Little ado over a ’do
Canadian actress remembers Bochco’s kindness, willingness to compromise
Hill Street Blues creator Steven Bochco, who died April 1 at the age of 74, built a legacy as a rule-breaker with big network TV dramas.
But it’s an act of kindness on set that actress Mimi Kuzyk remembers most fondly — his willing to compromise over her unauthorized perm.
At the time, the Winnipeg-born newcomer was only days into her role on Bochco’s breakout 1980s cop series, playing Det. Patsy Mayo, when he called her into his office for a meeting. Bochco had noticed her new hairdo, and wondered why she’d made an executive decision that risked continuity with her character.
As Kuzyk recalls it, after seeing herself on Hill Street Blues for the first time she was instantly distracted by what she considered a bad hairstyle. Instead of checking with Bochco, she marched into a local salon for a “very different” look.
“He went, ‘In the future if you’re going to do anything like that, maybe talk to me first,”’ she remembers of the writer and producer.
Bochco took a magnanimous approach to the predicament by inserting a line into the script where a co-star acknowledged the new ’do.
“There was no screaming, no reprimands.”
The outcome was a relief for the actress who was just making headway in Hollywood. Before the Bochco project, she’d played only bit parts on TV shows The Littlest Hobo and Remington Steele.
It was a fleeting moment, but more than 30 years later, Kuzyk hasn’t forgotten the kind gesture.
She says it’s emblematic of the determined producer who gained a reputation for taking risks on the screen, but was sympathetic to his actors in a way most Hollywood producers weren’t.
“He made you feel comfortable and open,” she says. “He wouldn’t criticize or demean you. You could talk to him about anything.”
Kuzyk went on to play the hardnosed detective on Hill Street Blues for two seasons. She’s also known for a wide range of movie and TV roles, including Canadian series Traders and Blue Murder.
But like many of her fellow actors, Kuzyk’s working partnership with Bochco stretched years longer. She appeared in guest roles on his other series L.A. Law, and Doogie Howser, M.D. as characters he wrote specifically for her.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today if not for that one man who gave me a chance.”