It’s not inaccurate to describe Cybill Shepherd as “unbridled.” The quintessential entertainer has been a household name since she transitioned from magazine cover girl to acclaimed actor with her debut performance in future boyfriend Peter Bogdanovich’s 1970 classic The Last Picture Show. After appearing in some of the most exalted films of the 1970s, including Elaine May’s hilarious The Heartbreak Kid and Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece Taxi Driver, she simultaneously headlined a couple of Bogdanovich’s projects — his adaptation of the novella Daisy Miller and his filmed-live musical At Long Last Love.
The next decade found Shepherd completely reestablishing herself as an A-lister while co-starring with Bruce Willis on the beloved screwball detective series Moonlighting and the popular rom-com Chances Are. Later, she showcased her comedic aptitude in the hit sitcom Cybill followed by The L Word. All the while, Shepherd maintained a singing career, a path she embarked on during childhood that includes albums (check out and prepare to be dazzled by the album Cybill Gets Better, a collaboration with jazz great Stan Getz) and many years performing her favorite songs live.
Shepherd was recently honored for her indisputable comedic chops at the Palm Springs International Comedy Festival. If you want to see her live and don’t mind a bit of a drive, get your tickets for her Oct. 24 show — a mix of songs and stories — at Herb Alpert’s Vibrato Jazz Grill in Los Angeles.
Shepherd chatted with Palm Springs Life about receiving an award in Palm Springs, her memories of working with Bruce Willis, and that time she almost hooked up with Elvis Presley.
Cybill Shepherd
PHOTO COURTESY PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
What went through your mind when you learned you’d be honored with the Palm Springs International Comedy Festival Hall of Fame Award?
I couldn’t believe I’d actually won an award, because I was nominated four times for the Cybill show but never won. Christine Baranski won, but I felt like when she won [those awards], it was like I was winning them, too.
Which comedy performer inspired you most?
Carol Burnett. She was so funny. She’s still very funny, and she’s always been so kind to me.
Which performance would you say is your funniest?
I think Chances Are is one of the best, but also The Heartbreak Kid is really extraordinary. It got an incredible review from Vincent Canby of The New York Times. He said it was the best and the most original American comedy of 1972, as startling in its way as was The Graduate.
Why do you think Moonlighting is so enduring with audiences?
There was a lot of spontaneity. We would do these scenes in the car, and we would get the pages right before. Sometimes the scene would be seven pages long and we’d have to stick the pages up on the front of the car to learn them on the way. The camera couldn’t cut to where you saw the front of the car because you’d see all our pages with recently written scenes. If I had to choose one [highlight of my career], it’d probably be Moonlighting.
What was responsible for the incredible chemistry that you had with Bruce Willis?
The minute I walked in the room with him, my temperature went up 10 degrees. I felt the chemistry. Number one, I knew not to act on it, though I came close to acting on it. He was the one that said, “Maybe we shouldn’t do this.” And I said, “I think you’re right.”
What inspired your iconic performance in The L Word, garnering widespread lesbian attention?
My older sister was a lesbian, and she loved women, but it was unacceptable at that time for a woman to love women. That got me an early introduction into what it’s like to be a lesbian and not be allowed to love the women that you love. That’s one of the reasons I led the march in Washington for gay and lesbian rights.
What do you enjoy most about performing live in front of an audience?
I like to make people laugh, and I like to touch them — to get a chance to touch their hearts.
What do you love about Palm Springs?
Well, I just love Palm Springs. Just going there and seeing people. They’re giving me an award for comedy, and I think that’s incredible because I never won an Emmy.
Tell me something about Elvis Presley, who you briefly dated and who later famously honeymooned in Palm Springs, that you’ve never revealed before.
He’d never gone down on a woman before. And I remember when I saw him in Las Vegas, he came up to me and held out his hand, and there were a bunch of pills in his hand. I said, “What are those for? Are those yours?”
He said, “I’ve already taken mine. These are for you.”
I said, “Well, I don’t need them. Thank you very much.” Then I left very shortly after that and didn’t stay the night. I left a piece of jewelry on the side of the bed, and I kind of regret leaving it, but I needed to get out of there. It got back to Peter [Bogdanovich], and he forgave me because it was Elvis. I was attracted to him, and his legend was part of him. You can’t separate the two, except for the drugs he gave me.
