Bill Macy was a struggling actor until he became Walter Findlay in Maude. But after six years as the henpecked husband he has suddenly found himself in demand for even bigger things

Now, seven years since Maude went off the air, Macy at 62 is enjoying an incredible run of success in major theatre productions. He appeared recently in the world premiere of Richard Nelson's play An American Comedy and received critical acclaim for his role as a ribald, opportunist theatrical agent/

"Maude was an incredible experience for me in more ways than one," he says. "Suddenly, people knew who Bill Macy was. All sorts of doors opened for me and I was offered top theatre roles."

The same, unfortunately, can't be said for Bill's domineering better half in the Maude series. Bea Arthur found things tough when the series finally folded. In 1981, three years after Maude ended, Bea was back on Broadway--for the first time in 15 years. She starred in the Woody Allen play The Floating Light Bulb, but the critics said the electricity she and the show generated wasn't all that illuminating. She hasn't appeared in anything of note since then.

Although they made a great team on-screen, the two stars of Maude didn't get on all that well. During the run of the series people would often refer to Macy as "Mr. Maude", which didn't please him, and others would approach him in the street and commiserate with him for having to put up with such a dragon. "I used to tell them that people like that really existed," says Macy.

There were times, too, when after a particularly hectic episode Bill would find himself taking his henpecked attitude home. "It was like living with two women--one at work and one at home."

One year, Bea blamed Macy because she didn't win an Emmy award for the series. She said a drunken outburst of his, complete with obscene gestures, at a Hollywood function was the cause of her not even being nominated-- in a year she was positive she'd win.

But though he didn't always get along with Bea, Bill Macy harbours no grudges. As he says, Maude brought him nothing but positive results.

Bill Macy was born William Macy Garber in Reverse, Massachusetts, but his parents moved to the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York, when he was still an infant.

Macy's father was a small-time businessman, who made hats and trousers and anything else which would earn a dollar. "The Great Depression probably made me a comedian out of necessity," says Macy. "I was just a child, I couldn't understand why everyone was so down. I did my best to make them laugh and it worked, so I just carried on."

Bill was conscripted into his father's business from an early age. "I did everything," he says, "cutting, clerking and delivering, but it wasn't what I wanted to do. I didn't really know what I wanted so I enlisted in the Army."

Out of the Army in 1946 at the age of 24, Bill did all sorts of odd jobs, from selling kitchen utensils door-to-door to working in a delicatessen. "Finally," he says, "I enrolled at the NYU drama department. I thought maybe my talent as a comedian could be put to some use."

After four years of performing on NYU productions he landed his first professional role, as a walk-on in the Brecht play The Jewish Wife. His pay was $1.50 a week. To live, he started driving taxis.

By 1966 Macy had appeared in New York theatre shows like American Hurrah and The Cannibals and he caught the eye of top CBS-TV producer Norman Lear, who sent him congratulatory notes. In 1969 Macy appeared in both the Broadway and London productions of Oh, Calcutta and then made his film debut in the movie version.

"You may think it's laughable," he says, "but I want to tell you it took guts for an old man like me to parade around naked with all those young studs and broads. The funny thing is, I couldn't tell the difference between the girls unless they had their clothes on." Bill Macy met his wife Samantha Harper while making the movie, so he has fond memories of it.

In 1972 Macy's agent told him that a man named Lear wanted him to go to Hollywood for a role in a new series called Maude. "I told him not to bother asking about a salary--just tell him I'm on my way!" says Macy. "I'd given up cabbying and I was battling to exist. It was so bad I was prepared to fight my cat for his food. If Lear hadn't come up with this offer, I might have starved to death."

And so it was off to Hollywood and six very profitable years of playing Walter Findlay. Instead of struggling to live on a couple of hundred dollars a month, Macy suddenly found himself earning thousands an episode.

When Maude ended, he found himself struggling again--struggling to decide which role to accept. "It was like a dream," he says. "I had always been second or third banana, now I was being given leading roles."

Just some of Macy's post-Maude projects include Neil Simon's Broadway play I Ought To Be In Pictures and the feature films The Jerk, The Serial, My Favorite Year and The Late Show, all of which showcased his comedic talents.