Comedians

Steve Allen

Bill Thompson

Long before Jimmy Fallon, way before Jay Leno, before Johnny Carson, or Jack Paar .. NBC’s Tonight Show was hosted by its co-creator Steve Allen.

In the fall of 1954, the 32 year old comedian and entertainer became the host of televisions first-ever late night talk show.

Largely thanks to Alan’s intelligent humor, The Tonight Show became a hit.

Steve Allen soon moved on to other Ventures, but was always widely popular and in-demand.

I first met him in early 1987, when he wrote a book he modestly called How To Be Funny.

So get ready for some tips from a master of his craft. Here now, my 1987 interview with Steve Allen.

Steve Allen died in 2000. He was 78.

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.

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.

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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Molly Shannon

Bill Thompson

While Molly Shannon may be best known for her six seasons on Saturday Night and her many many television and movie appearances, it turns out she is also a children’s book author.

In 2011, Shannon published a book called Tilly the trickster. It’s about a young girl who loves to play practical jokes on people, ranging from her brother, to her parents, to her school mates.

So, is there a little bit of Molly Shannon in Tilly the trickster, I wondered?

And be sure and listen to the end of the interview, for the true story of how Molly Shannon first met Will Ferrell.

So here now, from 2011, Molly Shannon.

Molly Shannon is 56 now, and is still seen frequently on television and in movies.

Dom DeLuise

Bill Thompson
Photo: Allan Warren

Today we’re wrapping up Celebrity Cookbook Week on Now I’ve Heard Everything.

On Monday, we heard from actress Dawn Wells (Mary Ann from Gilligan’s Island), then on Wednesday, musician-actor Isaac Hayes.Today, one of my favorite comic actors from the ’60s amd ’70s,

Dom DeLuise may be best known for the many movies he made with Burt Reynolds, and Mel Brooks.

I met him on a snowy Friday afternoon in January 1988, after he published his cookbook “Eat This, it’ll Make You Feel Better.”

So here now, from 1988, Dom DeLuise.

Dom DeLuise died in 2009. He was 75.

Phyllis Diller

Bill Thompson

Like many of my fellow Baby Boomers, I grew up watching Phyllis Diller on TV and in movies. She was one of America’s first female stand-up comedians, inspiring the likes of Joan Rivers, Roseanne Barr, and Ellen DeGeneres, among others.

Photo: Allan Warren

Diller was known for her wild outfits, her even wilder hair, her self-deprecating humor, a cigarette always in a long holder, and her jokes about her long-suffering husband whom she nicknamed Fang.

Phyllis Diller wrote a memoir in 2005. She was too frail at that point, in her late 80s, to go on a book tour, so I interviewed her by phone.

So here now, from 2005, Phyllis Diller:

Phyllis Diller died in 2012. She was 95.

Rita Rudner

Bill Thompson

I first saw Rita Rudner perform her comedy on an HBO special in the mid-1980s. And I immediately fell in love with her, and her comedy.

Her routine is so low-key, so dignified, yet so hilarious. So I was delighted to have the chance to interview her, in 1992, when she had written a book of essays called “Naked Beneath My Clothes.”

So here now, from 1992, Rita rudner.

Rita Rudner is 67 now.

She is currently the longest-running solo comedy show in Las Vegas, where she’s performed since 2001.

Whoopi Goldberg

Bill Thompson
Photo: Daniel Langer

Whoopi Goldberg has been entertaining us for almost 40 years, in movies like “The Color Purple,” “Ghost,” and “Sister Act” as well as TV’s “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” and of course, on ABC’s “The View.”

I met her in 1997, after she wrote a book called “Book.” It was a kind of stream-of-consciousness effort, with chapters each having a single syllable word as their title.

And our interview was kind of stream-of-consciousness, too.

So here now, from 1997, Whoopi Goldberg.

Whoopi Goldberg will be 65 in November.

She lives in New Jersey.

Tracey Ullman

Bill Thompson

She burst onto the American television scene in the late 1980s, when she hosted her own show on the fledgling Fox network.

Phoro: John http://www.celebrity-photos.comMathew Smith

And Tracey Ullman has been a favorite in this country ever since.

Her Fox show ended in 1990, and she next appeared on American television in 1996, on the HBO series Tracey Takes On.

I met her in early 1998, when she published a book that was companion to the HBO series.

So here now, from 1998, Tracey Ullman.

Tracey Ullman is 60 now. According to Wikipedia, she is the richest British actress and female comedian and the third richest British comedian overall.