CONELRAD | DAISY WOMAN: THE CONELRAD INTERVIEW WITH BIRGITTE OLSEN

Locating the Daisy Girl from the infamous 1964 Democratic presidential campaign advertisement (official title: PEACE, LITTLE GIRL) was far easier than actually persuading her to sit down for a formal interview. Media guru Tony Schwartz's son, Anton, a gifted jazz musician, aided CONELAD by providing to us the former child model / actress's name. It was then that the real work began. After many months of telephone conversations and postal correspondence (the Daisy woman doesn't own a computer), Birgitte Olsen finally agreed to meet CONELRAD editor Bill Geerhart at a coffee shop in Village Market in Oakland, California on December 27, 2006.

Ms. Olsen walked into the café dressed stylishly in black and quickly broke out her own herbal tea bag and asked for a cup of hot water. Ms. Olsen has a distinctive, plaintive voice reminiscent of Rosanna Arquette in her early screen roles and she exudes a hippieish charm. Anyone hoping for the delicious irony of the Daisy girl having grown up to be a disciple of Dick Cheney can hereby be disappointed. Birgitte Olsen is a former art teacher who is now a health care provider and a pet massage therapist. She also occasionally performs roadie services for blind blues piano legend Henry Butler. Ms. Olsen definitely marches to the beat of her own drummer and we wouldn't have it any other way.

CONELRAD: How at approximately 4 years of age, did you come to appear in the most famous political ad in U.S. history?

OLSEN: I did all kinds of ads, whatever. (I was a) model. Toys, Macys, all the car catalogs.

OLSEN: Sure. I do. I remember it was one of my favorite ads. 'Cause I was out in a field.

OLSEN: I don't remember that. To me it was a big field with daisies, you know? Actually, I remember it not being daisies, but Lazy Susans (Editor's Note: We assume that Ms. Olsen meant to say "Black Eyed Susans"), you know—the yellow with the...

OLSEN: Yea. I always wondered about that later because I remembered distinctly what kind of flower it was (laughs).

OLSEN: Only at an older age. My parents wouldn't let me see that (when it was originally broadcast).

OLSEN: Yea. They didn't want to confuse me. I'm sure there was some discretion involved, you know.

CONELRAD: Because as far as you were concerned you were just playing in a field and you had no idea of the purpose of the ad.

OLSEN: Of course not. I was a child. Just like any other ad. I just did what I was told.

CONELRAD: Do you recall if you were aware of any of the controversy over the ad?

CONELRAD: Do you recall if there was any excitement in your family over your being on the cover of Time magazine?

OLSEN: No, it was common for me to be anywhere and my siblings, too. We all modeled. Put my father through college, actually. Through doing this kind of work.

OLSEN: As far as I know, yea. And my mom was the person that brought us around (to auditions). She was in control of it. That's why we never got messed up by it because she was so grounded. (Editor's Note: Olsen's talent agent at the time of the Daisy spot was Monica Stuart of the William Schuller Agency in New York).

OLSEN: Yea, when I was a kid, I did typical stuff in school and then I didn't do anything on stage professionally. My sister and brother were in THE PAWNBROKER. (Editor's Note: Annette and Fritz Olsen appear in the opening scenes of this 1964 Rod Steiger film).

OLSEN: No. Well, my brother Fritz—my oldest brother, does stuff, he lives in Japan and does stuff in Japan.

OLSEN: I actually did work, you know, up until my—I had an accident in my twenties. And that disfigured me. And I had a series of operations, fifteen operations—restructuring.

OLSEN: Yea. They were all on face, so I was out of commission for a while just because of the process. But even afterwards I still did stuff and I did various other things. And it was because the people I worked with in the industry for so long—I was like a child to them, you know. And I was easy to work with.

OLSEN: Um, I used to ride a bicycle—I was a triathlete—and I rode my bicycle everywhere in New York City—to all my appointments and everything. And, um, a car—a cab, sideswiped me and some woman jumped out in front of me and I didn't want to hurt her, so I fell headfirst, smack in the face. I was lucky I didn't break my neck, I severed my jaw.

CONELRAD: So, it was more just the work than any political agenda on the part of your parents that led you to do the Daisy spot?

CONELRAD: As you grew up and the ad became firmly established as an iconic image of the Cold War, what was the reaction of your friends as they learned that you were that little girl?

OLSEN: No. I didn't share any of it. Most of my friends didn't even know I modeled (laughs).

OLSEN: I was a very normal child, yea. My mother treated me that way and I lived that way. I just had extracurricular activities (laughs)...

OLSEN: Well, it hasn't really. And that's what's interesting, you know, to me. Especially because I care about a lot of things. I care about the earth. That's kind of interesting.

OLSEN: I try not to be too much. I have been when I was younger. I don't consider myself—some people think I am (political), but I'm not really. What I do do is keep people voting and stuff like that.

OLSEN: Just normal stuff. Basically 'be responsible.' You know, my sister (Annette) was Susie Spotless. (Editor's Note: "Susan Spotless" was a "Keep America Beautiful" public service campaign in the Sixties that preceded the Iron Eyes Cody "Crying Indian" anti-littering commercials).

CONELRAD: What is it like when you see the Daisy ad flash by when you're watching a documentary on TV?

OLSEN: It just makes me giggle just 'cause people have no idea that it's me (laughs). The discussions that are stimulated (from seeing the ad) are fun to engage in, but I don't... there's no reason to bring up who is in that ad, you know. Unless someone brought up like 'Oh, God, I wonder what they're (doing now)—that kind of thing. Like what you're doing (laughs).

OLSEN: Well, for me, yea. More or less. You know, it's not that funny. It's an interesting ad. Especially when you think about the dynamics of how often it was run and if you knew Tony (Schwartz) like I know Tony you would understand that it's even more interesting.

OLSEN: I don't know. I don't know what's fair. What do you think is fair? What's fair? I don't think politics are fair in general. I think they're dirty, you know? I think they (politicians) can do whatever they want. Whether or not that was the case in this, I don't know.

OLSEN: I did. He stayed in touch with me, actually. And I saw him not too long ago. A few years back he called me because he wanted to catch up. So I went back and it was really sweet. I hadn't seen him since I was a kid.

OLSEN: No, but his work is really beautiful work. He really knew what he was doing. He understands how to make someone absorb something.

CONELRAD: Well, the Daisy ad is certainly one of the most famous ads ever produced.

CONELRAD wishes to extend a sincere thanks to Ms. Olsen for taking the time to discuss her unique insights into her role in the most famous commercial in history. Cold War popular culture interviews do not get much more "sought after." It is all downhill from here unless Peter Sellers rises from the dead as Dr. Strangelove and calls CONELRAD on the hotline...

Editor's Note: It should be pointed out that the preceding interview is not Birgitte Olsen's first public commentary regarding her iconic 1964 commercial role. She has spoken on the record about her work for President Johnson at least once before. In 1998 the now defunct CBS cable channel Eye on People spent approximately 90 seconds of air time on Ms. Olsen as part of a larger story on the Daisy spot.