Monthly Archives: June 2023

Don Black: ‘When I have a song to write I’m very happy’

Posted on June 21, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett London’s leafy Green Park means many things to many people, but to lyricist Don Black it will always be the place where he wrote the hit song “Tell Me on a Sunday” to the music of Andrew … Continue reading →

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Lyricist Sammy Cahn had a song for all occasions

Posted on June 18, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – American lyricist Sammy Cahn, who was born on this day in 1913, wrote scores of songs that everyone remembers but he told me that what kept him busy was penning lyrics for special occasions. 

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‘Knots Landing’ star Joan Van Ark preferred voice-overs

Posted on June 16, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Joan Van Ark was among the most popular TV stars of the Eighties in the ‘Dallas’ spinoff ‘Knots Landing’ but she told me she made more money doing voice-overs for commercials and cartoons. ‘It’s as … Continue reading →

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That time I was way-laid by the Happy Hooker

Posted on June 15, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – I went to London to see the Queen and met the Happy Hooker, who led me astray. Fifty years ago this month, Queen Elizabeth II was touring Canada and The Windsor Star newspaper sent me … Continue reading →

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How fame got the better of Treat Williams

Posted on June 13, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Treat Williams, who died aged 71 on June 12 in a motorcycle accident, became instantly famous in the movie version of ‘Hair’ in 1979. After shining brightly in Sidney Lumet’s fine 1981 cop picture ‘Prince … Continue reading →

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Robert Lansing, intense and unhappy with television

Posted on June 5, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – ‘Television is just awful,’ Robert Lansing told me. ‘I’ve done a lot of it but not from choice. I’ve done an awful lot of garbage; an awful lot of lousy things. I’m not saying I’m … Continue reading →

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That time on the ‘Hill Street Blues’ set with Charles Haid

Posted on June 2, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – ‘You don’t say Hill and you don’t say Renko. You say Hill and Renko’. Charles Haid (above right) stated the case for one of the most durable partnerships on television in the 1980s on the … Continue reading →

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