I’m filled to the brim with love, compassion, and inspiration. I so enjoyed every moment in Lydia Cornell’s most excellent company. A strong, talented, generous, capable woman, who knows who she is, where she’s been, and where she wants to be, allowing for godshots that may alter her future at any turn, AFI Best Actress nominee and People’s Choice Award winner Lydia, best known for her starring role in Too Close for Comfort, is all that and a standup comedienne, writer, director, public speaker, and activist.

We went back to Lydia’s early days in El Paso Texas, her Russian father, and challenging mother… the haircut, the Barbies, the boys, oh my! Moving to Scarsdale, starring in High School plays, college in Boulder., Colorado, and Hollywood by way of the music biz, Caribou Ranch…. some great stories there… Billy Joel, Joni Mitchell, Dennis Wilson, Henry Diltz, dating Paul Stanley and Donnie Most, and how her naive approach to breaking into the biz, worked! On her third audition, she landed a starring role on a hit TV show and garnered the fame she sought. Loads of TV shows and films followed, including co-starring with James Earl Jones right after shooting that first pilot.

We talked about drinking, drugging, dieting, and the trouble they brought… getting sober, surrender, releasing resentments, recovery, and the innumerable gifts they continue to bring.

Lydia’s won acting, directing, and writing awards, as well as the Southern California Motion Picture Council's Golden Halo Lifetime Achievement Award, and the first Elizabeth Montgomery Humanitarian Award. It’s the service she does every day as a woman in recovery that perhaps makes the greatest impact.

A screenplay Lydia wrote 20 years ago is finding its place now, and the book she started years ago is also readying to bloom. Lydia’s loving her life, writing, and loving with Larry––acting and looking perfect seeming less and less important. I’m loving this Lydia more than ever if that’s even possible.

Lydia Cornell Live on Game Changers with Vicki Abelson

Wednesday, April 17, 5 PM PT, 8 PM ET

Streamed Live on my Facebook

Replay here:

https://bit.ly/3vNhZTr