Category Archives: Interviews

Mel Gibson, great filmmaker, shame about the demons

Posted on January 3, 2021 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – I’ve spent time with Mel Gibson, who turns 65 today, and always found him to be genial, open and likeable even though he gave me a clue about his demons in an interview in 1984. … Continue reading →

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Jack Elam on westerns, auditing, acting … and that fly

Posted on November 13, 2020 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – With his blind left eye, American character actor Jack Elam, who was born 100 years ago today, made a perfect villain in hundreds of TV shows and feature films but he told me he was a better … Continue reading →

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Martin Shaw hasn’t always been a TV copper

Posted on January 21, 2020 by admin

By Ray Bennett Martin Shaw, who turns 75 today, is known best for playing TV coppers in “The Professionals” and “Inspector George Gently” but he also has had a long stage career in roles from Stanley Kowalski to Lord Goring … Continue reading →

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Recalling Peter Cook and his effortless comedy

Posted on January 9, 2020 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Peter Cook, who died 25 years ago today aged 57, was the funniest person I ever saw and ever met. He was naturally, effortlessly funny but he was never ‘on’ in the way some comedians … Continue reading →

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Sidney Lumet on high comedy and great acting

Posted on June 25, 2019 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – American filmmaker Sidney Lumet, who was born 95 years ago today and died in 2011, made a series of fine and gripping social dramas from the 1950s through the 1980s but he was a big … Continue reading →

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Michael Caine: recalling a class act at the 2000 Oscars

Posted on March 14, 2019 by admin

By Ray Bennett Spending time with Michael Caine is always a pleasure and since today is his 86th birthday, here’s one of my favourite encounters from 2000. LOS ANGELES – It’s ironic that the word on everyone’s lips following Michael Caine’s … Continue reading →

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Russell Baker: a gift ‘for fooling around with words’

Posted on January 23, 2019 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – The great New York Times columnist Russell Baker, who has died aged 93, was one of my journalistic heroes and when I interviewed him in 1989 he turned out to be everything I’d hoped. He … Continue reading →

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Tomboy Barbara Mandrell loved to be called sexy

Posted on December 27, 2018 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Barbara Mandrell, who turned 70 on Christmas Day, was country when country wasn’t cool but in 1981, when she was 32, she loved it when I told her I thought she was a knockout. “Well, … Continue reading →

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Randy Newman at 75: Part Two – Film composer

Posted on November 29, 2018 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Randy Newman, who turned 75 on Nov. 28, has Academy Awards, Grammy Awards and Emmy Awards and he is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He’s also a very funny man. He told … Continue reading →

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Recalling … giggling over lunch with the great Cleo Laine

Posted on October 28, 2018 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – It was lunchtime at the Hotel Pontchartrain  in Detroit and things were getting a bit silly. Cleo Laine was talking about Kurt Weill and the Berliner Ensemble when someone mentioned Monty Python and soon she … Continue reading →

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