Candice Bergen has been famous for a long time as a model, actor, author, and photographer. She has had an extraordinary life from the beginning, growing up in Beverly Hills California, the daughter of the famous ventriloquist, Edger Bergen. In her own words, life was and has been perfect, a fantasy.
The University of Pennsylvania received her as a campus star only to kick her out and then give her an honorary degree.
Starting with The Group in 1958, she made lots of films and worked with some of the most famous stars in movies, including Steve McQueen, Jack Nicholson, Burt Reynolds, Michael Caine, and Sean Connery. She was the first woman to host SNL and had a talk show, Exhale with Candice Bergen.
Nothing, nothing was as big as her role as Murphy Brown, a CBS prime time comedy. She earned best comedy actress for 5 years and the series lasted for 10 from 1988-1998. It made her a huge star, and revealed a wonderful comedic talent, her comfortable place. After Murphy, Candice continued to appear in movies, television series and on Broadway.
She has had, in her words, 3 loves: 2 husbands—French filmmaker Louis Malle and New York real estate titan Marshall Rose—and her daughter Chloe Malle. Now add grandchildren.
Candice has written 2 memoirs: Knock Wood in 1984 and A Fine Romance in 2015.
Her first husband Louis Malle died in 1995 and her second husband, Marshall Rose has serious health issues.
Candice Bergen lives in New York City and Connecticut where her daughter Chloe and her grandchildren also reside.
For this episode, I have combined 2 interviews, one in April 2015 and the other, almost 10 years later, in December 2024.