A Green Card

Actor Ed Begley Jr., an ardent, sometimes eccentric environmentalist, is bringing his wife-exasperating watts-watching to reality television

By Norma Meyer
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
January 5, 2007

At their home in Studio City, Ed Begley Jr. points out to wife Rachelle Carson that a curling iron is a power waster.

STUDIO CITY – Eco-crazed actor Ed Begley Jr. and his wife just finished bickering about how much energy her hair-curling iron wastes. Now he's boiling water for soup on a sun-heated oven in the drought-tolerant backyard of their two-bedroom solar-powered home.

“Oh, he's insane!” scoffs Rachelle Carson, his annoyed better half.

The pretty, blond actress and Pilates instructor rolls her eyes again at the eccentric rumpled man of the house, clad in his “uniform” – organic cotton Of the Earth khaki shorts, white Costco T-shirt and socks, but no shoes on this freezing day.

If Begley hadn't loaned his generator-equipped stationary bike to a friend, he'd demonstrate how he both exercises and creates electricity for breakfast.

“You pedal for 15 minutes and you have enough power for the 2½ minutes it takes to toast toast,” he explains, as the manicured missus loudly groans.

The 57-year-old craggy-faced Begley, whose vast credits include the 1980s TV hit “St. Elsewhere” (for which he was Emmy-nominated) and the recent film “For Your Consideration,” has long been Hollywood's most devoted environmentalist.

Since 1970, the likable do-gooder has committed himself to helping the planet. He chaired the Environmental Media Association and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, and he serves on the boards of the Thoreau Institute, Tree People and other groups. He has raised money for various causes and been honored by organizations such as the National Resources Defense Council and The Coalition for Clean Air.

Begley uses recycling bins for everything from discarded crossword puzzles to junk mail. His obsession, and his wife's coping with it, are at the heart of the TV show "Living With Ed."

But his wife gripes that his green fetish makes her nuts, which, natch, is grist for a cable reality show. “Living With Ed,” a weekly, six-episode series, premieres 10 p.m. Sunday on HGTV.

The show isn't taping, although the warring pair play it up during an interview at their 1936 California ranch-style home, which is behind a white picket fence made of recycled plastic milk jugs. The vegetarian couple have been married for half of the 13 years they've been together and have a 7-year-old daughter, Hayden.

Still, it can't be easy co-habitating with a self-described science “geek” who's had 117 solar panels on his roof since 1990, catches rainwater in a giant vat to irrigate his organic vegetable garden, often commutes by bike (he once pedaled in tux to an Academy Awards party), owns an energy-generating windmill in the desert, and sells Begley's Best biodegradable housecleaning products in between acting gigs on shows like “Boston Legal.”

No wonder he keeps unplugging his wife's hair-curling iron in the bathroom when she leaves it heating up for 20 minutes. She, in turn, yells at her beloved and plugs it back in for another 20 minutes.

“They take two to three minutes to fully get as hot as they're going to,” Begley booms. “Do you know how much wattage they take? It's like leaving a light bulb on for a week!”

“He'll tell you the wattage for everything,” the 46-year-old Carson drolly says. “Yeah, he's fascinating at a party. He really is. A total nerd.”

Actor Ed Begley cleans the solar panels on the roof of his Studio City house. "This is a shack to my Hollywood friends," a proud Begley says.

“This is 80 watts!” exclaims Begley, holding a magnifying glass to read the hair curler's small print. “Let me go get the other one! You use two, right?”

The reality show will offer tips – Begley, for example, replaced all the regular light bulbs in the house with long-lasting, energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs. Carson grouses they give off an unflattering glow.

“It's horrifying. It's awful. Go look in the dining room,” she shudders. “If you're going to do a scientific experiment, you should have this light. But if you're having a dinner party, it's not good.”

Carson, who has appeared on TV shows such as “N.Y.P.D. Blue” and “Falcon Crest,” says she'd like to gut the place and remodel into a bigger abode. No way, hubbie huffs.

“This is a shack to my Hollywood friends,” Begley says with pride. “By world standards, it's a palace: 1,700 square feet, two bedrooms, a bath and a half. To 99.9 percent of the world's population, it is what I think it is – a palace. But to Hollywood – and that would include Rachelle – it's too small.”

Ironically, the unpretentious Begley household harbors the ultimate Tinseltown symbol of prestige. A supporting actor Oscar, which Begley's late father, Ed Sr., won for the 1962 film “Sweet Bird of Youth” is perched on a fireplace mantel (the cats' litter box is tucked in the space below where wood normally burns).

There's a new countertop fashioned from recycled Coca-Cola bottles in the small kitchen with the 10-year-old Kenmore fridge, but conservationist Begley shuns more improvements. He even jury-rigged a piece of metal as a handle for their 1980s range so they can keep the appliance.

“We should throw it away,” Carson disgustedly says.

“No we shouldn't!” Begley retorts. “What will happen to this old metal, honey? Where will it go? I'm not going to have it put in a landfill.”

Begley checks the sun as he warms a pan of water in his outdoor solar-powered oven.

Besides, they have that outdoor sun oven, a catalog-ordered contraption of solar panels that heats up to 375 degrees. It's on a rolling cart Begley made from scrap wood, which comes in handy when the sun moves.

“I have to come out every hour or two to re-aim it,” Begley says. But instead of consuming gas to, say, boil water or simmer lentils, the energy is “free from the sun.”

“Better wear your sunblock,” Carson cracks, her blue eyes tearing from the glare of the oven's metallic ray-catchers.

Begley says the 117 60-watt solar panels that cost about $35,000 in 1990 provide the bulk of the home's power. His electric bill is about $600 a year. The rooftop panels hook up to 10 large batteries in the garage and an inverter transforms the sun's light to electricity for house and car.

“The glass part goes into recycling. The other thing you can reuse if we need an eyedropper. Leave it there. I'll clean it up.”

“Ohhh, no!” Carson protests.

In the first episode of “Living With Ed,” Begley uses a stopwatch to time his wife in a shower, though he says he never did that before. Usually, he knocks on the door to let her know how many gallons of water she's wasting.

“He says, 'How long are you going to be in there?' I say, 'The more you ask me, the longer I'm staying.' ”

Environmentally hip Hayden, who clearly adores Dad, lets a reporter in on a secret when he's not in the room.

“Sometimes he goes a little overboard and gets a little crazy,” she sweetly says.

Begley has certainly raised the celebrity eco bar, at least on his tree-lined street in the San Fernando Valley. On this day, he walks out of his recycled front gate and meets former TV host Bill Nye “The Science Guy,” who lives a few doors down and is out for a walk. The two chat in another language about Nye's new solar-powered water heater.