Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Valarie Long, daughter of actors Richard Long and Mara Corday. At times our conversation was breezy, at times difficult and at other times funny, Valerie really took some time with this interview because there was so much to discuss.
From health issues that plagued Richard his whole life to some of those same issues that Valerie herself faced, we hear about how her father was plucked from obscurity as a high school senior at Hollywood High School and within no time was working on films with Orson Welles, Claudette Colbert, Loretta Young and Edward G. Robinson. We also discuss her father’s first marriage prior to meeting the pinup girl Playboy model turned actress Mara Corday, to a young ingénue named Suzan Ball who tragically passed away at age 22 when Richard was only 23 whose tragic story is one we had never heard of prior to connecting to Valerie.
Somehow we end up talking to Valerie about people like Clint Eastwood, Peter Marshall, Lee Majors, Barbara Stanwyck, Roddy McDowell, Dan Rowan and Sit John Mills. We also discuss iconic TV shows like The Big Valley, The Twilight Zone, 77 Sunset Strip, Nanny and the Professor and more. We discuss movies like Tarantula, Sudden Impact, Tomorrow is Forever, Ma and Pa Kettle and Make Like a Thief and others. It’s a rollicking conversation that was equal parts funny, heartwarming and poignant and we thank Valerie for shying away from nothing in our conversation.. But that’s how things happen on the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story. And this one is a keeper.
Wow what a treasure! Thanks for doing this episode and thank you to Valerie for sharing her memories of her mom and dad and family.
I am without words after listening to this interview with Valerie Long. It is so timely as we remember and celebrate Richard’s life and career, come December 17th. I have been a follower since I was seven years old, and watched the news that covered his marriage to Suzan Ball. I am now 77. I have seen every film and television show he ever did, and I have an almost equal number for Mara! I was in seminary when Richard passed; had just returned home for Christmas. I have been ordained as Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA) for the past 46 years. I still treasure the letter I received in Mara’s handwriting after I sent condolences. My heart still aches every year around this time. Thank you and blessings to you, Josh and to Valerie for her most thoughtful reflection on her dad and mom and for sharing with those of us who continue to love him for the work he did and the way he brought storytelling to life. I had a cousin who regarded him as a “teen idol.” Her collection was the beginning of mine.