Sally Kellerman has a memorable role as Dr. Elizabeth Dehner in the second filmed pilot episode of Star Trek (1965), entitled "Where No Man Has Gone Before". Kellerman also co-stars with Tony Curtis in The Boston Strangler (1968) as the only surviving victim. In 1969, she reportedly almost talked herself out of her most famous role.
She had an argument with M*A*S*H director Robert Altman after reading the script. She was incensed about the way her proposed character, Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan, was to be humiliated. Altman said that her attitude and passion was exactly what he was looking for in that character. Kellerman was offered but refused the role of "Hot Lips" in M*A*S*H the television series.
In 1986, she played comedian Rodney Dangerfields love interest in Back to School and co-starred with Julie Andrews and Jack Lemmon in Blake Edwards' That's Life!.
She has also enjoyed a long and successful career as a voice actor for various television commercials over the years, most notably for Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing.
I met Sally five years ago at a Paul Williams concert. I liked her from the minute we said hello. We have remained friends over these past years and I have photographed her many times now. She has been on this blog twice before, when her new CD was released and when she was honored at a lunchean, but we have never sat and talked like this until now.
AM: I know you just returned from San Francisco where you finished a three week run at Teatro Zinzanni. How was that?
SK: I don't know if a San Francisco native has ever seen the show, but it is one of the greatest things I have ever been a part of. It's a happening like Paris in the thirties or Berlin in the twenties. It's a huge tent that is a beautiful environment. It has a center ring and a stage with a band. So many scary, wonderful things go on in there.
AM: You have been performing there the last couple of years right?
SK: I have been doing it for three years now. Melba Moore and Thelma Houston perform there as well. Thelma said to me, "Honey I don't tell anybody about this job because if I do they will all want the job." It is a real love affair for me, a love affair with the audience and with the cast. This is like a European circus, but it is intimate. You get to know the people. I sing five to six songs throughout the show.
AM: Since your critically acclaimed CD has been out for a while now do you notice people relating to you more as a singer now?
SK: I sure hope so because the record is selling. I've had incredible response from the DJ's. It's all been amazing. We feel like it's only been out a week. We are just beginning to really work it.
AM: It is a timeless recording.
SK: That is because Val Garay produced it so well with all these classic musicians playing. I think people are surprised because people have always thought of me more as an actress, but also for the choice of material on the CD. People expected 'I'm in the Mood For Love' with strings. I love all that, but this is a pop album with a blues, jazz base. This is a more contemporary album.
AM: How do you cope with the fact that you have considered yourself a singer long before you thought of yourself as an actress?
SK: I was singing first and had a contract with Verve records when I was eighteen. It's just always been my passion. I was neurotic and scared at the time, unlike today when I'm the most perfectly lovely human being (laughing). In the 70's at the height of my film career I turned down all these great films so I could concentrate on singing and go on the road because I wanted to be taken seriously. I wanted people to know that I was the real deal. I wanted soul, but it would take another thirty years to get it.
AM: You turned down the TV show version of M*A*S*H didn't you?
SK: Yes I did because I had been working in television and I was trying to get out. I always wanted to be in films. I got nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Hot Lips so I thought I want movies. I love creating characters.
AM: Are you working on anything as an actress at this time?
SK: At this moment I would love to create a character on television. I'm working on developing a series right now. I'm open for a great part in a movie. In the early days I turned things down, but now I am open to saying yes. It's an exciting time in my life. It really is. I have a passion at this moment in my life that feels as fresh as the day I was born. It feels like the beginning when Altman picked me out of the crowd for Hot Lips.
AM: The interesting thing to me is that even though a lot of people do not know you sing, you are still very famous for your voice.
SK: I know it. It's something that I always thought about. I have done SO many voice-overs and I've done them ever since the 60's. People stop me everyday and tell me they wish they had my voice or that they love my voice. I get that everyday.
AM: Do people recognize you from your voice more than seeing you?
SK: Yes, a woman who had her back to me the other day said, "Oh I knew it was you when I heard you talking."
AM: Is this happening more these days?
SK: There has been a lot more visibility for me since the CD. My fan mail has really grown recently. The internet has really helped. I have grown up and learned to appreciate the current reality of life which is the internet.
AM: I'm glad you are able to use the internet to get people to hear your music.
SK: Also the pictures you took of me really help. Everyone comments on them all the time. You make taking pictures fun.
AM: Thank you.
SK: I was never going to have another picture taken until you came into my life. I was just going to use vintage photos. I can't wait to get my picture taken now....but only by you.
She had an argument with M*A*S*H director Robert Altman after reading the script. She was incensed about the way her proposed character, Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan, was to be humiliated. Altman said that her attitude and passion was exactly what he was looking for in that character. Kellerman was offered but refused the role of "Hot Lips" in M*A*S*H the television series.
In 1986, she played comedian Rodney Dangerfields love interest in Back to School and co-starred with Julie Andrews and Jack Lemmon in Blake Edwards' That's Life!.
She has also enjoyed a long and successful career as a voice actor for various television commercials over the years, most notably for Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing.
I met Sally five years ago at a Paul Williams concert. I liked her from the minute we said hello. We have remained friends over these past years and I have photographed her many times now. She has been on this blog twice before, when her new CD was released and when she was honored at a lunchean, but we have never sat and talked like this until now.
AM: I know you just returned from San Francisco where you finished a three week run at Teatro Zinzanni. How was that?
SK: I don't know if a San Francisco native has ever seen the show, but it is one of the greatest things I have ever been a part of. It's a happening like Paris in the thirties or Berlin in the twenties. It's a huge tent that is a beautiful environment. It has a center ring and a stage with a band. So many scary, wonderful things go on in there.
AM: You have been performing there the last couple of years right?
SK: I have been doing it for three years now. Melba Moore and Thelma Houston perform there as well. Thelma said to me, "Honey I don't tell anybody about this job because if I do they will all want the job." It is a real love affair for me, a love affair with the audience and with the cast. This is like a European circus, but it is intimate. You get to know the people. I sing five to six songs throughout the show.
AM: Since your critically acclaimed CD has been out for a while now do you notice people relating to you more as a singer now?
SK: I sure hope so because the record is selling. I've had incredible response from the DJ's. It's all been amazing. We feel like it's only been out a week. We are just beginning to really work it.
AM: It is a timeless recording.
SK: That is because Val Garay produced it so well with all these classic musicians playing. I think people are surprised because people have always thought of me more as an actress, but also for the choice of material on the CD. People expected 'I'm in the Mood For Love' with strings. I love all that, but this is a pop album with a blues, jazz base. This is a more contemporary album.
AM: How do you cope with the fact that you have considered yourself a singer long before you thought of yourself as an actress?
SK: I was singing first and had a contract with Verve records when I was eighteen. It's just always been my passion. I was neurotic and scared at the time, unlike today when I'm the most perfectly lovely human being (laughing). In the 70's at the height of my film career I turned down all these great films so I could concentrate on singing and go on the road because I wanted to be taken seriously. I wanted people to know that I was the real deal. I wanted soul, but it would take another thirty years to get it.
AM: You turned down the TV show version of M*A*S*H didn't you?
SK: Yes I did because I had been working in television and I was trying to get out. I always wanted to be in films. I got nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Hot Lips so I thought I want movies. I love creating characters.
AM: Are you working on anything as an actress at this time?
SK: At this moment I would love to create a character on television. I'm working on developing a series right now. I'm open for a great part in a movie. In the early days I turned things down, but now I am open to saying yes. It's an exciting time in my life. It really is. I have a passion at this moment in my life that feels as fresh as the day I was born. It feels like the beginning when Altman picked me out of the crowd for Hot Lips.
AM: The interesting thing to me is that even though a lot of people do not know you sing, you are still very famous for your voice.
SK: I know it. It's something that I always thought about. I have done SO many voice-overs and I've done them ever since the 60's. People stop me everyday and tell me they wish they had my voice or that they love my voice. I get that everyday.
AM: Do people recognize you from your voice more than seeing you?
SK: Yes, a woman who had her back to me the other day said, "Oh I knew it was you when I heard you talking."
AM: Is this happening more these days?
SK: There has been a lot more visibility for me since the CD. My fan mail has really grown recently. The internet has really helped. I have grown up and learned to appreciate the current reality of life which is the internet.
AM: I'm glad you are able to use the internet to get people to hear your music.
SK: Also the pictures you took of me really help. Everyone comments on them all the time. You make taking pictures fun.
AM: Thank you.
SK: I was never going to have another picture taken until you came into my life. I was just going to use vintage photos. I can't wait to get my picture taken now....but only by you.
photos: Alan Mercer
Learn more about Sally Kellerman at her web site http://www.sallykellerman.com/
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