by: Charlotte Lavender

Candy Azzara "just loves" to go window shopping for food and has a bathtub in her kitchen.

This wonderfully kooky girl is starring in the production "The Moon Is Blue" at Jack Valentine's Country Dinner Theater on S. Federal Hwy. in Dania.

Candy has a magnetic smile and a bubbly personality. She's a petite brunette who's had her eye on acting practically all her life.

"Ever since I was five I've been interested in acting," she said.

Her very first role was when she was eight and she was in "Elves and the Shoemaker."

"That role has a very special importance to me," she recalled. "When something happens for the first time it's always special... at least it was to me ... you know, like I'd never get married twice!"

She's been married for five years and lives with her husband in Greenwich Village.

One of the most unusual features about Candy is the breathless excitement that seems to come through when she talks and laughs.

"I just talk too much . . . everyone tells me I talk too much."

Candy, a pink-cheeked, sparkling-eyed beauty, delights in the thought of aging.

"Each day is greater than the last to me. Actors aren't supposed to tell their age ... but if it were up to me I'd be 52 years old. I've always lied about my age.

"I think a woman is a real woman when she's 30 years old... so I have a lot to look forward to. At that age there's more opportunities for juicy roles. Right now there's more of a call for comedy at my age. . . I'm just dying to do a real serious drama."

Candy feels actors are the most sincere, genuine people around.

"Actors are so giving, real and truthful. They are a very sensitive bunch of people . . . they can appreciate anything from a burlesque show to scrubbing floors because they have to portray these people constantly and they can 'feel' for them," she explained.

To actors, "everyone has a heart and soul . . . they just don't put people down," according to Candy.

She is a very carefree person, but has definite feelings about certain things. This whimsical, imaginative young woman enjoys working with her hands.

"I sometimes paint.. . walls and things like that."

She's an expert pebble picker. . . "I picked the pebbles for the fireplace we built."

And then there's the bathtub in the kitchen. ...

"Oh yes, that's quite handy. My husband eats supper and relaxes with a bath all at the same time.

Candy has an open attitude toward everything, and one of her most effective ways to get rid of hostilities is by arguing.

"I love to argue . . . it's very stimulating. I throw things and scream and it really makes me feel better."

She appreciates anything.

"I adore window shopping for food. I can spend hours in a grocery store just looking at things."

Candy has worked in soap opera series on TV, done improvisations and studied with Gene Frankel in a Greenwich Village repertory company. She is also taking private lessons from Lee Strasberg in New York.