Why Roger Moore did not become a bank robber

Posted on October 14, 2022 by admin


By Ray Bennett

LONDON – Roger Moore, who was born on this day in 1927, told me that really he was a frustrated bank robber. ‘It’s only fear that’s stopped me from robbing banks,’ he said. ‘I’d get caught. That’s why I’m a movie actor. I’ve never been caught acting.’

Moore, who died aged 89 on May 23, 2017, gave me one of my most treasured interviews, candid and very funny, on the Pinewood Studios set of his seventh and final James Bond picture, ‘A View to a Kill’, on Dec. 10, 1984. Here are some excerpts: Continue reading →

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Recalling … Jackie Collins, ‘me too’ before ‘me too’

Posted on October 4, 2022 by admin

By Ray Bennett

LONDON – Novelist Jackie Collins, who was born 85 years ago today, wrote about the problems women faced in Hollywood long before the ‘me too’ movement came along.

Younger sister of Joan Collins, she was known for sexy blockbusters such as The Stud’, ‘The Bitch’ snd ‘The World Is Full of Divorced Women’ and her tinseltown series including ‘Hollywood Wives’, ‘Hollywood Husbands’ and ‘Hollywood Divorces’. Continue reading →

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Sacheen Littlefeather: Apache with a great sense of humour

Posted on October 3, 2022 by admin

By Ray Bennett

LONDON  – Sacheen Littlefeather, who has died of cancer aged 75, was known as a very serious social activist on behalf of  Native Americans but she had a great sense of humour, especially regarding her upbringing and a brush with Playboy Magazine. Continue reading →

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When Nancy Ames invited me to her show …

Posted on September 30, 2022 by admin

By Ray Bennett

LONDON – American singer Nancy Ames, who turns 85 today, once said she was my biggest fan. It began when I went to interview her for The Windsor Star in Canada and fell in love. Continue reading →

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A visit by the Queen was mostly fleeting memories …

Posted on September 8, 2022 by admin

By Ray Bennett

LONDON – In June of 1973, Queen Elizabeth II made a tour of Canada and The Windsor Star newspaper sent me to cover her visit at the nearest city where she would be seen, London , Ontario.

The Queen, along with the Duke of Edinburgh, was in the rain-soaked city for precisely 140 minutes to meet local dignitaries, receive a bouquet of flowers and a gift from the city, inspect an honour guard, sign the guest book, lunch with 500 local bigwigs, stroll through a roped-off section of Victoria Park (where the sun came out) and wave goodbye.

This was my story … Continue reading →

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Recalling Rory Calhoun: car thief, jailbird, movie star

Posted on August 8, 2022 by admin

By Ray Bennett

LONDON – Rory Calhoun was a colourful old-time film star whose real-life story was as action-packed as any movie. Born 100 years ago today, he stole cars, spent time in prison and worked as a logger, miner, cowboy, forest-fire fighter and, briefly, as a professional boxer before he turned to acting. Continue reading →

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When two ‘hippy’ reporters crossed the U.S. border

Posted on August 4, 2022 by admin

By Ray Bennett

LONDON – With the death on August 2 of my former Windsor Star colleague Bill Twaddle, aged 74, I’m reminded of a memorable escapade we had fifty-odd years ago.

Inspired by Woodstock, many venues in Canada and the U.S. in the early Seventies staged rock festivals including one at Goose Lake just outside Jackson, Michigan, and another at Motorsport Park, known as Mosport near Bowmanville, Ontario.  

There were reports from border crossing points across the province of young Canadians and Americans beng turned back into their own country by customs and immigration officers.  Continue reading →

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Composer Lalo Schifrin on fads and favorites

Posted on June 21, 2022 by admin

By Ray Bennett

LONDON – Argentinian composer Lalo Schifrin, who turns 90 today, is known for his concerts, recordings, film scores such as ‘Bullitt’, ‘Cool Hand Luke’ and ‘Dirty Harry’ and TV shows such as ‘Mission: Impossible’ and ‘Mannix’ but don’t ask him to name a favourite.

‘I like all of them,’ he told me, ‘because it’s like asking a father which of his children he likes better.’ Continue reading →

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When Gillian Anderson hit a home run onstage

Posted on June 14, 2022 by admin

By Ray Bennett

LONDON – At the Royal Court Theatre in April 2004, a  tiny, waif-like creature strolls silently onto a wide, spare stage with the audience still settling and chattering and then suddenly becoming quiet.

There is a window to the rear of what is a painter’s gallery and the young woman stares from it for a long time. She comes to the front where her brilliant television eyes make us think we know this person. But any thought of Dana Scully from ‘The X-Files’ evaporates quickly as Gillian Anderson presents us with another Dana, an artist whose tousled, tied-up hair draws back from a face filled with the misery of failure. Continue reading →

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How ‘Oz’ made Judy Garland a legend

Posted on June 10, 2022 by admin

By Ray Bennett

LONDON – Judy Garland was born 100 years ago today and died more than half a century ago but her legend lives on. Mostly, that is thanks  to the enduring popularity of  ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and the song ‘Over the Rainbow’.  If things had gone differently, Shirley Temple would have played Dorothy and even as it was, the picture was not a success when it first came out. Continue reading →

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