Reprinted fromSHOTGUN REVIEWS
Living in the '80s
A column by Michael Sutton
An Interview with Lydia Cornell - Chapter I
Her beautiful eyes, wide open and brimming with youthful wonder, awakened male adolescence in 1980.
For boys of the '80s, actress Lydia Cornell was the first page of a colorful, thrillingly creative decade. Playing the sexy yet virginal daughter of Ted Knight in the ABC-TV sitcom Too Close for Comfort , Cornell was the last pin-up girl before MTV's arrival, when the trashy, tramp-look of Madonna defined - and constantly updated - the standard by which cathode-ray crushes are measured. Cornell radiated Girl Next Door innocence and angelic loveliness even when attired in the most skimpy shorts allowed by network programmers at that time.
However, that was over 20 years ago. Like many TV teenage actors and actresses who quickly found fame but then suddenly became lost after their once-popular weekly series was over, Cornell plummeted from Cloud 9, drowning herself with insecurities and dangerous addictions. But a wake-up call and the birth of her son brought the gaining of wisdom. As "pain is the touchstone of all spiritual progress," Cornell found her center and eventually herself.
Ironically, even though Cornell is actually more stunning today than in the '80s, it's her ideas that are landing her headlines. Cornell's blog, http://www.lydiacornell.com/blog.html , a double Koufax nominee for best writing, is a consistently thought-provoking firecracker of pointed socio-political commentary and observant, caustic wit. A Marine combat vet even sent her his Purple Heart for her courage in speaking out about the war in Iraq. Although still somewhat active in Hollywood, recently appearing on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, and garnering indie acting nominations, Cornell spends most of her time, creatively speaking, in front of her keyboard. She has several novels awaiting publication including the thriller The Sylvia Plan , about the Trotsky assassination; the comedy Venus Conspiracy ; and the hilariously insightful one-woman show Relationshop .
Born in El Paso, Texas but raised in New York, Cornell didn't have to wait long before the celebrity spotlight cast its attention on her. Losing the role in the first pilot she auditioned for, Cornell was quickly snatched up for Too Close for Comfort . As Sara Rush, Cornell was the naive knockout blonde counterpart to Deborah Van Valkenburgh's street-smart older brunette. Simultaneously Cornell was cast in the horror film Blood Tide with James Earl Jones and Jose Ferrer. However, it was a double whammy that Cornell wasn't quite prepared for. "It was so much," Cornell revealed. "I panicked, thinking I wasn't good enough, didn't look good enough." It certainly didn't help that Knight, trying to follow up his career-making success on The Mary Tyler Moore Show , was initially challenging to deal with. "It was difficult in the beginning because Ted wasn't easygoing," Cornell explained. "He was trying to make a comeback." Sometimes Cornell's relative inexperience caused minor irritations with Knight which were then inflated as major on-set troubles by The National Enquirer . "I got yelled at by Ted because I was looking at his forehead. In the middle of a scene, I was afraid to look into his eyes because I might laugh out of nervousness!" Cornell recalled, laughing. Such incidents would be then by warped by the tabloids, falsely claiming that she was causing friction on the show.
Cornell became infatuated with JM J. Bullock, who played Sara's effeminate pal Monroe Ficus, completely unaware of his sexual orientation. "I was the only person who didn't know he was gay," Cornell revealed. "Everybody knew but me!" As they walked out onto the stage, Bullock often wiggled his ass in front of Cornell, who would then blow a shot because she couldn't stop giggling.Despite all of the laughter, and an improving relationship with Knight, the producers constantly warned her that if she didn't stay thin and perfect, they would lose ratings. One day they caught her walking from the lunch room with a burrito, a box of Oreos, and a bag of M&M's and scolded her, shouting: "Don't you know you're a sex symbol!? You can't eat starch!" (Their actions would later spark artistic fuel for Cornell's screenplay for Venus Conspiracy , an indie film about Hollywood pressures on young women to remain skinny and unsure of themselves.)
Cornell developed problems with her mother as well. "My mother was a genius and a perfectionist. I adore her, but we had terrible conflicts growing up," Cornell said. "She wanted me to be a Wall Street banker, but I didn't have the numbers gene; I was a tortured artist.” Consequently, Cornell's acting career became the foundation of her self-esteem. "When you don't feel validation or approval, you try to get it from masses of strangers." And so for five years Too Close for Comfort became Cornell's primary source of attention and acceptance.
But then Ted Knight died in 1986 and ABC pulled the plug.
The spotlight, which had shown so brightly, was abruptly dimmed, leaving a very fragile girl in the darkness. It would take years of learning - and living hard - for Cornell to find her way out.
Cornell vanished from the public eye, using her savings to travel, write and jet-set around the globe. Like a planet knocked out of orbit, Cornell's life then spiraled into the abyss, descending into a black hole of drugs and alcohol. Then one day Cornell came home and found the body of her younger brother Paul, who had just died from an overdose of narcotics. The walls were collapsing around her, leaving her in depths of despair.
Until the light appeared.
To Be Continued
Michael Sutton has been a professional freelance entertainment writer since 1987. His work has appeared in magazines such as Amazing Heroes, Cinefantastique, and Fantazia. He wrote more than 500 articles for the All-Music Guide, mostly about New Wave artists. He won First Place at the Washington Press Association Awards in 1989 (A&E) and 1999 (Column) and Greater Northwest Journalism Awards (Editorial) in 2002.
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