Who are some of the celebrities you've met in broadcasting that were really nice or unfriendly? Some of the nice ones I met were Ralph Nader, John Dean, John Waters and Adam Savage. I don't remember anyone being mean or unfriendly.
First time was 1975. Kid I’d known since 6th grade and I are both going to college in San Diego. We’re bored, so we go up to L.A. for the day in his VW bug.HWhat did they do to piss off Barbra?.
And another nice guy I zoned—-Danny DeVito.And sure enough, I forgot one of the nicest—-Leslie Neilsen.
Interesting how Charo was/is down-to-earth and she was on the Jerry Lewis telethon - how many times? I can't remember! But it seemed like seeing Charo on Labor Day was a given...
Going back in the memory banks to 38-45 years ago....
Best one: David Brinkley. There was a Nightline episode live from Mizzou and he was there. I wangled an introduction. I said to him, "I especially admire you as a writer." His response, delivered in classical Brinkley fashion, "That's all...I ever...claimed to be".
I met then-Vice President George H.W. Bush when he was the commencement speaker at West Point in 1984. I was working in nearby Beacon, NY at the time. He was very gracious.
I met Henry Kissinger at the River Oaks Country Club in Houston. He came across as quite professorial.
I never met him personally, but I had several conversations with Texas Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby - at the time, it was said that the lieutenant governor of Texas was more powerful than the actual governor. Hobby knew all the ins and outs of state government and where the bodies were buried.
I encountered the actual governor of Texas, Mark White, after I had left KTRH. It turned out that his home precinct was the same one as mine in Houston.
This is far from a complete list, but these are very old memories at this point and the ones above are the ones that stand out.
Edit: And now I remember the one that was almost as good as Brinkley...maybe better in some ways. Eric Engberg of CBS News stopped by KFRU to visit old friends, and poked his head into the newsroom. Engberg had been news director of KFRU; three news directors later, I was the news director. He wanted to chat with his successor three times removed, and treated me as if I was one of his working colleagues, demonstrating a great deal of interest of what my team and I were doing. It was a fun conversation.
Also at KFRU: the day I had to go into the news studio to read headlines while sitting next to folk singer Holly Near and interrupting her interview with our morning talk-show host. She actually seemed to enjoy the experience!
A couple more, from the days in Missouri:
* Linus Pauling - twice - promoting his theories on Vitamin C. Interesting character.
* Jacobo Timmerman - several times - he had been kicked out of Argentina by the dictatorship and had a visiting fellowship with the foreign press program at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. I always walked away from an interview with him with far more than I could ever put on the air.
Strangely, in Houston, most of my coverage was of government - not much celebrity stuff other than politicians. Maybe Maxine Messinger got 'em all.
what a great story!Jerry did have a core group of artists who would ALWAYS show up for MDA.
In fact, I met Tony Orlando while hosting the Reno cut-ins on the telethon six weeks after that promo shoot.
I was live on the air when I heard "Excuse me---may I join you?". Looked over and it's Tony in a tux.
He was appearing at Harrah's Reno that week and when his cocktail show (11:00 p.m.) was over, walked the two blocks to the Sahara Reno (now condos) to pitch in---something he usually did at the main telethon in Vegas, but he had this conflict.
He chose not to promise to appear in case something went sideways, and when it didn't he just came over.
In fact, I give Tony credit for the next 30 years of my career. We did our first seven or so minutes together (he stayed for two hours), and after we pitched back to Jerry in Vegas, he asked what I did for a living.
"Disc jockey."
"Some advice? You're wasting your talent. The camera loves you. Find your way into TV just as soon as you can."
I had already gotten my feet wet in news the week before with the Harvey's Lake Tahoe bombing (Harvey's Resort Hotel bombing - Wikipedia), so when KTVN-TV hired our reporter, I applied for his radio news gig and got it.
A year and a week after Tony's advice to me, I started at KTVN, thanks to my former radio co-worker recommending me for an opening there.
And it was about a year after that, doing a hybrid news/entertainment show at KTVN called "Live at 5", that I went to Tahoe to interview Don Rickles and met Charo, who was opening for him. Both lovely people.