| Marie Shriver interviews Pia Zadora for CBS Morning news A few years ago, it seemed that everyone was making jokes about Pia Zadora. They said things like,’Without her millionaire husbands’ backy, she would be waiting on tables instead of starring in movies and singing.’ Lately however, Pia Zadora is clearly having the last laugh : she has been raking in rave reviews for her singing tour and her new record album. We are very happy to have her here this morning. She’s not singing, but she’s just sitting here. Good morning, Pia Good morning, Marie. I tell you, I wouldn’t have been waiting on tables for long, because I can’t boil an egg and I can’t serve a cup of coffee without spilling it. Well, let’s talk about these rave reviews, your voice being compared to some of the best in the business and people are saying , ’Pia Zadora getting terrific reviews? What happened?’ It’s very exciting! It’s a new area that I went into, the standards, and I started singing them seven or eight years ago when I was an opening act for Frank Sinatra. Her urged me to start singing them. Then I made the album, while I was pregnant and I was in Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, and I’m really doing something that I enjoy doing, and it’s credible for a change. For a while, I got stuck in a couple of louzy movies and I had that image of my husband behind me, and that really didn’t help me. And I had a funny name that Johnny Carson used as his answer to Rula Lenska. Let’s talk about that. You say you have the image of the husband behind you, that you’re doing something credible for a change. How difficult has it been to overcome all that bad publicity? Well see, Marie, it’s tough for me to say, because I started when I was seven years old , so I consider the past few years as kind of a holding period. I just wasn’t getting the right product and I knew that if I hung in there long enough, either I I would or I wouldn’t. You know, one or the other. I’m not a quiter, I wasn’t gonna quit before I knew it was the very end. But how did you think…When you made this album, did you think, ‘Gosh, people really aren’t gonna take this seriously, they’re not gonna look at it as a serious project, because they’ve been making jokes about me?’ Well, I always knew there was a chance of that. And that’s the chance I had to take. And when I first went on and started performing this new material, I knew, that either it would be the beginning of something, or the end. Because I couldn’t go on much longer just being a celebrity for celebrity’s sake. Did your voice change or were you always singing, performing like this and no one was payning attention? I was always singing, but before, I was an opening act, then I started doing films for a long time. But I always had a good voice and always did well on Broadway and got good reviews on Broadway. So, it was an instrument that I always had, but there wasn’t a market for this kind of music. Linda Ronstadt literally opened the door for the standards of the 40’s and 50’s. But you had the voice before people just started to pay attention now? They couldn’t have payed attention before because I wasn’t really using it. I had it, but it was my secret weapon let’s say. The timing wasn’t right. OK, so now you’re getting credibility for your singing. What will it take to get credibility for the films? That would take the right director, the right project and believe me, Marie, I may never do another film again. And if I do, I’m gonna do it with a Woody Allen or somebody that I know, that at least if I fall on my face, I fall on my face in style. You may never do another film? I may never. I’m gun shy. Right now I’m getting a lot of acceptance and I’m gonna stick with where the acceptance is coming from. You’re obviously very optimistic. How have you been able to keep optimistic? I’ve always been optimistic by nature. I just didn’t take it personally. I understood where it was coming from and just kept on working and working. Do you feel like you’re having the last laugh on everybody? I’m not having the last laugh, but I feel like nobody’s laughing at me anymore and it’s a terrific feeling. Did you feel like that before? No That people were laughing at you? Yeah. It was a tough feeling. It was degrading at times and my moral wasn’t at his highest point. And now it is? Yeah, I feel better about things. You turned the corner. Yeah. Let’s say I’m ahead of the game. And touring throughout the rest of the country for a couple of weeks? Yes, I’ll be in detroit this week, and then in philadelphia Sunday at the Academy of Music. I’ll be all over the place. And who knows, you know, Woody Allen may be watching right now and thinking about calling you up. I hope so! Woody, I’m here! Thank you very much. Thank you Marie. |
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