Category Archives: Memory Lane

Betty White on her TV shows, love of animals and a good pun

Posted on December 7, 2021 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Betty White loves a good pun. At least, she did when I had lunch with her when she was on ‘The Golden Girls’ in the mid-Eighties. This was her favourite at the time: Why are protestors always … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Memory Lane, Recalling ..., Television | Tagged 'The Golden Girls', 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', Bea Arthur, Betty White, Estelle Getty, Ray Richmond, Rue McClanahan | Comments Off

Stephen Sondheim was grateful for ‘a fresh eye’

Posted on November 29, 2021 by admin

By Ray Bennett It wasn’t only Broadway that Stephen Sondheim loved. In London in 2011 to mark his 80th birthday, the Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist who has died aged 91, accepted a Special Laurence Olivier Award for his outstanding … Continue reading →

Posted in Memory Lane, Music, Recalling ..., Theatre | Tagged 'Sunday in the Park with George', Angela Lansbury, Cameron Macintosh, Olivier Awards, Sondheim Theatre, Stephen Sondheim | Comments Off

Recalling John Gardner, a master of the spy novel

Posted on November 20, 2021 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – John Gardner, who would have been 95 today, should rank with Eric Ambler, John le Carré, Len Deighton and Philip Kerr as a virtuoso of the serious British spy novel. He is known best now … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Film, Interviews, Memory Lane, Recalling ... | Tagged 'The Liquidator', Boysie Oakes, Eric Sykes, Herbie Kruger, John Gardner, Rod Taylor | Comments Off

Memory Lane: The time before everything was streamed

Posted on October 19, 2021 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Living, as I do, in turn-of-the-century London, it’s easy to become nostalgic for the long-ago 1900s. I know we’re just a few weeks into 2000 but it seems like forever. I recall the first single … Continue reading →

Posted in Comment, Film, Memory Lane, Music | Tagged 'Long Tall Sally', 'Love Me or Leave Me', cyberspace, Doris Day, Internet, Little Richard | Comments Off

MEMORY LANE: On being British

Posted on September 19, 2021 by admin

By Ray Bennett (November 1999) LONDON: We British cherish our loonies and it it’s no surprise that the House of Lords has lasted so long. Only last week, a bill was passed in the House of Lords than deprives hereditary … Continue reading →

Posted in Comment, Memory Lane | Tagged BBC, House of Lords | Comments Off

Recalling ‘Lou Grant’ star Ed Asner

Posted on August 30, 2021 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON: Ed Asner, who died aged 91 on Aug. 29, had a very long and successful acting career on television but he told me he couldn’t get arrested for the big screen. ‘I have run into downright … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Memory Lane, Recalling ..., Television | Tagged 'Lou Grant', 'Skin Game', 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', 'Up', Ed Asner, James Garner, Toronto Sun | Comments Off

Peter Ustinov: a man of many voices

Posted on April 16, 2021 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Playwright, filmmaker, actor and raconteur Peter Ustinov, who was born 100 years ago today and died on March 28, 2004, was convincing in movies playing many different nationalities. One reason for that was because he … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Memory Lane, Recalling ... | Tagged 'Quo Vadis', 'Spartacus', 'Topkapi', Directors Guild of Great Britain, Peter Ustinov, Stanley Kubrick | Comments Off

When Adrian Lyne fled from a screening of ‘9½ Weeks’

Posted on March 4, 2021 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – British director Adrian Lyne, who turns 80 today, is known for his provocative films about sexuality but a preview audience for ‘9½ Weeks’ made him run for his life.

Posted in Film, Interviews, Memory Lane, Recalling ... | Tagged 'Deep Water', 'Flashdance', 'Jacob's Ladder', Adrian Lyne, Elizabeth McNeill, Kim Basinger, Mickey Rourke, ‘9½ Weeks’ | Comments Off

When David Puttnam got tired of making movies

Posted on February 25, 2021 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Aside from being English, David Puttnam and I have two things in common. We are both devoted to Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and we each obtained three O-level GCEs at school. He, of course, had … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Memory Lane, Recalling ... | Tagged 'Chariots of Fire', 'Local Hero', 'Memphis Belle', 'Midnight Express', 'The Mission', Alan Parker, amfAR, Bill Forsyth, David Puttnam, Irene Jacob, Lord Puttnam | Comments Off

Nick Nolte on learning to work sober

Posted on February 8, 2021 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Nick Nolte, who turns 80 today, warned me of the dangers that lurked in Los Angeles. The Iowa-born actor had an explosive impact playing rebellious fighter Tom Jordache in the hit 1976 TV miniseries ‘Rich … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Interviews, Memory Lane, Television | Tagged John Belushi, Katharine Hepburn, Los Angeles, Nick Nolte, Richard Harris, Robert Shaw | Comments Off