As Guest Programmer on Turner Classic Movies with prime-time host Ben Mankiewicz for TCM's 25th anniversary. (© Turner Classic Movies. A Warner Bros. Discovery Media Company. All Rights Reserved.)
Gregory Nelson "Greg" Joseph has had a dual career: as writer, Hollywood biographer and former journalist and television critic who counts a Pulitzer Prize among his achievements, and as an actor who received a prestigious Hollywood award whose performances have been recognized in festivals throughout the United States and abroad, including New York and Cannes.
Born and reared in Kansas City, Missouri, he began his acting career at age 13 in local stage productions and went on to earn an honors Speech and Theatre degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he taught on an assistantship, was a Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship nominee and was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society.
In his senior year, he acted professionally with Missouri (now Kansas City) Repertory and was invited to audition for John Houseman when he assembled the inaugural Drama Division class at The Juilliard School.
Greg made his feature film debut cast opposite Michael Douglas in a film produced by legendary actor Steve McQueen, which brought an invitation to Hollywood and an audition for the young talent program at Universal Studios.
He has been a member of SAG-AFTRA (the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) since 1970 and served on its State Board of Directors, National Committee for Performers With Disabilities, and Prime-Time Television Nominating Committee. He also has served on the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) Regional Board of Governors, and the Film and Media Coalition Board of Directors. He was a member of the Television Critics Association.
As a journalist, Greg has been newspaper reporter, columnist, critic and editor over a career spanning 40 years. He began his career at The Kansas City Star, and after working for several newspapers in the Los Angeles area, worked for years at The San Diego Tribune (now The Union-Tribune), and concluded as television columnist of The Arizona Republic. His articles were often carried in syndication worldwide.
He interviewed dozens of the most celebrated and influential cultural figures of the 20th century, ranging from Golden Age film stars like Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart and Gregory Peck and movie directors such as Frank Capra, Billy Wilder and Stanley Kramer, to playwright Neil Simon, writers from Ray Bradbury to Nora Ephron to David Halberstam, broadcasters from Douglas Edwards (the first anchor of a nationally televised, regularly scheduled American-network newscast) to Walter Cronkite to Tom Brokaw, as well as children's author Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, four of Disney's "Nine Old Men" classic animators, and "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry.
He won a number of writing and reporting awards and was a member of a Pulitzer Prize-winning staff honored for its coverage of one of the worst air disasters in United States history.
Greg appeared as Guest Programmer on Turner Classic Movies for the cable channel's 25th anniversary, and that same year, was invited by The New York Times to meet with its op-ed editors for the second annual "Evening With Letters" conference after being handpicked as one of paper's top 30 regular contributors.
In September 2021, the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, located at the site of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, invited Greg to participate in its Oral History Project "to chronicle the assassination ... and present the contemporary culture within the context of presidential history."
Greg has been nominated for the Governor's Arts Award, an honor described as "the most prestigious, recognizing excellence in artistic expression and outstanding contributions to the arts community," as well as the Filmstock Film Festival Barry E. Wallace Citizenship Award, for "those that promote encouragement and positive influences in their film community."
He is listed as actor, critic and advocate in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the World, and is a recipient of the 2017 Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.
BIOGRAPHY
Greg Joseph was the only child of Theodore Joseph, a jeweler who as a young man dreamed of leaving his native Cleveland to go to Hollywood and become an actor himself, and Marcella (Nelson) Joseph, an artist and graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute who studied with the famous muralist Thomas Hart Benton, whose work adorns the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library.
He attended Rockhurst High School, a Jesuit college-preparatory school in Kansas City, and began acting at age 13 in local stage productions. He went on to earn an honors Speech and Theatre degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he taught on an assistantship, was nominated for a Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship and was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, the nation's oldest all-discipline honor society, which recognizes students both for being ranked scholastically at the top of their class and for their integrity and high ethical standards. ACTING CAREER
At UMKC, he studied acting with artist-in-residence Robin Humphrey, a former Broadway actress who had been a member of Lee Strasberg's first class of students at the New York Actors Studio with Marlon Brando. His first professional acting job came in his senior year at UMKC, when he performed with The Missouri (now Kansas City) Repertory, appearing in productions of "The Miser" and "Oedipus Rex," the latter directed by Alexis Minotis, a film veteran (Alfred Hitchcock's "Notorious") and co-founder of the Royal Theatre of Athens with his wife, actress Katina Paxinou (winner of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 1943 film "For Whom the Bell Tolls," starring Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman). During his senior year, he was invited to audition for John Houseman as the Academy Award-winning actor-producer, perhaps best known for his collaboration with Orson Welles, was assembling the inaugural Drama Division class at The Juilliard School.
Months after graduation, he made his big-screen debut opposite Michael Douglas in the feature film "Adam at Six A.M.," a drama about the "two Americas" produced by legendary actor Steve McQueen ("Bullitt") that has gone on to achieve cult status.
His performance in the film as Ed, the straight-arrow young pharmacist vying for the hand of leading lady Lee Purcell, drew praise from the film's producers and writers, who invited him to Hollywood and recommended him for a young talent contract at Universal Studios. He moved into a small apartment across from the iconic Grauman's Chinese Theater in the heart of town.
He has never stopped working to hone his craft, including studying improvisation with the late Academy Award-winning actor Alan Arkin ("Little Miss Sunshine," "The Kominsky Method"), a noted early member of the Second City comedy troupe.
A tall (six-feet-two), lean and angular actor, known for many looks and an ability to change his appearance to fit a wide range of characters in a variety of genres, Greg stars as a military veteran in "The Last Dance," a romantic drama named an Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner; won Best of Festival character acting honors at the Hollywood Shockfest Film Festival for re-creating an iconic horror favorite in "Ritual," which won two other top awards at Shockfest and was also an Official Selection at the Shockerfest International Film Festival in Los Angeles, the Big Bear Horror-Fi Film Festival, A Night of Horror International Film Festival in Sydney, Australia, the Indie Horror Film Festival in Chicago, the Chicago Horror Film Festival, and the Guam International Film Festival; has the lead as a polygamist cult leader in "When the Dogs Cried Out," a film à clef that won Best Ensemble Acting at the New York First Run Film Festival as well as a National Board of Review Commendation; was nominated as Best Lead Actor at the Show Low International Film Festival for his portrayal of a deadly Middle East sentencing judge in "Zarin," a drama inspired by a true story that was also an Official Selection of the Love International Film Festival in Los Angeles and the Online Global Peace Film Festival; stars as a murderous rogue cop being pursued by his police-detective son in "Cover," which was a Semi-Finalist in the Action/Cut Short Film Competition in Los Angeles; stars as the film's only character, a fanatical collector who makes a grisly discovery in the park, in "Detector," a thriller chosen as an Official Selection of the Phoenix Film Festival; and stars as the title character, a washed-up ventriloquist, in the two-character drama "The Amazing Mortimer," which won Best of Fest honors at the Southern Arizona Independent Film Festival, was a top winner at the Broadcast Education Association (BEA) Festival of Media Arts and an Official Selection of the Phoenix Film Festival. Other recent portrayals include The Soulless Gunfighter opposite Danny Trejo and Bill Engvall in the Western satire "Cowboy Dreams" (an Official Selection of three prominent Hollywood film festivals -- the HollyShorts Film Festival, an annual Academy Award®-qualifying independent short film festival, the L.A. Shorts International Film Festival, and the Dances With Films Film Festival, where it was also an Opening Night Showcase Film; it also was a featured presentation and Official Selection of the Phoenix Film Festival); the co-starring role of the veteran astronaut in the science fiction TV series "H.O.P.E."; the pivotal role of the lead attorney in "Poison Sky," a feature film about the environment, with Kevin Sorbo ("Hercules: The Legendary Journeys"); and the role of the minister in the feature film "Room for Rent," which stars scream queen Lin Shaye ("A Nightmare on Elm Street").
Greg Joseph early in his acting career, including his first professional headshots.
Greg Joseph has portrayed a wide range of roles in a variety of genres, from clerics to killers, from cult leaders to judges, from ventriloquists to Old West gunfighters, in an acting career stretching back more than 50 years. His accolades include a Hollywood best actor award, starring in an Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner, and having the lead in a best ensemble and National Board of Review winner in New York. He scored his big-screen break in a role opposite Michael Douglas in a major feature film produced by legendary actor Steve McQueen. A member of SAG-AFTRA for more than 50 years, Greg holds an honors degree in Drama from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he taught on an assistantship and appeared in professional Missouri Repertory productions. His training includes improvisation studies with the late Academy Award-winning actor Alan Arkin ("Little Miss Sunshine"), a noted early member of the Second City comedy troupe.
A young Greg Joseph in the feature film "Adam at 6 A.M.," as the straight-arrow pharmacist Ed who is vying with Adam (Michael Douglas) for the hand of leading lady Lee Purcell. The film was produced by legendary actor Steve McQueen ("Bullitt") and directed by Robert Scheerer from a screenplay by Stephen and Elinor Karpf.
(© Cinema Center Films/Solar Productions)
(Photos: Jim Coe)
Accepting the Best of Fest Character Acting Award at the Hollywood Shockfest Film Festival for performance as The Tall Man in "Ritual," a recreation of the iconic character from the "Phantasm" horror film franchise. Award presentations were held at the Hard Rock Cafe on Hollywood Boulevard following red-carpet interviews and screenings at the historic Raleigh Studios, adjacent to Paramount Pictures. The film, which won two other top awards at Shockfest, was also an Official Selection of the Big Bear Horror-Fi Film Festival, A Night of Horror International Film Festival in Sydney, Australia, the Indie Horror Film Festival in Chicago, the Shockerfest International Film Festival in Los Angeles, the Chicago Horror Film Festival, and the Guam International Film Festival.
(© The ADN Project-Andre Noe)
(Production Still: George Burnette)
Starring as a military veteran facing the loss of his lifelong love in "The Last Dance," an Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner.
(© Future Legend Productions/Marcus A. Stricklin, Sandy Kim)
(Photo: Christopher Labadie)
Starring in the title role of "The Amazing Mortimer" as a washed-up ventriloquist who experiences a spiritual rebirth while helping a troubled boy. The film won Best of Fest honors at the Southern Arizona Independent Film Festival, was a top winner at the Broadcast Education Association (BEA) Festival of Media Arts, and an Official Selection of the Phoenix Film Festival.
(© Cream Soda Films/Huntington University-Phil Wilson, Joe Stone)
Starring in "Zarin" as a deadly Middle East sentencing judge on the run from an angry mob whose only hope for survival is the daughter of a couple he had executed. The performance brought a Best Lead Actor nomination at the Show Low Film Festival, while the film was an Official Selection of the Love International Film Festival in Los Angeles and the Online Global Peace Film Festival. Inspired by a true story.
(© Nimzee Productions/Nima Nourani)
As The Soulless Gunfighter stalking Danny Trejo and Bill Engvall in the Western satire "Cowboy Dreams." The film was an Official Selection of three prominent Hollywood film festivals -- the HollyShorts Film Festival, an annual Academy Award®-qualifying independent short film festival, the L.A. Shorts International Film Festival, and the Dances With Films Film Festival, where it was an Opening Night Showcase Film. It was also a featured presentation and Official Selection of the Phoenix Film Festival.
(© Locked Horns Productions/Steve Briscoe, Paul DeNigris)
With Danny Trejo (top) and Bill Engvall at the Hollywood premiere of "Cowboy Dreams."
In the noir thriller "Cover," starring as a murderous rogue cop being pursued by his police-detective son who doesn't realize his father is the killer. The film was a semi-Finalist in the prestigious Action/Cut Short Film Competition in Los Angeles.
(© Power Forward Films/Paperstreet Productions-Frank T. Ziede)
Starring in the science-fiction TV series "H.O.P.E." as the stranded veteran astronaut Henry, who must learn to survive in a strange, parallel universe populated by beings that may or may not be human.
(© Rangelo Productions/Ruben Angelo, Kevin R. Phipps)
Starring as lead attorney Jim Roberts in the feature film "Poison Sky," who must confront an old friend, a respected judge who has been badly compromised, in a timely story about pollution and the environment. The film features Kevin Sorbo ("Hercules: The Legendary Journeys").
(© Controversial Pictures/Swat HD-Steve Wargo)
In "Match.Dead" (also known as "The Abducted"), as the grizzled, persistent Army veteran Guy, who stubbornly stands in the way of a vicious psychopath who is hunting a young woman he met through an online dating site.
(© Infinite Spectrum Productions/Jon Bonnell)
In "Asylum" as the mad Trevor Graves, a marauding killer who inhabits a dark subterranean labyrinth.
(© Dynamicfilm Studios/Never Average-Austin Nordell)
In 'Frost-E," a fantasy set in the 1940s, as Pa Malvern, a lovable, well-meaning if somewhat hapless grandfather who literally gets sucked into a secret government experiment.
(© James Steller/Bradford N. Smith)
As The Priest in Born of Fire's "In the End," charged with calming a frantic family during a tense hospital confrontation in the aftermath of a tragedy.
(© Steve D. Dorssum, Christopher Sheffield/No Remorse Records, Greece)
As Clarence "Butch" Weaver, a truculent maintenance man suspected of murder on a college campus in the Deep South, in "The Hidden Room Case" episode of "Crime Scene."
(© Crime Scene/Tom Arriola)
In the TBS sitcom "My Boys" as intrepid sport reporter Kris de Fillipis in search of a scoop at a most unusual Chicago Cubs spring training game.
(© TBS. A Warner Bros. Discovery Media Company. All Rights Reserved.)
(Photos: Patrick Ecclesine)
Greg's letter-to-the-editor in the Summer 2023 edition of SAG-AFTRA magazine, appearing next to one from Fran Drescher, the guild's president. Greg, who has been a member of SAG-AFTRA since 1970, has served on its Prime-Time TV Nominating Committee, its National Committee for Performers with Disabilities, and its State Board of Directors. He also has served on the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Emmy) Regional Board of Governors, the Film & Media Coalition board, and as a member of the Television Critics Association.
TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES
In April 2019, Greg was a featured Guest Programmer on Turner Classic Movies with prime-time host Ben Mankiewicz for the cable channel's silver anniversary after winning a national contest as one of the country's top 25 "super classic-movie fans" (below). He has also won two other TCM contests testing his knowledge of classic films, being chosen to represent his state in TCM Spotlight's "50 States in 50 Movies" for which he described the many productions shot there over the years, and for his essay on "Hollywood's Greatest Year" (aside from the consensus pick, 1939).
(© Turner Classic Movies. A Warner Bros. Discovery Media Company. All Rights Reserved.)
(© Michael Cavna/The Washington Post)
On Turner Classic Movies with primetime host Ben Mankiewicz; shooting a TCM promotional spot; a TCM publicity still; arriving at Turner Studios in Atlanta; backstage at TCM with Ben; TCM notification about winning "Hollywood's Greatest Year" contest, and the prizes (TCM Backlot cap, TCM pin, ceramic "Gone With the Wind" collectible); artist's rendering of Guest Programmer appearance by Michael Cavna of the Washington Post; Greg's letter in the July 3, 2023, New York Times regarding the future of TCM (top).
JOURNALISM CAREER
Greg was a reporter, columnist, critic and editor over the course of a 40-year newspaper career, working for The Kansas City Star, The San Diego Tribune (now The San Diego Union-Tribune), The Arizona Republic, The Riverside (Calif.) Press-Enterprise, The Pasadena (Calif.) Star-News and The Pasadena (Calif.) Union. He covered breaking news, did investigative reporting, wrote feature stories and profiles, and reviewed books, stage productions, films and television (he was a member of the Television Critics Association). He sometimes took photographs to accompany his articles. His work was carried in syndication worldwide.
He has won a number of writing and reporting awards, including sharing the 1979 Pulitzer Prize as a member of The Tribune staff for its coverage of one of the worst commercial plane crashes in U.S. history.
MIDDLE EAST
Among Greg's more notable reporting assignments was being dispatched to the Middle East in 1980 to write a series of articles as the region was being rocked by the infamous hostage crisis in Iran (below).
CNN AND THE NEW YORK TIMES
In January 1991, escorted by then-CNN president Tom Johnson, Greg became the first print journalist to report from inside the cable news network during the first Persian Gulf War, the first time in history a war was being covered in real time, live, on television. CNN was the only 24-hour TV news network at the time, and the war was broadcast globally, watched by everyone from heads of state (including adversaries) to people sitting at home, more than a billion viewers worldwide. The watershed reporting put CNN, and the concept of nonstop television news coverage, on the map. (Johnson was the former publisher of The Dallas Times Herald and then president and later publisher of The Los Angeles Times who had been a White House fellow in the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson [no relation]. He was the one to pass a note to the president informing him of the shooting of Martin Luther King Jr., and several years later, it was he who told legendary broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite by phone during a broadcast that the former president had died.)
In June 2019, he was invited by The New York Times to meet with its op-ed editors for the second annual "Evening with Letters" conference after being handpicked as one of the paper's top 30 regular contributors from across the U.S. (below).
(Photo: Mary Joseph)
JFK
In September 2021, the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, a museum located on the site of President John F. Kennedy's assassination, invited Greg to participate in its Oral History Project "to chronicle the assassination ... and present the contemporary culture within the context of presidential history." As a young teenager he had met and photographed Kennedy (below), and later, as a journalist, interviewed members of the Kennedy family and others who had known the late president.
Photos Greg took on Saturday, Oct. 22, 1960, of then-Senator John F. Kennedy (D-Mass.) as he was campaigning for the presidency in Grandview, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City, near Greg's home. It was the day after Kennedy's fourth and final televised presidential debate with Vice President Richard M. Nixon, an event broadcast over ABC in which Nixon was in Los Angeles and Kennedy in New York. The viewing audience numbered in the tens of millions. "We were late getting out of New York last night," Kennedy apologized to the crowd, who had been waiting for him for almost four hours, often in a chill, driving fall rain. If they were upset by his tardiness, they didn't show it. Their patience rewarded, they cheered his every word, eternally grateful at finally seeing the handsome young candidate in person -- their joy, and their awareness of being a part of history, were palpable. Indeed, they hadn't budged, taking fierce possession of their chosen positions in front of the temporary speaker's platform with the tenacity of people who had inherited an expensive piece of land and were ready to fend off squatters.
The candidate, who hailed from a family of savvy politicians, knew what he had to do. Upon arrival, he rewarded their persistence by plunging without hesitation into their midst, swallowed up by outstretched arms aching to touch him, white straw hats bearing his image bobbing in the stark Midwestern darkness like so many Christmas ornaments, and a sea of newly stapled campaign signs swaying in the cold night air like kites straining to soar. The site had been carefully selected -- the Truman Corners Shopping Center, located on land once owned by the family of former President Truman. It had been dedicated by Truman himself just two years before. Truman had been outspokenly opposed to Kennedy on grounds the young senator lacked the necessary experience for the presidency. And there was more, something even deeper: Truman harbored an intense dislike of Kennedy's controversial father, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., who, as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1938 to 1940, publicly questioned Britain's ability to stand up to Nazi Germany, saying at one point that democracy was finished in the UK and possibly even in the United States, an utterance that led to his forced resignation from the post and dogged him for the rest of his life. This was a political genuflection by young Kennedy, a public reaching out to the feisty ex-president. Nothing was left to chance this night by the well-oiled, ahead-of-its-time Kennedy political machine. The speaker's stand was erected in front of a men's clothing store named "President Shops," its big, bright red neon sign looming dramatically behind Kennedy as if to presciently bestow a celestial blessing on his candidacy, recording the moment for history. It worked. The speech kicked off a successful visit that ultimately resulted in Truman's gruff approval.
Article by Greg on the 25th anniversary of President Kennedy's assassination, with interviews of people who knew Kennedy such as former California Governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, as well as public figures affected by his death including legendary actor Gregory Peck (Peck, along with fellow Oscar-winner Maximillian Schell, had narrated the documentary "John F. Kennedy: Years of Lightning, Day of Drums," a 1964 memorial tribute to the late president produced by the United States Information Agency considered so outstanding that a special act of Congress allowed it to be shown in regular American motion picture theaters).
Photos Greg took in Dealey Plaza in Dallas on the 50th anniversary of the assassination in November 2013, at the spot on Elm Street where Kennedy was gunned down -- the "X" on the street marks the place where the second, fatal shot struck Kennedy as he was riding in a motorcade -- and near the sniper's lair upstairs in the former Texas School Depository Building, which now houses the Sixth Floor Museum that supports the Dealey Plaza National Historical Landmark District and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza.
Letter from the Sixth Floor Museum regarding Greg's participation in its Oral History Project.
Note from the late historian David McCullough (1933-2022) referring to a passage in his Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, "Truman," about the John Kennedy rally that Greg attended. McCullough, who worked on Kennedy's presidential campaign as a young man, confided sadly, "Whenever his picture appears on the TV screen, I have to leave the room." Years later, in 2013, McCullough delivered the keynote address in Dealey Plaza on the 50th anniversary of the assassination.
Signed copy of a speech by newsman and commentator Bill Moyers that he delivered at a memorial service in Washington, D.C. on the 25th anniversary of President Kennedy's assassination. Moyers, who had been encouraged to go into public service by Kennedy, was present on Air Force One when Vice President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as president after Kennedy's death (see above photo). Moyers became Johnson's press secretary.
PROFILES AND INTERVIEWS
Greg is also an award-winning profile writer whose subjects span the cultural spectrum and are among the most influential figures of the 20th- and early 21st-centuries:
Writers including Ray Bradbury, Neil Simon (the most commercially successful playwright in American history), Irving Stone, Joseph Wambaugh, Leo Rosten, Nora Ephron, David Halberstam, Haynes Johnson and David McCullough. Newspaper columnists Ann Landers and Erma Bombeck. Igor Cassini, syndicated gossip columnist for the Hearst newspaper chain, one of the journalists who wrote under the pseudonym "Cholly Knickerbocker" and coined the term "jet set" (the brother of Oleg Cassini, fashion designer for Jackie Kennedy). James Kavanaugh, a former Roman Catholic priest who wrote the seminal 1967 book on Church reform, "A Modern Priest Looks at His Outdated Church." NASA astronauts Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, and Richard O. Covey, mission control spacecraft communicator during the Challenger disaster and pilot of the first Space Shuttle flight after the tragedy. Lillian Boyer, American wing-walker christened "Empress of the Air" for her many aerial stunts performed from 1920 to 1928. Nuclear physicist Harold Brown, former U.S. Secretary of Defense and U.S. Secretary of the Air Force, at the time president of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Navy Commander Lloyd "Pete" Bucher, who, along with his ship and crew, were captured by the North Koreans in 1968 in what came to be known as "the Pueblo incident." Activists Bella Abzug and Angela Davis. Presidents' sons Elliott Roosevelt (Franklin D. Roosevelt) and Michael Reagan (Ronald Reagan). "King of Torts" attorney Melvin Belli. Influential pediatrician and activist Benjamin Spock. Children's author Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel. Classic animators including four of Disney's "Nine Old Men," Joseph Barbera of Hanna-Barbera, legendary Warner Bros. Looney Tunes auteur Chuck Jones, former Disney-Pixar chief John Lasseter, and "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening. Dancer-choreographers Agnes de Mille and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Fess "Davy Crockett" Parker. Hall of Fame baseball legend Willie Mays. Baseball player-turned-Hall of Fame broadcaster Joe Garagiola. Boxers Sugar Ray Robinson (often described as the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the history of the sport), Muhammad Ali and Ken Norton. Film luminaries including directors Frank Capra, Billy Wilder, Robert Wise, Stanley Kramer, Richard Donner, Richard Rush, Tony Bill, Wes Craven and Spike Lee, and actors Cary Grant (in one of his last interviews), Jimmy Stewart, Jackie Cooper, Paul Henreid, Norman Lloyd, Gregory Peck, Rod Steiger, Jack Lemmon, Cliff Robertson, Peter Falk, Robert Loggia, Barry Bostwick ("The Rocky Horror Picture Show"), Dick Van Dyke, George Peppard, June Allyson, Eva Marie Saint, Jane Russell, Cyd Charisse, Patty Duke, Janet Leigh, Pam Grier, Jean Stapleton, Carroll O'Connor, Christopher Reeve, Jim Carrey, John Goodman, Ann Jillian, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Robert Urich, and Richard Dean Anderson ("MacGyver"). Joyce Selznick, niece of "Gone With the Wind" producer David O. Zelznick, talent agent, screenwriter and casting director whose discoveries included '50s matinee idol Tony Curtis (father of Academy Award-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis). Deaf actor, director, author and teacher Howie Seago, a central figure of the American Deaf Community, whose career has ranged from the National Theatre of the Deaf to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival to television ("Star Trek: The Next Generation"). Comedians Bob Hope, Mort Sahl, Jerry Seinfeld and David Steinberg, and influential comedy club impresarios Mitzi Shore and Budd Friedman, owner of The Comedy Store and founder of The Improv, respectively; Will Rogers Jr. (discussing his iconic late humorist father). Network TV news anchors Douglas Edwards (the first presenter of a nationally regularly scheduled television newscast by an American network) and Tom Brokaw (author of "The Greatest Generation"). Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns ("Brooklyn Bridge," "The Civil War"). TV executive Fred Silverman (the first person to be programming chief of each of The Big Three networks). Composer Frederick Loewe of the "My Fair Lady" songwriting duo Lerner and Loewe. Stage critic Clive Barnes ("the most powerful man on Broadway"). Musicians Frankie Laine, Patti Page, Joan Baez, Graham Nash, Kenny Rogers and Tony Orlando. Oscar-winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler (named one of the 10 most influential in the history of film). Makeup guru Michael Westmore of the legendary Hollywood makeup dynasty. Actor, screenwriter and director Buck Henry ("The Graduate," "Get Smart"). "The last silents star" Diana Serra "Baby Peggy" Cary. Silent film star Mary MacLaren (Douglas Fairbanks Sr.'s co-star in the 1921 silent film classic "The Three Musketeers" -- and one-time girlfriend of Rudolph Valentino). Christina "Mommie Dearest" Crawford. Early-Hollywood publicist Andy Hervey (Warner Bros.' very first). "Voice of Snow White" Adriana Caselotti from the groundbreaking Disney animated feature (whose voice also can be heard in the film classics "The Wizard of Oz" and "It's a Wonderful Life"). Some of nascent television's most beloved figures, including TV's first super star Milton Berle, the first "Tonight Show" host Steve Allen, Harry von Zell and George Fenneman (announcers and straight men to George Burns and Gracie Allen, and Groucho Marx, respectively), Johnny Carson's sidekick Ed McMahon, "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry and the star of the original TV series William Shatner, Robert Stack (Eliot Ness on TV's classic "The Untouchables"), James Arness (Matt Dillon on TV's long-running "Gunsmoke"), Barbara Hale (Della Street on "Perry Mason") and her husband Bill Williams ("The Adventures of Kit Carson"), Donna Douglas (Elly Mae Clampett on "The Beverly Hillbillies"), "Leave It to Beaver" mom Barbara "June Cleaver" Billingsley, "Father Knows Best" dad Robert "Jim Anderson" Young (who later morphed into TV's "Marcus Welby, M.D."), and revered children's show personalities Fran Allison ("Kukla, Fran and Ollie"), Buffalo Bob Smith ("Howdy Doody") and Bob Keeshan ("Captain Kangaroo"). And Gunther Gebel-Williams, the colorful and charismatic "Lord of the Rings" animal trainer for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (1968-1990).
Former actress Mary MacLaren during Greg's interview with her at her Hollywood home in 1981, as she held a Photoplay fan magazine with her picture on the cover from decades before at the height of her career. MacLaren, who appeared in 170 films between 1916 and 1949, had been forgotten and was living in squalor. She died in 1985 at age 85.
Mary MacLaren as Queen Anne in "The Three Musketeers" (1921), starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr.
Letter from the Hollywood Historic Trust regarding Greg's nomination of Mary MacLaren for a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was the younger sister of actresses Miriam MacDonald and Katherine MacDonald. Katherine achieved the greatest prominence of the three and was given a star, but the honor eluded MacLaren.
Greg spent the day with Gregory Peck (1916-2003) at the actor's Los Angeles home for a profile he was writing to coincide with the revival of the La Jolla Playhouse, which Peck co-founded in 1947 with fellow actors Mel Ferrer and Dorothy McGuire. Greg also took a series of photographs of Peck, including this one, and conducted an interview with him for the oral history files of the San Diego Film Society. It was an especially meaningful assignment: Peck is Greg's namesake.
One of the last interviews with Cary Grant (1904-86) for a profile about the iconic actor when he was touring the country with a stage show in which he discussed his career and screened clips from his movies. During the interview, Grant talked about his films, approach to acting, and rumors about his personal life. Of acting in movies, Grant said: "It’s much more difficult than anyone could possibly imagine. None of this comes naturally, it’s from experience that takes practice. Just as a writer says he improves from year to year — you look at some of your old stuff and say, ‘My God!’ — well, so does an actor. You have to have ambition, which puts you at that next step.”
Interview with screen legend Jimmy Stewart (1908-97) for a profile about the actor to coincide with the anniversary of "It's a Wonderful Life." He discussed the making of the film as well as his life, career and acting style. Said he when asked how he would reply to critics who say he always played himself: "Whenever anyone says I only play myself, I just quote Larry Olivier: 'I always play myself with deference to the character.' Well, if it's good enough for Olivier, it's good enough for Stewart."
Greg's article about having dinner with children's author Theodor Geisel ("Dr. Seuss") and legendary film director Frank Capra ("It's a Wonderful Life") when they reunited decades after working together on propaganda projects for the U.S. government during World War II. Geisel wrote and illustrated more than 60 books under the pen name "Dr. Seuss" (Seuss was his middle name), his works selling more than 600 million copies and being translated into more than 20 languages by the time of his passing. As a thank-you for interview, Geisel sent a personalized Cat in the Hat drawing (below). He died in 1991 at age 87, Capra the same year at 94.
On the anniversary of "Casablanca," interviews with co-star Paul Henreid (1908-92) and surviving screenwriters Howard E. Koch and Julius J. Epstein, who shared Oscars for their work. Among other things, the writers confirmed stories that the ending had not been determined as the film was being shot, adding that when a worried Ingrid Bergman asked them which male lead her character ended up with so she could react accordingly, they responded, "When we know, you'll know."
Note to Greg from Henreid confirming their interview for the "Casablanca" anniversary story. Elegance personified.
On the 100th birthday of iconoclastic novelist and screenwriter Raymond Chandler (1888-1959), the editor of Greg's newspaper, Neil Morgan, who as a young reporter had been friends with Chandler and helped him through some tough times, asked Greg to write a story recounting Chandler's career and estimable influence on American popular literature. Chandler, who was especially remembered for his detective fiction and characters like Philip Marlowe, had repaid the editor's kindness by basing a character on him in his 1953 novel "The Long Goodbye." Morgan wrote a companion piece, a tribute, with the headline: "Author's Own Story a Sad Read."
Interview with Janet Leigh (1927-2004) upon the publication of her memoir "There Really Was a Hollywood" (1984). She discussed her signature role in the seminal film classic "Psycho" and the difference between working for legendary directors Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles. And there was a difference.
In a startlingly candid interview upon publication of her autobiography "Call Me Anna," award-winning actress Patty Duke (1946-2016) discusses her tumultuous life and career, including her struggles with bipolarity at a time when the condition wasn't openly discussed.
Actress Shirley MacLaine sent this note to the managing editor of Greg's newspaper in response to Greg's review of her book, "Dancing in the Light." In addition to his other duties, Greg reviewed books related to show business.
Profiled Jackie Cooper (1922-2011), a top child star during Hollywood's Golden Age. Nominated for an Academy Award at an incredibly young age, he went on to become one of the few child actors to make a successful transition in the business into adulthood, working steadily as actor and director until the end of his life. Despite his continued popularity and the many accolades that came his way, his youthful experiences in Hollywood never stopped haunting him. Here, he poses with his horse, Pussycat, at the Del Mar Racetrack. Cooper took in horses that nobody else wanted, that were injured and might otherwise have been destroyed -- he said it reminded him of how Hollywood treats child actors.
Profile of Diana Serra Cary (1918-2020), who was one of the most popular child stars of early Hollywood -- "Baby Peggy" -- and lost it all. She pushed back, trying to make sure what happened to her didn't befall other child actors. But for the most part, she ruefully admitted, the studios weren't interested in what she had to say.
Interviewed Christina Crawford after her autobiography alleging abuse by her adoptive mother, Golden Age film star Joan Crawford, caused a firestorm and become the quintessential horror story of growing up in Hollywood. The story was so shocking that many refused to believe it, but Christina swore every word was true, and with her husband at her side, provided details of alleged further abuse she hadn't included in her book.
Profile of Michael Westmore, an award-winning makeup artist and member of the storied Hollywood family, who has used his skills to shape faces and images in and out of show business.
Interviewed John Williams (1903-83), the quintessential Englishman on the big and small screens, and a Tony-winning stage actor on the stage, who was familiar to generations of audiences throughout the world. His roles ranged from an intrepid detective in a Hitchcock thriller to playing Shakespeare in an episode of TV's "Twilight Zone" to pitching classical music in an early infomercial. And he loved soap operas: "The acting is consistently good." A classy gentleman's gentleman offstage too.
One of the perks of the job: getting to interview a star of the very first film you ever saw. Sally Forrest (1928-2015) was gracious, if a little shocked, at having the adult critic sitting in front of her recall being a small child and seeing her on the screen. It's not always a good thing to remind actresses of their age. But after reading my story about her, she liked what I had to say and sent me this lovely note.
Profiled writer-director Billy Wilder (1906-2002) on the 25th anniversary of "Some Like It Hot" and served as onstage host of "An Afternoon With" him and his then-writing partner I.A.L. Diamond, an event sponsored by the San Diego Film Society as part of a weekend-long celebration of the film. Wilder was a monumental talent who fled the Nazis to become the movie's great social satirist, one of the most versatile, fearless and influential filmmakers in history, his works ranging from "Double Indemnity" to "Sunset Boulevard" to "The Apartment."
Profiled producer-director Stanley Kramer (1913–2001), and served as onstage host of “An Evening With" him for the San Diego Film Society. Kramer was known for making some of Hollywood’s best-known “message films,” but he hotly disputed that label, instead referring to himself as a “discarded liberal” who saw it as his duty to incorporate issues of the day into his movies. His films included “The Defiant Ones” and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (both about racism), “On the Beach” (about nuclear war), “Inherit the Wind” (about creationism versus evolution), “Judgment at Nuremberg” (about fascism), as well as such disparate productions as the seminal Western “High Noon” starring Gary Cooper (in his second Oscar-winning turn), the seagoing drama “The Caine Mutiny” (starring Humphrey Bogart, Oscar-nominated for his role as a mad ship’s captain), and the slapstick-comedy extraordinaire “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World” (an ode to greed performed by an all-star cast). His films received 80 Academy Award nominations in all, and won 16; he himself was nominated nine times for the award as either producer or director. Controversial and pugnacious, his honors ranged from the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to the NAACP’s first Vanguard Award.
Interview with Ray Bradbury, whom The New York Times called “the writer most responsible for bringing the modern science fiction into the literary mainstream." His works included “Fahrenheit 451,” “The Martian Chronicles,” “The Illustrated Man” and “I Sing the Body Electric.” Born in 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois, by the time of his passing in 2012 at the age of 91, he had written 27 novels and 600 short stories that were read by an estimated eight million readers in 36 languages. Fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery fiction, and more.
Profiled Dong Kingman (1911-2000), a Chinese American artist regarded as one of this country's watercolor masters. Known for his striking urban and landscape paintings, he also was celebrated for his graphic design work in Hollywood during the 1950s and '60s for such films as "Flower Drum Song," "55 Days at Peking" and "The Sand Pebbles." More than 300 of his movie-related works are permanently stored at the Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study at the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills. In 1981, he became the first American artist to be featured in a solo exhibition following the resumption of diplomatic relations between the United States and China, an event that drew more than 100,000 people.
Dong Kingman sent this signed print of his painting of New York City as thanks for the interview ("To Dear Greg Joseph: Best wishes, 1979, Dong Kingman"). Kingman had been commissioned to create art for a calendar that depicted a dozen major U.S. cities; Greg interviewed him as he was working on one that reflected San Diego.
Greg's Q&A with Douglas Edwards (1917-90), at left, who was the first anchor of a nationally televised, regularly scheduled newscast by an American network. He presented the news on CBS-TV every weeknight for 16 years, from 1947 to 1962, when he was succeeded by Walter Cronkite. Edwards discussed his long career, many of the stories he covered (like the sinking of the Andrea Doria ocean liner, which he watched from a helicopter hovering above, reporting that "the swimming pools are emptying the hard way"), TV news in general -- and how he had been treated by CBS after leaving the anchoring post (not well, in his view). He didn't hold back. On the right is Don Hewitt, who later made his mark as the creator of the landmark TV news magazine "60 Minutes"; he also directed the history-making first televised presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon.
Interview with Eric Sevareid (1912-92). Sevareid delivered dry, no-nonsense commentaries on the CBS nightly television news that made him a trusted household name to millions of viewers. But those were just the tip of a long, illustrious journalism career. Long before that, he had been one of the correspondents hired by iconic CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow during World War II, an elite unit of reporters fondly remembered as "Murrow's Boys," who vividly and brilliantly delivered stories from the front lines to millions of anxious radio listeners. Among other things, he was the first to report the fall of Paris to the Germans in 1940. History thrilled him.
Interviews with Ann Landers (the pen name for Esther Pauline "Eppie" Lederer, 1918-2002) and Erma Bombeck (1927-96), two hugely popular syndicated newspaper columnists as different as night and day. But they had one thing in common: They changed the way Americans looked at themselves during one of the most turbulent periods in the country's history.
At a press event in Los Angeles promoting a cable documentary on boxing, Greg struck up a conversation with the legendary outspoken former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali (1942-2016), who was prominently featured in the production. As they shook hands and began to talk, Ali slowly reached into the breast pocket of his sport coat and quietly handed this pamphlet to Greg without saying a word about it.
Interview with former congresswoman and activist Bella Abzug (1920-98), a tough, resilient fighter who lived up to her nickname "Battling Bella" -- and then some. In 1971, she joined Gloria Steinem, Shirley Chisholm, Betty Friedan and others to found the National Women's Political Caucus -- a grassroots organization dedicated to recruiting, training, and supporting women who seek elected and appointed offices at all levels of government -- and was a leading force in eco-feminism. She never stopped running. For something.
Profile of Alfons Heck (1928-2005), who billed himself as "the highest-ranking ex-Hitler Youth in America" and struggled to come to grips with his dark past, at one point touring with a Holocaust survivor to warn that it could happen again. He never forgave himself and lived a tormented life.
Profile of James Kavanaugh (1928-2009), who shocked readers as a priest in the 1960s who publicly confronted the Roman Catholic Church about issues that he felt needed to be resolved at a time when they just weren't openly discussed. He paid the price, and left the priesthood. But he never stopped pushing.
Janey Jimenez was young, pretty -- and Patty Hearst's guard. That combination brought her a notoriety she came to despise. She became Patty Hearst's friend.
Profile of the Colfax family, about two former educators who home-taught their children into Harvard, causing a national sensation. Greg spent a weekend with them at their small ranch in Northern California, interviewing and photographing them as they went about their daily lives. The former teachers had a lot to say about public schools, not much of it good.
Greg calls this the most satisfying, and illuminating, story of his journalism career. As a young reporter for The Kansas City Star in the summer of 1965, he was sent to interview a couple who took in children nobody else wanted. After the article and a photo Greg took of the family were published, unsolicited donations of clothing and other goods for them poured in. It was a testament to the goodness of people -- and a lesson learned about the power of the written word, even those in a small piece in the back pages of a newspaper.
Melvin Belli (1907-96) was one of the most colorful lawyers of his or any other era, who made courtrooms his stage (and, not surprisingly, made his mark in Hollywood too). He had stories to tell -- about his exploits in and out of the courtroom.
Ann Jillian is a successful actress with a long career stretching back to her youth, but her greatest role became openly confronting her bout with breast cancer.
Interview with Neil Simon (1927-2018), the most commercially successful playwright in American history, his works including “Barefoot in the Park,” “The Odd Couple,” “The Sunshine Boys,” “Biloxi Blues,” “Plaza Suite” and “Lost in Yonkers.” By the time of his passing, he had written 28 Broadway plays, 11 original screenplays and 14 adaptations of his own work. "Simon said" ... it was a mistake to assume his works were solely autobiographical.
"Pioneer" is an overused term, but Agnes de Mille (1905-93) was exactly that in the field of dance. A member of one of one of the most legendary families in show business history, she made her own mark -- and then some. Proud, tenacious, and completely unapologetic.
Profile of author Joseph Wambaugh, who is recognized as the father of the modern police novel, early in his writing career. A few years before, in 1971, at age 34, he had written his first novel, "The New Centurions," a best-seller that caused a sensation, while still an officer on the Los Angeles Police Department. He was just putting the finishing touches on another book, "The Onion Field," this a nonfiction work about two LAPD detectives who were kidnapped by criminals, resulting in the murder of one, and shared background material about that. It too became a best-seller. At the time of the interview, he was making a life change. Not only was Wambaugh a cop -- in his 14 years with the LAPD, he had risen from patrolman to detective sergeant -- he was the son of a cop. "The truth is, I love making a good pinch," he explained, but added, "How could I possibly go back and subject myself to the kind of thing a cop has to put up with?" Among other things, his notoriety was getting in the way -- people he was arresting were asking for his autograph. He confided that his buddies on the police department, hailing his huge success as a writer, pushed him out the door and made him buy a better car. In the intervening years, Wambaugh's stories have been adapted into numerous television shows and films, and he has won three Edgar Awards and been named a grand master by the Mystery Writers of America.
Interview with "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry (1921-91) for an article about how his life and career, including stints as a fighter pilot and cop, led to the seminal television and film franchise. He came in peace -- and was upset that similar science-fiction productions didn't follow suit.
Profiled Lillian Boyer (1901-89), who rose to prominence in the 1920s with daredevil exploits that helped define a wild, sky's-the-limit period in the country's history. A former waitress, she found that walking on wings and dangling from airplanes as they soared high in the air was something she loved to do -- and paid pretty well too. Onlookers thousands of feet below craned their necks, alarmed but utterly fascinated by the woman dubbed "Empress of the Skies." She lived to become a dignified grande dame whose stories, told from a perspective few ever experience, explained who we were -- and still wowed the crowds.
Script of a special two-part episode of the science-fiction TV series "Quantum Leap" autographed by the show's creator, the ubiquitous TV producer Donald P. Bellisario, who also wrote the teleplay. The installment has the series' main character leaping into the body of Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy, and leaves no doubt Oswald killed Kennedy and acted alone, conclusions that remain controversial to this day. During an interview, Greg asked Bellisario how he could be so sure. Bellisario's reply was a shocker and came from a unique perspective: "After the assassination, when Oswald was arrested and came on the TV screen, I said, 'I know that S.O.B.! I served with him in the Marines!' There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that he did it. That's who he was."
Interview with Ed McMahon (1923-2009), longtime sidekick of Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show" (and before that, on the game show "Who Do You Trust?"), and the cue sheet from one of the last "Tonight" broadcasts with Carson, given to Greg by the program's production manager after he attended the taping.
Greg had a long interview with actor Peter Falk (1927-2011) about this special episode of his long-running series "Columbo," an installment inspired by the infamous Leopold-Loeb thrill killing of a 14-year-old boy in 1924, a general subject also at the center of Alfred Hitchcock's 1948 psychological thriller "Rope," starring Jimmy Stewart. Greg asked the popular and much-respected Falk what HIS favorite television viewing was, and he surprisingly replied C-SPAN. Falk explained that he wanted to watch -- and study -- how real people act.
Note from producer Robert Greenwald about Greg's review and interview regarding his 1989 TV-movie, "A Deadly Silence." The complex and disturbing story, based on a book by New York Times reporter Dena Kleiman, is about a Long Island teenager who planned the murder of her father, who had sexually abused her. Greenwald directed the 1980 TV-movie "The Burning Bed," starring Farrah Fawcett in a fact-based story about a battered wife, one of the highest-rated television movies of all time, considered a landmark in the depiction of domestic violence. Greenwald has earned 25 Emmy Award nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, the Peabody Award and the Robert Wood Johnson Award. He was awarded the 2002 Producer of the Year Award by the American Film Institute. He is the son of prominent psychotherapist Harold Greenwald, and the nephew of choreographer Michael Kidd.
Greg interviewed James Arness (1923-2011) for this cover story when the actor reprised his iconic "Gunsmoke" role, that of Dodge City Marshal Matt Dillon, in a series of television movies. Arness discussed his career, his friendship with John Wayne and how it played into his accepting the Dillon role, and how the TV series evolved during its record-setting 20-year run. He was chatty and spoke with an easygoing sense of humor, a far cry from the stoic Western character that made him a household name to generations. A pro's pro who answered every question with candor and aplomb. (Greg also interviewed John Mantley, long-time producer of "Gunsmoke," for the story; Mantley was also an actor, writer, director, screenwriter – and cousin of the pioneering silent-film megastar Mary Pickford.)
In July 1966 as a young reporter for The Kansas City Star, Greg was flown to the real Dodge City, Kansas, to cover what was billed as "the last Texas trail drive."
Interview with actor John Goodman when he was co-starring on the hit sitcom, "Roseanne." His performance as the loyal, quick-witted working-class husband on the show made him a star. Speaking from his family's home in St. Louis over the Christmas holidays, he was asked how it was to work with the tempestuous and controversial Roseanne Barr. "Everything's cool, man," he replied. Indeed.
Thank-you note for Greg's positive review of the sitcom, "The Jackie Thomas Show," a behind-the-scenes show-within-a-show about an obnoxious TV star created by actress Roseanne Barr for her then-husband Tom Arnold. Greg said the series was so bad it was good. Most reviews said the show was just bad (and thus the note).
Interview with actors Barbara Hale (1922-2017) and her husband Bill Williams (1915-92). She had had a solid film career when she took on what would become her signature role, as legal secretary Della Street in the original television series "Perry Mason" (1957-66), a performance that earned her an Emmy as Best Supporting Actress in a Dramatic Series in 1959; she repeated the part in 30 "Perry Mason" made-for-television movies from 1985 to 1995. He was a longtime presence in supporting roles in film and TV best known for starring in the syndicated TV Western series "The Adventures of Kit Carson" from 1951 to 1955. They married in 1946 and stayed together until his death from a brain tumor 46 years later. Their son is the actor William Katt (Williams' birth name), whose credits include the TV series "The Greatest American Hero" and the original film version of the horror classic "Carrie." True professionals, and a delightfully memorable interview.
Jo Anne Worley is a ubiquitous presence in film, television and on the stage, but is perhaps best known for her zany work on the comedy-variety TV series "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In." She was married to actor Roger Perry (1933-2018), who had a solid film and TV career of his own, from 1975 to 2000. They were terrific in this play, and their thank-you note was appreciated.
His long-running Charmin-squeezing commercials may have amused generations, but behind the scenes, the star of the spots, Dick Wilson (1916-2007), wasn't laughing, He was a serious actor who complained his career had been stalled by toilet paper.
Profile of Joe Garagiola (1926-2016). He was more than a former baseball player who became a Hall of Fame broadcaster, but a great ambassador for the sport he loved and an Everyman for all seasons who genuinely cared about others. Whether reporting on games, appearing on talk or game shows, or just chatting, he was a lot of fun to be around and a true gentleman who cared deeply about his family.
Jack Paar (1918-2004) hosted "The Tonight Show" after Steve Allen and before Johnny Carson, but for the five years he did, from 1957 to 1962, he defined the genre and raised the bar. A true wit with a gift for language and an appreciation of the power of the spoken word, he was a natty gentleman who explained that he spoke softly so as not to disturb viewers who were watching from bed. Famously temperamental, he wore his heart on his sleeve, and at one point shocked the nation by walking off the show during a live broadcast in a fit over a joke of his that had been censored, an exit that was front-page news across the country the next day. Having made his point with worried network executives, he returned to the show several weeks later, beginning his opening monologue with, "As I was saying ... " After Greg wrote a complimentary column about Paar, he received this note from him.
Greg's homage to two of his great enthusiasms, the movies and baseball.
Greg's first article about baseball, in July 1966, a Kansas City Star piece focusing on a promotional prize-giveaway night at a Kansas City Athletics game. A team spokesman for controversial and colorful owner Charles O. Finley, when asked by Greg for the names of the prize winners, replied, "Make them up." When told of the response, The Star's managing editor exploded in anger at team representatives. Greg was given the names (and verified them).
One of Greg's most prized possessions: a baseball autographed by members of his hometown Kansas City Royals from the team's glory days in the 1970s and '80s, most notably Hall of Famer George Brett and Willie Wilson, one of the fastest players ever to play the game.
Program from Frank Sinatra's star-studded "retirement" concert on Sunday, June 13, 1971, at the Los Angeles Music Center, which drew an overflow who's who audience of the day (including the vice president of the United States) and raised thousands of dollars for the Motion Picture and Television Relief Fund. The mercurial entertainer ultimately changed his mind and returned to performing a few years later. Greg attended the event thanks to the generosity of legendary actor Gregory Peck, a Sinatra friend who produced the show and provided a $500 ticket (another story.)
In a career spanning 60 years, Joan Baez has worn many hats -- singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist extraordinaire, her very name evoking images of protest as a champion of causes she held dear. In this interview, she added yet another facet: doting mother. Straightforward and true to herself, unafraid to speak her mind, she was personable and displayed a wicked sense of humor, including when she poked fun at herself. An absolute original.
Interview with Graham Nash – musician, singer, songwriter, member of the Hollies and Crosby, Stills & Nash, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice over –- who proved to be much more than someone who knows his way around a tune.
It was the holiday season and singer-songwriter Kenny Rogers (1938-2020) was in the mood to talk. And talk he did, blaming himself for short-changing his family during his long, phenomenally successful musical career, and vowing never to do it again. He was making a gift of his acknowledgement in the hope that it would regain the trust of his family. A most unusual Christmas story, with a plot that was far from resolved.
Profiled Patti Page (1927-2013), the chart-topping, best-selling female artist of the 1950s, who, as far as listeners of the era were concerned, lived up to her introduction as "the Singin' Rage, Miss Patti Page." She sold over 100 million records over six decades. She was a quiet, pensive and modest interview subject who chose her words as carefully as she did her songs.
Interview with Dick Van Dyke for an extensive story on film comedy during which the actor discussed the comics he finds funny (and unfunny), as well as his friendship with Stan Laurel of the legendary movie comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. Van Dyke delivered the eulogy at Laurel's funeral, during which he read "The Clown's Prayer." Laurel willed his famous bowler hat to Van Dyke.
Greg profiled Will Rogers Jr. (shown in the top photos, at left, during the interview), who shared a number of personal insights into his legendary actor-humorist father, particularly how Will Sr. decided which powerful public figures, especially politicians, were fair game for his famous quips and commentaries. Rogers Jr. died in 1993 at age 81, committing suicide after a series of health setbacks. Rogers Sr. had died in 1935 at age 55, in a plane crash.
Turns out Bob Hope (1903-2003) wasn't kidding when he said he deserved an Oscar -- he wasn't kidding about a lot of things. He had a lot he wanted to get off his chest, and did. A surprisingly candid, and completely fascinating, interview with an entertainer beloved for his movies, television specials, hosting the Academy Awards a record 19 times, and above all, entertaining the troops. Hope helped define the stand-up comedy genre in the 20th century, but became a polarizing figure because of his stance on the Vietnam War.
Several years after his last interview with Bob Hope, and after moving to another city to join another newspaper, Greg was surprised to receive this in the mail just before Christmas.
Truly great straight men are hard to find and essential to the success of a comedy act, and George Fenneman (1919-97) and Harry von Zell (1906-81), who appeared with Groucho Marx and Burns & Allen, respectively, were two of the best. And they had a lot to say on their own.
Sid Caesar (1922-2014) and Steve Allen (1921-2000) were two of early television's most influential funny men. Each had a son who became a doctor. When they all got together to talk about the benefits of humor, it was good medicine.
Profile of Buck Henry (1930-2020), a writer, director and actor who left his mark in television and film by viewing life through a satirical lens that both entertained and informed us like few others in his generation, or any other. A unique talent and intriguing interview subject who spoke his mind.
Early in Greg's journalism career, a friend asked him to write a magazine article about some young comedians appearing at a local pub in Pasadena, California. The names, and the troupe, on this old program may sound familiar.
When an editor asked Greg what story he would like to do, he replied, talk to the people who helped shape my generation. And a story was born.
Thank-you note from "Buffalo Bob" Smith (1917-98), whose children's show "Howdy Doody" was a must-see for children in the early days of television. Toy reproductions of the title-character puppet he used on the show flew off the shelves and made a lot of kids happy on Christmas morning.
"Kukla, Fran and Ollie" was a wildly popular American children's show in early television, running from 1947 to 1957, starring comedienne Fran Allison as she interacted with puppets manipulated by the program's creator, Burr Tillstrom. Ad-libbed, it built a huge following among adults too, and became "The Simpsons" of its day. Interviewing Allison (1907-89) was as enjoyable as the unforgettable series that charmed audiences hungry for a laugh in post-War America.
Interview with Bob Keeshan (1927-2004), an actor-producer who created and played the title role in the immensely popular kids' show "Captain Kangaroo," which ran from 1955 to 1984, making it the longest-running nationally broadcast children's television propgram of the time. He also was the original Clarabell the Clown on the earlier children's TV show, "Howdy Doody," a must-see for kids of that era. He became a fearlessly outspoken advocate for quality children's programming, fighting against any form of exploitation. And he wasn't clowning around.
Interview with Barbara Billingsley (1915-2010), who became America's quintessential Mom as June Cleaver on the iconic sitcom "Leave It To Beaver." Although the series never was in the top-30 rated programs during its original network run (from 1957-63, the first year on CBS, the rest on ABC), it has become a beloved mainstay in reruns continuing to this day on the likes of TV Land and MeTV, also spinning off in the 1983 made-for-TV movie "Still the Beaver," the made-for-cable series "The New Leave It to Beaver" (1984-89), and a 1997 theatrical movie under the original title. Billingsley was surprisingly candid about her role and its importance as a cultural benchmark, recalling that during a break in shooting the original series she felt obligated to step out of sight to smoke a cigarette because nuns were visiting the set. Classy.
Toward the end of Greg's interview with Chuck Jones (1912-2002), the legendary cartoonist took out a piece of paper and began drawing this. When he was finished, he asked Greg if he had children, and when he was told yes, Jones dedicated it to them. Years later, Greg's children, now adults, had the picture framed and gave it to him as a Christmas present.
Interview with Adriana Caselotti (1916-97), who provided the voice of Snow White in Disney's groundbreaking 1937 feature animation film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Her voice also was heard, albeit uncredited, in two other movie classics – "The Wizard of OZ" (1939), as Juliet during the Tin Man's song "If I Only Had a Heart," speaking the line "Wherefore art thou, Romeo?", and in Frank Capra's 1946 Christmas favorite "It's a Wonderful Life," heard singing in the background of Martini's bar as a distraught George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) is praying. Caselotti, named a Disney Legend in 1994, answered her phone by trilling several bars of the "I'm Wishing" song she performed in "Snow White." She was a character off-screen as well – in the very best sense.
Drawing of chipmunks Chip ‘n Dale by Bill Justice, one of Disney’s most celebrated animators. Justice (1914–2011), who joined Disney in 1937, worked on the seminal films “Fantasia” and “Peter Pan” but is perhaps best known as the animator of Chip n’ Dale as well as the rabbit Thumper from “Bambi.” In all, he worked on 57 short subjects and 19 features for the studio. Justice also worked on designs and characters for Disneyland and other Disney parks and resorts, and, as a member of Disney’s “Imagineering” Department, programmed figures for some popular attractions including Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, and Bear Country Jamboree. The drawing was a gift to Greg when he visited the studio with his family for a private screening of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" on the 50th anniversary of that film.
Greg is an unabashed Disneyphile. He has interviewed four of Disney's "Nine Old Men" animators from the studio's classic period, boomer idol Fess "Davy Crockett" Parker, "the voice of Snow White" Adriana Caselotti, Walt Disney Archives founder Dave Smith, and covered the openings of Disney theme park attractions including Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Bear Country Jamboree, America Sings, and Captain EO. He also covered the 20th anniversary of Walt Disney World.
For further information about Greg Joseph, please see:
IMDb (the Internet Movie Database), at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0430595 .
SAG iActor (official SAG-AFTRA site) at http://www.sagaftra.org/iactor/GregJoseph and Actors Access at http://resumes.actorsaccess.com/gregjoseph .
Movie and television reviews written by him, at http://imdb.com/user/ur12162366/comments .
