Actors – Now I've Heard Everything

Actress Diane Ladd’s “School of Life”: Lessons from a Hollywood Healer

October 9, 2025Bill Thompson

She has appeared in over 200 movies and television shows, nominated for multiple Oscars, Emmys, and Golden Globes. She’s been on Broadway.

But actress Diane Ladd is also a teacher and a healer. In her nearly 90 years, Ladd has absorbed a world of knowledge and experience.

And it was that that inspired her to write a book in 2006, that she called Spiraling Through the School of Life.

I had the chance to talk with her when she was on a book tour that summer.

So here now, from 2006, Diane Ladd.

Diane Ladd will be 90 next month. Her last film, in 2022, was “Gigi & Nate.” She was last seen on television in 2021 in an episode of “Young Sheldon.”

He Was a Genius With Coconuts And Bamboo: A Conversation With Actor Russell Johnson, The Professor From “Gilligan’s Island”

October 6, 2025Bill Thompson

For an actor in the 1960s, landing a permanent role in a new TV series was a big deal. But little did actor Russell Johnson know, when he took that role in 1963, that it would become his identity for the rest of his life.

Johnson was cast as Roy Hinckley, better known as The Professor on the brand new TV series “Gilligan’s Island.”

And over its three-year run, the almost-cartoon-like series about seven people stranded on a desert island after a shipwreck became a cultural phenomenon. Even more so when the show went into syndication after its network run. It’s still in reruns today, 60 years later.

And even though he went on to many television and movie roles after “Gilligan’s Island” Russell Johnson is still known primarily as The Professor.

By 1993, he had fully embraced the idea that that was going to be his identity. And that was the year he wrote a light-hearted memoir about the show, called Here On Gilligan’s Isle.

I had lots and lots of questions for him when we met one day that summer to talk about the book.

So here now, from 1993, Russell Johnson.

Russell Johnson died in 2014. He was 89.

Turning Her Inner Child Into a Bestselling Author: A Conversation With Jamie Lee Curtis

October 5, 2025Bill Thompson

Jamie Lee Curtis has been in professional acting for an almost unbelievable 50-plus years. She is one of America’s most recognizable stars, both for the horror movies that made her famous but also for the other roles she’s played, mostly comedies.

You probably also remember her for some of the TV commercials she’s seen in.

And she is also an author, specifically, a children’s book author. She’s written over a dozen, many of them bestsellers.

A book she wrote in 1998 was one of those bestsellers. She called it Today I Feel Silly & Other Moods That Make My Day.

It certainly made my day On That September afternoon when we met to talk about the book.

So here now, from 1998, Jamie Lee Curtis.

Jamie Lee Curtis is 66 now. She was named a “Disney Legend” last year.

A Star at Every Stage: Marsha Mason’s “Journey”

August 23, 2025Bill Thompson

Marsha Mason began her acting career in the 1960s, appearing in various theater productions before making her film debut in 1965 In the somewhat forgettable “Hot Rod Hullabaloo.” Other, more successful, films followed as she built her reputation.

And one of her big breaks, it turns out, was working with playwright Neil Simon in 1973. They fell in love and married. They worked together on several projects Including the Oscar nominated “The Goodbye Girl.”

Mason has been nominated for an Oscar four times, and has won two Golden Globes. She’s also been on a number of TV shows, including recurring guest roles on “Frasier” and “The Middle.”

In 2000, Marsha Mason wrote a memoir called Journey: A Personal Odyssey. I met her one day that fall when she was on a book tour.

So here now, from 2000, Marcia Mason.

Marsha Mason is 83 now, and lives in Connecticut.

Actor Anthony Rapp’s Emotional Road to “Without You”

August 23, 2025Bill Thompson

By the age of 10 precocious actor Anthony Rapp had already made his Broadway debut. That was in 1981, and over the next 15 years Rapp built an impressive acting and musical resume. He

In 1996 he landed the role of a lifetime, creating the character Mark Cohen in the smash Broadway hit ”Rent.”

But as he was enjoying that personal success, Rapp was also facing a personal tragedy. His mother was dying of cancer.

The two of them had always been very close, and losing her was devastating. She died in 1997.

A couple of years later Anthony Rapp began writing a memoir of Broadway, “Rent,” and his mom. It took him 6 years, but the book was published in 2006. It was called Without You.

I met him in the spring of 2006 when his publisher sent him on a book tour. Our conversation was frank and moving.

So here now, from 2006, Anthony Rapp.

In addition to his Broadway success Anthony Rapp is also well-known to TV viewers for his seven-year role on “Star Trek: Discovery”. He is 54 now.

“Taxi” Star Marilu Henner Remembers Everything. And She Wants You To Remember More Too

August 23, 2025Bill Thompson

What did you have for lunch yesterday? Where did you celebrate your birthday in 1981? What was your fourth grade teacher’s name?

Chances are there’s at least one of these things you can’t remember. Maybe you can’t remember any of them.

But what if you can remember all of them, effortlessly?

Probably have a much sharper memory than you think you have, says the popular actress Marilu Henner.

She is one of only about 100 people with an ability known as “hyperthymesia.” That’s a fancy way of saying she can remember just about every detail of her own life going back to childhood.

In 2012 Marilu Henner wrote a book called Total Memory Makeover. And in it she explains how even if you don’t have hyperthymesia you can teach yourself how to remember a lot more than you think you can.

So here now, from 2012. Marilu Henner.

Marilu Henner is 73 now. By the way,DO you remember what you had for lunch yesterday…?

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Marlo Thomas: Empowering Generations of Women

August 23, 2025Bill Thompson

In her decades-long career as an actress, an entertainer, a writer, and an activist, Marlo Thomas Has been all about empowering – starting with empowering girls and young women when she starred in “That Girl.” That was one of the first TV shows to feature a single woman living and supporting herself.

Of course that was just one of the dozens of professional roles Marlo Thomas has played.

You may have a copy of one of her “Free To Be, You And Me” books.

Thomas has embraced many feminist causes over the years, working alongside figures such as Gloria Steinem.

And in 2014 she wrote a book aimed at the older woman. Especially the older woman reinventing her life after some major life turning point. That book was called It Ain’t Over . . .Till It’s Over.

She and I talked about the book at an event she was holding at a Baltimore Library.

So here now, from 2014, Marlo Thomas.

Marlo Thomas is 88 now. She is National Outreach Director for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

A Lifetime of Becoming Someone Else: Actress Ellen Burstyn

August 23, 2025Bill Thompson

Detroit-born Ellen Burstyn Was president of her high school’s drama club. But she was not a very good student, and dropped out in her senior year.

She became a model and a dancer – even got a job dancing on the Jackie Gleason Show – before making her professional acting debut almost 70 years ago.

And since then, Ellen Burstyn has amassed a house full of awards, including acting’s Triple Crown: an Oscar, a Tony, and two Emmys.

She starred in movies ranging from “The Last Picture Show” to “The Exorcist” to “Requiem For a Dream.” She’s been in soap operas, mini-series, and “Law & Order SVU.”

In 2006 Burstyn wrote her autobiography, which she called Lessons in Becoming Myself. That’s when I had a few minutes with this extraordinary performer.

So here now, from 2006, Ellen Burstyn.

Ellen Burstyn is 92 now. She is co-president of The Actors Studio.

The Fond Recollections of Hollywood Legend Garry Marshall

July 11, 2025Bill Thompson

If you’ve ever watched ”Happy Days,” ”Laverne & Shirley,” ”Mork & Mindy,” or any of a dozen other TV shows, you’ve seen the work of Garry Marshall.

If you’ve ever seen ”Pretty Woman”, ”Overboard,” ”The Princess Diaries,” or any of over a dozen other movies, you’ve seen the work of Garry Marshall.

For years one of Hollywood’s most successful, and most popular, producer-directors, you may also know Garry Marshall as an actor, on TVs ”Murphy Brown” and in his sister Penny Marshall’s movie “A League of Their Own.”

In 1995, not long after he turned 60, Garry Marshall wrote a book that was autobiographical-ish called Wake Me When It’s Funny. I got the chance to speak with him when he was on a book tour.

Here now, from 1995, Garry Marshall.

Garry Marshall died in 2016. He was 81.

Balancing Faith And Career: Actress Lisa Whelchel

July 3, 2025Bill Thompson

Her story reads something like a Hollywood fairy tale.

Talent scouts found Lisa Whelchel in her small town in Texas in 1976, casting for “The New Mickey Mouse Clu” on Disney.

Lisa moved to Hollywood and appeared on the show for two years. Then, her big break: the role of Blair Warner on a new show called “The Facts of Life.” Whelchel played Blair for nine seasons.

What many people didn’t know at the time was that underpinning her show business career was a strong faith in God. Lisa had been a devout Christian since age 10.

And, as you’ll hear in this interview, that faith helped shape the way she portrayed characters on TV and in film.

In 2001 Lisa Whelchel wrote an autobiography called The Facts of Life, subtitled And Other Lessons My Father Taught Me. I met her that fall when she was on a book tour.

Here now, from 2001, Lisa Whelchel.

Lisa Whelchel is 62 now. She and her husband divorced in 2012.