I have told this story here before, but in light of her death, I'm repeating myself.
The funniest interview, bar none, I ever did was with Cloris Leachman. She was touring in a one-woman show as Grandma Moses, and I had a half-hour with her on the phone. She immediately asked me if I wanted the G-rated interview or the X-rated one, and I told the X, of course. She shouted "Oh, goody" and launched into a standup routine that was indeed filthy and so funny it had me gasping for air at times. I wish I had a recording of it. I don't really think I got many questions in because she was very much like Robin Williams, one idea fed into another. Sometimes they built into a snowball. Other times, they just bounced all over the place.
We never really talked about Grandma Moses. Or Phyllis Lindstrom. Or Frau Blucher. And it didn't matter. I wrote a story. I used one or two cleaner quotes, though not in quote marks, and I walked away with a great memory.
