Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 4, 1993 TAG: 9403090011
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SUSAN KING LOS ANGELES TIMES
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
These days, the former model is one of the stars of the new CBS drama ``Angel Falls'' (Thursdays at 10 p.m. on WDBJ-Channel 7). Lipton plays Hadley, the wife of Luke (James Brolin), the high school basketball coach in a fictional Montana town. Both Hadley and Luke are consumed with grief over the recent death of their infant son.
``She's definitely trying to get through (life),'' Lipton says, curled up on a sofa in her publicist's office. ``Living in that town, she's sort of an outsider. She always has been. She never really fit in. It's very hard to hold back her feelings.''
Lipton was drawn to ``Angel Falls'' because of creator Joyce Eliason's writing. ``The script is wonderful and really stands on its own,'' she says. ``It's embellished by very good acting and the feeling of something pastoral. Underneath is this undercurrent of passion, pain and joy and sensuality - not a cluttered piece with a lot of urban angst.''
And certainly nothing like Lipton's last series, ``Twin Peaks,'' in which Lipton played Norma, the owner of the bizarre town's diner. Though the David Lynch-Mark Frost series aired on ABC for only one year - 1990-'91 - it's developed a cult following around the world. Repeats of the series currently air on Bravo.
Lipton says she receives a lot of fan mail from ``Peak'' freaks. ``Especially in Europe and places like that,'' Lipton says. ``It's still hot in Europe.'' She admits, though, she was glad when the series ended.
``It wasn't going in any direction,'' she says. ``It never worked after the first season.''
``Twin Peaks'' was really the first time TV audiences saw Lipton since ``Mod Squad'' ended in 1973. Though she did star in the 1979 TV movie ``The Return of the Mod Squad,'' Lipton basically retired from acting to raise her two daughters, now teen-agers, by Quincy Jones. After she and Jones divorced in the late '80s, Lipton decided to return to acting.
``It was very scary,'' she says. ``I had a push-pull thing inside me that I wanted to do it.'' Lipton had even obtained the name and number of a respected acting coach, Sandra Seacat, but was unable to pick up the phone to call her.
``I had become so insulated in my world as a mother, that I didn't know how to pick up the phone and call anybody to put myself out there,'' Lipton says. ``I don't live my life anymore that way.''
After two weeks, Lipton mustered the courage to call and leave a message with Seacat. ``The next day I got a call back,'' Lipton says. Seacat told Lipton to join her class that day.
``She broke that kind of fear,'' Lipton explains. ``I used to sit under the table near the door, so if she ever called on me I could get out. I was so scared. I felt like I was 16 again.''
Lipton had just turned 21 when ``Mod Squad'' premiered. She, Michael Cole and Clarence Williams III played ``hippie cops'' for the Los Angeles Police Department.
``There are a lot of old people around who remember `Mod Squad,''' Lipton says, laughing. ``There's a lot of young people who are watching reruns. I never found it dated.''
Lipton received four best actress Emmy nominations as Julie and girls all across America emulated her hairstyle and funky clothing.
``I never saw myself as trend-setting,'' Lipton says.
She didn't have time. ``We were always working. Fame really drove me into my house. I was very paranoid. I didn't like going out. I had no idea how to be comfortable with the press. I was very young. It was really hard for me.''
by CNB