Depression

The Movie Hero’s Toughest Fight: How Kirk Douglas Beat a Near-Fatal Stroke

Bill Thompson

October 29 is World Stroke Day, to help us all recognize the causes and effects of stroke.

In 1996 a severe stroke nearly killed one of America’s greatest actors, the then-79-year-old Kirk Douglas.

Overnight this dynamic, seemingly ageless, icon of film was plunged into a terrifying new reality that he later admitted had him considering suicide.

But it turned out that Douglas, in real life, was every bit as tough and relentless as the heroic characters he played on screen.

Get your copy of Kirk Douglas’s book

And then Douglas did something even more heroic – he not only went public with his fight to regain health, he wrote a book about it. In typically defiant Kirk Douglas fashion, he called it My Stroke of Luck. It was published in 2002, six years after his life-changing episode.

It may be hard to listen to this interview, but you will draw incredible inspiration from it.

So here now, from 2002, Kirk Douglas.

Kirk Douglas died in 2019. He was 103.

Mariette Harley’s Story: Turning Personal Tragedy into a Message of Hope

Bill Thompson
Photo by Gotfryd, Bernard

September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day, as designated by the World Health Organization.

Each year hundreds of thousands of people take their own lives, leaving behind family and friends who may feel the impact for the rest of their lives.

It was in the summer of 1963 that young actress Mariette Harley lost her father to suicide, a tragedy that has colored her life ever since.

Get your copy of Mariette Hartley’s book

But even she wasn’t fully aware of just how deeply it had affected her until the 1980s. And it inspired her to write a book that became a bestseller, called Breaking The Silence.

I met her in the fall of 1991 to talk about her book.

So here now, from 1991, Mariette Harley.

Mariette Harley.is now 84. She is currently spokesperson for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, which she founded.

A Daughter’s Loving Embrace: Rain Pryor’s Book About Richard Pryor

Bill Thompson
Rain Pryor (center_ with Bill and Hillary Thompson

The late Richard Pryor was a hugely talented comedian and brilliant entertainer — but, by his own admission, a failure as a father.

In 2006 his daughter Rain Pryor wrote a memoir, a sympathetic portrait of the man, failings and all. Her book was called Jokes My Father Never Taught Me.

So here now from November 2006, Rain Pryor.

Richard Pryor died in December 2005, at the age of 65.

Rain Pryor is 54 now, and is active as a comedian, actor, and singer.

You may also like these episodes:


Bill Kinison

Judith Belushi

Buy Books / Media from Amazon

As an Amazon Associate, Now I’ve Heard Everything earns from qualifying purchases.

Susanna Kaysen

Bill Thompson

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Tomorrow, May 19, is Mental Health Action Day.

So today on Now I’ve Heard Everything, a 1994 conversation with a woman whose own mental health crisis became a bestselling book, then a major potion picture.

In 1967, at the age of 18, Susanna Kaysen’s family had her hospitalized for treatment of depression. She was told she would be there for two weeks. She was actually there for 18 months, after being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder..

Years later Kaysen drew on her experience to write her memoir Girl, Interrupted. I met her the following year.

So here now, from 1994, Susann Kaysen.

Girl, Interrupted was made into a movie in 1999 starring Winona Ryder as Susanna.

Susanna Kaysen is 73 now.

You may also like these episodes:

Patty Duke
Chris Costner Sizemore

Buy Books / Media from Amazon

Charles Osgood

Bill Thompson
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

A few days ago on Now I’ve Heard Everything, I featured an interview that I had done many years ago with one of my broadcasting Heroes, the late Larry King.

Today, another one: longtime CBS radio and TV news personality Charles Osgood.

Osgood grew up in Depression-era, World War ii-era Baltimore. And in 2004, he wrote a memoir recalling those years, called Defending Baltimore Against Enemy Attack.

So here now, from 2004, Charles Osgood:

Charles Osgood celebrating his 88th birthday last month. Today he lives in the New York City area.