Category Archives: Television

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 →

Posted in Film, Interviews, Television | Tagged 'Everwood', 'Flashpoint', 'Hair', 'Prince of the City', cocaine, fame, John Belushi, Kris Kristofferson, Treat Williams | Comments Off

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 →

Posted in Film, Interviews, Memory Lane, Recalling ..., Television, Theatre | Tagged 'Finishing Touches', 'The Grissom Gang', 'Twelve O'Clock High', 87th Precinct, Fisher Theater, Robert Lansing | Comments Off

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 →

Posted in Interviews, Memory Lane, Recalling ..., Television | Tagged 'Altered States', 'Hill Street Blues', Bruce Weitz, Charles Haid, Fred Silverman, Michael Kozoll, Michael Warren, Steven Bochco, Veronica Hamel, William Hurt | 1 Comment

When Joan Collins kicked me off the set of ‘Dynasty’

Posted on May 23, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Joan Collins was pointing at me. I was on the set of the hit primetime soap opera ’Dynasty’. It’s important to make yourself as invisible as possible on a busy TV soundstage so I stood … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Interviews, Memory Lane, Recalling ..., Television | Tagged 'Dynasty', 'Past Imperfect', Joan Collins, Paul Newman, Warren Beatty | Comments Off

Recalling … Lloyd Bridges, famous star with famous sons

Posted on January 15, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – ‘Oh, you shouldn’t bother with Lloyd,’ said Dorothy Bridges, the actor’s wife of nearly forty years. ‘You need to talk to my boys, Jeff and Beau.’ It was 1976 and she had every reason to … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Interviews, Memory Lane, Places, Recalling ..., Television | Tagged 'Airplane!', 'High Noon', 'Sea Hunt', Beau Bridges, Charlton Heston, Hiram Walker, Jeff Bridges, Lloyd Bridges, Rob Reiner | Comments Off

Ted Danson’s epiphany in the African desert

Posted on December 29, 2022 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Ted Danson, who turns 75 today, has had an astonishingly successful career on television but there was a time when he wanted something else. After his sitcom ’Cheers’ became a massive hit in the early … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Interviews, Memory Lane, Recalling ..., Television | Tagged 'Cheers', 'We Are the Children'', Ted Danson | Comments Off

Stuart Margolin and James Garner: ‘a perfect friendship’

Posted on December 12, 2022 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Stuart Margolin, who died today aged 82, was one of the great screen sidekicks working regularly with James Garner. Traditionally, in film and on TV, there have been two kinds of heroes – loners and … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Interviews, Memory Lane, Music, News, Recalling ..., Television | Tagged 'Bret Maverick', 'Nichols', 'The Rockford Files', 'The Summer of George Adams', James Garner, Stuart Margolin | Comments Off

When ‘Dynasty’ star Linda Evans had my number …

Posted on November 18, 2022 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – On a sunny California day in the early Eighties, I had a long, leisurely lunch with Linda Evans, who turns 80 today, at La Scala on Little Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills. I was … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Interviews, Memory Lane, Recalling ..., Television | Tagged 'Dynasty', 'The Big Valley', afAR, Barbara Stanwyck, Bo Derek, Festival de Cannes, Joan Collins, John Derek, John Forsyth, La Scala, Linda Evans, Ursula Andress | Comments Off

Life wasn’t always easy for Loretta Swit on ‘MAS*H’

Posted on November 4, 2022 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Loretta Swit, who turns 85 today, is regarded fondly for playing ‘Hot Lips’ Houlihan in ‘M*A*S*H’ on TV for eleven years but life on that show wasn’t always easy for her. It was a struggle … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Memory Lane, Recalling ..., Television | Tagged 'Cagney & Lacy', 'M*A*S*H', Alan Alda, Harry Morgan, Loretta Swit, Mike Farrell, Sharon Gless, Tyne Daly | Comments Off

Stefanie Powers loved to travel more than act

Posted on November 2, 2022 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – I spoke to Stefanie Powers, who turns 80 today, a few times on the set of her hit TV series ‘Hart to Hart’ with Robert Wagner (above) but my favourite encounter with her was an … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Interviews, Memory Lane, Recalling ..., Television | Tagged 'Hart to Hart', 'The Feather and Father Gang', 'The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.', Papua New Guinea, Robert Wagner, Stefanie Powers, William Holden | Comments Off