Kimmy Robertson: The Flashback Interview, Take 2
I first interviewed Kimmy Robertson in 2016, and ever since then, we’ve regularly exchanged texts and had conversations with each other. Kimmy has become a very good friend of mine, and an ally to turn to when I’m experiencing dark times. For all we covered in our initial interview, there was a lot that we didn’t have the chance to discuss, and one topic that couldn’t be talked about due to secrecy at the time. I knew that Take 2 had to happen, so we talked on Monday, March 18th about a whole new array of topics.
Welcome back Kimmy Robertson to the Flashback Interview!
Johnny: So how are you?
Kimmy: I’m good. How are you, Johnny?
Johnny: I’m doing good. I have my questions ready to go. Unlike the previous interview, where I went chronologically, this is just sort of gonna jump all over…
Kimmy: Okay, good.
Johnny: …Starting with this: According to IMDB, you played the character of Mickey in a 1984 TV movie called Family Secrets, working alongside Melissa Gilbert, Stefanie Powers, and Oscar winner Maureen Stapleton, among others. What do you recall the most about that shoot?
Kimmy: The wig is the first thing that pops into my head because I wore a really curly wig. I had one scene…One part of a scene, anyway. It was a two-part scene, and it was with Melissa Gilbert when she had a crush on James Spader’s character. Basically all I did was say, “Oh, there he is”. We were in a club or something, a disco or a bar, and, of course, it took all day to shoot a scene like that. There were a lot of extras and a lot of camera angles. Stefanie Powers, I believe, was producing it, or she was the executive producer. This will sound horrible, Johnny, but it was the second thing I did after The Last American Virgin, so I didn’t really know that I needed to know who people were. I knew Stefanie Powers from when I was a dancer in ballet class, so she was super nice. We talked about ballet, and she was extremely encouraging to me. She said, “It’s a long road, but just stick with it”. James Spader and Melissa Gilbert and I hung out at lunch in his dressing room, and when I say dressing room, it’s actually just a tiny trailer. We were talking about Rob Lowe. I think she liked Rob Lowe at the time, and she was all giggly and in love, and told me to stay away from Rob in case I ever met him. I was like, (laughing) “Okay, I’ll be sure to stay away from Rob Lowe”, like he’d ever want to date me. Anyway, that’s about all I remember,.
Johnny: Alright.
Kimmy: Wasn’t it called Gladiola Girls?
Johnny: According to the IMDB, it was called Family Secrets. It might have been called Gladiola Girls when you were filming it, and then they changed the title today.
Kimmy: That’s how much I keep up on things.
Johnny: Don’t worry about it. I’ll move along to this: In 1989, you appeared on Married…With Children as Molly in the episode He Ain’t Much, But He’s Mine. Was it as much fun to film an episode of the show as it was to watch it?
Kimmy: It was a lot of fun, especially the table read. In sitcoms, you sit around a big table and the whole cast reads their parts in the morning with coffee. Ed O’Neill was hysterical, just hysterical. Everything he said was funny, and he was really smart. I liked the table read. Again, I wore a wig in that, (laughing) a big wig. The writer, a woman, played Lawrence Monoson’s mother in The Last American Virgin, so we got caught up and talked. She was really nice. I think she was a writer on that for the whole run of the series. Lucky woman.
Johnny: Moving on, in our first interview, you mentioned how you liked the Hanna-Barbera cartoon Secret Squirrel. When you were signed for the role of Penny in the Super Secret Secret Squirrel cartoons in the mid-90s Hanna-Barbera cartoon 2 Stupid Dogs, how did you react?
Kimmy: I screamed and jumped in the air. That was my normal reaction whenever I got a job I was really excited about. That was one of my absolute all-time favorite cartoons, and to be able to work on that was just crazy great for me. I loved being Penny, and Jess Harnell did the voice of Secret Squirrel and a bunch of other things. He and I are in a radio show called Adventures In Odyssey, and I play Penny, his wife, so I think it’s interesting that I played a Penny again while he’s playing Wooton, her husband.
Johnny: You know, it’s interesting that you bring up Adventures In Odyssey. I didn’t ask about that in our initial interview, so how did you come across the role of Penny on that show, and what’s been your favorite part of working on it?
Kimmy: Well, I love doing voice-over where you’re all in the same room, and you have music stands and your scripts, and you’re in a studio with the whole cast. The part came about by writer Paul McCusker, who was a big Twin Peaks fan, and he wanted to write a character similar to Lucy, the part I played in Twin Peaks. He wrote the part, and someone from my voice-over agent’s office called me and said, “There’s a voice-over audition for you, but I think you should take a pass because the company is Focus On The Family, and they have a very bad stand on gay marriage”. I have to tell you the day before, I said to my dog, “I think it’s time that I do a cartoon show”. I wanted to get a cartoon show or something for kids. That’s exactly what I said, so let’s sit down and watch some cartoons, and see what’s going on in the world of animation today. I watched Cartoon Network for about two hours, and then I shut the TV off and said, “Oh, dear god, this is awful! These cartoons are not teaching kids anything good, not how to make decisions or be a good person or anything”. It was just a lot of violence, a lot of stuff that I didn’t think was really good for kids. I don’t have kids, so it’s really not any of my business, but anyway, I said, “Alright, Zeek. I want a cartoon show that helps kids make decisions correctly, that helps them be good people, and that’s the kind of show that I want”. The next day, this person from my agency who, by the way, doesn’t work there anymore, called and said, “I think you should take a pass on this”. I said, “Okay. Well, can I just read it? Can you send it to me?”, because I don’t pass on stuff unless I’ve read it. She sent it to me and I loved it. I loved the part, and it was exactly what I was asking for. There was a moral dilemma that my character had, and it just seemed exactly right on target for what I asked for, so I called her back and said, “No, I want to audition for it”. I also looked up Focus On The Family, and on their website, I saw nothing about gay marriage, no references to anything having to do with sexual orientation or personal identity, nothing like that. I did the audition online. It wasn’t Skype, but I auditioned over the phone. I got the part and I went to my first day of work, and it was beautiful. I loved it. I loved the way they had her being sort of a spiritual person. On the second day of work, the star of the show, her character is named Connie and her real life name is Katie Leigh…
Johnny: Another former interview subject of mine.
Kimmy: …Oh, wonderful. Katie said to Paul, “Paul, I can tell by the way this story line is going that Kimmy’s character is going to be the bad person, and I don’t want that. I want her to stay on the show, and I want us to end up being roommates because Connie hasn’t had a roommate yet. She’s just going into college and she needs a best friend”. Paul changed the story, and he said while we were doing the show, by the end of the second day, he had already made the decision to change my story arc and make me a good person. That was 7 or 8 years ago, and I’m doing another one in May. It was happily ever after and, by the way, after my second day of work, I went to dinner with a friend of mine, Susan Eisenstadt. I was telling her how the girl who worked in my agent’s office had actually taken a pass for me because Paul, the writer and director, said, “I’m glad you decided not to pass after all”. I said, “Well, I didn’t pass”. He said, “Your agent passed on it, saying you didn’t want to do it”. I said, “That didn’t happen. That decision was made not including me as part of the decision-making process”, so that was that.
Johnny: I’m glad that it’s gone so well for you.
Kimmy: I love it. I love my character and her storylines.
Johnny: To jump back to Hanna-Barbera, a few years before your work on 2 Stupid Dogs, you did voice work on Gravedale High, playing the character of Duzer. What was your favorite part of playing that character?
Kimmy: Well, here’s another story about making a wish. I used to drive by Hanna-Barbera and say out loud, “Someday I’m going to work there”. For 10 years, I tried to get into voice-over. I never even got one audition, and I finally realized after about 10 years that you had to be on a TV show. If you were someone like me who doesn’t have a billion different kinds of voices, like Jim Cummings or Jess Harnell, then you really need to be on a live-action show, so I said out loud, “I need to be on a live-action show so Hanna-Barbera can ask me to come to an audition”. I got Twin Peaks, and the night the Twin Peaks pilot aired was a Sunday night. Monday morning, the phone rang three times. The first was a publicist who wanted to handle me. The second was Late Night With David Letterman, calling to ask if I could be on the show. The third was Hanna-Barbera, who called and asked if I could go on an audition the next day. I did go on an audition the next day, and it was right around this time of year before Easter, so jellybeans were out. I had jellybeans in my pocket because I love them. I auditioned doing about 23 takes, doing the lines over and over. They were like, “No, it’s just not right, Kimmy”. They said, “Thank you. We really tried, but it’s not what we’re looking for”. Since it was all over, I put some jellybeans in my mouth. I was chewing them, and I said, “Well, thank you anyway. It was really an honor to be asked to come and audition”, and they went, “Wait, wait, what did you just do? What did you do different? That’s the voice we’re looking for! That’s it!”. I said, “I put some jellybeans in my mouth”, and they said, “Put more in your mouth and do the lines again”. I did and they said, “That’s it! That’s Duzer! That’s Medusa!”, so I got the part because of jellybeans!
Johnny: That’s a great story. So I guess sometimes talking with your mouth full can be helpful.
Kimmy: Yep, rude but helpful (laughing).
Johnny: Jumping back into live-action, you played Cathy in the 1991 cult classic Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead. What stood out the most to you about that character?
Kimmy: Well, I went to these auditions when Twin Peaks was on hiatus. I knew we were picked up for a second season, and I knew that what you’re supposed to do is get a movie in-between when you’re on hiatus. I was looking for a movie, and that’s the only one that asked me to come audition, so I auditioned a few times. I got the part, and I wasn’t very excited about it because I wanted to do something less character-y, more dramatic. I envisioned myself differently than other people saw me (laughing), so I said to myself, “Okay. Well, this is how they want me to be? I’ll be that way. I’ll do the movie and I’ll be happy about it”. That’s what stood out the most for me. I thought I knew what I wanted, but they knew better. I really liked the part of Cathy because she was helpful and enthusiastic. I have to say, Johnny, I get comments from young women all the time, whose parents wanted them to be stars or famous athletes, and said that movie helped them to understand that you could work in an office, and enjoy it, and not be ashamed of it. There’s apparently a lot of girls for whom that’s their goal in life, what they really want to do. That’s what excites them, to work in corporate, and this movie gave them, as little girls, encouragement to go ahead and do that. That was kind of neat, so I did get to do something serious after all. I mean, it had a seriously positive effect.
Johnny: That’s wonderful to hear. Speaking of that film, Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead was the final movie produced by the late Julia Phillips, and released shortly after her autobiography You’ll Never Eat Lunch In This Town Again. Did you ever cross paths with Julia on set, and if so, did she treat you kindly, or with the venom she gave her New Hollywood contemporaries in her autobiography?
Kimmy: She was a love bug. She was very nice to me and very kind. I met her, I believe, on the second and third callbacks, and she would always just sit there and be smiling at me. I have nothing bad to say about her.
Johnny: Alright. To move back to animation, a major credit for you that we didn’t discuss in our original interview was your role as Samantha Stanky in the Simpsons episode Bart’s Friend Falls In Love. I read that you didn’t work directly with the Simpsons cast members, but did you meet any of them afterwards?
Kimmy: Oh, I did. I worked with all of them. We were there together at 20th Century Fox, where they record The Simpsons. I was there with Dan Castellaneta and Julie Kavner. It was later that she moved to Maine or Connecticut and worked from there. Everybody was there, including Marcia Wallace, Nancy Cartwright, who, of course, was Bart, and Pamela Hayden, who played Milhouse, so we all went to lunch everyday at the commissary. I knew Dan from before that, so we had a friendship. It was lovely. They called it stunt casting when they cast me. This was right in the beginning when they were in their second season, and they started the idea of having guest stars that were famous. I guess I was famous enough for them to consider me.
Johnny: I’ve seen that episode and like your voice work in it, especially when you were reading the dialogue about the kind of comic books you liked. I laughed at your delivery of titles like Punkin and Dunkin The Twinkle Twins and Lil’ Kneesocks. I loved your delivery of those lines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV-tJeMfWlU
Kimmy: Well, when The Simpsons was a little cartoon on The Tracey Ullman Show, they had me in a few times. I never got the job, but they remembered me, and I think that’s why they thought of me. I was finally famous enough for them to cast, ha ha.
Johnny: Alright. As The Simpsons will sometimes revisit guest characters years, or even decades, down the line from their original appearances, sometimes for a gag and sometimes for a plot line, has there been any talk about bringing you back to play Samantha again in an episode?
Kimmy: No, but wouldn’t that be fun?
Johnny: I imagine they’re probably going to be very busy at Fox, considering that the Disney deal is closing in a matter of days, which leads me back to Disney, and to my next question: A Disney credit that we only discussed briefly the first time out, but I’d like to expand on here, was Gwen Mezzrow, your recurring character on Pepper Ann. What was your favorite part of playing that character?
Kimmy: Well, that was another one that was in the studio with the whole cast, and I really enjoyed working with Pam Segall, who now has a different last name. I did a movie called Bad Manners with her, my second movie. Gosh, there were so many great people in Pepper Ann. That’s what I really loved. I loved working with those amazing people.
Johnny: That actually does lead to my next question. In several episodes of Pepper Ann, you did voice work alongside Luke Perry, who played the character of Stewart Walldinger. What’s your favorite memory of working with the late Mr. Perry, and it still feels strange saying that?
Kimmy: He was absolutely lovely, sweet, kind. He didn’t goof around except when it was time to goof around. He always knew what he was doing. One of the things about some voice-over work is they bring in people who aren’t voice-over people, like Luke, but he got right in there and was so professional. It did stick in my mind how nice and professional he was. That was really great.
Johnny: I read nothing but good things about him after his passing. He was really one of the good guys in Hollywood, and it’s just a shame, just so sad that he was taken out so early.
Kimmy: Yes, it really was.
Johnny: Well, on a lighter note, the last time we spoke, you weren’t allowed to talk about Twin Peaks: The Return, but now that it’s in the history books, what was it like to return to the character of Lucy?
Kimmy: Well, it was an indescribable feeling, I’ve got to say. Before the show was cancelled, we went to an ABC affiliate party, where they’d bring people from ABC stations all around the country. They closed the Avenue Of The Stars in Century City and they reproduced the town of Twin Peaks, so the whole street was mountains and the town, including the sheriff’s station. It was an incredible thing to see. They had the Twin Peaks theme playing. There was fog rolling around. It seemed like a really big deal. Bob Iger, the president of ABC at the time, came up to me. He picked me up and swung me around and said, “Kimmy, we love this show. We love you guys. This show is going to run forever”. The next week, we were cancelled. There was a feeling of not getting to finish because, in the second season, David Lynch was off doing Wild At Heart, which he needed to do. I’m not saying that he shouldn’t have done it. I’m saying that our main steering wheel wasn’t there, and it felt kind of subject to other people’s interpretations of David Lynch’s art. It left the whole thing unfinished, and left us with a sort of desire to wrap it up and do it the way David Lynch would do it. When this happened, it was a huge dream come true. I mean, it was a miracle that we got to have another season, that we got to have Lynch’s vision. We had David Lynch directing it, so that’s how it felt, like we got a second chance and we got to finish it the way it needed to be finished.
Johnny: Very cool.
Kimmy: Yeah.
Johnny: One of the cool things about it was, as TV Tropes would put it, Lucy Moran took a level in badass from the original series, helping to destroy a major villain in the plot of The Return. What was it like to film that climactic scene?
Kimmy: Well, I wasn’t told about it. I was on the set and still wasn’t told about it. I didn’t get my script ever until just before we shot. I was on the set, ready to start. Everything was lit and ready to go. David Lynch said, “Lucy, do you have your lines?”. “What lines?”. “Somebody get Lucy a script”. That’s the way it always works with me. I come on the set and everything’s lit. I see David Lynch carrying a gun around and I thought, “That’s interesting”. He turned and saw me and said, “Oh, Lucy. Okay”. He walked towards me and said, “Have you ever held a gun before?”. I said yes. He said, “Have you ever shot one before?”. I said no. He said, “Let me see how you would shoot a gun pointed over that way”. He said, “It has blanks in it. Go ahead and do it”, so I did it and he said, “No, that’s all wrong”. (Johnny and Kimmy laugh) He said, “Okay, let me see how you REALLY would shoot a gun if you knew what you were doing and you were shooting somebody who needed to be killed, a very bad person”. I did it again, and he said, “Alright. We have to take the blanks out. It’s too loud. We’ll put that in after. Let’s shoot this”. He said, “Just point the gun over there and shoot it where you see Kyle sitting there”. I was like, “WHAT?” (laughing), so that’s how that went.
Johnny: Interesting. I like what they did with Lucy in The Return. I was just disappointed that, with all of the acclaim The Return got, it wasn’t that successful at the Emmys, only getting a couple of nominations.
Kimmy: Right. Well, TV is a different animal. I don’t know what their rules are, but I thought The Return was spectacular.
Johnny: It certainly was. We now jump into something different that I saw online. According to an interview you did with the British website Pure Movies, you played with the USC Marching Band when they helped Fleetwood Mac with the song “Tusk”. What instrument did you play, and can you be seen in the video for it?
Kimmy: I played the flute because I played it in band from 7th grade through 12th grade. My sister was in the USC marching band, and they needed more people to fill up the football field. I don’t know. If you zoom in, you can definitely see me because I’m there and I’m with the flute. I don’t remember anymore what I was wearing, but I’m there playing “Tusk”. It was really fun, and an iconic video, for sure.
Johnny: Do you still play the flute?
Kimmy: I do, but my flute is broken right now. I need to get it repaired. The spring is broken.
Johnny: Ooh, I’m sorry to hear that.
Kimmy: Yeah, (laughing) I know. I was talking with somebody and I found a different place to get it repaired, so I just need to get in the car and take it there.
Johnny: I’d like to see you maybe do a Facebook live video or YouTube video of you playing the flute.
Kimmy: Oh, okay. I’ll do that one day.
Johnny: That way we, your friends and fans, can see another aspect of your talent. I find that very interesting. I was never able to play any instruments, really, but I’m glad that you were able to, and on such a big thing as well.
Kimmy: I love music. I love playing music. I also got a guitar as a Christmas gift from my neighbor Josh Klinghoffer, who plays guitar for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I had been telling him that I was looking for this particular Fender, and he brought it to me on Christmas Day, so one day I’ll make a video of me playing that, too.
Johnny: Electric or acoustic?
Kimmy: It’s an electric guitar.
Johnny: Oh, awesome. Rock on!
Kimmy: It’s beautiful. I was absolutely floored. I was stunned that he gave me that. It was really something.
Johnny: That’s a fantastic gift. To go to a different side of things, you’ve attended a decent amount of conventions over the years, so what’s been the most rewarding part of attending conventions like The Hollywood Show or Chiller Theatre?
Kimmy: Well, the fans. Talking to the fans. That’s the reason that anybody does those, I think, to connect with the people who like what you’re doing and tell you all of their thoughts, AND I’ve got some smart fans, some creative fans.
Johnny: Alright. What’s been the most wonderful piece of memorabilia you’ve ever signed at a convention?
Kimmy: An arm.
Johnny: For a tattoo?
Kimmy: Yes. I was in Indianapolis, and a girl wanted Harry Goaz’s and my signature on her shoulder where she already had a picture of us together, and I thought that was kind of an amazing thing. I didn’t want to do it because I thought she might not want my name on her shoulder when she was 40, but she said she did, and so I signed her shoulder.
Johnny: Very cool. I’ve often thought of getting a tattoo myself, but then I think about the tattoos my brother has gotten and how much work it’s been. I don’t know if I could really put that much into it. My brother has several tattoos. Most notably, he has a tattoo of Teddy Roosevelt on his chest.
Kimmy: Oh, wow. That’s spectacular.
Johnny: Yeah.
Kimmy: Why Teddy Roosevelt?
Johnny: Because my brother admired his environmental side and his facial hair, since my brother is well-known for having a pretty big beard.
Kimmy: Wow. That’s cool.
Johnny: Me, personally, if I were to get a tattoo, I’d probably get one of a Disney Princess, most likely, to bring it back to two of your movies, either Ariel, The Little Mermaid, or Belle from Beauty And The Beast, since you did voice work in both.
Kimmy: (Laughing) Yeah, those are good princesses.
Johnny: To go to something we didn’t really discuss in the first interview, in your Other Works section on IMDB, it says you starred in the play Ladies’ Room, which would provide the basis for Romy & Michelle’s High School Reunion. Which part did you play in Ladies’ Room, and what was your favorite part of acting in that play?
Kimmy: Gosh, I don’t remember the name of my character now. Anyway, the play opens on the ladies’ room, and there are some bathroom stalls. I’m in one, and I start whining from behind it, calling out to see if anybody’s there, and asking if they could help me by going to the tampon machine. There was nobody out there, and so (laughing) I just start whining and crying. I come out and I have toilet paper stuck to my shoe, or something like that. I’m dragging this toilet paper, and I go over to the machines on the wall and they’re broken. I’m a waitress in this restaurant, and another waitress comes in, played by my friend Katie Benton, who plays this real hard-nosed, tough kind of broad character. She goes over and hits the machine, and all the stuff in the machine falls out. (Laughing) I’m crying, and I land on the ottoman that’s sitting in the middle of the restroom. I think that was my favorite part. Also, we were in San Francisco for a summer doing this play.
Johnny: Cool. To go back to the 80s, you auditioned for the role of Tina in The Return Of The Living Dead. What was the audition process like for that?
Kimmy: Oh, god. It was kind of an awful experience as far as auditioning goes. At the time, I was dating Dan O’Bannon, and he was thinking of having me play the Tina role. He wanted me to audition, but there was some producer who absolutely, positively, did not want me in that movie. He said he was violently opposed to Kimmy Robertson playing Tina, but Dan wanted me to play it. Dan wanted to see me in his office, and he told me to be there at a specific time. He said you can’t be late. Your audition is at precisely 10:46, or 9:54, or 5:81 (laughing) or something. He said, “I don’t want you wearing any makeup. None. No makeup”. I said, “No mascara?” “You can wear eyeshadow and mascara, but no makeup on your face”. I was like, “Dan, I don’t wear makeup on my face!”. He said, “But your skin…”. I said, “Yeah, it’s skin”. “Well, okay. Just make sure you don’t put anything on your skin”. I said, “Alright. I’ll make sure I won’t put anything on my skin”. It was 1983. I was about 30, and the other roles were teenagers or early 20s, so in Hollywood, being 30 is like being 150. I came to the audition and he said, “Come over to the window”. I knew why he was doing this. The sun was shining through the window, and he had a magnifying glass AND a director’s viewfinder. He put the magnifying glass in front of my face and put his eye right next to it. He said, “Now smile”, so I smiled and he said, “Bigger”. I smiled bigger and he said, “Now try to make your face as wrinkled up as possible when you smile”. I did and he goes, “Okay”, and then he got the director’s viewfinder and did the same thing. He said, “I need your face more in the sun, this part of your face where you would have crow’s feet, if you had crow’s feet”. He was trying to see how old I looked under a microscope.
Johnny: Oh, Christ.
Kimmy: …So finally I said, “You know what, Dan? I really don’t care if I play the part of Tina. This is totally up to you. I mean, it’s your film. Why are you doing this?”. He said, “Because you’re so old. We don’t want you to look older than the rest of the cast”. I don’t know. I gotta say, when I was 30, I looked about 14, (laughing) so it was so ridiculous. Needless to say, I didn’t get the part.
Johnny: I’m so sorry you had to deal with that. Some people can just be jerks. I mean, even now you don’t look or sound your age, and I’m sorry you had to deal with that.
Kimmy: Well, it was for a good reason. It taught me to put my foot down, and it taught me a lot about Hollywood and the types of people that run it, or think they run it. I was really thrilled to be able to help my friend Brian get considered for the part of Scuz. That was more important to me than me playing Tina because, frankly, I wasn’t that interested in being in a horror movie at that time in my life. I just wasn’t, so it wasn’t a big disappointment, except I think it was disappointing as far as humans go. It was illogical and kind of dumb, I thought, and if they needed to put a microscope over where crow’s feet would be when you make the biggest face you could possibly make, which you would never, ever make in any movie, then they just needed to get somebody else. Let’s not waste everybody’s time like that. It’s just goofy. It’s just one of the millions of stories like that. Just ask any actress, or actor, and they’ll have a story like that, no doubt.
Johnny: The age thing really puzzles me because you were only a few years older than two of my former interview subjects who were in that movie, Linnea Quigley and Jewel Shepard. They still look very young, and so do you. I just think you would’ve been good in that role.
Kimmy: Well, I think I would’ve been, too, but what I didn’t have, or what I didn’t show and didn’t use, was my sexuality. I wasn’t sexy, and I think that’s why the producer was so violently opposed to me being in it, because he didn’t think I was sexy, and those other girls exude sexuality even now. They’re lovely, and that’s the kind of thing I’ve never been good at.
Johnny: Well, when it does come to Jewel and Linnea, even though you didn’t work with them on-screen, have you ever crossed their paths at conventions?
Kimmy: I have not. I went to a Last American Virgin screening, I think it was, or maybe it was Return Of The Living Dead. I’ve seen them at different functions like that, anyway. I knew of them before, and I thought they were perfect for the movie, and I thought they were perfect in it, and I’m glad that they’re still working.
Johnny: Well, let’s take it back to you: To come back to music, you made a spoken word appearance on Roger McGuinn’s 1990 album Back From Rio. How did that gig come about?
Kimmy: I was told by Roger McGuinn that he was a big fan of Twin Peaks, and that he was a big fan of the band Wall Of Voodoo. Stan Ridgway and I were the ones on the phone in that track on the album. What was cool about it was we recorded it at Capitol Records in the studio where Frank Sinatra recorded much of his music. We got to record in Sinatra’s recording studio in Capitol Records, and THAT was amazing to me. I knew Stan Ridgway from the 70s and early 80s because my boyfriend, Jim Mothersbaugh, was a synthesizer inventor. He worked with a lot of these musicians, and I got to meet them, so that was really fun to work with Stan, and to work in Frank Sinatra’s favorite recording studio, and with Roger McGuinn from The Byrds, for crying out loud. They’re the best band of all time.
Johnny: Very cool. I’m a Stan Ridgway fan as well. I like the song he did with Stewart Copeland for the Rumble Fish soundtrack, “Don’t Box Me In”.
Kimmy: Oh, yeah.
Johnny: I think that deserved to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song. It’s too bad it wasn’t.
Kimmy: Yeah. Stan Ridgway is totally one of the hugest talents in music, just one of the best.
Johnny: Absolutely, and of course, Wall Of Voodoo is great. I just love the lyrics of “Mexican Radio”.
Kimmy: Yes (laughing).
Johnny: To move to my next question, in our previous interview we discussed your youthful spirit, and one of the ways you keep in shape is by the sport of curling. What drew you to that sport, and what’s your favorite part of playing it?
Kimmy: Well, two Summers ago, I was asked if I wanted to participate in a Hollywood Celebrity Curling Bonspiel, and I said yes. I don’t know why I said yes, but I did. I went one day for training, and then I went a few days later to the Bonspiel, and I loved it because it’s something I can do, and it’s a sport I don’t suck at. There. That’s why, and I’m in a league right now. We’re playing every Saturday in March. I was talking to the skip, which is the person who stands at the other end when your teammates are throwing the stone and you tell them where to throw it, and which way to make it curl. We were talking about how much we loved doing it, and he was saying, “It’s never the same. You never know exactly what the stone is going to do”, and because of that, it’s really interesting. It’s very technical and really fun. That’s how that happened.
Johnny: My main way of keeping physical is going for walks on my days off. I’ve actually managed to lose a decent amount of weight that way.
Kimmy: Walking is absolutely the best exercise, I think. It’s just the best. You get to see everything and notice stuff. It’s like a meditation.
Johnny: Absolutely. When it comes to positive things, you have a tremendous love for your pets, especially your dog Zeek. Have you ever considered creating a Facebook fan page for Zeek, as so many others have created Facebook pages for their pets?
Kimmy: No, I haven’t because, mostly, I don’t do Facebook anymore, but on Instagram I’m always posting pictures of him. It’s kind of like his page, even though it has my name on it, but I haven’t done that. Other people have asked me that, so maybe I should.
Johnny: Okay. Well, that about does it for my questions. I again thank you for taking the time to do another interview with me. It’s always a pleasure to talk to you, whether it’s an interview or just a regular conversation. I hope you will be able to come back to Chiller Theatre some day. I’ve been told that sometimes Chiller will reject guests who have been there previously and not want them back for a while, but then again, they can change their mind. For example, Samantha Fox, the singer who was my first successful phone interview subject, is coming back to Chiller this April after she had been initially rejected for a return so, with any luck, maybe they’ll reconsider you for a comeback there.
Kimmy: Well, I haven’t been there in years. I’ve only been to Chiller twice, and both of those were Last American Virgin reunions. Frankly, I don’t think I’m asked to many of these conventions because I usually have to fly business class because of my back, and also, last year I did a whole lot of traveling for Twin Peaks, like all over the world. New Zealand, Australia, London, a lot of the United States. I don’t have any others coming up that I know of.
Johnny: Well, even if we aren’t able to physically meet at a convention, I’m honored to know that I can always call you just to say hi, or text you and ask what’s up. It’s really an honor to count you among my friends.
Kimmy: And me, you as well, Johnny.
Johnny: It’s always a pleasure, and I love you.
Kimmy: I love you, too. Thank you for thinking of me and doing this. I really appreciate it, and I hope you have a great day. I just love talking to you.
Johnny: I love talking to you, too. I mean, if you told me a decade ago that I would count you among my friends, I wouldn’t have believed it, but it’s something that heartens me and makes me feel good.
Kimmy: I love having nice people as my friends. Love it!
Johnny: I love it, too.
Kimmy: Okay, Johnny. I’ll talk to you later.
Johnny: Talk to you later. Have a good afternoon.
Kimmy: You, too. Bye.
Johnny: Bye.
I would like to thank Kimmy Robertson for doing a second interview, and for her continued friendship and support. I’m lucky and blessed to count her among my friends. Coming soon to the Flashback Interview are conversations with Mindi Miller, Ann Jillian, Helene Udy and Christine Elise McCarthy. Thank you as always for reading, and have a fantastic day, everyone.
Peter Paltridge
April 24, 2019 @ 4:04 pm
How did you get Ann Jillian??? She was HUGE in the 70s and 80s. I’ve never understood why she vanished as soon as the 90s started; maybe you can find out.
Also, half my questions would be about this:
http://www.platypuscomix.net/darkvault/jenniferslepthere.html
It’d be interesting to find out what she thought about that article too (which I wrote).
Johnny Caps
April 24, 2019 @ 4:21 pm
I contacted Ann Jillian through her official website, and her husband/manager set up the interview. I asked her about Jennifer Slept Here, and many more topics. It will take a while to be published, but it is on the way.