Author Archives: admin

Randy Newman at 80: Part One – songwriter

Posted on November 28, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Randy Newman, who turns 80 today, 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 me that … Continue reading →

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Randy Newman at 80: Part Two – Film composer

Posted on November 28, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Randy Newman, who turns 80 today,  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 me that … Continue reading →

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Veronica Hamel: When intelligence matches beauty

Posted on November 20, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – I had the tee-shirt in the photo above made and gave it to Veronica Hamel on the set of the hit American television cop series ‘Hill Street Blues’, in which she played attorney Joyce Davenport. … Continue reading →

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Dave Robb, a fine reporter and great friend

Posted on November 16, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON — A friend of mine is gravely ill and so, risking his wrath, I want to write this now rather than later. David Robb is the best reporter I’ve ever known and I’ve been fortunate to … Continue reading →

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John Barry on his favourite directors and composers

Posted on November 3, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON — English film composer John Barry, who was born on this day in 1933, won five Academy Awards and created the definitive music for James Bond but he remained very fond of his early British films … Continue reading →

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When Burt Lancaster wrote me a letter …

Posted on November 2, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – When the Burt Lancaster film ‘Birdman of Alcatraz’ (below) came out in 1962, I wrote about it in the Gravesend Reporter, where I was doing my training in Kent, England. Fascinated by the prisoner’s story, … Continue reading →

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Charlie Rich belongs in the Country Music Hall of Fame

Posted on October 24, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON — Charlie Rich is the biggest star in country music not to be admitted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. It is time that was corrected. Charlie, who died in 1995 aged 62, was one … Continue reading →

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At a country pub with Barnaby from ‘Midsomer Murders’

Posted on October 11, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – ‘How on earth,’ asked John Nettles, ‘can Tom Barnaby be regarded as sexy? I haven’t the faintest notion.’ The British actor, who turns 80 today, played Detective Chief Inspector Barnarby on the internationally successful ‘Midsomer … Continue reading →

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How movie queen Merle Oberon hid her dark past

Posted on October 8, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Michael Korda, publisher, novelist and Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Simon & Schuster who turns 90 today, had a most colourful childhood with his uncle, film producer Alexander Korda who with a string of epic productions was … Continue reading →

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Why, oh, so serious Charlton Heston never ran for office

Posted on October 4, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Charlton Heston, who was born on this day in 1923, was as stiff in person as he invariably was onscreen. He had not yet become a shill for the National Rifle Association when we spoke … Continue reading →

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