Actors – Now I've Heard Everything

The U’Niquely Charming Actress Mo’Nique

November 5, 2025Bill Thompson

Are you a skinny woman? If you said yes, some other women apparently consider you to be evil.

Not really, of course. It’s simply an exaggeration that once fueled the standup comedy of the performer known professionally as Mo’Nique.

Mo’Nique is a plus-sized woman, and makes no apologies for it. She has used her size as an asset, taking advice she says she once got from Martin Lawrence, to ignore people who would tell her what she couldn’t have.

As a result, Mo’Nique has won an Academy Award, and has been nominated for many honors, including Emmys and Grammys.

She’s been seen in dozens of movies, she starred as Nikki Parker in the TV series “The Parkers,” she had her own talk show, and in 2003 she wrote a book called Skinny Women Are Evil.

She and I met 1 day that spring to talk about her book.

So here now, from 2003, Mo’Nique.

Mo’Nique will be 58 next month. Her most recent movie role was in the supernatural horror film “The Deliverance” in 2024.

The Not-So-Odd Couple: Jack Klugman and Tony Randall

October 31, 2025Bill Thompson

Show business is full of stories of co-stars who didn’t get along. So it’s a refreshing change to hear about co-stars who not only got along, but formed a lasting bond.

Such was the case with Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, co-stars of the hit 1970s TV show “The Odd Couple.”

Now, were they in fact Oscar and Felix? There is evidence to suggest that was true. But just like their characters, Jack and Tony were bound by an underlying mutual love and respect.

And the strength of that bond was tested when Jack Klugman was dealt what could have been a career-ending, even life-ending, blow by throat cancer.

Klugman told the story of this real life odd couple in a 2005 book called Tony And Me. And as you’re about to hear it was a book filled not only with this extraordinary friendship but a treasure trove of anecdotes of Jack Klugman’s long, storied, and award winning career.

So here now, from 2005, Jack Klugman.

Jack Klugman died on Christmas Eve 2012. He was 90.

The Burden That Weighed On Popular Actress Delta Burke

October 27, 2025Bill Thompson

Imagine being a young woman with a dream. Named Most Likely to Succeed by her high school class. The winner of a beauty state pageant at age 18. And then becoming a successful actress.

Then imagine that that young woman becomes one of the stars of a major network television series and is seen and admired by millions every week

But then imagine that, like so many of us, she gains some weight. And because of her very public persona, she becomes the target of ridicule.

That’s actress Delta Burke. As the character Suzanne Sugarbaker in the hit TV series “Designing Women” Burke became a sensation. And so did her weight.

Her struggles ultimately inspired her to launch her own line of clothing for “real size” women. And it inspired her to write a book in 1998 called Delta Style. Its subtitle was Eve Wasn’t a Size 6 and Neither Am I.

I met her one afternoonIn the spring of ‘98 when she was on a book tour.

So here now from 1998, Delta Burke.

Delta Burke is 69 now. She and her husband actor Gerald McRaney live in Los Angeles.

The Radio Personality Who Became An Iconic TV Star: “Laugh-In’s” Gary Owens

October 22, 2025Bill Thompson

Is it possible to make lots of money with just your voice?

Certainly. For decades people have made successful careers out of voice acting, voiceovers, radio,even automated systems.

Only a handful, however, reach the pinnacle of the profession, people who do indeed make tons of money from their voice.

And sometimes their careers take unexpected turns. And that’s where we find longtime radio personality turned TV star Gary Owens.

He was a successful and popular radio personality in Los Angeles in the 1960s, when he was recruited to join an unusual new TV show called “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.”

But actually, even though “Laugh-In” may be what he is best remembered for, Gary Owens had a very long and very successful voice acting career.

Owens was never one to gatekeep, so in 2004 he wrote a book called How to Make a Million Dollars With Your Voice. Now keeping in mind that that was over 20 years ago, long before anyone knew that AI was going to take over a lot of the voicing environment, so some of what he says is a little dated.

But not to worry, because listening to the stories that Gary Owens tells more than makes up for it.

So here now, from 2004, Gary Owens.

Gary Owens died in 2015, at age 80.

How Spoiled Are We? Comedian Larry Miller Said America is Spoiled Rotten

October 22, 2025Bill Thompson

Some things in life just are not meant to be taken so seriously. Especially American life in the 21st century.

We get irritated over long lines at Starbucks. We get mad in traffic.Heck, we get upset when it rains.

Actor and comedian Larry Miller says we’re just spoiled. We have it so good we forget how good we have it. And we let those little irritations become our lives.

Almost 20 years ago, in 2006,Miller wrote a book that he called Spoiled Rotten America. And yes it was meant to be funny and it is.But it makes some really serious points.

Larry and I got together 1 day in October that year, actually almost exactly 19 years ago now, to talk about the book.

So here now, from 2006, Larry Miller..

Larry Miller will be 72 the day after tomorrow.

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.