1960s – Now I've Heard Everything

Behind the Lens of Laughter: Peter Funt on “Candid Camera” and His Father’s Enduring Legacy

July 24, 2025Bill Thompson

Long before “Punk’d” or “America’s Funniest Home Videos” there was “Candid Camera.” The premise was simple and popular: catch ordinary folks in funny and unusual situations, benign practical jokes as it were.

The show’s creator was a genial, soft-spoken man named Allen Funt.

His son Peter began visiting the set of the show at a very early age. And when his father suffered a major stroke in the early 1990s, Peter Funt stepped in and assumed the leadership role, hosting “Candid Camera” for several more years.

Peter Funt is also a thoughtful and respected essayist and columnist. And in 2013 he published a collection of his essays, a book he called Cautiously Optimistic. He and I talked one day that spring about his essays, and about” “Candid Camera.”

So here now, from 2013, Peter Funt.

Peter Funt is 78 now. He lives in California, and still writes a weekly newspaper column and is a popular public speaker.

Theodore Hesburgh: A Legacy of Leadership, Faith, and Service

May 14, 2025Bill Thompson

Not many six year olds know what they want to be when they grow up.
I mean really know what they want to be.

Llittle Teddy was one of those.

The young Theodore Hesbergh knew from the age of six that he wanted to be a priest.

He probably didn’t realize that someday he would also be the renowned, honored, and
revered president of one of the most honored institutions of higher learning in America,
Notre Dame University.

Get your copy of Theodore Hesburgh’s book

But Hesbergh achieved those dreams and more. In 1952, he became president of Notre Dame, a position he held for 35 years, including through the turbulent 1960s when college campuses across America were
roiled by controversy, protests, demonstrations, and student takeovers.

How did Father Hesbergh handle that? You’ll hear that in this interview coming up.

Finally, after his retirement in 1987, Hesbergh was persuaded to write his memoir. In 1990, he did. He called it God, Country, Notre Dame.

Finally, after his retirement in 1987, Theodore Hesbergh wrote a memoir.
His autobiography. in 1990,he published his book God, Country, Notre Dame.”

And when he was on the book tour to promote it, that’s when I had the chance to sit down for a few minutes
with his illustrious and much-honored leader—————————————————————

So here now, from 1990, Father

Theodor Hesbergh died in 2015 at age 97.

A Complicated Leader in a Tumultuous War: South Vietnam’s Nguyen Cao Ky

May 14, 2025Bill Thompson

April 30 is the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, Effectively ending the Vietnam War and bringing a humiliating end to the American effort to prop up South Vietnam’s government.

An eyewitness to the events that day was a man who had also been a pivotal figure in trying to preserve South Vietnam, former Premier and former vice president Nguyen Cao Ky.

Ky Was head of South Vietnam’s Air Force but had
virtually no government experience when he was thrust into a leadership role in the mid-1960s.

Nguyen Cao Ky proved a complicated, controversial and flamboyant leader who frequently alienated his American allies.

In 2002 Ky wrote in Memoir, one of the only books detailing the war from the South Vietnamese perspective. He called the book Buddha’s Child, and that’s when I had the chance to spend a few minutes with him.

Nguyen Cao Ky died in 2010 at age 80.

En Pointe Elegance: Ballerina Suzanne Farrell’s Journey of Grace

March 24, 2025Bill Thompson

Few people have done more to advance neoclassical ballet in the last half-century then the girl from Cincinnati who started turning heads when she was a teenager.

Suzanne Farrell’s unique talent brought her to the attention of the legendary George Balanchine, and together they transformed the modern world of ballet.

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Over a career that spanned nearly three decades Farrell set the standard for a generation of dancers.

A hip replacement surgery ended Farrell’s ballet career in 1989. She has devoted her life to teaching since then. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005.

The year after her retirement she wrote a memoir called Holding On To The Air. I met her that fall when she was on a book tour.

So here now, from 1990, Suzanne Farrell.

Suzanne Farrell is now 79. She is a professor of dance at Florida State University.

Sir Michael Caine’s Legacy: Childhood Dreams Come True

March 14, 2025Bill Thompson

On this day, March 14, 1933 a baby boy named Maurice Joseph Micklewhite was born in London. His parents were working class, and his family lived a meager existence.

But at age 10, young Maurice was bitten by the acting bug thanks to a small part in a school play.

That launched an 8th decade career for the man we now know as Michael Caine. He adopted his stage name off the success of The Caine Mutiny.

By the time he retired a couple of years ago Michael Caine had appeared in 160 movies, picking up two Oscars and three Golden Globe awards along the way.

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His best known films include Alfie, The Ipcress File, The Man Who Would Be King, A Bridge Too Far, Hannah and Her Sisters, Sleuth, Miss Congeniality, and Austin Powers.

In 2000 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth to become Sir Michael Caine.

In 1992, Cain wrote what would become the first of three memoirs, a book called What’s It All About? That’s what I have the chance to spend a few minutes with this incredible actor.

So here now, from 1992, Sir Michael Caine.

Today, as Sir Michael Caine celebrates his 90 second birthday, he lives in retirement in London.

Elaine Brown And The Evolution of The Black Panther Party

February 26, 2025Bill Thompson

When Huey Newton and Bobby seale formed the Black Panther Party in 1966, it was largely a very masculine male oriented organization. It was a year before it had its first female member.

And then in 1968 a 25 year old woman from Philadelphia joined the black Panther party. Her name was Elaine Brown.

It was largely through her efforts that the party became more female-friendly, and in 1971 she succeeded Eldridge Cleaver as the party’s information minister.

When Huey Newton fled to Cuba in 1974 to avoid prosecution in the US, he appointed Brown chairwoman of the party.

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But the party continued to struggle with male versus female rivalries, and when Newton returned in 1977, Brown had had enough, and left the party.

The Black Panthers dissolved in 1982.

Fast forward to 1993, and Elaine Browne wrote A Memoir called A Taste of Power. That’s when I met her.

So here now, from 1993, Elaine Brown.

Elaine Brown will be 82 next week.

She currently heads Oakland & the World Enterprises, an organization she founded in 2014.

One Momentous Summer, 60 Years Ago, Told In Fiction B y a Veteran Actress Who Lived It

February 17, 2025Bill Thompson

Freedom Summer was a paradigm shift in America’s deep South in 1964.

Thousands of young Americans, black and white, poured into Mississippi that summer for a massive black voter registration movement.

They were young, idealistic, and motivated. Most were there for the summer only, but their brief presence shone a bright light on the injustices of the day.

One of those bright and eager volunteers was a young woman who would later become a well-known actress, Denise Nicholas.

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Best known for her roles in the TV series “Room 222” and “In The Heat of The Night“ Nicholas was also featured in dozens of other TV shows and movies.

And finally, in 2005 she reached back for those memories of 1964 in writing her debut novel, a book called Freshwater Road. It was about an idealistic young woman named Celeste arriving in Mississippi in 1964 to do the work of Freedom Summer.

She and I talked about her book when she was on an author tour.

So here now, from 2005, Denise Nicholas.

Denise Nicholas is 81 now.

Brian Wilson: The Troubled Genius of The Beach Boys

January 10, 2025Bill Thompson

Brian Wilson is widely regarded as one of the most influential music figures of our time.

As a founding member of The Beach Boys, Wilson led a music revolution that went far beyond the ‘60s “California sound” or even pop music generally.

But fame and success carry a price. And for Wilson, the price he paid was his mental health and later physical well-being, as well Substance abuse further complicated his life.

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Yet Wilson continued to create and innovate – and perform. And in 1991, he wrote a memoir, a book he called Wouldn’t It Be Nice. That’s when I met him.

So here now, from 1991, Brian Wilson.

Brian Wilson Is 82 now. He stopped touring in 2022, and his family has said he suffers from dementia.

Motown’s Mary Wilson And Her Supreme Faith

November 13, 2024November 11, 2024Bill Thompson

She was the little girl from Detroit with big dreams And along with some friends with similar dreams, Mary Wilson became a founding member of the greatest Motown girl group ever: the Supremes.

Originally the Primettes in 1959, they became the Supremes in 1961 when they signed with Berry Gordy.

It took three years before their first #1 hit record, but the Supremes racked up nearly a dozen more in the ‘60s.

By 1970 the Supremes were a different group. Florence Ballard was gone, so was Diana Ross. Mary Wilson kept the Supremes going into the ‘70s.

But perhaps her biggest success was yet to come.

It was immense success as an author. Her 1986 book Dream Girl became a smash bestseller.

And in 1990 Wilson followed it up with another book, Supreme Faith. I met her that fall to talk about it.

So here now, from 1990, Mary Wilson.

The Supremes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.

Mary Wilson died in 2021. She was 76.

Honoring Vietnam War Heroes: Col. David Hackworth’s Most Important Book

November 11, 2024November 10, 2024Bill Thompson

Veteran’s Day was originally known as Armistice Day, marking the end of World War I on November 11th.

So perhaps it was fitting that a baby born on Armistice Day in 1930 would be destined for an illustrious military career,

David Hackworth joined the Army shortly after World War II, and was decorated for his service in the Korean War.

By the late 1960s Hackworth had become the youngest Army colonel in Vietnam.

He helped form what became known as Tiger Force.

After the war Hackworth became a journalist and author, and in 2002 wrote a book about the ragtag battalion he was sent to lead in 1969. He called the book Steel My Soldiers’ Hearts. He and I talked about the book that spring, including his wife’s essential role in writing it.

So here now, from 2002, Col. David Hackworth.

David Hackworth died in 2005 at age 74. He’s buried in Arlington National Cemetery.