us together,” he said. “I have a much spicier reputation than Florence. But I plan on changing that for her. It’s not too late for her to be Joan Rivers.”

In the two-part show, Vilanch will take the stage first, telling tales from his career and tackling tabloid fodder. “My half of the show is about my bizarre life behind the scenes, writing for everybody else,” he said. For those quick to consider it a stand-up act, think again. “I like to call it sit-down. I just tell stories.”

Following Vilanch, Henderson will perform her one-woman autobiographical musical, All the Lives of Me, touching upon everything from growing up during the Great Depression to her years as America‘s favorite TV mom. And Henderson says you can expect Vilanch to make a special appearance during her segment and vice versa. “Usually Bruce would work alone or I would work alone,” she said. “This should be a tremendous amount of fun for us and the audience.”

Growing up in Kentucky, Henderson knew she wanted to get into show business at a young age. “Ever since I can remember, I wanted to be an entertainer,” she said. After high school, she received sponsorship to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, and never looked back.

She debuted on Broadway at 18, with a small role in Wish You Were Here, capturing the attention of the legendary Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. She was then cast in Oklahoma! in the lead role for its last national tour, leading to many other Broadway roles.

However, Henderson didn’t limit herself to the stage. “My goal always was to have longevity [in this industry.] So I diversified early,” she said. “I loved theater and I still do.” She became the first woman to guest host “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” in 1962 and became “The Today Girl” for NBC’s morning show.

Then, in 1969, she landed the iconic role of Carol Brady on “The Brady Bunch,”-a role she still embraces. “I can’t ignore it,” she said. “It’s the elephant in the room.” But she’s never felt pigeon-holed because of it, like many actors known for portraying legendary characters. “For me it’s part of the fabric of my career, not the whole thing.” Carol Brady is a role Henderson revisits. She has lovingly skewered the character in various comedy sketches, made a cameo in the first Brady Bunch parody movie and participated in the reality show “My Fair Brady.”And her career continues to thrive in other ways, with the many charitable organizations she represents, as well as being a product spokeswoman and motivational speaker and appearing at events as varied as singing the national anthem at the Indianapolis 500 to hosting wrestling matches.

As for Vilanch, recently nominated for an Emmy for his role as a writer for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards, his career has been vastly different from Henderson’s, but no less successful. Studying theater and journalism, he began his career covering music for the Chicago Tribune. This is how he met Bette Midler. He began writing bits for her, and slowly built up the list of performers he wrote for: Cher, Eartha Kitt, Diana Ross.

From there he moved on to Hollywood, writing for various variety shows, most notably “The Donny and Marie Show,” and many awards shows. He’s written for 21 consecutive Academy Awards. But he was able to move from behind the scenes and into the limelight while a head writer for “Hollywood Squares” in the 1980s. He was asked to sit in one of the squares, which, as a performer, he says he jumped at. “I got to sit next to Whoopi [Goldberg] for four years and crack wise,” he said. “I think they just wanted someone to tame her. I got lucky.”

This opportunity kick-started his performance career, leading to engagements around the country at various events and venues, performing a one-man off-Broadway show in 2000 and starring in Broadway’s Hairspray as Edna Turnblad. “I had to shave for that,” Vilanch said. “I couldn’t talk them into a bearded lady.” And many of the stories he’ll be telling on July 24, could very well find their way into the book he’s working on about his career.

“A Bipolar Evening with Friends,” featuring Bruce Vilanch and Florence Henderson, John Drew Theater at Guild Hall. Saturday, July 24, 8 p.m. For tickets, go to guildhall.org.

The post “A Bipolar Evening with Friends” – Bruce Vilanch and Florence Henderson first appeared on We Got Bruce!.