Audrey Landers
 Q. In my business, I run into so many stars who claim they are too busy to take the time to visit with their fans when they go out in public. Is that a real chore for you, or do you enjoy it?
A. Oh, I enjoy it. You know, when you decide to be in this business, you take on a certain amount of responsibility as well. If you’re lucky enough to attain some success, then people will want to say hello, ask for your autograph, or whatever. I think it’s important to keep in touch with your fans. It really is a measure of your success – how much your audience likes you.
Q. You started out in this crazy business at a young age didn’t you?
A. That’s right. I actually got my first taste of show business when I was about three. My mother was a model when I was that age, and I used to accompany her on assignments. I did get the “feel” for the business, and even though I was just a toddler, I knew that was what I wanted at that time.
Q. Was your mother a “pushy parent?”
 A. No, not really. Being in show business was something I really had to want. I was the one who was pushy. I was always bugging my mother to please take me with her to auditions. When I was old enough to read, I got subscriptions to all the weekly show biz newspapers. I’d circle things and ask her if I could go audition. I could never have made it in this business if it hadn’t been for my mother. She’s not only my confidant, she’s my best friend.
Q. You made a demo tape and peddled it to producers before you became a teenager, didn’t you?
A. I think I was about 12 when I did that. I recorded a song I’d written and sent the tape to Merv Griffin. I sang the song on his TV show. From that experience, I was able to get an agent.
Q. What was your first audition?
A. It was for a soap opera. At the time, I was 13-years-old. I didn’t even know what soap operas were. But I went to the audition, anyway, and got the part. I was on the show, I think, for about a year and a half. I later did another soap series when I was in high school and college.
Q. What kind of an effect did all this success at an early age have on your social life?
A. It was pretty tough. I was so busy, I didn’t have time to develop relationships like most “normal” kids. And some kids didn’t want to hang out with me because they were intimidated. I was very popular in school, but it was a very difficult time.
Q. You didn’t major in drama or music in college did you?
A. No, actually, I earned my degree in psychology. From the time I was a little girl, I had two dreams. I either wanted to be a performer or a doctor. When I went to college, I studied pre-med. It was challenging, but I found my happiness didn’t come from the success I had in preparing for that profession. It came from performing.
Q. You and your sister, Judy, posed for Playboy. How did that come about?
A. It was really a coup for us. They offered to do a “sister pictorial layout” for a tremendous amount of money – with nudity. But we told them we didn’t want to do that. So, instead, we ended up doing the photo session with no nudity and no money. We wanted to do something that was in the glamorous style of the 1940s that left a little to the imagination. At that time, there were only two or three women who had been on the cover of Playboy with a pictorial inside the magazine with no nudity.
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