Actors – Now I've Heard Everything

Forever Liesl — Charmian Carr’s Lifetime of Memories On The Set of ‘The Sound of Music’

March 20, 2025Bill Thompson

The beloved classic “The Sound of Music” premiered 60 years ago this month, March 1965.

It was an instant hit, drawing huge crowds, many who would come back and see the movie multiple times. It has remained one of the all-time favorite movies of audiences worldwide in the decades since.

The young actress who portrayed the eldest Von Trapp child, 16-year-old Liesl, was then-21-year-old Charmian Carr; it was, in fact, her very first movie role..

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And in the interview you’re about to hear car describes the very first scene she shot in her very first movie.

In 2000 Car published her memoir, a book called Forever Liesl. That’s when I had the chance to meet her.

So here now, from 2000, Charmian Carr.

Charmian Carr died in 2016. She was 73.

Sir Michael Caine’s Legacy: Childhood Dreams Come True

March 14, 2025Bill Thompson

On this day, March 14, 1933 a baby boy named Maurice Joseph Micklewhite was born in London. His parents were working class, and his family lived a meager existence.

But at age 10, young Maurice was bitten by the acting bug thanks to a small part in a school play.

That launched an 8th decade career for the man we now know as Michael Caine. He adopted his stage name off the success of The Caine Mutiny.

By the time he retired a couple of years ago Michael Caine had appeared in 160 movies, picking up two Oscars and three Golden Globe awards along the way.

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His best known films include Alfie, The Ipcress File, The Man Who Would Be King, A Bridge Too Far, Hannah and Her Sisters, Sleuth, Miss Congeniality, and Austin Powers.

In 2000 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth to become Sir Michael Caine.

In 1992, Cain wrote what would become the first of three memoirs, a book called What’s It All About? That’s what I have the chance to spend a few minutes with this incredible actor.

So here now, from 1992, Sir Michael Caine.

Today, as Sir Michael Caine celebrates his 90 second birthday, he lives in retirement in London.

One Momentous Summer, 60 Years Ago, Told In Fiction B y a Veteran Actress Who Lived It

February 17, 2025Bill Thompson

Freedom Summer was a paradigm shift in America’s deep South in 1964.

Thousands of young Americans, black and white, poured into Mississippi that summer for a massive black voter registration movement.

They were young, idealistic, and motivated. Most were there for the summer only, but their brief presence shone a bright light on the injustices of the day.

One of those bright and eager volunteers was a young woman who would later become a well-known actress, Denise Nicholas.

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Best known for her roles in the TV series “Room 222” and “In The Heat of The Night“ Nicholas was also featured in dozens of other TV shows and movies.

And finally, in 2005 she reached back for those memories of 1964 in writing her debut novel, a book called Freshwater Road. It was about an idealistic young woman named Celeste arriving in Mississippi in 1964 to do the work of Freedom Summer.

She and I talked about her book when she was on an author tour.

So here now, from 2005, Denise Nicholas.

Denise Nicholas is 81 now.

His Life As The Eldest Brady: The Recollections of Barry Williamsz

January 6, 2025Bill Thompson

Here’s the story of a boy named Brady…

By the age of 15, Barry Williams was already a television veteran. He had had small roles in a number of popular TV shows but he was about to get his big break.

In 1969, Williams was cast in the role of Greg Brady, the eldest of the six children in the blended Brady family, a role that he embraced and ran with for the next five seasons.

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But the endurance of “The Brady Bunch” has far surpassed that of most of its contemporary television series. Those five seasons have persisted in our collective nostalgia all these years.

By 1992, almost two decades after the show went off the air, it was still popular among not only Baby Boomers and Gen xers but their children, too.

And that’s the year that Barry Williams wrote a memoir, called Growing Up Brady. As a card carrying Brady-watching Boomer myself, there was no way I was going to pass up the chance to talk with him.

I had so many questions, including whatever happened to Fluffy the cat?

So here now, from 1992, Barry Williams.

‘The Birds’ Made Her Famous. Rescuing Wildlife Is Now Tippi Hedren’s Life

December 16, 2024December 14, 2024Bill Thompson

Tippi Hedren’s career began with teenage modeling, as she appeared often in popular magazines.

Later she appeared in TV commercials, and one ofd them caught the eye of someone famous and powerful.

One day a Hollywood agent called with the magic words: “Alfred Hitchcock wants to put you under contract.”

Hedren then starred in Hitchcok’s “The Birds” in 1963 and “Marnie” in 1964.

While she was shooting two movies in Africa in 1969,she realized a new life mission: animal rescue.

By 1983 Hedren had established a nonprofit foundation, and had built a wildlife sanctuary of her own, which she named the Shambala Preserve.

In 1985 Hedren published a book about her sanctuary, and the animals she curfates. Her book was called The Cats of Shambala.

I met her while she was on a book tour, and I relished the opportunity to ask her about Hitchcock.

So here now, from 1985, Tippi Hedren.

Tippi Hedren will be 95 next month. She remains in charge of Shambala.

Just Call Him Mike: “MAS*H” Star and Activist Mike Farrell

December 2, 2024November 30, 2024Bill Thompson

Some people become actors. Some become activists. And some, like Mike Farrell, become both.

As a young boy growing up in Hollywood, where his father worked as a carpenter at a movie studio, Farrell was drawn to entertainment early on.

But his home life also ignited a passionate empathy that became a hallmark of his life.

After years of small or supporting acting roles here and there,m Farrell hit the jackpot when he joined the cast of the hit CBS show “MAS*H” in 1975.

Not only did he become one of the most popular cast members, it also afforded him a new public visibility for his activism.

In 2007 Farrell was persuaded to write a memoir, a book he titled Just Call Me Mike. That’s when I first met him.

So here now, from 2007, Mike Farrell.

Mike Farrell is 85 now. And still working.

Actress Gloria Loring’s Fight Against Diabetes

November 1, 2024October 31, 2024Bill Thompson

Gloria Loring started singing professionally in 1960. After years of modest success in that endeavor, in 1980 she joined the cast of NBC’s “Days Of Our Lives,” playing Liz Chandler, a character she played for the next six years.

But if you don’t remember her for that, perhaps you know this song” Loring and husband Alan Thicke wrote that song, and she sang it.

About that same time, though, Loring was stunned to learn that her four-year-old son Brennan was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes,

Loring then devoted her time to learning all she could about how to treat, and hopefully prevent, diabetes,.

November is Diabetes Awareness Month. Today we’re revisiting my 2006 interview with her, when she wrote her book Living With Type 2 Diabetes, a guide for those with the disease and those close to them.

So here now, from 2006, Gloria Loring.

Gloria Loring will be 78 next month. She is a spokesperson for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

The Movie Hero’s Toughest Fight: How Kirk Douglas Beat a Near-Fatal Stroke

October 28, 2024October 26, 2024Bill Thompson

October 29 is World Stroke Day, to help us all recognize the causes and effects of stroke.

In 1996 a severe stroke nearly killed one of America’s greatest actors, the then-79-year-old Kirk Douglas.

Overnight this dynamic, seemingly ageless, icon of film was plunged into a terrifying new reality that he later admitted had him considering suicide.

But it turned out that Douglas, in real life, was every bit as tough and relentless as the heroic characters he played on screen.

And then Douglas did something even more heroic – he not only went public with his fight to regain health, he wrote a book about it. In typically defiant Kirk Douglas fashion, he called it My Stroke of Luck. It was published in 2002, six years after his life-changing episode.

It may be hard to listen to this interview, but you will draw incredible inspiration from it.

So here now, from 2002, Kirk Douglas.

Kirk Douglas died in 2019. He was 103.

Ultra Violet: Her Life With Andy Warhol

October 9, 2024October 6, 2024Bill Thompson

Pop art icon Andy Warhol once said, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” Don’t know about you but I can think of lots of people on social media who have proven that to be true.

Famous For 15 Minutes is also the title of a 1988 book by French-American artist and actress Isabelle Dufresne,one of Andy Warhol’s “superstars” who went by the name Ultra Violet.

Dufresne was introduced to Warhol in 1963 by Salvador Dali. She spent the next several years at Warhol’s Factory before they went their separate ways in the 1970s.

I met Ultra Violet when she was on her book tour about a year and a half after Warhol’s death.

So here now, from 1988, Ultra Violet.

Isabelle Dufresne, Ultra Violet, died in 2014 at the age of 78.

How Elvis Presley’s Death Haunted His Confidante Larry Geller

August 16, 2024August 10, 2024Bill Thompson

It’s been 47 years since the king died.

Elvis Presley died at his Graceland mansion in Memphis on August 16,1977 at the age of 42 .

Almost instantly rumors and speculation swirled about, as fans and critics alike struggled for an explanation

Among the utterly devastated were those closest to Elvis, including his family, and his longtime hairdresser and confidante Larry Geller.

Twelve years after Presley’s passing, Geller wrote a book, which he said represented who the real Elvis was. It was titled If I Can Dream. I met Larry that spring to talk about it.

So here now, from 1989, Larry Geller.

Larry Geller turned 85 last week. He and his wife live in Arizona.

If he had lived, Elvis Presley would now be 89.