Nancy Dussault Recalls ‘Good Morning America’ Start

The actress talks about what it was like to be part of the ABC morning show launch in 1975

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10 days.

That’s how much time Nancy Dussault had before being hired to co-anchor with David Hartman on ABC’s launch into the morning TV arena with Good Morning America (GMA) in 1975.

“The job came up very quickly,” Dussault says. “David, actually, was in place and I knew him, which was extremely helpful. I sure didn’t have a lot of preparation. It was a big innovative thing for ABC. This was not (a news show)…it came under entertainment. It was the first time they hired people not in the news and it was a big deal. It was very important to be likeable on television, and communicate and be a real person.”

 

VIDEO: Hear Nancy Dussault talk about that first year on Good Morning America.

 

Fourty years later, it’s easy to see why ABC chose her. Dussault chats effortlessly, sharing stories about her dynamic career in entertainment that preceded and post-dated her time on GMA, including a pair of Tony-nominated performances as Maria in The Sound of Music in 1961 and as Emily Kirsten in Bajour in 1964. Dessault may also look familiar from her TV roles on The Dick Van Dyke Show, Mad About You and Too Close for Comfort.

Greater Palm Springs audiences will have a chance to see this adept actress and singer, Dec. 11-13, at Coachella Valley Repertory Theatre’s Holiday Cabaret show, “Little Things You Do Together,” with Angela Wolcott and Vincenzo Lodato.

“I’m glad to be singing again. This is a great event,” Dussault says. “I got to pick what I wanted to sing. It’s an interesting array of songs by Stephen Sondheim, George Gershwin — a great combination of music, and of course, Christmas songs.”

“Little Things You Do Together,” Coachella Valley Repertory Theater, 69930 Highway 11, Rancho Mirage, 760-296-2966; www.cvrep.org

 

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