Happy Birthday actor Julia Duffy

Born: June 27, 1951 in Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA

Married to:
Jerry Lacy (21 June 1984 – present) (2 children)

QUOTE:

One of the main pleasures of doing stage is when you can work on material such as this [“The Little Foxes”], which has stood the test of time. It already works in front of an audience, that’s a given-if done well-and that’s something you don’t know when working on a film or television script. And the collaboration that happens during the rehearsal period and then a long run is just priceless.

[about “The Little Foxes”] I am finding there are more, better roles in theater for a woman my age than there are on TV and in movies, and this is one of them. I had been a fan from reading the play and seeing the movie. When I heard a couple of months ago they were doing it here, I reread the script and was even more impressed than before with the brilliance of the writing. I could see myself in the part, which doesn’t always happen. But I knew it would take some effort to prove I was right for it, because I don’t look like other wonderful women who have played her.

[About her character in “The Little Foxes”] Playing a victim doesn’t interest me, so I can’t think of Birdie like that, even though it would be an easy way to gain sympathy from the audience. Instead, I think of her as a woman who keeps hoping people will behave in a more gracious manner. She brings up the spirit of the way life was before she married into this family.

Again because I’m kind of a history nut I find myself fascinated by women like Abigail Adamsm who made their lives mean something to the larger world despite having no path to any way of being heard as a separate person. And I think of Katharine Hepburn, and well, Lillian Hellman, who simply did what they felt was their destiny, with a clear idea of what their worth was, and made it possible for millions who came after to follow their destinies.

[on getting the role of Birdie in “The Little Foxes” by the time she was old enough] I lobbied hard to be seen for the role, and eventually they let me.

[on why Bob Newhart’s comedy career has endured for so long] I’m trying to figure that out, so that I can steal that. I think it’s just because his comedy is timeless and he has a flawless ear for what’s funny. If he thinks it’s funny, it’s funny, and he looks for the funny and finds it. He reads the paper every day and then does a routine of what was in the paper.