Over the years I’ve spent covering television I’ve only met a few genuine movie stars. One was Tony Curtis, who died Wednesday in Hollywood at 85. First time I met the man was way back in 1986, on one of my first TCA press tours. Curtis was at the Century Plaza hotel in Beverly Hills,
Want some insight into why TV is still feeding my family? Have a feature today in the Toronto Star’s “Prime Time” section. This monthly supplement covers “business, entertainment, health and beauty for Boomers.” I guess I’m part of the entertainment mix. Editor Elizabeth Holland called me up a while back and asked for info on
Long time NBC news correspondent Edwin Newman always spoke with the authority of someone who knew the right words. He used language with precision, a TV guy with an old school dedication to the craft of copy writing. There was something welcome and relatable about his look, too, more Ed Asner or Edward G. Robinson
Art Linkletter seemed to be on TV all the time when I was a child. In those black and white, pre-school days, he was the kindly man in the business suit talking to kids in the hours after Friendly Giant and before the soaps. A friend who reads this blog (that is a friend) emailed
Gene Kiniski, who passed away April 14, 2010 at 81, was one of my all-time favourite interviews back when I was typing for The Toronto Sun. The hulking ring legend was helping to promote the series Wrestling With the Past on the Comedy Network when I caught up with him in 2001.I met Kiniski at
Roy Disney died Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 79. It was one day–and 43 years–after his famous uncle, Walt Disney, passed away in 1966.I was fortunate to meet Roy Disney, many years ago, at the Disneyland park in California. A friend was a publicist there at the time, Lorraine Santoli, and she knew I was a
Soupy Sales was–believe it or not–a bit before my time. Growing up in Toronto in the ’60s, I was all over local kiddie shows like Professor’s Hideaway, Schnitzel House, Uncle Bobby, Kiddo the Clown, Captain Kangaroo on CBS and especially Buffalo’s Commander Tom. I should have been watching Sales, too, who was huge in Cincinnati
Friday was the 50th anniversary of the debut of The Twilight Zone. It was never a big hit but ran for 156 episodes and stands as one of the smartest and creepiest TV anthologies ever. It certainly give me the willies as a lad. It was also a proving ground not just for promising on-screen