Bill Macy's Christmases have been much merrier since he assumed the role of Walter Findlay on the CBS weekly shouter "Maude." Or at least they are a lot happier than the one he celebrated in the early 1950's while appearing in his first professional acting role. It was a walk-on in the Brecht play "The Jewish Wife," and Macy was paid the magnificent sum of $1.50 a week.

He may make more money these days, but the hours aren't as good.

"I never worked so hard in my life as at this (show)," Macy says. "We get in about 8:30 a.m. and rarely get home before 8:30 p.m. Five days every week like that."

Our Christmas Hero refers to himself as a late bloomer. "I was making the rounds looking for my first job at 31," he recalls. All of that, this Yule season, is in the past for Macy, anyhow.

After he completed high school (there was a time when that was the norm rather than the exception), he found his education had suited him admirably for a role with the Army Engineers, starring at the time in World War II.

The Army sent him on the road to New Guinea and everybody knows that is not the perfect locale for anything, much less a private in the U.S. Army.

After his discharge, he apparently floated about Brooklyn and Manhattan. One day he passed a sign that read "ACT NOW." There was an arrow pointing up a flight of stairs. So Macy mounted the steps and found himself at an acting workshop. Of such quirks of fate are careers made.

Macy went to New York University under the GI bill and studied Shakespeare. Years later, the drifter-turned-actor found himself in the nude for the stage production of "Oh! Calcutta!" So what you see on the cover is sort of a reformed Macy.

A lifelong New Yorker, Macy has found he enjoys living on the zany West Coast. He reports that he now gets up at 6:30 a.m. and plays a few sets of tennis. "When I lived in New York," he says, "I didn't get to bed until 6:30 a.m."

Now adopting a healthy, outdoor attitude, Macy finds himself bicycling and taking part in varied athletic activities. Although a late bloomer, he has joined his new lifestyle with a lot of enthusiasm. And he needs it for his weekly bouts with old Maude.

As a personal note, I would like to extend my heartfelt best wishes to all for happy holiday season.

-JACK RYAN

 

*from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer TV Prevues, December 23-29, 1973