Transcript
Alison : Are you ready?
Jean: I’m ready. Did you turn it on? Yes you did.
Alison : I did that look that.. I turned it on and everything.
Jean: you want to catch something?
Alison : I want to.. I want to, like, just be so spontaneous.
Jean: Then you should have the recording going when I walk in the door. Because that’s when we do our best talking.
Alison : That’s right, that’s exactly right.
Jean: That’s when I tell you all the secrets.
Alison : That’s right. Tell me a secret right now.
Jean: I don’t have any secrets from you right now. You pretty much know everything.
Alison : I have, I wanted you to just look at my neck again. My neck feels so soft right now. It reminds me of my grandma. And I’m making Jean look at it because I love how soft it feels. Did you ever have that with, like, your grandma? Like a part of her skin or a smell or something that makes you think of her ?
Jean: Not so much that, I have great memories of both my grandmothers. I love them dearly and I have more of memories of doing things with them.
Alison : Not like my… I think for me it’s like lilac because they had lilacs in their back yard.
Jean: I have memories of lilacs also.
Alison : And also a part of her skin on her arm that when I was little it was so smooth and soft. I found it comforting.
Jean: That’s so sweet.
Alison : Do you know what I mean? So. Yeah. Um. I miss my grandma. Do you?
Jean: You do talk about your grandmother every now.
Alison : I never knew my other grandmother because my father was left on that doorstep. But, it’s very interesting, the love you feel for people, you know?
Jean: Absolutely. And I think, um, it’s nice to have lovely memories of our grandparents or just to go back and go… Yeah, that was really special.
Alison : Yeah. Right. Um, and speaking of loving people, Who are we talking to?
Jean: Well, we have Ed Begley Jr, who I don’t know, Alison, this guy, I feel like I’ve grown up with him. not only on television, but I have seen Ed Begley Jr. all around town. And he’s familiar to me. And yet he’s a little removed because I never met him in person. I know he was at my home. I know Alex and him were sort of friends, and a time I would come home sometimes and Alex would say, oh, Ed Begley Jr and I were talking today and, and he picked olives from our tree outside and I’d be, darn, I missed him because I also just want to give him a hug.
Alison : Yeah. He’s so… We’re going to be talking to him today. We read his book and it is fantastic. It’s called, “To the Temple of Tranquility and Step on it”.
Jean: And that is such a great title and I really strongly suggest reading this book.
Alison : It’ll make you feel good.
Jean: It’s so humorous. And there’s so it’s so soul bearing. Yeah. And there’s so much to take away about friendship and forgiveness and gratitude and not rushing through life.
Alison : Right, right. Exactly, exactly. So, uh, let’s do our interview.
Jean: Yes, let’s.
Alison : Let’s. Okay.
Ed: Hello, everybody.
Jean: Oh, hi, Ed
Alison : And thank you you for doing this? We’re good.
Ed: So nice to be with you both.
Alison : This made me laugh and cry at your book. Made me laugh and cry.
Ed: I’m so happy to hear that. That was my intention, it’s a nice mix of both.
Alison : Yes, I’m Alison,
Jean: And I’m Jean.
Ed: So good to see you, I think, and you tell me if my memory is correct. I came in once and met you and Alex over at the Santa Monica mountains Conservancy Matter. For something to do with the trail. What have you. Because I was on the board of the Conservancy. It’s many years ago. Of course.
Jean: Yes. Ed, and and Alex and I, uh, really enjoyed your career… you’ve given us so much pleasure over the years, and he was so happy to meet you that day. And I think you came over and picked some olives.
Ed: I definitely did, he made a great joke out of the timing of it because I called him and said, you’ve got some great olives. The olive tree in my, uh, yard have died this year. I got some Mediterranean olive fly, so I’ve got no olives. So I’m going to go over to your place, if you don’t mind, out in the street and pick some olives, and I’ll give some to you. So he came back out before he’d gotten the phone message and said, Begley do I have to call security? I got to call the cops on you for stealing olives? hahahah Yeah, but I called. I swear. He said I’m just pulling your leg, for Christ’s sake- take as many olives as you like. I brought some over, and hopefully you enjoyed them. They’re good olives. A nice Mediterranean recipe for curing olives.
Jean: Indeed.
Ed: So good to see you again.
Jean: You too, Ed. And thank you for sharing your generous, powerful life. And I, from a heart perspective and a joyful perspective, i loved your book, so thank you for taking the time to put pen to paper and make, uh, give us some wonderful lessons and insights.
Ed: Well, I sure liked writing it. It was fun to write, and I wasn’t intending to write a book at all. My daughter Hayden, brought her smartphone into my den one day and said, I want you to just tell me in this phone some of the stories about different things, stories that you’ve shared with me about your dad and, you know, Marlon Brando and different people you worked with and encountered over your long life and career. Would you do that? And she took about an hour’s worth of, you know, video of that. So that’s great. You know, when do you want to do it again? She said, I got time next week. And in the meantime, some other things came up to me. I went, I’m going to take these notes before I forget them, for Hayden, for this archive, for her and for my grandkids. Just an archive for them. And about a day later I went, I’ve got a book here. I had like 45 pages of stuff. That was the beginning of a book, I guess that took maybe 4 or 5 days to do that, but I was I was so happy. I said, you’re fired. I think you’re going to be happy. Why? I’m going to write a book out of this, Hayden said. If you need me, I’m standing by with my camera.
Alison : That’s great.
Ed: The keyboard of the computer became like a Ouija board that actually worked. By that, I mean, you know, took me to the real attic and the real basement of my mind. Different things that had happened, opening doors that hadn’t been opened in a long time, and it was delightful. It was fun to write, and I did it just for fun, and some other people have enjoyed it. And thank you for reading it.
Alison : It was beautiful, and it made me fall in love with people that I only know, like Bruno Kirby.
Ed: What a great actor, what a great guy.
Alison : And I have to say, my like, you always love him on screen, but after reading your book and and how kind he was, I was amazed at, um, at how much more I love him. And I want to go back and watch his movies now. You know.
Ed: I learned loyalty and kindness from Bruno. I learned a bit of it from my father and from others and different, important people in my life. But I really learned it well from Bruno. He was such a generous person, so kind, so loyal. And I began to try to build those traits in myself and was finally successful.
Alison : You put you in every chapter of your book, you put a spotlight on somebody else. And yet it must be something in you Ed, that brought these people to you. Like, you must be an incredibly kind, generous, warm man…
Ed: Or a hot mess that they thought they might be able to fix? Maybe that. Don’t rule that out. hahah
Alison : I don’t think so. I think there’s something. There’s something in you. What’s your key to having such long term friendships in a business that can be so transient?
Ed: The loyalty I learned from Bruno Kirby and also gratitude. I learned that from many people. Alan Watts among them. To be in the moment, to be right here, present with you two. And it’s delightful to be here in this moment and to be grateful for. I thought it was a big minus for years that my dad was Ed Begley Jr. He was an actor, and I wanted to do what he did. I loved him deeply. I wasn’t aware of how much I loved him until he was gone, but I began to appreciate him down the line, of course. And also I thought, well, that looks easy. I want to do that. Get me on a Gunsmoke, get me a Wagon Train. I want to be on, you know, Perry Mason, get me a series, not just one episode. I want to be regular. Like I could do, what he did. Pick up the phone and do that. Or I could be able to to to deliver. I had taken no training, you know, I think of my father had been a plumber. I’d be fitting pipe now, but he made it look so easy I thought, I can I’ll put the copper kind of together and you heat something, I think. I’m not sure what you do, but I can do that today, Dad, let me drive the truck and go do the job. I had no skills. And finally I took some training and I got better. And I kind of learned while I was doing it. And that was a stroke of good luck. Most people don’t go to get, to learn on the job like that.
Jean: Yeah. You know, and and throughout your book, you mention a few addictions that, that kind of you had to release in your own wonderful way. Can you talk about, um, what really was your turning point to releasing your the addiction to to wanting a drink all the time?
Ed: It was when I had the DTs for the first time, when you experience something like that, it’s fairly certain at that point that you have a problem with drugs and alcohol. And I had hit that point, so I sought out help and I started, i couldn’t do it alone. It was a saying, I can’t, but we can. And I think that’s a very true thing with different addiction drugs, alcohol, philandering, gambling, you name it. So I was having a big problem and I thought, you know, I’ll try this and see how I do, and I started working on a 12 step program, but I had everything going against me. By that, I mean, I hadn’t really lost anything. And so I went after about 21 days, I was thinking, you know, I don’t think I really had the DTs. I think I had food poisoning. I think I ate some funky food that night. That was not the case, of course, I hadn’t eaten any funky food, but I just thought that was it. I had these different reasons. Because I was in my 20s. I was in very good shape physically. So after just 72 hours, after being in the full blown DTs, I go, I feel pretty good. You know, maybe I wasn’t really having the DTs that worked against me and there was a key person in my life. His name was Billy Boyle.
Ed: He used to go to this 12 step meeting on, uh, on Rodeo Drive there in Beverly Hills. And I came in for the fourth or fifth time, bandaged again in some different way from some injury. He’d be there smoking a cigarette, which you could do back then in those meetings. Hey, slim, how you doing? What is this, your fourth or fifth time in here? Billy, would you stop blowing the smoke in my face first of all? But, yeah, I guess I’ve been in here 4 or 5 times. Oh, Christ, you’re never going to get sober. I said, what a terrible thing to say. Why are you being so negative? You’re supposed to encourage people coming through these doors. Billy, why would you say that? Didn’t I hear you got a series over at universal? I said, yeah, I’m doing Battlestar Galactica. You’re married to somebody named Gretchen? No, it’s Ingrid, but yeah, I’m married and two kids, yes, I do. I have a little place in Hancock Park. He said, oh, you’re screwed. Why? Why? There’s all those sound like good things. Is it because you haven’t lost anything? Here’s the way it’s going to work now. From now on, before you take a drink, you’re going to call me up, do you hear me? I’m going to come over there and I’m going to kick your ass. He was about five two, 110 pounds. Maybe I’m 200. Six, four. It’s okay.
Ed: You’re going to come kick my ass, Billy. Thank you. That’s wonderful. And a few months later, I’m at LAX. I’m about to start a movie called, The In-Laws, a big movie with Peter Falk and Alan Arkin. And they open up the bar and I go, I can’t take the pressure. I’m going to drink. And I go, and I order a Bloody Mary. I put it up to my lips and I remember goddamn Billy Boyle, that son of a bitch at that meeting smoking. Okay, there’s no cell phones. Then I go over to the payphone. Billy. Hi, it’s Ed Begley. Why are you calling me so early? I said I’m at LAX. I’m about to fly out to Cuernavaca. This time of year. Give me a call when you get to Mexico, buddy. Oh, Billy, you didn’t hear. Let me finish. I’m about to drink. I heard you call me when you get there. Okay, pal. So what? No. Don’t you understand? Hold on a second. Bartender. Didn’t I just order a Bloody Mary? Yeah. You got to come drink it. Yeah, I’ll be right there. Also, I’m in first class. I can see now. I’m going to drink all the free drinks they give me on the plane. I am going to drink. No you’re not. Yes I am. No you’re not. I said, why am I not going to drink? And he said, because you called me.
Alison : Yeah.
Ed: And then it sunk in. He was right. Because you called me. Said if you wanted to drink, you would have had the drink before you called me. If you wanted to, if you wanted to have the drink, you wouldn’t have gone to that first meeting you went to back in 1976. You don’t want to drink. Like I said, call me when you get to Mexico. And he hung up on me, and I didn’t take that drink. It’s people like him and my friend Brad that have kept me coming back all these many years, and I’m just so lucky to know them both.
Alison : That exact story that LAX story made me cry. That he was so like, okay, call me when you get there. That you had already taken the step without even having known it. Right?
Ed: Exactly. That’s the brilliant thing about that. They tell that to newcomers. You call me before you drink and they do the same thing as me. No, I am. I got it right here. I got it in my hand. I’m going to drink. You can hear glug, glug in a second. No you’re not. And they lay it on you that if you really want it, you would have taken it before you called, you know.
Alison : It’s beautiful.
Ed: It’s mind opening.
Jean: Yeah. So mind opening and It’s so fascinating how powerful the mind is.
Ed: And the group, what the group can accomplish with simple steps of working with, you know, one another and you know other things. People carry resentments around. They just eat you alive and make you want to drink or use or do other things that are addictive, and when you have that resentment towards somebody else that’s like drinking acid and hoping the other person dies. Yeah. You know. Yeah. You got to let go of that stuff and and move on. And and that’s what I’ve, in most cases been able to do.
Alison : You went through a lot physically and emotionally. Like you were in a body cast and you punctured your lung, like all these things. And I couldn’t even I couldn’t even believe it. How did you how did you heal from all that emotionally? Because it was a lot. And you’ve had, I’m sure, as an actor, like when we look at your career, it looks like, oh, you’re just successful. Like you’re famous and successful. And yet, there were times in this when it looked like you weren’t working. And I’m wondering, how did you how did you deal with disappointment? How did you how did you get through that?
Ed: I drank over it and drank over it until really 1979, when I finally got sober. This time I used those words this time because this time it’s been nearly 45 years.
Alison : Wow. Congratulations.
Ed: But it’s important to note also, I had a year and a month just before that, i had a year and a month with no pills, no pot, no drinking, no nothing. I was sober, going to meeting a day and yet I still drank. Why? Because I didn’t get a sponsor and I didn’t work the steps. You know, I thought I was different, I was special. You don’t understand. I’m busy. I got all these jobs in Mexico and over at universal, I’m not like these other saps. I don’t have time to get a sponsor and work the steps now, so I’ll get to that later. Big shocker, I drank. Yeah. So then finally, when I started doing things the way that others have done them, it has worked nearly 45 years.
Alison : That’s that’s amazing.
Ed: Yeah, it is amazing.
Jean: And you pay such beautiful, heartfelt tribute to Ingrid.
Ed: Wonderful Ingrid. Mother of my two grown kids. Just a wonderful, wonderful, great lady. I’m so lucky to have had her in my life. Yeah, and a great ex-wife, too. She and I became friendly then friends and best friends. And then, like, brother and sister for life. I’m so still to this day, lucky and grateful to have had this wonderful woman in my life.
Alison : And I, we we know your current wife because we saw her at We Spark the other night.
Ed: Rachelle is heaven on earth in so many ways. I love her deeply too, and she’s so great. She was never jealous about Ingrid. She knew that was something from my past that was important because we had two wonderful children together. But Ingrid and Rachelle were not only friends. We took a drive together where they became like best friends because they could unite against a common enemy. Right? hahah- They turned to me big time and we went in the car. This is how foolish I am, how naive I am. I said, sure, we’ll do this. We’ll get in the car with my present wife at the time. This is years ago, but my new wife at that time, Rachelle, in the front seat in the passenger seat and Ingrid is in the back, my ex-wife in the back with my then five year old daughter Hayden in the back. And, uh, there was a they really had we had a few laughs, as I always I’ll say. It was fantastic. And most of the laughs were directed at me.
Alison : Yeah. Well, you I guess you were the easy target.
Ed: Definitely. And I deserved every bit of it. So there was no protesting… But I, oh no… You’re right, didn’t I … No. I’m sorry.
Alison : That’s funny.
Jean: Well, you do have great taste in women.
Ed: That’s for sure.
Jean: And, um, and how you wrote about them is is very touching in your book. I wanted to take a second and talk about your relationship with Cesar Chavez, because that that seemed to be a real linchpin to your passion of being an active environmentalist.
Ed: He was a dear friend. The great Cesar Chavez. For those who do not know, uh, was a great labor leader. He was the head of the United Farm Workers union he formed with Dolores Huerta, who’s still around and I do a lot of work with Dolores Huerta, but he and Dolores found this union and helped the people in the fields who had no one to speak for them. You know, people were dying in the fields back then, dying in the heat as they do. Not as often, but they do still to this day. But they had no water provided for them in the fields. There was no latrines. It was a bad situation. And so I didn’t really know much about this back then. But I had some friends at Valley College, Bill Malloy and Jan Fisher, who turned me on to the United Farm Workers and their plight. So there was a big move, you know, no Uvas, no grapes. And I boycotted grapes, no lechuga, no lettuce. And so we all stopped buying lettuce. But then one day in the 80s, I got to meet him. Cesar Chavez came into a restaurant. I was sitting at having a bowl of oatmeal.
Speaker2: I didn’t think it was him at first, because he got out of a very modest car and I went, you know, that couldn’t be Cesar Chavez. He’s an internationally known labor leader. Then I thought for just one minute I went, no, that’s exactly the kind of car he would be in, because he Cesar Chavez, walked past me to get to his table and I could see it was definitely him. I walked over and I said, Cesar, I don’t want to bother you, but I’ve been supporting from a distance for the years for the strike fund. And I stopped buying lettuce and grapes and what have you. We hit it off and became friendly, and I worked with him on pesticide issues because the people in the fields then were coming home with pesticide residue in their clothes. And really, people didn’t understand how dangerous it was in many cases. And they were getting sick and their kids were getting sick. So I started working with him on those issues and had the sadness and the honor of carrying his coffin through the streets of Delano in 1993.
Alison : I that was it was beautiful. Can you can you tell me a little bit, too, about the environmental activism that you are so like you’re famous for it? I remember watching, Living with Ed.
Ed: Yeah, I started that in 1970 because I grew up in LA. Most people wonder why I did that, why I got involved in 1970. And the answer is easy. Born and raised in LA and the smog was horrible back then. People think the smog is bad now. It was so bad back then. And we got to remember that as a success story and a blueprint to do other things like defeat climate change. We have four times the cars in LA from 1970, in that first Earth Day. Millions more people. But we have a fraction of the smog. We all did that by cleaner cars, cleaner power plants, all this stuff, big and small that we hoped would work, did work. We have cleaner air now. We still have problems. Air pollution around the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. Those big ships there and the different equipment that loads and unloads. There’s pollution there, near the freeway interchanges, near the fulfillment centers and all those shipping centers. We need to clean up the air for those people who live and work there. And we’re going to do that because we’ve proven that we can.
Ed: Ozone depletion. We had a problem with the ozone hole where increased UVB was happening and people in Australia and elsewhere getting more skin cancer than would be considered even remotely normal. And so that we banned CFCs and people, the naysayers said, would never be able to buy a refrigerator again. Never be able to buy an air conditioner. They’ll be too expensive. I’m told you can still buy refrigerators. Somebody said that to me the other day. I was shocked to learn it. You can still buy air conditioning units. I’m told. It just cost pennies more to make the change and ban CFCs than we did it. And it worked. We did that with air pollution and a lot of green businesses that thrived. So we have to think about that as we plan for the future and do more things that we must do regarding climate change and our dependence on foreign oil has a cost and many other ways. And there’s lots of ways we can do that and clean up the air in our cities.
Jean: Ed, can you share like three simple things someone can do right now to lean more green in their life?
Ed: Just do something simple, that doesn’t cost a lot of money and then build from there. Just try some energy efficient light bulbs. That’s number one. Energy saving thermostat number two. The third one is a category I call get out of your car. Most people can’t afford a fancy electric car like I drive. I couldn’t afford it myself, in 1970 when I started, I bought a cheap, like a golf cart, kind of a car back in 1970. But get out of your car. By that, I mean take public transportation. If it’s available near you, ride a bike, you know, a fitness and weather permit. Do things like that. And also I can’t restrict it to three. I’m going to give you a fourth one, you know, do some home gardening or home composting. If you have a piece of dirt in your front or back yard, get out there and get your hands in the dirt. Get connected to the earth and grow some wonderful food, which I’ve always done since the 70s, since I had a house. You can make your own compost, or the old trash becomes new vegetables in the form of composting table scraps and yard waste and what have you. So get out of your car. Get your hands in the dirt and buy some energy efficient thermostats or lighting.
Alison : That’s totally, that’s totally doable. You have an Leed platinum rated home, though?
Ed: Yes. Leed is basically like a miles per gallon rating for a home or a business. And it’s how efficient your home is, as in how thick the walls are, the envelope of the house, how easy it is to keep in heat or cool and or to keep out heat or cool as well. Uh, you know how efficient the air conditioning units are. Do you have room on your roof for solar? Is there a good sunny roof? Mine is. So I have nine kilowatts of solar on the roof. I have two big four by ten solar panels for hot water… I have a 10,000 gallon rainwater tank. I’ve got a lot of fruits and vegetables. Sorry for that buzzing. The mailman just came.
Alison : Oh. That’s okay.
Ed: Hopefully there’ll be some rerun checks. Yeah.
Alison : That’s right.
Ed: The dogs always seem to get excited. Your Probably hearing the dogs barking in the background too…there Different things are going on here, but, it’s always great to see the mailman. To hear that ringing you just heard. It’s like occasionally there’s a bill. Yes. Occasionally I have to pay a bill. hahah
Alison : Right, right.
Jean: And Ed , you have developed some Eco friendly products, cleaning products.
Ed: I do. I have a wonderful, uh, pet stain and odor remover. I’ve got a pet, a waterless pet shampoo, you know, to clean your pet if you don’t have an area to, like, clean the dog in a tub or what have you like for that. People live in apartment. Need to clean up their pets. Um, we’ve got a floor soap. We’ve got wonderful, you know, totally non-toxic cleaning products that work very well. They have to not only be nontoxic, but they have to clean. People are going to buy it once if it doesn’t do the job of some other, you know, less, you know, safe product.
Jean: Just, just just on on the cleaning. I think it’s so important to have a natural cleaning product for your floor because my dog licks my floor, floor everywhere and…
Ed: All the time.
Jean: All the time. My little Buddy is always he’s like a little Roomba around the house and he’s always licking. So how great it is to know that my floors are not, um, poisonous, and also like little children crawling on the floor.
Ed: Exactly. Little kids crawling on the floor. If you have kids or grandkids that are little, they’re always putting their toes and their fingers in their mouth and they’re crawling the floor. So I’ve been out there with many people protesting a hazardous waste site that they’re sighted or have sighted near their home. And I say to them, we’re going to try to fix this. But before you do that, let’s get the hazardous waste site that’s in your home. Huh? What do you mean? I said. Under your sink. You’ve probably got a lot of toxic products. Get rid of them and stop. You don’t want one near your home. You definitely don’t want one in your home. Get rid of that stuff and stop using it.
Alison : Yeah, that’s great. What do you think of this idea of the car free Olympics coming up in L.A.?
Ed: Yeah, I think it’s great. I think it’s great to commit to that. I think they can do it. There’ll be other people in cars, but they’re going to try to get as much of the Olympic teams and all the support people, all the people involved with the games themselves to be taking public transportation. They’re they’re different, you know, green, uh, vans and what have you. But, you know, bike lanes and, uh, a lot more public transportation. They’re going to have the connection to LAX finished by then. Other different connectors that connect different lines, subway and rail and other light rail and bus, all of it’s going to be better connected by the time the Olympics come. I think it’s a great goal to make it car free.
Alison : Yeah, we see you biking all the time. We both live in Studio City and we see you biking all the time. Do you still not get into a gas car?
Ed: I haven’t been in a gas car in a while. I have now a long range electric car that I can drive across country, and I have, uh. So. But I’m on my bike every day for errands. I ride my bike. Still, I have a transportation hierarchy, if you will. Number one is walking. I like to walk. Get to where I need to go. Bike is number two, public transportation. Number three, the electric car that I’m known for, that’s a distant fourth. And I used to have a fifth choice, which would be, you know, a hybrid car. But I don’t need that anymore because I have a pure electric that can go nearly 400 miles on a charge so I can drive cross country easy.
Alison : That’s excellent. Right, right. It’s perfect.
Jean: Well, we’ve both waved to you. I’ve waved to you many times when I’ve seen you on your bike. And I’ve stop at the light, and I’ve seen you, like, crossing from, Carpenter school and.
Ed: Yes. I’ll definitely wave back now. It’s good to see your face and be reminded.
Alison : That’s right.
Ed: Lovely lady. It’s so great to see you, Jean….both of you..
Alison : Could you tell me, what the governor of the Academy Awards is?
Ed: Yeah. They decided years ago that the membership comprised of the different branches actors, directors, writers, costume designers, you know, makeup and hair people. Everybody should have a branch consisting of three people. For most branches that would then rotate, there would be an election every year, and one of the three would be up for election after having served three years, they would decide who would host the Oscars with the staff, you know, suggestion, the staff is very much staff driven in many ways. They bring different suggestions for people for the governor’s award and people vote on it. But the the governors themselves vote for who should get the governor’s award each year? Who should vote to host the Oscars? Who should get in? There’s a committee that starts it, then the governors approve it. But most of the most important thing that they do is this though– preservation and celebration of the excellence in motion pictures. Excellence and sound. Excellence in cinematography. Excellence in acting. That is the role of the Academy in a simple sense, to promote excellence in motion pictures. That’s what they do very well with the Nicholl Fellowship and other, you know, different writing fellowships and what have you different ways. They started great filmmakers that we know, Spike Lee and, you know, different people that we know that have done very well and done incredible films started George Lucas, I think, started with the Nicholl Fellowship. People like that got these great grants from the Motion Picture Academy to start and to do decades and decades of wonderful work. So that’s what they do. They promote excellence in motion pictures and the governors guide that. And I was very proud to serve what is now a term limit. They didn’t have term limits before, but it’s good that they do I think. And I served a full 15 years and how lucky I am to serve in that role.
Alison : Wow. And everybody loves you, Ed.
Ed: Don’t tell them what I’m really like. I’m begging you. Well, Jean knows–her husband caught me stealing olives. I’m a thief.
Jean: I think he actually loved to use that story. And you know who comes over and steals olives from our front lawn,
Alison : Right? That’s right.
Ed: I saw him a few times after that olive theft, and he was always very funny. He gave me a good ribbing.
Jean: Well, he enjoyed you equally.
Ed: I Loved him.
Alison : Yes, he was great.
Jean: This was such a treat. And wherever Brad is, him bringing you to our humble podcast, we’re so grateful to both of you.
Ed: I feel the same.
Alison : Could you answer three quick final questions. The first thing is, you have known you huge celebrities that are funny, what makes you laugh?
Ed: I’ll tell you what makes me laugh. And there’s several people that are able to do this. People like Charles Grodin and Dabney Coleman, who were very dear friends, and Peter Falk and Alan Arkin, all four. What’s in common? Each of those guys, when they did comedy and they did it often, they did it like they were doing Strindberg. They never, ever did it, like, okay, we’re going to we’re in a comedy here, and this, this is going to be funny. They played it like they’re doing Shakespeare. And that’s what made it great. Oh the dogs came in. They just wanted to hear some tips to. I’m sorry.
Jean: We love dogs.
Alison : We Love it. Can we–Is your dog right there?
Ed: Would you open the door and let him in, Brad?
Ed: Oh, she’s got them taken care of. I think Rochelle just came home and took care of the dogs that have been barking the whole show, and now she’s. I think they’re happy to see Brad. Just takes a minute to remember him. Bunny, come. Oh, no. You got Bunny right there. I want you to show you- my daughter found this dog at a tow yard. Her car got impounded. And this is what I got out of the deal.
Alison : Oh, my.
Ed: She sleeps on top of me every night. She’s heaven on earth. She was a little black terrier then, because she was so dirty from the oil and soot and the tow yard. Nobody knows how she got there. She had no chip, she had no collar. And she came to me, and she just sat on top of me right away. And she never wanted to leave my side. Dogs know.
Jean: They do know.
Ed: She. She’s so jealous. She’s yelling at Ducky. Who’s getting some attention over there from Brad and Rochelle. But now Ducky is gone and Bunny will be good again.
Alison : Oh my gosh, he looks like a movie dog. He’s so cute.
Ed: He is. Oh, she’s adorable beyond words. She sleeps in my stomach every night.
Ed: This is for me, honey? Yeah. thank you. She said this is all the mail I get, I won’t reveal. Hopefully it’s not a summons. I hope I haven’t just been served.
Alison : And could you also tell us, what are you. You’re making me laugh… What do you think insidewink means?
Ed: Inside what?
Alison : Inside wink.
Jean: Help him out.
Alison : Help him. Brad.
Brad: This place is insanity all day long. It doesn’t matter what time you come here. It’s the same vibe and the same banter all day.
Jean: It’s life in full session.
Alison : We love it.
Ed: Say it one more time.
Ed: Oh, Insidewink. That means you got the inside knowledge. The things that most people don’t get. You don’t get the information that most people get. Is that what it is?
Alison : Yes, that’s exactly what it is.
Jean: Perfect.
Alison : That’s perfect. Very good. Editor. And finally, pie, cake or ice cream. And of course, vegan for you.
Ed: Pie, I love pie.
Alison : Really?
Ed: Can it be…Gluten free too? Is that possible?
Alison : Yeah. What kind of pie?
Ed: I love key lime pie. Oh, but I love apple. And I love pumpkin, I love pecan. There’s lots of pies. I love any berry pie.
Alison : All right, we know now. Excellent. That’s it. We love you. And thank you so much for doing this for us.
Ed: And you put up with the hounds of hell. So I know I love you guys. You’re very sweet. Thank you. I’m sorry. Hopefully you can hear three words I said through the dogs barking, but they’re little love dogs.
Alison : It’s a perfect interview.
Jean: It really is.
Ed: And same with you guys.
Jean: You’re So wonderful, you and your gorgeous family. So thank you so much, Ed.
Ed: I send you love and light and I hope to see you again on Laurel Canyon or anywhere.
Alison : Us too. Great. Thank you. And have a beautiful day.
Ed: You too. Thank you. Bye.
Alison : Bye.
Jean: Bye.
Jean: Because you can be sneaky.
Alison : I’m never sneaky.
Jean: Okay, that’s actually true.
Alison : I’m never sneaky. I’m very out there with stuff.
Jean: I might be projecting. hahah
Alison : You can be sneaky. What did you think of Ed?
Jean: Okay. This guy is awesome.
Alison : Yeah.
Jean: Yeah, I can see why he has so many friends and why he’s such a great friend. And it always reminds me of if you spot it, you got it. So when he recognizes all that great goodness within all these people that he’s had encounters, encounters with throughout his life, he he owns those qualities as well.
Alison : And you read this book and he really highlights all these wonderful people and talks about how great they are. And then as you’re reading, you realize you (Ed) must be great. Yeah. Like he’s so self-effacing and humble.
Jean: So humble .
Alison : It’s really just… And he’s so funny. And he’s got such a sweet quality to him.
Jean: Right. You know, and he does. You know, I also appreciated the fact that he, um, he’s not perfect, you know, and he will share things that he, you know, aren’t deemed to be highly noble. And then we get a chance to laugh at the human experience and, and the important things in life, he’s totally nailed.
Alison : Yeah, exactly. What do you think the most important things in life are?
Jean: I do think gratitude. Gratitude and being kind. Going out of your way for someone else. Um. Honesty. Community, community, the all of those things. And. Yeah. How about you?
Alison : Well, just now, after these, after we do these interviews, I’m always struck by the fact that people are beautiful. Like like people that are really trying to do some good, really are such beautiful beings. And you just talk to them and you realize we’re all really kind of alike. And I just, i just love that I feel so good after talking to him.
Jean: Right, yeah. Me too. That was so special. And gosh, I hope you all enjoy that. And please do pick up his book because you will laugh so hard.
Alison : The third sentence is going to make you laugh —
Jean: the title makes me laugh.
Alison : Me too, me too. To the Temple of Tranquility, and step on it.
Jean: And one last thing. This photo of Ed Begley Jr. and what do you think? He’s about 20 there?
Alison : I don’tknow. He’s such a cutie.
Jean: He’s got so much light and, like, looking forward to life. Like, what is life all about? Like, he’s got that sense of that wonder. Look in his eye, and then you turn. And then on the other side, there’s a photo of him.
Alison : And don’t you think he still has it?
Jean: Oh, just how he’s just grown into to be this, this brilliant adult human being. Yeah.
Alison : Yeah. It’s beautiful.
Jean: And still has the wonder.
Alison : That’s right. Yeah. Well. Thank you. I hope you have a great day, and we’ll talk to you soon. Bye.
Jean: Bye.