Show She’s Bossy He Hates It But the Ropers Are a Perfect TV Match By Isobel Sllden and Stanley Roper do not have made in heaven Far from it They bicker regularly on their ABC-Tseries The Ropers But Audra Llndley and Norman Fed who act out the Ropers' mid-liffantasies every Saturday night regard their own lives as idyllic Both came to their roles in The Ropers from a succession of failures As a result success Is ever so sweet “I've done so many shows which never ran past the first year that I almost feel insecure with security" says Norman "Every time I did a good shew live on TV in New York everyone would assure me I was on my way But I always ended up in the unemployment fine" The Ropers came about as a spin-of- f to use parlance for a show of another show Lind-le- y that's a Fell and played the landlord and his wife on one of ABCs original “jiggle" shows Three Company "We always knew there would be a spin-of- f because it happened with the English version" Audra says The English predecessor to Three's Company is titled Man about the House and is far more biting and explicit than the American adaptation Lindley claims she hated her character at first "because she was mean In the English version Stanley was a Milquetoast and his wife put him down all the time She was nasty Norman and I agreed ours should be a deep loving relationship He’ll give me a dig then hell laugh to the camera I believe we genuinely need each other Helen needs Stanley to boss He needs a slktfitly aggressive and bossy lady She wishes their sex life was better I think it's a common situation to which women can relate They understand why she wears the of nightgowns hoping she can i iciest reduce him" For his part Norman confides “I seem to have captured the American male Women are constantly whispering to me 'My husband is just like that'" His face shows he is secretly amused by the whole thing In his second marriage Norman Fell is in his own words "very romantic as opposed to Roper I showed my future wife Karen my favorite tree in Beverly Hills on our first date and later gave her an engagement ring under the same tree" His smile Is a little bashful as he shares this confidence He and Karen each had two children from previous marriages Karen's son and daughter Darren 15 and Lisa 16 Bve with them near the beach His daughters Mara 16 and Tracy 17 live with their mother In the San Fernando Valley Audra is twice divorced Her first husband was a physician with whom she Helen t e Fell and his real-lifwife Karen have a “very romantic" relationship e show-busine- hotel Silden frequently rrportr on the celebriIrene for Family Wevkiv ty Llndley twice divorced attends a party with daughter Elisabeth had two daughters three sons and a temporary hiatus from acting while she raised them She then married actor James Whitmore with whom she was appearing in The Magnlf Icenf Yankee at Los Angeles' Huntington Hartford Theatre where she was "discovered" for the Helen Roper role She and Whitmore recently divorced Now there's her work to fall back on and Audra has nothing but praise for her working relationship with Fell: "We are such good friends" Norman is more verbal about himself and Audra: "Ours is partially like a marriage which my wife Karen understands You know how you babble on with people you're not confident with? Audra and I never make small talk because we have no need for chatter” Their quiet demeanor on the set gave rise to backstage gossip that Lindley and Fell resented the greater prominence of Three k Company’s main stars — John Ritter Suzanne Somers and Jackie DeWitt Not so say Lindley and Fell "I miss John very much” admits Norman "We had a special relationship in our scenes” And Audra agrees "They've gotta let us have Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner together with Three's Company perhaps do a special Our stages are right next to each other so it wouldn't be much of a problem” She is gracious about sharing success though success has taken a long time to arrive Audra was bom in Los Angeles of theatrical parents and became a dropout to start her own career She did trick horseback-ridin- g as a movie stand-i- n and attended Max Reinhardt's acting workshop She had a brief contract at Warner Bros and then went to New York to pursue a theater career While raising those five children she did live TV a few Broadway plays and a five-yerun as Liz Matthews in the daytime soap opera Another World Her move to Hollywood coincided with her marriage to James Whitmore and during those years she appeared in a high-scho- ol succession of short lived series: Bridget Loves Bemie Fay and Doc "She wasn't exactly bowled over by Three's Company when she taped the pilot But the character of Helen Roper has grown on her Audra understands Helen: "She is unique she enjoys life Everything to her is fun” says Audra "She wears those awful caftans! And that awful plastic jewelry” Clearly Helen's taste is not Audra's But the role of Helen suits her: Tm having fun!" she says with a smile "I go to work with nice people 1 love to see every day” Normal Fell on the other hand rarely smiles when he talks about his life and work Bom in Philadelphia he did three years as an Air Force gunner and then graduated with a drama major from Temple University before studying with noted drama coach Stella Adler in New York He appeared on Broadway and In many series during the heyday of live TV "I started In the theater” Fell says "and it was my life I never thought of coming to Hollywood or doing films But once I started to do movies I liked them better Now 1 can see and appreciate what the producer and writer are doing He has appeared in more than 150 live TV plays and 200 additional shows filmed In Hollywood Earlier series were Dan August 87th Precinct Joe and Mabk The Tom Ewell Shout and Needles and Pins "I’ve done so many shows which never ran past the first year I learned to live year by year" Fell recalls "But this is a good year and I do less complaining now” Norman is like Stanley Roper only in that “I'm a poor handyman too But my lifestyles and tastes are totally different" he says 1 love elegance going to fine restaurants with my wife going to the Philharmonic” Those are the things that makes Norman Fell happy Both he and Lindley agree that they will stay with The Ropers indefinitely Norman wants it to run "until I am finan" and admits he doesn't cially secure know when that will be Audra says she doesn't mind if it goes on for years Helen and Stanley Roper may not have found the answer to marital bliss but Audra Lindley and Norman Fell have a happy professional marriage — and as The Ropers they appear to have ran ULd made a good match FAMILY WEEKLY Nommtwr 4 W9 S |