Hey, Brad, Get Ready For Cloris

Don't you see all your movies?
No. I didn't see the one with Diane Keaton, "Hanging Up." I played Meg Ryan's mother. But I didn't like the way Diane Keaton directed me, so I didn't see the movie.

Why?
She was having Meg say odd things to me, to get a reaction. It turned me off on the movie.

What about "Scary Movie 4"?
I was in it. I saw some of it.

Is it true Mel Brooks wants you to reprise your part in "Young Frankenstein" on Broadway?
Yeah. We're negotiating.

He once said you were so old, he worried you'd die onstage.
He's not worried anymore. Corky [Ballas, her dance partner on the show] threw me around today on "The View," and I thought I was dead when I stood up. I can't tell you—I really thought I died! I thought I was in heaven.

Did you need to see a doctor before you went on "Stars"?
Six different doctors. One doctor said he wouldn't let me do it because of my bad knee. I have no cartilage in the back.

Are you going to retire from dancing now?
Where would I dance? That's the big question. And with whom? I asked Fred Astaire to dance once, and he said, "No!" I don't know who I would ask anymore.

Where did you meet Astaire?
I was at Gene Kelly's house one afternoon, and Fred Astaire was there.

How did you end up at Gene Kelly's house?
We were friends—he, my husband and I. A lot of volleyball games went on over there.

Why did Astaire turn you down?
I don't know. I think all the women wanted to dance with him, and he couldn't do it.

But you're Cloris Leachman.
But I wasn't Cloris Leachman then.

© 2008