By Valerie Milano
Photos Jac Wong
Video Juan Markos
Studio City, CA (The Hollywood Times/Aspiring Magazine) 11/12/25 – When actress Morgan Fairchild walked into a Beverly Hills restaurant in the early 1980s and every head turned, she realized then that “celebrity” meant living in a fishbowl. “Getting used to being scrutinized every moment of your life is a little hard to get used to,” she told me during our Hollywood Times/Aspiring Magazine interview.
Decades later, at 75, Fairchild still commands that kind of attention. She recently stepped in front of the camera for a photo shoot at the home of late comedian Judy Tenuta for the Fall issue of Aspiring Magazine. Between shots, Fairchild sat down to reflect and converse about her long-tenured career, activism, and upcoming projects.
Fairchild’s path to Hollywood was circuitous. A native of Dallas, Texas, she worked in local theatre and television before moving to New York in the 1970s. Her first notable roles came as “Jennifer Pace” on the daytime soap Search for Tomorrow and in crime dramas such as Kojak, before relocating to Los Angeles, where she quickly found steady work.
After all these years, she still identifies as a frontier Texan, recalling how she once stood “tarantula and rattlesnake guard” as a girl while her mother gardened. Yet she loves Los Angeles for its effervescent energy.
Fairchild credits her longevity to deliberately taking roles audiences did not expect from a glamorous blonde. Early in her career, she fought to play nuanced characters. In a 1978 television movie loosely based on Carrie, she wanted to portray the conflicted sister, but director Chuck Fried insisted she play the villain because “a good bitch is hard to find,” and if the bad guy doesn’t work, “the movie doesn’t work.” The film became that year’s top-rated TV movie.
From then on, Fairchild leaned into unexpected choices. She introduced herself to a younger generation by playing Chandler Bing’s outspoken novelist mother on Friends, Sandra Bernhard’s girlfriend on Roseanne, and by cameoing in Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure.
“In this business you have to reintroduce yourself to a new audience every five years,” she explained. That philosophy continues to guide her choices.
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Fairchild disclosed that she and her sister, Cathryn Hartt, have been developing a podcast called Two Bitches from Texas, an outlet to chat with friends about the world’s problems with humor and candor. She is also in talks for a reality television project, and she remains eager to expand into producing.
Meanwhile, she is still working in front of the camera. In recent months, she reprised her role as Haven de Havilland on General Hospital, proving that soap operas, where she first rose to prominence, remain an enduring home for her talents.
She also appears in the ITV/Peacock documentary Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy, where she reflects on her time playing Chandler Bing’s mother on Friends and candidly grapples with the difficulty of watching friends struggle with addiction.
Fairchild’s intellectual curiosity has long fueled her activism. A voracious reader who once dreamed of becoming a doctor or paleontologist, she was one of Hollywood’s earliest advocates for environmental issues and AIDS awareness. She began speaking about global warming in the mid-1980s, when few politicians did, and she educated millions about retroviruses and HIV when AIDS first emerged. She hosted a five-hour town-hall edition of Nightline, testified before Congress, and worked with Dr. Anthony Fauci and Surgeon General C. Everett Koop.
Her advocacy continues today through social media, where she educates followers on Long COVID and vaccine misinformation. This mission became personal after the 2023 passing of her fiancé, film executive Mark Seiler. Seiler had been battling Parkinson’s disease and complications from multiple bouts of Long COVID, which led to a fatal heart attack. Fairchild honors his memory by amplifying credible medical information and countering misinformation online.
Although she jokes that she can’t figure out Netflix without a teenager’s help, she is savvy on X (Twitter) and Instagram. She frequently shares climate change articles, pandemic research, and playful posts — including her #OnMyWalk snapshots and mask-matching selfies. A recent post showed her celebrating a birthday dinner with actors Sam Elliott and Chris Lugo, reminding fans to “#BeKind.”
Fairchild is quick to remind fans that her roots are in theatre, and she values every role on set. She recalls improvising entire scenes alongside Robin Williams in Mork & Mindy and James Brolin in Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure with director Tim Burton’s blessing. To this day, she greets younger actors warmly, shows them the commissary, and helps them feel at home.
“Being kind is what stays with people,” she said. “That’s the greatest legacy I can leave behind.”
Despite personal losses, she remains optimistic. She lives with her three cats, reads voraciously, and delights in small joys, whether walking her neighborhood, decorating for holidays, or experimenting with new projects.
When asked what advice she would give to young women in the industry, she urges: “Get in front of a camera any time you can.” She encourages newcomers to use TikTok and Instagram to practice, reminding them that stillness can be more powerful than excess movement. Above all, she tells them to learn about every job on set and to lead with kindness.
Fairchild’s story remains a testament to resilience, curiosity, and compassion. Whether acting on stage, playing a glamorous villain on screen, mentoring the next generation, or educating the public on health and climate issues, she continues to reinvent herself.
As she summed up during our conversation: “Our main purpose in life is to help each other get through it… move into the light, keep moving forward.”
Morgan Fairchild still dares to surprise — and in doing so, reminds us that kindness never goes out of style.
