Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!
For years, comedian and actor Marsha Warfield has been spreading joy and making the world laugh, thanks especially to Rosalind “Roz” Russell, the hilarious bailiff she played on the NBC sitcom Night Court for six seasons starting in 1986.
Outside of Roz, Warfield is a veteran stand-up comic, and delivered memorable film and television performances throughout the ’80s and ’90s in shows like Cheers, Moesha, and Empty Nest, and films like Mask and Cadyshack II before effectively retiring in the 2000s.
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But, more recently, she has stepped back into the spotlight—and come out publicly as gay—meaning its high-time we give her her flowers for being a trailblazing Black, LGBTQ+ voice in media. Which is why we were especially thrilled to set her featured in Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution, Netflix‘s recent look at the legacy and activism of queer comedy, where she’s honored among many of her boundary-pushing peers.
And, in a lovely instance of “art imitating life,” Warfield even reprised her most iconic role for NBC’s Night Court reboot, where characters new and old gathered to celebrate Roz’s marriage to the woman of her dreams—just a year after Warfield herself married the love of her life, Angie Maldonado!
Back on the road performing stand-up all over the country, and with an unfiltered new weekly video podcast Midnight In The Marshaverse, Warfield is busier than ever. But we still managed to snag some time with her and welcome the legend as the latest guest of our rapid-fire Q&A series, Dishin’ It. In our conversation, Warfield reflects on revisiting Roz and the power of comedy, and she takes us on an emotional journey when she opens up about not coming out until hers 60s.
Is there a piece of media—whether a movie, TV series, book, album, theater, video game, etc…—that has played an important role in your understanding of queerness and the queer community? Why does it stand out to you?
I thought long and hard about this, and after much consideration I realized that the answer is no. For me. Kinda. Let me explain.
The question seems to me to presuppose that media in some form inspired me to come out in some way. However, I didn’t come out until I was in my 60s. I’m 70 now, so for the first 60+ years of my life obviously nothing I saw was compelling enough for me to first, come out to myself (in my 20s) and then come out publicly.
Though I did date, for many years before I came out, I was celibate. I cut myself off from show business and everything else for almost 20 years.
So, my journey was personal, internal. I went out to women’s clubs some in my 30s and 40s, but all in all, I was never really “in the community” until now. For 60-some-odd years I was closeted in a straight world. Doing standup again was what “inspired” me. As a performer, I want to be as authentic as I can. I want to be all that I am and honest about it. Warts and all.
“If you’re bold enough to do a thing, be woman enough to stand up and admit it.” My mother drilled that into me.
So, I don’t know if I’ve answered your question, but, it is why I had a hard time giving a simple answer.
After I came out though, learning about Gladys Bentley and Moms Mabley, talking to women who have lived their entire adult lives openly, doing shows for LGBTQIA+ audiences, etc., has been… validating to be honest.
And being involved with Outstanding and Stand OUT has opened my eyes in many ways, so I guess, that’s the most inspiring and important thing that I can think of.
Lastly, being a lesbian is not a “wart.” Being afraid is the part I’m ashamed of.
Earlier this year, you got to reprise your iconic character Roz on Night Court in a big way, with a storyline involving her wedding. What has it meant to you, as an out queer woman, to play Roz as an out queer woman all these years later?
I was very excited and happy that Night Court gave Roz a wife! I especially appreciated that they handled it like they did. In the past, Roz being gay would have been the issue of the episode, with everyone trying to figure out how to handle this “problem.” But there was none of that. It was about the wedding, not who I was getting married to. Indira Wilson is gorgeous and talented, and her character, Loretta, is an accomplished, independent, self-sufficient woman! Having Dan Fielding walk Roz down the aisle was cherry on top perfect. And we shot it on my birthday!
And you yourself got married last summer—congratulations! As you approach your first year together as wives, what’s the biggest lesson married life has taught you about yourself?
My beautiful bride Angie and I have been together since 2019. We’ve been through the pandemic together and survived a long-distance courtship. So, we worked out all the wrinkles before we got married.
You’ve got credits on so many fantastic sitcom classics. If you could revisit another one of your characters in a hypothetical reboot of one of those shows, which would it be and why?
Night Court. A dream I didn’t know I had came true.
Where’s one of the first spaces you can remember that made you feel a part of a queer community?
Hmmm…”queer community?” For most of my life there was no such thing in my life. The word “queer” is relatively new for me. I even talk about not knowing my way around the culture. I’m still learning.
You have a background in stand-up comedy and you’re featured in Netflix’s Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution documentary out this month—why do you see the comedy/stand-up world as such a natural place for queer voices to flourish?
Standup gives us the opportunity to speak truth to everybody, not just each other. As a gay, Black comedienne in her 70s in America, my whole being is a pushback against “polite society’s” hypocrisy.
You recently launched your podcast Midnight In The Marshaverse—what does the “Marshaverse” represent to you? What made you want to create this world and invite your fans into it?
The Marshaverse is my place in the world where everything makes sense to me. I believe that everything we know is a lie. Jesus was not white. White people are not superior. Being straight is not a virtue. Neither is greed. War is not inevitable. Confrontation and violence are not solutions. So, in my world, people can accept each other while being themselves. A simple thing that, like most efforts to seek peaceful cooperation and community, are for some reason seen as radical threats to the established order. So, in the Marshaverse we can explore those things without conflict and try to live and promote those “radical concepts. Midnight In The Marshaverse lets us chill, drink cognac, smoke weed, and talk sh*t.
Who is a queer or trans artist/performer/creator that you think is doing really cool work right now? Why are they someone we should all be paying attention to?
We should listen to everybody. Everybody’s story is important.
cuteguy
She has previously said she wouldn’t come out until her religious mother was gone. Sad