Leta Powell Drake is Having a Moment

Back before the Internet, actors had to travel the country to promote their work. That's how many famous people ended up in Lincoln, Nebraska in the 80's where they were interviewed by Leta Powell Drake on KOLN/KGIN. Some highlights from these interviews have been making the rounds on Twitter and they are incredible.

These clips come off as a hybrid of Between Two Ferns, Midwestern Borat, and a public access show SNL might dream up if Jane Lynch were hosting. But this isn't sketch comedy. This was real. Very real.

Leta Powell Drake, now 82, looks like a legend in Nebraska according to her Wikipedia. She is in the Nebraska Broadcasters Hall of Fame and the Nebraska Press Women's Hall of Fame and won city championships in horseshoe pitching, golf and bowling. She also created a character called Kalamity Kate who was on a local children's show for 15 years.

If two minutes with Drake isn't enough, literally hundreds of her full interviews are on YouTube thanks to History Nebraska. She is apparently still working, so it will be interesting to see if her Twitter comes to life after this renewed interest in her life's work.