Bob Andelman
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Of course there are stereotypes in Hollywood! Look up "Scary Mofos" in any dictionary and you'll find a picture of actor Danny Trejo. Even when he's smiling, he's frightening. (No disrespect, sir.) Mention his name in casual conversation and watch the visceral fear come rising up in someone's eyes. As the master thespian Jon Lovitz once said, "Acting!" Yeah, maybe.
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If you've been watching the AMC drama "Breaking Bad" over the years, you've had the privilege of seeing some extraordinary performances by the lead actors, Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul and Anna Gunn. But some of the greatest moments have been of the smaller, more isolated type. Like the ones featuring my guest today, Mark Margolis, who plays — or should I say played - Hector "Tio" Salamanca. You remember Hector, the notorious, bloodthirsty bastard...
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I was barely a month into my freshman year at the University of Miami, working at the student radio station, WVUM 90.5 FM, when I found myself in the right place at the right time. Although you may soon think I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The station manager, Bob "Bear" Mordente, was looking for someone willing to go out to the Royal Biscayne Hotel in Key Biscayne to interview musician and pop culture legend Frank Zappa. I said I'd do...
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Actor Kirk Douglas will be 92 in December (2008). 92! I'm roughly half his age and from everything I've heard about him of late, he's got twice the energy and drive that I do. Every generation of the last 60 years can easily point to a favorite Kirk Douglas movie, whether it's Champion, Paths of Glory, Lust for Life, Spartacus, or Tough Guys. As for me, I've always had a fondness for the cartoon silliness of The Villain. His latest autobiographical...
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When you pick up a memoir, particularly a celebrity memoir, part of the inherent appeal is that you can safely be a voyeur at arm's reach.
But when that celebrity memoir falls short on sharing names and intimate details, well, that's not a great read. Because if you just wanted to hear how swell everybody is and how perfect a celebrity's life is, you could just tune in to "Ellen."
So when I tell you that actress Charlotte Stewart's autobiography...
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In addition to continuing in his role as "Dotcom" alongside Grizz Chapman as Tracy Jordan's posse on NBC's "30 Rock," comedian Kevin Brown's standup career has truly blossomed and it keeps him out on the road whenever Tina Fey doesn't need him on the award-winning sitcom. One more thing about this very special interview: Kevin comes to us from the bowels of Kabletown, a.k.a. Silvercup Studios in Manhattan where "30 Rock" is shot. He starts out, as...
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Nothing twinkles quite as bright as a classic Hollywood star and few were ever bigger in their day than Lana Turner.
Of course, there is Lana Turner the legend...and Lana Turner the wife and mother. In her over-size collection of family photos and personal anecdotes, Turner's daughter Cheryl Crane pulls back the curtain and offers a fascinating peek at a life well-lived.
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Is it fair to call Carl Wilson the "accidental" Beach Boy?
He was the youngest brother, and cousin, in the world's most enduring and prominent California surf band, the one that probably had other youthful pursuits in mind when older brother Brian recruited him to the band in the early 1960s at age 15.
But the rest of The Beach Boys were lucky he got around, I mean, came around, as Carl eventually became the band's musical director, lead vocalist,...
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If you're going to write a book about the Rolling Stones at this point in their history, you damn well better have something unique to say.
Because if you search "The Rolling Stones" on Amazon.com under "Books," it brings back — I'm not kidding — 17,812 results. There are many duplicates, of course, and a lot of books that only mention the Stones, but still!
Oh, and in my humble opinion, after Keith Richards wrote his own memoir, "Life," I believed...
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There are two pictures on Tommy Roe's website of him with The Beatles.
I glanced at them last night and then moved on, looking for ideas about what to ask the man behind such immortal 1960s bubblegum hits as "Sheila," "Dizzy" and "Jam Up and Jelly Tight."
This morning, I got to thinking about it some more. Those were some very young Beatles in those photo, gathered around behind Roe. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr are...
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Elliot Mintz, to the best of my recollection, first came to my attention for his close ties to John Lennon and Yoko Ono throughout the 1970s and his continued presence as a media consultant for Yoko following John's murder.
He first entered their sphere as a TV reporter for KABC Channel 7 in Los Angeles where a 1971 interview he conducted with Ono went so well and was perceived as unusually fair, that Lennon agreed to be interviewed.
But while most...
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The last time I stopped what I was doing to listen to a world-class violinist was…Okay, it hasn't happened yet. But after watching Philippe Quint move gracefully between classic violin and pop-jazz in David Grubin's new indie film Downtown Express, it is “definitely” more likely to happen in the future.
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My favorite book in the 1970s was Serpico by Peter Maas, the story of a New York City cop who seemingly single-handedly fought the force of corruption in the city's police department. I read all the books of that genre in that era, from Supercops to The Valachi Papers and The French Connection.
One of the most fascinating parts of those works was always the tales of cops who went undercover to infiltrate the bad guys, from drug dealers to the Mafia.
No...
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It's easy to point out that George Kennedy, in a career spanning five decades, worked with some of the greatest names in Hollywood history:
• Paul Newman
• Cary Grant
• Kirk Douglas
• Frank Sinatra
• Leslie Nielsen
• Bettie Davis
• Clint Eastwood
• John Wayne
• Maggie Smith
• Peter Ustinov
• Carol Burnett
• And David Niven.
That's pretty cool, of course, but having just finished his new book, Trust Me: A Memoir, I realize...
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Yes, yes, Paige Howard is one of those Howards. Sister of Bryce, who played Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man 3, niece of Clint, granddaughter of Rance, and, yup, daughter of Ron and Cheryl. That had to be said, I'm told because Paige hasn't accrued enough screen credits yet where you will drop what you're doing when you hear the name "Paige Howard." But if you have time, take a look at her performance in a new film called Cheesecake Casserole.
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Raquel Welch is... well, c'mon, she's Raquel Welch! Beautiful, funny, enigmatic and smart, she will always be the epitome of the American sex symbol for several generations of men. The lasting image of Raquel for me will always be of her bodice-bursting work in Three Musketeers. I was too young then to know her as Loana in One Million B.C., although the poster of her in a prehistoric, pre-PETA, doeskin bikini did make a certain impression later. Today...
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I cannot deny that I had low expectations as I began reading the autobiography of this singer who I always adored as a teen and held on to over the decades as a guilty pop pleasure. The glamour, the celebrity friends, parties, etc., ho-hum, we've certainly heard it all before.
But trust me, you haven't heard this story.
If like me, you are old enough to remember The Captain and Tennille as a top-of-the-charts recording and touring sensation, you'll...