Actors

Charles Grodin

Bill Thompson
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His first big break in the movies came with a film called The Heartbreak Kid.

But that was just the beginning for Charles Grodin.

Then came Midnight Run. Seems Like Old Times. The Lonely Guy. And, finally, a new generation discovered him in the Beethoven movies.

It looks like the classic success story. But in his 1989 book called It Would Be So Nice if You Weren’t Here, Grodin wanted to reveal how about 1% success overshadowed the 99% rejection actors suffer.

This interview was actually the first of several I had over the years with Charles Grodin, before he went on to become a successful late night TV talk show host.

So here now, from 1989, Charles Grogan.

Charles Grodin died in May. He was 85.

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Tab Hunter

Bill Thompson

He was one of the hottest young movie stars in the 1950s…

Tab Hunter — who grew up as Artt Gelien — was a figure skater as a teenager. As a young man, a friend introduced him to a Hollywood agent who specialized in beefcake actors like Rock Hudson and Rober/ Wagner. That agent dubbed Art Gelien “Tab Hunter” and by 1950 he was in the movies.

And by the mid 1950s was major star, the strapping blond hunk of a man every girl wanted. Hunter made over 40 movies, and even recorded a hit song.

Hunger was also a witness to, and a participant in, the end of the Hollywood studio contract era. His movie and TV roles were fewer, until his last film role in 1992.

Then, in 2005, Tab Hunter wrote a memoir called Tab Hunter Confidential. In that book, he acknowledged publicly, for the first time, that he was gay. Turns out those gossip rags back in the day that had him romantically linked with various starlets were all fiction.

So here now, from 2005, Tab Hunter…

Tab Hunter died in 2018, just three days befopre his 87th birthdayl.

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Bob Denver

Bill Thompson

Robert Osbourne Denver graduated from college with a degree in political science, then caoched physical education and even taught math and history at a California elementary school.

But today, this well-educated, smart, soft-spoken man is best remembered for this…

Gilligan’s Island only lasted three seasons in the mid-1960s, but thanks to reruns and syndication the show has effectively never been off the air since.

And, like so many other popular TV actors, Bob Denver found himself typecast.

So, like many of his peers, Denver stopped resisting the Typecast and embraced it, appearing in several made-for-tv Gilligan’s Island movies, as well as other walk-on roles in which he played Gilligan.

In 1993, Denver wrote a book called “Gilligan, Maynard, and Me,” a reference to the other popular TV series he co-starred in, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.

The day I met him, the day before Thanksgiving in 1993, I brought my 13- and 11-year-old daughters to meet the man they knew only as Gilligan.

So here now, from 1993, Bob Denver…

Bob Denver died in 2005 at age 70.

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Lewis Black

Bill Thompson
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Lewis Black makes us laugh by being the angry man.

The perpetually irritated Lewis Black wrote a book in 2005, a semi-autobiographical account but he called Nothing’s Sacred.

And that;s when I met him.

But instead of an “angry ma,” I found a gentle, warm, and very likeable man, who was eager to talk about seriouos things as well as comedy shtick.

So here now, from 2005, Lewis Black.

Lewis Black will be 73 this summer. He lives in New York and North Carolina.

Patty Duke

Bill Thompson

Well before her 20th birthday, Patty Duke had already won an Oscar and was star of her own TV series.

Patty Duke won the Oscar for best supporting actress in The 1962 movie The Miracle Worker, which was the captain from the Broadway play in which she also starred.

On the heels of that success came her TV series, the Patty Duke Show, in which she played the dual roles of typical American teemager Patty and her identical cousin from England, Cathy.

Later Patty Duke moved on to more sophisticated, adult roles, including a part in the movie Valley of the Dolls.

But all along the way, she suffered from severe, undiagnosed bipolar disorder, Exacerbated by various forms of abuse.

In the early 1980s Duke finally got the help she needed, And a few years later, she wrote a memoir entitled Call Me Anna. That’s when I met her.

Now it’s important to keep in mind that this interview is 33 years old, and many advances have been made not only in the treatment of the disorder, but how we refer to it.

So here now, from 1988, Patty Duke.

Patty Duke died in 2016. She was 69.

Cheech Marin

Bill Thompson

if you were in high school or college in the 1970’s, as I was, you undoubtedly are familiar with the comedy of Cheech and Chong.

Cheech Marin went on to act in dozens and dozens of TV shows and movies, as well as doing voices for several animated films.

But what you may not know is that Marilyn is also an astute art collector.

That’s how I met him, in 2002, when he published a book of his collection of Chicano art.

So here now, from 2002, Cheech Marin:

Cheech Marin is 74 now. He lives in Malibu.

Mia Farrow

Bill Thompson

Mia Farrow may have been born to be a star.

Photo: John Mathew Smith

Her parents were both major Hollywood figures, and she grew up amongst big stars. By the time she was a teenager Mia Farrow was a star on the ABC TV primetime soap opera Peyton Place.

Then came movie roles, as well as a brief marriage to Frank Sinatra. In 1968, Farrow starred in “Rosemary’s Baby,” the movie which propelled her to major stardom. And another brief marriage, to Andre Previn.

Then, in 1980, she began a relationship with Woody Allen. It ended in 1992 with a very messy, complicated, and very public court battle over custody of their children. Allegations of sexual abuse were thrown about.

In 1997, Mia Farrow wrote a memoir, and that’s when I met her.

So here now, from 1997, Mia Farrow:

Mia Faarrow turned 76 last month.

Adam West

Bill Thompson

In January 1966 a new TV series premiered, unlike any we had seen before. Even though it only ran on the ABC network for three seasons, it changed television history. And it made the show’s star a folk hero. That show, of course, was Batman.

Adam West played millionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, who, along with his sidekick Dick Grayson, aka Robin, fought evil criminals in Gotham City.

Every week, the Dynamic Duo faced off with another super villain — Riddler, Joker, Penguin, Catwoman.

But the show also typecast Adam West, and it took him many years to extricate himself.

I met him in 1994, when he wrote A Memoir of his Batman years.

sSo here now, from 1994, Adam West.

Adam West died in 2017, at age 88.

Margaret Cho

Bill Thompson
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Margaret Cho rose to prominence in the mid 1990s, with her TV sitcom All-American Girl. Since then, she’s established herself as not only a talented actress but as a standup comic, fashion designer, and social activist.

I’ve met her and interviewed her twice, about her first two books. This interview was the second one we did, and as you’ll hear, her views seem as current today as they did the day we talked, 16 years ago.

So here now, from 2006, Margaret Cho:

Margaret Cho is 52 now, She lives near Atlanta.

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Leonard Nimoy

Bill Thompson
Photo: Gage Skidmore

Many people may think Leonard Nimoy’s career started with Star Trek. But he was a serious actor for a number of years before that. He even appearing in other science fiction shows.

But of course it was Star Trek that propelled him not just to fame but to Iconic status. His portrayal of a half-human, half-Vulcan Spock practically launch a cottage industry.

In 1975, Nimoy wrote a book called I Am Not Spock. Fast forward 20 years to 1995 when I interviewed him for another book he written, called I Am Spock.

And as you’ll hear, there’s a reason for his change of heart.

So here now from 1995 Leonard Nimoy

Leonard Nimoy died in 2015. He was 83.

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