Category Archives: Television

How Alan Thicke turned failure into success

Posted on December 14, 2016 by admin

By Ray Bennett Canadian writer and performer Alan Thicke, who died on Tuesday aged 69, was one of the good guys. He found lasting fame on the Eighties sitcom “Growing Pains” but he was multi-faceted and he had to overcome … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Memory Lane, Television | Tagged 'Growing Pains', 'Thicke of the Night', Alan Thicke, Anne Murray, Fred Silverman, Gloria Loring | 2 Comments

Angie Dickinson was TV’s first top female cop

Posted on September 30, 2016 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Angie Dickinson, who turns 85 today, claimed many a young man’s heart in 1959 when, as a woman named Feathers, she squared off in only corset and tights against John Wayne in the great Howard … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Memory Lane, Television | Tagged 'Cassie & Co.', 'Point Blank', 'Police Woman', 'Rio Bravo', Angie Dickinson, John Boorman, John Wayne, Lee Marvin | Comments Off

Mark Harmon always had the right moves

Posted on September 2, 2016 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – I first met Mark Harmon, who turns 65 today, when he was 29 years-old and it was clear then that he had the talent and determination to become one of the most enduring and popular … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Memory Lane, Television | Tagged 'Chicago Hope', 'Flamingo Road', 'NCIS', 'St. Elsewhere', Cristina Raines, Mark Harmon | 1 Comment

‘Jeannie’ Barbara Eden dreamed of being a TV cop

Posted on August 23, 2016 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Barbara Eden, who turns 85 today, is remembered most fondly as the sexy genie in the Sixties sitcom “I Dream of Jeannie” but what she really wanted to be was a TV cop.

Posted in Film, Interviews, Memory Lane, Music, Television | Tagged 'Harper Valley P.T.A.', 'I Dream of Jeannie', Barbara Eden, George Pal, Larry Hagman | Comments Off

Cheryl Ladd on ‘Charlie’s Angels’, Farrah Fawcett and bikinis

Posted on July 12, 2016 by admin

LONDON – Cheryl Ladd, who turns 65 today, was always the most fun and down-to-earth of TV’s “Charlie’s Angels”, friendly and a bit flirty, and she wasn’t catty about Farrah Fawcett when she had every right to be.

Posted in Film, Interviews, Memory Lane, Television | Tagged 'Charlie's Angels', 'Harry O', Aaron Spelling, Cheryl Ladd, Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith, Kate Jackson, Ken Wahl, Sidney J. Furie | Comments Off

KFMF: Krakow Film Music Festival kicks off on Wednesday

Posted on May 25, 2015 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – The 8th Krakow Film Music Festival (KFMF) gets under way on Wednesday and on Friday there, I will moderate a Q&A session with top composers on the topic of history and politics in screen music.

Posted in Film, Krakow Film Music Festival, Music, News, Television | Tagged Andrzej Wajda, Cliff Martinez, Doreen Ringer-Ross, Elliot Goldenthal, Jeff Beal, Jocelyn Pook, John Lunn, Krakow Film Music Festival, Maria Giacchino, Michael Hirst, Ramin Djawadi, Robert Townson, Sara Andon, Simon Greenaway, Stephen Warbeck, Trevor Morris, Varese Sarabande | Comments Off

Timothy Ackroyd’s ‘The Fuse’ in talks for TV

Posted on May 11, 2015 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Timothy Ackroyd said he is in discussions to adapt for television his production of the courtroom drama “The Fuse”, which he wrote with the late Beryl Bainbridge. The sardonic and gripping play, which was presented recently … Continue reading →

Posted in News, Television, Theatre | Tagged 'The Fuse', Beryl Bainbridge, Edward Andrews, National Liberal Club, Nicolas Roeg, Ragamuffin Productions, Royce Mills, Sir Timothy Ackroyd | Comments Off

A birthday card from Paris from Gregory Peck

Posted on April 5, 2015 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Gregory Peck and I were born on April 5 and when he turned 80 he sent me a card from Paris on which he wrote, “This French graffiti describes perfectly how it feels to be 80 … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Interviews, Memory Lane, Recalling ..., Television | Tagged 'Old Gringo', 'The Blue and the Gray', Abraham Lincoln, April 5, Gregory Peck, Jane Fonda, Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Orbit Video, Ruth Gordon, TV Guide Canada | Comments Off

When Mr. Spock invited me on a day out

Posted on February 27, 2015 by admin

By Ray Bennett It was the familiar voice of Mr. Spock on the phone although Leonard Nimoy, who died today aged 83, at the time was soon to publish his defiant memoire, “I Am Not Spock”.

Posted in Film, Memory Lane, Recalling ..., Television, Theatre | Tagged 'Sherlock Holmes', 'Star Trek', Leonard Nimoy | Comments Off

Why vet and author James Herriot never got rich

Posted on February 24, 2015 by admin

By Ray Bennett The stories of veterinarean James Herriot, who wrote “All Creatures Great and Small” and died 20 years ago today aged 79, remain immensely popular and they attract many tourists to Yorkshire but they did not make him … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Film, Interviews, Memory Lane, Recalling ..., Television | Tagged 'All Creatures Great and Small', James Herriot | 2 Comments