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time.

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Time.

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welcome

to

Tea

Time.

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know

what

time

that

is?

It's

Ms.

Liz

coming

with

a

new

story

and

some

words

and

today

I

have

the

incredible

Catherine

M.K.

mitchell

in

the

house

and

she's

going

to

be

spilling

a

different

type

of

tea

with

going

to

be

talking

about

uneducated

yet

overcoming

and

hardships.

So

that's

the

tea

that

we'll

be

sharing

today

on

Tea

Time

with

Miss

Liz.

We

are

nine

shows

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shut

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Miss

Liz's

Tea

Time.

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channel,

ring

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Liz's

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check

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over

400

different

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at

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time

in

the

morning,

afternoon,

evening,

in

your

car,

at

home,

at

an

event.

But

don't

tell

anybody

I

said

that,

all

of

that

good

stuff

stuff.

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check

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Ms.

Liz.

I

have

some

incredible

guests

from

all

walks

of

life

from

all

different

countries

around

the

globe.

So

today

we

got

Catherine

in

the

house.

But

before

we

get

started

we're

going

to

get

the

disclaimer

going.

We're

going

to

get

her

bio

out

here

and

then

we're

going

to

get

Catherine

in

here

and

we're

going

to

spill

some

tea

together

and

have

some

fun.

We're

going

to

do

some

twisted

tea

too.

So

we're

going

to

add

some

little

giggles

in

there.

So

get

ready

for

that

cup

of

tea

coming.

Disclaimer

for

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Liz's

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Time

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Show.

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Liz

myself

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going

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using

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grant

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Time

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Liz

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Time

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the

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through

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booking

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Liz

gmail.com

Moving

forward,

should

you

choose

to

voluntarily

participate

in

today's

show

in

any

Aspect,

I

myself,

Ms.

Liz

welcomes

you

and

should

you

decide

that

the

show

is

not

made

for

you

at

this

time,

I

respect

those

wishes

and

we'll

see

you

at

a

later

show

at

a

later

date

and

time

again.

All

regular

tea

times

are

done

on

the

Thursday,

3pm

and

7pm

Eastern

Standard

Time.

If

you

see

a

tea

time

on

a

Monday,

Tuesday,

Wednesday

and

Friday,

it

is

a

rescheduled

tea

time,

surprise

tea

time

or

special

tea

time.

So

today

is

a

regular

tea

time.

So

today

we

have

Catherine

M.K.

mitchell.

She

is

a

remarkable

storyteller

whose

life

emphasizes

resilience

and

courage.

Born

in

Nazi

occupied

Hungary,

Hungaria

Hungaria.

She

forced

the

harrowing

challenges

of

war,

the

ill

fated

SS

Exador

and

the

grip

of

Communism.

Ultimately

fleeing

her

homeland

after

the

Russian

invasion

curled

the

Hungarian

Resolution

revolution.

Her

journey

as

a

ref

refugee

led

her

to

New

York

where

she

transformed

adversity

into

opportunity

care,

carving

out

a

successful

career

in

Hollywood

as

an

agent

writer

and

story

analyst

and

earning

her

place

in

the

Writers

Guild

of

America's

West.

Catherine's

creativity

pursuits

extended

to

her

acclaimed

novels

including

Yours

Forever,

maybe,

Wasted

maybe

and

Shelby's

Way

maybe,

which

captured

the

spirit

of

adventures

and

romance.

A

passionate

speaker,

she

lectures

on

the

Newkins

of

screenwriting

versus

narrative

writing,

inspiring

others

to

embrace

authenticity

and

purpose

in

their

lives.

Now

residing

in

Florida,

Catherine

continues

to

motivate

audiences

through

her

writing

and

public

speaking.

Her

latest

memoir,

From

Buddha

Budapest

to

Hollywood,

Searching

for

the

Promised

Land,

chronicles

her

extraordinary

life

journey

and

her

triumph

against

society's

challenge.

With

recognition,

with

recognization

from

esteemed

platforms

such

as

the

Orlando

Orlando

Senate

and

Goodreads,

Catherine

Mc

M.K.

mitchell's

story

is

a

testament

to

the

power

of

preservance

and

the

transformative

nature

of

storytelling.

Let

me

get

Catherine

in

here

and

let

me

spill

some

tea

with

her.

So

welcome

Catherine.

Hello,

here

I

am.

It's

nice

to

have

you

here.

So

Catherine,

I'm

going

to

take

you

back

since

you've

checked

out

a

couple

of

Miss

Liz's

tea

times.

I'm

going

to

find

out

who

Catherine

was

as

a

little

girl.

And

who's

Catherine

now?

I

was

thinking

about

that

question

because

you

never.

It's

not

a

regular

question

about

thinking

of

what

you

used

to

be

way

back

when.

And

I

didn't

have

of

course,

any

idea

of

who

I

was

actually,

I

still

don't.

That's

a

little

joke.

As

a

child

I

was

thrown

about

through

by

history

I

was

born

during

the

World

War.

I

was.

There

was

horrible

things

happening

all

around

me.

I

was

protected

by

my

family.

But

then

in

being

protected,

we

ended

up

on

the

Exodus,

which

was

a

ship

that

was

almost

sunk

by

the

British

at

the

time

because

it

was

a

refugee

ship.

And

then

I

was

back

in

Hungary

as

a

child.

So

after

two

years

of

going

through

war

and

a

bad

ship,

a

good

ship,

but

a

bad

moment,

I

still

didn't

know

who

I

was.

And

when

I

returned

to

Hungary,

I

was

still

only

about

six.

And

I

didn't

speak

Hungarian

because

I

was

surrounded

by

other

orphan

kids

who

from

other

countries.

And

so

we

all

spoke

various

languages

to

get

along.

And

then

I

had

to

relearn

Hungarian.

And

it

was.

I

was

about

almost

nine

when

I

found

myself

in

elementary

school

and

found

my

thinking

and

found

my

way

of

communicating

with

other

children

and

actually

became

class

leader.

So

it

went

from

one

end

of

the

pendulum

to

the

other.

But

I

was

always

looking

for

a

solution

for

when

I

was

unhappy

and

when

things

were

empty

or

sad,

I

didn't

just

sit

down

and

said,

oh,

things

are

empty

and

sad.

I

was

trying

to

make

myself

happy.

And

that's

what

I

got

from

your

story

when

I

did

a

little

bit

of

homework

on

you,

Catherine,

is

you

reminded

me

a

lot

of

my

Oma

because

she

always

said,

you

know,

you

got

to

find

the

positive,

even

in

the

hard

stuff.

Well,

I

have

another

saying.

Not

as

good

as

hers,

but

a

bad

day

can

be

a

bad

day

and

you

get

over

it

and

you

forget

about

it.

But

a

bad

life,

you

are

responsible

for

that.

You

have

to

make

sure

that

your

life

is

not

a

bad

life.

It's

more

than

one

day.

It

is

a

Life.

And

now,

80

some

years

later,

I

can

say

that

with

all

the

hardship

that

I

had

endured,

I

always

came

out

going

one

step

further.

So

I

was

always

gaining

something

at

the

risk

of

losing

a

lot.

Well,

that's

how

life

is,

right?

We

have

to

lose

in

order

to

gain.

That's

what

I

found.

But

this

is

stuff

that

nobody

teaches

you.

This

is

stuff

that

if

somebody

tries

to

teach

you,

you

probably

don't

believe

it

until

you

are

living

it.

Well.

And

I

think

that's

where

we

have

to

start

sharing

our

stories,

right?

So

we

can

show

that

we've

lived

through

it

and

this

is

where

we

are

now.

We

had

our

bumps

and

we

fell

down

and,

you

know,

we

got

back

up.

Yes.

And

that's

what

we

empower

other

people.

By

sharing

our

stories

and

that

it's

okay

to

fail,

because

if

you

don't

fail,

you

don't

learn.

Yeah.

So,

Catherine,

I

want

to

get

into

your

tea

because

I

think

your

tea

is

really

incredible

because

you

said

uneducated

yet,

and

I

like

the

word

yet.

And

then

you

have

overcoming

hardships.

I

love

when

people

give

me

twisted

teas.

Because

it

goes

down

a

different

rabbit

hole,

right?

I

think

so,

yes.

But

that's

what

creates.

It

cannot

be

linear.

That's

too

simple.

And

with

the

uneducated.

I

never

went

to

college

like

normal

kids

do.

It

was

there,

but

then

when

we

arrived

in

the

United

States

and

we

were

refugees

and

I

learned

English

faster

than

my

mother,

so

I

became

head

of

household,

which

meant

I

had

to

work.

I

was

at

the

job

because

I

could

get

a

job.

And

little

by

little,

time

passed

and

I

never

got

to

college.

So

as

I

needed

learning,

when

I

was

involved

with

writing,

I

knew

that

I

could

do

the

writing,

but

I

didn't

know

what

it

entailed

until

I

went

to

school

and

learned

it.

So

I

took

courses

on

everything

I

did.

When

I

went

to

work

in

the

law

office,

I

knew

I

could

handle

a

transcriber.

But

to

transcribe

from

the

ear

to

the

fingers

to

the

typewriter,

that's

very

old.

We

don't

do

that

anymore.

But

I

didn't.

We

need

this.

Bruno's

typewriters

back.

I

love

the

sound

of

a

typewriter.

Yeah,

well,

that's.

You

are

old

fashioned.

Let's

admit

I'm

an

old

soul.

But

that

too.

So

I

went

to

law

school.

Not

law

school,

but

I

took

paralegal

courses

at

college.

So

I

took

a

lot

of

courses

until

now.

It

turned

out

that

I

loved

law,

but

it

turned

out

that

I

loved

writing

more.

And

once

I

realized

that

I

can

invest

as

much

time

in

writing

as

I

would

invest

in

going

to

law

school

part

time

or

at

night

while

I'm

raising

a

child,

which

I

also

was

doing.

So

I

had

all

this

to

sort

out,

but

I

always

went

to

classes

and

I

always

studied

something.

And

when

I

was

writing,

I

learned

about

writing

what

makes

a

good

screenplay.

And

everything

has

rules,

everything

has

basis

on

which

you

can

put

your

talent.

So

your

talent

of,

oh,

I

can

write

a

wonderful

book.

Maybe

I

can,

maybe

I

can't.

But

if

I

know

the

form

that

is

required

into

which

my

whole

storytelling

should

fit,

I'm

way

ahead

of

the

game.

So

I

never

was

fully

educated,

but

I

did

take

a

lot,

a

lot

of

college

courses.

You

know,

and

being

uneducated

and

re.

Educating

ourselves

in

our

own

different

ways.

Right.

I

think

that's.

We

don't

talk

about

that

in

society.

You

know,

how

we

educate

ourselves

through

life

lessons,

life

experiences.

Well,

one

interesting

thing

was

when

I

was

pregnant

with

my

daughter,

I

had

realized

that

I

don't

know

how

to

be

a

parent.

How

would

I

know

how

to

be

a

parent?

Like,

everybody

is

either

dead

or

unfunctional.

And

I

wanted

to

be

a

perfect

parent.

So

I

read

every

book

I

could

find

on

the

subject,

and

I

realized

that

I

cannot

make

her

in

my

own

image

as

it

used

to

be

the

style

in

those

days,

parents

would

say,

oh,

my

own

image.

If

it's

good

enough

for

me,

it's

good

enough

for

her.

I

said

to

myself

that

this

child

has

to

learn

to

think.

So

because

I

learned,

my

brother

taught

me

logic

and

thinking,

and

that's

what

got

me

through

everything.

And

I

said,

that's

all.

I

can

give

my

child

the

form

of

think

for

yourself

and

move

forward

on

your

own

thinking.

And

to

this

day.

And

now

she's

a

grown

woman.

Of

course,

I'm

very

proud

of

her

that

she

didn't

do

anything

I

wanted

her

to

do.

But

whatever

she

did

do,

she

did

well.

So

that's

where

the

thinking

worked.

But,

Katherine,

you

know,

we

hear

this.

The

perfect

parent,

right?

What

is

a

perfect

parent?

I

figured

that

out,

too.

It

takes

two

people

to

be

a

perfect

parent.

I

grew

up

without

a

father

who

didn't

come

back

from

the

war,

and

that

left

its

sign

forever

on

me.

I

don't

have.

I

didn't

actualize,

which

is

a

hardwood.

I

didn't

reach

my

absolute

ability

pinnacle.

I

never

pinnacled

what

happens

when

both

parents

are

there.

You

have

a

balance

of

learning

and

losing

and

winning.

And

the

two

of

them

together

make

you

a

whole

person

with

many

points

of

views.

I

never

had

that,

so

I

had

to

work

it

myself.

And

so

it

takes

two

to

be

a

good

parent.

Although

I

know

a

lot

of

us

were

one

and

tried

to

be

both.

And

you

are

not

both.

And

my

own

daughter,

who

grew

up

after

a

divorce,

grew

up

with

just

me,

took

a

lot

of

learning

from

others.

And

I

wouldn't

have

approved

that.

Now,

had

it

been

a

learning

inside

the

household

between

husband

and

wife

and

child

that

was

approvable.

But

for

my

child

to

go

and

take

information

from

people

that

I

didn't

trust

and

didn't

believe

in,

that

would

be

wrong

information.

But

I

couldn't

fight

it

because

I

couldn't

lock

her

in

a

cage.

So

she

was

exposed

to

a

great

many

things

that

I

would

have

not

allowed

it

to

happen.

So

that.

Does

that

answer

the

question?

I.

It

does.

It

does.

You

know,

it's

okay

you're

doing

good.

You're

doing

amazing.

You

know,

we.

There's

no

perfect

right

on

tea

time,

we

just

spill

it

and

we

have

fun.

I

want

to

talk

about

the

word

overcoming

for

you,

Catherine.

When

you

hear

that

word

overcoming,

what

have

you

overcome?

Okay.

If

I

go

back

to

what

kind

of

little

girl

I

was,

I

had

to

overcome

the

language

issue.

So

by

the

age

of

six,

I

would

know

who

I

was

as

far

as

the

language

was

concerned.

I

went

out

for

the

Hungarian

Opera

Children's

Corps

Ballet,

where

I

was

probably

the

best

candidate

to

join

the

children's

corps

when

they

found

out

that

I

had

a

heart

condition

that

wouldn't

allow

me

to

live

to

be

older

than

30.

But

I

could

have

been

the

greatest

ballerina

ever.

Well,

I

had

to

overcome

the

pain

of

that.

And

my

first

step

was

always.

I

went

silent.

I

stopped

talking

to

anybody

for

months

before

I

got

my

footing.

So

that

was

an

overcome.

And

the

next

overcome

was

also

in

the

physical,

where

I

walked

into

the

potential

of

being

a

gymnast.

And

it

really

appealed

to

me,

and

it

wouldn't

have

been

so

hard

on

my

heart.

But

being

an

athlete,

you

overcome

every

day.

You're

always,

always

bettering

yourself.

And

bettering

would

mean

overcoming

not

being

as

bad

as

you

were

yesterday

and

to

be,

you

know,

top

of

the

country

at

the

time.

For

a

while,

I

was

nationally

ranked.

It

was

an

achievement

unto

itself.

And

that

was

overcoming

everything

that

had

hurt

me

for

the

previous

14

years.

And

I

was

a

hero

for

that

time

of

my

life.

And

after

that,

the

rest

was

coming

to

this

country

that

was

overcoming

something

every

day,

because

not

only

the

language,

the

lifestyle,

the

attitudes,

the

abuse

people.

It's

human

nature

to

abuse

somebody

who

is

weaker

than

you

are.

And

I

was,

and

my

mother

was,

and

we

had

a

lot

of

problems

that

we

had

to

live

with

and

make

sure

it

doesn't

happen

again.

And

that's

this

form

of

overcoming.

And

to

this

day,

now

that

I'm

an

old

lady,

I

am

overcoming

the

fear

of

being

an

old

lady

and

handling

it

as

if

I

were

not

an

old

lady

and

wearing

red

to

make

myself

feel

like

not

an

old

lady.

And

a

little

bit

this,

a

little

bit

of

that

is

showing

that

I

am

not

giving

up.

I'm

not

just

going

to

lay

down

and

die.

Well,

I

think,

Catherine,

like,

the

overcoming

goes

into

the

hardship,

right?

And

we're

going

to

spill

into

the

hardship

now,

because

you

gave

me

the

word

hardship

for

your

A.

And

the

A

is

the

future,

right?

So

the

hardship

in

the

future,

what

hardships

do

you

see

in

the

future

for

Yourself,

Catherine.

The

big

hardship

is

trying

to

make

your

way

as

a

writer.

And

I

don't

mean

hardship,

financial

hardship,

because

I've

retired

now

and

I

am

okay,

I

don't

have

to

worry

about

my

bread

and

butter

tomorrow.

But

the

way

the

industry

has

changed

during

the

many

decades

as

far

as

writers

and

merit

and

connections

are

concerned

are

very

ugly.

And

there's

a

lot

of

25

year

old

or

22

year

old

out

of

school

people

who

have

just

passed

their

English

test

and

they

are

sitting

in

judgment

of

my

work.

And

I

had

written

one

screenplay

that

was

actually

optioned

by

a

film

company

who

was

going

to

do

it.

And

the

first

thing,

the

woman

who

optioned

it,

who

loved

it,

right?

First

thing

she

did,

she

called

UCLA

and

got

herself

a

student

a

fashion

of

cinema

school

to

redo

the

dialogue.

Well,

hello,

those

characters

are

my

characters.

There

is

no

20

year

old

person

that

can

fix

the

dialogue

of

a

40

year

old

person

because

that's

two

different

lives

and

worlds

and

we

don't

speak

the

same

language.

So

once

they

started

to

do

that,

I

knew

that

picture

is

never

going

to

be

because

they

ruined

the

whole

basics.

Because

language

is

a

tool

and

language

does

represent

each

person

and

the

way

each

person

uses

the

language

and

the

words

and

the

enunciations

represents

that

person

clearly

and

makes

that

person

identifiable.

That's

better

than

represent.

So

that's

where

I

say

that

it

is

a

very

negative

world

out

there.

You

can't

just

send

a

book

to

somebody

and

will

she

or

read

it

or

not.

And

10

of

them

have

to

read

before

they

decide

who

is

going

to

represent

it,

if

they're

going

to

represent

it,

during

which

time

you

get

terribly

old.

So

that's

upsetting

to

me

and

I

cannot

change

it.

I

think

I'm

a

very

good

writer.

I

think

I

have

a

knower

of

persons.

So

I

can

create

characters

actually

based

on

persons

I

am

meeting

every

day

because

that

gives

me

the

texture

and

I

can

make

that

person

work

inside

my

storyline.

So

I

don't

like

it

when

people

mess

around

with

my

storyline

without

cause.

You

know,

I

like

opinions

and

comments

very

much.

I

like

this

book,

my

book

From

Budapest

to

Hollywood

that's

gotten

very

good

comments

about

the

language,

the

writing,

the

writing

itself.

And

it

makes

me

proud

to

know

that

people

who

are

educated

and

who

did

finish

college

and

who

passed

all

the

English

courses

in

their

lives

consider

it

good

writing

and

congratulate

me

on

the

ease

of

reading

it.

So

yes,

that's

an

achievement

and

I'm

very

proud

of

it

and

I'm

not

letting

go

Nobody

can

take

that

away

from

me.

I

like

the

fight

in

you,

girl.

Because

you

know,

you're

fighting

for

the

flavor

in

your

story.

And

when

people

come

in

and

say,

oh

well,

this

can

be

changed

and

that

can

be

changed,

well,

you

never

lived

it.

So

how

dare

you

come

in

and

say,

let's

change

this

flavor.

It's

like

somebody

coming

in

and

taking

your

tea

and

saying,

no,

you

can't

put

milk

and

sugar

in

your

tea

because

that's

not

the

way

tea

is

made.

You

know,

you

come

in

and

you

just

say,

you

know

what?

No,

I'm,

I'll

add

the

spice

if

I

want

to

add

the

spice.

And

I

think

it's

deeply

important

that

we

stop

editing

and

stop

fixing

the

storyline.

You

know,

this

is

what

happened

and

this

is

the

truth.

It's

hard

and

it's

rough

sometimes

and

it

needs

to

be

there.

And

you're

showing

in

your

writing

that

you,

you're

writing

from

a

different

language

as

well

because

you

had

the

Hungarian

language

and

you're

writing

in

English.

So

that's

an

over

overcoming,

right?

That's.

That

was

a

big

overcoming

to,

to

determine

that.

And,

and

that

was

exactly

my

thinking

again.

You

know,

think.

I

like

thinking.

You

like

thinking.

I,

I

do

too.

Thinking

feels

good.

Yeah.

But

I

know

that

when

I

get.

Was

in,

in

New

York

a

couple

of

three

years

already,

I

still

spoke

very

poor

English

and

probably

pronounce

it

terribly

as

well.

But

I

told

myself

that

I

was

a

good

writer

in

Hungarian

because

I

wrote

papers

for

school

and

I

was

celebrated

for

the

fine

writing.

And

I

said,

if

I

could

do

it

in

Hungarian,

why

can't

I

do

it

in

English?

And

that's

what

started

me

on

paying

attention.

It

also

caused

me

to

lose

my

other

languages

because

I

was

concentrating

so

hard

on

becoming

good

at

English

that

I

couldn't

practice

the

other

languages.

And

that

was

a

mistake.

But

it's

done,

so

forget

about

it.

So,

Katherine,

how

old

were

you

when

you

wrote

your

first

book?

Oh,

well,

the

book

yours

forever.

Maybe

I

wrote

that

when

I

was

already

50

because

I

had

to

switch.

When

I

lived

in

Hollywood

and

in

the

film

industry

and

I

worked

in

the

film

industry

as

an

agent

and

a

writer.

Contributing

writer

is

somebody

that's

called

in

to

make

changes

because

some

producer

wants

changes.

That's

a

different

thing

than

original

changes.

But

at

that

time

I

was

in

my

30s,

mid-30s,

late-30s,

when

I

was

studying

at

UCLA,

raising

my

daughter.

And

at

night

at

9:00

after

she

went

to

bed,

I

was

writing

and

I

was

creating

screenplays

and

I

liked

writing.

Script

because

it

was

the

camera

telling

the

story.

And

that

suited

my

thinking

and

my

visualization.

And

then

when

I

left

Hollywood

after

a

major

earthquake

in

94,

suddenly

I

found

myself

out

of

the

film

industry.

And

everything

I

looked

and

found

in

Florida,

South

Florida,

I

couldn't

get

involved

with

because

they

were

too

distant

and

I

just

couldn't

find

my

voice

in

the

South

Florida

world

of

film,

as

little

as

it

was

at

the

time.

So

that's

when

I

said,

why

don't

I

just

take

the

same

story

and

do

a

narrative?

But

how

do

you

do

that?

And

there

too,

the

trick

is

that

in

a

real

writing

world,

for

a

script,

a

motion

picture

screenplay,

it's

a

minute,

a

page.

Well,

it

was

at

the

time

because

there

was

no

hardware

and

no

wild

animals

running

through

the

script.

It

was

storytelling.

So

if

that

would

make

it

120

pages

for

a

two

hour

movie.

And

so

first

time

I

took

a

script

that

I

wrote

in

Boca

Raton,

I

wrote,

it

was

called

Wintering

in

Boca

Raton,

of

course.

And

I

wrote

it

and

I

transferred

it

to

narrative

and

it

was

120

pages,

as

was

my

script.

I

said,

just

a

minute,

there

is

more

to

writing

than

that.

So

I,

because

I

just

took

the

dialogue

and

put

it

into

paragraphs.

So

that

wasn't

right.

And

that's

when

I

studied

the

new

form

and

I.

So

coming

when

you

asked

me

first

book.

The

first

book

was

my

first

romantic

adventure

novel

that

I

wrote

in

Florida

probably

in

98,

99.

Yeah,

I

was,

I

was

an

old

lady

almost.

No,

I

was

a

young

old

lady.

But

I

had

to

write.

See,

I

couldn't

not

write.

Yeah.

So

Catherine,

when

you

wrote

your

book

From

Budapest

to

Hollywood,

was

it

the

journey

that

you

expected

to

have?

What

is

the

journey?

Was

it

my

life

journey?

No.

Yeah.

Like

when

you

came

to

Hollywood,

was

it

everything

you

expected

it

to

be?

No,

no,

no,

no.

It's

a

very.

I

call

it

Hollywood

is

a

Mirage.

Oh,

that's.

To

me

it's

nothing.

But

you

see

the

glossy

parts

and

you

see

how

the

fancy

people

show

up

on

camera.

But

the

pain

and

the

suffering

and

the

using

of

each

other

and

the

disrespect.

It's

always

the

big

guys

or

big

women,

you

know,

not

big,

but

important,

will

take

advantage

of

the

new

ones,

new

people.

Somebody's

going

to

hurt

somebody

and

you

never

know

the

damage

that

happens.

In

fact,

I

still

to

this

day

I

say

that

the

1994

earthquake

was

God's

sign

for

me

to

get

out

of

Hollywood.

And

I

left

six

weeks

later.

I

was

out

of

there.

And

I

think

that

in

my

book,

I

say

that

if

you

want

to

go

and

try

your

wings

in

Hollywood,

have

an

exit

plan,

give

yourself

a

structure

that

you

will

do

certain

things,

you

will

not

do

certain

things.

And

make

sure

that

you

protect

yourself

and

don't

believe

everything

you

hear

like

I

did.

Yeah,

well,

and

that's

the

story,

right?

Everybody

sees

Hollywood

as

this

big

fame,

light

and

glamour,

glitz

and

glamour,

right?

But

they

don't

see

the

hidden

stuff

that

happens

behind.

And

people

don't

help

each

other.

You

know,

that's

the

first

thing.

You

go

to

a

woman

producer

and

you

figure

that

you

are

an

agent

and

she's

going

to

at

least

meet

your

clients,

not

necessarily

hire

them,

but

at

least

me.

No,

most

of

them

would

see

me

because

of

curiosity,

because

I

was

a

curiosity

item.

You

know,

this

foreigner

who

is

dressed

like

an

actor.

I

was

not

dressed

like

a

businesswoman

because

I

didn't

know

better.

But

I

was

a

laughingstock

in

many

ways.

And

luckily,

ignorance

can

be

bliss.

And

I

was

so

focused

on

my

job

of

selling

my

actors

that

I

didn't

realize

that

I

was

being

laughed

at

by

the

women,

by

the

secretaries.

I'd

go

into

offices

in

my

little

mini

dress

like

they

were

wearing,

I

was

wearing.

I

didn't

know

that

I'm

supposed

to

wear

a

suit

or

something.

It

was,

they

were

not

nice.

And

I'm

glad

that

you're

sharing

that

story,

you

know,

because

a

lot

of

people,

they

want

that

fame

delight,

the

glamour,

right?

But

they

don't

want

to

see

the

challenges

that

are

behind

getting

those

parts

and

the

sacrifices

that

are

being

made

and

the

deals

that

are

being

made.

I,

I

seen

that

you

were

a

part

of

the

me

too.

You

had

the

me

too

syndrome.

So

do

you

want

to

share

a

little

bit

about

that?

If

you're

okay

with

it,

Catherine?

Well,

I'm

okay

with

saying

it

now

that

I'm

out

of

there,

but

and

also

now

this

may

be,

maybe

I

should

or

shouldn't

feel

this

way,

but

I

definitely

believe

that

all

high

gloss

industries,

whether

it's

Hollywood,

whether

it's

publishing,

whether

it's

magazines,

whether

it's

photographers,

you

know,

the

big

ones,

the

famous

ones,

if

there

is

big

money,

there

is

using

of

one

another

because

there

is

always

somebody

who

needs

something

and

somebody

who

will

promise

something.

And

the

outcome,

nobody

knows

because

it's

not

the

big

thing

of

tit

for

tat.

That

would

be

fine.

If

you

know

that,

oh,

you

do

one

thing

and

you

will

get

what

you

want,

that

may

be

possible

at

certain

time

in

your

life.

But

you

don't

know.

So

you

do

the

one

thing

and

now

you

have

to

do

it

again

and

again

and

again

and

nobody's

coming

to

you

with

the

answer.

So

I

think.

And

the

younger

the

people.

Oh,

and

with

the

drugs,

of

course

it's

there.

It

will

not

go

away,

Liz.

I

tell

you,

it

will

not

go

away.

You

have

to

have

self

respect

because

if

you

go

to

Hollywood

without

self

respect,

you

will

never

find

it.

And,

and

I

think

that's

an

important

message

for

all

the

listeners

out

there,

you

know,

because

I

get

a

lot

of

listeners

that

say,

Ms.

Liz

Oboe,

you're

on

a

magazine

cover,

you're

on

this,

you're

on

that.

But

those

are

sacrifices

that

we

have

to

make,

right?

Those

are

things

we

have

to

give

up

in

order

to

be

on

those

things.

A

lot

of

people

just

look

at

it,

oh,

well,

you're

so

famous,

you're

so

this.

It's

not

about

the

fame.

It's

about

getting

the

message

out

there

and

having

the

story

heard

and

getting

people

to

see

that

there

are

hidden

stuff

behind

those

opportunities.

Right?

Yes,

I

believe

so.

Now

it

goes

on

everywhere.

I

mean,

people

of

power

will

fire

people

who

don't

please

them

or

do

things

if

they

please

them.

And

you

see,

the

young

and

poor

will

kowtow

to

the

powerful.

And

I

would

say

most

of

the

times

they

get

used.

I

was

used.

And

I

am

very

excited

about

having

survived

and

found

my

center,

which

I

did

not

have

for

the

longest

time.

So,

Catherine,

I

want

to

take

you

on

another

little

rabbit

hole.

How

do

you

meet

your

husband?

Okay.

Now

that

was

actually

also

the

thing

of

falling

in

love,

that

first

love

of

your

life

that

never

changes

to

this

day,

you

know,

many

years

later

and

long

ago,

divorced

later,

he's

still

my

first

love

and

that

will

never

change.

But

I

took

a

playwright

course

in

New

York

City,

former

playwright

whose

husband

was

a

director.

So

I

was

accepted

as

a

student.

And

what

happened

was

the

class

was

final.

Paper

had

to

be

a

one

act

play

and

there

were

30,

40

or

so

many

students

in

that

group.

And

the

best

three

were

going

to

be

produced

in

a

summer

off

Broadway

in

New

York.

Because

in

those

days

New

York

was

closed

and

the

big

theaters

were

closed

over

the

summer.

So

all

the

best

actors

were

available

to

do

little

theater

and

to

do

off

Broadway

stuff

anywhere,

you

know,

in

a

matchbox,

they

would

call

it

Off

Broadway.

So

mine

was

picked.

Mine

was

one

of

three

that

were

picked.

And

it

had

to

do

with

a

very

sad

day

in

my

life

of

meeting

a

man

that

I

loved

instantly

because

I

was

a

Dumb

woman,

girl.

And.

But

what

I

did

with

the

story,

I

turned

it

around.

And

in

my

story,

the

leading

woman

wins

and

gets

the

guy

and

the

bad

girl

goes

away.

In

real

life,

it

didn't

happen.

He

went

with

her.

And

the

bad

girl

always

wins

in

real

life,

right?

Yes.

And

so,

and

I

was

going,

and

one

day

I

had

a

call.

I

had

a

regular

job,

you

know,

the

day

job

that

you

have.

And

I

had

a

call

from

Sylvia,

the

teacher

to

come

on

because

she

found

two

guys

who

will

be

good

for

the

leading

man.

And

I

would

have

to

pick

the

one

I

want.

And

I

was

coming

across

to

her

house,

to

her

apartment

after

work,

and

I

was

crossing

something

like

57th

Avenue,

57th

Street.

And

I

saw

this

guy

coming,

you

know,

like

with

the

jacket

on

his

shoulder,

you

know,

just

strutting

his

stuff

like

John

Wayne,

you

know,

with

this

I

am

the

king

kind

of

a

look.

And

we

coming

across

and

we

actually

locked

eyes

for

that

split

second.

So

I

got

into

Sylvia's

house

and

I

said

I

saw

him.

And

she

said,

well,

saw

him.

And

so

I

told

her.

And

soon

enough

the

two

came

back

and

one

of

them

was

very

fine

and

looked

like

a

clean

cut

model

type.

And

this

guy

was

the

hunk

that

could

break

the

heart

of

a

girl,

since

mine

was

broken

that

previous

summer.

So

that's

when

we

met.

And

then

the

next

six

months

to

a

year,

we

were

back

and

forth

fighting

and

not

fighting.

And

my

mother

was

very

upset

about

having

an

actor.

Not

a

doctor,

a

lawyer,

a

teacher.

You

know,

mothers

always

want

their

kids

to

have

a

husband

with

a

check,

a

paycheck.

So.

And

that's

when

we

went

to

Hollywood,

because

he

said,

well,

the

action

is

in

Hollywood.

Let's

go.

So

we

got

in

the

car

and

went.

Everything

he

said

was

fine

with

me.

And

that's

when

I

became

an

agent

because

he

and

his

friends

were

sitting

in

my.

In

our

apartment,

not

working

and

complaining

about

the

other

actors

on

the

screen.

Oh,

I

can

do

that

part

better.

So

I

said,

well,

why

aren't

you,

you

know,

I

didn't

know.

I

love

your

attitude,

Catherine.

Like,

feisty,

right?

You're

talking

about

it.

Do

it.

They

said

that?

Yeah,

I

mean.

And

they

said,

well,

they,

they

need

an

agent.

So

I

said,

what's

an

agent?

Right.

I

don't

know

what

an

agent

is.

I'm

a

Hungarian

refugee.

And

so

I

was

told

what

an

agent

is.

And

during

my

pregnancy,

I

went

through

all

the

steps

that

were

needed

and

got

approved

by

all

the

signatory

guilds

because

nobody

had

any

dirt

on

me.

So

they

had

to

approve

me.

I

had

no

past.

She

hadn't

had

her

tequila

yet.

Not

definitely.

Not

definitely.

So

I

became

the

agent.

And

then

the

whole

thing

was

that

I

didn't

know

that

they

were

laughing

at

me

because

I

just

absolutely

did

not

belong

in

that

role.

But

I

was

so

enthusiastic

about

my

clients.

I

had

14

actors

whose

work

I

have

seen

on

stage

before,

and

I

knew

they

could

deliver,

but

I

had

to

get

them

a

reading.

That

was

all

I

had

to

do.

Once

they

got

the

reading,

they

pretty

much

got

the

part

because

they

were

good.

So

all

14

of

them

got

their

Screen

Actors

Guild

card.

But

after

my

first

year

as

their

agent,

so

I

stumbled

upon

to

the

right

steps

to

take,

which

was

my

logic

and

my

thinking,

not

the

knowledge.

I

had

absolutely

no

knowledge.

But

then

I

developed

it.

So,

yeah,

it

was.

It

was.

It

was

a

good,

good

ride.

But

I

didn't

make

enough

money,

you

know.

But

luckily

my

husband

had

a

lot

of

good

parts.

And

in

fact,

his

two

sons

are

still

getting

his

residuals

because

all

those

old

channels

are

playing,

all

those

westerns

and

everything.

I'm

not

getting

any

residuals.

I

just

got

a

broken

heart.

So,

Catherine,

what

actor

have

you

met

or

worked

with

that

has

inspired

you

to

stay

strong?

I

have

not

met

an

actor

who

inspired

me

anything.

I'm

not

fond

of

actors.

My

inspirations

have

been

writers

and

directors,

because

that's

where

the

work

begins,

on

the

empty

page,

and

that's

when

the

interpretation

begins

on

the

empty

screen.

So

no,

actors

in

my

learning

experience

are

the

tools

that

interpret

writing.

So

all

my

friends

and

all

my

running

around

and

all

my

fun,

as

well

as

bad

times

came

from

writers

and

directors.

I

was

very

close

to

Sidney

Sheldon

at

one

time,

and

some

of

my

books

are

compared

to

his.

And

he

taught

me

a

lot.

He

also

taught

me

a

lot

of

bad

stuff.

And

there

was

a

couple

of

television

writers

who

became

very

famous,

who

were

very

famous,

and

they

see.

They

were

talking

with

me

because

they

saw

my

curiosity

about

their

work.

So

everybody

wants

to

talk

about

himself

or

herself

and

what

they

enjoy

the

most.

So

they

weren't

as

crazy

about

actors,

because

actors

are

just

bodies,

you

know,

who

can

memorize

many

lines.

And

we

like

that.

But

I

can't

say

that

any

actors

inspired

me,

but

writing

has

inspired

me

and

taught

me

great,

great

many

things.

So

much

so

that

up

until

just

quite

recently,

I've

been

lecturing

at

libraries

to

people

who

want

to

find

out

about

writing,

how

to

go

about

it

and

what

to

expect.

Pretty

much,

yeah.

Because

a

lot

of

writers

and

directors

don't

get

enough

credit.

Right.

The

credit

goes

to

a

lot

of

the

actors

in

the

films

and

in

the

movies.

But

they

don't

talk

about

the

back

end.

Right.

They

don't

talk

about

the

directors,

the

producers,

the

writers,

the

sound

plays

that,

you

know,

the

people

that

write

the

scripts

and

that.

And

basically,

you

know,

everybody

laughs.

There

used

to

be.

Oh,

I

can't

tell

you

that

joke

because

we're

on

the

air,

but

you.

Can

tell

me

after.

But

writers

usually

had

the

least

amount

of

respect,

yet

they

are

the

ones

who

created

the

project.

They

are

the

ones

who

get

it

on

paper,

and

now

somebody

can

read

it

and

visualize

it

and

put

it

on

the

screen.

So.

And

it's

a

teamwork,

but

any

one

of

those

elements

can

ruin

it.

A

bad

actor

can

ruin

a

good

script.

A

bad

director

can

ruin

a

good

script.

So

they

are

interdependent,

and

they

have

to

like

and

respect

one

another.

Yeah.

So

I

want

to

take

you

down

the

tequila

row

because

we

talked

about

this

before

we

went

live,

Right.

You

know,

a

good

tequila.

We

need

some

of

those

sometimes.

So

when

you

were

doing

your

screenwriting

and

that,

did

you

ever

just

have

a

good

shot

at

tequila?

And

you

said,

oop,

let's

go.

Oh,

I

have.

I

have

had

some

drunken

stories.

And

I

always

wonder

why

God

saved

me,

because

I

figured

he

has

a

plan

for

me,

because

I

have

done

some.

Don't

tell

anybody.

Some

drunken

driving.

And

that

was,

you

know,

when

you

are

so

drunk

that

you

think

you

can

see

and

you

really

can't.

And

Hollywood

has

a

lot

of

hilly

areas,

and

going

to

those

canyons

is

not

a

smart

thing

to

do.

Yes,

I

drank,

and

I

still

drink,

but

not

like

I

used

to

drink.

I

was.

My

husband,

the

actor,

taught

me

how

to

drink.

He

was

a

serious

drinker,

way

more

than

me.

And

I

think

I

was

very

lucky

that

I

could

hold

my

liquor

and

did

not

become

a

damaged

alcoholic,

which

was

right

there

in

my

face,

you

know,

So

I

got

lucky.

There

are

some

things

that

happen

out

of

luck,

not

out

of

knowledge,

because

I

would

do

anything

he

wanted

me

to

do.

I

mean,

he

was.

He

was

the

man.

I

was

raised

to

do

what

the

man

wants.

So

the

drinking

was

part

of

what

he

wanted.

And

it's

interesting

that

life

is

not

so

bad

without

the

drinking

or

with

just

normal

drinking.

Yeah,

but

did

that

answer

the

question?

It

did,

because

I

can't

tell

you

the

episodes

because

they

were,

you

know,

too

crazy,

and

I

don't

want

any

nice

young

person

to

hear

him.

Yeah,

well.

And

the

reason

that

we

talked

about

the

tequila

Was

because,

you

know,

sometimes

in

life,

life

gets

hard,

right?

And

we

got

to

take

that

twisted

tea

and,

and

we

talked

about

this

before

we

went

live.

You

know,

stop

putting

the

flavors

in,

stop

putting

the,

the

sweetness

into

it.

Right?

We

just

want

a

good

shot.

Like,

you

know,

we

need

that

stern

push

in

life.

Yes,

yes.

And

that's

another

thing

that

I

believe,

and

I

don't

know

which

portion

of

our

conversation

is

belongs,

but

in

the

overcoming

section

we

talked

about

the

sports.

The

discipline

that

comes

with

sports

is

also

an

essential

part

of

life

because

people

who

grow

up

without

sports

don't

have

the

same,

the

same

discipline

that

athletes

do.

Because

athletes

are,

have.

In

order

to

succeed

and

be

famous

and

be

big

time,

you

have

to

always,

always

better

yourself.

So

you

need

to

have

that

discipline

that

will

keep

you

going.

And

I

feel

badly

for

everybody

who

doesn't

have

or

didn't

have

an

opportunity

to

learn

about

discipline

and

how

it

can

really

improve

your

life.

Well,

you

were

in

gymnastics

and

a

dancer

in

that

as

a,

as

a

young

lady,

right?

Yes.

Somebody

just

asked

me

this

morning,

when

am

I

going

to

do

a

back

band?

Huh?

I

saw

you

a

picture

when

I.

Could

do

it,

I

could

give

you

a

picture.

Yes,

but

there

is

a

lot

of

discipline

in

sports

and

activities

and

even

in

dance,

right?

Because

you.

Oh

yes.

A

structure

and

competition

and,

and,

and.

It'S

not

only

the

mental

thing

of

holding

it

together

because

you

have

to

remember

all

the

steps

and

all

the

music

and

everything,

but,

but

the

body,

every

part

of

your

body

has

to

do

the

right

thing.

So

it's

a

complete.

According

to

the

health

information,

the

best

sport

for

everybody