1960s

Adam West

Bill Thompson

In January 1966 a new TV series premiered, unlike any we had seen before. Even though it only ran on the ABC network for three seasons, it changed television history. And it made the show’s star a folk hero. That show, of course, was Batman.

Adam West played millionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, who, along with his sidekick Dick Grayson, aka Robin, fought evil criminals in Gotham City.

Every week, the Dynamic Duo faced off with another super villain — Riddler, Joker, Penguin, Catwoman.

But the show also typecast Adam West, and it took him many years to extricate himself.

I met him in 1994, when he wrote A Memoir of his Batman years.

sSo here now, from 1994, Adam West.

Adam West died in 2017, at age 88.

Sonny Bono

Bill Thompson

Long before she was a successful solo act, Cher was half of Sonny and Cher.

Perhaps no married couple in music was popular in the mid-’60s as Sonny and Cher. Sonny Bono wrote hit songs like I’ve Got You, Babe and The Beat Goes On,

Eventually, they even had their own television variety show.

Sonny and Cher went their separate ways in the early ’70s. Sonny became interested in politics, and bwas elected mayor of Palm Springs, California in 1988. And he was elected to Congress in 1992.

I met him in 1991, when he wrote a memoir.

So here now, from 1991, Sonny Bono:

Sonny Bono died in a skiing accident in 1998 at the age of 62

Andrew Young

Bill Thompson

Was the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s a social or political movement? It was, but it was also a religious or spiritual movement, says former Congressman and UN Ambassador Andrew Young.

In a 1994 book called A Way Out of No Way, Young, a confidant of Martin Luther King jr., a former preacher, former Atlanta mayor, told his own story against the backdrop of the movement that he was a key part of.

So here now, from 1994, Andrew Young:

Ambassador Andrew Young will be 89 next month.

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Rosa Parks

Ronnie Spector

Bill Thompson

They may have called her “the original ‘bad girl of rock and roll’,” but Ronnie Spector was nothing but nice to me, when I met her in 1990.

Spectre was the lead singer in the ’60s girl-group The Ronettes. Their big hit, of couse, was “Be My Baby.” but of course there were others, too.

But Ronnie Spector was also Mrs. Phil Spector. And we get into that a little bit, in this interview.

So here now, from 1990, Ronnie Spector.

Ronnie Spector is 77 now. Her most recent album was released in 2016. She lives in Connectiocut.

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Gladys Knight

Rosa Parks

Bill Thompson

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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John Lewis

Coretta Scott King

Leonard Nimoy

Bill Thompson
Photo: Gage Skidmore

Many people may think Leonard Nimoy’s career started with Star Trek. But he was a serious actor for a number of years before that. He even appearing in other science fiction shows.

But of course it was Star Trek that propelled him not just to fame but to Iconic status. His portrayal of a half-human, half-Vulcan Spock practically launch a cottage industry.

In 1975, Nimoy wrote a book called I Am Not Spock. Fast forward 20 years to 1995 when I interviewed him for another book he written, called I Am Spock.

And as you’ll hear, there’s a reason for his change of heart.

So here now from 1995 Leonard Nimoy

Leonard Nimoy died in 2015. He was 83.

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George Tak

George Takei

Gladys Knight

Bill Thompson
Gladys Knight in 1974. Photo: CBS Television

Midnight Plane to Houston?

Doesn’t sound quite right, does it? And in her 1997 memoir, singer Gladys Knight told the story of how it became the Midnight Train to Georgia.

And in this interview you’re about to hear, she also tells about the connection that Danny Thomas has to another classic Gladys Knight and the Pips song.

So here now, from 1997, Gladys Knight:

Gladys Knight is now 76 years old.

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Skidmore
Photo: Kingkongphoto

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Cissy Houston
Reba McEntire

Don Knotts

Bill Thompson

Don Knotts is perhaps best know as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife from The Andy Griffith Show. But you also remember him as Ralph Furley from Three’s Company. Maybe you remember him from The Apple Dumpling Gang movies, or The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, or The Shakiest Gun in the West. Or The Incredible Mr. Limpet.

Don Knotts had a decades-long entertainment career, which actually began soon after World War II, but which really took off when he reconnected with his old friend Andy Griffith.

I met Don Knotts in November 1999, when he wrote a book called Barney Fife And Other Characters I Have Known.

So here now, from 1999, Don Knotts.

Don Knotts died in 2006. He was 81.

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George Lindsey

Dawn Wells

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.