Kitty Carlisle Hart

Bill Thompson

Regular listeners of Now I’ve Heard Everything know that I don’t often get starstruck. But this was one of those times.

If you grew up in the ’60s, as I did, you may best remember Kitty Carlisle as a panelist on the game show “To Tell the Truth.” But her acting career went back many decades before that.

In fact, Kitty Carlisle was a featured performer in the 1935 Marx Brothers classic “A Night at the Opera.”

In 1988, Kitty Carlisle Hart Road an autobiography. That’s what I met her.

So here now, from 1988, Kitty Carlisle Hart:

Kitty Carlisle Hart died in 2007 at age 96.

Graham Nash

Bill Thompson

Graham Nash is actually in the Rock and Roll Hal;l of Fame twice – once as a member of the ’60s pop group The Hollies, and again for his work as a member of Crosby Stills and Nash.

Graham Nash with Bill and Hillary Thompson

Nash been an icon in pop and rock music for decades — and in 2002, he puboished a book about some of the best-known and most iconic songs of our time,

It was called “Off the Record,” and I met Graham Nash when he was on tour promoting that book.

You’ll be humming tunes for hours after hearing this interview.

And .. I also brought my wife Hillary with me that day. You may hear her off-mike a coupole of times…

So here now, from 2002, Graham Nash:

Graham Nash will be 79 in February. He lives in New York.

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.

Ed McMahon

Bill Thompson
Photo: Christa Chapman

Ed McMahon had a career in broadcasting that dated back to the 1940s. But perhaps nothing he did on television was as memorable as this: his 30-year on-are partnership with Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show.

In 1998, McMahon wrote an autobiography, a mmoir of his decades in television entertainment. That’s when I met him.

So here now, from 1998, Ed McMahon.

Ed McMahon died in 2009. He was 86.

Julia Baird

Bill Thompson
Photo: Eddie Janssens

One night, 40 years ago this week, a young man approached musician John Lennon outside Lennon’s Manhattan apartment building. The young man appeared to be asking for an autograph, but instead, shot and killed Lennon, who was just 40.

A few years later, Lennon’s half-sister, Julia Baird, wrote a book about her, her brother, and their mother, called John Lennon, My Brother.

I met Julia Baird in 1988, when she was touring the U.S. to promote that book.

So here now, from 1988, Julia Baird.

Julia Baird is 73 now, retired from her job as a teacher, and still lives in Liverpool.

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.

Isaac Hayes

Bill Thompson

It’s Celebrity Cookbook Week here on Now I’ve Heard Everything. We continue today with a man who my younge listeners may kknow best for his work on South Park.

Photo: William Henderson darkfiber22

But for decades, Isaac Hayes was a major figure in the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he was a songwriter, a session musician and record a producer

I met him 20 years ago, when he published a cookbook that brought together some of his own favorite family recipes, plus those of dozens of celebrities.

So here now, from 2000, Isaac Hayes.

Isaac Hayes died in 2008 just days before his 66th birthday.

Dawn Wells

Bill Thompson

It’s Celebrity Cookbook Week on Now I’ve Heard Everything.

And we start with not only one of my favorite sitcom stars, but also one of my favorite cookbooks.

Dawn Wells portrayed Kansas farm girl Mary Ann Summers on Gilligan’s Island. Turns out, she was pretty handy with coconuts, bananas, and whatever else the castaways were able to find — plus a few food items probably not normally found on a desert island, but, that was Gilligan’s Island. It was a fantasy.

I met Dawn Wells in 1993, when she was promoting her cookbook, called “Mary Ann’s Gilligan’s Island Cookbook.” It included the recipes from her mother, and her grandmother, as well as island cuisine.

So, here now, from 1993, Dawn Wells.

Dawn Wells is 82 now and remains a fan favorite.

Berke Breathed

Bill Thompson

Berkeley Breathed is perhaps best known for his comic strips “Bloom County,” “Outland,” and “Opus.”

But he’s also a gifted children’s book creator. I first met him in 2003, upon publication of his book “Flawed Dogs.”

We tal;;kerd again in 2007 after he published “Mars Needs Moms,” which later became a Disney animated film. It’s about a 9-year-old boy named Milo who comes to appreciate everything about his mom, after she’s abducted by Martians.

So here now, from 2007, Berke Breathed:

Berkeley Breathed is 63 now. and still producing great comics — “Bloom County” returned in 2015.

Cissy Houston

Bill Thompson

In the music business, backup singers often fade into the background. Few achieve much fame on their own. One who did was Cissy Houston.

Photo: Kingkongphotohttp://www.celebrity-photos.com

After a successful career backing up the likes of Elvis Preslet, Dionne Warick, and Aretha Franklin, Houston struck out on her own — and won two Grammies.

I met Cissy Houston in the spring of 1998, after she’d written her memoir.

So here now, from 1998i, Cissy Houston:

Cissy Houston is now 87 amd still performs. She leads the 200-member Youth Inspirational Choir at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey.