From Newhart to Night Court: Julia Duffy Shares Her Love for Comedy

She Always Knew She Wanted To Be An Actress

“I would just sit really, really close to the TV and think to myself, ‘I bet I could do that,’ when I would see a child my age on TV,” says the 71-year-old star of NBC’s hilarious sitcom “Night Court.”

She Loved “Newhart.”

“I learned so much because I was working with people who are connected to people from the past, like people who worked with [vaudevillian and ‘Wizard of Oz’ star] Bert Lahr. So much of what is comedy comes from many decades ago, and so the history of comedy mattered to me. I would hear stories going way back from Bob [Newhart] and Tom [Poston] and other people. Don Rickles used to hang around the set”

She Believes In “Night Court.”

Everyone is extremely professional and yet laid-back personally,” says Julia, who plays a recurring character named Susan. “They’re very, very welcoming.” She thinks it’s become such a hit because “you don’t get this [level of comedy] just anywhere … I think that people really want those great big laughs.”

She’s Been Happily Wed For 40 Years.

The secret to marriage is “picking the right person,” says Julia, who tied the knot with her 88-year-old hubby. “Dark Shadows” and “Love of Life” star Jerry Lacy, in 1984. “Being honest with each other, having fun with each other, and having your separate lives that you bring to the dinner table every night.”