By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Ry Cooder, who turns 75 today, told me that he knew that he would be a musician when he discovered the blues as a kid. When I first heard his slide guitar, I imagined he came from from some swamp in Louisiana or Mississippi but I was wrong. The legendary guitarist, singer-songwriter and film composer Ryland Peter Cooder is a California boy from Santa Monica by the sea. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Many women I interviewed in Hollywood expressed disappointment or regret over appearing nude in movies or photo spreads. Shannon Tweed, who turns 65 today, was not one of them. ‘I can’t honestly say I wouldn’t like to be sexually desired,’ she told me. ‘Every woman wants to be and as long as that’s not the absolute essence of what I am, then that’s just fine. If this is being exploited, bring it on.’ Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Like many a young man who saw Robert Altman’s classic ‘Nashville’ in 1975, I was a little bit in love with Cristina Raines, who turns 70 today, She played a singer in a folk trio that featured her then boyfriend Keith Carradine (pictured above) but she told me she hated the sound of her own singing voice. ‘When I sing, I hyperventilate and get dizzy,’ she said. ‘It’s very hard for me to listen to myself. I cringe. It’s the worst thing I ever heard in my life.’ Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – In 2000, John Williams, who turns 90 today, was named ‘Maestro of the Year’ at ShoWest in Las Vegas. He agreed to an interview with The Hollywood Reporter tied to that with one proviso. He wanted me to the interview. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
After I posted on Facebook the image above, which I took on a visit to Auschwitz, Argentinian composer Daniel Tarrab, a friend of mine, sent me a note that read, ‘I’ve seen your post today. It really moved me.’
He noted that his Jewish ancestors were expelled from Spain in 1492 and said, ‘That means I should be Spanish instead of Argentinian.’
The stark image I published on Holocaust Memorial Day brought to mind the extraordinary documentaries that Steven Spielberg sponsored to mark the tenth anniversary of his Oscar-winning picture ‘Schindler’s List’. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Lyricists Marilyn Bergman, who died today aged 93, and her husband Alan Bergman won the best-song Oscar in 1969 with Michel Legrand for ‘Windmills of Your Mind’ from ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’ but they owed a debt to the Beatles. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Betty White loves a good pun. At least, she did when I had lunch with her when she was on ‘The Golden Girls’ in the mid-Eighties. This was her favourite at the time: Why are protestors always allowed a way out in north-east Spain? Because you should never put all your Basques in one exit.
This comes to mind as today will see publication of a book by my friend Ray Richmond about the venerable multi-award-winning actress, whose 100th birthday will be on January 17. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
It wasn’t only Broadway that Stephen Sondheim loved. In London in 2011 to mark his 80th birthday, the Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist who has died aged 91, accepted a Special Laurence Olivier Award for his outstanding contribution to the stage. ‘I want to talk about the contribution British theatre has made to me,’ he said. ‘I am so grateful.’ Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – John Gardner, who would have been 95 today, should rank with Eric Ambler, John le Carré, Len Deighton and Philip Kerr as a virtuoso of the serious British spy novel.
He is known best now for writing fourteen James Bond adventures starting with ‘Licence Renewed’ in 1981 plus novelisations of the films ‘Licence to Kill’ and ‘GoldenEye’. Before that, the Northumberland-born writer had terrific spy tales featuring Boysie Oaks and Herbie Kruger. Continue reading
Me and the Bengals and a man named Benny
LONDON – Two years after arriving in Canada in the late Sixties, I joined The Windsor Star newspaper just across the river from Detroit and discovered American football. In the office, aside from the sportswriters, the most avid sports fans were sub-eidtors on the copy desk, which was known as the rim. The most avid was a dimunitve chap named Benny Grant who also was a devoted gambler. Continue reading →