When I was twelve, I wrote an essay in school called “Viva Today.” It was about how everyone was so busy working for tomorrow, that they sometimes forgot about living their lives today. I used my father [Danny Thomas] as an example.
“He’s always away, working hard to make a better tomorrow for his children,” I wrote, “but when he finally comes home for good, we’ll probably be grown and gone.” And I ended with the words, “So, I say, Viva Today!”
A few nights later, our parents made their daily call to us from the road. Every night, they would make the call person-to-person to a different child, giving each of us our own turn.
“Long distance, calling Miss Mario Thomas.” It was very exciting. Then we’d all get on the phone, one by one, and tell them about our day and what we did in school.
On that particular night, I proudly told Dad that I had gotten an A on my school essay, so he asked me to read it to him. I did. When I was done, there was a silence on the other end. Finally, he said softly, “That’s beautiful, Mugs. Daddy needs to think about that.”
Years later, I would learn that soon after he called Uncle Abe (Abe Lastfogel, his agent, mentor and surrogate father) and told him he wanted to get off the road. Could Abe get him a TV series? That set the wheels in motion. Dad spitballed with his writers, and they came up with the premise for the show — about a nightclub entertainer who is always on the road and desperately trying to have a family life. They got their title [Make Room for Daddy] from what Mom used to say whenever my father was coming home from the road and she threw us out of her bed. “We have to make room for Daddy.” — Marlo Thomas, in her book Growing Up Laughing: My Story and the Story of Funny (read for free)
