Inger on Katy's wedding, painting and the early part of her career

 

In 1965, Inger talked with Joan Barthel about a variety of topics. I cherish reading about Inger and her life from the lady herself. 

On Katy and Glen's wedding on The Farmer's Daughter:

The audience has been writing in—they can't stand it any longer. The audience wants the marriage to happen. At least, the women do. I'm not so sure about the men. Anyway, we're not doing Orphan Annie, where we all stay the same for 50 years. We're both fairly intelligent people in the series, and I don't think two intelligent people could continue playing this game much longer. We'll have a chance now to show that marriage can be fun, that people can be lovers though married.

On working on a television show:

Five years is a lot out of your life. I live my whole life on television. The hours are long—5 in the morning to 8:30 at night, five days a week—and there's not much time to do anything except learn your lines and keep healthy. At first I thought a series would be one big prison, but it hasn't been, and I haven't regretted it at all.

On working on Broadway:

Every time I've opened in a Broadway play, I've had to throw up.

On people:

When I really dislike somebody, I try to find something nice about them—and generally I can't find anything.

On making art:

Working with your hands is a very satisfying thing—you forget about a lot of things that are running about in your mind. On weekends I like to paint. I like to paint faces, and people with a lot of movement. I painted a still life once and I hated it.

On overcoming early frustrations in her career:

You're so afraid to say you're wrong, to say you don't know. At a certain point in my life I was very withdrawn, and there is always at time in your career when you lose your perspective. But I think I benefited much from that unhappy period in my life. I can laugh at myself now. I can cry, too, but I laugh more often.

On her passion for working with kids who were developmentally delayed:

The only thing I can be sure I'll be doing five years from now...

Source: 

Barthel, Joan. "A Sweetie from Sweden." The New York Times. July 25, 1965.