As I was saying, Americans treat their celebs as royalty. Some deserve it, and some don’t. If you lined up 100 average Americans, 10 would be outstanding, 10 would be as welcome as dental cavaties, but most would be somewhere in the middle. The same rule applies to show business. Read More→

One day, while sitting around with a bunch of actors waiting for the next scene to be set-up, the subject of the British royal family came up. They were all chatting about Priness Di and Charlie and the Queen when one said, “It’s too bad we don’t have royalty here in Ameria. That’d be fun.” An aged, Oscar-winning actress said, “Don’t be silly. We do have royalty here. We are the royalty. We are treated like kings and queens when we become stars.”

Over the years I have always remembered that statement, and found it to be the absolute truth. Americans do idolize celebrities. George Clooney is indeed a prince, and Jennifer Aniston is a genuine princess. Liz Taylor has been a queen since the ice ages. Do you think America would have given a damn about Tiger Woods’ wandering wonder weenie if he weren’t a prince?

Whenever people heard that I had worked in show business the first questions were always about the stars. “What was he really like? Did she have plastic surgery?”

Some of them deserved to be revered — and then again some of them were horse’s asses, with the talent of a turnip, who just happened to be born beautiful or handsome. 

Let me run down a list of what I thought of a few of them.

I’ll list the good guys first, and at the top of that list would be Michael Landon, a talented, sweet guy who was always helpful and considerate of those who worked with him. Dick Van Dyke is a gentleman too. I loved the story Mark Harmon told me, about trying to win the admiration of his father, Tom Harmon, who was an All-American  football star and later a leading radio-television sportcaster. “Whenever he came home from a broadcast, I’d be waiting with a football in my hands. I loved to play catch with him when I was little. He’d stop, toss me the football, and I’d throw it back. But the very first time I dropped the ball, he’d walk away and leave me alone.” In that quest for father-approval, Mark too grew up to become an All-American quarterback at UCLA, and then a recognized, talented actor who has been a star for more than 20 years. A delightful man.

Dick Smothers was a friendly, nice, man who was easy to deal with, as opposed to his brother, Tommy, whose explosive temper got him kicked off the Good Guys list. Dick Powell was a prince, and so was the goofy Pat Paulsen.  Billy Crystal was a joy to work with, as was Sammy Davis Jr.  I always thought of Leslie Nielsen as a distinguished Canadian actor, until he turned to comedy and I learned about that hillarious rubber fart machine he always carried with him. Ron Howard is a pleasant, talented prince. Susan  St. James and Gina Davis deserved their princess crowns. Betty White was among my favorites, and, as are many stars, was a very shy person underneath it all. I remember a day when NBC was putting on a big press party for “The Golden Girls” at the Century Plaza Hotel. I met her as she arrived in the limo, and was surprised to see that she was very nervous. “Do you think any of those reporters will really want to talk to me?” she asked as we headed for the party area. She held my hand so tightly I thought she was going to dent  some of my fingers. “Stay with me, please,” she pleaded as we stepped into the middle of the 50 top national television editors waiting to interview her. Within minutes, being surrounded by eager writers, she relaxed and became the real charming, laughing, funny Betty White. I didn’t have to hold her hand any longer.

Speaking of shyness, Johnny Carson was one of America’s favorite princes (maybe even a king). Everyone felt comfortable as he brought laughter into the living room each night. But when not in front of that camera Johnny was one of the shyest men I ever met. At a party, which he seldom attended, he’d be by himself at the back of the room — or you’d look around and discover that he went home 30 minutes ago.

Another nice man was Dean Martin. I was with him during his very last press interview, although we didn’t know it at the time. I was handling publicity for “The Dean Martin Show,” and brought a woman editor to   his dressing room. It was thought that Dean was the highest paid celebrity in Hollywood at that time, and the lady started off by asking how much money he was being paid. Dean laughed. “I get more than I deserve.” “No,” she said, “What’s your annual salary?” He smiled, “I get a bunch of bucks.” “How many?” she demanded. Dean excused himself, and never came back. He later asked me to stop arranging interviews. “Write about my guest-stars or something, but leave me out of it from now on.” He never did another interview, but he always remained a friendly, pleasant guy– a prince. (No, he was not the drunk he liked to portray.)

This is taking more time than I thought, so I’ll finish the list of princes and princesses (including the rotten ones) on my next chat.

Fight Forth!

Two of my favorite stories from my years as an NBC publicity writer involve a pair of the industry’s top icons — Walt Disney and Tom Brokaw, and their little daughters.

Back in the late sixties I handled “The Wonderful World of Disney,” which was an hour-long show that was just an excuse for Disney to plug his movies and Disneyland, and for NBC to sell more color TV sets. Read More→