Tyne Marches On

TV Guide - May 20-26, 2000

By Michael Logan

As her feisty character gets romantic on Judging Amy, an even feistier Tyne Daly attacks ageism in Hollywood, nosy questions and the New York Times.

Judging Amy, the hit series starring Amy Brenneman as family-court judge Amy Gray, was recently blasted by a writer in the New York Times for perpetuating "stereotypical sexist ageism" with the character of Maxine, Amy's bossy, exasperated, social-worker mom. The irony: Maxine is played by Tyne Daly, the TV trailblazer who built a career by busting feminine stereotypes. The most honored dramatic actress in Emmy history (she won four awards as New York City cop Mary Beth Lacey during the 1982-'88 run of Cagney & Lacey, and one as iron-willed missionary Alice Henderson on CBS's 1994-'95 Christy), Daly is famous for her blunt, no-baloney approach to acting and to life. "With Tyne there are no games, no politics, and that can be a challenge," admits Brenneman, who co-created Amy and is one of its executive producers. "There are times when I think, 'My God, can't we just make nice and exchange air kisses?' But that's not what Tyne is interested in. She is the kind of woman I want to be. She has been totally honest with herself and with everybody else, including the audience." That honesty was in full force during a recent interview. The vibrant, 54-year-old actress, though notoriously antipress, arrived for breakfast at the ultrachic Peninsula Beverly Hills Hotel, where everyone is dressed for success. Daly is dressed for relaxation. She lets her shoulder-length, grey hair flow freely. She is without makeup.

Q: You're looking rather au naturel today.

A: I'm sorry I didn't wear paint this morning. [Laughs] I tend not to wear it unless I'm getting highly paid. You know, my hair is very upsetting to people, but it's upsetting on purpose. It is important to look old so that the young will not be afraid of dying. People don't like old women. We don't honor age in our society, and we certainly don't honor it in Hollywood.

Q: Maxine is 60. Most actresses resist playing older or refuse altogether.

A: I've always wanted to be old. I'm interested in playing old ladies because I am becoming one. And I want to become a very good one! To display my actual face, my actual belly, my real legs, my real hair in television is doing some kind of service in a world where women are constantly being told there's something wrong with us. We have been designed in this culture to be fixed up. You want us to be taller, thinner, to have bigger bosoms, smaller hips, larger lips. You men have always been jealous of us because we have the babies and you don't.

Q: Were you raised this way?

A: What way? Angry? [Laughs]

Q: To be on the vanguard?

A: I was raised to be in service to something larger than myself. A lot of actors concentrate on what they will get out of the profession, rather than what they can offer it. The way I see it, if you come with something to offer, you can offer it forever. I intend to be toddling around as an actress when I'm 80.

Q: You've consistently broken rules on TV, showing us complex women we haven't seen before.

A: I had no choice. I never had the model gene. I couldn't pass the physical. [She pulls out a sheet of paper.] I made notes in preparation for this interview. [She begins to read a list of names.] Marjorie Main. Hattie McDaniel. Margaret Dumont. Margaret Hamilton. Claire Trevor. Ethel Waters. Shirley Booth. Helen Hayes. Agnes Moorehead. Hermione Gingold. Judith Anderson. [She continues reading for nearly a minute and concludes with] Shelley Winters. Anna Magnaai. Simone Signoret. Anna May Wong. Eve Arden. Mae West. In no particular order.

Q: And the point of this list?

A: Think about all these different kinds of women. Think about all the different looks we used to be able to see on the screen. Not one of these women was trying to fit a standard. But today you can put any six girls in a row and have a very hard time distinguishing them. Everybody's trying to fit a mould.

Q: The New York Times, in a plea for "deep stories about whole women who happen to have adult children," labelled Maxine "an infantilizing nag with a superior air" and accused her of having no life. Your reaction?

A: I had hurt feelings at first. I felt under assault. Maxine is much more than somebody's mother, much more than just her kids' opinion of her. Through this character, I'm trying to de-demonize the mommy figure. But the Times writer was on a weird trip, [accusing] me of doing exactly what I'm trying not to do. I've felt particularly ill-used by the press, because you always get it wrong. No matter what happens, you always get it wrong.

Q: Maxine has quickly been given a boyfriend [millionaire Jared Duff, played by Richard Crenna]. Why so sudden? Is this an effort to soften her up, make her more palatable?

A: Well, it's a little abrupt, but I think it's nice that she has a romantic life. They became lovers in the season finale, though [plotwise] there's a fly in the ointment. Whether we continue with this next season kind of depends on what's up with Mr. Crenna. But I do believe people come in pairs. The audience wants to see that Maxine is vital and alive. She has been through the "pause" part of menopause. We are trained as young women to nurture men, support them, deal with their needs. Then we come to a point where we say, "Oh, I want a little pause from this." And nature fills one in. Then there's the part after that where we reacquaint ourselves with the world and with men, when we say, "OK, I can't offer to make a baby anymore, so what else do I have to offer?"

Q: What about your own romantic life? You are reportedly in a relationship with actor Clarence Williams III. [Daly was divorced from actor Georg Stanford Brown in 1991. They have three daughters.]

A. That's none of your business. This is where being interviewed gets hard for me. I don't like the celebrity part of being an actor. I'm not good at it and I've learned that the hard way, so there is stuff I no longer talk about.

Q: Then will you talk generically about the importance of romance in your life?

A: That's another thing I don't like. The public looks to celebrities for the wrong stuff, how to have a successful romance, how to diet, how to raise children, how to vote, for heaven's sake. When you're a young actor, you get seduced into answering inappropriate questions. There's a spotlight and a camera and someone asking, "So, what do you think of such and such?" And then you start to mouth off. I'm glad I'm past that.

Q: So there are never times when you look at Amy Brenneman and think, "Damn,I wish I was young again! I wish I had that time back"?

A: I think Amy's terrific and it's been fun watching her make this show happen - she is creating it, acting it, fighting for it. She's really interesting to me, but I can't think of any age I'd want to go back to. I don't want to do anything again. For me, backward is not a direction.


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