Rarified Heir Podcast

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Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #51: Antonia Bogdanovich Encore (Peter Bogdanovich) Nov 09, 2021

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we bring you an encore episode with guest Antonia Bogdanovich. Taped pre-pandemic, this interview was done in person and it was the first time host Josh Mills had seen his former elementary school classmate since the 1970s. But it didn't take long to catch up nor did it take much time to dig right in and discussing Antonia's totally unique experience as the child of celebrities as she had two parents so famous, their marriage and divorce became part of Hollywood lore. Famed director/actor Peter Bogdanovich and production designer/producer/screenwriter Polly Platt were Hollywood's "It" couple beginning in the late 60s, first while making the horror film Targets and later the iconic film The Last Picture Show and its sequel Texasville. Along the way, her parents were connected to some of the most talked about films of the 70s, 80s and 90s including Mask, Pretty Baby, Terms of Endearment, A Star is Born, Broadcast News, They All Laughed, Bottle Rocket and many more. Antonia was both forthcoming and honest about her years growing up in Hollywood, which led her to interact with everyone from Orson Welles to Robin Williams. Along the way, she became a director in her own right with the film Phantom Haloand as you will soon hear, a WWII project she was working on at the time of this interview from a script found in her parents unproduced script archive. Wow! We also delve into The Simpsons, Wes Anderson, the Wilson brothers, Roger Corman, Jack Nicholson and more. One of our first episodes is one of our favorites. And you'll hear it now, on the next Rarified Heir Podcast.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #50: Larry Strauss (Charlotte Rae) Nov 02, 2021

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to educator & author Larry Strauss, whose mother is well known to both Broadway fans and sitcom fans alike, none other than Edna Garrett herself, the incomparable Charlotte Rae. It was a fascinating talk with Larry because there were so many connections and parallels to host Josh Mills' own life as both Charlotte Rae and Josh's mother Edie Adams starred in L'il Abner on Broadway in 1956 as Mammy Yokum and Daisy Mae respectively. Much of the episode centers around all things Normal Lear, Diff'rent Strokes, The Facts of Life and theatre friends like Zero Mostel who once came to a party at their New York Apartment and ended up watching a Knicks game with Larry. We also learn about John Strauss, Larry's dad, a Grammy and Emmy winner who not only co-wrote the theme songs for Car 54, Where Are You? and The Phil Silvers Show but produced the soundtrack to the Milos Forman film Amadeus but frequently collaborated on three early Woody Allen films. But there is a lot more to this discussion. We also talk about some serious hardships and familial love as Larry's older brother Andrew suffered from autism, epilepsy and schizophrenia in the 1950s and 1960s when there simply was no help for children with special needs like there is now. Somehow, that dogged persistence by his mother and father to help Andrew led Larry to a career as an English teacher in the LAUSD school system and it was his own persistence and belief in his students, that finds father's day cards in his mailbox from those same students for all his hard work and belief In them. In addition to teaching, Larry writes a column for USA Today, he co-wrote his mother's autobiography My Facts of Life and on the eve of publication, we talk to him about his latest novel, Light Man, a fictionalized story that takes place in a city in the decline. Set in 1973 New York, it touches upon some of the very topics mentioned above. Oh the places you'll go on this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #49: Rachel Pollack (Sydney Pollack) Oct 26, 2021

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Rachel Pollack, daughter of Director, Actor, Producer Sydney Pollack. You might remember some of the rather small films Sydney Pollack directed like Out of Africa, The Firm, Three Days of the Condor, Electric Horseman, The Way We Were or perhaps you remember him acting (and directing as well) in movies and television shows like Tootsie, The Sopranos, Will and Grace, The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and other obscure productions. Oh right, Sydney Pollack also won an Oscar, an Emmy and his films have been nominated form a total of 48 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Out of Africa. Rachel lets us in on life with dad (and mum Claire Griswold) who cooked more than they went out for dinner, who once came to her to ask who Dave Matthews was before a meeting, whose love of flying was where he was happiest and his 24 hour prep to make his famous ribs. We take a deep dive into the basis of his entire career in show business from his years studying at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theater in New York with the legendary acting teacher Stanley Miesner which led him to Broadway acting with both Zero Mostel & Tyrone Power, a Playhouse 90 episode directed by John Frankenheimer which led him to Hollywood as a vocal coach and how the advice of Burt Lancaster got him to direct his first film. It's a fascinating episode for all that and the wonderful antidote from Rachel that the more famous the actor, the less attention she paid to them. Take that Tom Cruise! Everyone has a story on this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode # 48: Carnie Wilson Encore (Brian Wilson) Oct 19, 2021

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we have another first. Our very first guest from all the way back in December 2020, is now our first ever encore episode of the podcast. Carnie Wilson's episode is the most listened to episode from our first season and 49 weeks later, we are together again for the first time.

Carnie is one of the most honest and most positive and joyful guests we've ever had on the podcast. Perhaps it's because Carnie and Host Josh Mills went to the same elementary & middle schools together in the 1970s & 80s that this works so well. Maybe spending their growing up years together in Los Angeles makes this conversation about being a child of a celebrity so easy. But it's more than that too. With Carnie, what you see is what you get. Bold, brash, hysterical, loving, warm, kind and with an outlook on life that shines bright, it's a joy to hear Carnie talk on the podcast. Growing up the daughter of musical genius, Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, we also learn about mother Marilyn Wilson (of The Honeys) who was the rock in her family. Nothing is off limits as we talk about everything from her love and hate relationship with food to her favorite moments introducing The Beach Boys onstage as a child, to her own recording career in Wilson Phillips with sister Wendy and Chynna Phillips, to her memories of Uncle's Carl Wilson & Dennis Wilson that makes this episode so great. Maybe it's the story about Elton John putting her to bed as a toddler. Or that her first crush literally came to her door to say hello.

Take a listen and decide for yourself on this encore episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast with Carnie Wilson. Everyone has a story.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #47: Cleto Escobedo III (Cleto Escobedo Jr.) Oct 12, 2021

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Cleto Escobedo III of Cleto and the Cletones, the house band on the late night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! that also includes his famous dad, Cleto Escobedo Jr. But before he joined his son on television, Jr. began his career a San Antonio born sax player whose soul/R&B band the Dell-Tones left the lone star state and found themselves performing in Las Vegas in 1965 at Casbar Lounge at the Sahara Hotel. Renamed Los Blues, the band befriends and performs for a huge range of headliners such as Sammy Davis Jr., The Righteous Brothers, Louis Prima & Keely Smith, Duke Ellington & Don Rickles among others. The band becomes such a popular late-night attraction at 3:30am for half a decade on the Strip, they even record an album for United Artists in 1971. But by that point after fame eludes them, the band breaks up. So to stay close to his family, Cleto works at Caesars Palace beginning as a bus boy and working his way up to becoming head butler for entertainers and high rollers at the casino. Meanwhile, Cleto III is now also a sax player like his father and is touring the world with entertainers like Marc Anthony, Luis Miguel and Paula Abdul. And this is the insane part. In 2003, Cleto III's best friend & former Las Vegas neighbor, Jimmy Kimmel is named the host of their new late night talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! & Cleto III is asked to put together a house band for the show, including his dad at the request of Kimmel himself. 18 years later, father and son are still performing together on the show. This episode runs the gamut with stories about old school Vegas restaurants, Cuban card dealers, performing with the Doobie Brothers' Michael McDonald on television, how Sammy Davis Jr. changed the family fortunes and touring Japan with Phillip Bailey. From late nights in the Sahara lounge to late nights on ABC television, this is Rarified Heir Podcast with Cleto Escobedo III.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #46: Saratoga Ballantine (Carl Ballantine) Oct 05, 2021

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Saratoga Ballantine, daughter of Meyer Kessler who was really comedian Carl Ballantine aka The Great Ballantine aka The Amazing Ballantine aka The World's Greatest Magician. But of course, Carl Ballantine wasn't a great magician, he was one of the first to marry magic and comedy that became his trademark in vaudeville, television, stage and film. In fact, his fans include George Carlin, David Copperfield and Steve Martin, who said of Carl Ballantine, "He was the most copied act by a host of professionals and amateurs." Best known as Lester Gruber on McHale's Navy, Carl Ballantine starred in TV shows such as The Monkees, I Dream of Jeannie, The Partridge Family and The Gong Show as well as films such as Mr. Saturday Night, The Shakiest Gun in the West, The World's Greatest Lover and Speedway w/ Elvis Presley. He was allegedly the first magician to play Las Vegas in 1956, he appeared seven times on The Ed Sullivan Show and took his last name from Ballantine Whisky because it sounded 'classy.' We learned a lot from talking to Sara who tells us that Carl and his wife singer/comedienne Ceil Cabot were both Christian Scientists, that she put on her own production of the musical Mame at a church in Hollywood age 15 with extra money her parents sent her to take care of the dogs in 1972 when Carl played Broadway in the revival of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum and she voiced a very well-known Star-Kist Tuna commercial that was more memorable than any math quiz we ever took. It's a fun and fascinating ride into the world of comedy, magic and voice-overs on this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Take a listen.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #45: Cory Tyler (Willie Tyler & Lester) Sep 28, 2021

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast is yet another first for us. Our guest today is Cory Tyler, son of ventriloquist Willie Tyler of, you guessed it, Willie Tyler and Lester. Omnipresent in the 1970s and 80s, Willie Tyler is a comedian who appeared in movies, commercials, television, showrooms and comedy clubs across the country from 1964 to present. It's funny how you see an entertainer and think you know about them because well, all you did was turn on the television. But scratching just below the surface, we learned that Willie and Lester were MCs on the legendary Motown Revue live shows crisscrossing the country during civil rights and likely led to audience integration simply by performing on stage for a mixed audience. Or that he appeared in the recent ?uestlove Hulu documentary Summer of Soul that was unseen for 50 years until it resurfaced to great acclaim this year. And most amazingly, we learn Lester has basically been his only partner since he started performing professionally. No Mortimer Snerd for Willie Tyler. It's only Lester. We talk to Cory about growing up in the San Fernando Valley, his own career as a dancer in the Michael Jackson film Moonwalker, his Star Warstoy commercials by Kenner, acting on hit shows like A Different World and his latest venture www.championfinances.com helping clients learn financial literacy. Cory and met when he tried to help girlfriend Jazmin Erving with her audio on episode #40 and it was a pleasure talking to him for this episode. It's a fun and fascinating conversation about the upcoming Willie Tyler and Lester documentary "Hello Dummy, Transcendental Meditation, Orange Julius, stage moms, mindfulness and more. Take a listen, to the Rarified Heir Podcast.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #44: Kathi Marshall & Scotty Marshall (Garry Marshall) (Mini Bonus Episode) Sep 21, 2021

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast Mini Bonus Episode, it's more 70s hijinks with Scotty and Kathi Marshall which further devolves into a childhood filled with naptime reading from Lord of the Flies, hermits in the Hollywood Hills and even a nod from Kathy that Garry would have loved the podcast because he always loved the next generation. Take a 30 minute listen on this mini bonus episode.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #43: Kathi Marshall & Scotty Marshall (Garry Marshall) Sep 21, 2021

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to sister & brother Kathleen Marshall and Scott Marshall, the children of writer/producer/director/actor Garry Marshall. Having grown up with Kathi and Scotty at elementary school in the valley in the free range seventies at the Oakwood School, Josh dives into this episode which is chalk full of arcane memories and bizarre moments. Garry Marshall, of course, was the creator of such TV blockbusters as The Odd Couple, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley and Mork and Mindy. He also was the director of major motion pictures like Pretty Woman, The Princess Dairies and Beaches among many others. As an actor, his amazing Bronx accent and personality steals scenes in Lost in America, A League of Their Own, Murphy Brown and the psychotronic sixties film Psych-Out among others. The man never stopped moving and we hear why on this episode.

As free-range seventies kids, you couldn't escape The Fonz's "eeehhh," Mork's Laverne's "Vodeo-do" or Mork's "Shazbot, Nanu nanu" catch phrases. Even AC/DC's Bon Scott referenced Robin Williams on the song "Night Prowler" from the 7 x platinum album Highway to Hell. Marshall's shows made an indelible make on popular culture worldwide. So what was it like growing up with the man who helped define said pop culture? We hear about a Beatlemania-like crowd that almost killed Scotty at a Happy Days promotional event in Milwaukee, how their mother Barbara kept the kids grounded with her midwestern roots, how aunt Penny Marshall gave salt-n-pepper shakers away at Thanksgiving parties, Garry's almost two decade long obsession with basketball games in his back yard and a truly bonkers story about how Eddie Van Halen saved the day by bringing a flying V guitar to Scott's band Fred Zeppelin at a performance at the Oakwood Arts Festival. The "Atomic Punk" to the rescue! I ask you, what other podcast covers Frank Zappa, Jackie Gleason, cinematographer Haskell Wexler & Rob Reiner? It was a rollicking good time reconnecting with Kathi and Scotty as you will soon hear. So take a listen to the Rarified Heir Podcast.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #42: Innis Casey (J. Rickley Dumm) Sep 14, 2021

Show notes

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Innis Casey, whose father J. Rickley Dumm was a writer and producer in the 1970s, 80s and 90s on shows like The Rockford Files, Adam-12, Magnum P.I., Silk Stalkings, Stingray, Renegade and more. He and his college roommate Stephen J. Cannell worked on a massive amount of television shows after selling their first script together for the series It Takes a Thief. Innis talks to us about growing up with his dad which at times wasn't easy to say the least. In the go-go 80s, excess and a short fuse were a lethal combination and it led to some difficult professional and familial moments for the family. One minute, Innis is learning to swim in Hawaii on the set of Magnum and the next, he's seeing his father blackballed out of Hollywood for his out-of-control behavior. It's probably the most intense and truthful episode we've ever done on the podcast. We also learn about Innis' own career as a Latin pop star whose big break in the business is about to happen just when it gets detailed on 9/11. So what does he do? Innis becomes an actor who becomes a recurring role on the Kiefer Sutherland series 24, acts in films with Jonathan Winters and Jacqueline Bisset & today is an in-demand photographer whose Quartraits book chronicling the beginning of the Corona Virus in 2020 was covered by CNN, HLN, ABC7 and KCBS2. It's a sprawling conversation that at times is emotional and Innis pulls no punches. It's not always an easy listen but because it's innis Casey talking, it's an ultimately rewarding and redemptive story. This episode isn't for the faint of heart. It's ultimately a story of finding your own way in the chaotic world of celebrity. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast.

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