ED BEGLEY JR.
An interview by Dina Morrone
Compassionate, authentic, humble, passionate about life, a gentleman and a gentle man, are just some words I would use to describe Ed Begley Jr.
Begley is all of those things, and so much more. He’s a loving husband, father, environmentalist, vegan, activist, humanitarian committed to so many important causes, author, terrific actor with 325 credits to his name, respected by his peers, and one of the nicest people I have had the pleasure of interviewing.
Over the years, I have enjoyed watching Begley shine in movies and television shows. From “St. Elsewhere,” where he played Dr. Victor Ehrlich, and “Arrested Development, “as Stan Sitwell, to “7th Heaven” as Dr. Hank Hastings. In classic films like Rob Reiner’s “This is Spinal Tap,” and Christopher Guest’s “For Your Consideration” and “A Mighty Wind,” to his reality show, “Living with Ed,” which he starred in with his lovely wife, Rachelle Carson. But it wasn’t Begley, the actor I was focused on interviewing. It was Begley, the environmentalist. He has been committed to the cause of our planet and the environment for over 50 years. He has not just talked about it or rallied others to get involved. He has taken action and changed his life to ensure that he has the lowest carbon footprint and that he lives his best life, the way he chooses to do so, on his terms, doing his part every day to save the environment.
You were born in California but for a short time, when you were a child, you lived in Buffalo, New York. Is there a childhood memory from that time you’d like to share?
From Kindergarten to 7th grade I went to school at Cure’ of Ars, a Catholic school in Merrick, Long Island. They didn’t teach Science there. They were very, very strict. It was not pleasant to watch how some students were disciplined. For 8th grade, I was sent off to a boarding school in Buffalo, called Stella Niagara Educational Park. It was a private Catholic Military Boarding School, in Lewiston, New York. I was very concerned it would be even more strict than Cure’ of Ars, but it was the exact opposite. Lovely caring nuns ran the school. And they had a Science program. I made PFC. I excelled in everything academically. I loved it there. I am still in touch with some people from my time there. I do have fond memories of going to Niagara Falls, the Canadian side. It was wonderful. Over the years, I have worked in Toronto several times, and when I’m up there, I make it a point to get to Stella to visit. There was only one negative thing from my time in Lewiston. The Carborundum Plant was nearby. Every morning I could smell this strong chemical odor that permeated the air. There was also Booker Chemical and Love Canal Landfill, both also very close, so there was
always this toxic smell in the air.
When was the moment you first realized you were passionate about the health of the environment?
It started in 1965. In the years leading up to that I had a certain amount of pocket change that I made from taking glass soda bottles back to the store in exchange for cash. That was my money and I could keep that money. Then one day, that was taken from me because they had a new thing called ‘No deposit no return bottle.’ I was not pleased because it affected my pocket book. I lost that money I would make from returning the bottles. That loss of money really got my attention. I started asking questions. All the glass is made with sand and silicon dioxide, trees are being cut down, they were making plastics, and I thought what do they do with all of that after it gets used? They put it in a big hole in the ground in a thing called a landfill? I was perplexed that all that stuff could go in the ground. How could it be? I was 15 or 16. I was subject to the whims of my father and stepmother so I couldn’t do anything about it at the time. But the big change came in 1970. At that point I had lived 20 years in smoggy LA, with the exception of the time I had spent in Buffalo and Long Island, but the summer was always in Los Angeles with the LA smog. Then one day I heard about this thing called Earth Day. And I thought, sure, I’ll show up to celebrate the Earth Day. But one day was not enough. I thought what could we do that is a long-term plan?
What are we going to do the rest of the other 364 days of the year? Then someone said we are going to clean up the air and the water, and I said ‘sign me up.’
I had lived with that smog for most my first 20 years. I had seen the pollution going into the Niagara River from Lewiston. I had seen the Merrick woods pollution going into the streams. I had seen Santa Monica beach after it rained, and I had heard about the Cuyahoga River, in Cleveland, catching fire. I thought that’s a bad sign that a river was catching fire. I knew we had to clean up our waters and our air. It was affecting me personally.
It was hurting my lungs every day. I was a broke and struggling actor at the time so I couldn’t do what I wanted but I asked myself what could I do to help the environment? So I started doing the things I could. I started riding my bike, (I always rode my bicycle but I started riding it more). I started taking public transportation. I started recycling. I became a vegetarian, and then I bought an electric car.
Please tell us about your very first electric car?
It was 1970. People think I am making it up that I had an electric car back then. They don’t believe there were electric cars in 1970. Actually, they had them as far back as 1910. I bought my car for $900 with a California license plate and California registration. They were cars being used mostly in retirement communities. I think I was the only person under 60 who bought that car from this man in Reseda, CA. I drove it around LA, not on the freeways of course, as it didn’t go very fast, but around the flats of the Valley.
Having an electric car was a lot cheaper. I could plug into the wall and pay a little extra on my electric bill rather than paying a lot more for gasoline. Much less expensive to service it, no tune-up or oil change, or smog check. So, all those changes I started since Earth Day, were saving me money. I thought this is a pretty good deal. I am doing my small part to clean up the environment, and I am saving money. And pretty soon, I could afford a solar oven. I could afford a rain barrel that collects water, and in 15 years, I could afford solar at my home in Ojai, where I lived at the time. Again, money had my attention. Finally, in 1990, my life-long-dream, I was able to get solar electricity. I was able to run my house and power my car with the sun. To have a solar panel house, I thought this is a great deal.
How do you convince people to get on board with doing their part to help the environment?
You need to influence everybody. Everybody needs to be a part of this effort. From people who have the most, to people who have far less. Everybody has an opportunity to conserve. You want to make sure that everybody does their part, not just for the environment, but also for their own financial well-being. If you make your home or apartment more energy efficient, you are going to have lower bills and in many parts of the country, LA being one of them, there are wonderful programs where they give away light bulbs, they give away thermostats. They give you a steep discount or rebate for those kinds of things. And in just two or three months you have some savings.
Are there environmental programs currently being taught in schools?
In California there are certain guidelines for environmental literacy in a lot of schools. They are trying to get Environmental education to be a part of the curriculum. They’ve had a certain amount of success in teaching them how to have a more sustainable life. But you can’t mandate that every student has to do it.
What was it that made you want to stop eating meat and become Vegan?
A slaughterhouse film! I had seen some footage and stills from slaughterhouse operations and found it very disturbing. I didn’t fully understand those conditions until I saw that footage.
I thought it would be better for my health to eat lower on the food chain. Plant based materials, turns out is a pretty good way to eat. I thought about my health, and for the animals’ health, it would be better. Plus I thought it would be more energy, water, and land efficient to eat a pound of broccoli, rather than to eat a pound of beef. It takes a lot more water, land, and energy, to grow a pound of meat. And now we know more about methane emissions from cattle operations. I became a vegetarian in 1970, and I have not had red meat since, I have dabbled in fish, but not anymore.
Please tell us about your passion for Gardening?
One of my joys of life is gardening. I will get my corn and tomatoes in very soon, as it’s early March. I have my olive trees. I harvest the olives, and cure them with rock salt. They are delicious Mediterranean olives. I always have corn,
spinach, tomatoes, and lettuce growing. I have about nine different fruit trees: orange, plum, lemon, and tangerine. And I have two beautiful oak trees that are not only beautiful to look at but they are an integral part of the ecosystem here in southern California. All kinds of wonderful squirrels live in those trees.
How do you feel about Recycling?
Recycling isn’t really happening. Nowadays with all the plastics, even though we collect it and separate it, it goes right into the landfill. That’s because there is no longer a market for it in Asia. They stopped taking our stuff. They got fed up with all this plastic we were sending them. They had to deal with all the toxicity of trying to recycle it. People weren’t cleaning the plastic properly before placing it in the recycle bins, so it would have all kinds of funk in there or mold, and it would make the sorters sick. So they had a belly fold,
starting a few years ago in China, and then Indonesia, and they stopped taking it and they stopped being a landfill for the United States. We have to find some way to not just recycle it… I’m not against recycling, but what I favor much more is eliminating that single use plastic altogether. We need to find a way with metal water bottles, permanent hot beverage cups, and metal straws – things like that. I was able to greatly reduce the single use plastic in my life. I can’t think of anything I use nowadays that is single use plastic. Plastic is killing our oceans and clogging our waterways. And it’s making us sick. People have to stop using single use plastic.
What does a typical day in the life of Ed Begley Jr. look like?
Very normal. I have working days and non-working days.
On a non-working day I get up a little before 6am and go to the gym. I work my upper body for about 30 minutes and then I do 40 minutes on the Lifecycle doing the hill cycle at level 18. I get a juice on the way home. I call my wife and ask if she wants one. I have tea at about 9am. I eat cereal-mix that I make myself, with some almond milk. I work in the garden, do paperwork, do my errands, go grocery shopping, I have a lunch meeting, and I make sure that we always have one family meal together.
On a workday I am up at 4:30am. I have to be at work in Santa Clarita at 6:30am where I’m currently shooting the TV series “Bless This Mess.” I get into wardrobe and makeup and make sure my lines are learned. I work on set, go home, and learn lines all over again. I serve on Environmental Boards. I go to different rallies, climate rallies or the Women’s March. I do that kind of activism.
That’s a pretty typical slice of life of what my days are like.
You are involved with numerous charities.
Please tell us their names:
• Coalition for Clean Air
• Heal The Bay
• Environmental Media Association
• Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy
• Oceana
• Walden Woods Project
• Thoreau Institute
• Tree People
• Friends of the Earth
• Sequoia ForestKeeper
• Orang Utan Republik
Please tell me about your line of cleaning products.
It’s called Begley’s Earth Responsible Products. They are safe for humans, animals, plants, and the planet. They are made with plant based, sustainable, and rapidly biodegradable ingredients, cruelty free – no animal testing, and the packaging is recyclable. They have a pleasant, aroma-therapeutic scent, which comes from using beneficial botanical essential oils. These green, non-toxic, cleaning products include: All Purpose Cleaner, Glass Cleaner, Dish Soap, Pet Stain and Odor Remover, and many more. They’re all available in stores, online at Amazon, or by visiting begleysbest.com.
You have a very dear friend, Norman Lloyd Perlmutter, who is 106 years old.
Yes. Norman Lloyd is a force of nature. He’s an amazing
actor, director, producer, a friend of Orson Welles and
Alfred Hitchcock, and he’s a bit of Hollywood history that’s still with us, thank God. I cherish every year that I get to go to his birthday party. I do see him evenings, other than on his birthday. I go over to his home to have dinner with him. I love him. He was playing tennis until he was 99. He stayed active all these years. I’m very grateful that I still have him in my life.
What project are you are currently working on?
I am working on “Bless This Mess.” It’s a television series on ABC every Tuesday night. It’s a terrific show created by Lake Bell and Liz Meriwether(“New Girl”). Lake is a wonderful writer and producer, and Liz is a great actress and writer. They wrote it together. I feel very lucky to be a part of this team. And Pam Greer plays my love interest!
I feel like I have died and gone to heaven. Every episode is heaven on earth! I love watching it. I love doing it. I love shooting it. Everything about it is delightful.
Do you plan on taking any vacations in the near future?
I do, but only to places where I can drive. I won’t fly. I stay on the ground. I am trying to eliminate all my use of fossil fuels. I now have a Tesla with a 350-mile range so I can drive to places around the United States. I have driven across the country at least 80 to 100 times over the years. It’s beautiful.
One of the highlights of my interview with Begley was getting to meet his wife, Rachelle. She’s so beautiful, vibrant, and so funny.
I was able to watch them interact. They were a comedy team… yin and yang. The respect and admiration they have for each other was palpable. It felt like I was sitting front row on an episode of their reality show, “Living With Ed.” It was obvious to me why their show was so successful. They’re so in love, they compliment each other, and they both have a great sense of humor!
I asked Rachelle if they were thinking of doing another show together or picking up where the last one left off.
Rachelle said, “Yes. We are hoping to do another show together. We are trying to find the right outlet and someone to take a chance. Sometimes mentioning the word GREEN or the ENVIRONMENT might turn some people off, but people really do want the information. They want to know what they can do that won’t disrupt their lives and change their whole way of living, but yet do their part. People want to learn. I always say ‘if I can do it, anyone can do it.’ You do what you can. And I do a lot. Not like Ed, but I do a lot.”
I agree with Rachelle. We all need to do our part. I hope that after you read this interview with Begley, you too will be inspired to follow suit, and as Rachelle said, if she can do it, anyone can. And that means all of us, collectively.
Special Thanks to:
Ed Begley Jr.
Rachelle Carson-Begley
Russell Baer
ABC/John Fleenor
ABC/Eric McCandless
The Tune-in Language
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