HEART to heart
busy.Notlongago,whenhistwinswerejust
toddlersandhisparentswerein town,he
invitedus to a familydinnerat hishome.
Tospenda littletimewithAmal—I found
her to be so lovelyanddown-to-earth.I saw
upclosehowcrazytheyareabouteachother
and theirkids.It wasa heartwarmingevent.What’she likeas a dad?
It’sverysweet—he’sjusta naturalat it.He’s
sucha clown,George,so lotsof teasingand
joking,buthe’sverywarmandat easewith
his kids.My daughterTessais an actressand
got castin [George’sminiseries]Catch-22,
playingoneof thenurses.Shegotto spend
a weekat LakeComo[Italy]withthemand
was completelytakenwithitsbeauty.Niceto seeherfollowingin your
fo otsteps.Wastherea momentin your
ch ildhoodthatsetyouon your path?
Mymotherusedto teachmy sistersand
mefour-partharmonyandhaveus singfor
company.I gota lotof attention,becauseI
was littlebutI hada bigvoice.Doyouhaveanyfavoritememoriesfrom
yourdaysin theBooneSisters?
Theywereall greattimes.It washardwork,
but it affordedus thechanceto travel.I wasn’t
a big fanof schoolin middleandhighschool,
soit gaveus thechanceto leavetheclassroom.Anylessonsyoulearnedfromyour dad?
Verysimilarto whatI learnedposthumouslyALL IN THE FAMILY
Shirley and Pat Boone
with their daughters(from
le ft) Cherry, Debby and
Li ndy in August 1957.TV STAR “My first acting experience
was a [1978] TV show adapted from a
musical based on The Gift of the Magi.
John Rubinstein was very caring and
generous,” she tells Closer.THE HIGH-
LIGHTS OF
HER LIFE
from my grandfather, whichis
the ability to be authentically
themselves in front of an
audience, which makes
everybody comfortable.They
just made people feel likethey
were guests in their home.What are people’s biggest
misconceptions aboutyou?
People think I’m a kindof prim-
and-proper goody-two-shoes,just
because I inherited my dad’ssortof
squeaky-clean image. Theworstthingthat
I think people might thinkaboutme is that
I’m super judgmental and self-righteous.
That is just not the case. I think people are
constantly surprised that I am fun, that
I’m not stuck up, that I have a good sense of
humor and that I’m very inclusive.Are there any ways you try to work
against those misconceptions?
There has been a segment of the Christian
church which has been very vocal about
who’s in and who’s out. I’ve done a lot of
Christian music that I love, which I don’t
regret at all, but I think it sometimes gave
people a misconception. So when I was out
on the road doing shows like The Sound of
Music or on Broadway doing Grease, I can
have a bit of a bawdy sense of humor that
nobody thinks would be coming from me,
and a little bit of a mouth sometimes. People
just don’t expect that from me. [Laughs]FAMILY TIME
“I have such an enriched,
beautiful life,” Debby tells
Closer. “My family all lives in
LA, so they’re at my house for
Sunday night dinner almost
every week. My dad
comes often, and I try to
do a sisters’ vacation
every summer.”SISTER ACT Shirley
and Pat brought their
daughters into the
Boone Family act in
the 1970s.46 September 2, 2019 CLOSER