.••

You Don't Have
To Go Downtown to

mitzvah," notes Gertz, who landed the
role after winning a nationwide talent
search when she was 16.
To star in the sitcom, she had to move
into a Los Angeles rental apartment with
her mother, leaving her father and
brothers behind in Chicago.
"I remember going down to the pool
and seeing a guy with nipple rings," she
says of her subsequent culture shock.
Gertz studiously avoided the
Hollywood dating scene as she went on
to star in hit teen flicks such as The Lost
Boys. "I dabbled with a few actors," she
admits. "But I never felt really comfort-
able. ),
Instead, she married Jewish financier
Tony Ressler in 1987 and cut back her
acting career to raise their three sons.
Gertz says she declined a Friends role
to have her second child; she auditioned
for Gilda in between carpools to karate
and religious school at Wilshire
Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles.
Not long after she landed the Radner
biopic, the actress' elation gave way to
fear. "People started telling me how
much they loved Gilda, and I was scared
I wasn't going to do her justice," she
says.
During hours of research, Gertz
studied SNL tapes to perfect Radner
characters such as nerdy Lisa Loopner
and vulgar Roseanne Roseannadanna.
"Roseanne was the toughest because of
the accent, the gum-chewing and the
thumb-pointing," she says.
Donning Radner's frizzy wig and orig-
inal costume helped, though the outfit
had to be let out because the then-
bulimic comic was so thin.
Even more helpful was interviewing
Radner's widower, Gene Wilder, who

starred with his late wife in films such as
The Woman in Red.
"He told me the most amazing sto-
ries," recalls Gertz, who received an
Emmy nomination for her guest spots
on Ally McBeal. "Like, when journalists
asked why he didn't marry the pretty girl
from The Woman in Red (actress Kelly
LeBrock), he'd say, 'I did marry the pret-
ty girl.'
"He also told me that Gilda knew she
was going to die while she was recording
her autobiography, which made those
scenes very difficult for me.
"When I asked, 'Will you visit the
set?' he just kind of paused and said,
`No.' I think it would have been too
painful for him."
Playing the dying Radner was also
painful for Gertz, who often felt dizzy
during the shoot. "I'd go back to my
room at night and I really could not
sleep," she says.
"What was profoundly sad to me was
how desperately Gilda wanted a baby,
because I have three children of my
own. I was very aware that I am living
the happy ending she would have want-
ed."
The cast of the telefilm includes Tom
Rooney as Wilder, Ari Cohen as Lorne
Michaels, Eric Siegel as John Belushi,
Roz Michaels as Henrietta Radner
(Gilda's mother) and George Wyner as
Herman Radner (Gilda's father). E

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my sister," says Michael of the many
Gilda's Clubs dotting the globe.
The program speaks well, coo, of
her brother, so actively involved in
the clubs' development. "Gilda said it
had to be a happy place,' says
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see people laughing, smiling and
being happy."
And that would make Gilda happy,
says her brother, because she left
something behind other than the

jokes: a permanent testament to the
power of life and love.
It's always something — and 'Will
always be something to remember her
b),. "Somewhere," says her loving broth-
el-, "Gilda is smiling."
Michael Elkin

Gilda Radner's Greatest
Moments airs 8 p.m. on ABC.

Gilda's Big Night Out IV, Gilda s Club Metro Detroit's premiere fund-
raising event, features comedienne Wendy Liebman, a strolling supper
and a silent auction. Intakes place 6 p.m. Thursday, May 16, at
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tickets, call (248) 577-0800, Ext. 22. To learn about Gilda's Club, go to
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