New Interviews Posted at EmmyTVLegends.org!

New interviews are up today on emmyTVlegends.org with Marla Gibbs, Marion Ross, and Tom Bosley!

Keep checking back for more updates!

From the Collection: Robert Culp on "I Spy"

Actor/Writer Robert Culp on the creation of I Spy.



Click here to watch the premiere episode, "So Long, Patrick Henry" (airdate: 9/15/65; written by Robert Culp) and other season one episodes of I Spy at You Tube's Classic Shows.

I Spy at the Museum of Broadcast Communications' Encyclopedia of Television.

I Spy page on Wikipedia.

I Spy on IMDb.

Longtime Publicist Frank Liberman Has Died-- Archive Interview Online

Frank Liberman, who represented Bob Hope and Nat King Cole, among others during his long career, died at age 92. He was interviewed for the Archive by Reba Merrill, in a joint venture with the Publicists’ Guild of America, on February 21, 2001.

Click here to view Frank Liberman's entire four-part Archive of American Television Interview.

Interview Description:
Mr. Liberman chronicled his early career at the New York Daily News and then at Warner Bros. in New York and Chicago where he began in the publicity department. He talked about moving to Hollywood, where he left Warner Bros. and began his own publicity firm. Among his most loyal clients were Bob Hope, who he handled for 41 years and Phyllis Diller, who he handled for 32 years. Mr. Liberman also talked about the craft of publicity and defined some of the components that go into successful publicity campaigns.

New Interviews Posted at EMMYTVLEGENDS!

New interviews are up today with LeVar Burton, Bill Dana, Bob McGrath, Rue McClanahan, John Moffitt, Ted Turner... and many more! Check back often as we'll be adding more interviews every week!

Also check out Emmy Nominees and winners from this year's Creative Arts Emmys:
Ernest Borgnine, Michael J. Fox, Sheila Nevins, Betty White, and this year's Emmy Awards producer, Don Mischer!

EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG is LIVE!

BIG NEWS

The Archive of American Television has officially launched http://EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG, the new online home of the Archive's interview collection.

Visit the free site to see many interviews in the collection presented in a new way -- searchable, linked, and cross-referenced.

Best of all, the Archive is adding new content regularly, so check back often.

Archive Interviewees Ernest Borgnine and Betty White at the Academy's Creative Arts Awards

Ernest Borgnine was nominated for guest actor in a drama for ER and Betty White was nominated for guest actress in a comedy for My Name Is Earl. Here they both are at the Academy's Creative Arts Awards' Governor's Ball (with the Archive's Jenni Matz and Gary Rutkowski).

"M*A*S*H" Creator Larry Gelbart Has Died-- Archive Interview Online

Larry Gelbart, whose career in television spans from the Golden Age to award-winning television movies on HBO, has died at the age of 81. Gelbart was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame in December 2008.



Interview Description:
On his reputation as a writer with deep social conscience, Gelbart says "I was very lucky. It is not everybody that gets a vehicle like M*A*S*H, in which for four straight years you can be on a soap box and hopefully not abuse that position." Larry Gelbart is an Emmy-award winning writer, producer, and director, whose career began with the Golden Age of radio, but is perhaps best-known for being the mastermind behind the television series M*A*S*H. His father's barbershop was a gathering place for many comics including Danny Thomas, who agreed to give the young Gelbart a huge break in his career while he was still in high school, writing for Thomas on the radio. On hearing his words performed in front of an audience for the first time, Gelbart recalls "I remember that rush of hearing a couple of hundred people laugh" and was hooked. He talks about the structure of how the writers would put together Bob Hope's monologues, and touring with the comedian during his USO tours. Gelbart was there for the transition from radio to television in the early '50s, leaving the "Bob Hope Radio Show" to work for Red Buttons, and says of the change in his writing style "It was working with Red that I really found out that a sketch had to have some progression, that it really had a structure. And that was invaluable." He then talks about the Caesar's Hour writer's room, working with such comedy greats as Mel Tolkin, Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, and Sid Caesar. He talks briefly about his time in London, his successful play "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", the Marty Feldman Comedy Machine, and the difference between television in the UK and the US. Gelbart talks at length about his successful years co-producing and writing for M*A*S*H, and specifically working with producer Gene Reynolds and series star Alan Alda. He talks about some of the battles with Network Standards & Practices, and how they managed to win some (like finally getting the word "virgin" on air) but lose others (like the use of a laugh track, which CBS wanted). He chronicles the filming of the episode "Abyssinia, Henry" in which a main character dies, and his decision to keep the ending a secret from the cast and crew. He also discusses his work in feature films and Broadway plays, including ”Mastergate”, and his return to television with United States:a comedy series about marriage and divorce. He acknowledges that while he is very proud of his AfterMash series, that the formula did not work as a comedy. He talks briefly about the Writer's Guild Strike in 1985, during which time he was the writer of the Academy Awards, and his feelings about the union. He credits HBO with giving him much support over his TV movie projects Barbarians at the Gate and Weapons of Mass Distraction. He talks about his memoir, Laughing Matters, and his advice to young writers. On what represents to him the "best" of television, Gelbart says "When it unites us, as it has in the past, I think it serves a tremendous function-- turning the country into a family." Larry Gelbart was interviewed in Los Angeles, CA on May 26, 1998; Dan Harrison conducted the three-and-a-half-hour interview.

Longtime Grammy Awards Producer Pierre Cossette Has Died-- Interview Online Soon

Cossette died at the age 85. The Archive's two-hour interview with Pierre Cossette was conducted by Bonnie Datt on June 4, 2008.



Interview Description:
Pierre Cossette talked about his early career as an agent at MCA, where he quickly gained a reputation for booking clients at colleges across the country. He described his relationship with agency head Lew Wasserman and how Wasserman assigned him to booking clubs in Las Vegas. He spoke about starting his own record label with Lou Adler (and others) called Dunhill records and his independent representation of musical talents, including Ann-Margaret and Jose Felliciano (booking them on such television programs as The Andy Williams Show). He spoke in great detail about his long association as executive-producer of the Grammy Awards from 1971-2005. For the Grammys, he described selling the show to the networks, transferring ownership of the show to NARAS, and working with longtime producer Ken Enrlich and director Walter C. Miller. Additionally, he related behind-the-scenes stories about the show including when host Kenny Rogers came down with laryngitis, his early difficulties booking Billy Joel, and his objection to opening one of the Grammys shows with Alicia Keyes. Throughout the interview, Cossette defined his philosophy of producing and what abilities he felt made him a successful producer.

From the Collection: Leonard Nimoy on the creation of the "Vulcan Salute" on "Star Trek"

From the Archive of American Television's Interview collection, Leonard Nimoy describes inventing the "Vulcan Salute," first seen on the original series episode "Amok Time."



"The Vulcan Salute" page on Wikipedia.

Watch "Amok Time" on YouTube's Classic TV Shows (look for the Vulcan Salute at 27:45).

Columnist and Red Carpet Fixture Army Archerd Has Died at Age 87-- Interview Online

Daily Variety's Army Archerd wa seen in print and on television as part of the Hollywood scene for over 50 years.

Below is Archerd's entire 5-part Archive interview.




Interview Description:
Army Archerd described his early years in New York and his initial desire to be an actor. After his service in World War II, he got a job in the Parmount mail room, which led to a job for Associated Press. He left there to become a “legman” for Harrison Carroll. In 1953, he joined the staff of Daily Variety, where he covers entertainment in his column to this day. Mr. Archerd discussed the changes within the entertainment industry and how the process of publicity has changed. He also discussed the nuts-and-bolts of getting a story as well as keeping in contact with celebrities. Along with his work chronicling entertainment news, Mr. Archerd spoke of his work in front of the camera as a host for various shows, including the pilot of Entertainment Tonight and his work on the red carpet for awards shows. The interview was conducted by Karen Herman on February 25, 2003.

Archive Interviewee Jerry Lewis Discusses the MDA Telethon

The 44th annual Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association will be broadcast live from the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa in Las Vegas, beginning at 9 p.m. ET Sunday, September 6th.

For the first time, social media followers of MDA’s Twitter, Facebook and YouTube sites will be treated to a behind-the-scenes look at the show during the broadcast.

“I’ll never wave the white flag in the fight against muscular dystrophy and other muscle-wasting diseases,” Lewis has said. “Not only is the Telethon a chance to help put an end to these debilitating diseases, but it’s also a way to inform and educate the public, while having a darn good time.” Last year's telethon ended with a record-setting $65 million in donations and pledges. Jerry Lewis was interviewed in October 2000 by the Archive of American Television where he talked about his long association with the annual event.

On doing a telethon with Dean Martin in 1949:
We did a telethon for two hours with the mail carriers in 1949. Then we went to Carnegie Hall in 1950. He did the six-hour telethon with me there… We did MDA from ‘50 to ‘52, and then there was a hiatus. I didn’t do another one till after we split up. But he was very helpful and he understood it was something I had to do and he was very supportive.

On going national with the telethon:
In 1950, Dean and I did the first telethon out of WNEW New York. That was the flagship. The flagship meaning they also had stations in New Jersey and Connecticut… Then we were on hiatus from ‘53 to about ‘57. And in that, in the interim Dean and I had split up, and then I was doing the telethon local New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut from ‘57, ‘58, ‘59. Then in 1960 I started to travel to get stations, because we were on three stations, New York and two, whatever that was. By 1960 I was already getting seventy stations, ninety stations. ‘61, ‘62, I’m into a hundred and four stations. ‘66, we went national. I had taken those years to put everybody in place and then finally get them to go with us, when we went national. So we were the first telethon to ever go in color, the first telethon to go coast-to-coast, and by the time we went into 1970 I had 213 stations. We moved the telethon in 1973 to Las Vegas for the first time. And this last year [1999] was my fiftieth year. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been doing it for 50 years. But the thing that is so magnificent is that the television medium helped me generate a billion seven hundred million dollars in these last 38 years, because twelve years I didn’t raise two hundred thousand dollars.

On the hope for a cure:
And God-willing, again, because of television, we’re going to find a cure. We’re into DNA now, we’re into genetic engineering, which is certain to give us information. And now I’m being told by the clinicians and the researchers and the lab people, you’re going to see the cure in your lifetime. I mean, it’s incredible.

On special moments on the telethon through the years:
Jack Benny came on and destroyed the audience. I had introduced him and he walked on and he looked right in the camera and he thought for a minute, he looked in the camera again. He looked around, and he said, "I don’t guarantee that I’m going to make a pledge." And we were destroyed! Everybody was hysterical. And he leaned on that for about another minute of just staring. I’ll never forget what that man did with one thought. “Cheapest man in the world,” he’s not going to make a pledge. The Ritz Brothers came on and did the act that they did in vaudeville forty years before, and it was spectacular… I had the hundred and twenty Russian Bolshoi ballet. A hundred and twenty coming right at the center camera, one at a time. One at a time. And about after a hundred and three I was in it. I did my thing. I’ll tell you one thing that I could never ever forget. Mary Passalacqua was a victim of neuromuscular disease, and I went to the hospital to see her in San Francisco, hoping that she would be better. And she was, she was skeleton-like. She was dying so badly. And we funded a thing called plasmapheresis, which flushes the bad blood out and puts new blood in, and she had been given the last rights when I arrived there. When I arrived there she was the epitome of what hero worship is, because she saw me and she, she practically came alive. And then I left, I said good-bye, never though I’d see her again, and then I get a letter from her two months later. Thanks so much for visiting me: it made the difference. I’m doing well. I’m fine. And P.S. my dream is to one day dance with you. I read the letter on television in front of eighty million people. And then I pointed to the curtain and there she came. She walked out and she and I danced dead center of that stage. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. She’s alive and well because of our funding the plasmapheresis syndrome. And that’s probably one of the most unforgettable things, because I was trembling so, trying to dance and be cool. It was so important to her and to everyone else that was a victim. It was a special moment for people in trouble.

On his 1976 reunion with Dean Martin on the telethon:
The other great moment that’s pretty close emotionally was when Frank [Sinatra] decided to bring Dean on and have us embrace, and stop the twenty years of silence, because it was twenty years we hadn’t talked. And Frank worked it out. He worked it out so that everyone in that studio, every member of my staff— nobody knew Dean was coming on. The only one that knew it was Ed McMahon. So I could never have heard about it. It was such a total surprise. And when you look at the footage and you see the look on my face and the look on his face you see two men that love one another. It was an incredible moment. It was great television.

On the instituting of “ You’ll Never Walk Alone” as the telethon’s closing song:
In 1950 I had the occasion to go to Chicago and visit a twelve-year-old little boy who was suffering from spinal atrophy. And they had operated on him and put a shunt in his spine so he could sit up. And when he saw me he said, I got to tell you something. I just love what you do, and, and you know, you should have a theme song. Twelve years old. I said, what do you mean, a theme song? You should have a song for all of us kids. Your kids. I said, a song like what? He said, “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” And it was like I was hit between the eyes with a bullet. What? Of course, I know that lyric, I know where he’s coming from. But he was a very bright twelve-year-old little boy. Speaking for all of the kids that were in trouble. I dedicated it to him on Telethon ‘50. I’ve done it for fifty years.

Link to information about the 2009 MDA telethon.

The entire five-part Archive of American Television interview can be viewed by clicking here.

Additionally, Archive interviewee Eddie Foy III also spoke about working with Jerry Lewis on the MDA Telethons (six minutes into part 10 of his interview).

Interview Description:

Jerry Lewis was interviewed for nearly two-and-a-half hours in San Diego, CA. Mr. Lewis described his rise to stardom and his work on early television, including hosting The Colgate Comedy Hour with his partner, Dean Martin. Mr. Lewis spoke of his many accomplishments in the entertainment industry and his major work in television, including his annual telethons for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The interview was conducted by Sam Denoff.

Former TV Academy President Dick Berg Has Died at Age 87-- Interview Online Soon

Dick Berg served as the president of the Television Academy's Hollywood Chapter in the mid-60s; he distinguished himself in the industry as a writer and producer starting in the Golden Age of Television and as a three-time Emmy nominee for Bob Hope Presents the Chryler Theatre, Wallenberg: A Hero's Story, and Space.

Dick Berg's two-hour Archive interview was conducted by his son, biographer A. Scott Berg on December 10, 2008.

Interview Description:
Dick Berg spoke about his early interest in athletics, dramatics, and music (becoming a part of a three-piece jazz band). He related his arrival in Hollywood in 1943 and becoming a third assistant director in westerns at Republic Studios. He talked about his return back east to hone his craft as a writer (while running an art gallery), with such initial projects as an unrealized pilot for a series to star Claude Rains, whom he got to meet. He talked about some of his early writing for television, becoming “a hot property” when he began writing for the “live” anthology Studio One, establishing himself with the original teleplay “The Drop of a Hat.” He spoke about moving back to Los Angeles where he began to work on such prestige television series as Playhouse 90. He described the genesis of the John Cassavetes’ starrer Johnny Staccato, for which Berg had written the pilot, under the aegis of Universal executive Jennings Lang. He acknowledged his transition to producing for television, beginning with the detective series Checkmate, in which he revealed that he delivered each show in just five production days. He described the presentation he filmed in order to get Universal’s bid for a new anthology series picked up by NBC— they ended up taking two anthologies— one of which became Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, with Berg as producer, which needed to get off the ground within just a few months (“it was some challenge”). He commented on the writers, directors, and stars that worked on Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre and related a couple production stories. He commented on acclaimed miniseries he produced (and wrote) notably The Martian Chronicles and Space. Other television projects he spoke about included: anthology series Alcoa Premiere, two-part television movie Wallenberg: A Hero’s Story, and the unrealized miniseries of Norman Mailer’s The Deer Park. He also acknowledged his tenure as the President of the Hollywood Chapter of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.