‘Sandiego’s’ Hard-Driving Chief

Lynne Thigpen is a well-respected Tony Award-nominated actress who has been featured in the films “Tootsie” and “Article 99.” She also plays the recurring role of tough district attorney Ruby Thomas on NBC’s “L.A. Law.”

But Thigpen has newfound fame. To kids around the country, she is the no-nonsense “Chief” on “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?,” PBS’ delightful weekday game show for 8- to 13-year-olds.

“Three-thirty is a dangerous time on the street for me,” Thigpen said with a bemused grin. “The kids are getting out of school.” And if Thigpen happens to be on the streets of New York around that time, she said, youngsters inevitably shout, “ Chief! Chief! Chief! It is a big hit.”

“Carmen Sandiego,” which premiered in September, is based on a series of best-selling computer games published by Broderbund Software Inc., and is designed to motivate kids to learn about geography. Each day, three novice “gumshoes” decipher clues to determine where Carmen and her band of geographical thieves are located. Greg Lee is the host.

Thigpen’s Chief is a new twist on a game-show announcer--as the demanding boss of host Greg Lee, Chief heads the Acme CrimeNet detective agency and supplies clues and information to the young shamuses.

During a recent interview, Thigpen admitted she wasn’t interested in doing a “children’s show,” let alone a game show when her agent approached her about auditioning for the part. But her agent wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. “She said, ‘Lynne, you always say you want to do everything. You have never done a game show. It’s only going to take six weeks.’ ”

Thigpen’s attention was finally piqued when she learned the show’s focus was geography. The actress is something of a geography buff.

The producers held a huge casting calling for the role of Chief. According to co-executive producer Jay Rayvid of PBS’ WQED in Pittsburgh, Thigpen stood out.

“She was just about as funny as she could be. She had a comprehensive feel for the geographical base of the show. She effectively handles that material.”

Thigpen was given the opportunity to basically create the role of Chief from scratch. In the computer version of “Carmen Sandiego,” Chief is a “typewriter” on the computer screen called Interpol. “When you need information about stuff you ask Interpol,” Thigpen explained. “They wanted to do that into a character so I had free reign because they didn’t know how they were going to do that.”

“We started with a concept,” said co-executive producer Kate Taylor of PBS station WGBH in Boston, which produces the show with WQED. “Some of the fun in working with Lynne was to let her develop the character and develop the relationship between her and Greg. That was an important part of the process. She has become a member of the creative team. (When) things on paper never quite work the same way (on the set), she is very quick to come up with solutions to the problems.”

Thigpen envisioned the Chief as a mock authority figure because, she said, “kids enjoy that. That makes them laugh.”

The Chief, Thigpen said, “had to be really gruff, really give the host a hard time because that’s what kids think parents and teachers and everybody does. So she had to be that kind of silly gruff and she had to have done everything and been everywhere. Whenever they ask a question she says, ‘Oh, yes. I remember when I hacked my way out of the jungle of Colombia.’ (She’s) one of those people ... you just want to slap them.”

The series is shot in New York City before a studio audience comprised of students who come from area schools.

“Their voices are much higher-pitched (than adults) when they scream,” Thigpen said, putting her fingers up to her ears. “I talk to adults who say it is so fast-paced. But kids aren’t worried about the rent, the car, the mortgage and stuff. They really can do that fast-paced stuff.”

Thigpen is single and has no children. “I wouldn’t be able to do all of this (if I had a family”),” she said, rolling her eyes.

At the time of the interview, Thigpen was exhausted and her voice was raspy--the result of appearing eight times a week off-Broadway in the acclaimed production of Athol Fugard’s “Boesman and Lena,” and taping the new season of “Carmen Sandiego” during the days. For two weeks, she had flown to Los Angeles to do “L.A. Law” on her Monday off, then flew back on the red-eye.

“I am tired,” she said, pointing to her throat. “This is why I sound like this. It’s not easy.”

The Chicago-bred actress, though, said she has had a blessed career. “I never had long periods of time where I didn’t work.”

Thigpen landed her first acting job in the original company of the long-running musical “Godspell” three months after she arrived in New York. She also toured in the pop-rock retelling of the life of Jesus and appeared in the 1973 film version.

The “turning point” in her career was when she received a Tony nomination in 1981 for the musical “Tintypes.” Thigpen has not sung a note professionally since. “I wanted to act,” she said. “I would go in to do things and (producers) would say, ‘she is a singer.’ It took almost a year for them to look at me as an actress, but I did it.”

“Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” airs weekdays at 5 p.m. on KCET and KPBS.

“L.A. Law” airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. on NBC.