Rarified Heir Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #120: Amanda Gari Encore (Eddie Cantor) Mar 07, 2023

Show notes

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Amanda Gari, granddaughter, old Banjo Eyes himself, Eddie Cantor. Amanda was a great guest who talked about her loving, if somewhat. compromised grandfather she knew after a series of medical events slowed him down. We talk to Amanda about the massive star Eddie Canter was from the 1920s to the 1960s. He worked with everyone from Will Rogers & W.C. Fields, wrote an iconic song we all know as "Merry Melodies" and made a hit of the song "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". Eddie even shows up in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire played by Stephen DeRosa). And we are barely scratching the surface here.

We also talk to Amanda about her father, Roberto Gari who was a painter and actor whose portrait of Judy Garland hangs in the Museum of the City of New York and his rebirth in his later years as Amy Sedaris dad Guy Blank in her hit series Strangers with Candy was as unexpected as it was funny. Not to be outdone, we talk to Amanda about her birth being announced on The Ed Sullivan Show, her acting and singing career in cabaret as well as her own 'Banjo eyes" that she's used to comedic effect in many of her stage and screen gigs. We're "Makin' Whoopie" on this encore episode, as we tip our caps to the man who started the March of Dimes charity. Everyone has a story. Take a listen.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #119: Bill Funt Encore (Allen Funt) Feb 28, 2023

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, "in the morning, in the evening…ain't we got Funt?"* That's right, it's an encore episode with Bill Funt, son of Allen Funt. We speak to Bill about growing up the son of perhaps THE pioneer of reality television whose Candid Camera TV show was a major hit on American television for decades and was just one of the versions in a long line of Candid incarnations which spanned radio, cable TV and film as well.

We spoke to Bill about everything from a legitimate air hijacking to Cuba he was a part of as a toddler as well as his dads beginnings in radio in the military which launched the idea for Candid Microphone, Candid Camera, Candid Candid Camera and (ahem) What Do You Say To A Naked Lady. More on that later. We also spoke to Bill about his songwriting aunt who got him on the set of Sesame Street, his mother Marilyn Funt, whose book Are You Anybody? was a precursor of sorts to this podcast and his dad's love of The Beatles. Not.

There's a lot to unpack here including Bill's ribbing of hist Josh Mills' imitations, his own career as a musician and stints working on classic television that was not Candid Camera. Take a listen, to this encore episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #118: Drew Friedman (Bruce Jay Friedman) Feb 21, 2023

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to master illustrator, painter and cartoonist Drew Friedman, son of writer/screenwriter Bruce Jay Friedman. And when we say writer, we mean a writer – short stories, essays, Broadway plays, films, novels – you name it and Bruce Jay Friedman did it. From screenplays like hit films like Splash and Stir Crazy to less, how do we say this, successful films like Doctor Detroit, Bruce Jay Friedman walked in both the literary and pop culture worlds, seamlessly. We also talk Bruce's novels like Scuba Duba and A Mother's Kisses, which were lauded for their humorous look at social and societal issues of the day. With contemporaries like Joseph Heller and Thomas Pynchon, you are in some pretty impressive company.

We also talk to Drew about growing up in New York with a father who had his own table at the fashionable Elaine's in Manhattan for 30 years as well as his own obsession with drawing as a child. It's led Drew to be known as one of the most well-known portrait artists and cartoon artists of the last 50 or so years. His works have appeared in everything from the Wall Street Journal to Heavy Metal. His latest book, Maverix and Lunatix : Icons of Underground Comix is out now on Fantagraphics books. His other books you might ask? How about Old Jewish Comedians? Or Heroes of the Comics? Or All The Presidents. Somehow we talk find time to talk to Drew about Topps baseball cards, Groucho Marx, National Lampoon, Joe Franklin, Tor Johnson, Sammy Petrillo, Dick Shawn, Ernie Kovacs and much much more. It's a lively interview that became a conversation and that's always a great thing for this podcast.

So sit back and take a listen to the latest episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast with Drew Friedman. Everyone has a story.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #117: Josh Langsam (Cab Calloway) Feb 14, 2023

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Josh Langsam, the grandson of the one and only Cab Calloway. Now aside from having a great name, Josh tells host Josh Mills about the legacy, the history and the future of one of America's greatest entertainers of all-time. Starting in the 1920's Cab Calloway was a band leader, performer, author, singer, actor, song writer and his influence ranged from live performances, recorded music, film, animation, fashion – the guy did it all. He was the first black entertainer to sell one million copies with his signature song, "Minnie The Moocher" in 1931. He was also the first black entertainer to have his own radio show. None other than George Gershwin based the character Sportin' Life from Porgy and Bess after Cab. Pioneering animator Max Fleischer invented the Rotoscope and animates Cab as a Walrus in a Betty Boop cartoon based on "Minnie The Moocher". Are you getting the picture, yet?

We spoke to Josh about the Harlem Renaissance, the famed Cotton Club, the infamous Dizzy Gillespie spitball that wasn't, how our host Josh's family played a major part in Cab's career, Cab's iconic fashion sense and much more. Of course, we talk about Cab's "Minnie The Moocher" disco hit in the 80s, the movie Cotton Club and indeed, The Blues Brothers, which introduced Cab to a whole new, younger audience and revitalized his career. If you've ever wanted to know what someone does or wants to do with a legacy/estate as an heir to a famous person, this is the episode for you. It's very fun and frankly, an educational episode which hits upon both the entertainer and the man Cab Calloway. Take a listen to this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode # 116: Gary Hall (Huntz Hall) Feb 07, 2023

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Gary Hall, son of actor/comedian Huntz Hall. Like many of our episodes, we find that there are way more questions than there is time to answer and this episode was absolutely one of them. We talk to Gary about, of course, The Bowery Boys and the Dead End Kids of which Huntz Hall a part of since the first Broadway show in 1935 to the last incarnation of the gang in 1958. As Sach Jones, Hall was featured in literally a couple hundred short films and features and became known for his comic relief, his upturned cap and his outrageous behavior, both on and as we learn from Gary, and off the camera.

We also spoke with Gary about his mother, Louise Hall who was a pioneer wardrobe and costumer in the 1970s. She worked on shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Bewitchedand Get Smart meaning….his mother not only dressed Elizabeth Montgomery, Barbara Feldon and Mary Tyler Moore, she basically was at the forefront of the women's movement figuratively and literally because of her genius. She was quite the trail blazer as we learn from Gary because as a woman she could not get a job in another part of the business because of her sex.

Gary was a fascinating person to talk to as he is now the second person we've had on the podcast from a pretty unique profession. He also talks about his stint as the principal at the Oakwood School where Josh went to school from K through 9th grades. Gary's insight gives us a fascinating background on why and how the school was founded and it's roots in the progressive movement and show business and why they intersect. Oh and did I mention, that Gary's father and Josh's mother Edie Adams starred in a Florida production of Arsenic and Old Lace in 1988 co-starring Dody Goodman, James Mac Arthur and Dark Shadow's Jonathan Frid? Yeah this is a good one. Take a listen to the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #115: Kelly Carlin Encore (George Carlin) Jan 31, 2023

Show notes

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we present another encore episode, this time with Kelly Carlin, daughter of iconic stand-up comedian George Carlin. We spoke with Kelly, who we met at the National Comedy Center in 2018 and who was essentially the impetus for the podcast about a variety of subjects. Some of the great things we chat about with Kelly are her memoir, A Carlin Home Companion : Growing Up with George, her career as a monologuist and therapist, her iconic dad's humor, his early comedy partner Jack Burns and much more.

This is both a funny and deep conversation with Kelly as we delve into Ram Dass, Jungian therapy and her Women on the Verge program as well as what made her dad laugh, how his humor influenced her own humor and his 'time on the road' being at home without dad. It's a spiritual and deep episode with a few well timed laughs as well. We hope you like listening to this one as we did making it. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast and this is one great episode if we do say so ourselves.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #114: Josh Davis & Tony Davis Encore Jan 24, 2023

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we bring you an encore edition with brothers Josh Davis and Anthony Davis, whose father Jerry Davis wrote and produced episodes of classic television shows like "Bewitched," "The Odd Couple" and "Bewitched" among many others. We love this episode because frankly with all the connections to guests we've had in the past, host Josh Mills and both Davis' have known each other since Kindergarten and spent the majority of their youth growing up together. From school to holidays to vacations to camp, from motorcycles to steam cleaning car engines to seeing wildly inappropriate movies in Bakersfield, Ca. to basketball/football games, the Mills' and the Davis' were inseparable.

We spoke to Josh and Tony about everything from their half siblings Matt (whose mother was actress Marilyn Maxwell) and Jeff (a screenwriter and comedy writing professor) to their dad's incredible raconteur lifestyle. In fact, it's revealed on this episode that it was Jerry Davis who introduced Ronald and Nancy Reagan to one another. We talk about classic sitcoms, their amazing mother Berle Davis, the street they lived on with a ton of celebrities, a Dean Martin story that is one for the record books and a Groucho Marx story that will blow your mind. So enough of my yackin'. Let's boogie. Let's take a listen to this encore episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #113 : Susannah Mars (Kenneth Mars) Jan 17, 2023

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Susannah Mars, daughter of the amazing actor/comedian Kenneth Mars. We spoke to Susannah about growing up with the man who portrayed the outrageous Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind in The Producers as well as Inspector Kemp in Young Frankenstein. Of course that means we talk about Mel Brooks but it also means we talk about everything from Chicago radio/TV personality Sonny Mars who was Kenneth's step father, additional Mars films like The Parallax View & What's Up, Doc? & hanging out with dad's friends Dick Gautier (Hymie from Get Smart) and Dave Madden of The Partridge Family. Susannah also talks to us about her own career as a performer, actress and her upcoming documentary "Mourning Has Broken", her father's amazing accents which may or may not be used In LA restaurants, his penchant for elaborate gags at lunch as well as his stage career which frankly we knew too little about.

It was wonderful talking to Susannah because not only did she have some great tales about being on the set of Young Frankenstein and being in the seats at The Muny in St; Louis, but she regales us with stories about appearing in an ABC After School Special with Kristy McNichol, her small role in the Jodie Foster version of Freaky Friday and her obvious bond she and her dad shared. She really brings his wild but loving personality to life in our interview. So if the cult TV show Fernwood 2 Night, meeting Lucille Ball on the Universal lot or The Playboy Club circuit mean anything to you, you should take a listen to this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Take a listen.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #112: Elmo Kirkwood (Curt Kirkwood) Jan 10, 2023

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Elmo Kirkwood, son of legendary guitarist of the band Meat Puppets Curt Kirkwood and nephew to bassist Cris. While casual fans might know the band via their connection to the historic and much lauded Nirvana episode of MTV's Unplugged, the Meat Puppets began in Phoenix in 1980 and cut their teeth in the punk scene after signing with the iconic punk label SST, home of Black Flag, Minutemen, Husker Du et all.

We spoke to Elmo during the Covid lockdown when the band wasn't touring and in fact, he's now a member of the band who are still going 42 years later after a lengthy hiatus. Members of the Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame, the Meat Puppets influenced a generation of bands with their genre spanning music of punk, prog, jazz, and outre artists like the Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart to name a few.

Elmo talks to us about his somewhat unconventional upbringing, his passion for the classic power trio lineup of the 80s, playing in a band with his dad and uncle, his own music and how he was getting along NOT touring when the world stopped for a good long while. If you are a fan of punk, alternative, jam bands of classic rock, you must listen to this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Take that Huskers!

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #111: Doug Denoff (Stan Denoff) Jan 03, 2023

Show notes

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we have an encore episode with Broadway producer Doug Denoff, whose father, Sam Denoff was one of the greatest comedy writers of his generation. Originally part of the famed comedy writing team Persky/Denoff with the equally genius Bill Persky, Stan Denoff worked on some of the most beloved sitcoms of the latter half of the 20th century including The Dick Van Dyke Show, That Girl along with Andy Williams specials, McHale's Navy and much more.

We spoke to Doug about his father's start in radio in New York, his move to California, his Emmy awards, his career as a writer after Persky/Denoff ended and much more. We also talked about Doug's career in the entertainment business and he helped us understand the ins/outs of Broadway backers, producers and his current projects. Moreover we talk about long lost Los Angeles restaurants, the love of Nate N' Al's deli and the 'small town' of Beverly Hills of his youth. If the Hollywood Canteen, Carl Reiner's favorite meal and insider stories about sitcoms of the 60s appeal to you, you will want to listen to this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast.

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