Actors – Now I've Heard Everything

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.

Tennessee Ernie Ford’s Son On Fame, Family, and the Price of Success

June 18, 2025Bill Thompson

In the mid-1950s a former country music disc jockey from Pasadena seemed to be everywhere.

Tennessee Ernie, he called himself on the radio. Ernie Ford not only had a hit record but guest appearances on “I Love Lucy” propelled him into a TV show of his own.

An album of Christian hymns put Tennessee Ernie Ford on Billboard’s chart for over five years.

At home, watching all of this unfold, was Ford’s son, Jeffrey Buckner Ford, often known simply as Buck.

Buck and his little brother saw the good times, and the rough times, as the double-edged sword of success impacted the family.

Both Ernie and wife Betty grappled with substance abuse, and Betty Ford took her own life in 1989. Ernie Ford died 2 years later.

In 2008 Jeffrey Buckner Ford wrote a critically acclaimed book about his parents, called River of No Return. He and I met 1 day that spring at our local Borders bookstore to talk about it.

So here now, from 2008, Jeffrey Buckner Ford.

Tennessee Ernie Ford died in 1991 at age 72. His son Buck Ford is now 75.

Actor John o’Hurley’s Ode to Fatherhood, As Told by His Dog

June 18, 2025Bill Thompson

30 years ago actor John O’Hurley took on a role that would help define him for the rest of his career.

O’Hurley’s portrayal of the idiosyncratic entrepreneur J. Peterman became one of the most memorable characters on TVs “Seinfeld.”

After the series ended, he took on a new role, game show host. He even competed on “Dancing With The Stars.”

And John O’Hurley writes books, including a 2007 volume called Before Your Dog Can Eat Your Homework First You Have To Do It

Despite a title that may make you think the book was just a gag, it’s actually a thoughtful, even poignant book inspired by the birth of his son, his first child. And it’s a book that may Inspire other fathers.

So here now, from 2007, John O’Hurley.

John O’Hurley is 70 now. He sits on the board of directors of the real J. Peterman Company.

The Memoir of The Puppeteer Who Brought Elmo To Life

June 8, 2025Bill Thompson

If you’ve had a small child in your life anytime in the last 30 years or so you know this voice. That’s Elmo, the furry red monster from Sesame Street and one of the most popular Muppet characters ever.

The puppeteer who made Elmo and his giggle famous is a Baltimore native named Kevin Clash.

Growing up in the ‘60s Clash was entranced by everything from Kukla Fran and Ollie to Captain Kangaroo and Sesame Street. At age 10 he started making his own puppets.

At 19 he was so skilled he joined the Captain Kangaroo show as a puppeteer.

And in 1984 he joined the cast of Sesame Street. Elmo came along a year later, and for the next 27 years Kevin Clash was 3-year-old Elmo.

In 2006 Clash wrote an autobiography, a book he called My Life As a Furry Red Monster. That’s when I had the chance to meet him.

So here now, from 2006, Kevin Clash.

Kevin Clash will be 65 this fall. In 2012 he publicly came out as gay

How Sir Peter Ustinov Imagined The Ultimate Odd Couple

May 19, 2025Bill Thompson

British-born Peter Ustinov was a multi-talented, multi-award-winning actor. Classic movie fans know him well – “Spartacus,” “Topkapi,” both of which earned him an Oscar, but also “Quo Vadis,” “The Sundowners,” and “Hot Millions.”

But acting was only part of his Portfolio. Ustinov was also a director, a popular raconteur, and a novelist.

Indeed, the two times that I interviewed him were both conversations about his fiction.

One of those interviews was in 1991. That was the year Peter Ustinov wrote satire imagining God and the devil going on a kind of fact-finding mission in the modern-day world – as humans.

The book was called The Old Man And Mr Smith.

Now, Peter Ustinov described himself as a secular humanist, and his portrayals of God and the devil should be taken in that context.

In any case, I think you’ll find this interview a delight to listen to.

So here now, from 1991, Peter Ustinov.

Peter Ustinov died in 2004 at age 82.

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.