Fame star Valerie Landsburg lifts the lid on the 1980s’ phenomenon ahead of reunion
Did you have obsessive fans?Not stalkers or anything, mainly people who felt like I was their sister or best friend. Doris was very relatable, she had her body image issues which were things I had personal experience of. When I started directing the show it was about Cynthia’s character Holly’s anorexia, it’s one of the things I’m still proudest of as a director.
What are your memories of being on tour?
I was doing promotion in Australia so only joined the European tour right at the end, after Lori Singer (Julie) left to shoot the movie Footlose. I remember performing in Portsmouth and the driver took me past Stone Henge! The schedule was exhausting, around that time I was asked to open for this new group in Antwerp just to do High Fidelity but I had been touring and wanted to go home. The group was the Eurythmics! I should’ve said yes…
Were there professional rivalries among the cast, then or now?No because we were all so different. Although I recall being very jealous of Erica and Cynthia, both of whom I love dearly, as they were so beautiful and I didn’t feel like I was. That was down to my own self-image at the time. Things are better for character actresses of that age these days which is great, if it was now I could’ve had Amy Schumer’s career!
Was Debbie Allen as formidable off camera as she was as the school’s teacher, Lydia?Debbie is still a formidable presence! It feels different when we do anything without her, like the kids have grown up and there’s no boss around. She’s amazing and is now a producer/director on shows like Grey’s Anatomy, but back then if you stepped out of line she’d call you out. Erica and I had a disagreement with her once, and for the musical number in that episode ‘Sing For You America’, Eric was made to wear a frogman costume and I was in a space suit – we always laugh that was our punishment for arguing with Debbie!
Was it difficult being thrust into the limelight?I had grown up in the industry (her father Alan was a successful producer) and was actually one of the oldest in the cast, and had worked quite a lot already so perhaps I was more equipped. But I was already a high-functioning alcoholic by then, although I never drank while I was working. I’ve been sober 33 years and actually stopped drinking the year I left Fame. When I speak to my Fame colleagues now, especially the women, everyone says they wished they’d not been so hard on themselves or so critical back then, and enjoyed the experience a bit more.
Is it hard performing without the late Gene Anthony Ray (aka Leroy, who died in 2003)?Always. He was the most brilliantly talented person. We’ve mentioned him on stage in other performances, I’m not sure how he’ll be acknowledged next year. He was the kind of guy you couldn’t help but love, when I was directing an episode he didn’t show up for work – I wanted to be mad with him but you just couldn’t! He lived with HIV for a long time. The BBC did a Fame documentary a few years before he died which Gene took part in, and you could see how different he was. He had bounced back from illness but by then he was on borrowed time.
Would you be open to Fame being revived for TV?If it was the right script we’d all be there. I actually wrote a version myself 15 years ago and talked to a few people about it. I had Doris as a therapist and in a relationship with a woman, and asking Danny Amatullo to be their sperm donor. Coco and Bruno were the ones who made it in showbusiness! If you did it now you could have it start with everyone gathering for Leroy’s funeral…
Why is Fame still so fondly remembered after all these years?Honesty. Even though it’s dated wardrobe-wise, what the show talks about is real and still relevant. That’s why the original audience shows it to their kids. It’s timeless. If there had been internet in 1982 then Fame would still be going, we’d all be on it with our grandkids!
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