Watergate pushed ‘Head Case’ star Ali Wentworth to comedy

Ali Wentworth: Watergate turned me funny

NEW YORK — Ali Wentworth is practically Washington royalty.

Her father was a Washington Post reporter, her mom was Nancy’s Reagan’s White House social secretary and she’s married to politico-turned ABC newsman George Stephanopoulos.

So what’s she doing on a TV sit-com? Wentworth grew up during the Watergate years, which were “not a lot of yucks,” she says: Her phones were tapped and her parents were “stressed out all the time,” and she couldn’t wait to leave DC and get into drama school.

She’s getting plenty of “yucks” in her unscripted comedy “Head Case.” She plays Dr. Elizabeth Goode on the Starz series, an “unhinged shrink” with real celebrities on the couch — like Jerry Seinfeld.

Beside Seinfeld, those seeking therapy this season include “Desperate Housewives” creator and star Marc Cherry and James Denton, and fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi.

“Head Case” airs on the Starz cable network Fridays, 10 p.m. EDT.

Wentworth is the daughter of Eric Wentworth and Mabel Cabot who, as Mabel H. Brandon, was the former first lady’s social secretary in the 1980s.