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'''Lydia Cornell''' (born July 23, 1953) is an American actress, writer, novelist, comedienne, blogger, and talk-radio host.
'''Lydia Cornell''' (born July 23, 1953) is an American actress, waiter, novelist, comedienne, blogger, and talk-radio host.


==Early life and family==
==Early life and family==

Revision as of 20:19, 8 October 2012

Lydia Cornell
Born
Lydia Korniloff

(1953-07-23) July 23, 1953 (age 70)
El Paso, Texas, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actress, writer
Years active1980–present
SpousePaul Hayeland (2002-2010, divorced)
Websitehttp://www.lydiacornell.com/

Lydia Cornell (born July 23, 1953) is an American actress, waiter, novelist, comedienne, blogger, and talk-radio host.

Early life and family

Cornell was born as Lydia Korniloff in El Paso, Texas, the eldest daughter of concert violinists Irma Jean Stowe, a great granddaughter of Harriet Beecher Stowe,[1][2] and Gregory Jacob Korniloff,[3] (born 30 January 1917 in Vladivostok; died May 1977), a graduate of the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music and Arts, who was later assistant concertmaster of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra,[4] Cornell is the oldest sister of Paul Korniloff, a piano prodigy who died of an overdose of narcotics, and Kathryn "Kathy" Korniloff, co-founder of the band Two Nice Girls,[5][6] and since 1995 a sound designer and composer.[7]

While a nine-year old fourth grade student at Mesita Elementary School, Cornell was chosen as El Paso's Little Miss Cotton in March 1963.[3][8][9] In 1966 Cornell and her family moved to Scarsdale, New York, where she attended both Scarsdale Junior High School[3][10] and Scarsdale High School, graduating in 1971.[11] Her class mates included Dan Biederman and Eve Ensler.

About 1972 Cornell enrolled at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she eventually studied drama, English, Russian, and Spanish.[12][13] During the summer between Sophomore and Junior year in college, she worked at the famed recording studio Caribou Ranch in Nederland, Colorado, where she met Billy Joel, Joni Mitchell, Dennis Wilson and the Beach Boys, Chicago, Carole King, America, the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Henry Diltz, L.A. Express, and other rock bands. Before graduation, Cornell was the road manager for musician Michael Murphy.[3] These adventures will be described in an upcoming humor book series Cornell is writing. About May 1976 Cornell graduated from UC Boulder with a Bachelor of Science in Business, with majors in both advertising and English/drama.[3][12][13]

By the time of her father's death in May 1977, Cornell had joined the rest of the Korniloff family, who had been living in The Hague, the Netherlands since mid-1975.[2][14][15] Soon after her mother and siblings moved back to El Paso, Texas.

By 1978 Cornell had moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career and had a job for three months at a recording studio,[13] before being employed by Jack Webb Productions as a secretary-production assistant.[16] Still known as Lydia Korniloff, Cornell worked as an assistant to the producer on the television movie Little Mo, a biography of tennis star Maureen Connolly.[17]

Acting career

Cornell's first screen appearance was as Lydia Kornillof in a walk-on as a girl in a car in the 1979 film Steel, produced by and starring Lee Majors. Her first professional speaking part was two lines in an episode of The Love Boat.[18] In the summer of 1980, Cornell spent nine weeks filming in the Greek Isles for her appearance the mythological horror film Blood Tide,[13][19] which featured Oscar winners James Earl Jones, Jose Ferrer and Lila Kedrova and was produced by Nico Mastorakis and Donald Langdon.[2][20] Described as a "turkey", it was not released until 1982.[21]

Cornell's first major role was as Ted Knight's daughter Sara Rush, "a ditzy big-breasted blond",[22] on the ABC television situation comedy Too Close for Comfort which screened from November 11, 1980 to 1986.[23] In 1982, at the height of this show's popularity, Cornell was described by sexologist Robert T. Francoeur as providing a modern example of "classic female stereotypes in the mold of Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield.[24]

Cornell has also appeared on numerous television programs over the years, including The Love Boat (5 episodes), Charlie's Angels,[25] Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Drew Carey Show, the pilot episode of Quantum Leap,[26] Full House, Knight Rider,[27] The Dukes of Hazzard,[28] The A-Team,[29] T. J. Hooker, Simon & Simon, Hunter,[30] Hardball,[31] Black Scorpion,[32] Hotel (2 episodes), Fantasy Island, Battle of the Network Stars, Super Password (1985-1987),[33] TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes, and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve as co-host with Anson Williams.

In 1982, as part of a USO tour, Cornell went to Beirut, Lebanon to visit American troops in the Multinational Peacekeeping Force on Christmas Eve. Soon after their departure from Beirut, over 250 Marines of the 24th MAU were killed there in one of the first suicide bombings.

In 1989 Cornell provided the voice for Honi, the sixteen-year old daughter of Hägar the Horrible, in the 1989 CBS television special Hägar the Horrible: Hagar Knows Best produced by Hanna-Barbera, and starring Peter Cullen as Hägar and Lainie Kazan.

In 1999, Cornell was a Best Actress nominee at Method Fest,[34] which honors outstanding acting performances, for her leading role in the AFI indie "Miss Supreme Queen."

In 2005, she wrote, produced and starred in Venus Conspiracy, co-starring with Deborah Van Valkenburgh, who played her sister Jackie on Too Close for Comfort.

In the spring of 2010, she appeared in the Kelsey Grammer-Bill Zucker Comedy Hour, a series of improvisational vignettes, with Scott Baio, Kelsey Grammer and Bill Zucker, whom she met on Twitter. Cornell performed a song in Zucker's Twitter Song video. Cornell describes her brand of comedy, "Spiritual Therapy Comedy."

On December 4, 2010, Cornell hosted the live stream for Variety's Power of Comedy event at The Nokia Center, honoring Russell Brand, and benefiting the Noreen Fraser Foundation.

In 2011, she appeared in the feature film "Cats Dancing on Jupiter", directed by Jordan Alan, and starring Amanda Righetti of The Mentalist.

Literary and journalistic career

Cornell's self-titled blog was a 2006 and 2005 Koufax Award double nominee for best writing, and has been called "a consistently thought-provoking firecracker of pointed socio-political commentary and observant, caustic wit." (Shotgun Reviews.) John Conley, a Marine combat vet, sent her his Purple Heart for her courage in standing up to Ann Coulter's "extermination speak", and about the war in Iraq.

Cornell's articles have appeared in The Huffington Post; Editor & Publisher; The Lone Star Iconoclast; CNN; Crooks and Liars; Sitcoms Online; Retroality; Good Housekeeping; TV Guide; Femmes Fatales; Macon Area Online;[35] and several newspapers across the nation. Her December 2005 article "Death is Sexier than Sex...to Ann Coulter" [36] caused an uproar when Coulter published Cornell's home phone number and private email on the front page of her website, AnnCoulter.com. Subsequently, Cornell received death threats, and hate mail, but also hundreds of letters and calls in support of her statements. The story was subsequently picked up by MSNBC's Keith Olbermann; Editor & Publisher, Huffington Post, Crooks and Liars, CannonFire, and numerous online news sources.

Comedy and live performances

Cornell is a humorist and comedienne, and performs stand-up comedy with Destiny (The Tonight Show, MTV, VH-1.) The duo did 14 shows at the Riviera Las Vegas in June 2006. In November, they opened for Paul Rodriguez at Pechanga, and for The Amazing Johnathan at The Sahara in Las Vegas. Cornell calls herself a "spiritual therapy comedienne."

Cornell recently starred in an original comedy show in Hollywood with Destiny and Stephanie Hodge titled "Pain is Inevitable, Sex Optional". It is an ongoing comedy about marriage, sex, men, love, death and politics as told by three women.

Since 2007, Cornell has been the co-host on Basham Radio with Doug Basham.

References

  1. ^ Lydia Cornell Biography.
  2. ^ a b c Dick Kleiner, "Lydia Cornell In New Series", Waycross Journal-Herald (November 22, 1980):P-39.
  3. ^ a b c d e El Paso Actress' Success Not Too Close for Comfort, Daily Leader, (Frederick, OK: August 15, 1982):10.
  4. ^ Loretta Overton, "Kiwanis Club Urged to Back Symphony Artists of the Symphony; EP Couple Keeps in Tune; No One In Family Plays Second Fiddle", El Paso Herald-Record (April 22, 1965):17.
  5. ^ Colin Larkin, ed., The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Vol. 7, 3rd ed. (Macmillan, 1998).
  6. ^ "Where Are They Now? Two Nice Girls", AfterEllen, (August 22, 2007).
  7. ^ Bio.
  8. ^ "El Paso Areas Miss Cotton Is Happy Nine Year Old Girl", El Paso Herald Post(April 1, 1963):4.
  9. ^ El Paso Herald-Post (May 11, 1963).
  10. ^ Joan Crosby, "Tony Orlando Fan Requests Information About Singer", St. Joseph News-Press (July 11, 1981):11A.
  11. ^ Celebrity High - The Cast of "Too Close For Comfort", (September 4, 2011). Photographs of Lydia Korniloff from her school yearbook.
  12. ^ a b Stacy Jenel Smith, "Lydia Cornell: 'Too Close for Comfort' star is close to stardom", The Spokesman-Review (June 27, 1982):3.
  13. ^ a b c d Randy Waage, "If You Can Read This You are Too Close!", ca. 2005.
  14. ^ "Former EP man is dead", El Paso Herald-Post (June 3, 1977):8.
  15. ^ Kathryn (Kathy) Korniloff, Scarsdale Class of 1978.
  16. ^ Stacy Jenel Smith, "Lydia Cornell: 'Too Close for Comfort' star is close to stardom", The Spokesman-Review (June 27, 1982):4.
  17. ^ Lydia Cornell
  18. ^ Donna Wasiczko, "A Blonde, She Is; Dumb, She Is Not", Milwaukee Sentinel (April 4, 1985):1, Part 3.
  19. ^ Donald C. Willis, Horror and Science Fiction Films III (Scarecrow Press, 1984):29.
  20. ^ John Kenneth Muir, Horror Films of The 1980s (McFarland, 2007):148-149.
  21. ^ James J. Mulay, The Horror Film (CineBooks, 1989):24.
  22. ^ Elana Levine, Wallowing in Sex: The New Sexual Culture of 1970s American Television (Duke University Press, 2006).
  23. ^ Marla Brooks, The American Family on Television: A Chronology of 121 Shows, 1948-2004 (McFarland & Co., 2005):132.
  24. ^ Robert T. Francoeur, Becoming a Sexual Person (Macmillan Publishing Company, 1982):474.
  25. ^ David Hofstede and Jack Condon, Charlie's Angels Casebook (Pomegranate Press, 2000).
  26. ^ Cornell Quantum Leap 20th Anniversary: The Leap Back 2009.
  27. ^ Joe F. Huth and Richie F. Levine, Knight Rider Legacy: The Unofficial Guide to the Knight Rider Universe‎ (iUniverse, 2004):200.
  28. ^ David Hofstede, The Dukes of Hazzard: The Unofficial Companion (St. Martin's Press, 2005).
  29. ^ Jon Abbott, Stephen J. Cannell Television Productions: A History of All Series and Pilots (McFarland, 2009):153.
  30. ^ Jon Abbott, Stephen J. Cannell Television Productions: A History of All Series and Pilots (McFarland, 2009):212.
  31. ^ Vincent Terrace, Television Character and Story Facts: Over 110,000 Details from 1,008 Shows, 1945-1992 (McFarland & Co., 1993):193.
  32. ^ John Kenneth Muir, The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film and Television, 2nd ed. (McFarland & Co., 2008):155.
  33. ^ Norman Chance, Who Was Who on Tv, Vol. 3 (Xlibris Corporation, 2011):281.
  34. ^ methodfest. "methodfest". methodfest. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  35. ^ "Internet Archive Wayback Machine". Web.archive.org. 2006-04-14. Archived from the original on 2006-04-14. Retrieved 2012-04-29. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  36. ^ Brad Friedman. "Death Is Sexier Than Sex (to Ann Coulter)". The Brad Blog. Retrieved 2012-04-29.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lydia Cornell.

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