Show out with thinking about how much money they have unless all of a sudden one would start d taking me to the places all the time” She likes the financial security she now enjoys and she also likes the recognition she gets from the public “When the show first went on the air people would call out ‘Angie’ and I’d keep on walkfast-foo- By Isobel Sllden Cinderella really look like a pixie short tan hair and eyes that changed from green to brown depending on the air temperature? French author Charles Perrault did not convey that impression when he created his fairy-tal- e princess back in the 17th century And Walt Disney’s artists drew her blonde and beautifully languid when she stopped scrubbing those floors Yet here is Donna Pescow a real-lif- e who is Cinderella of the almost-1980’- s not a striking beauty but somehow much more interesting She is neither sad nor woebegone like Cinderella To the unfamiliar Donna Pescow plays the title role in ABC’s new series Angie the story of a South Philadelphia Italian waitress who marries Brad (Robert Hays) a rich Main Line pediatrician She’s playing a funny lady: the characterization comes naturally to her Donna was brought up almost literally in the projection room and backstage of a theater She explains: “For over 50 years my grandfather operated the stage lights at the RKO Albee theater in Brooklyn He’d tell me all about the names who played there He told me all their jokes: Henny Young-man’- s Milton Berle’s Bums’ and Allen’s When it became a movie theater Poppy stayed on and he’d take me down on Saturdays I’d stay in the booth with him or play backstage When I first saw Burns and Allen on TV I knew what they were gonna say before they said it” She makes it sound very matter-of-faDon’t all Brooklyn kids grow up this sophisticated and knowledgeable about show business? Did ‘Coat’ The next day I’d get to say ‘Ticket’ They had me on hold for another part so they kept me busy doing ing I didn’t know it was me they were hailing Now I stop and I have the nicest encounters with people My character is human and warm she is not removed In New York lots of people gave me opinions of the show” That is how she knew she’d “arrived” Although Donna Pescow is not yet a household name in time it well may be It rhymes with cow Why had she never thought of changing it to something more glamorous? “Oh I did I was going to be Donna Marshall But when I was training at the Academy I met this girl whose name was Donna Marshall ‘Please don’t take my name’ she asked so of course I couldn’t My first agent used to get calls for Donna k did work as a girl once for one night at some place They hired me to work after the opening of a big Broadway show It was a hot night and nobody wore coats They were so mobbed they even took my chair I had to stand up the entire evening The waiters felt so sorry for me they gave me tips And I got a free dinner” she one-liner- s I hat-chec- remembers Donna remembers meals very well She has a weight problem but emphatically denies that she weighed 155 in Fever “Only 135 and that was a lot” She agrees that she looked like a meatball with arms She weighs considerably less these days as Angie “There are a lot of similarities in Angie’s life and mine We’re both going through changes success some money for the first time in our lives I can buy things In real life Donna much like Angie She's is warm bubbly and funny And she’s taking the world by the tail Donna’s big break was her role with John Travolta in Fever But that big break didn’t happen overnight ct The background has served Donna well What serious Cinderella could joust with the master comic maker of them all Garry Marshall who created her show? -- He is also responsible for Happy Days Laveme and Shirley and Mork and Mindy The man knows what makes Americans laugh He selects his stars with care Donna’s “screen test” for Angie was not exactly high comedy She played the lovelorn teen Annette rejected by John Travolta who loses her virginity in a desperately shocking scene in Saturday Night Fever ‘ My big break in show business came from a movie but I’ll always consider my roots in the theater” That’s understandable: she is a graduate of the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts Prior to Fever she toured in Ah! Wilderness with Richard Kiley and Barbara Bel Geddes and appeared in several shows Then her career took off: “I was signed to a contract for a soap opera One Life to Live I played a girl One I’d day say ‘Hat’ The next day I’d say Off-Broadw- hat-che- ck Isobel Silden frequently reports on the ty scene for Family Weekly 4 FAMILY WEEKLY Sptmbr 2 1979 celebri- Somebody changing it around to it more or less over So are the days did consider I never got and those days are now” she says and I But of singing in Gil Hodges’ Bowling Alley Lounge in Brooklyn singing love songs to guys arguing about spares strikes and frames That was another of her glamorous jobs en route to the big time Now there is little time for anything except work Dates? A few some with actor Mark Harmon with whom she denies any romantic attachment “His family and I are all friends We went to a party the together photographers shot me with Mark and everybody started talking It’s Robert nothing" She also sees Hays socially They go to dinner work on scripts together attend network functions as a pair They’re good friends too Donna is more concerned with getting to know Angie than her social life “I want to work on her wardrobe bring her back to where she’s been rather than where she is going Sometimes I don’t want her to look right She doesn’t fit into Brad’s world and she doesn’t want to She has a very specific background” Donna enjoys exploring all facets of the co-st- without worrying Except what my business manager will say or if he’ll give me permission to spend the money" she amends “In character and humor Angie and I are a lot alike She may be a bit more impulsive than I am I’ve learned to think before making a decision But then Angie knows how it’s going to turn out: she has the script" Donna teases “Actually I’ve never made a major decision impulsively I’m thoughtful in my career” Home is now an apartment in the San Fernando Valley It was not an easily determined decision “I came out here after Fever for four weeks to meet with people about other scripts There were more jobs here so I stayed I went back and forth to New York for six months kept chickening out about moving here Then Garry Marshall called me in He felt I was right for the Angie concept ‘I need an actress ’ he 1 told me “When we first talked I was afraid of a series contract of staying here I hadn’t heard any ideas that I wanted to do And I wasn’t available to accept anything because I had a film deal pending with someone else “Six months later the whole project came back and I considered it an omen I could really enjoy playing this character I’m a fatalist in an optimistic way I believe there is a reason for the why’s and the wherefore’s and if I feel it’s right I go with it” Angie obviously felt right and Donna’s with it for at least two more seasons There is no restive pull to stray this early into her success “I always believed in that Cinderella story and I saw the correlation with her and Angie right away except Angie doesn’t have the three wicked stepsisters and the pumpkin’s on stage 32 at Para- mount” Donna is reasonably certain that she could handle a fairy-talmarriage like e Angie’s get married at some point I don’t he’ll be trying shoes on me but know I’d handle the situation I know how to live with having a bit of an income all of a sudden But I don’t look at the men I go “I’ll if ar character She is also enjoying what success is doing to her life Specifically? “I am now able to make a contribution by doing benefits and telethons rather than sending a dollar In our business there are a lot of luxuries aside from the tangible ones You can make someone laugh and that’s wonderful “Don't misunderstand: I have no desire to be a Donna If I can do something for someone and if it’s worthwhile I will But I don’t want to shape an image of a halo for myself” For the moment the Fairy Godmother’s magic wand will do very nicely thank you Do-Goo- d |