Tommy Cole

In his three-and-a-half-hour interview, Tommy Cole speaks about his early introduction to the entertainment industry as a child, singing and playing the accordion on television and radio shows. He speaks about his casting as one of the Mouseketeers (as one of the main singers) on the original Mickey Mouse Club in the 1950s. He describes the audition process, learning to dance for the show, bridging the gap as an adolescent when his voice changed (with his contract in jeopardy), describes a typical workday, relates a story about forgetting a song and creating one out of thin air (a hit in dailies, but unaired), and speaks about his co-stars on the series as well as how the show was ever under the watchful eye of Walt Disney. He speaks about his transition into acting following The Mickey Mouse Club in some series television, in bit parts, and performing as a singer on tour. He relates how he got started in his second career as a make-up artist, starting in the mid-1960s, on several daytime programs. He looks back on such series as Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, while working as a staff makeup artist at NBC for seven years from the late 1960s. He recalls his freelance work on the pilot of Charlie's Angels and The Captain and Tennille Show. He notes that he made his living from his beauty work with such personalities as Raquel Welch and Barbara Walters, but that his awards were usually given to his work in old age or other kinds of prosthetic work (Emmy-nominated for Masquerade Party, in which celebrities were disguised; and his Emmy win for the old-age makeup-heavy Backstairs at the White House). He acknowledges being given the moniker "the Sitcom King," since he worked prolifically on sitcoms, starting with Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. He speaks in some detail on the popular 1980s and '90s series Designing Women, Perfect Strangers, Wings, and Evening Shade. For Designing Women, he describes the makeup he did for three of the four leads: Delta Burke, Jean Smart, and Annie Potts. For Perfect Strangers, he speaks about taking over from makeup artist Bob Ryan. For Wings, he discusses his impressions of several actors in the ensemble. Regarding Evening Shade, he describes working with Marilu Henner and Burt Reynolds (and Reynolds' relationship with the crew). He comments on his "third career" in union politics and as a governor of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Karen Herman conducted the interview on November 1, 2008 in Sherman Oaks, CA.