Proof that leaving isn’t so easy
Young Chang
A fight propelled Renee Taylor and Joe Bologna on their comedic
rise to fame.
It was 35 years ago and the couple had only been married a couple
years. Taylor had told Bologna to pack up and leave. Bologna began
packing and Taylor did, too. The story goes that Bologna asked
Taylor, “Where do you think you’re going?”
Taylor said, “If you ever leave me, I’m going with you.”
Hence the title of their touring show.
Taylor and Bologna started their act four years ago, went on the
road with it, performed it on Broadway last year and are now headed
for Orange Coast College for a Sept. 14 show.
They’re famous for their talent and humor, of course, but also for
their enviably loving and celebratory relationship. The spiel begins
with the couple’s courtship, how they dated, what it was like to be
newlyweds, their fights, how they make up and about the different
textures of the life they share.
“I’m an Italian-American and Renee is Jewish-American,” said
Bologna, a stage, screen and television actor who recently acted with
Adam Sandler in “Big Daddy.” Relationships are “kind of a universal
thing. I think everybody relates to that.”
Taylor, widely known for playing Fran Drescher’s mother in “The
Nanny” and other acting, directing and Broadway roles, said they love
to look out in the audience and see people holding hands.
“They usually come backstage and tell us about their love story
too,” she said. “A lot of people come to the show celebrating a
birthday or anniversary. It’s comedy, but it’s also a very romantic
show.”
The couple has written, directed and starred in other works
together, including “It Had to be You” and “Love is All There Is.”
“Lovers and Other Strangers,” which Taylor and Bologna co-wrote, was
nominated for an Oscar and “Acts of Love and Other Comedies” won an
Emmy Award. The public relationship started on the day of the team’s
wedding -- at their wedding reception actually -- as the event was
held and aired on the “Merv Griffin Show.” Taylor had told Griffin
that receptions were so expensive to hold and he had offered his show
as the venue.
A lot of people ask the duo how they keep up their successful
relationship.
Taylor says they “keep going back to the love.”
“It’s always new and exciting and romantic because we make it that
way,” she said. “We’ve renewed our vows five dimes ... we go out to
dinner about once a week, go someplace and laugh, go to the movies
and neck.”
Bologna said love is the easy part, that commitment is what keeps
a union strong.
“Who takes out the garbage is the hard part of a marriage,” he
said. “So many people, once they have their first fight, say ‘oh the
bloom is off the rose,’ but no, that’s where the fun starts. That’s
where the relationship deepens.”
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