candice bergen says “My grandchildren” are “the lights of my life, ” a simple declaration that opens a recent interview in which she describes facing a milestone birthday on May 9 (ET). The detail anchors how she measures what matters: family, steady routines and work that still feels worthwhile even as the date approaches.
Candice Bergen on grandchildren, nicknames and small pleasures
At the center of her account are two young children she shares with her daughter Chloe Malle. Bergen names them as sources of daily joy and describes quiet evenings: sitting on the couch watching movies with Louis and Alice. She repeats a household nickname that the children invented—”Toto”—and says everyone in the family now uses it.
She frames these routines as not trivial. Watching films with her grandchildren is a recurring moment she returns to when asked what matters most. That focus on family is immediate and specific in her remarks.
Turning 80 on May 9 (ET): Candice Bergen’s denial and the changes she notices
She admits she is “in total denial” about turning 80. “I don’t even want to talk about it. Being 80 is just unfathomable to me, ” she says in the interview. Yet she also describes how her body has set limits: “you walk a little bit slower and more carefully, because you don’t want to fall. So stepping off a curb is a big event for me. “
She references managing “a few health issues” while still maintaining a workout routine. Bergen says the exercise is modest—”very little cardio; I barely break a sweat”—but intentional: keep joints moving, keep blood flowing, and remember how to move. That practical language underlines her approach to aging as a series of small, deliberate adjustments.
Work, caregiving and routines: Chloe Malle and Marshall Rose in Bergen’s account
Work remains a part of her life. She has taken selective roles and described a project that impressed her deeply as among the smartest she’d seen in years. She also says she does not want to commit to another long television series, preferring occasional parts that challenge her.
Caregiving shapes much of what she has learned. Bergen recounts two major caregiving experiences in her life: the death of her first husband, Louis Malle, and the later illness and death of her second husband, Marshall Rose. Those experiences, she says, taught her the importance of small respites—short lunches with friends and tiny breaks—to preserve a sense of normalcy and identity while caring for someone else.
Her daily maintenance includes work with a trainer five days a week. She notes the trainer also worked with her late husband Marshall Rose before his death in February 2025 (ET). The regimen is functional rather than intense: minimal cardio, joint work and gentle movement. Her frank observation is practical: “You’re just trying to keep me alive, right?”
Family pride and what she returns to
candice bergen expresses pride in her daughter Chloe Malle’s accomplishments and in the family life that surrounds her. She praises Chloe’s parenting and the presence of a husband she calls a “fantastic father. ” Those specific names and relationships recur as anchors in her narrative.
She began the interview naming her grandchildren as lights. She closes the conversation on the same detail: small evenings on the couch, a family nickname, and a clear next step on the calendar—her 80th birthday on May 9 (ET). That date hangs like a quiet waypoint as she continues work, caregiving and daily routines that keep the household moving.
