LYDIA CORNELL in THE A-TEAM NBC-Universal

LYDIA CORNELL on HBO's CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM with LARRY DAVID

Lydia Cornell in The Christ Nail~  Curb on HBO https://www.imdb.com/video/vi93044505?playlistId=nm0003981&ref_=nm_ov_vi

‘Too Close for Comfort’ star Lydia Cornell recalls overcoming alcoholism: ‘A river of tears just flowed’

By Stephanie Nolasco | Fox News

Lydia Cornell became a TV sex symbol when she starred as blonde bombshell Sarah Rush in the ‘80s sitcom “Too Close for Comfort,” but once cameras stopped rolling, she was faced with a battle with alcoholism.

After the series came to an end in 1987, the actress found herself drinking champagne and cocktails every night, People magazine reported. It would take a terrifying moment after the birth of her son Jack in 1994 for the now 66-year-old to turn her life around. She never looked back.

Today, Cornell shares her story with others through her public speaking. She’s also been writing a memoir titled “Hiding My Brain in My Bra.” She spoke to Fox News about her arrival to Hollywood, filming her beloved sitcom and how she overcame addiction.

Fox News: How were you discovered?
Lydia Cornell: It’s funny, I had just graduated college. I would watch TV, track down all the names of every producer from every show and write to them. I told them I wanted to come to Hollywood and become an actress. I had this business degree, but still, I wanted to become an actress. It was really a lifelong dream. The minute I got to town, I was invited by an agent to a dinner party. I remember at the front booth of this fancy restaurant was Aaron Spelling. He was sitting with Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner. I was so starstruck.

Aaron asked me to come in and meet his casting director the next day. I did and got my first professional part on a TV series called “The Love Boat.” You might have heard of it. [laughs] My character was a girl in a bikini playing shuffleboard with just one or two lines. The makeup artist put so much blush on my face. I was so terrified the lines came out two octaves higher. I thought I totally blew it. But then Aaron gave me another part on “Charlie’s Angels.” I played a real estate broker who stood behind Shelley Hack. I ended up doing nine guest-starring roles for Aaron Spelling.

Fox News: How did you get the role of Sara Rush in “Too Close for Comfort”?

Cornell: It’s the funniest thing. I took a bus for my audition and it was raining in LA, which was unheard of. I was wearing this tight, cheerleader sweater. I’m already late – an hour late. Secretary goes, “Sorry, they’re finished.” I’m about to cry. [Creator] Arne Sultan comes out and he’s like “Hey, let her come in and read. She came all this way and she looks the part.”

2007

2019

2020

I’m sitting there with four men in the office and the casting director. There’s a line in the script that says “Sara gives her dad a raspberry.” So I’m here picking up this imaginary raspberry and handing it to Arne. He goes, “What the hell are you giving me? What are you handing me?” I said, “I’m giving dad a raspberry.” He goes, “Oh my God, she doesn’t know what giving a raspberry means?” They all laughed so hard, tears were coming out. Meanwhile, I was turning red and shaking. So they all did it together and yell “It’s a Bronx cheer!” Then they went, “She’s perfect for the part.” It was a total fluke. They wanted me to come in the following morning.

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/too-close-for-comfort-lydia-cornell-overcoming-alcoholism

https://siouxcountyradio.com/fox-entertainment/2020/01/31/too-close-for-comfort-star-lydia-cornell-recalls-overcoming-alcoholism-a-river-o

https://amp.flipboard.com/@FoxNews/too-close-for-comfort-star-lydia-cornell-recalls-overcoming-alcoholism-a-rive/a-dxwKHXqCSjeRK28_EorflA%3Aa%3A47769551-c9958a5936%2Ffoxnews.com

IN MEMORY OF MY BROTHER * CELEBRITIES GONE WILD

IN LOVING MEMORY OF PAUL

One day a couple of years after my brother's death, I was looking at a picture of him as a little boy, the age of 4, playing the piano. In the photo, his hands were on the keyboard, but his head was turned, smiling back at me as the flash went off. He wore a little bowtie and vest, his legs, unable to reach the floor, were dangling from the piano bench. A certain Jackson Browne played through my mind.

My heart was broken all over again staring at the picture. It’s one thing to lose a grown-up brother, and another to see a picture of that brother as a child, with all the potential there – a moment captured when we didn’t know his fragile life would end in tragedy. It’s a strange feeling to see a photograph of a deceased loved one as a child — in his innocence, before life got the best of him, before he lost his way. His life was over way too soon. In a weird way, he’s gone on and found out what none of us here can ever really know.

Everyday in the news I am astounded at how cavalierly the media reports mass shootings, murders and forensic files. Even the show CSI is too casual about it. So much death everywhere. We hardly stop to imagine the pain the families are going through. Until you’ve seen death up close, you cannot imagine it.

That day I left the room and left the picture on my desk as I went looking for some Kleenex to wipe my tears. As I reentered the room, I caught my own 3-year old son Jack picking up this picture off the floor. He didn’t know I was watching him, but I heard him say, “Poor little angel, poor little angel.” This was so eerie I still cannot believe it. Three days after Paul’s death, the toddler pointed at a photo of his uncle and said “Paul happy!”

Paul was always the fragile broken child in our family. I heard a therapist once say that in every family there is the broken person – the “designated problem.” We all seemed stronger than he was. When my brother was 8-years-old, his one and only friend, Carl, from another school — was taken out in the desert and shot to death by his father, who then turned the gun on himself and his youngest son as well. In those days, these kinds of killings were rare.

CELEBRITIES GONE WILD
Through the years, whenever I hear about celebrities-gone-wild like Britney Spears, Danny Devito, Paris Hilton, Michael Richards, Courtney Love, Robert Downey Jr. — I always thank God that I never had to go through such a public humiliation, and especially that I have never lost custody of my child. My crash and burn was a private one. Or at least I thought so at the time. It turns out I publicly embarrassed myself in quiet neighborhoods all over New York, Beirut, Monte Carlo, Milwaukee —okay the whole world — in those wild animal days. There was that time with Tom Hanks on tour to promote our ABC shows Bosom Buddies and Too Close For Comfort .... oops, not here, nevermind.. Then there was the trip to London when Princess Di's billionaire, Dodi Fayed, locked me in a bank vault that doubled as a hideaway above Harrod’s. All I remember was guzzling champagne while screaming “Let me out! I have an audition for Dance Fever tomorrow!”

The only place I may have been remotely dignified was in Beirut, when I visited the Marines on a USO tour to the Middle East. If you call losing your high heel out of a helicopter over the Dead Sea as dignified. Or screaming in the Athens airport thinking a bomb was going off, when in fact people were just just ducking to pick up their luggage.

My fall from grace was not as civilized as I remember it. I wasn’t breaking windows or wandering into houses and sleeping in stranger’s beds ... but I did just about everything else. EXCEPT WHAT BRITNEY SPEARS DID YESTERDAY!
Sheesh...!! What kind of role model is this for young mothers?

Now I know that great accomplishments are often the quieter moments of overcoming self, and not always broadcast on the news.

"When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn." Harriet Beecher Stowe

From 2010:  A rather revealing article just came out SHOT GUN LYDIA CORNELL written by Michael Sutton, an amazing journalist (one who doesn't twist or sensationalize the truth. This is Part One of a 3-part story that will be a feature in a larger magazine on the stands. This was a little scary, as I've never revealed the whole wretched story before, but I guess now it's time... Part 2 deals with the trilogy of books I have coming out. Thanks.

Sunday, December 3 at 3 p.m. PST I'll be on  BARRY GORDON FROM LEFT FIELD one of the BEST live-call-in talk shows on radio! From the website: "On December 3, Barry and Ellen's guests will be several extraordinary American women: congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman, former ambassador Swanee Hunt, daughter of legendary oil magnate H. L. Hunt, Arianna Huffington and actress/writer/activist Lydia Cornell."

All that plus your chance to call in and join in the conversation, at 1-800-809-0802. "Barry Gordon From Left Field" ... it's a whole new ballgame!

I have an article in the upcoming issue of PERSPECTIVE on LABOR (Dec. 6) and will have a monthly column in the Kokomo Perspective staring in January.

Let's support the men and women who are giving and sacrificing so much by contributing a little of our time to give them a nice surprise. Most of us have day jobs, but perhaps you are between projects. Scroll down for details.

PROJECT HOLLYWOODCARES.ORG

ARE WOMEN EXPENDABLE & REPLACEABLE? ARE WE JUST SEX OBJECTS UNTIL WE'RE 25?

DOMESTIC ABUSE AND THE AMERICAN WOMAN

Are women expendable and repaceable? Are we just sex objects until we're 25, and then considered over-the-hill and useless? I have spent years mentoring teenage boys and girls, and this seems to be the prevailing viewpoint; this is what they are telling me.

A 7th grade girl at my kids' school was caught in the boys' room performing a sexual act on an 8th grade boy. A gifted young Indian girl has decided to become sexually active because she doesn't think she's pretty (or blonde!) enough to get a boyfriend. All the preteens I know are obsessed with sex, and using language that makes me faint. These kids are aspiring to become lap dancers. When did pole-dancing become a degree-requiring profession! Sex, sex and more sex - this is the prevailing value in our culture these days. Thanks to Kim Kardashian and TMZ! Actually  we must thank MTV and advertising. My motto is: All human suffering is caused by Victoria's Secret! 

That's why I'm trying to become a virgin again in more ways than one. How can you find your soul in a pornographic world? I tell these girls that mystery is appealing; that keeping your clothes on is provocative. We don't need to create any more men of entitlement. There is already an army of men cheating on their wives and using women like paper towels, as Tiger Woods did.

In our culture it seems that women are being sexually objectified more than ever. I am a product of the 80's, and as a sex symbol I had to dumb myself down to fit into Hollywood. I also had to wear short-shorts and skimpy costumes on TV and pose in a sequined bikini to promote Too Close for Comfort.  

We are obsessed with sex in America in a very immature way. We have made something natural seem titillating and taboo because of our Puritan nature. Advertisers jumped on this, seeing the potential in creating a plot to keep women thin and insecure. I am not blaming men for all my problems, but they did invent makeup and war and high heels. Do you know the historical purpose of high heels?  To raise women up for easier insertion!  It's true! I'll tell you the history later.  

My son's friend Tommy, 14, came back from Europe this summer and said the people are so genuine there. He said they seem to value relationships more than "stuff" and looking "hot." My stepson is obsessed with having "cut abs" on Facebook. God Bless him. I have tried to tell him it's inner strength that matters, but he looked at me like I was an alien. 

I have been wondering if the greed era, circa 1980-2008, in which capitalism has been allowed to run amok -- is responsible for creating so many sociopaths and narcissists in our country. What are American values? What do we value?

Please post your opinion for an article I'm writing. Thank you.

More on my personal experiences with domestic violence angle in the next issue.

This was initially written in 2010

Check out Lydia's LIVE SHOW each Wednesday night from 7-9 PM Pacific Time here:  KELSEY GRAMMER PRESENTS LYDIA LIVE ON TODHD

CONQUERING PROBLEMS, DRUG AND ALCOHOL ADDICTION

I was a radioactive drinker and there were times of suicidal depression. I've struggled with low self-esteem, terrifying demons, inability to finish projects, procrastination, self-loathing, fear and the lust for fame. But after a chain of events that can only be described as ‘miracles,’ my biggest downfall turned out to be my greatest gift.

I've spoken about this in recovery circles, and often stopped to wonder ‘how did these seemingly miraculous events happen?’ There was one common element: SURRENDER. When I gave up fighting (and worrying), the outside picture changed. But what is the metaphysics of surrender? How did an inner change affect an outer result? By letting go and tapping into an unsuspected inner resource, I’ve had healings that are beyond human understanding, even major financial ones. I’ve finally figured how to recreate the mind-set necessary to activate these events. What appear to be miracles are actually natural laws according to Quantum Physics. Our loving attention to something literally alters the physical universe. It’s hard to talk about these things because they appear to exist in the realm of the magical. But they are real and everyone has access to them, they just don’t pay attention or take them seriously — and that makes all the difference. As Einstein said, “No problem can be solved on the same level it was created on.” In other words, you can't fight fire with fire; you can't cure alcoholism with more alcohol or drugs; you can’t go to war to create peace — you have to go to a higher level — a spiritual or diplomatic solution. Or as George Carlin put it, “Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.”

The mainstream media rarely mentions the vital, mysterious spiritual element of 12-step programs. And no one asks the root question: why are so many celebrities either dead or in rehab? What breed of person comes to Hollywood seeking the adoration of strangers? Wanting to be famous is an American malaise. With all due respect to Dr. Pinsky, shows like Celebrity Rehab seem dangerously self-conscious. How can a person heal when he’s playing to the camera? “You can’t save your ass and your face at the same time." - Lydia Cornell

Our society rewards glitz, glamour, competition, obsession with winning and achieving. We never allow young artists to fail and you must be allowed to write, paint and sing badly in order to grow.

“It’s not enough to put down the drug or drink; once you put down the ‘spirits’ you have to fill the void with true spirit, and lasting peace.  You have to go out in the world and live your life with joy."

I found my precious brother’s body after his drug overdose. I, too, have struggled with low self-esteem, demons and the lust for fame. But I would not be alive nor would I have been able to raise children if I hadn't gotten sober 25 ears ago by giving up my self-will and surrendering to a power greater than myself. This is the easier, softer way. Once you stop struggling, everything becomes so calm and sweet. It’s like plugging into an electric socket: once you lean on a power greater than yourself, you have more power. The creative force of love which I call God really exists and is always ready to take care of us completely when we stop resisting. Then we have true power.

You have to take the leap of believing that the Universe, your higher Power, love, God or whatever you want to call it, exists. Then the magic happens.

The creative force that sustains the universe is interactive; it needs our participation. In fact, it can’t exist in our lives without our consent, belief, faith or interaction. It needs playmates. It needs to express itself through us. More and more I’m beginning to believe what Elizabeth Gilbert said in her Ted Talks on Genius -- that  there are no individual geniuses. Mozart, Beethoven, Einstien... we are all just transcribers of creative consciousness – we are taking down God’s thoughts. Some are expressing God through music, some through art, some through writing and poetry and movies, some through comedy, some through tragedy, some through cooking, planting and growing, some through design, building, teaching, science, discoveries. 

           

What is the point of gaining the whole world if you lose your soul?  After all the years of struggling to make it — to find true love, to be rich, to have a happy family with a lagoon pool and water-slides, to live my dreams in a hammock in Maui — I’ve come to the conclusion that there is only one urgent need of mankind: to find God. But I’m not talking about the kind of “god” you may be thinking of — the kind that divides and judges. I thought I was too hip to believe in God and used to wonder if I find God canl I still have a sex life? I’m talking about unconditional love and an inner peace that is unshakable. 

The word God has become so political and dirty and misunderstood, I’m embarrassed to use it. I feel guilty about being embarrassed, and I’m not even Catholic. Or Jewish. (This is a joke, as in "Jewish or Catholic guilt.")  All I know is, no human power was able to lift me out of my suicidal despair. The God I’m talking about has no religion attached – no rules, dogma, yarmulkes, pointy bishops hats, long velvet robes, crystals, coins, rosaries, bows toward Mecca or steps to the left. No long, memorized prayers or deciphering of archaic doctrines. Only redemption. 

I have had astonishing results from prayer. I know that prayer actually changes things in the physical universe. But the kind of prayer I’m talking about does not involve begging some anthropomorphic being who rules by fear and punishment. It involves letting go of your fears and worries and truly surrendering them to a loving higher power, whatever your own concept of this is. Substituting your worries with Divine Love, the power of the universe. God is love. It is really that simple. I had to get my intellect out of the way and surrender my doubts first. Then I quietly screamed HELP!

 Addiction is the disease of our time. Alcohol is the number one drug of choice among teens in America, and girls ages 10-15 have the lowest self-esteem and highest rate of suicide attempts of any other group. Add to this the fact that over 85% of violent crime is alcohol and drug related, and we have an epidemic — yet this is rarely mentioned in media reports.

~ Lydia Cornell  Luv xo 11:11

Originally written in 2012: Rest in peace Whitney Houston. You are soaring with the angels now. And as someone posted on Twitter, "another voice was added to Heaven's Choir."  Addiction, suicide, depression are all spiritual maladies that can be corrected by the power of Divine Love. And life is eternal; there is no death. Michael Jackson, Don Cornelius, Elvis, Marilyn, Jimmy Hendrix, Janis, Jim Morrison, River Phoenix, the list goes on... Let's wipe out this strange disease and help our children's generation wake up to the Truth of Being, Light and Love. xo

Cats Dancing on Jupiter cast 

Lydia Cornell, David Faustino at Chiller in New Jersey

RockStop: Miracles in Sobriety Plus Wild Stories of Showbiz, Working at Caribou Ranch with the Beach Boys, Elton John, Billy Joel, Joni Mitchell, America

My interview on The RockStop from Chicago with Chris Contra ~ Miracles of sobriety plus wild stories of showbiz: working at the famous Caribou Ranch with the Beach Boys, Elton John, Billy Joel, Joni Mitchell, Jack Nicholson. Getting the job on Too Close for Comfort and much more! *Timestamps below 0:00 - Intro 1:08 - Early success of Too Close For Comfort 2:49 - Epic Records A&R/Caribou Ranch 5:57 - Drug & Alcohol Dangers/25 Years Sober 13:29 - Aaron Spelling/Early Acting Roles 16:31 - Breaking Stereotype 18:32 - Larry Flynt's Sleazy Offer/Bloodtide (1982) 23:33 - Too Close For Comfort becoming The Ted Knight Show 26:36 - Ted Knight/Merv Griffin Show 30:50 - Curb Your Enthusiasm/Larry David 34:16 - Too Close For Comfort Re-Boot Possibility 35:49 - Deborah Van Valkenburgh & Jim J. Bullock 37:13 - Phil Hartman/Brynn Hartman 40:05 - Reality TV 42:35 - Lydia's Upcoming Book "Hiding My Brain in my Bra" 44:57 - Wrap-up

Check out Lydia's links here: https://lnkd.in/gDrGJzE https://lnkd.in/gyNA4BY