Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 17, 1993 TAG: 9311180048
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JACKIE HYMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
The Bronx-accented blonde comedienne appears in the new CBS Wednesday night sitcom "The Nanny," Fox's Sunday night comedy "Daddy Dearest" and HBO's "Dream On."
During a break from rehearsals for "The Nanny" at the Culver Studios, Taylor said she believes she's been cast repeatedly because she's willing to take risks with her performances.
"I think all of these mothers that I'm playing are outrageous characters," she said.
The actress, who gives her age as "late 40s - very late," wore a low-cut black leotard and tights, a purple jacket with matching socks, and decorated high heels that she described as "backless cowboy shoes."
"I think I'm conventional," she said. "I have no idea how I look."
On "Daddy Dearest," she shouts toe-to-toe with Don Rickles, who plays her ex-husband.
"He's so abusive that the wife had to hold her own, so I'm willing to make a fool of myself and behave like that," Taylor said. "I'm willing to take a risk and do that.
"The mother on `Dream On' is very smothering and demanding, so I guess these are darker sides of myself," she said. "TV is more outrageous than it's ever been because it's competing with movies and cable."
Taylor is happy in the role of Fran Drescher's mother in "The Nanny" because they've been friends for a long time.
"I feel like Fran is a daughter to me off-screen, and I have to bite my tongue not to give her advice until I'm asked," she said.
In "The Nanny," Drescher plays a street-smart young woman from Queens who stumbles into a job caring for the children of a wealthy, aristocratic Broadway producer (Charles Shaughnessy).
"The mother in this one is vulnerable, goes out on a limb all the time, and sometimes the tree falls," Taylor said. "She's bossy, too, and pushy but sweet."
Although her three characters seem self-confident, "I think they are women that are stuck," Taylor said.
Of her character on "Daddy Dearest," she said, her identity is the woman betrayed. She doesn't know that success is the best revenge.
"This mother does not know that at a certain age the mothering is over and you have to go on to a new relationship," Taylor said.
"I think I'm playing unenlightened mothers," she added, "but if you're enlightened, there's not much comedy."
Three shows at once involves careful scheduling, although Taylor doesn't appear in every episode.
"I go from one to the other, but it's great because I'm losing weight," she said. "It takes the pressure off any one show. It puts your career more in perspective."
"Also, it pays for me to be able to write plays, which is really a luxury."
In addition to an acting career that has included such films as "The Last of the Red Hot Lovers" and "White Palace," Taylor has co-written and co-starred in plays and movies with her husband, Joseph Bologna. Their hits include "Lovers and Other Strangers" and "Made for Each Other."
They're currently preparing two new productions, "Love All Ways," an evening of five one-act plays, and "Bermuda Avenue Triangle," a play about two older women who love the same man.
Taylor also will be seen as Morticia's therapist in the feature film "Addams Family Values." And continuing with the mother theme, she plays Mother Nature in a parenting home video starring Connie Stevens, to be released this winter.
Taylor is a mother in real life, too. She and her husband have one son, Gabriel Bologna, an actor and writer.
In an industry famous for its high divorce rate, Taylor and Bologna have remained married for 28 years.
"I really think that the marriage stayed firm because we write together and we think it's funny, everything that happens to us," she said. "First, we take it seriously and then we say, `What a great plot!' "
"We look upon our work, that comedy is healing, and that keeps you with a purpose and it inspires you. And you hope maybe it inspires others."
by CNB