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Lovely Rita
Comedienne Rita Rudner feeds the laugh meter with her clever take on contemporary society.
ALICE BURDICK SCHWEIGER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
en comedienne Rita Rud-
ner stands in front of a mi-
crophone on stage, she likes
to talk about male-female
relationships. But when she stands in
front of a predominately Jewish audience,
her focus shifts slightly.
"I have material about growing up in
a Jewish household that I only use at
functions where the audience is mostly
Jewish," says Rudner, who will be the
special guest entertainer for the State of
Israel Bonds Jerusalem 3000 Celebra-
tion benefit on Sunday, Sept. 8, at the
Palace of Auburn Hills. But she "doesn't
want to give anything away," so it re-
mains a secret until then.
Well, Rudner has nothing to worry
about. Known for her clever, deadpan wit,
Rudner is soft-spoken and doesn't go for
the easy laugh. Instead, she often makes
herself the target of her dry humor.
But unfortunately, not everything in
Rudner's life has been funny. When Rud-
ner, an only child, was 13, her mother
died of cancer. "It was very hard," she
says. "I created an imaginary mother in
my act who is very funny, although my
real mother was very funny as well."
Instead of aspiring to be a comedienne
growing up, she dreamed of being a fa-
mous dancer. She started taking ballet
lessons when she was 4 years old and,
later, performed in a local ballet com-
pany and danced in summer stock pro-
ductions.
As a child, Rudner claims to have been
very quiet. "I might have been funny if
I talked," she laughs. "When you are a
dancer, you are not encouraged to talk a
lot."
Rudner was so shy that when refer-
ring to her childhood friends, she once
said, "When we played doctor, the other
kids would make me the anesthesiolo-
gist."
After graduating from high school at
u) age 15, Rudner moved to the Big Apple,
knowing that New York was the best
LU
' place to pursue a career as a profession-
cr) al dancer. It didn't take long — three
'
months to be exact — before she landed
a part in the touring company of Zorba
1-1-i
1-- the Greek, starring Chita Rivera.
5 "I was very lucky," she admits. "When I returned
cc
1— from the tour, I was offered a role on Broadway in
LU
Promises, Promises."
After a string of successful Broadway hits, including
c'
u..1
= Sondheim's Follies, Rudner decided to take a crack at
I-
comedy. "I started doing stand-up while I was still in
i aonuo l d b get
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to piano
and would
out
and clubs to try out my act. I loved it and decided to give
8 8
ar
Rudner's first national exposure
came when she was invited to be a guest
on "Late Night with David Letterman."
"It was nerve-wracking, but it gave
me a sense of accomplishment to cre-
ate my own five minutes of material,"
reveals Rudner, who has since become
a regular on Letterman's "Late Show"
and Jay Leno's "Tonight Show." "Even
to this day when I go on these shows, I
get very nervous."
What is less frenetic for her, she says,
is doing her HBO specials. "I find them
much more relaxing and a less corn-
bative atmosphere," says Rudner,
whose most recent special was "Rita
Rudner: Married Without Children."
For years, much of her stand-up rou-
tine was based on her own dating ex-
periences; but when she married
British writer/producer Martin
Bergman eight years ago, her materi-
al changed to reflect her new status. In
fact, Rudner prides herself on writing
all of her own material.
"I know when a subject is right for
me," explains Rudner. "People ap-
proach me with ideas, but I never use
them because they don't fit who I am."
Besides performing her stand-up act,
Rudner is busy collaborating with her
husband on film projects. In 1992, Rud-
ner made her film debut alongside
Emma Thompson and Kenneth
Branagh in Peter's Friends, which she
co-wrote with Bergman. Her perfor-
mance earned her an American Com-
edy Award nomination for the Funniest
Comedy Actress of the Year. In June,
their A Weekend in the Country aired
on the USA Network. In addition, she's
been a best-selling author twice, with
Naked Beneath My Clothes and Rita
Rudner's Guide to Men.
Rita Rudner performs on the road about 12 weeks a year.
The rest of the time, she writes with her husband,
Martin Bergman, in Hollywood.
up dancing and make a career out of comedy."
So to hone her craft, she diligently began watching
tapes and listening to albums of some of the country's
greatest comedians, including Jack Benny and Woody
Allen.
What prompted the change? "I'm not sure," she chuck-
les. "I was in therapy, but I forgot to find out."
Immediately following her Detroit
engagement, Rudner is off to hometown
Miami and then to St. Martin to start
filming Speed 2, where she will play a
cruise director and star with Sandra
Bullock on an out-of-control ship.
But true to form, Rudner won't re-
veal the ending. "Again, I don't want to
give anything away. People will just
have to wait and find out what happens."
—
la The Metropolitan Detroit State of Israel Bonds pre
sents a Jerusalem 3000 Celebration, held in coopera-
tion with metro Detroit-area synagogues and temples,
on Sunday, Sept. 8, at the Palace of Auburn Hills. 5:30
p.m. cocktails and buffet dinner; 7:15 p.m. show; and
9 p.m. dessert afterglow. Tickets are $100 per person
and a 1996 family purchase of $100 or more of State
of Israel Bonds. RSVP by Sept. 2. Call (810) 352.-6555.
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