At 93 years young and with an incredible career that's spanned more than 65 years, the amazing Hal Linden is showing no signs of slowing down. We were fortunate to have him stop by the LifeMinute Studios after giving us a little tour of the city he grew up in and the one that catapulted him to fame, playing the iconic New York City police precinct captain Barney Miller. An entertainer all his life, he started his career as a successful big band leader, singer, and clarinet player until the acting bug took over. He made his Broadway debut at age 26, followed by dozens more Broadway productions, a Tony Award, multiple Emmys and Golden Globe nominations for Barney Miller , and several feature films, his most recent, starring alongside Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Eddie Murphy in 2023's You People . This is a LifeMinute with the legendary Hal Linden.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hi, I'm Hal Linden, and you're watching Life Minute.
00:09At 93 years young, with an incredible career that spanned more than 65 years, the amazing
00:15Hal Linden shows no signs of slowing down.
00:19We were fortunate to have him stop by the Life Minute studios recently after giving
00:23us a little tour of the city he grew up in and the one that catapulted him to fame, playing
00:28the iconic New York City Police Precinct Captain Barney Miller.
00:32He started his career as a big band leader, horn player, and singer until the acting bug
00:37took hold.
00:38He made his Broadway debut at age 26.
00:40More than 67 years later, he was back again for a limited run alongside Mary Lou Henner
00:46in the comedy THE JOURNALS OF ADAM AND EVE, which hopes to return this fall.
00:50This is a Life Minute with the legendary Hal Linden.
00:54This is the entrance to the theater right here, it's the Loretto Theater, 18 Bleecker
00:58Street.
00:59If anyone would have told me I'd be walking the streets of New York with Barney Miller
01:03here, I wouldn't have believed you.
01:06Do you still live in the city?
01:08No, no, no.
01:09I was seduced by California to do Barney Miller, and I never came back.
01:18I went kicking and screaming.
01:20I was wondering, what, it's about New York, why are we going to California?
01:25But they wanted to do it there.
01:27But it looked a lot different, I'll tell you.
01:30New York changed, it went downhill real fast in my time, and has been coming up ever since.
01:37But the streets have changed, haven't they?
01:40And are constantly changing.
01:41It's young, it's really a hip area, if you will.
01:46You gotta change with it, otherwise you get left behind.
01:50Okay, we're walking.
01:51We're walking the Times Square, heading up to Lifeman.
01:55It's not quite Times Square yet, it's Seventh Avenue.
01:59You would know, New Yorkers, half of your life.
02:02Oh yeah, and this was the area.
02:06I lived up on the Upper West Side, I raised four children on the Upper West Side.
02:11They would go to school by themselves on a city bus, they knew how to get on, how to
02:16get off.
02:17Now we're approaching Times Square.
02:20The belly of the beast.
02:22Boy, this has changed.
02:24How so?
02:27Palace Theater.
02:29I think it's reopening, finally.
02:32They built a whole building on top of it.
02:35Didn't disturb the theater.
02:38I'm glad Broadway's back, and I'm glad you're back with it.
02:42All right, Hal Linden, in the house at Life Minute.
02:45What an honor to have you, thank you so much for coming.
02:48In poison.
02:49And walking all over the streets of New York.
02:51Yeah, it was nice though.
02:53So you're in the city for the Journals of Adam and Eve.
02:56Journals of Adam and Eve by Ed Weinberger.
02:58The story you know, most people do know.
03:02John Milton did Paradise Lost, he did the kind of poetic version of it, and Mark Twain
03:08did Eve's Diary, and that's the kind of country, folksy version of it.
03:13And Harnick and Bach did The Apple Tree, that's kind of the musical version of it.
03:17Which I was in, by the way.
03:19I didn't play Adam.
03:21And this is a more contemporary, up-to-date version, following all the
03:27problems that Adam and Eve have, that men and women have had ever since.
03:32The same, certainly more contemporary problems that we face.
03:37And how Adam and Eve faced it.
03:39I think the main difference between all those versions is that this is written
03:43by Ed Weinberger, who's a very funny man.
03:46Who knows funny.
03:48He's been writing jokes.
03:50He wrote jokes for Johnny Carson.
03:53Taxi, as well.
03:54Taxi.
03:55Which brings us to Mary Lou Henner, your co-star.
03:57Yes.
03:58But it wasn't his doing, right?
04:00Well, we did it originally, just a trial thing one weekend in California
04:07with Sally Struthers.
04:09And Sally was not available for this engagement.
04:12So we sat down, and I threw the name of Mary Lou Henner in.
04:16Which he should have thrown in, but he didn't.
04:19Mary Lou is doing it with us, and I suspect will be doing it with us
04:23into the future, whenever we get a shot.
04:26And you guys have great chemistry together.
04:27You've worked together before.
04:29We worked together in Vegas, the show Chicago.
04:33She played Roxy, I played Billy.
04:35It's a small community.
04:37It really is.
04:39You do run into the same people.
04:41Well, I run into the same people.
04:42I've been running into the same people for a long time.
04:45And this is not your first time on Broadway.
04:47Of course, your first performance in 1957, right?
04:51I got the job on a Saturday matinee.
04:55I went to the Schubert Theater, and Judy Holliday had to okay me
04:59to become the understudy to Sidney Chaplin, her leading man.
05:04I met with her, did a scene with her, and she okayed me.
05:08I went into rehearsal on Monday with a stage manager and a script.
05:15I had seen the show many times, because I was going with a girl
05:19in the chorus.
05:21And so I second-acted it a hundred times to pick her up.
05:25And many, many times, they'd come in early, and by then,
05:28the ushers knew me.
05:29They let me stand in the back.
05:30I watched the whole show.
05:31I saw the show many times.
05:33But I went into rehearsal on a Monday.
05:35On Saturday morning, the following Saturday morning,
05:38was our first understudy rehearsal.
05:40I was supposed to become an understudy.
05:42That means I would understudy the character that Sidney Chaplin
05:47played, but I would also be in the chorus.
05:50I had never been on Broadway before.
05:52I'd never set a foot on a Broadway stage.
05:55In the middle of it, the stage manager came out and said,
05:57you better keep going, because you're on today, kid.
06:00And after six days, I made my Broadway debut
06:04in the leading role of a musical opposite Judy Holliday.
06:08Amazing.
06:09And then there's several, several.
06:11And then you won a Tony for Rothschild.
06:13That took a little while to get to.
06:16Unfortunately, I developed the reputation
06:18of being such a good standby that I,
06:22for a decade, I stood by for everybody.
06:26Because they would hire, you know,
06:28a television star or a movie star,
06:30and then they'd say, oh, get Hal Linden to cover him.
06:34So I made a living that way.
06:35I raised four kids on the Upper West Side of Manhattan
06:40doing that and doing everything else
06:42you could do in show business.
06:45I did backers auditions.
06:47I did jingles.
06:48I did voiceovers.
06:49I did demonstration records.
06:51Everything you can do to make a living.
06:53And it kept me going until 57.
06:56And the Tony award was 71.
06:58So that's, I put my time in.
07:01You sure did.
07:02And then your big break, of course, Barney Miller.
07:09Barney Miller was weird.
07:11Danny Arnold, who created Barney Miller, saw the show.
07:14He never came backstage.
07:15He never sent me a note.
07:17I didn't know he existed.
07:18A year and a half later, they were
07:20planning a pilot for Barney Miller.
07:22In those days, you could do it.
07:24The network, you know, gives you a list
07:26of who they think should play which part.
07:28They have actors with good TV cues.
07:32Do you remember that term?
07:33Yeah.
07:34Yes.
07:35He was an individualist.
07:36He did his writing his own way.
07:39And he just said, no, no, no, no.
07:41I saw an actor on Broadway, and I'm
07:43going to use him.
07:44I think he'd be the best.
07:45And that was it.
07:46I never auditioned for it.
07:48All I know is I got a call to come
07:50and do a pilot.
07:51And the irony of it is that it's
07:53supposed to be filmed in New York.
07:55Well, it's about New York.
07:57It's about New York cops.
07:59He liked living in California, so
08:01we shot it in California.
08:03That brought me to California.
08:05I was seduced out west and never
08:08came back.
08:09Yep.
08:10Until now.
08:11Until now.
08:12Was that one of your favorites?
08:14Well, it was an interesting
08:16experience in television I've
08:18never had since, and I've done
08:20many, many television shows.
08:22We had this producer who was,
08:24his name was Danny Arnold.
08:26I just want to say his name
08:28again because I'll be forever
08:30indebted to him all my life.
08:32He would change lines at the last
08:34minute, or we'd rehearse a whole
08:36show, but we didn't have the last
08:38scene because he was still
08:40working on it.
08:41So we did about three or four
08:43shows with audiences the way a
08:45sitcom is normally done, and then
08:47all of a sudden we had a show
08:49where we didn't have the last
08:51scene.
08:52They had to cancel the audience
08:54because we couldn't do the whole
08:56show for them.
08:57We never had an audience again,
08:59which gave us the ability to, you
09:01know, we didn't have to perform
09:03it for that audience.
09:04We didn't have to.
09:05We could take our time and do
09:07each scene and take our time and
09:09think of it.
09:10So it was more like theater.
09:12It was more like a repertory
09:14company.
09:15We could work on a scene until we
09:17were happy.
09:18Okay, that's the way the scene
09:20should look, and then we go on to
09:22the next scene.
09:23And that's the way we did the
09:25show, which is a rarity in
09:27television.
09:28Our shows are done, you know,
09:30piecemeal, and they're not done
09:32in order.
09:33They're done for the convenience
09:35of the production.
09:36But here we were able to work on
09:38a scene, and until we thought
09:40we're now accomplishing that
09:42scene, let's do the next scene.
09:44But it was a very liberating
09:47experience from an actor's
09:49standpoint because he got to work
09:51on it.
09:52It was so funny.
09:53You were so funny in that, more
09:55comedy.
09:56I told you in the car I always
09:58watched it with my dad.
09:59It was our thing.
10:00Everyone who tells me about their
10:02experience with Barney Miller
10:04associates it with someone else.
10:06It was a bonding experience for
10:08me.
10:09I used to watch the show with my
10:11grandparents.
10:12I watched it with my kids or my
10:14siblings.
10:15Billy Eckstine's daughter told me
10:17that they used to watch it, Billy
10:19and his wife would be in the bed,
10:21and the kids would be all over
10:23the bed or in front of the bed or
10:25something.
10:26They all watched it as a family.
10:28I'd say the name Billy Eckstine,
10:30he was a big name when I was a,
10:32he was a terrific singer when I
10:34was a kid.
10:35So, you know, all kinds of
10:37people.
10:38It was a bonding experience.
10:40Amazing, iconic show.
10:41What do you like better, film,
10:43TV, or Broadway?
10:44Or concerts.
10:45I had a major concert career for
10:47many years.
10:48I've just stopped doing it
10:50recently.
10:51That is the most asked question,
10:53and I used to say, all of the
10:55above.
10:56And it was true.
10:57You know, in films you, you
10:59don't have to be a great actor
11:01to be a great singer.
11:03You know, in films you get to try
11:05it again if you didn't like that
11:07take.
11:08Like, can I do another take?
11:10You're working.
11:11You don't get that opportunity on
11:13the stage.
11:14You're live in front of an
11:16audience.
11:17But then again, a live theater
11:19has an audience.
11:20You get a reaction.
11:21Your existence depends on how that
11:23audience reacts.
11:24And doing concerts is even better
11:26because you're communicating with
11:28the audience directly.
11:29So I used to say, all of the
11:31above.
11:32Twenty years ago, I realized the
11:34real truth of what I enjoy most,
11:39rehearsal.
11:40Now, why rehearsal?
11:43Acting is by definition an
11:46executive art form.
11:49I execute other people's
11:51creativity.
11:52It took an Ed Weinberger to create
11:54these characters for me to
11:56execute.
11:58The writer tells you what to say
12:00and the director tells you
12:01specifically how to say it.
12:02And if you have to stand somewhere,
12:04the lighting guy tells you where
12:06to stand when you say it.
12:08So it's other people's
12:10creativity, except in rehearsal,
12:13when you have the opportunity to
12:15experiment.
12:16Let me try this.
12:17See what happens here.
12:18How does this feel?
12:20And that element of creativity, I
12:24think, makes rehearsals what I
12:26look most forward to.
12:28That's so interesting.
12:30And do a lot of changes happen
12:31from rehearsal?
12:32Always.
12:33Always.
12:34And it'll change when the cast
12:36changes, because the human
12:38beings that are playing these
12:40characters are different.
12:41They have different
12:42backgrounds, different
12:43histories, different
12:44experiences.
12:45And you're also just in
12:46You People, the movie with
12:48Julia Marie Dreyfuss, Eddie
12:50Murphy, Jonah Hill.
12:51Ezra!
12:52Hey.
12:53What are you up to these days?
12:54Got a girlfriend?
12:55No.
12:56But you don't like any
12:57p----?
12:59Hearing the word p---- come out
13:00of your mouth does make me
13:01question whether or not I like
13:02it.
13:03You didn't always want to be an
13:04actor.
13:05You were a professional
13:06musician.
13:07I never was an actor.
13:08Yeah, yeah.
13:09I was a professional musician
13:10from the age of 15.
13:11It was the end of World War II,
13:13and none of the musicians, the
13:16grown-up musicians, were home
13:18from the Army yet.
13:20So I got myself a summer job at
13:22the age of 15 as the band leader
13:24at a summer resort.
13:26I made myself boy singer.
13:28That started my singing career.
13:30And I was a musician right
13:32through high school, college,
13:33and into the Army.
13:34I never set foot on a stage
13:37until I was 24 years old.
13:39That's very late.
13:41Most people know they want to be
13:43in theater when they're
13:44teenagers or tweens, you know.
13:48But I kind of tripped into the
13:52theater.
13:53But once I got into it, I never
13:54left.
13:56I wouldn't answer the phone when
13:57it came through job office as a
13:59musician, because I just didn't
14:01want to get distracted from
14:03concentrating on the theater.
14:05And I really got caught up in
14:07theater.
14:08The concept of lyric, for
14:10instance.
14:11I mean, I knew all the pop tunes
14:13when I was a musician, but it
14:15never occurred to me to think
14:16about what the words were.
14:18But once you get into the
14:19theater, particularly the
14:21musical theater, the words are
14:25what drives the show, those
14:27lyrics.
14:29I suspect that that's really
14:31what made my career, was my
14:34concentration on that, because I
14:36had a nice voice.
14:37I still have a relatively nice
14:39voice, but it's nothing to write
14:41home about, you know.
14:43But I was always really specific
14:45about the lyrics.
14:47Because in theater, the lyrics
14:49is part of the show.
14:50That's what reveals the
14:52character.
14:54It's basically everything in a
14:55musical.
14:56So I suspect that was one of my
15:00strong points, let's put it this
15:02way, that got me ahead in the
15:04theater.
15:05And when did you realize that
15:06you said, oh, yeah, this is for
15:07me?
15:08Something seduced you.
15:09In the Army, we had a piano
15:11player in the band.
15:12We used to do the officers club
15:16on weekends, and the service
15:17club, and gigs like that.
15:20And he knew all my songs, all my
15:21keys.
15:23And he used to get borrowed by
15:24special services.
15:25There was a small unit that
15:27didn't have a resident piano
15:28player, but whenever they had to
15:30put on a show of any kind, they
15:32would borrow this piano player.
15:34And they did it a couple of
15:35times while I was there, and then
15:37one time he was borrowed again,
15:39and he turned to me and he said,
15:41do you want to sing a song in
15:43the show?
15:44I'll have him borrow you, too.
15:46I had not even thought about it.
15:48And let me tell you something.
15:49This is something that has
15:50bothered me for the rest of my
15:51life.
15:53He asks me.
15:55I didn't ask him.
15:57What if he didn't ask me?
15:59In any case, I went, I sang the
16:01song in the show, and then they
16:02asked me to do a couple of lines
16:03in the sketch, and coming to the
16:05very end of the sketch, and I
16:06got two lines or three lines at
16:08the end of the sketch, I said,
16:10all right, I'll try.
16:10I don't know.
16:11I'd never been, never done that.
16:13But to this day, I can remember
16:16physically what it felt like
16:17walking, making an entrance
16:19onto the stage.
16:21First of all, I was not at all
16:23nervous, which surprised me.
16:27The first thing I realized was
16:28how warm it was.
16:30The lights, it was like welcome
16:33to the stage, you know?
16:34It was, I was going to a nice,
16:36warm, welcoming place.
16:39And then, of course, I said my
16:41first line and got a laugh.
16:43To say something that makes
16:44people laugh, that's, that's the
16:48kind of power I like.
16:51All of a sudden, I was thinking
16:52about, ooh, this is nice.
16:53I'd like to do this for a
16:55little bit.
16:56My discharge from the Army
16:57coincided with the end of the
16:59big band era, the end of that
17:02kind of music and the beginning
17:04of rock and roll.
17:05Big band era had reached a state
17:07of musical complexity and
17:09interest, and it was, you know,
17:12it was going beyond Glenn Miller
17:15and Tommy Dorsey.
17:16It was now sort of Finnegan,
17:19and Stan Kenton, and really
17:21exciting, complex jazz.
17:26And all of a sudden, it was over
17:27and we were now down to two
17:30chords, and so I, I said, I
17:36don't know, maybe I'll try this
17:38theater thing and see what
17:39happens.
17:40Look what happened.
17:42Yeah.
17:42Perfect timing.
17:43Ninety-three or ninety-four?
17:44You're ninety-three, right?
17:45Or ninety-four?
17:46Ninety-three.
17:47Ninety-three.
17:48Okay.
17:48What's your secret?
17:49That's enough.
17:50Don't make me ninety-four you.
17:51Let me experience this here.
17:54What's your secret?
17:56Luck.
17:57Luck, I have to tell you.
17:58I'm not, it wasn't as if I was a,
18:02you know, physical, I never
18:05watched my diet.
18:06I can't claim any of that.
18:09Luck.
18:10My brother had my father's genes
18:12and I had my mother's genes.
18:13That's what happened.
18:14And my father lived to be 84.
18:17My brother lived to be almost 80.
18:19But I got my mother's genes and
18:21she was, she died at ninety-eight.
18:23So, it's roll of the dice.
18:26I got good genes and so far so
18:29good.
18:29God.
18:30Maybe I'll even make ninety-four.
18:32What would you say to your
18:33younger self?
18:34I think I could have been even
18:36better and bigger if I had more
18:38discipline.
18:39Although, if I had discipline,
18:42I probably would still be a
18:43musician.
18:45I probably would have spent my
18:46life in the first chair of a
18:48major symphony orchestra as a
18:50clarinet soloist.
18:51I was that good as a child, as a
18:54boy.
18:55If I had discipline, I would
18:56have practiced more.
18:58There was a lot I had to learn
18:59and I would have worked on it
19:01and I think I would have stuck
19:02with it if I was disciplined.
19:04But I wasn't.
19:05I was interested in meeting
19:06girls, I tell you.
19:08You did all right.
19:09Like I said before, you did
19:11all right.
19:11And you've done a lot for the
19:12Jewish community and you still
19:14do.
19:14I am.
19:15I am the representative, the
19:18celebrity representative, the
19:20spokesman for the Jewish
19:21National Fund.
19:22I've been that for like 30 years
19:24now, 28, something like that.
19:28And when you call to plant a
19:31tree in Israel, I answer the
19:34phone.
19:35Yes.
19:35You think it's easy?
19:37Getting up every morning, flying
19:38to New York just to answer the
19:39phone?
19:41Anyway, I'm still involved with
19:44them and I still support them.
19:47It's tough nowadays.
19:49It's really depressing to think
19:51about what's going on there now.
19:53I think that there will never be
19:55peace in the Middle East until
19:57the Palestinian population has a
19:59stake.
20:01So I've been an advocate for a
20:03two-state solution right from
20:05the beginning.
20:06Hopefully it'll come to pass.
20:08What else?
20:09So, yes, a legend here, sitting
20:11here.
20:12The city, the streets of New
20:13York City, how it's changed.
20:15That's always going to change.
20:16It's always going to change.
20:18You know, I do remember a lot.
20:20And I do remember walking
20:23through Times Square and trying
20:26to avoid Times, particularly on
20:28New Year's Eve, we would never
20:29go anywhere near Times Square.
20:31We'd rush off and take the bus on
20:348th Avenue up Broadway.
20:37It was always a meeting place
20:40because all the shows let out at
20:43approximately the same time, and
20:44you'd meet all your friends on
20:46that same bus.
20:47And that's where a lot of
20:49friendships developed.
20:50Yeah.
20:51It must have been like shell
20:52shock going to L.A., right?
20:53From living here for all those
20:55years.
20:56Yes.
20:57However, I must say, L.A. is a
21:00lot easier to deal with.
21:02You don't have to walk eight
21:03blocks because you can walk eight
21:05blocks quicker than a cab will
21:07take you eight blocks.
21:08So you get in your car and drive
21:10eight blocks, and there's a
21:11place to park.
21:12So it's a lot easier.
21:13It's just an easier place to
21:16survive.
21:17But it's always nice to get back
21:19to a little jolt from New York.
21:23Wakes you up.
21:24You got to take care of
21:24yourself, you know?
21:25You got to think about, wait a
21:27minute, where am I going today
21:28and how long is it going to take
21:29me to get there, you know?
21:31It's probably a lot more
21:32stressful, I would imagine.
21:35How do you deal with stress?
21:37What are your tips for dealing
21:38with stress?
21:39I face it.
21:40Whatever you have to do, you do,
21:41you know?
21:42I'm not very good on the stress,
21:43I'll be perfectly honest with
21:45you.
21:45I do a lot of cursing and
21:47whatnot in private, but I read.
21:51I do puzzles.
21:52I do a lot of puzzles because I
21:54think it keeps the mind going,
21:56you know?
21:58So I've always got something to
22:00do, you know?
22:01What's your best life advice?
22:03Be nice to people on the way.
22:05I can't tell you how many times
22:10I've lost my temper and said
22:11things and I just feel like,
22:15what, what, you know?
22:17So I do a lot of apologizing.
22:19Be a part of this life and don't
22:22step on anybody else's toes.
22:24There's plenty of room for
22:25everybody to walk.
22:27And don't give up.
22:29And don't give up.
22:31I will tell you my speech when I
22:37won my Tony Award, because that
22:40was 15 years on Broadway.
22:45Fifteen years really plugging
22:49and working and not giving up.
22:53And that was the essence of my
22:56speech, that I dedicated the
22:59award actually to all the
23:00understudies, because it's been
23:02a standby for so long.
23:04And I said to the understudies,
23:06keep the faith.
23:08It can happen.
23:09Just keep working and maybe it
23:11will happen for you, too.
23:13Beautiful.
23:14Thank you so much, Al.
23:15It's been an honor and a
23:16pleasure to spend the afternoon
23:18with you.
23:19Thank you so much.
23:20Thank you, I appreciate it.
23:23To hear more of this interview,
23:24visit our podcast, Life Minute
23:25TV on iTunes and all streaming
23:28podcast platforms.