Tony Bennett

He had his first number-one song in 1951, a tune called “Because of You” — and Tony Bennett has never slowed down since.

Photo: John Mathew Smith

Over his seven-decade show business career, Bennett has proven to be as popular today, among all age groups as we was when he was just beginning his rise to stardom.

In 1998 Bennett finally wrote his autobiography, a book called “The Good Life.” That’s when I met him, and yes, I was hugely starstruck.

So here now, from 1998, Tony Bennett.

Tony Bennett is 93 now. And still making millions happy with his music,

Dr. Benjamin Spock

Perhaps no one has ever had a bigger impact on an entire generation of children than Dr. Benjamin Spock.

His book Baby and Child Care was published in 1946, just as the first baby boomers were being born. And his calm, reassuring tone quickly found an audience among new parents. Dr. Spock became the go-to guy for advice on child rearing.

Then, in the late 1960s, Dr. Spock became known for something else – his political activism. He even ran for president in 1972.

But Benjamin Spock had long resisted writing his autobiography. Finally, in the late 1980s, his second wife, Mary Morgan, persuaded him it was time. So, with her help, he finally wrote the book called Spock on Spock.

And that’s when I met him. So here now, from 1989, Dr Benjamin Spock.

Dr. Benjamin Spock died in 1998. He was 94 years old.

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Tab Hunter

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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Rock Brynner

In the 1950s, few actors dominated Broadway the way Yul Brynner did.

Playing the lead in the Rodgers and Hammerstein’s play “The King and I,” Brynner eEstablished himself as a top-tier performer.

He won two Tonys for his portrayal of the King of Siam, as well as an Academy Award when the play was adapted to film.

Photo: CBS Television

Later he was cast in such big budget movies as the Ten Commandments, The Magnificent Seven, and Westworld.

His son Rock was born in 1946, and was as captivated as anyone with his father’s strong a persona.

A few years after his father’s untimely death from lung cancer, Rock Brynner wrote a memoir of life with his famous dad. And tha’s when I met him.

So here now, from 1991, Rock Brynner.

At age 75, Rocj Brynn er has now lived 10 years longer than his father did. He is a professor of history..

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Carl T. Rowan

As a young journalist in the 1950s, Carl T. Rowan covered the emerging civil rights movement, and its leaders, including people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.

The reputation he built came to the attention of President John F. Kennedy, who, in 1961, name Rowan to a high level position in the State Department.

And in 1963, Kennedy appointed Rowan ambassador to Finland.

Row and remain in the government for three years after Kennedy’s assassination, before resuming what would be a long and acclaimed journalism career.

I first met him in 1991, what he wrote a memoir called Breaking Barriers.

In this interview, you’ll also hear a reference to “thje gun incident” — in 1988 Rowan confronted an intruder at his home, and shot and wounded him with what turned out to be an unregistered handgun.

So here now, from 1991, Carl T. Rowan.

Carl T, Rowan died in 2000, at age 75.

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Steve Allen

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.

Rosa Parks

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the U.S. So I wanted to revisit an interview I did nearly 30 years ago with a woman whose actions helped propel Dr. King to national prominence.

In December 1955, a young woman named Rosa Parks was on her way home after a long hard day at work. She was on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, when she was ordered to the back of the bus so a white man could have her seat.

She refused to move, and was arrested and jailed.

Her arrest sparked outrage in Montgomery’s black community, and soon they organized a bus boycott, which lasted for more than a year.That boycott was led by a young preacher named Martin Luther King Jr.

I had the opportunity to interview Rosa Parks in 1992, after she had written a book for young readers.

So here now, from 1992, Rosa Parks.

Congress has called her “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement.”

Rosa Parks died in 2005. She was 92.

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Mickey Rooney

In nearly thirty years of interviewing celebrities and big names, I didn’t often get very Starstruck, but this day I did.

It’s hard to overstate how big a star Mickey Rooney was. For decades, he was one of the most recognizable names and faces in all of Hollywood. If you’ve ever watched one of his movies on one of the classic movie networks, you know his Andy Hardy series, and all those hey kids, let’s put on a show movies with Judy Garland.

To the general public, Mickey was known primarily for two things: his height, he was only five foot three, and his marriages, of which there were many.

So when he published his Memoirs in 1994, I jumped at the chance to interview him.

But as you’re about to hear, Mickey wanted to talk about not just the book he was there to promote, but all his other books. I think he was a frustrated author at heart.

Anyway, here now, from 1994, the great Mickey Rooney.

Had he lived, Mickey Rooney would ha veeb 100 today. He died in 2014, at the age of 93.

Noel Neill

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.