Legendary William Morris Agent Ruth Engelhardt Has Died-- Archive Interview Online

Ruth Engelhart was associated with the William Morris Agency for over fifty years. She died at the age of 86 on July 23.

Click here to watch Ruth Engelhardt's entire 8-part interview.

Interview Description:
Ruth Engelhardt was interviewed for three-and-a-half hours in Los Angeles, CA. Engelhardt vividly described her over 55-year association with the William Morris Agency. She recalled how she worked her way up from being a secretary to an executive in Business Affairs by earning her law degree attending night school. She discussed the structure of the Agency, the key figures in its executive suites, and its important television accounts. She talked about the packaging of such television series as The Life of Riley, The Danny Thomas Show, and I Spy. She spoke in great detail about the creation of one of the biggest hits of the 1980s, The Cosby Show. Additionally, Engelhardt talked about such topics as contract negotiations, the era of the Hollywood Blacklist, and the 1975 formation of CAA by ex-WMA agents. The interview was conducted by Karen Herman on October 9, 2003.

7/31/08 UPDATE: Read a wonderful tribute to Ruth Engelhardt's legacy by Variety's Cynthia Littleton.

"I Dream of Jeannie" Season Five on DVD

With the release of season five, the complete run of I Dream of Jeannie is now available on DVD. The 1965-70 sitcom about a 2,000 year-old genie in the form of Barbara Eden and her exploits with "master" Major Anthony Nelson (Larry Hagman) has become one of the most beloved of sitcoms.

Variety began its review of the series premiere with, "The star of this blithering comedy is Barbara Eden's cleavage," but had changed their tone by the time they reviewed the last season's premiere episode: "Jeannie started its fifth season with the sort of bright and bouncy enthusiasm that has kept the series nicely afloat to date. The writers... balance the magic elements neatly with sharp characterizations and fast-moving situations, and the laugh track was almost always justified."



The Archive of American Television has interviewed several of the prominent contributors to the series including stars Barbara Eden, Larry Hagman, and Bill Daily; plus series creator Sidney Sheldon, director Hal Cooper, and casting executive Eddie Foy III.

Barbara Eden on I Dream of Jeannie's special effects: "Our special effects weren’t very sophisticated. We did a lot against blue, which meant that if I was floating in the air, I had to do it alone with a blue backdrop. And I would be balanced on a piece of very thin board. That’s not easy.... The popping in and out of scenes, when I disappeared, everyone would have to freeze wherever they were in the scene and I ran out of the scene. And the director would say, 'one, two, three, action.' And everyone would continue. They were very lucky they had actors who could do that. That isn’t easy to do. You have to have some musical, you know, bent, to be able to do that, and both Larry and Bill and Hayden were very good at it."

A Tribute to Betty White at the Academy!

This August, The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences will hold an event honoring, "Betty White: Celebrating 60 Years on Television".  Many Archive interviewees will be on-hand for the event, including Ed Asner, Cloris Leachman, Gavin MacLeod, Mary Tyler Moore, and Bob Stewart. For more information about the event, visit the Academy's website at emmys.tv/events

You can view an excerpt from Betty White's Archive Interview by clicking here, where she discusses her Emmy win for her role as "Sue Ann Nivens" on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Interview Description: Betty White

In this 5-part oral history interview, Betty discusses her early career and television work, including "The Betty White Show", "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", "Mama's Family",  and "The Golden Girls". Conducted June 4, 1997 by Tony Fantozzi. Click here to view the entire interview.

Archive News: We are very sorry to report that Estelle Getty, Betty's co-star on The Golden Girls, has passed away. We wish her family and friends the very best.

This Weekend - The Official Dark Shadows Convention in Burbank

This weekend (July 19th & 20th), Dark Shadows Festival, the annual official Dark Shadows convention salutes the cult-classic gothic soap in Burbank, CA. Events include appearances by cast and crew, question and answer sessions, autograph sessions, a banquet with the stars, a memorabilia merchandise room, performances and more. Among the luminaries attending:

Jonathan Frid
Lara Parker
Kathryn Leigh Scott
John Karlen
Jerry Lacy
Marie Wallace
Chris Pennock
Robert Rodan
Sy Tomashoff
Lisa Richards
Robert Cobert

For information and a schedule visit www.darkshadowsfestival.com

2008 Emmy Nominations Announced!

The 60th Annual Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy nominations were announced early this morning from The Academy in North Hollywood. We're very happy to report that quite a few Archive Interviewees were among those honored!

Congratulations to James L. Brooks ("The Simpsons") Ken Burns ("The War"), Roy Christopher ("80th Annual Academy Awards"), Diahann Carroll ("Grey's Anatomy"), Tim Conway ("30 Rock"), Sally Field ("Brothers and Sisters"), John Moffitt ("Bill Maher: The Decider"), Phylicia Rashad ("Raisin in the Sun"), William Shatner ("Boston Legal") and to the late George Carlin ("It's Bad for Ya!") and to all the other nominees!

To see the full list, go to the emmy website.

To see the complete list of archive interviews, click here.

George Carlin --- Roy Christopher --- Tim Conway

Cinematographer Joseph M. Wilcots Interview Now Online

Joseph M. Wilcots' full Archive interview has now been posted online. Wilcots, who is currently at work on several projects, was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for Roots. He was interviewed on December 5, 2007.

Click here to access the full 4-part interview.

Interview Description:

Wilcots spoke about his early interest in photography as a teenager and his filmmaking experiences while serving in the Navy. He described his work, following the service, at the Westheimer Optical House, in particular the creative work being done for the special effects on the original Star Trek series. He related how he became the first African-American member of the camera operators union and identified the slow shift in adding other African-American members into the union over the years. He talked about his work in independent filmmaking and reminisced about some of the people he worked with including director Gordon Parks and cinematographer Robert Surtees. He spoke in great detail about the two projects for which he is most associated, the miniseries: Roots and Roots: The Next Generations in which he served as Directory of Photography. He talked about his approach to the Roots shows (“I wanted to make the audience smell the dirt”), meeting and working with Alex Haley (“Everything he wrote was shootable”), and working with actor Marlon Brando (he says he took 200 pounds off him using a fireplace as the key light). He noted the impact of Roots and what working on the miniseries meant to him. He acknowledged his work on the Alex Haley/Norman Lear series Palmerstown U.S.A. Lastly, he gave his impressions of three individuals for whom he worked for extensively: actor/director George Stanford Brown, Bill Cosby, and Michael Jackson.

Milton Berle Centenary-- July 12

Tomorrow, Milton Berle would have been 100 years old!

Uncle Miltie had already had a long career as a performer, when at age 40, he began to host The Texaco Star Theater. Before long, he became "Mr. Television" and reached heights he'd never achieved in radio or the movies.

When the Archive of American Television chose its first six individuals to interview as part of a pilot program, Milton Berle was an obvious choice to be one of them.

He was interviewed on June 11, 1996; he died on March 27, 2002 at the age of 93. When asked how he'd like to be remembered, Berle said:

"Being that I’ve been mostly all my life a comedian and to quote Norman Cousins, one of my dearest friends, who said— it’s a cliché now— but he said, 'laughter is the best medicine.' If we laugh at ourselves or at the world or what’s going on, we’ll live longer. The way that I’d like to be remembered ... It makes me fulfilled that I made somebody happy..... That’s been my credo for a long time and still is. The way I’d like to be remembered on the tombstone, is, [he] made people happy by making them laugh and prolonging their lives. That’s it."

Milton Berle's Archive interview can be accessed here.

Interview Description:

Milton Berle (1908-2002) was interviewed for four hours in Los Angeles, CA. Berle fondly recalled "Mama Berle" and her influence on his early career when he started performing as a child in vaudeville. He discussed how his vaudeville background prepared him for television. He talked extensively about the success of Texaco Star Theater and how he earned the moniker "Uncle Miltie." He recalled the challenges of performing live and creating fresh material each week. Berle also openly discussed his reputation as a "perfectionist" and the legendary rumor that he stole jokes from others.

"Hogan's Heroes" Joins the TVLand LineUp-- Marathon 4th of July Weekend

TVLand has added Hogan's Heroes to its lineup and has scheduled a marathon of episodes for this weekend. As The Complete Directory to Primetime Network and Cable TV Shows puts it: "Hogan's Heroes set out to prove that, at least in the world of televised situation comedies, life in a Nazi POW camp during World War II could be fun."

As you take in the nostalgia of Stalag 13 ("I know nothing!") take a look at the Archive's interviews with two prominent directors from the series: Gene Reynolds (15 minutes into part 5 of his interview) and Robert Butler (8 minutes into part 4 of his interview).