Photo by Mark Husmann
In Untied: A Memoir of Family, Fame, and Floundering (Crown), former Family Ties actress Meredith Baxter recalls her remarkable personal highs and lows — from growing up with a distant mother (actress Whitney Blake) who insisted her daughter call her “Whitney,” to her own three disastrous marriages and alcoholism, to final rehab and coming out as a lesbian at age 62. Much like her Family Ties character, Baxter really was a hippie — drying “kilos and kilos” of marijuana in the oven of her Laurel Canyon apartment in the 60s. Needing to make some money (and failing at her attempt to be a Tupperware hostess), Baxter finally decided to use her family connections to land some acting auditions. Acting memoirs can be exceedingly dull, but Baxter is a strong writer who provides a smart and funny perspective on both her work and her life. Baxter’s candidness in portraying her (many) moments of floundering is especially endearing — I mean, who hasn’t made some rotten choices in life and love? I caught up with Baxter for LAmag.com and asked her how she finally figured it all out.
Read my Author Spotlight with Meredith Baxter on LAmag.com. Baxter’s book Untied is on my March Reading List at LAmag.com.
