Wendie Jo Sperber
"The memory of Wendie Jo is that of a walking inspiration. She met the challenges of her illness with love, cheer, joy and altruism. We are going to miss her as surely as we are all better for knowing her." - Tom Hanks
Months before Pat Morita died, I was already stuck in the 80's. Remembering things I did and saw as I was growing. My family, my friends, all those stupid adventures in the graveyard trails and spending way too many nights trying to figure out if we saw a zombie, or if the neighbors across the street were drug dealers posing as a middle class suburban family. And espescially for me in my life a strong narration were the shows and movies of the time. Movies you've heard me go on and on about before. The Karate Kid, Back To The Future, Weird Science, etc. It was just earlier I was watching Lethal Weapon while I had lunch. And boy did that bring back memories. I was sad to hear Pat Morita had past. And I am sad now to state that another person who was a strong part of that narration has passed away.
Wendie Jo Sperber was not a hugely celebrated actress, but she was a strong part of those movies and shows that accompanied me along my creative growth. She was diagnosed with cancer in 1997 and she founded the cancer support group weSPARK. In Back To The Future she played Marty Mcflys sister. She was a strong comedic presence in two of my favorites, I Wanna Hold Your Hand and 1941. But the first time I really got to know her is in one of my favorite shows of all time BOSOM BUDDIES. She passed away last week.
Oh man. BOSOM BUDDIES!
Talk about a show that affected me. Now I can't rightly say that this was genius. Nor can I say that the concept of Bosom Buddies was original and fresh. Well, actually, not only was this not original and fresh, but it was quite possibly the stupidest idea for a show ever. I mean come on, two guys can't find a place to live so they have to dress up as women to stay at an all girls community. WTF!?
This show was destined to be canceled. And I think ABC new this. I'm pretty sure that this was a mid season replacement or a mid week filler and they just needed something to fill in the scheduling blanks. But I think what extended the show for more than one season was the fact that you had solid chemistry between two hilarious guys, Peter Scolari and Tom Hanks. And it's not like they were working off crap material. They had decent comedy writing from people who would move on to other shows that would affect my comedy, Moonlighting, Night Court, and The Simspons. Throw in Holland Taylor, Wendie Jo, Donna Dixon, Telma Hopkins, and Lucille Benson to round out the cast, and Bosom Buddies turned out to be a very surprising and funny ensemble show.
Bosom Buddies was one of the many shows that contributed to me being a smart ass. I got most of my screwball comedy bites from the bug that crawled off that show. I would spend a good portion of my days answering a knock at my bedroom door with a high pitched "who is it?" as I imitated Kip and Henry's imitation of Buffy and Hildy. This would later worry my parents. Me and my best friend Reid, would always repeat the previous nights dialogue at school. A higher plateau of comdey than our classmates were use to at Zavala Elementary School. This would earn us laughs from our teachers for being the wittiest 2nd graders using high browe intellectual humor, and gave us garunteed alienation from our peers, cuz you know, 2nd and 3rd graders always get jokes about Eva Braun and Columbo.
But this is where I've been as of late. Remembering where it all came frome. Remeniscing about the past. And mourning for our recent losses from that narration that held my attention so. And it still does hold that attention. And you shall be missed Wendie Jo Sperber. Thank you for contributing artistically to that narration. And thank you for helping your fellow humans afflicted by Cancer.
By far my fav episode has to be when Kip and Henry get snowed in at a cabin in the woods and then try to kill eachother over the last can of soup.