There Are Worse Things I Could Do - Hardcover

Barbeau, Adrienne

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786716371 ISBN 13: 9780786716371

Publisher: Carroll & Graf, 2006

Synopsis

Adrienne Barbeau never set out to be a sex symbol and she never intended to become the poster girl for women over 50 having babies, but both those stories and a lot more are detailed in this witty, revealing memoir of the Tony-nominated actress.

This book covers Adrienne's early years in New York (“No one said Mafia out loud in those days. There was always the fear you wouldn’t live to say anything else.”), to starring on Broadway in Grease (“Alexander Cohen swore the only way we’d win a Tony was over his dead body”). She tells tales about her two hit television series (Maude and Carnivale), her many television and feature films (The Fog, Escape from New York, Cannonball Run, Swamp Thing, Back to School, Creepshow), her singing career (“Doc Severinson and the band had been in the audience during my nude foray off-Broadway in Stag Movie”), her romance with Burt Reynolds, her marriage to director John Carpenter, and marrying a much younger man and giving birth to twins at age 51.

About this title

About the Author:

Film, Television and Broadway Star, Concert Stage and Recording Artist, Adrienne Barbeau's career spans 40 years and is still evolving.
She began performing in 1963 with the San Jose Civic Light Opera and by the time she was 18, she had already entertained our servicemen on army bases throughout South East Asia and was on her way to New York where she made her Broadway debut as Tevye's second daughter, Hodel, in Fiddler on the Roof. A Tony nomination for her creation of Rizzo in the original Broadway production of "Grease" led her back to California and the role of Bea Arthur's daughter, Carol, in the hit series "Maude" (currently in reruns on Nick at Nite's TV Land.)
Adrienne's numerous films for television include the Ace Award winning "Double Crossed: The Barry Seal Story" opposite Dennis Hopper, Scott Turow's "Burden of Proof" with Hector Elizondo, and most recently "The Santa Trap" with Stacy Keach and Robert Hays. Weekly audiences can see her in a recurring role on "Drew Carey" as Oswald's mom. She is currently starring as Ruthie in HBO's fascinating series "Carnivąle".
Film audiences know her best from "The Fog", "Escape from New York", "Swamp Thing", "Cannonball Run", "Creepshow", "Back to School", "Two Evil Eyes", and "The Convent". Soon to be released is the feature comedy "A Wake in Providence".
Los Angeles audiences have known her as a television talk show host and a weekly book reviewer for KABC talk radio. Her nightclub performances include Harrah's, Reno; The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel; the Gardenia and the Moonlight Tango Cafe in Los Angeles.
Adrienne has starred in over 25 musicals and plays, among them "Pump Boys & Dinettes"; "Women Behind Bars"; Kander and Ebb's "And the World Goes Round"; "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas"; "Love Letters"; the West coast premieres of "A Walk on the Wild Side" and "Drop Dead"; the Canadian premiere of Neil Simon's "Lost in Yonkers"; and the world premiere of "What the Rabbi Saw" by Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore. Most recently she returned to "Fiddler on the Roof" as Tevye's wife, Golde. "I figure if I live long enough, I'll be playing Golde's grandmother, Tzeitle."
Off camera, Adrienne is the voice of Catwoman in "Batman, The Animated Series"; the spokesperson for various television and radio commercials and the narrator of many books on tape, television documentaries, and the Imax film "The Living Sea". She has released a cd - not the expected musical showtunes but a great collection of the country, blues, jazz and pop tunes she does in her concert appearances across the country.
Adrienne is currently writing a collection of stories about her life called There Are Worse Things I Could Do, to be published in Spring of 2006, and is also in rehearsals for a new, two character play entitled The Property Known as Garland, written by Billy Van Zandt and directed by Glenn Casale.
In March of 1997, Adrienne gave birth to identical twin boys making her "the only woman on the maternity ward who was a member of AARP". She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Billy Van Zandt, the twins, William and Walker, and her older son, Cody.

From Publishers Weekly:

Barbeau hits 60 fabulously in this straightforward, muscularly written memoir of the acting life. The Maude star proves herself a writer with flair, as well as a passionate singer, though she gained fame as a stage actress in New York City once she left her San Jose, Calif., home at age 19 in 1964. The daughter of Armenian parents, Barbeau was often typecast in ethnic parts thanks to her dark, bosomy good looks; working as a go-go girl, she got her first break in Fiddler on the Roof. After the nude musical Stag Movie and the hit Grease, Barbeau flew to L.A. to audition for Norman Lear's '70s spinoff to All in the Family, Maude, starring Bea Arthur. To Barbeau's astonishment, she was hired after an extensive search to play Maude's feminist daughter, Carole, and she stayed for all six years the show ran. Suddenly a recognizable star, she dated a string of sexy men including Burt Reynolds; she married director John Carpenter, who cast her in his forgettable suspense films. Barbeau found happiness in a second marriage with Billy Van Zandt, and motherhood, with twins, at 51. Endearingly, Barbeau never considered herself a sex symbol and only wanted to be loved for her singing. (May)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Carroll & Graf
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0786716371
• ISBN 13: 9780786716371
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352