Tim Matheson Reflects on Lucille Ball’s Advice, ‘Indiana Jones’ & ‘Moonlighting’ Near-Misses
Having acted on screen since the early 1960s, Tim Matheson has plenty of showbiz stories to tell. And he does so in his recent memoir Damn Glad to Meet You: My Seven Decades in the Hollywood Trenches, recalling his run-ins with iconic Hollywood stars and his what-if audition experiences.
For example, Matheson revisits his time filming the 1968 comedy-drama film Yours, Mine and Ours with Lucile Ball in the book. “I wanted to recount how hard she worked and how diligent [Ball] was — she came from vaudeville — and the lessons that I learned from her, and how gracious she was in mentoring me and toughening me up,” he told Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes in a new episode of their Amy & T.J. podcast.
Matheson said he was a “very sensitive, shy,” 17- or 18-year-old when he filmed Yours, Mine and Ours. “Lucy loved my sensitivity and my vulnerability,” he said. “But basically, she was trying to teach me, like, ‘This is a tough business, kid. You better man up, and you put on your shoulder pads, because you’re going to get hit, you’re going to get knocked down. How are you going to get back up? That’s what you got to figure out.’”
Some of those knocks included the parts Matheson didn’t get and the ones he had to decline. “I turned down Moonlighting because I was exhausted after doing a television series, and I wanted two weeks off, and I couldn’t get two weeks off and do Moonlighting,” he said. “I said, ‘Listen, I just need a break.’”
Matheson said that Bruce Willis, who ended costarring with Cybill Shepherd in the 1980s private-eye TV series, was “the perfect guy for that part” — and that turning down Moonlighting allowed Matheson to get into directing.
But that wasn’t the only iconic part Matheson nearly landed. “There have been a lot of shows that I didn’t get, and I think one of the big ones was Indiana Jones,” he said on the podcast. “I mean, I tested for Indiana Jones [in] Raiders of the Lost Ark, and everybody in Hollywood tested for it.”
Ultimately, however, George Lucas brought Matheson into his office and told the actor he was too young to play the adventuring archaeologist, and the role went to Harrison Ford. “I wanted to play that part, but I knew I was too young, but I just I gave him my best shot, and so I walked away with, ‘OK, that’s it.’” Matheson said.
NBC/Courtesy: Everett Collection
The Jonny Quest alum also told Robach and Holmes about of the “happiest periods” of his career — working on The West Wing with creator Aaron Sorkin and the political drama’s “amazing cast.” The actor played Vice President John Haynes on the show and earned two guest-acting Emmy nominations.
“So this wonderful show came along at that point and revitalized my career,” he said. “And that’s the great thing about our business is, you’ll do one thing and out of nowhere, it’ll just recharge everybody to go, ‘Oh, him! Oh my gosh, oh, let’s get him!’ … So you know, it comes and goes.”
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July 2019
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