Now I've Heard Everything

Fifty-two years ago this week the world watched in fascination, as Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first human beings to set foot on the surface of the moon. As they were planting their footprints on the moon, orbiting above it was the third member of the history-making crew, Michael Collins.  After all, someone had to stay in the car with the motor running whil...

Ginger Rogers is one of those Hollywood figures who transcended mere stardom, and became a cultural icon. In the 1930s she and her dance partner Fred Astaire dominated American film. Her talent was apparent early on. At age 14, she wanted Charleston dance contest.   And before long she was in vaudeville, then Broadway, and finally the movies. And then RKO Pictures paired her with Fred Astaire...

It takes a certain kind of man to be a successful u.s. Marine drill instructor. It seems to come naturally to some men.  And one of them turned it into a successful acting career.  R. Lee Ermey was nominated for a Golden Globe for his work in the 1987 film "Full Metal Jacket." He went on to play tough, rugged authority figures in a number of oher movies -- even “Toy Story.” In 2002 the H...

Young journalist David Brinkley first came to Washington, D.C. in 1943, just as World War II was transforming the nation's capital.  The sleepy Southern town that had been home to a small federal government suddenly burgeoned into a major city filled with office buildings, bureaucracy, lobbyists, and lots of money.  After the wa, in 1956, NBC paired Brinkley with Chet Huntley to co-ancho...

His first big break in the movies came with a film called The Heartbreak Kid. But that was just the beginning for Charles Grodin. Then came Midnight Run. Seems Like Old Times. The Lonely Guy. And, finally, a new generation discovered him in the Beethoven movies.  It looks like the classic success story. But in his 1989 book called It Would Be So Nice if You Weren't Here,  Grodin wanted t...

From a very early age, Caroline Kennedy was taught to appreciate the beauty and power of poetry. No surprise, really. Her parents were both very well red. Her father was a famous author, her mother was an author handbook editor. Of they were better known, perhaps, as President John F Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.  One of their enduring legacies to their children was a love of lit...

In the 1960s and into the early 70s, one of the most dominant pitchers in the National League was St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Bob Gibson. During a 17-year career, Gibson racked up 251 wins, over 3000 strikeouts, won two Cy Young awards and one year was Most Valluable Player. He was a star of the 1967 World Series in which the Cardinals beat the Boston Red Spx. Now, like any picture with that...

If he had wanted to, Dave Berry probably could have been a successful stand-up comedian. Instead, he wrote a humor column. And wrote books. Lots and lots of books. Over about a 20-year period, I think I interviewed Dave almost 20 times.  Two of those interviews stand out, including the one you're about to hear. It was for his book Dave Barry Turns 40. I thought it was an appropriate interview...

In the '90s and early 2000s, one of the most popular TV personalities in the world was Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin. He happily and enthusiastically introduced his viewers to some ofthe world's most exotic, and dangerous, wildlife. Ultimately it was a fatal encounter with a stingray that prematurely eded his life in 2006. Steve was just 44. The following year his widow Terri published a book calle...

55 years ago African Americans were making historic gains in civil rights. But much work was still to be done.  That year, 1966, Bobby Seale and his longtime friend Huey Newton created a new organization they called the Black Panther Party.  In 1968 Seal made a name for himself during anti-Vietnam War protests outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.  It was not his fi...

Most people consider Terry Bradshaw, formerly of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers, to be among the greatest quarterbacks ever.  His list of accomplishments, on and off the is impressive. He's had a long and fruitful career as a broadcaster, and he's one some acting. And he's also written a couple of books. That's how I met him, in 2002.  And no, football is not the center of his life.

Today doctors call it "dissociative identity disorder" but when Chris Costner Sizemore was diagnosed and treated for it over 60 years ago, it was simply called "multiple personality disorder." The movie "TheThree Faces of EVe" came out in 1957, changing Sizemore's name to EveWhite. Her "alters" were Eve Black .. and Jane.  Actress Joanne Woodward won an Oscar for her portrayal of Eve. It late...

He was one of the hottest young movie stars in the 1950s... Tab Hunter -- who grew up as Artt Gelien -- was a figure skater as a teenager.  As a young man, a friend introduced him to a Hollywood agent who specialized in beefcake actors like Rock Hudson and Rober/ Wagner.  That agent dubbed Art Gelien "Tab Hunter" and by 1950 he was in the movies. And by the mid 1950s was major star, the...

In the 1950s, few actors dominated Broadway the way Yul Brynner did. Playing the lead in the Rodgers and Hammerstein's play “The King and I,” Brynner eEstablished himself as a top-tier performer.  He won two Tonys for his portrayal of the King of Siam, as well as an Academy Award when the play was adapted to film. Later he was cast in such big budget movies as the Ten Commandments, The Magnif...

Naomi Judd was born "Diana Judd" not long after World War II ended. Her dad ran a gas station in Ashland, Kentucky, By the time she was in her mid 30s, Judd was a divorced single mom with two daughters, struggling to keep a household going. That's when she and her older daughter discovered that they liked to sing and harmonize with each other. And they got pretty good at it. Before long, they came...

As a young journalist in the 1950s, Carl T. Rowan covered the emerging civil rights movement, and its leaders, including people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. The reputation he built came to the attention of President John F. Kennedy, who, in 1961, name Rowan to a high level position in the State Department.  And in 1963, Kennedy appointed Rowan ambassador to Finland. Row and rem...

It's not always easy to babysit money of a very famous politician. But, perhaps, especially if you're a lesbian and your brother is one of the nation's leading right-wing conservatives. In 1994 a republican wave took over Congress, and Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the House. And suddenly, his half-sister Candace -- who pronounces the family name “Ging-rick” -- found themselves, as they later de...

For decades, going back to the 1970s, one of the most popular contemporary British mystery writers was PD James. In a style sometimes reminiscent of Agatha Christie, James wrote about cases solved by her fictional detective she named Adam Dalgliesh.   He was a character she named after a teacher at Cambridge High School. Book after book, a reputation and popularity grew, until in 1991 James w...

Robert Osbourne Denver graduated from  college with a degree in political science, then caoched physical education and even taught math and history at a California elementary school. But today, this well-educated, smart, soft-spoken man is best remembered for this... Gilligan's Island. Gilligan's Island only lasted three seasons in the mid-1960s, but thaks to reruns and syndication the show h...

Julia Child is probably the reason many people became professional chefs. She's also the reason many many millions of us have attempted things in the kitchen we never thought we could do. For many years Child was America's most famous chef, thanks largely to herpublic television series The French Chef. In 1993, as another of her TV series was premiering, Child collected culinary wisdom from some o...

Do you have to be kind of an SOB to be a success? What kind of connotation does that term even have anymore? Those were two of the key questions that Al Neuharth tried to address in his bestselling memoir “Confessions Of An S.O.B.” Al Neuharth  was the founder of USA Today, as well as The Freedom Forum, and the Newseum.  So apparently being an SOB helped him.

Memorial Day is an occasion to pause and honor those who have given their lives in military service. But we can also remember those who went to war to save lives. In 1963, a 21-year old student nurse named winning Smith joined the Army, and in 1966 was sent to Vietnam, where the war was escalating.  She was there until 1967, But it wasn't until years later that she realized that she, like man...

We learned recently that daytime TV's Ellen DeGeneres Show is coming to an end next year after 19 seasons. Her show made its debut just a couple of years after I met and interviewed her mom, Betty DeGeneres. In 1999, Betty published a book called “Love, Ellen,” a memoir of her relationship with her famous daughter -- and the challenges both mother and daughter experienced when Ellen revealed her s...

Long before Jimmy Fallon, way before Jay Leno, before Johnny Carson, or Jack Paar .. NBC's Tonight Show was hosted by its co-creator Steve Allen.  In the fall of 1954, the 32 year old comedian and entertainer became the host of televisions first-ever late night talk show.  Largely thanks to Alan's intelligent humor, The Tonight Show became a hit.   Steve Allen soon moved on to other...

A new nationally syndicated radio talk show is debuting this week. Its host is conservative commentator Dan Bongino, who was, for several years, a Secret Service agent who's assignments included the presidentia protective l detail. After unsuccessful bids for US Senate and the US House, bongino turned to writing books .. and radio. I met him in the fall of 2013, after he wrote a book called Life I...