-I'm so happy to have you here.
We were talking backstage about how you've been
a New Yorker your whole life.
But not only are you near, you're very comfortable here,
because your father used to work in Studio 8H.
-Yes, he did.
My dad was a bass violinist with
Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony.
So we used to watch the rehearsals.
Oh, thank you. -Yes. Very wonderful.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-And it gave me a lot of connections,
because he was a staff -- He also was in
the original band of "The Tonight Show,"
the Steve Allen "Tonight Show."
-That's incredible. -Skitch Henderson conducting.
So, I got on to "The Howdy Doody Show."
-Wow!
Now this -- For those -- You were not in this photo,
but this is what you were doing on the "Howdy --"
You were one of the children.
-"Howdy Doody" had a peanut gallery.
You know, we didn't have a lot of choices
in those days of shows.
And I remember the theme song.
-You do? -Yeah. Ready?
-Yes.
-♪ It's Howdy Doody time ♪
♪ It's Howdy Doody time ♪
♪ Bob Smith and Howdy Do ♪
♪ Say howdy do to you ♪
♪ Let's give a rousing cheer ♪
♪ 'Cause Howdy Doody's here ♪
♪ It's time to start the show ♪
♪ So, kids, let's go ♪
[ Cheers and applause ] -Oh, that's wonderful.
I mean, I want to say
I'm impressed you remembered the lyrics,
but like half of it is just his name.
It was a lot of Howdy Doody in that.
-And, you know, Clarabell the Clown...
-Yes?
-...who actually -- They would run a little contest.
I got picked, naturally, 'cause I had connections.
-Yeah, of course.
-And Clarabell became Captain Kangaroo.
-Oh, wow. -Bob Keeshan. Yeah.
And then there was Princess Summerfall Winterspring.
-Uh-huh.
-And there was a big scandal about her.
I have to go Google it now that my memory isn't that good.
-Right.
-But, yeah, it was --
-I can't believe you're just going to leave us with that.
-I know.
-I think everyone should go Google that.
-Princess Summerfall Winterspring.
-Oh, yeah. She killed someone with her car.
That was it. I'm just kidding. I don't know.
You -- People don't know this about you.
You know, I think there's a generation that knows you
fully as this wonderful comedic actress,
but you began doing dramatic roles.
You were in a Clint Eastwood thriller called
"Play Misty for Me" and other films.
Did it take a long time for people to see you
as somebody who could do comedy, as well?
-You know, I couldn't get a sitcom until I was 40 years old.
-Wow. -This is true.
Ellen Travolta played the mom on "Joanie Loves Chachi."
-Mm-hmm.
-And there was a story line --
We had done a show in summer stock, she and I.
There was a story line about --
She was, you know, the mom that stayed home with the kids,
and she had this friend from high school
who was the career-driven businesswoman, snotty, nasty,
so, naturally, she thought of me.
And she suggested me for the part, and I got the part.
And Garry Marshall produced it.
And from then, I got "Flamingo Kid,"
and a whole world opened up in that area.
You did a -- Didn't you do a movie with Garry?
-I did do a movie with Garry Marshall.
He was one of the greatest guys of all time.
Just the sweetest, sweetest man.
-This is Garry Marshall directing.
-Okay.
-"You know, you'll stand there.
You'll think of something. You'll be funny."
And he walks away. -Yeah.
-Am I right? -Yeah, yeah.
You -- I want to ask, because, obviously,
you do a lot of drinking on the show.
-On the show. -Yeah, on the show.
What are you actually drinking on "Arrested Development"?
-Well, you know, if we really drank the drinks,
we wouldn't be able to walk.
But, you know, for Martinis, it's water.
-Yeah. -With an Olive.
And for white wine, it's apple juice.
Red wine is grape juice. It's, you know, boring, boring.
But, in real life, I do enjoy, occasionally, a Martini,
and I know how to make a great one.
-Oh, wow. Well, there you go.
Next time you're here, you'll have to show me.
But there's something else I want to ask you to show me.
The Lucille wink. Is this a teachable skill?
-Oh, my God.
-Can you teach me how to do it or is it --
-All right.
For those -- I don't know if everybody knows
the Lucille wink, but it's this.
And the thing is -- one eye has to completely close.
-Yeah. Okay. -This is not easy.
-Gotcha. Okay.
-It's like, you know, people that are double-jointed.
Either you can do it or you can't.
But you could try. -Okay.
-So, let's see if you can do it.
No.
-No? -No.
-No. -No. Okay.
You didn't seem on the fence about that at all.
That was a really hard "no."
-Yeah, it's...
-No, I don't think I can do it, yeah.
-You know, it's funny, because I did it once on the set,
and -- I don't know -- they liked it.
-Yeah.
-So, you know, they said,
"You know, let's do it whenever we can."
-That's a wonder-- I mean, it's one of the wonderful things
about that show is it seemed like it always found
things that people were good at that not only you guys liked,
but the audience liked, and then it made sure
to constantly reward us with it.
-The writing on that show -- Well, as you, a great writer --
-It's the best, yeah. -That writing -- so specific.
The characters were so --
-And plots and everything tying together.
And you have a -- Your role on "Archer" was also --
Malory was also based on Lucille a little bit, you were told.
-Well, you know, the thing about that was that I got copy.
You know, an agent sends you copy for an audition.
And one agent -- I have two agents.
One is -- They're all different now,
but, back then, one was a commercial agent,
and one was a theatrical.
And the first copy I got was --
It said, you know, just "here's the part."
The second copy said, "Malory -- think Jessica Walter
from 'Arrested Development.'"
So I called the agent and I said,
"Well, you know, why don't you send me the script.
I like it, you know?"
And that's how it came about.
But why would one agent take my name out of it?
-Yeah.
-Ooh! -Ooh!
Well, I'm just glad you didn't have that awkward moment
where you auditioned, and they were like,
"No, not that Jessica Walter."
It worked out. -I've had those. I've had those.
-Yes, we all have had those. -Yeah, voice-overs.
-Hey, thank you so much for being here.
It's such a pleasure to meet you.