Category Archives: Interviews

Why Wilder and Brooks stopped making films together

Posted on August 31, 2016 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks made three films together and each one is regarded as a comedy classic. Neither man achieved the same degree of success on his own but Wilder, who died Monday aged … Continue reading →

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‘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.

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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.

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Why Bill Murray had all the good lines in ‘Ghostbusters’

Posted on July 10, 2016 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Bill Murray not only got all the big laughs in the original “Ghostbusters”, he also got the girl and he told reporters at the New York junket for the film in 1984 that it was … Continue reading →

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Why Donovan said he would get me a knighthood

Posted on May 10, 2016 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – When Donovan, who turns 70 today, announced in Cannes that the internet is the new Sixties, my story about it made headlines around the world. When I ran into the folk-rocker later at a BMI gathering … Continue reading →

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Going back to ‘Back To The Future’ with Michael J. Fox

Posted on October 16, 2015 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – As “Back to the Future” marks its 30th anniversary, here’s a version of a story I wrote in 1985 for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. In 1984, Canadian actor Michael J. Fox (pictured with Christopher … Continue reading →

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What Jackie Collins discovered about men in Hollywood

Posted on September 20, 2015 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Jackie Collins, who died on Sept. 19 of breast cancer aged 77, was a far more thoughtful person than her raunchy writing might suggest and not at all the diva that older sister Joan Collins … Continue reading →

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When Sean Connery offered me a Scotch …

Posted on August 25, 2015 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Sean Connery nudged my arm as a waiter hovered with a tray of champagne, and said, “They have Scotch, you know.” We were on the terrace on Elton John’s house on the cornish that overlooks Nice … Continue reading →

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Why Omar Sharif preferred bridge to movies

Posted on July 10, 2015 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Omar Sharif, who has died of a heart attack in Cairo aged 83, was an international movie star who was always rather embarrassed about the way he earned a living. He said, ‘The things going … Continue reading →

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How James Horner came to write the ‘Titanic’ song

Posted on June 23, 2015 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – American composer James Horner, who has died in a plane crash aged 61, won an Academy Award along with lyricist Will Jennings for “My Heart Will Go On” sung by Celine Dion in “Titanic”, and … Continue reading →

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