Judith Light

What is your earliest memory of yourself as a performer
I was 3 years old. My mother helped me memorize “Twas the Night Before
Christmas” to perform for my father. It was extremely impactful because I
remember he started to cry and I ran to him and I said to myself, “This is
what I want to do, I want to find a way to have an impact on people.”
How did that sentiment stay with you as an adult
It does not hold you in particularly good standing when you are a grown up
in our business. I really had to begin to understand as I went on what it was
that was really driving me, because that’s not a very long lasting approach to
having a career. (Manager/Producer) Herb Hamsher was the one who said to
me, “You’ve really got to find a way to grow up and relate to this business.”
Our business is very complicated. Just because people think you’re cute or
talented when you’re little, doesn’t mean it holds you in good stead as you’re
forging a long term career. There are other things to consider, like caring for
other people and kindness and generosity, and not being narcissistic. I had
to move away from wanting to be the center of attention.
In the late 70s you played Karen Wolek on One Life to Live. What about
her makes her character continue to resonate with fans of the show and
actors alike
She sacrificed herself for her friend. She was courageous in the face of her
own demise on that witness stand, and she told the truth about who she was
to an entire group of people who were friends and family, people who were
more than likely going to reject her. However, there was something inside
her that no matter how damaged you saw that she was, and how much low
self esteem she had, and how fraught her life was in keeping secrets, she had
the courage to say, “This is my friend, I am supporting her, I am telling the
truth even if I must sacrifice myself.” That’s
why I think she is a mythic, iconic character.
Karen seems to be the complete opposite of
the sweet persona you display. She had such
low self-esteem, and was always looking for
love and acceptance. Did/do people associate
you with her
Early on those were very strong characteristics
in me, which is why I understood them. As
human beings we have inside of us everything
that everybody else has. We all do. That’s why
I say, “We’re all connected.” If we let ourselves
know each other, we’ll have compassion and
love for one another.
You met your husband, Robert Desiderio,
while you were both working on One Life
to Live. Are there any added challenges to
making a marriage work when you’re both in
the business of entertainment
Of course! After all, you’re going to work
together a lot every day. But you have your
private life and your work life. It’s important
that you be communicating and making sure
you’re staying on top of everything that comes
up in relation to all of that.
Why have you described 1977 your
“frustrating” period
It was that transition from being a child in
the business to being a grown-up. It was one
of those existential moments, and at the same
time it was a temper tantrum. I wanted what
I wanted when I wanted it, and I thought I
should be getting everything I wanted. When
you’re a child you don’t understand delay of
gratification and you don’t understand that
the world doesn’t revolve around you. When
things finally shifted I said, “However well
Judith Light in her Drama Desk and Tony award-wining role of Silda in
Other Desert Cities
known I become, I want to find a way to be a service, because celebrity has
a lot of great perks, but those things will not hold you in good stead in terms
of becoming the human being that you wanted to become.”
Is that when you started working with charities such as Broadway Cares:
Equity Fights AIDS and Faith in America
Yes, that was actually at the time when my friends were dying. I began to
realize that life does not go on forever, and that there are people in my life
that I adore, love and honor, and I am losing them. With HIV and AIDS, there
was a pretense that was covering the fact that there was a lack of support,
care, interest, and movement forward by our country and our government. I
began to see this homophobic reaction that was happening within the body
of this country and around the world, and I said, “Wait a minute. This is not
okay.” I felt very strongly compelled to start saying something about it.
Of the many organizations with which you have shared your time, which
holds the most meaning for you
The Point Foundation is an extraordinary organization that I’ve been
working with for a long time. We give scholarships to LGBT youth who are
marginalized and cut off by their financial contributors because they came
out as gay or were found out that they are gay and are cut off from their
financial support. We move in and give them scholarships, mentorship, and
support. Of course there’s also Broadway Cares: Equity Fights AIDS. They’re
very close to my heart. Faith in America, which is about ending faith based
bigotry in the gay community. When I was doing The Ryan White Story, I
saw how much prejudice was heaped on Ryan by a community who did not
understand him, and they were terrified. Any kind of prejudice toward a
community is truly reprehensible to me. It does not speak to the angels of
our higher nature.
Did it surprise you that Who’s the Boss, a
program featuring a high-powered woman
in charge, did so well in 1983 What type of
feedback did you get based on her status over
Tony
No, it didn’t surprise me. I think ABC knew it
would succeed, that’s what was brilliant about
what they did. Everybody knew that everybody
was ready. It was one of those things where
the pencil had already dropped, it was only
a matter of time until it hit the table. They
didn’t feel I had status over Tony. The answer
to that show is in the question of the show;
everybody at one time or another was the
boss on that show. What you were seeing was
not somebody who was just a high-powered
executive, you saw a woman who needed
help. She was smart enough (after she listened
to her mother), to choose somebody who was
going to be there for her, and he never felt
diminished by the job he did. And she never
felt that he was diminished by the job that he
did. She knew she needed him, and she knew
he was fantastic for her. He knew he was there
to be of service for somebody who needed
support out there in the world. It was all about
the love that was happening, that’s why it was
such a feel good show. People keep saying,
“Why don’t we have shows like that now”
A show like it would not be outside of the
norm in 2012. Do you think it would be as big
a hit today
I think you’d have to modernize it. I always
called it a very powerful, feminist show. You’d
have to do some things to change it, but I
think the essence of it, the family, the love,