"Interviewing" Adrienne Barbeau

At Wizard World Chicago, actress Adrienne Barbeau was on my short list of interview requests.  Unfortunately, I did not get to formally interview her,. but I did get to talk to her at length, which really was plenty of fun in itself.

One of Adrienne's earliest and best-known roles was as Maude's daughter Carol Traynor in television's "Maude."  Adrienne was quite a sex symbol back then, yet "Carol" was an independent, strong woman.  I wanted to ask her about that juxtaposition.  Did her being a sex symbol conflict with her wanting to portray Carol in certain light.

Adrienne retold the story that is in her book "There are Worse Things I Could Do."  She didn't realize just how much of a sex symbol she was.  She didn't realize that a lot of her scenes on "Maude" involved walking down the stairs, running or other such things which would cause her to bounce a bit.  She also didn't realize that it wasn't so much her athletic ability that landed her on the various "Battle of the Network Stars" competitions, but rather her physical assets.

I just found it interesting that Carol was so opposite of just a sex symbol.  I think if Carol was more fully developed (sorry, no pun intended), we would know that she was okay with being both a sex symbol and a very strong woman of the 1970's.  Carol could have it both ways, just like Adrienne did.

As big as "Maude" was and as popular as Carol was, Adrienne is better known to comic con fans for her roles in several horror films, like "The Thing" and "Creepshow."  Of course, some also fondly recall her role in "The Cannonball Run."

At 70, Adrienne was still looking incredible.  I really have no idea if she has had any surgeries, but I can tell you she looks quite natural.  Even better, she was super sweet and very funny.  It was a pleasure meeting and talking to her.

Adrienne Barbeau and me in Rosemont, IL-August 2015.