Category Archives: Recalling …

Larry King on his love of smoking and ‘lucky’ heart attack

Posted on November 19, 2024 by admin

By Ray Bennett Longtime TV interviewer Larry King, who was born  90 years ago today, almost didn’t make it to 60. He told me: “I got a lucky break. I had a heart attack.” One dark February morning in 1987, … Continue reading →

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How a love of sports made Garry Marshall a comedy legend

Posted on November 13, 2024 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Garry Marshall, who was born 90 years ago today, said one of the reasons he became one of the most prolific and successful producers of TV sitcoms was because he was a sports nut. “I’m … Continue reading →

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35 Years Ago: The Day the Los Angeles Herald Examiner Died

Posted on November 1, 2024 by admin

By Ray Bennett As people came into work at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner newspaper on Nov, 1 1989, everyone appeared to be on edge. There was something in the air. We had a desultory budget meeting and all managing … Continue reading →

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When Maggie Smith called me a horrible man

Posted on September 27, 2024 by admin

By Ray Bennett To meet a movie actor you admire can sometimes be a disappointment but Maggie Smith, who has died aged 89, was exactly how I hoped she would be. She told me off and swept away. It was … Continue reading →

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When I mixed up Frankie Avalon with another former teen idol

Posted on September 18, 2024 by admin

By Ray Bennett ‘It wasn’t exactly Elvis in Las Vegas’. That was the lede in our story after my colleague Ron Base and I interviewed Frankie Avalon, who turns 84 today,  when he performed in cabaret at a seedy nightclub … Continue reading →

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That time when Lauren Bacall gave me a smacker

Posted on September 16, 2024 by admin

By Ray Bennett ‘You know how to whistle, don’t ya? Just put your lips together and blow.’ Whenever I watch the movie ‘To Have and Have Not’, that provocative line Lauren Bacall (photo below) says to Humphrey Bogart always gives … Continue reading →

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Alfred Hitchcock had a wicked way with film music

Posted on August 13, 2024 by admin

By Ray Bennett The films of Alfred Hitchcock, who was born on this day 125 years ago, are noted for their exceptional scores and it was no accident.  Composer John Williams told me that the master of suspense had a … Continue reading →

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Richard Lester on making ‘A Hard Day’s Night’

Posted on July 6, 2024 by admin

By Ray Bennett Sixty years ago today, a little rock’n’roll movie titled ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ starring the Beatles was released in the U.K. Their first album had come out less than eighteen months earlier, their singles were topping the … Continue reading →

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Sydney Pollack – a filmmaker with a great sense of music

Posted on July 1, 2024 by admin

By Ray Bennett Music has been an intrinsic element of filmmaking since the silent era but not all filmmakers have had a full grasp of how to blend it successfully into a production. Sydney Pollack, who would have turned 90 … Continue reading →

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Duane Eddy – meeting a rock legend in the shade

Posted on May 3, 2024 by admin

By Ray Bennett In the 1950s, Duane Eddy, who died on April 30 aged 86, was one of the American rock stars most popular in the United Kingdom. With his band the Rebels, his hit singles ‘Rebel Rouser’, ‘Peter Gunn’, … Continue reading →

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