#303 Dinah Manoff’s Real True Hollywood Story

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Jeff Dwoskin 0:28

All right, Lee, thank you so much for that amazing introduction. You get the show going each and every week, and this week was no exception. Well welcome everybody to Episode 303 of classic conversations. As always, I am your host, Jeff Dwoskin. Great to have you back for what's sure to be the coolest episode of All Time. One of the pink lady's herself is here today. Dinah manoff we're talking Grease. So Child's Play and Dinah's amazing book though real True Hollywood Story of Jackie Gold and all that's coming up in just a few seconds. And in these few seconds do not miss our journey to the Land of the Lost last week. Cathy Coleman was here Holly Marshall herself. We took the plunge of 1000 feet so many great stories and so many great stories await you in this episode as well. You love Grease if you love soap, if you love empty nest, your average rate all this and more coming up. All right now. All right, everyone, I'm excited to introduce you to my next guest, actress, director, author Tony Award winner loved her in empty nest soap, grease, I ought to be in pictures author of the real True Hollywood Story of Jackie Gold. Please welcome to the show. Dinah manoff

Dinah Manoff 1:56

I'm filling in with all the applause that I know is out there. Hi, Jeff.

Jeff Dwoskin 2:01

Hi, how are you?

Dinah Manoff 2:02

I'm good. How are you?

Jeff Dwoskin 2:04

I am great. I want to say that Grease is one of my earliest memories of seeing a movie with my parents. And while that would be the natural place to start, we'll get to that in a second. Because one thing that I discovered while diving into your world is that you have the distinction of being the first person killed by Chucky. And I thought that was really cool. I

Dinah Manoff 2:30

also think it's pretty cool. And you know, when I made that movie, I did not anticipate that it would go anywhere. You know, became this huge thing and now you know, when I do autograph signings I mean people come up to me asking you to sign you know, Chucky Cheese or leg or butt or you know, yeah, that was me at Maggie.

Jeff Dwoskin 2:54

Do you ever? I I have set at Maggie got killed in the right in the beginning because there was like 1000 sequels now a TV show? No.

Dinah Manoff 3:03

Um, you know, I've actually have not watched the movie past where I die. Because it's not my genre. You know, I'm not a horror movie fan because they scare me. I'm the person who doesn't like the anticipation of when the cameras gonna hit you on the head. But so no, I did my horror film acting and it was really fun. And no, I don't I don't need to go on with Chucky.

Jeff Dwoskin 3:26

We are exactly the same that way. I will say I am not into horror movies meaning because they scare me. I just I don't like to feel that way. But for you, of course, I watched so I could see you get killed. Which was a beautiful thing by the way ball.

Dinah Manoff 3:42

Wasn't it? Yeah, I know. It was a good death.

Jeff Dwoskin 3:45

I mean, hammer to the head. And then yeah,

Dinah Manoff 3:49

and that little hammer to just that little book. In the middle of the forehead. It was I know classic.

Jeff Dwoskin 3:55

And it wasn't even that they probably killed you. It was probably the what was 510 storey drop into a car? That's

Dinah Manoff 4:01

correct. Yeah. Apparently in Chicago, that apartment building where we filmed that is now like on tours and things where you can see where Maggie fell out the window

Jeff Dwoskin 4:11

I've read that's that's a pretty good spot. I love things like that. One of my favorite photos is Katz's Deli in New York, and I was like, Where Are y'all? This is where Sally did the orgasm. See? That's right. Yeah. So I watched it last night. My wife was a canasta while I was watching it, or if I'm home alone. And like I'm like, I'm watching and I've got headphones on and every it's freaking me out and then I keep hearing things. And now I'm getting free to watching the movie because I can hear things in my house. So it's like it was playing. That's why I don't like horror movies. Anyway. All right. So do you own a Chucky doll? No. Now why would you? No,

Dinah Manoff 4:51

no, no, that would just one Halloween. I came home and my neighbors had struck one from my tree just because they thought that was hysterical and know that I I don't have my very own Chucky doll and I do not want one. So if you're listening don't send me a Chucky doll.

Jeff Dwoskin 5:07

So interestingly enough, one of your very first things was with John Travolta on Welcome Back, Kotter.

Dinah Manoff 5:15

Yeah, I was a big fan of Welcome Back Kotter, as was everybody then it was like the biggest show on television. And it was my first role on TV. I couldn't believe that I got the part. And my part was I was supposed to ask John's character or Merino to the dads but then I ended up going with horshack. So was not the outcome I wanted. But yeah, that was the first time I met John and worked with him. Was that

Jeff Dwoskin 5:42

set fun hanging with the sweat hogs and all that Oh, my

Dinah Manoff 5:46

God, I was just I thought for me, it was like I'd walked into a fairy tale because I had watched every episode of Welcome Back Kotter. And there I was, you know, with the gods. It was so cool. And of course, I was, you know, nervous because it was my first was my first job. I think I was 19 right at 18. It

Jeff Dwoskin 6:05

was funny because I in the era of when I'm watching, like Seinfeld, and all that and like all the comedians are getting their own TV shows, Roseanne, all that kind of stuff. It never occurred to me because I just grew up watching Welcome Back, Kotter. I didn't really know the story, but that was an early early one gave Kaplan getting comedian getting a show based on

Dinah Manoff 6:21

that's true. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. But John's, you know, such a huge breakout star. I mean, I remember even when I went to the studio to shoot that week, that there were, I mean, the girls were just trying to climb a fence to get to him. He was a sensation

Jeff Dwoskin 6:38

that he'd done Saturday. And I know, in

Dinah Manoff 6:41

fact, when we did Grease, John took us to a screening of Saturday Night Live before it had come out. And that's what we all turn to each other and went, Oh, my God, this is gonna be it's gonna be huge. Yeah.

Jeff Dwoskin 6:57

So Grease was a little bit of a union for you. So you've been part of like, a million classic banks. So when it came out, I had so much controversy, but now the legacy of soap is that it's one of the greatest shows ever again.

Dinah Manoff 7:09

You know, I was a fan before I was cast on it. So when I got the part of Elaine Lefkowitz, it was like walking into the pages of, you know, your favorite book. I mean, there was Burton was Mary, and there was the puppet, the ventriloquist. I can't remember the names now. And Billy Crystal, who was like the first out character on television ever, and I got to play with them. And then when I did empty nest, you know, Richard Mulligan played my dad, who was the same family. It was with Thomas Harris and Susan Harris written all of the episodes of soap and then she wrote the first like, three episodes of empty nest.

Jeff Dwoskin 7:47

She did Golden Girls to write I mean, like, yeah, good. Yeah. Susan Eris

Dinah Manoff 7:52

is a genius. And she writes characters with longevity. She designs them to be foils for each other in a way that can just go on for years and years. 70 great respect,

Jeff Dwoskin 8:03

but you're murdered in this one to your shot and killed.

Dinah Manoff 8:06

You know, that's how it goes, you know, easy, easy come easy go. I think I've died a few times, you know, in my career, so Okay.

Jeff Dwoskin 8:14

Was the controversy is crazy. Like when you read a Roman Catholic Church was coming out against that all the cast out when the show first debuted was, was it that bad? Because I know that's what also fueled probably the popularity of the show at the time, when you read in hindsight, some of this stuff, was it like just mayhem when the show came out? Like originally? Oh,

Dinah Manoff 8:33

I don't think so. I think it was, I think it really helped to stir up interest with the show. And I don't remember it ever affecting anything on the set. Remember, this is before the internet. And it's when tabloids were really doing all the dirty work. You know, any publicity that a show was getting was from newspapers, and radio and television. And so there wasn't that kind of viral vitriol. When something's controversial now where it's just takes over your life, there wasn't any of that.

Jeff Dwoskin 9:04

You're right. You just reminded me like I just if a second you said that I was like, You're right. Social media back then was my parents sneaking a National Enquirer from the drugstore, pretending they didn't buy it, but you still read it to get all the rag. Right.

Dinah Manoff 9:19

That kind of segues me very conveniently to my novel that I wrote the real True Hollywood Story of jacket gold, which is about that time it's about a big star and her dealings with the paparazzi and was really based on the stars of that time like to me and and Lindsay Lohan and even you know Britney Spears when she was young and the way you know, they were hounded and harassed. My book is dark comic tale. But you know, a lot of those tails didn't end You know, so comically,

Jeff Dwoskin 9:52

how did you come up with the idea or the book and how long did it take you to write it and get it all to the World I guess

Dinah Manoff 10:00

the original idea for this came through my experience of having the paparazzi show up on my doorstep right after my newborn, my first son was born. And this guy from the Enquirer showed up on my doorstep, questioning my son's paternity. You know, up until then, I had stories written about me in the star of the Enquirer. You know, I was I was around and the stories are harmless. They were silly, you know, that I dyed my hair to match the fur on the dog and the show an empty nest, you know, stuff like that. It's like, yeah, yeah, fine. But this was scary, and invasive. And I chased that guy off my property. And it was not long before that, that Princess Diana had been killed by the paparazzi chasing her into that tunnel. And it just made me want to write about it. In a way. I don't write memoir, I like to write fiction. And so I wanted to invent a situation where there was a big star who had been caused great harm by the paparazzi and, and it evolved into this book, I started in a workshop years and years ago, and then I had children and found the very inconvenient for writing felt that I would have to make a choice, I could either parent them, or I could go on, you know, locking myself away and writing a novel. And so I put it away for many years, and then brought it back out. And lo and behold, you know, a couple of years ago, I found a really nice, independent publisher,

Jeff Dwoskin 11:28

the idea, you know, that's told in the beginning, Jackie ends up in a coma, and then the whole thing takes place that way, and then hearing all the stories and being aware of everything going on, it was just very interesting approach to telling the story. You said you didn't want to do a memoir, but did you not specifically where anyone could go dissect it to say, Oh, this is your life. But did you pull here and there from things and people you knew to kind of craft the story? Of

Dinah Manoff 11:55

course, I mean, you know, Jackie is a compilation of people I knew I grew up in Malibu. I had spent several years as a child in Malibu colony where Jackie starts off, I found that really evocative for writing was really fun to write about that era, because it's so different from the Malibu that people know. Now, certainly Jackie's mother is not my mother. My mother's was a good, consistent parent, and Jackie's mother abandons her and a lot of the book is about that. So yeah, you know, I grew up in showbusiness. And that's how Jack Lew and outside of that, you know, our lives are not that similar. But she's funny. And I hope that I wrote her with humor. And with SASS, I can tell you what Jamie Lee Curtis said about my book, it's right here, Eminem, worth on the front cover. She said, the real True Hollywood Story of Jackie gold is a brilliant rewinding of a life of Hollywood, glitz, grit, gluttony and nose jobs. And I thought that was a perfect description.

Jeff Dwoskin 12:57

That is funny. You have an audiobook version of it also. Yeah. What's the process of it? Is it just a no, because you had people other people in it right, as well. And the audio version? And if the people listening was you rather than go by the book or by the audio book, which is, I'd rather

Dinah Manoff 13:14

they buy both course. But of course, I think the audio book is the most fun way to hear it. Now. You know, I wouldn't have said that before. Because I I'd never done an audio book. And in fact, when I sat down to do it, I found out that I was not capable of reading 100 characters. I don't have that kind of voice modulation. It's a real talent that I did not know I didn't possess. So I asked the distributor if I could bring in other actors. And he said, Yeah, that would be great. And so I voice Jackie gold, and I voiced the narration. And then I have these marvelous actors from my little hometown, where I live, some of whom I've directed and taught some of whom are working actors here. And they came in and did all the other characters, and we had a blast. We did it in a little sound studio where I live. And then we would send the night's recording down to LA and my distributor and editor would, you know, put it together? It took took quite a long time. But I think it came out right on super pleased with it. And it was so much fun for me not just to act again, but to act this girl that lived inside of me for so many years. That's like a radio play. It's exactly like a radio play. Yeah.

Jeff Dwoskin 14:28

You mentioned growing up in the same town as Jackie, when you grew up, though. You were born into Hollywood family, Arnold Madoff and Lee Grant, but this is a time where they were both blacklisted at the time, right? Yeah. I mean, what are your earliest memories that you would then go on to be an actress? And do I mean like, because it you weren't born into the positive part of it, right?

Dinah Manoff 14:53

No, I wasn't. If you've ever seen George Clooney movie are you now or have you ever been that's what to me like Oh, that's just like what my childhood looked like, like smoky rooms with men with yellow legal pads, making notes looking worried, and it was all in black and white. That's that's how I envision childhood. Then life changed. And we moved to California my mother and I, my father passed away, they had already divorced. And it was just my mom and I, and we moved to Malibu, California from that dark New York Life into the sunshine of Malibu colony road, and was very, very different. very disconcerting, actually, my mother kept saying, Oh, don't we're not staying, we're going home. We'll be going home soon. So for two years, we didn't unpack, we were just always, you know, ready to go. Because she had gotten her first job off the blacklist, she was on Peyton Place, and she didn't know how long you know, her Park would run. And then after two years, she said, Okay, it's time to unpack we're staying in that's, that's how we came to know the colony is

Jeff Dwoskin 16:01

your mommy, it's your inspiration to then become an actor and director and

Dinah Manoff 16:07

well, my mom who I want to say to you is 98 years old and alive and kicking, she is extraordinary, and still goes to Pilates once a week. And you know, she's just an amazing human being is very sharp and very funny. Was she my inspiration from coming out? Just no, my mother was a very serious actress, she took acting very seriously. I became an actress because I was virtually not qualified to do anything else. I'm serious. I was, you know, I was a dropout. I was not educated. I had no aspirations. I just had needed to make money. You know, I had been queuing my mother on scripts from the time I was could read, and I knew I could do that thing. And that's how I started an acting career. I started an acting career by the seat of my pants, and I was lucky enough that I had enough talent to get by, until I actually learned the craft and discipline of acting.

Jeff Dwoskin 17:07

Did you ever take classes or you know, like, study under anyone or anything like that? I

Dinah Manoff 17:11

did. I I took some classes with Peggy fury, who was a great acting teacher taught Sean Penn and many other meaningful actors, Jeff Goldblum was in class and tons of well known actors, but I was not a good class person. I never was I was, you know, I was a, I liked ditching school, and I ditched acting class as a young actress. You know, I would like I'd get bored. I wasn't on stage, I was bored. That's the truth. And I have a lot of that in Jackie's character, too. I felt very much like a fraud for many years. And Jackie does too. She stumbles into being an actress like I did. My mother was intimidating to me, because she was such a serious actress, she was so well respected. Not just that she was famous, she was regarded highly, and that to me was like I am, and she was gorgeous. You know, I wasn't pretty, like my mother was pretty. So I had to find my own way through all of that. It was difficult. I

Jeff Dwoskin 18:10

felt like there was a shadow then. And like when you started or even though you chose this direction, did you feel that weight of like, people are going to compare you in LA? Or? Yes,

Dinah Manoff 18:19

I absolutely did. And my mother was very critical with me in those years, which didn't help. She was always looking at me as she would look at a student because she was an acting teacher for many years. And I just wanted a mommy, you know, to say, Oh, good job, going good job, you know, and instead, you know, she was so well, you know, in that scene where, you know, you were talking, I don't know what you were doing? I mean, what was that about? And, you know, I mean, why would you wear your hair like that. So that's not what I was the kind of encouragement I could have used as a young professional wasn't really there. But, you know, years later, when I had had enough recovery and therapy, I retrained her to be a supportive mommy. And now she's great. I mean, she's at for years. She's been very good with me. I said, you know, all I want to hear you say is good job, keep going. But that's all you get to say. She'd say, Yeah, but what if I see I'm like, Ah, you can't say it tells somebody else but you cannot say it to me. All I want is Mommy love mommy encouragement. And that's what she gives me now.

Jeff Dwoskin 19:28

I love that. That's awesome. It is hard. It's hard taking just any kind of direction or criticism, whether it be I guess, quote unquote accurate or not from a parent you just just don't listen it I don't want kids or I talked to my kids all the time. Like so. You guys. Just want to hear someone else tells you the same thing. Great. Okay. Me

Dinah Manoff 19:47

too. I you know at the same thing with my boys, you know, but I do try to strike that balance when it comes to you know, stuff they're trying to do. It's hard for us parents because we can see around the corners and they can't I And we say, watch out the trains coming and they go notice you go, yeah, but it is by Billy, no, the train is gone they go, No, it isn't. And then you have to watch them get smacked by the train, you know. And then and that's our job, I guess is to let them get smacked and pick themselves up so they can learn the lessons for themselves. It's terrible was

Jeff Dwoskin 20:18

your mom did she try and talk you out of being an actress just because I mean, as much as it says she had the world came in a little bit on her right and your dad like with the black blacklisting,

Dinah Manoff 20:29

she definitely not encouraged me to be an actress. She didn't talk me out. She didn't try to talk me out of it. But it certainly wasn't what she was encouraging me to do. And I also think my mom felt very powerless as an actress, she felt so dependent on her looks, and on her youth. And she didn't want that for me. And rightly so, you know, she started she went into directing in her mid 40s, because she saw the end of her career come, she knew what was up for her, especially in those days. And so I think that, you know, she was operating out of a sense of protection with me not wanting me to go into a business where there was so much rejection and where one had so little say about the creative process. It's no accident that she became a director to take charge because she's a creative force. And it's no accident that you know, that I became a writer and director and teacher, because I also felt that powerlessness as an actor, there are certain gigs as an actor where you have a full voice, but most gigs as an actor, you are executing someone else's vision of a project, and often not a very good vision, the stuff you're asked to do sometimes just goes against the grain of what you think is right. I remember being told to shut up and act. And I was not a person who took that well. To find other outlets, where I felt I had a full voice well with

Jeff Dwoskin 21:56

writing of the book that puts you fall in control writer. Yeah,

Dinah Manoff 22:00

that puts you in control. Yeah. But even you know, when I was on empty nest, and in the fourth year, they offered me a job directing. And so I directed Carol, number six or seven episodes of empty nest, and oh my god, it was such a relief to be able to use the other part of my brain, you know, have a point of view. But really, television is the producers and the writers medium. It's not the actor's medium for the most part. Unless you're an actor who's really calling the shots. And I found directing television after empty nest, I was not able to, to live within the constraints of what they they need. It just wasn't

Jeff Dwoskin 22:40

an empty nest after four seasons when he first started directing. Is it a great cool experience? Or can it be slightly awkward experience directing it this point, I guess, your emptiness family?

Dinah Manoff 22:50

Yeah. For me, it was a great experience. I had a crew that really liked me, I felt, you know, for me, I felt like the shackles had been taken off. Me. I couldn't wait to just, you know, have my say about staging and timing and get up in the boots and call the show it was you know, I was meant to do that my makeup is when even when I'm on stage, I'm seeing all the points of view. I can't help it. So my brain works. So it was the first time I felt not frustrated. I will say that there were a couple of actors with much change of roles on the set, but it was okay. And it was okay with me that they were not. Okay, I got a chance to do something that felt really, really right for me, and I thought I did a really good job.

Jeff Dwoskin 23:43

Hey, just between us. No,

Dinah Manoff 23:45

no way. Not gonna happen. Good try, though.

Jeff Dwoskin 23:53

So was there an audition process for emptiness? Or did the connection with Susan Harris and so sort of go is Dinah

Dinah Manoff 24:02

No, I had to audition. Shana Landsberg was casting at that time and, and she sent me the script. And I was amazed. Shoot, as I read it, I was like, this has this has to be on. I mean, I just felt it in my bones. You know, I said, Yes. They wanted me to fly in. I was living in New York at the time, they asked if I'd fly in and read and I said, Absolutely. I mean, I was on a plane immediately. Yeah, I read for Tony and Paul and Susan, and then I read for the network.

Jeff Dwoskin 24:29

Did you get to read with Richard Mulligan or Kristy McNicole? Like I was,

Dinah Manoff 24:34

I must. I must have read with Richard. I really can't remember the details of it. But it must have must have been Richard, when you

Jeff Dwoskin 24:41

were auditioning. And it's like that exact situation where you have a history with Richard it does it? Does it just make it a homerun for you to be able to do that audition does it like you know, I mean, like, you know, it'd be just because there's a certain comfort level of knowing the person you're working with and you already have some kind of rhythm together or at least you know, Are you know each other in some different level than just if someone had just been there randomly?

Dinah Manoff 25:04

Well, I would say with Richard, that's probably accurate. But there could be other actors that I've worked with before that I might not be as thrilled to the real audition. Again, a lot of personalities, you know, we actors have big personalities that don't always get along.

Jeff Dwoskin 25:25

The topic of your next book.

Dinah Manoff 25:29

Yeah, there were quite a few actors. Over the years that I just said, life's too short. Never again, fortunately, most of them have passed away. So even if I gave you their names, she wouldn't care.

Jeff Dwoskin 25:41

Alright, so it must have been the landing empty nests then after the audition process, which must have been great, because now you know, you're working on Susan Harris project. We're going to Richard Mulligan again. And so you know, this is gonna be good, because pretty much it has Susan Harris ever done anything that didn't turn out good. I think I don't

Dinah Manoff 26:00

know. I don't think so. I mean, I knew the minute I read that pilot script, we were a seven year show. I knew it. No question. In my mind. I could see the longevity for the characters. I could see where it would go. I knew the talent that they had hired. I mean, it was no question in my mind that we would hit. Sorry

Jeff Dwoskin 26:18

to interrupt to have to take a quick break. I do want to thank everyone for their support of the sponsors. When you support the sponsors. You are supporting us here at Classic conversations. And that's how we keep the lights on. And now back to my conversation with Dinah manoff

the co-stars at you love. I'm sure Richard Mulligan's one of them. Kristy McNichol, do you have any kind of stories? Like on sad or kind of quirky thing that happened that maybe they could share? Oh, wait, can you confirm something else? I'm afraid to bring this up? I'll get back to that. No, no, you're being hit me. I want to hear as I read this, that Bea Arthur snap to you. As is. Yeah. Because you're chewing gum, and she hates people that you got, apparently. Yeah,

Dinah Manoff 27:01

so I'll tell you the story. The story is, so we used to do these crossover episodes, which was our set and the Golden Girls set the sound stages were right next door to each other. So you know, occasionally they would write us into these crossover episodes, which meant that my character Carol would go to the Golden Girls house, they would open the door, they'd say a line, I'd say a line, they'd say a line, close the door. And I'd go back to my sound stage and I get paid an extra week salary. When when when for every as far as I was concerned. So we had like, you know, we'd have like a couple of hours rehearsal, and then we just shoot it. So I haven't heard this story about Bea Arthur, not letting people chew gum on the center getting angry about it. And so I thought, I wonder what would happen if I cheat? Come on this set. I kind of want to see

Jeff Dwoskin 27:51

you antagonizes

Dinah Manoff 27:54

completely. I mean, it wasn't a by accident, you know? Uh, no, I absolutely did it. I absolutely set it up. I literally said I was chewing gum, and she turned her back on. Are we all are people at Seminole act, okay. Okay. The other part of that story is that when she came over our set, by again put a piece of gum in my mouth because I wanted to see if that would still provoke a reaction if she was on our set. And again, she snapped at me and I said, Ah, you're on my home turf now. Here I can chew gum if I want to know she you know, she was a great sport and you know, B was scary. But she wasn't scary to me because I had grown up with br Thurs I grew up with Lee Grant. No one was scarier than my mother. She was tough. You know, I mean, she was, you know, a strong woman. So bea Arthur was not intimidating to me. Speaking

Jeff Dwoskin 28:50

of your mother again, so she guessed that I wanted the episodes. And while I was on your Instagram, you posted a article that it was a headline of you begging them not to let your mom on the show your caption was

Dinah Manoff 29:04

totally false. Again, tabloids that was a tabloid article and completely false. In fact, I begged them to let me have the episode, I wanted to write the episode. I begged them to have my mother. Unfortunately, it was not a great episode, and we did not have a great time shooting it. It was unfortunate. But But no, I never know what her show.

Jeff Dwoskin 29:26

Is it hard living in the world where like these headlines, you know, like because your mind is same as your famous. So it's like your fodder for all this stuff. Like you mentioned some of the earlier stuff at the beginning where the people just would say stuff about you, you know, questioning, you know, lineage, you know, like, is it it is just bizarre to like, wake up when you write you're like, What the hell is this and it's in print and it

Dinah Manoff 29:50

would have been had there been social media. Listen, the greatest thing that ever didn't happen to me was cell phones. Because I as a young guy Actress, I was very bad girl, I was acting out all over the place. I am really grateful that there is not cellphone footage of my antics, what 20s Because it would have been all over the place, but I was allowed to misbehave and private. And whatever the tabloids did with me, I was not a big enough star that they attached to me in any major way. But Had there been social media, I can't even imagine what that would have been like, I just, I don't know how the young actors or the older actors even get through it. Now, when it's just in your face all the time. It's terrible. It's terrible. seems

Jeff Dwoskin 30:41

to get worse all the time. Now. It's like if there's a topic, they want something, they force you, and if you don't say anything, and not saying anything, and then it's like they turn it into a real

Dinah Manoff 30:52

tournament. Exactly. It's a lose, lose, you know, wherever you go. So no, you know, I consider my experiences, you know, nothing compared to what actors are going through, or just celebrities.

Jeff Dwoskin 31:05

So I mentioned soap and Richard Mulligan, but I neglected to mention that he also had a sitcom pilot with Park overall, one of your other co stars. And you were in family, an episode of family. Make Nichols?

Dinah Manoff 31:19

Yeah, I know. It's quite cool. I know I did in early. Early in my career, I did an episode of family. And I think Chris was 14 at the time. I may have been big. We have four or five years between us I can't remember. So I may have been like 18 or 19. And I was playing her school friend. And I remember I was like, bound my chest so that I looked younger, because I won't go into but I just you know, I felt for Chris. The moment I met her. I mean, she was so fun and talented and such a great girl and we keep in touch. I just think she's an amazing person in town sisters

Jeff Dwoskin 31:56

for life, right. Your team wants you to Absolutely. Once your TV family or TV family, right? Yeah. I saw an interesting thing about ordinary people. The guy literally bought the clothes for your character off of someone that that he bumped into and paid that person to buy different clothes. Does that sound

Dinah Manoff 32:15

right? So I remember it. We were shopping for the character in a mall. And we saw the costumer and I saw what we wanted on somebody and bought it often was a little blue corduroy jumper and it was just right. Yeah, that's what I remember. There

Jeff Dwoskin 32:36

wasn't been surreal for the person who you approached like yeah, we'd love your clothes.

Dinah Manoff 32:41

Interesting to know who they were now you know, be interesting if they kind of come up and say that was me.

Jeff Dwoskin 32:48

So that's Academy Award Best Picture. Yeah, Timmothy Hutton's friend. And that's how there's so many iconic things a grace. Yeah. Talk to me about just auditioning and landing the role of Marty Well,

Dinah Manoff 33:00

if you want a little piece of trivia, though, about ordinary people's it came down to between me and Marie Osmond for the part. People I mean, can't you see it? Me or Marie was one way to go or the other way to go. And

Jeff Dwoskin 33:16

that started your lifelong feud. I read night and

Dinah Manoff 33:20

right sided Marie. So Grease what what do you want to know tell you everything

Jeff Dwoskin 33:27

that's only I really, this is a great. Grease is the best. I love this movie. It's the best it is I who did you maintain relationships with after we still

Dinah Manoff 33:37

a DD con and I and Jamie Donnelly and Barry Pearl and Kelly ward and Michael Tucci and Randall baiser. We were all in Scotland together doing a Comic Con there. We were Liverpool the year before. We've been done the Collingwood show together. Barry Pearl who played duty in the movie, he keeps us together he has ever since the film ended, he has been the one who has kept us in touch with each other. And I'm so grateful to him for it because it's so easy not to do that. Barry was also very close with Olivia, as was Didi and Randall and Barry's in touch with John. I have not seen Stockard in years. I wish I could because I loved her. We actually made another movie together after Grease. But the rest of us minus John we're all in each other's lives. And very, very happily and dearly so

Jeff Dwoskin 34:34

that's cool. That is really cool. I You guys need to come to the Motor City Comicon now

Dinah Manoff 34:40

Yeah, we could

Jeff Dwoskin 34:42

did a Superman legacy. The original super, super inside like a Grease thing would be so awesome. Yeah.

Dinah Manoff 34:49

Well, you know, we may be on the list. Who knows? You know, we're asked to do stuff pretty often. I'm a little I like where I can sell my book or get a free trip. I mean that for me, I mean, a free trip to Scotland was like a big selling point. Like, yes, my husband and I are going to Scotland. But the bonus is to be able to hang out with everybody. That

Jeff Dwoskin 35:11

must be amazing. Just like when you're at the ComicCon because you you would fall under the category of probably someone who, if I got to the table, my head would kind of start spinning because you got to pick you can see the back and my backdrop I got a lot of eight by 10. So like you have to pay. I mean, I don't I don't think it'd be a question of me I would go Grease on are beset by this guy and the fan base is spread out right? So people connect with you in different ways. I just Grease happens to be me. Somebody might have connected with you know, Chucky area or Childsplay or soap or anything he's wet. Is it a good mix? Or is it you know, when you're when people come to your table?

Dinah Manoff 35:49

If we're being sold as Grease, you know what I'm saying? So that's the big draw. The Grease fans, they come they dress up in characters, and that's what they're there for. But every 10 or so people someone will show up with a Chucky doll. You know, we're be an empty nest fan. I did golden con for two years. And those were a whole different group of fans. So you know, The Golden Girls and empty nest and stuff and Christie did that. And David leisure so just depends. Oh,

Jeff Dwoskin 36:18

was your mom originally given the opportunity to be one of the Golden Girls? Yes.

Dinah Manoff 36:23

They sent her the script. Yeah. Which one? Whatever one she wanted. They just sent it sent her the script and asked her if she wanted to do it. And she was you know, she didn't want the pressure of

Jeff Dwoskin 36:33

acting. What's your favorite scene in Grease?

Dinah Manoff 36:36

Well, my favorite scene to act in in Grease was the Slumber Party because it was so much fun pretending to get drunk and torture Olivia and singing Sandra D. We were also loose. And by that time we we knew each other really well. And we were so silly. At It was great fun. It was just a silly, silly, great time. My favorite scene to watch. I love the very first moment when John turns toward the camera as Zuko. I mean, it still takes my breath away. I still go. Oh my god, it's so beautiful. You know, and I love watching the boys to Grease lightning as summer nights to you know, really fun. Yeah, all of it. You know, it's great. You just I can't say I never tire of it. Because you know, I've seen it a gazillion times. But I'm always surprised by

Jeff Dwoskin 37:28

it's just still endearing. I mean, I just watched it literally last night. I watched it again. And that's one of my favorite things about doing these interviews is like, oh, it's an excuse just to rewatch some real classic stuff. Yeah, that's so cool. The opening is amazing. I know. It's not from the play, but I mean, the Grease

Dinah Manoff 37:46

song. Yeah, yeah. Love is a many splendored thing. Opening. Great.

Jeff Dwoskin 37:51

It's just so so good. And then do you still have a pink lady jacket?

Dinah Manoff 37:56

No, I was not a girl who saved stuff back then. But Didi Khan saved everything because she was a girl safe stuff. And I'm very jealous that she saved everything and I didn't have nothing like

Jeff Dwoskin 38:13

and Didi got to be in the Grease

Dinah Manoff 38:15

do I know but I have a new Grease jacket, a pink lady jacket, because when they did the rise of pink ladies, that series they did last year, they sent me a pink lady, a complimentary pink lady's jacket. So now I have a very nice one that I can

Jeff Dwoskin 38:29

wear. Amazing. You wear it to the Comic Cons. I didn't hurt to go on the gun. Is it cool to also be one of the biggest soundtracks of all time? Yeah,

Dinah Manoff 38:38

but you know, we're not paid for that. That was our next question. So that was a big fight. Yeah, I mean, yes. And you know, yes. And frustrating. Okay, but yeah, you know, I mean, listen, who can do a Grease would be Grease, that we were all paints, you know, the T birds in the pink ladies. I mean, probably with the exception of Stockard and, and maybe Jeff Conaway, we were paid scale scale plus 10 That was the going rate then, you know, over the years when that would when they've used a clip of it. You know, there was a Katy Perry video that still you know, pays out a little money and stuff and Barry keeps really good track of where we're at our grease stuff has shown some money has come in but But had we known bar agents probably would have negotiated some serious some serious deals. But no, that wasn't what it was about. We were all just felt so lucky.

Jeff Dwoskin 39:28

Yeah. You never know. You never know what's his gonna know that had the heat of John Travolta at the time breaking out from there. Oh, Come Back, Kotter. I'd had the amazing play as a source material and all the great songs so the killer soundtrack probably helped a lot was back then I feel like I feel like today, movies come out and they're gone. And they're on digital in like 45 days. I feel like back then. Movies could be were out for like two years, or whatever. Long time right and yeah, so the whole thing was different. So yeah, completely. I always laugh when I watch Greased Lightning. And I think I mean, I was oblivious when I was a kid. But I'm like, How is an adult? Do I watch this and realize that every talent show us this off? Greased Lightning? It's filthy, right? I mean,

Dinah Manoff 40:18

it's absolutely filthy. I could never get away with it today at you know, a teen movie without a very serious rating. And it's it's sexist. It's bizarre. I mean, it's everything. And it's so good. You know, because it was, it was in the 50s, you know, was set in the 50s. So you should be able to get away with that

Jeff Dwoskin 40:36

question and getting away with it in the movie and the movie in the context of the movie. Great. I'm talking about middle school talent.

Dinah Manoff 40:43

Oh, why? No, no, no, it was really funny. They asked me to do in the town where I live, they asked me if I would come host agree, sing along. And I said, Sure. So you know, I went to the auditorium. And there were all these young young girls, eight 910. And they're all singing the lyrics to those songs. And the parents, it is dawning on them as their children are singing. Singing and I'm watching their faces go, oh, this was a really bad idea.

Jeff Dwoskin 41:18

Let me find it. Yeah, it's, you know, you'd never think about that when you're a kid, you hear these things. And that's why I like all the double entendres and stuff like that. Yeah. It's great for the adults watching the kids miss it, and then it's all great. And then So what made you decide to leave acting? Oh,

Dinah Manoff 41:34

well, you know, in my 40s, the roles for women were getting smaller and fewer, you know, you know, the writing on the wall in this business. You know, I mean, my mother knew it, she started directing in her 40s, you just stopped being viable, and the roles shrink. So at that point, I had three little boys. And I was not really crazy about the idea of raising them in Los Angeles, nor was my husband. And so we started looking at other realities, I didn't feel like I needed to act anymore. I mean, I just, I didn't need to express myself that way anymore. And I certainly didn't want to be auditioning, and I'd had enough rejection. I had some good acceptance, too. But But what was on the in the future, for me, it was going to be a lot more rejection and acceptance, and not for roles that I really cared about. And not for big money. There were so many actresses all then now vying for the same parts that I I just didn't need it that back. So we started looking around at other places to be and and we found ourselves up in the Northwest near Seattle. And that was 19 years ago. We're very, very happy here. And our kids were raised here, you know, and it's an I live in a great creative, productive community progressive community.

Jeff Dwoskin 42:56

That's awesome. Well, here's my follow up question while doing the audiobook for the real True Hollywood Story of Jackie Galt to a tighter back. And you mentioned earlier that you kind of, you know, as you were acting out the audiobook, you kind of got a little bit of the bug. Do you ever think about now maybe exploring acting again? Yeah, someone

Dinah Manoff 43:17

would have to tell you the only show I would do. I mean, seriously. And I've said this for years, if they came to me with a Golden Girls remake, and I didn't have to audition for it, I would do that. That's what I would do. I could not worry about how I looked. I could get old, I could be funny, I could all the stuff that makes me nervous about acting wouldn't be there because I wouldn't be worrying about my looks. And I know how to act those parts. So you know what it would be a sitcom. So it'd be an audience and I would be being paid a ton of money. So all of that would work for me. Short of that. There's nothing really perfectly honest with you. I really like my life appear you know, I ride horses, I garden, I make soup, I fold laundry, and I write, you know, sometimes teach and sometimes direct and yeah, it's a good life for me, in addition

Jeff Dwoskin 44:12

to the Golden Girls reboots, which I think would be an amazing idea. What about turning your book into Mini Series or Series? Because I imagine you wrote this from the point of view of everything that you want, are good at and enjoy doing, and love, right in terms of being able to direct that it's a movie, right? I mean, you you could turn that into, I

Dinah Manoff 44:35

would love that. I don't have the hustle in me to make that happen. I don't have the I'm not in that world anymore. You know, I'm really out of show business. So I guess it would have to be stumbled upon and you know, and discovered in that way, and maybe it will be I just keep showing up with it. I think it would make a great film. The mini series I think would be a brilliant miniseries many people have said that to me, I know how hard it is to get anything made. And I'm not going back to that. Going back pounding on doors this like an app and so it may just always be a book or an audible book,

Jeff Dwoskin 45:12

which is still awesome which everyone should go by Amazon audible from anywhere bucks. Yeah. Real True Hollywood Story of Jackie Gold.

Dinah Manoff 45:23

Yeah. Are you go to your local bookstore and ask them to order it for you. That's another good way of getting it. Oh,

Jeff Dwoskin 45:28

that's a really good way support your local bookstores. Yeah, everyone go binge watch and NASSCO watch Grease catch ordinary people there's this so much go at shot Child's Play but only like the first 20 minutes. Once one's dying or dies it's it's really not worth it. It's just pretty

Dinah Manoff 45:46

much downhill from there. From there. And

Jeff Dwoskin 45:51

Grease get a single ongoing This was so much fun. Thank you for hanging out with me.

Dinah Manoff 45:56

Thank you Jeff was really fun being with you. All right,

Speaker 2 46:00

summer loving had man. How amazing was Dinah man

Jeff Dwoskin 46:05

off. I know so many great stories. So fun. So fun. She was in so many classic things. So great. Definitely check out her book. The real True Hollywood Story of Jackie Gold is the link in the show notes. Super fun read. Well, with the interview over killing me one thing I know another episode has come to an end. I can't believe it either. Where does the time go? One more huge thank you to my guest, Dinah Mann off. And of course, another huge thank you to all of you for coming back week after week. It means the world to me, and I'll see you next time.

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Transcribed by https://otter.ai