BEHIND THE SCENES Lesley Ann Warren talks about ‘Family of Spies’ By Frank Lovece The prime of Miss Lesley Ann Warren might have been her turn as Cinderella, in the acclaimed 1966 Rod- gers and Hammerstein TV special. Instead, the haunt- ingly beautiful actress jumped in and tackled ev- erything from the high-tech hijinks of ‘‘Mission: Impossi- ble” to the sensuous Alan Rudolph art film “Choose Me” to a broad turn as a real broad in the campy “Victor/ Victoria” — for which she earned a well-deserved Os- car nomination. Lesley Ann Warren Now the 43-year-old stun- ner gets to play a blowsy housewife - Barbara Walk- er, the downtrodden spouse of convicted spy John Walk- er Jr. (Powers Boothe) in the fact-based CBS minis “Family of Spies,” Sunday, Feb. 4, and Tues- day, Feb. 6. “This is something I’ve never played before,” says Warren. “Barbara is a wom- an who starts out spunky and hope-filled, and her husband’s abuse leads her to become an alcoholic. I’ve never really played someone who sinks into such hope- lessness and despair.” Walker, a U.S. Navy offi- cer, spied for the Soviets for nearly 20 years, and brought his son into the ‘family business.” In 1987, the — estrange Barbara scored a Pyrrhic victory against her husband when she turned him in to the FBI — only to discover that her son was also involved. Warren sees the story as less about espionage than about a dramatically dys- functional family. Alcohol- ism, she notes a family disease, Your family, even your extended family, is af- fected by it. I know,” she says sadly, recalling events in her own family. Happily, Warren may soon get a whole new fam- ily: She has just taped the CBS pilot “Lola,” in which she stars as an overachiever who decides to leave the rat race and drags her husband, child and mother to an idyl- lic country town — with pol- luted lakes and Mafioso neighbors. Alexis Smith, marvelous in a_ recent “Cheers,” plays her mom. “T never thought I'd want to do a weekly show,” War- ren says, her 1971 ‘Cat Bal- lou” pilot and her stint on ‘Mission: Impossible” notwithstanding. That’s OK. We'd love to see those eyes every week. Release the week of Feb. 4-10, 1990