Was Julie Kavner considered "pretty" in the 1970's?

[quote] How'd she get him?

Her raspy, smoky voice.

....

In a word: NO, OP.

I loved her on Rhoda. Thought she and Valerie (and especially, Nancy Walker) had great chemistry. She always read as a little butch to me--I say that with love. I'm still not fully convinced Julie is 100% straight.

If you watch the RHODA eps you can see her sudden weight loss and style remake. Apparently, CBS was exploring a Brenda remake but it never happened.

I can't feel that bad. THE SIMPSONS has made her a shockingly rich woman, far more than Valerie or any other co-stars.

Sorry, I mean a Brenda SPIN-OFF, not a remake.

N O !

She was a nice, sensible-looking tomboy next door. Not pretty, not ugly. The kind who made the snacks in the kitchen at parties while her prettier friend was banged in the bathroom.

Do you have eyes, OP?

Julie was cute in her kid-sister way, and actually photogenic, but Valerie could be stunning.

Isn't she a lesbian? Maybe he's gay. She was sort of cute though, and sometimes these mismatched pairings happen inexplicably.

Does she avoid the press? I don't think I've ever seen an interview with her.

You could be quirky AND attractive in the 70s. If you were a guy, you could be hairy as fuck, not muscular, and still be hot.

She was cast because she was kooky.

No. She was the butt of fat jokes on Rhoda.

My sister looks like Kavner and it bums me out to see people talk about her like this... which Im aware sounds very creepy but she struggles with self image so it’s a bummer to see what ive always agreed with be confirmed... Oh well. Not my problem!

God, how I HATED Richard Schaal, and always avoided any program/episode on which he appeared.

Nice personality. Plain Jane Jewish girl.

For some reason, Kavner refuses to discuss Rhoda with interviewers. I don't think she liked the role. It did typecast for a while, until Tracey Ullman hired her as a regular on her 80s Fox show. She owes a lot of her career to Trace.

She fulfilled the overweight, self-deprecating female character in contrast with Valerie Harper's svelte, more stable Rhoda which is crazy since Rhoda WAS that character on MTM.

I always thought she was beautiful.

My personal suspicion is that RHODA triggered a lot of self-image/body image issues for Kavner, particularly when she was urged to lose weight and appear more conventionally "feminine." Perhaps those aren't happy memories for her.

It's no accident that, despite some character work in Woody Allen films, her career is all about V/O work, and has been for a while.

Sue Menger! I forgot to add your name to the thread of posters we miss!

Bless you, sweetie @ R21. Like a chubby, loud, stoned moth to a flame, I keep returning here.

Don't forget that later in their runs, classy, well-written ensemble shows like the MTM Show and Rhoda were also dealing with the onslaught of Fred Silverman and jiggle TV. It was absurd, but it upped the looks/sex appeal quotient for every performer in prime time.

R22, very true, and dovetails nicely with the current Suzanne Sommers thread.

Hope to see you around more. I always enjoyed your posts.

Why was she with a cute guy?

She's on a major TV Show.

She has a vagina.

[QUOTE]God, how I HATED Richard Schaal

I concur. Marginally worse than Jerry Van Dyke.

She rarely does interviews for The Simpsons and her contract has an agreement in it where she does not have to promote the show. Also whenever the cast does live script readings at conventions or fan events, she doesn't participate, she just walks off stage.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,

She has a marvellous personality. And she was attractive. Not a high end hollywood starlet, but she was attractive. It's no wonder a sensible good-looking guy was attracted to her.

I realize that this is beyond comprehension for gay guys.

No, she was the fat, homely whiner. Not even attractive for the 1870s

Richard Schaal was married to Valerie Harper (or happily divorced). He showed up a lot, especially on MTM-produced shows, and yes, he was an annoying presence. Plus David Groh, except for the initial glimpse of the hairy chest, was all wrong for Rhoda to marry. Rhoda and Brenda should have dated all sorts of kooky and occasionally hot men who would swoon over them or reject them or vice versa for a long time, and the show would have been better and run longer. Looking at some of her pics, Julie looks better back then than I remembered her -- she was kinda cute, not pretty, not bad. The voice was rather singular back then though.

She could be Fran Lebowitz’ slightly better looking cousin.

poor r29 cannot discern between a character in a tv show (Brenda) and reality (Julie)

No, she wasn't but by real life standards, I think she would have been considered attractive. It's just that the MTM writers were accustomed to writing jokes about women like 'Rhoda' who were considered conventionally attractive (sorry, but I always thought 'Rhoda' was beautiful). Once Valerie Harper slimmed down and became a bit more glam, they needed someone who could take her place as the butt of those jokes. It's a shame, since I don't think it was a good introduction to show business to Julie, who is remarkably guarded and protective of her privacy.

I finally have a little bit of gossip to share here. Secondhand, but still.

A friend of mine used to live in LA while taking acting classes and to make ends meet he worked at a coffeehouse. Julie Kavner came in one day and plunked her purse - a huge shoulder bag - down on the counter and it loudly rattled. He wondered why until she opened it up to pay for her order and he saw it was completely full of prescription bottles. She was a walking pharmacy.

Also, DL fave Bonnie Franklin was cold and dismissive to him when he praised her work on One Day at a Time.

That is all.

Yes OP, she was considered HOT HOT HOT! Most teen boys had a sexy Kavner poster on their wall typically covered in dried semen.

Isn't she a clam?

She stood next to me.

R25 Jerry was hilarious on Coach!

[quote]How'd she get him?

Same as you OP. She paid him.

cunt

She's terrific in a series of mid-late 80's Woody Allen films and deserved an Oscar nomination for "Radio Days" (along with Dianne Wiest). She had a rare lead in an underrated comedy, "This is My Life" (1992) which has a great Carly Simon theme song.

She's filthy rich. That boy toy is a whore, darling.

Who's the guy in the pictures with the jacket and scarf? Can I marry him?