Forty old age ago this calendar week , the TV specialFree to Be … You and Meaired on ABC . Based on the 1972 best - sell criminal record and book , the special starredFree to Becreator Marlo Thomas and feature the likes of Rosey Grier , Alan Alda , Harry Belafonte , a teenage Michael Jackson , Roberta Flack , and Kris Kristofferson , many of whom had also participate in the record album .
The special would go on to gain an Emmy and , after 16 mm prints were abbreviate , a regular slot in the school day curriculum of 35 body politic for many year to come ( not to mention some pretty valuable real estate of the realm in the hearts and minds of baby born in the seventies ) . concord to Thomas , she is still on a regular basis demand to participate inFree to Beevents across the country .
To fete the anniversary , the stars of the peculiar , include Thomas , Grier , Alda , Gloria Steinem , and Carole Hart , participated in a panel discussion at the Paley Center on Wednesday .
Here are a few things we learned from the evening .
1. Aunts Are People
Getty Images
The musical theme forFree to Became to Marlo Thomas — then most famed for her star character onThat Girl , in which she play Ann Marie , a career girl who did n’t require to get married — as she was reading a bedtime taradiddle to her 5 - yr - old niece Dionne . Thomas was scandalise to discover all the books available to her niece were the same books she had been read when she was a piffling girl , and “ it had taken me 30 year to get over them . ” When Thomas went to the bookstore the next day in search of estimable transportation , she found the state of children ’s fiction was “ bad than I reckon . ” On the shelves she notice the especially abyssmalI’m Glad I ’m A Boy , I ’m Glad I ’m A Girl . Sample text:“Boys invent thing , girls use what boys cook up . ” say Thomas : “ I almost had a heart attack properly there . ”
She quickly decided to make a “ little platter ” for Dionne and on the recommendation of Shel Silverstein conk to fabled small fry ’s book editor Ursula Nordstrom , who put her in spot with some well know children ’s writer . disappoint with the results , and worried children of the seventies were too “ pelvic arch ” and would n’t be satisfied with simply babble out - songy lyrics , Thomas instead turned to Broadway in the hope of doing something “ really showy for kids . ” The resultant role was an album written and compose by some of the go lyricists and musicians of the day .
2. ABC Wanted to Cut Three Songs
Paley Center
grant to Thomas , there were three pieces the TV big businessman - that - be want to cut from the special . The first two were " William Wants A Doll " and " It ’s Alright to Cry , " because the connection was worried showing them “ would make every boy in America a Milquetoast … that was n’t the word they used . ”
They also had a problem with " Parents are People , " not because of the lyrics , says Thomas , but because there was vexation that the scene feature her and Harry Belafonte roll their own baby buggies down a pavement made it seem as though the two were married . The meshwork told Thomas they “ could n’t put that out and sure enough could n’t fiddle it in the South . ”
3. All three pieces made it to air.
The day the special publicize , one Boston critic cautioned parents to " keep your children aside from the hardening . "
4. Michael Jackson Never Felt Free to Take His Own Advice
One of the special ’s songs , " When We uprise Up"—about learning to swallow ourselves for who we are — was performed by Roberta Flack and a teenage Michael Jackson . The two sing to each other through a mirror :
Sadly , Jackson was unable to absorb the advice he so sweetly sang about . Tony Walton , the production designer for bothFree to BeandThe Wiz , says that on the set of the latter Jackson was particularly thankful for his Scarecrow costume . “ I had given him a minuscule cupcake cup to put on his nose , ” recounted Walton , “ and he set out crying , and I said ‘ oh , is this upsetting ? ’ ” Responded Jackson : “ I can not tell you how happy I am , my father has always call me ‘ magnanimous nose ’ and so my brothers always called me ‘ big nose , ’ too , so I am really witting of how ugly I am to them . ”
5. What does this have to do with M.S.?
The money raised fromFree to Beinitially live to the Ms. Foundation for Women , a non - profit organisation institute in 1973 by Gloria Steinem , Patricia Carbine , Letty Cottin Pogrebin and Marlo Thomas as a way to funnel back ( anticipate ) profits fromMs.magazine into the feminist apparent movement ( after , FTBYMwould establish its own foundation ) . Not everyone in those days was familiar withMs . , however , and when Mel Brooks arrived on solidification to do his part he exclaimed , “ I ’m glad to do this for Marlo but what does this have to do with Multiple Sclerosis ? ”
6. Free to be…Free (Or always read the fine print!)
Because of her various showbiz connections , Thomas was able-bodied to get people to enter for free . That said , it turn out there was a set of money to be made by shoot children seriously , and the good will of those who signed on to participate gratis paid off in the oddment . Literally . fit in to writer Dan Greenburg , the contract stated “ very distinctly I was to get no money . And lo and behold , I never read the boilerplate , which apparently say that beyond a sealed amount , people set out getting give . And the money started add up in ! ”
Come along, take my hand, sing a song
No really . They really mean it . This is how the evening ended .
