Open Book with Anthony Scaramucci - Still Dreaming of Jeannie with Barbara Eden

Episode Date: May 1, 2023

Anthony is joined by none other than Hollywood legend, Barbara Eden. Barbara opens up about the tragic loss of her son Matthew to an overdose in 2001, and Anthony shares the struggles with addiction in his own family. Barbara then lets us in on countless tales from her storied career. Having shared studios with everyone from Elvis Presley to Marilyn Monroe.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. Hello, I'm Anthony Scaramucci, and this is open. book where I talk with some of the brightest minds out there about everything surrounding the written word, from authors and historians to figures in entertainment, neuroscientists, political activists, and of course, Wall Street. Sorry, I can't resist. Before we get into today's episode, if you haven't already, please hit follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcast and leave us a review. We all love a review, even the bad ones. I want to hear the parts you're enjoying or how we can do better. You know

I can roll with the punches, so let me know. Anyways, let's get to it. Today, I can't quite believe who's joining me on Open Book, the Hollywood icon Barbara Eden. Now, the six-year-old Anthony would have been extremely fan-boying right now, and so I'll tell you that 59-year-old Anthony is too. I may have aged, but not my thoughts and thinking and love affair with Ms. Eden. Barbara is an incredible person. Not only is she iconic because of her talent and career, but how she cope with the loss of her son and tried to help others experiencing similar struggles. It's truly inspiring. Addiction is a terrible thing and something that's known to many of us. Barbara's strength, compassion, and empathy shines through in this interview. I hope you enjoy it as much as I

did. Joining me today on Open Book, and I'm just thrilled to have her, is Barbara Eden. She's an entertainment icon, legendary actress, but also an amazing author. We guess about 10 or 11 years ago. She wrote a New York Times bestselling book, Jeannie Out of the Bottle. It was a phenomenal book. Barbara, I'll tell you this about this book. I was in the middle of a divorce, frankly, and I saw your book in the bookstore, and I was living in a hotel. And I said, okay, I'm going to buy this book. I want to learn about Barbara Eden. And I want to embarrass you on my podcast, if you don't mind. You were my first great crush, Miss Eden. Okay. Okay. I was watching you on WPI Channel 11 in New York. I think it was like a five or six o'clock show in my pajamas. And I thought that this was like the greatest show and the slapstick comedy. I thought it was amazing. But you live such an interesting, such a wonderful life. And I appreciate you coming on today. I guess the first question I have is if you could take us back to your early life in Arizona before you go to L.A. And then what makes you decide that you're going to go to L.A. and

fork upon this acting career? Well, actually, when I left Arizona, I was two and a half years old. And my family migrated back to San Francisco. So I was raised in San Francisco. And I studied with Elizabeth Holloway Theater. I studied voice at the Conservatory of Music in San Francisco. And when I was in high school, I started singing with the local dance bands. Of course, I had been studying opera. So it was quite a change for me. And then I started doing theater. around the Bay Area, the San Francisco Bay Area. And my teacher of theater brought me into her office one day and said, Barbara, meanwhile, I was going to City College, San Francisco.

But my teacher said, you don't need that. You should go to New York or L.A., get out of the nest because I'd had a very loving family. And I didn't really want to leave them. But I did come down to L.A. I stayed with an aunt and uncle for a while, and then I moved to the Hollywood Studio Club. Well, I mean, you're incredibly honest about navigating this world of Hollywood and the trajectory. So you have this studio contract. You're a contract player at 20th Century Fox, right?

You're also a chorus girl. Now, people my generation don't remember Ceros on Sunset Strip, but tell us about the legendary The Sunset Strips Supper Club. What was that like back in the day? Well, I wasn't there very long, Anthony. Well, they fired me. But actually, when I first came down to L.A., I was used to working, and I got a job and a bank at night. And I was coming home one night to the Hollywood Studio Club.

And another girl was coming down the stairs as I was going up. And she said, what are you doing out this late at night? You see, they lock the doors at the studio club. You couldn't get in unless you had a really good reason for staying out all night. And I said, well, I was working. She said, well, what do you do? I said, well, I'm an actress. She said, where are you working?

And I said, the bank. She said, what are you doing working in a bank if you're an actress? And I said, well, it pays a rent, you know. And she said, well, why don't you come up to Ceros and audition for the chorus line? And I said, I don't dance. I've never studied dance. She said, oh, that's okay. None of us do.

So I went up and I did get the job, but I think I lasted about four weeks before they fired me. But it was a fun thing. I mean, you described it. It was a fun time of your life. There was a lot of excitement and a lot of possibility, right? Oh, yes. I mean, you know, when you have Frank Sinatra in the audience or Sammy Davis Jr. or, oh, you name it, Dean Martin in the audience. Yes, it was. It was. Although I went. I went home every night. Well, okay. But now you've got this career going. You get a couple of decent acting roles, and you're now going to screen test for what's going to become I Dream a genie.

Well, Anthony, before I went to Fox, I was doing small parts, and then I did a play, appeared in a play at the Laguna Theater. And I got pretty good reviews, so I got the call from Fox to test. My agent got me the call, and that's how 20th Century Fox happened. They picked up my contract when I was working with Lucille Ball, and that was that. Okay, but if I remember correctly, you didn't necessarily think you were going to get this role because you thought that they were going for somebody that was going to be more Persian in look or darker skin, darker feature.

Am I correct? Do I remember the story properly? Oh, yes, more Middle Eastern. More Middle Eastern. And so you said, okay, I'm going to try out for this, but I really feel that this is going to be an unlikely outcome for me, right? And so take us through what happens. Well, actually, Anthony, I was at that time, I'd left 20th century flocks. And I was pretty well known. And I was married to Michael Ansara, who was co-chise on the Broken Arrow. And I was reading the variety in a Hollywood reporter and big articles about Sidney Sheldon and his new book. project and they were testing, but they were testing every Middle Eastern beauty contest winner in the world. And I thought, well, that's not for me. And then my agent sent me a script about, oh, four weeks later. I read it. I recognized what it was immediately. And he called me

and said, well, did you like the script? And I said, yeah, I think it's wonderful. I like the part. And he said, well, that's good because they want you. I said, what? I said, what? I said, I said, Wilts, Wilton Melnick was my age. I said, do they know what I look like? He said, I think they do because you just, the only way you can get the part is to go down and have tea with Sidney Sheldon at the Beverly Hills Hotel. So I did. I went down and I had tea with Sydney and we talked and you talked about, I think probably he knew writers I'd worked with. I'm not sure, but I think that's it because I got the part.

I didn't test. I didn't do anything. I just got it. Okay. So, Nember, you have this. This is a fascinating time because TV is going through a transition, right? We're moving out of the Lucille Ball era. You've got your competing against Bewitched.

You have other situational comedies going on, but there's a real spirit of optimism in the country. We have the space program. And Mr. Sheldon, as you point out in your book, he's a phenomenal writer. He has a great turn of phrase. He understands slaps can stick comedy, but also just general plot sequences that can make people laugh. And now you get started. You're in black and white in the beginning. Tell us a little bit about the beginning days of Virginia. Well, we were in black and white because I was pregnant. And I guess they thought I'd die or something having a baby. You know, I discovered I was

pregnant the day the show was picked up by NBC. And I called Sydney immediately and said, I have to talk to you. And he said, all right, I'll see you tomorrow. I said, no, no, no. I I have to talk to you right now. So he was having dinner with another writer, and I went over to the house, and Sydney took me into his office and said, all right, you're pregnant. And I said, yes, and I can't do your show. I'm so sorry. I was so thrilled. We had been trying to have a baby, and finally I was pregnant.

And he was parchment white when I said this. And he said, oh, well, well, well, don't worry, don't worry. Well, we'll, I'll get back to you like that. And I went home and I thought that was the end of it. But God bless him. He really rallied the troops. And I did the first 13 shows. And then they took time off.

And we did it in color. And he, of course, you know, you got shot from certain angles. So, you know, you didn't look pregnant in the show. Oh, Anthony. I looked like a walking tent. No. I had so many scarves. and things on.

You know what I love about beautiful women, if you don't mind me, just interjecting. Okay, they always are very hard on themselves. Okay, you know that you were arguably the most beautiful woman in the 1960s. You had this iconic show. You had this very famous thing. And I have a friend of mine exactly my age. I said, you know, I'm very lucky today. I'm going to get the opportunity to interview Barbara Eden.

And you know what he said to me? Because Barbara Eden, I think she's the first person whose belly button I saw. I said, actually, no. I said, no, they didn't show her belly button. And he goes, no way. They definitely showed her belly button. I said, no, you weren't watching the show carefully enough. Tell us about the belly button controversy.

It seems crazy working back, right? Anthony, it peaked out every once in a while. Oh, it did. Okay, so maybe he is right. I'll have to go back and tell him that you told me that. It did despite the censors, right? It did peak out once in a while. Well, you know how that all started?

Mike Conley, who was a writer for the Hollywood reporter, used to come down on the set, and he'd say, I don't believe you have one. And I'd say Nicola Peak, which was very inexpensive at that time. And he kept writing about it and then it got caught, you know, caught up by stringers across the country. And, you know, Anthony, some women are known for their body, some women are known for their great legs. I have a navel, a belly button. Can you imagine?

But it's amazing that it's 55-ish years later. we're still talking about your belly button, but you, the outfit, tell us about the outfit. When you got to costume and they were ready to put you in your gear to play Jeannie, what were your thoughts about the outfit? Oh, I thought it was lovely. We had a wonderful designer, and I'm trying to think of her name right now. She had worked with me before at MGM when I did The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, and I was so lucky that Sidney hired her.

It was Gwen Wakeling, actually, was the designer. And she asked me, what's your favorite color? And I said, oh, pink. At that time, pink was what I was thinking about. And so she did that. She used the color pink and did a beautiful job. I was very comfortable in it, even though being active as Jeannie, I ripped a lot of trousers.

I love this story. There's a picture of you in the book prior to Jeannie. This is you with the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis President. Yes. And you write about him in this book. And one of the things that you say, which of course I remember and I laughed out loud, that he had a magnetism about him, but you kept to your marriage vows. I literally think that's the quote in the book.

I've got to go look and find it. Yes, as well. So tell us about before I get to Larry Hagman, I want to hear about Elvis, the king of rock and roll. What was he like, Barre? Oh, he was a gentleman. first of all he was well brought up he was the only actor i have ever worked with but the minute i came on the set he got me a chair see yeah you remember you remember those simple things don't you the small things that people do yes yes indeed and and lovely just lovely he had his guitar he had a friend with

him playing the guitar who he said it was his cousin and i didn't know until years later that it wasn't his cousin, but his father was there. And in between shots, it's quite when you do a feature film, the time between shots is quite long. They wait for the sun to come up. They wait for it to go down. They wait, you know, with wonderful results, of course. So in between, Elvis would play his guitar and sing, and it was just a wonderful, wonderful time with him. He was a huge fan of my husbands, by the way. He watched the broken arrow. He told me, and I realized later, when I was also headlining in Vegas, what he meant, you just don't go out of your hotel room. You stay in it, and that's what he did. And he said that Michael was his savior. And then he asked me about

Hollywood marriages, and how did we get along? How did we deal with it? And I told him, I said, You know, it's our work. It's what most people go to an office every day. We have a work ethic, and we do work, both of us, and we understand that. It's not la-la land to us. Right. Amen. And he said, well, I'm a little worried because I've met this girl in Germany, and I really like her a lot, but I'm afraid about bringing her back over here, and she can take the pressure.

And I said, well, if you love her and you can work it out, that's great. But you know, Anthony, I didn't know how young she was. Yeah. Oh, yeah. There's a very famous. He meets her. She's the daughter of a military vet. And, you know, she's just in her, you know, starting to get mature.

I will say she's a teenager, right, 16 or 17 when he first meets her. She was beautiful. Yeah. Listen, I mean, I maintain this. You guys never lose your beauty, Barbara. You never, you want, once you have it and you've been blessed with it, you keep it forever. Well, she certainly did. I was with her a few months ago in Memphis for one of the many things they have for Elvis. And it was the first time I'd ever met her. And when I walked into the room, I said, yeah, I know you don't know me, but I know you and I knew you before you ever came to this country.

So we had a good laugh about that. Such a great story. So, all right, so I want to transition from Elvis to Larry Hagman. You write about him. You're, you know, he was, he could be difficult on set, of course, but you had an unbelievable chemistry between you and Larry. It was a huge part of the show. And obviously, you had such great fondness for him and you loved working with him. Tell us a little about Larry Hagman. Larry was one of the most talented men I've worked with. And we seemed to be on the same wavelength when we acted. There was no acting. We, we were there. Some, some parts are very difficult to play with some partners in your scenes are difficult to connect with. Larry never was. He's wonderful,

wonderful. And I will say this, he was a problem for a lot of people, but not for me. He was my good friend, and it was a challenge working with him because the people around him were a little skittish. I'll give you one good example. I don't know if it was in the book or not, but we had a group of of nuns come and visit on the set. When I saw them, I took a deep breath, and I knew something was going to happen, because Larry grabbed the, uh, the axe you have for the firefighters on the set and began jumping around and putting them, hacking the floor with it. Uh-oh.

And, uh, yes, and saying every foul word he knew, every single one. I turned around and went into my dressing room because, and these were not just nuns in street garb. They were in full array. Sure. I mean, it's old school. We were talking about the 1960s. Yeah. Needless to say, we didn't have any guests after that. Yeah, well, he, but he took the art seriously, though, right? I mean, he was, he was locked in and obviously, he was charismatic, really good-looking man and very funny. You had a great supporting cast, right? Oh, my gosh, yes. And later years, I was, I appeared in Australia with him. I went to Germany and, appeared with him. He was wonderful, wonderful actor.

Talk a little bit about Bill Daly. I know you were close to Bill. Oh, Bill was more fun. What you saw on the screen was exactly what he was. And they did very well together, Bill and Larry. They worked well together. What can I say about Bill other than he was divine? He was a little Dickens, really. Yeah, well, listen, I watched a few of your interviews with Bill and Larry over the years. I think you were interviewed by an Australian media network a few years back. And the chemistry that you guys share in the 1960s, you shared together forever. So it's just an interesting linkage of your personality.

It's almost like a weird spirituality to it that you guys were so connected. When you read in the script, and I know Larry felt the same way playing Tony Nelson, When you read in the script that Jeannie was going to get married to Major Anthony Nelson, tell us about your reaction to that. Tell us the thoughts there. I thought it was the worst decision NBC made. It just wasn't right. He was a human.

I was not a human. I was not playing a human. Jeannie was an entity. And to marry them, you can't do that. And besides that, it spoiled all the comedy because he knew she wasn't human. And she didn't think there were any barriers, you know. But it had a good run. It had five years.

Yeah. I think it killed the show. Listen, it was one of the great, it was one of the great all-time show. And it shows, but I think it caused the show to lose that fizzle. And I know you probably will remember the Civil Shepherd and Bruce Willis in the show, moonlighting. They had that sexual energy and that tension between them. And then once it went over the cliff into a romance, that show also fizzled.

So there is, you know, some of that kept the show going. And obviously, the both of you had the correct instincts on that. So I want to turn to your book. I just set the scene for me. Your book was very personal for me. Again, I was going through a divorce. And when I was reading the book, you know, unfortunately for my family, we have alcoholism in our family.

We have drug addiction. You know, perhaps most families have this. You know, it's a good percentage of the population that have these issues. And you wrote a beautiful story. about your life, but it was very genuine, it was very authentic. And I just have to tell you that, you know, I gave the book to my mom, who's now 86, so she was probably 75 or 74 at the time. And the empathy and the compassion that you expressed in the book. And of course, we, you know, we learn about your son's death, your son Matthew. Tell us a little bit about Matthew. Tell us a little bit

why you were compelled to write about it. And I guess the message from me, Barbara, is that your writing about it was so helpful probably to so many people, including my family, you know, and I just want, I'm sure you're aware of it, but I just want to say that to you in terms of it was important for the scaramuchis, let's put it that way. You know, we read it and had a great amount of empathy, having dealt with many situations similar to it. Well, I appreciate hearing that because that's the only reason I put it in the book, And mainly because I think so many people have this illness in their family, and they are ashamed to talk about it. And the only way I really helped Matthew and helped myself was being open about the condition and talking.

And I was so surprised at so much help that I received. So many people opened up to me and helped me and took me to AA meetings, took me to Al-Anon meetings, the right doctors, found the right hospitals, which, unfortunately, you need to know. Matthew was, oh gosh, the gentle giant. He was six foot four like his daddy. He was very sweet, kind, empathetic, not an angry young man at all, but got cut up in that era, I think, with, you know, high school, high school, sir, we didn't even know high school. And I, I would like people to know that they should be alert. You know, if you're in a family that you're not used to drugs or alcohol or, you know, and you don't know the signs, but there are definite signs. And if you know

the right people and you're open about it, you can get a lot of health. And some people, it really, you have a resolution to it. Well, you know, I'll share this with you. My older brother, like your son started with cocaine in, I guess he was 16 or 17. Unfortunately, he has cycled in and out of that addiction over the last 40 years. He's healthy now. He's sober right now, thank God. You know, when I pray for him every day, I guess what I would say to you, and I know this, but a lot of people don't know this, which is why it's important for books like

yours to be written and read, is that these are illnesses. You know, and if I had something wrong with my heart or had something, wrong with my liver, we medicate that, there's no social stigma. But the illness of addiction, sometimes people think it's just a behavioral issue. Well, of course, there's elements of that, but there's also a chemical issue related to this as well, where some people can try a drug and they, you know, have it one time or two times, and they drop it, and another person can try it, and then it's a lifetime addiction. And, you know, you write so beautifully about him. I just wanted you to know that it touched many people when I had reached out, and I'll explain this.

story, I think you'll get a kick out of this. I was looking for something to watch. I have a nine and a six-year-old at home, and I turned to them. I said, okay, watch this and tell me if you like this. And it was the first I dream a genie episode. 15 episodes later, I said to my kids, I said, we're going to buy this genie bottle. Okay, we'll bring the genie bottle home. So I looked up on the web. I think Mario does these genie bottles for you. And so I bought a genie bottle off the web. He then contacted me and said, oh, by the way, Barbara and I like you. You're like one of the few people of the Trump administration we thought was actually normal. And I laughed. And then I said, well, listen, I said, I have a, I, I am very fond of her for so many different

reasons, but I read her book 10, 11 years ago, and I would love to get her on the podcast. And so my mom is listening. My family is listening. You know, you are a huge role model and an inspiration for so many people. I guess I would ask you this question. I hope you don't mind me asking this. For families that have addiction issues, and you talk about recognizing the behavior and so forth, what are some things that you would say to families? You know, because again, Matthew, he had some success in rehab. He was getting married. Tell us some of the reflections, if you don't mind, and like some of the warning things that you think about or you would share with somebody? Well, actually, I had remarried and Matthew went to live with his daddy. He would come to me

often and he was always fine with me, but I think there were anger issues and things like that. But you know, you tend to say, oh, well, it's a teenager. This is the way they are. They're messy. They're wearing their hair too long. You know, it's always a reason that you really have to watch. As a matter of fact, I'd say you have to watch all the time, even middle school. But I didn't really realize something was wrong until he came to live with me. And he was supposed to go down to the college here in San Fernando Valley. And one morning I woke up and I noticed all his books were in his room. And I thought, oh, my God, I've got to get down there.

I grabbed his books, drove down to the university and said, my son forgot his textbooks. I'd like to give them to him. And they said, what is his name? I said, Matthew and Sarah. He said, well, no, he's not in the directory. He wasn't going to school. Yeah, there you go. He was leaving the house in the morning, and he was not going.

So when he came home, I confronted him. And he had a huge, oh, he was so angry, so angry. And then finally, I called his father and told him something's wrong, Something's definitely wrong. So we took him to some people, Mike knew, in the valley, a doctor and a psychologist, and they have a group because we wanted to find out what was going on. And he opened up to them. He did not tell me, did not tell his father about the drug thing.

And we went down and sat and had a meeting with Matthew and these men. And they told us out and out everything he was using and doing. and he was furious. He was crying. You told me you wouldn't tell them. You told me you wouldn't tell them, you know. That was heart. Yeah, it was heart breaking.

Yeah, it was, you know, I mean, that's part of it. Right. Well, yeah, he really loved us and we loved him. It was, he didn't want us to know. So that was his first, then we sent him to a rehab in Minnesota. And he was there for, well, I guess a good six weeks. That was the first rehab. And the journey went on.

Yeah. Well, listen, I appreciate you, Brian. I hope you, you know, I appreciate it. I unfortunately, I understand the pain of losing somebody, and I just thought you wrote about it so eloquently in the book. Well, he made, he really tried. He fought the good fight, but it got him in the end, you know. He had long periods of being sober and straight and off the drugs.

But he was going to get married, and then the police called him. one night. Well, you know, I'm sorry in some ways of bringing it up, but I think it's important. You know, I did this podcast with my brother, which I think about a half a million people I've listened to now about his addiction. And I was actually in a airport, walking in the airport, and there was a man chasing me. And I was like, uh-oh, he tapped me on the back and he said, listen, I just want to thank you. You know, I'm in Narcanon. And when I sometimes miss a meeting in Narganon, the podcast that you did with your brother, describing his issues is very therapeutic for me and I listened to it in lieu of going to a meeting.

And I remember thinking to myself, okay, wow, that's actually really helping somebody and this is super beneficial. So I guess the message I want to leave you with, Barb, is that you have helped so many people and perhaps many people that you're not even aware of by writing such a wonderful book and in many ways a tribute to your son. Well, I appreciate that. I think it's so important for people to be open and out of or out of the closet, you know. Just share what you have because you might be able to stop it early enough. If you can get a child in their teens and get it early enough, nine times out of ten, you'll be successful. But you have to recognize the signs. Amen. I'm going to shift gears a little

bit because there's something startling about your background that did surprise me. Are you a descendant of Benjamin Franklin? Because let me tell you something while we're eating. You don't look anything like Benjamin Franklin. I bet people that look like Benjamin Franklin. I bet people that look like Benjamin. Franklin, but you're no Benjamin Franklin. Oh, well, my grandfather was a direct descendant. His name was Charles Benjamin Franklin. He was born in Pennsylvania during the 1800. It was a lot older than my grandmother.

But that's the connection. I have tried to find his birth records because at the time, it was called Butcher Town, I believe. I think Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, Philadelphia. Philadelphia, yeah. And there was a portion called Butchertown. and he was born in that town. And his mother was British, and his father, of course, was Franklin.

One of the many, I guess. That's all I know about it. I've tried. I've gone back and looked for it, but I can't find it. Pretty extraordinary stuff. So one of the things I do with all of my guests on this show as I bring up five words, and then I ask the guest to respond to these words. Okay, so you ready?

Uh-oh. All right, here we go. You're ready? All right. Let's start with Lucille Ball. Wonderful, kind, caring. Very helpful to me. And incredibly gifted, right? She was a commercial human being, right? I mean, she... Oh, yeah. Oh, my goodness. Talented, smart. Yeah. She understood the business and she was able to really make a fortune off the business. And they did some really smart things in their studio, yeah?

Yes, indeed. It was all her. Amen. Amen. How about Warren Beatty? Well, Warren. Warren is a wonderfully talented and great guy. I guess my first, I know what you've read in the book. I was doing How to Marry a Millionaire. It's where I first met Michael.

And Warren was on a show, on a set nearby. I would go out to get an impressive fresh air from the big set. And he would go out and he'd say, I'm going to get you, Barbara, like that. And I would run like that because I was so stupid. I really was. It was. But he's fun. He's wonderful and he's talented.

So I have a Warren Beatty story. I'm obviously, I was fired from the White House. It was invited to a dinner in Hollywood. And one of my friends invites me to his home in Beverly Hills. and Warren is there. I have never met him before. And my friend says to me, yeah, I invited you to dinner because Warren Beatty wanted to meet you because of your time in the White House and so forth. And I had a two and a half hour conversation with him. He was incredibly curious about the political system. And he told me that he had met Jack Kennedy, I guess a week or so before he was

assassinated through the introduction of a sister. But I was blown away at his political acumen, actually. It just seemed like a very interesting guy. I mean, didn't keep a relationship with him, but there was a fun dinner for me. How about Marilyn Monroe? Let's go to Marilyn Monroe. Oh, beautiful, ethereal, gentle, extremely talented. When I met her, I was so overcome with how beautiful she was and how sweet she was. You guys, a bit of trivia.

You guys, you shared a standing together. Yes, we did. Moriarty, right? Moriarity, right? Moriarity, yeah. Evie was my stand-in for How to Marry a Millionaire, which was one of the first things I did at Fox, and I played the Maryland Monroe part in that.

Several years later, Evie and I were, Evie was my stand-in on five weeks in a balloon, and Marilyn was working. And Evie had been working with Marilyn when I didn't do a film, And Marilyn wasn't doing it. It was never a problem until five weeks in a balloon. And we were into the film. I think we only had a couple of weeks more to work.

But she came to me and I said, Barbara. She was from the east. I'm not sure where. Barbara, I have to leave you, honey. And I said, what? What? You're leaving. We have two more weeks on the film. She said, oh, honey, honey, Marilyn needs me.

And I said, Evie, I need you. And she said, oh, no, no, no, she really needs me like that. So, of course, she left. And one day she came back on the set and said, oh, oh, what she used to say was my other star. Marilyn's my other store, you know, like that. So she came to me and said, Barbara, Barbara, I want you to meet Marilyn. And I said, I can't leave the set, Evie.

They're working. Just a minute. Now, I have to tell you something. Marilyn, not many people know Junior Lemley, but he was a very, he did all quiet on the Western front. He produced that. And he was her boyfriend. And so Evie knew everyone in town. And she knew our crew, everything.

She came back to me. She went over, talked to the associate. Came back to me. He said, it's all right. Come on, honey. We're going to meet Marilyn. So I went to the stage, this big, huge black stage. It's so dark.

And there was a little light right in the middle where the cameraman, Jean-Louis, who was doing the costumes for Marilyn and the director were there in a little tiny dressing room. We walked over to that beautiful piece of heaven in the middle of this big black place. And Marilyn came out and did her, she was doing costume tests. And she came out and did her turned around, did her costume test. And Abby said, Marilyn, Marilyn, Marilyn, I want you to meet my other store. Oh, that was me. You know, rather star.

Oh, my goodness. But when she walked over, oh, I was just, I almost melted in a little puddle. She was so beautiful and so kind and good. I mean, she just, I don't know. Well, listen, we know. What a shame. We know the legendary stories about Joe DiMaggio's love for her, you know, and I obviously had a chance to get to know Mr. DiMaggio when he lived here in New York.

And, you know, well, I appreciate you sharing that. Got two more. Okay, you're ready? Let's go to Paul Newman. Paul Newman. Great sense of humor. Wonderful, wonderful person to work with. He, he, when I came, this is very early on at Fox, you know, when I did that.

When I came on the set and we rehearsed, I was going, I was really thinking, oh, my God, this wonderful actor, what is he going to think? But I did this scene several times with him. And he said, it was such a pleasure to work with someone I could look down on because he was not very tall. And neither am I. And I said, thank you. And he was just wonderful. Yeah. All right.

So this one is a little more obscure, not as well known, but to any I dream a genie fan, very well known, Hayden Rourke, who played Dr. Bellows, Alfred E. Bellows in the ship. Oh, yes. Oh my God, Hayden. I loved him. I adored him. And so did everyone else. He was really the most grounding person on that set with Larry. He was intelligent.

He was very talented. My God, he did massive amounts of work before he ever worked with us. He was just a lovely, lovely man. And born in Brooklyn, you know, it's interesting because he doesn't give off that aura, but he was a Brooklynite, you know, fellow. I didn't know that. Yeah, he was. Yeah, October 23, 1910, he was born in Brooklyn, New York at the first years of his life there.

See that? Well, you know, he did a lot of Shakespeare, I believe, in England. And he probably picked up that accent in England. Yeah, he definitely watered down that Brooklyn accent. But I found him to be the real straight man, if you will, the real commitic foil in the whole thing, right? Didn't make the whole show so enjoyable. Right. Adorable.

Yeah. Yeah. His stunned, I know what's going on, but people will think I'm crazy if I potentially admit to what's going on, right? Yes. So funny, so real. I want to go to my last two questions, if you don't mind. And that is the Harper Valley PTA.

I'll talk about that a little bit. You say in the book that you sort of, this iconic character, Jeannie, was one part of your career, but you sort of completely left that behind when you went and handed it. the protagonist in the Harper Valley PTA. Tell us a little bit about that. Well, it was actually a feature film to begin with. You know, I love doing it. It was a wonderful part.

I loved the song, Jeannie C. Riley. So the whole thing was a wonderful experience. And then they picked it up and made it a television series. And I like that too. It was fun. It was a great part, a different part. But that's what actors do. You know, they act.

Very cool, and you were on that show for a while. My last question for you is about the genie revival. What were your thoughts on the genie revival, and Wayne Rogers playing Captain Anthony Nelson? Well, it was great. Wayne was fabulous. I had worked with Wayne before. I think the same time next summer.

Yeah, yeah, I had on stage. And he was very good in the part. It's very difficult to step into someone else's shoes. question. You know, and Larry wasn't able to do it because, of course, he was shooting Dallas. So, but Wayne is a fine, was a fine actor and a dear friend. So we were lucky to have him. I had the opportunity to do some television with him about 15 years ago. We were on set together. I think it was on Fox News, Neil Kavuto show. He could not have been a more gracious, nice person, incredibly smart business person. Well, Anthony, he ended up being my businessman.

Richard. Oh, is that right? Yeah. So there you go. He had a really good judgment on the stock market. We traded war stories, Wall Street war stories, and found interesting about him. Of course, he had to replace Trapper John as well, right, if you remember, right? So he was a replacement on Mesh was very successful, right? And then he went on to do that with you. I remember, well, he worked with my husband, Michael and Sarah, also. So I remember they were worried about him. It was a western. Michael was doing law of the plainsman, and they needed someone to be a buddy. And they loved Wayne's acting, but they were a little worried about his southern accent. Of course, the southern accent sounded more New York to me, but...

To me as well, by the way. I thought he... Yeah, yeah, but he's a southern boy. But it all worked out beautifully, and he was great with Mike. Well, great, great, great fun. You know, Barbara, I can't thank you enough. Okay. You made my day and, you know, you made my family's day by coming on my show. The title of your book, which is incredibly well received and a New York Times bestseller is Jeannie out of the bottle. Barbara, thank you again for joining Open Book. Well, thank you so much for having me. I enjoyed it. I hope we meet someday in person. Well, what an icon and what an amazing legacy. And how about 91 years? years young, vividly remembering things from 50 or 60 years ago, and how charming she is as a person. And you could feel from her, her spirituality. You could feel from her, her connectivity to other

human beings. You know, sometimes when I am out public speaking and I'm being lambasted or excoriated or there's people in the room that hate me, I remind them, well, hey, guess what? There's a lot of me and you and there's a lot of you and me. And if you really think about our genetic differences, We're talking about decimal points of genetic codes separate us from each other. Amanda's Barbara Eden understand that better than anybody. So in addition to being, perhaps, one of the most beautiful people in the world, the Helen of Troy of Hollywood, in her heyday, she's just a wonderfully warm, down-to-earth human being. And she's experienced the trials and tribulations of life.

And unfortunately, the great tragedy of losing her son with a level of dignity and kindness and compassion for others. And so she's truly an amazing person. I loved her book. I encourage you to go out and buy it. And I really appreciate you joining us today on Open Book. Ma. Hello. Hi, honey.

What's going on? Are you ready for the show or what are you doing? Yeah, what? You have the show on? You're on TV? No, no. I got you on the podcast. You ready?

No, wait a minute. I got to get the other phone. This phone's going to go dead because I've been on the phone all day. You've been talking to your friends all day? Yeah. Can you call me back right away? Call me back right away. I don't put your phone.

She just hung up on me. She's so nuts. Yeah, now it's busy. She's trying to call me now, so she won't. Okay, here she comes on the other phone. Yes, Ma. Okay, go ahead. Ma, I had on the show, Barbara Eden.

You remember her from My Dream of Jeannie or no? Yes, I do. All right. What did you think of her? I thought she was very talented. Yeah. Do you remember me watching it as a kid on Channel 11? Yeah, we all did.

We won't did. Yeah. I had a crush on her, Ma. Maybe that's why I married Deerja, right? Okay. That's almost, that's exactly what Barbara. That was Barbara Eden's response. She was like, whoa.

All right. So, Mom, she had a son that died of a drug overdose, okay? And she wrote about it in her book, which is. How old was it? He was 35 when he died. He had a heroin overdose. You know, that's like, remember somebody in our neighborhood died like that, right? Right.

Like, John. The son died like that. Right. I do remember that, Ma. So, so, I mean, she was very honest about it. And she, you know, you know, it's a disease, right? It's not a, it's a not an, you know, it's a disease. People have to get treated for it.

It's a disease. It's an addiction and trying to have to be a disease and you have triggers that make you take it. And you think you're going to feel better, but you feel worse. 100%. Right? Uh-huh. Yeah. Well, that's what happens, you know, and then you keep taking it and then all of a sudden

you don't feel anything and you're out, you know? You're moving on to the next world. Uh-huh. But what do you think of having the courage to write about it, though? That was pretty good, right? Yeah, well, I could write a book about things that happened to me, and it would probably be the best seller. I'd need a ghost writer.

Yeah. Well, we're going to keep you away from that, though, Ma, right? Maybe we'll publish it 50 years after I'm dead, okay? Won't even wait, okay? Let me ask you this, Ma. Who was your first crush? Ricky. Ricky Lapeara, who looks like Uncle Fester now?

That's your first crush? Don't say that, because he might be coming here, so. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. So that was your first crush. My first crush. And what happened? Pop, my grandfather, he wanted you to marry him, right? Yeah.

He didn't want me to marry who I married. And my father was a snob because he definitely had money when we were kids. And he said that he had the same kind of upbringing that I had. And that his father was a judge. What the hell was I doing the other way? Not right. But he was right. You still, but look at you.

You're 86 years old and you're still hanging out with Ricky, though, right? Of course. I had lunch with them yesterday and Catherine Chagoo and Richard Morrow. Right. And him and I, and we had a ball. We met everyone in the port diner. Where'd you have a lunch? And they were all laughing because they all know.

They say, oh, we remember him holding your hand walking down Main Street. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. This is too good, Ma. All right. So can I ask you one last question about Barbara Eden? What? She's 91.

Right. She was very pretty when she was 31, right? Right? Right. So what's your thoughts on beauty, Ma? Is beauty timeless? It doesn't matter how old you are. I mean, Ricky still thinks you're beautiful, right?

Yeah, well, fortunately, I have partially the feel skin, and I don't have lines. You don't have lines. So you're 86 with no lines, right? So you're looking pretty good, right? Very few lines. Very few lines. How old do the people think you look, Ma? In the early 70s.

In the early 70s. You like that, right? Does that make you happy when they tell you that? Yeah, of course. Of course. I'm very conceited. And I worked with faces for 10 years, and I worked with my sister. and I worked in a beauty parlour, so I'm very aware how people look at the 86.

I can look at somebody and tell you their floors, which is a good thing if they want to know, but I can look at them and see what the hell is rolling with them by looking at them and I'm 86 years old because I'm all there, not going on wood. Yeah, right. It's just, just a talent that I was born with, I believe. All right, I love you, Ma. Do you want to talk to David? Yeah, tell them all call them back, all right.

To call you back, baby. All right. All right, I love you, Ma. Love you, baby. I am Anthony Scaramucci, and that was Open Book. Thank you for listening. If you like what you hear, tell your friends and make sure you hit follow or subscribe wherever you listen to your podcast. While you're there, please leave us a rating or review.

If you want to connect with me or chat more about the discussions, it's at Scaramucci on Twitter or Instagram. You can also text me at Plus 1, 917, 909-29-996. I'd love to hear from you. I'll see you back here next week.