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| Robbie Rist is all
grown-up. He was just a little kid when he moved in with one of the most
popular families on American TV: (no, not The Osbournes)
The Brady Bunch. When joining a family like The Bradys, there is a high likelihood that you have secured a life-time cult status as a pop icon. However, the opportunity also brings with it the risk of failing to negotiate that treacherous route from child star to adult star. There are no guarantees.  Nevertheless, Robbie appears to be one of those true rarities: a role model for the child-stars of today. And, face the facts, they need one. Although, just because he's a good role model, doesn't mean he takes it too seriously... Toby: Robbie, I have to ask - are you a Marcia-man or a Jan-man? Robbie: Well, for reasons I am not at liberty to disclose, I consider myself more a Carol-man... T: What do you remember of your (numbered) days in the psychedelic Brady house? Did you get on with the other kids? R: I was nine, so I am sure many of those memories are lost to the sands of time. However, I remember it being mostly a fun, positive experience. The cast were all really sweet to me (I mean, how could they not? I was nine and VERY cute!). T: Now this is more the fault of the writers, but as a brand new character couldn't you have had a cooler name than 'Cousin Oliver'?! Whatabout Cousin Clint... or Cousin Hercules? R: Cousin Clint? You call that a better name? I don't think there is a way to make anything having to do with the Brady Bunch 'cool'. The universe isn't set up that way. T: Some people jokingly blame you for the downfall of The Brady Bunch, as your entrance coincided with the canceling of the once popular show. What do you think? Are you jinxed? R: I would say that the show started sucking around the Hawaii episodes which pre-date me by at least a year or two. BUT I will say that they showed a photo of me on the X-Files and two weeks later the show went off the air. AND I was on the CBS Morning Show with Bryant Gumble the morning he quit. Coincidence? Who knows?  T: I saw you as a contestant on a Celebrity-edition of 'The
Weakest Link.' What did you make of Britain's ice-queen Anne Robinson - reddy
or not here I come, or ginger whinger? R: I love Anne Robinson. They edited all kinds of fun stuff she and I did on 'The Weakest Link.' She is super funny. So I say, reddy or not!!!! T: You've been in hundreds of classic TV shows from the 70's and 80's, including CHiPs, Knight Rider, Petrocelli, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bionic Woman. Which one was your favourite to film and why? R: Oh jeez.....tough to say. The Bionic Woman episodes were fun because not only did I really like the show but I STILL have a huge crush on Lindsay Wagner. From a classic TV standpoint, I am rather proud of The Mary Tyler Moore Show; probably more so than The Brady Bunch. To me, MTM is right up there with the best TV ever had to offer (Barney Miller, Taxi, All In The Family), and I was lucky enough to be involved. T: With such a great list of TV shows under your belt, how do you explain it? Do you think you filled a 'niche-character' or something? R: Hmmm... I think it was a combination of looking kind of different from a lot of kids (It was the 70's and I had that sort of 'John Denver' thing down) and I was really good at the job. A lot of getting work in the entertainment business has to do with what you look like but, if you can't back it up with real ability, you won't work for long. I have managed to keep this up as a job for over thirty years now. Luck only has so much to do with it. T: By the way, have you seen any of the new Brady Bunch movies? What did you think? R: They're hilarious. T: Talking of movies, you've had your fair share of those aswell. Surely your biggest hit was voicing Michelangelo in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle films? R: Yeah. Weird, huh? I say with some frequency that I got rides on two things in my life that really entered the cultural zeitgeist - Brady Bunch and the turtle thing. Pretty lucky... T: What was it like bringing to life the 'funniest' turtle? R: Those gigs are a ball. Pretty much the movie is done by the time the voice people get to do their thing. We record it in three or four days, I get to improv a bit, great gig. And let's face it - Mikey is the most popular one... T: Did you mingle with the other turtle-voicers (Corey Feldman as Donatello) and if so, what were they like? R: I've known Corey since we were kids so seeing him on this job was just another gig we did together. We were part of a coterie of young actors who, when we walked into an audition, the stage moms would glare at us because they knew we were the ones who were gonna get the job. Kinda weird. Corey's a nice man. Brian Tochi rules as well. Laurie Faso and I laughed our asses off... T: Do you know any ninja skills yourself? One inch punches? R: I smacked an ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend in the back of the head once but under ordinary circumstances, I don't condone violence. It's weak. T: Did you know that in the UK the cartoon is called 'Hero Turtles' because of the connotations of the word 'Ninja'?! They even edit Michelangelo's nunchukas out of the cartoon show?! R: Really? How odd. But the Brits have nudity on TV don't they? I think I prefer that... Naked people over violence. T: Childstars have a bad rep as big-headed, precocious brats - how did you handle your sudden rise to fame at such a young age? R: My parents pretty much said that they could make another one just like me if I got out of hand. I think kid actors get that reputation because they have to act like adults in an adult world and most people aren't used to seeing a 'professional attitude' coming out of someone so young. So they get labeled 'precocious' or some such nonsense. T: Former Childstars have a bad rap as washed-up wannabes in rehab... how did you stop yourself from becoming a cliché? R: Once again, a lot can be said for good parenting. In every case of a young actor going down a bad path, you can draw a straight line back to their parents. The entertainment business is very chaotic. You will encounter every kind of personality both good and bad. Children are chaotic as well and the parent who puts their kid in the business had better have their head on straight and keep a sharp eye out for predators. I'll pretty much guarantee that part of Corey Feldman's problems later in life came from the fact that his Dad let Corey run around on sets unsupervised alot. I also think I avoided becoming a cliché because I realised early on that the whole business is a load of crap. Everyone is full of shit so at the end of the day, all you really have is the amount of good work you've done. T: You're deeply into your music now, right? I read on your website that you've always been musically inclined? Playing violin at three?! R: Yeah... I have been pretty much playing and writing music all along. Violin didn't last very long (although I have starting toying with it again as an adult). Music is something that just kind of made sense to me. I played piano by five, guitar at eight, bass and drums at thirteen... I play some mandolin and banjo as well. T: How did you get into actually producing and engineering records? R: I have had studios off and on since I was a teenager. I really got into engineering a couple of years ago when I went to work as a recording engineer for a website. I bullshitted my way into the job and then had to learn both the computer program and the finer points of what being a recording engineer entails ("you mean things AREN'T supposed to sound distorted?"). Thankfully, my boss - this whiz kid genius named Nir Averbuch, who is also a record producer - was super cool, taught me a mess of great stuff and was, most importantly, VERY patient with me... And since then, I produced very well received records by The Masticators, Receiver, The Dons and lot's of the L.A. pop music community bands. I engineer all of The Andersons' stuff. T: I heard your band The Andersons on MP3.com. You guys rock! R: Thank you. And I'm not just saying that. T: Is this where you want to go from now on or is acting still in your veins? R: I say all of the time that I just want to work. If somebody wants me to act in something, I would love to do it. Need a record made? Call me. Need a guy to play guitar, bass, drums - I can learn a set of material in an afternoon... Like I said, at the end of the day, all you have is the amount of good work you've done and I love to work. T: I'm not trying to stir up any controversy BUT, which is your favourite band to play with and why? R: Well, The Andersons is my band. I mean, it's Derrick's and Bill's and Marcus' band as well but that one is where I put all of my creative eggs into. I get to play with some of the best people - in my opinion - playing the game right now. I play bass with a great singer/songwriter from Minneapolis named Willie Wisely. I play with an alt.country guy named Gary Eaton. I play drums with a group called The Last who have been around since the 70's and pretty much started the whole pop/punk thing that is so prevalent right now... There is gonna be a pop music festival here in L.A. this summer and I am playing with at least eight different artists! But most of all, I love The Andersons. T: Finally, where can we see, hear or... smell (?) Robbie Rist next? R: Hmmmm... well... working on a solo acoustic record; just did some voice work for Disney's sequel to Tarzan; also did voices for M. Night Shyamalan's new movie 'Signs'; writing more Andersons' material; learning material for the bands I am playing International Pop Overthrow with... You know… stuff... For the latest updates on Robbie's 'stuff' check out www.robbierist.com Interview by Toby Osborne. |
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