1960s

Goldie Hawn

Bill Thompson
Photo: Erik Charlton

One of the most bankable female movie stars of the last 50 years is also one of the most influential figures in Hollywood.

And she got her big break when she was barely old enough to have a legal drink, 1 quickly becoming one of the most popular stars of the Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In show.

It seems like everything she has touched has turned to Gold – or, should we say, Goldie. By age 25 she already had an Academy Award, for her role in “Cactus Flower.”

Then came a long and reliable series of hit movies.

In 2005, Goldie Hawn took some time out from her acting to right a book about her life, although she’s careful not to call it an autobiography.

Unfortunately, the day I was to interview were in studio, traffic in our area was horrible. She and her media escort realize she was not going to make it to my studio in time, so we found it in.

So here now, from 2005, Goldie Hawn.

Goldie Hawn will be 76 in November.

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Dr. Benjamin Spock

Bill Thompson

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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Robert Evans

Bill Thompson

As a Young Man, Robert Evans wasn’t even in Show Business.

Photo: Angela George

Then one day, just like something out of a storybook, actress Norma Shearer spot of him and thought he would be great to be in a movie.

The rest, as they say, well,…

From an acting career, Evans became a movie producer. And in the 60s and 70s some of his movies are now Classics. Movies like Rosemary’s Baby, Love Story, The Godfather, and Chinatown.

But a drug-related conviction in 1980 was a major setback to Evans, and he never came back to his former glory. His last movie in 2003 was How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

In 1994, Evans wrote A Memoir, a book he had always thought about writing, and that’s when I met him.

And even if you somehow don’t find his stories interesting, I guarantee you’ll be mesmerised by this man’s magnificent voice.

So here now, from 1994, Robert Evans

Robert Evans died in 2019. He was 89.

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Martha Reeves

Bill Thompson
Photo: Aug856

When you think of the best of Motown in the late 1950s and early ‘60s, one of the names that has to be near the top of the list it Martha and the

Behind lead singer Martha Reeves, they racked up a series of hit singles.

Finally, 30 years after their heyday, Martha Reeves wrote a memoir. And that’s when I met her.

So here now, from 1994, Martha Reeves:

Martha Reeves celebrated her 80th birthday a couple of weeks ago. And she still tours and performs.

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Bob Gibson

Bill Thompson

In the 1960s and into the early 70s, one of the most dominant pitchers in the National League was St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Bob Gibson.

During a 17-year career, Gibson racked up 251 wins, over 3000 strikeouts, won two Cy Young awards and one year was Most Valluable Player.

He was a star of the 1967 World Series in which the Cardinals beat the Boston Red Spx.

Now, like any picture with that kind of record, Gibson was an intimidating presence on the mound.

But in his case, it went beyond intimidating and he acquired a reputation for being mean.

In 1994 Gibson wrote a memoir called Stranger to the Game. And that’s when I met the man who was anything but “mean.”

So here now, from 1994, Bob Gibson.

Bob Gibson died last year at age 84.

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Bobby Seale

Bill Thompson

55 years ago African Americans were making historic gains in civil rights. But much work was still to be done.

That year, 1966, Bobby Seale and his longtime friend Huey Newton created a new organization they called the Black Panther Party.

In 1968 Seal made a name for himself during anti-Vietnam War protests outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

It was not his first run-in with the law and it would not be his last.

In the early 1970s Seale wrote a book about the Black Panther Party, called Seize the Time. After going out of print for several years, it was republished in 1991. And that’s what I met him.

So here now, from 1991, Bobby Seale.

Bobby Seale is 84 now. Since 2013, Seale has been seeking to produce a screenplay he wrote based on Seize the Time.

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Carl T. Rowan

Bill Thompson

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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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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Winnie Smith

Bill Thompson

Memorial Day is an occasion to pause and honor those who have given their lives in military service.

But we can also remember those who went to war to save lives.

In 1963, a 21-year old student nurse named winning Smith joined the Army, and in 1966 was sent to Vietnam, where the war was escalating. She was there until 1967,

But it wasn’t until years later that she realized that she, like many of the servicemen she treated, or suffering from PTSD.

I met her in 1992, to talk about her book called “American Daughter Gone to War.”

So here now, from 1992, Winnie Smith.

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Peter Funt

Bill Thompson

When I was a kid one of the TV shows I most look forward to every week was the Sunday night episode of “Candid Camera.”

With hidden cameras set up to catch their reactions, host Allen Funt played benign but often ingenius practical jokes on ordinary people. “Candid Camera” was a TV hit for years.

After Funt’s death in 1999 at aged 84, his son Peter Funt took over the family business, as it were, and carried on the “Candid Camera” franchise.

Allen Funt Photo: ABC Television

In 2013, he published a collection of his essays, and that’s when I had the chance to speak with him — and to get some inside scoop on “Candid Camera.”

So here now, from 2013, Peter Funt

Peter Funt is 74.

He writes a syndicated column and speaks to business organizations, often using clips from “Candid Camera” in his presentations.