CA PODCAST EPISODE 72 - Bea Arthur

While Myrna Loy was dancing in prologues at the Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, portrait photographer Henry Waxman took several pictures of her that were …

In his first professional acting performance, James Cagney danced costumed as a woman in the chorus line of the revue Every Sailor, in 1919. He spent several years in vaudeville as a dancer and comedian, until he got …

Frankie Valli began his singing career in the early 1950s with A Variety Trio. Valli's desire to sing in public was initially granted when, having heard Valli sing, the group offered him a guest spot when the group …

Born in Los Angeles, Foster was a gifted child who learned to read at the age of three. She attended a French-language prep school, the Lycée …

Gloria Vanderbilt was married to author Wyatt Emory Cooper, on 24 December 1963. She was his only wife. The marriage, which lasted 15 years, ended with his death in 1978 while undergoing open-heart surgery. They had two …

George Michael formed the duo Wham! with Andrew Ridgeley in 1981. The band's first album Fantastic reached No. 1 in the UK in 1983 and produced a series of top 10 singles including "Young Guns", "Wham Rap!" and "Club …

Her first film was The Last Picture Show, also starring Jeff Bridges and Timothy Bottoms. The film became a critical and box office hit, earning several Academy Awards and nominations. Shepherd was nominated for a …

Jessica Ann Johnson, known as Jessica Simpson; born July 10, 1980, is an American singer, actress, and fashion designer. Simpson signed a recording …

Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with it in 1943. "Mr. C.", …

Redford began acting on television in the early 1960s. He earned an Emmy nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Voice of Charlie Pont in 1962. 

Between 1974 and 1976, exhibitors voted Redford …

Don Ameche played so many roles based on real people that on one of his radio broadcasts, Fred Allen joked, "Pretty soon, Don Ameche will be playing …

Karen Black made her Broadway debut in 1965's The Playroom, which received good reviews and for which she was nominated for a Drama Circle Critic Award for Best Actress. Her film debut was in The Prime Time (1960) and …

Tennessee Williams, along with Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, is considered among the three foremost playwrights of 20th-century American drama. After years of obscurity, he suddenly became famous with The Glass …

Dennis Weaver was an American actor best known for his work in television and films from the early 1950s to not long before his death in 2006. …

Vanessa Redgrave comes from a British acting dynasty. 

She rose to prominence in 1961 and was ranked as the ninth greatest stage actor/actress of all time. Redgrave was proclaimed by Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams …

In a career spanning over 50 years, McDowell has played varied film roles across different genres as a character actor. He is perhaps best known for …

Edie Adams first audition: I sang the only three songs I knew during the audition, and if they had asked to hear another, I never would have made it!

Morgan Fairchild was made for television. Starting on a daytime soap, she made her way to the ever popular nighttime soap Falcon Crest for one …

From Twin Peaks to Men In Black II, Lara Flynn Boyle has hit it from one end of the acting spectrum to the other. Lara's characters are filled with flavor and memorable moments. Hear about Lara on the Celebrity …

Referred to as the "Songbird Supreme" by the Guinness World Records, she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, vocal power, melismatic style, and signature use of the whistle register.

In 2012, she was ranked second …

Born into an acting dynasty, Drew Barrymore had more than her fair share of troubles as a youngest and teen, but turned out so well later on, that …

Did you know that Peter Allen was Liza Minnelli's first husband?Did you know that he co-write I Honestly Love you, that Olivia Newton-John made a Number 1 hit with?Do you know where one of his most famous lyrics came …

Lena Horne started out in 1933 as a chorus girl at the Cotton Club at age 16, went to Hollywood but became disenchanted with making movies and …

From the critically acclaimed dramatic role in the Henry Fonda movie Failsafe, to one of tv's most villainous characters in the form of J.R. Ewing in …

For nine years, Donna Mills played the villain we love to hate, on the long running nighttime soap Knots Landing, a spinoff of Dallas. 

Hear about how Donna Mills became one of tv's greatest female villains on this …

On May 14, 2018, we lost one of our most prolific authors, Tom Wolfe, whose first novel "The Bonfire of the Vanities was a critical and financial …

Did you know that Kirk Douglas was born Issur Danielovitch and that his parents were Jewish emigrants from Chavusy, Mogilev Region, in the Russian Empire (present-day Belarus) and the family spoke Yiddish at home?  Hear …

Come along with me as we make this short discovery of Harrison Ford’s wife, Calista Flockhart, who went from being an aerobics instructor to the new …

John Herbert Gleason, better known as Jackie Gleason, was born on February 26, 1916. He was an American comedian, actor, writer, composer and conductor. Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New …

 Bette Midler, born December 1, 1945, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, comedian, and film producer. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Midler …

   Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper, born June 22, 1953 is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. Her career has spanned over …

James William Buffett, born December 25, 1946) is an American musician, songwriter, author, actor, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his …

Actor, author, producer & director Ronald Russell Farnham was born in New York and raised in Florida & NY., loves drama, action, and tension, …

Henry John Deutschendorf Jr., born December 31, 1943, known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, record producer, actor, activist, and humanitarian, whose greatest commercial success was as …

Margaux Louise Hemingway (February 16, 1954 was an American fashion model and actress. The statuesque Hemingway earned success as a supermodel in the …

 Roy Richard Scheider (November 10, 1932, was an American actor and amateur boxer. Scheider gained fame for his leading and supporting roles in …

Jerry McCord Van Dyke born July 27, 1931, was an American actor, musician and comedian. He was the younger brother of Dick Van Dyke. Van Dyke made …

Tracy Lauren Marrow (born February 16, 1958), better known by his stage name Ice-T, is an American musician, rapper, songwriter, actor, record executive, record producer, and author. He began his career as an …

Bo Derek, born Mary Cathleen Collins; November 20, 1956) is an American film and television actress, film producer, and model perhaps best known for …

Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born November 21, 1945) is an American actress, producer, and occasional singer. She rose to fame on the NBC sketch comedy …

Macaulay Carson Culkin (born August 26, 1980) is an American actor, author, painter, podcaster, musician,and president of Bunnyears. He started his …

Farrah Leni Fawcett (originally spelled Ferrah, born February 2, 1947, was an American actress, model, and artist. A four-time Emmy Award nominee and …

Anna Nicole Smith (born Vickie Lynn Hogan; November 28, 1967 – was an American model, actress, and television personality. Smith first gained …

Jacqueline Jill "Jackie" Collins born 4 October 1937, was an English romance novelist. Jackie Collins moved to Los Angeles in the 1960s and spent …

Robin McLaurin Williams, born July 21, 1951 – was an American actor and comedian. Chicago-born, Williams started as a stand-up comedian in San …

 Ben Bryant (pictured with the late Jerry Orbach) has been in show business since college. Until 1972 he was a successful actor and singer in …

Our episode cover of Sean Penn and Madonna are pictured in 1990. Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor, filmmaker, and …

Buddy Hackett was an American comedian and actor. His best remembered roles include Marcellus Washburn in The Music Man (1962), Benjy Benjamin in …

Sir Reginald Carey Harrison, known as Rex Harrison, was an English actor of stage and screen. Harrison began his career on the stage in 1924. He served in the Royal Air Force during World War II, reaching the rank of …

Two powerhouses of their time. Cary Grant & Dean Martin. Cary Grant (born January 18, 1904 as Archibald Alec Leach) was an English-American …

Disney darling Annette Funicello on our episode cover from 1978. Annette was one of the original members of the Mousketeers. She joined "The Mickey Mouse Club" at age 13 in October 1955. Fans who viewed her every …

"Sweet Caroline" is this episode's cover photograph from 1978. Young Caroline A young Caroline Bouvier Kennedy warmed America's hearts as part of …

Our cover photo of Margaret Trudeau and artist Andy Warhol was taken in 1978 at Studio 54 in New York. At the time, Margaret was an embarrassment to …

Bella Sophia Loren! The ageless Neopolitan beauty is show in a photograph from 1984. She famously said: "Everything you see, I owe to pasta!" If only …

How much testosterone can fit in one photograph?  Plenty, if the subjects are John Travolta and Sylvester Stallone in this photo taken in 1983 at …

Paul and Linda McCartney,  photographed  in 1982, are on this episode’s cover. We can thank Linda for being the inspiration behind Paul's most …

The way they were! Woody Allen and Mia Farrow photographed in 1983. Although they had a 12 year relationship that began in 1980, the stars never married. They were tied by their work together in films, two adopted and …

Goodness gracious, Great Balls of Fire! The cover art for this episode: It's the piano man and the piano man photographed in 1977. Billy Joel with Jerry Lee Lewis. Jerry Lee Lewis There is plenty to say about Jerry …

Love her or hate her, Jane Fonda (our episode cover photo from 1979) has managed to look ageless even at 80! The former model, actress, political …

Joe Namath is a former American football quarterback and actor known as much for playing on the field as playing off the field.  The Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania native 1969 Super Bowl III star made headlines while …

How can you mend a broken heart?" These lyrics were prophetically written by  brothers Barry and Maurice Gibb with Maurice's twin Robin joining in on the  group's vocals. Together they were known as The Bee Gees.        …

This episode photo of Michael Jackson, taken at 19, in 1980 before he became the "King of Pop." The adorable teen idol, who grew up before our eyes …

Well, Hello Dolly!  This episode photo of bootylicious Dolly Parton was taken in 1978. The five foot tall singer, songwriter and actress with the …

The cover photo of this episode was taken in 1980, but no one could have imagined that on December 8 of that year Yoko Ono would become a widow and …

    Today's trifecta. The jiggler, the jingler and the mermaid together in 1982. Pictured are Suzanne Somers, Barry Manilow and the late Esther Williams. This unlikely threesome is just one of the many odd couplings of …

Dion DiMucci and Bobby Rydell are our cover subjects photographed in 1984 for this episode. The two former teen idols were at the top of their game …

Donatella was her brother Gianni's biggest supporter in his fashion line and was by his side when he established his label. Her brother's murder in …

Get ready to hear some great tales of film director David Lean (Dr. Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia) and Kate Hepburn.

Stephen Silverman is the author of a dozen books, including The Catskills: Its History and How It …

Joan was touted as Twentieth Century Fox's answer to Elizabeth Taylor-the other brunette beauty. She was put under contract but would never attain …

Liberace - The Italian-Polish American performer was born in West Allis, Wisconsin in 1919. He began playing the piano at age 4 and performed with …

The defining moment of the Catherine Zeta-Jones/ Michael Douglas law suit against Hello! magazine came, surely, when a lawyer superciliously observed that no one offered him a million quid to publish photographs of his …

Public relations guru David Granoff and his eponymous based firm have represented such luminaries as the late Anna Nicole Smith, Dr. Nicholas …

How Photography Makes Celebrity So Irresistible

In 1954, Photoplay, the doyen of fan magazines -- it had been around since 1911 publishing feel-good stories written by publicity agents -- printed an article about the …

Adam Scull talks about his becoming a celebrity photographer in the late 1970's and covering the famed Studio 54 in its heyday.

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