Actors

Noel Neill

Bill Thompson

One of the most popular, and most iconic series from the early days of television was “The Adventures of Superman,” which ran from 1952 to 1958.

George Reeves was Superman / Clark Kent. Jack Larson played young photographer Jimmy Olson, and Noel Neill was reporter Lois Lane.

But, like so many TV stars, Neill saw her career take a new and unexpected path, and not necessarily the path she had planned.

I met her in 2003. She was still very popular on the campus and classic-TV circuit, and she was then promoting an authorized biography called “Truth, Justice and the American Way.”

So here now, from 2003, Noel Neill.

Noel Neill died in 2016. She was 95.

Jim Gaffigan

Bill Thompson

If you know Jim Gaffigan’s comedy, you know he has a big family, five kids.

He was one of six kids, his wife was one of nine. So they know big famililes.

I met Jim in 2013, when he wrote a memoir that was funny and poignant and reflective — as was our interview.

His book was called “Dad is Fat.”

So here now, from 2013, Jim Gaffigan.

Jim Gaffigan just turned 54 earlier this month. He and his wife Jeannie and their five kids live in Manhattan.

Ally Sheedy

Bill Thompson
Photo: Bridget Laudien

In the 1980s movies like The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo’s Fire, WarGames, and Short Circuit made Ally Sheedy a star. She was a prominent member of the so-called Brat Pack.

I met her in 1991 when, at age 28, she had just published a collection of her poetry. Many of the poems in her book dated back to her teenage years. But as she remionded me, it’s not like she was new to writing, or publishing.

So here now, from 1991, Ally Sheedy.

Ally Sheedy is 58 now. She was most recently seen in 2016’s X Men: Apocalypse. But her 1991 book Yesterday I Saw the Sun was the last book she’s published.

Carl Reiner

Bill Thompson
Winner of 2019 Mark Twain prize Carl Reiner
Photo: John Mathew Smith

We lost a true American comedy genius last week.

Carl Reiner was 98 when he passed away.

I first met Carl Reiner in 1993, and again in 1995, when he published a sequel to his iconic 1950s novel “Enter Laughing.”

So here now, from 1995, Carl Reiner:

Carl Reiner won nine Emmys, a Grammy, and The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

George Lindsey

Bill Thompson

Is it possible to get a major supporting role on a major television show, and have it cripple your acting career?

It nearly happened to George Lindsey. You remember him as Goober from The Andy Griffith Show.

Taking that role, he says ,typecast him for years to come.

I met him about 25 years ago, when he wrote a memoir called Goober in a Nutshell.

So here now, from 1995, George Lindsey.

George Lindsey was 83 when he died in 2012. but thanks to Andy Griffith Show reruns, Goober lives on.

Chris & Bob Elliott

Bill Thompson
Bob Elliott

Father’s Day is this Sunday and all this week on Now I’ve Heard Everything we’ve been featuring interviews about fathers.

Today a conversation with a father and son who have been making us laugh for decades.

Actor-comedian Chris Elliott and his dad, Bob Elliott, collaborated on a 1989 book called “Daddy’s Boy: A Son’s Shocking Account of Life with a Famous Father.”

Chris Elliott Photo: Alan Light

Don’t be alarmed — it’s a parody celebrity tell-all memoirs, and was all very, very tongue-in-cheek — as was our interview just before Fathers Day 1989.

I’m not sure if their book ever did become a major bestseller, although it did get a really nice write-up in the New York Times and a lot of other places..

Chris Elliott remains active and popular in moveis and TV.

Bob Elliott died in 2016. He was 92.

Rain Pryor

Bill Thompson
Rain Pryor (center) with Hillary Thompson and Bill Thompson

Next Sunday is Father’s Day, so all of this week on Now I’ve Heard Everything, we are featuring interviews about fathers.

The late Richard Pryor was a hugely talented comedian and brilliant entertainer — but, by his own admission, a failure as a father.

In 2006 his daughter Rain Pryor wrote a memoir, a sympathetic portrait of the man, failings and all.

So here now from November 2006, Rain Pryor.

Richard Pryor died in December 2005, at the age of 65.

Rain Pryor is 50, and is active as a comedian, actor, and singer.

John Waters

Bill Thompson

Hairspray. Cry-Baby. Serial Mom. Pink Flamingos.

Photo: PEN American Center

Filmmaker John Waters has a long, illustrious, and unique body of work.

He started making movies in the early 1960s, but only rose to prominence in the ’70s, and by the ’80s was a cultural icon.

I first met him in the fall of 1986. He had just published a by collection of his writings, a slender little book called “Crackpot.”

So here now, from 1986, John Waters.

That movie he John Waters was talking about, near the end there — yes,. that was Hairspray.

John Waters celebrated his 74th birthday this spring. While he hasn’t made a movie in several years, he was seen earlier this year in an episode of “Law & Order SVU.”

Mel Blanc

Bill Thompson
Photo by Alan Light

This was actually one of the most popular interviews I posted last year on Now I’ve Heard Everything — and since tomorrow, May 30th, would have been his 112th birthday, I wanted to re-share my 1988 interview with the unmatched master of voice acting, Mel Blanc.

Bugs Bunny. Daffy Duck. Elmer Fudd, Sylvester and Twety, Porky Pig, Barney Rubble. Heck, he was even the voice of Jack Benny’s car.

Virtually everyone has heard Mel’s voice characterizations.

So here now, from 1988, Mel Blanc:

Less than a year after our interview, Mel Blanc died at the age of 81, taking with him hundreds of the voices many of us grew up with.