Maureen Donaldson would tell such outrageous stories you’d swear she was making it all up. Who packs all this into one life: a May-September affair with Cary Grant? A parrot that once belonged to Muhammad Ali? A first job with The Beatles? Word came via a Facebook posting this week from mutual friend Ray Bennett
Happy Boxing Day to all. If you are still looking for one last present to unwrap, check out the American Masters “Groucho & Cavett” episode premiering Tuesday night on PBS. I’ve written about this before here at brioux.tv and even had the great joy of interviewing late-night Hall of Famer Dick Cavett at brioux.tv: the
Christmas came early for me this year as I got to talk to Dick Cavett about Groucho Marx. The occasion was the American Masters‘ special “Groucho & Cavett,” premiering December 27 on PBS. Dubbed, “the thinking man’s talk show host,” Cavett emerged as a clear alternative to Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show while on ABC from 1969 through 1975.
With NHL playoffs just a week away it is time to check in with one of the games biggest stars. I’m talking about Peter Puck, first voiced nearly 50 years ago by actor Ronnie Schell. Schell was at Hanna Barbera studios working on Wait Till Your Father Gets Home with Tom Bosley when he was approached to do
Normally I don’t post obits unless I have my own story to tell about an encounter with the deceased, be it through a one-on-one interview or press tour appearance. Unfortunately, I never met Doris Day, but always appreciated her triple-threat talent, especially as a singer and actress. The award-winning star and long time animal rights
Was up north painting the unplugged cottage and a bit behind on posting, so missed this milestone from Sunday: the 50th anniversary of the first Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. Carson’s official debut on Oct. 1, 1962 only survives on a short audio clip. As has been noted here before, the first 10 years of
Phyllis Diller, who died Sunday at 95, always struck me as the female Bob Hope. Her delivery and timing were very much patterned off Hope’s confident, straight at you patter. Like Hope the master, how she said things was usually funnier than what she was saying. With Diller, you thought it was all about how
Sliced and diced CBC: turning up the heat “What we do with television in the next few decades, and what television does with us, will be one of the four or five chief factors in the shaping of the Canadian mind and soul.” A quote from the Toronto Star’s current “Network” blog? A pronouncement from