The first time I saw EG I was just starting to train at the Howard Fine Acting Studio. She looked familiar, but I didn’t put it together immediately. Then it clicked — Dottie! From “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure”! After we became friends and had worked together on various scenes for class, it was always hard for me to resist saying, “I’m a loner, Dottie. A rebel.” It still is.
Her family is European. She’s one of five kids — one was born in France, another in Israel. She was born in L.A. “I was raised in a normal, middle-class neighborhood with kids. We walked to school, whereas my kids now go to school in the Valley, so you have to drive.”
EG was more of a dancer and singer than an actor … “but I learned to be good at it. And once I graduated high school, I started booking movies. Lots of cult films. Simultaneously did music, wrote songs and was on soundtracks.
“I was married maybe seven years — had two kids. [The ex and I] get along fine. I love my girls. I put a lot of attention on them — make sure my kids are priority.”
“What did you learn from divorce?” I ask. She says, “You know that game — ‘Hot, hot, hot, you’re getting cold, cold, cold’ ”? I nod, yes. “It’s pretty simple. If it feels good, it’s hot, hot, hot; if I want to get out, it’s cold, cold, cold. How does it feel, is the big question. I think when you’re with the right person, your life gets better.”
We talk about the difficulty in meeting men. She’s now more known for voicing cartoon characters on projects like “Rugrats,” “Happy Feet” and “The Powerpuff Girls,” so her fans have changed. “I started doing a lot of voiceover because I was being a mommy, so it sort of just worked itself out for me. I was able to be there for [my kids], so voiceovers just blew up. It was fun for them, too, to have the mommy who was the successful cartoon mommy. I still have a lot of guys who are in love with me from ‘Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.’ I had to weed through a lot of people at that point.”
I ask her what kind of men she likes. “I like funny, connected, kind and sensitive — not out of touch, [where] you don’t feel like you can share what you’re really feeling. Someone who’s comfortable with himself and also works on himself and is growing. Someone who brings to the party, rather than a taker. Someone who’s your best friend, who you’re super attracted to. That’s ideal. And where you feel at home. I always say, where you feel like you’re sitting in a warm bath.”
“How do you meet guys?” I ask. “At my car.” I laugh. “Seriously, I get notes on my car.” “Do you respond to them?” She doesn’t. But I get the feeling she finds it flattering. “Guys come over to me in stores, in a market, in the gym. … I was at a party and met someone I dated that way. I don’t have a 9-to-5 job, so I meet people out. I’ve dated other dads from the kids’ school. It was cool.
“I’d say he should be between 40 and 55. I’m in a different place now. I feel like I’ve been out of the loop, because I’ve been raising children. … Some dating, but nothing serious. But now I feel like there’s more of an opening for having a partner. Because what else is there? Printing up resumes, doing your auditions, but at the end of the day, what else is there besides companionship?”
If you’re interested in anyone you see on My Single Peeps, send an e-mail and a picture, including the person’s name in the subject line, to mysinglepeeps@jewishjournal.com, and we’ll forward it to your favorite peep.
Seth Menachem is an actor and writer living in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter. You can see more of his work on his Web site, sethmenachem.com, and meet even more single peeps at mysinglepeeps.com.
