Duffy continues working with comedy royalty in latest series
Julia Duffy’s latest project, “Palm Royale,” is set in 1969 Florida, and the series, now streaming on Apple TV+, brought her a flood of memories.
The actor plays Mary Jones Davidsoul, an insecure socialite whose primary mission in life appears to be raising money to fight a disease that afflicts fewer than 20 people. Like the rest of the cast — which includes Kristen Wiig, Carol Burnett, Laura Dern and Allison Janney — she got to wear the funkiest of that era’s fashion.
“It was pretty hilarious because I worked in a dress shop at that time,” said Duffy, who grew up in St. Louis Park, a suburb of Minneapolis, and worked at Carole of Edina clothing store. “The costume designer really nailed it, all the polyester, the pink, the mint green and the baby blue of that era. It’s a feast for the eyes.”
Duffy, 72, was one of the few members of the star-studded ensemble to have grown up around upper-class women of that era. Her family didn’t make enough money to join any of the local country clubs, but her friends would occasionally invite her to come swim at one of them.
“I was a little bit of an outsider looking in,” she said during a recent interview from her Los Angeles home. “Those women were very strong, but they didn’t quite understand the feminist movement. I think they were a bit baffled by it.”
In the late ’60s, Duffy was already committed to acting, getting her first professional gig at the Old Log Theater in Greenwood, Minnesota. One of her fondest memories with that company was doing Woody Allen’s “Play It Again, Sam.” She would later marry Jerry Lacy, who played Humphrey Bogart in the Broadway and film productions.
As a child, she was obsessed with watching Burnett on “The Garry Moore Show.” “When I found out I was going to have a scene with her, I thought I had died and gone to heaven,” Duffy said.
Filming for the series in Los Angeles took place around the same time AMC aired the series finale of “Better Call Saul,” in which Burnett’s character played a key role.
“When I saw her on the set a few days later, I was like, ‘Your career is epic now. You’re the person who brought down Saul,’ ” she said. “It was the most brilliant bit of casting. So much fun talking to her about it.”
Duffy is used to working with comedy royalty. From 1983 to 1990, she played Stephanie Vanderkellen on “Newhart,” earning seven Emmy nominations in the process. She remains in touch with Bob Newhart, sending him an intentionally awful poem for his 94th birthday.
“He wrote back something really sarcastic,” she said. “He always teases me, and I love it.”
Duffy would have been open to a “Newhart” reboot. That’s now impossible. Most of the primary cast members have died. Duffy’s on-screen boyfriend, Peter Scolari, died in 2021.
“Our chemistry was off the charts. But I suspect everyone that worked with Peter had chemistry with him,” she said. “He was so in the moment, not like anyone I have ever worked with or seen.”
Duffy has also gueststarred on the revival of “Night Court” and is hoping “Palm” gets picked up for a second season.
“This is the most sumptuous project I’ve worked on in my life,” she said.