Rarified Heir Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode # 41: Precious Chong (Tommy Chong) Sep 07, 2021

Show notes

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Precious Chong, daughter of Tommy Chong of – you guessed it, the comedy team of Cheech and Chong. We talk to Precious about her own career in front of and behind the camera as well as intricate details of how a natural disaster kept the comedy duo (and Tommy's marriage to wife Shelby Chong) afloat just when things seemed at their worst, having people judge you as a child purely based on your father's work, how a generation of fans only know Tommy as the hippie from That 70s Show, being picked up for a carpool by Ali McGraw, the lost scenes of Up in Smoke co-starring Josh's Mom Edie Adams as Mrs. Stoner and mining familiar territories like long lost LA restaurants and the Z Channel. It's not every child of a counter culture, anti-establishment celebrity that rebels by being a straight A student but that is part of the terrain we cover on today's episode. There was so much to unpack on this episode but I ask you, where else in the world can you find out that Warren Beatty was just an okay tipper and being Oliver Stone's assistant wasn't all it was cracked up to be? Take a listen. Everyone has a story.

Rarified Heir Podcast: Episode #40: Jazmin Erving (Julius Erving, Dr. J) Aug 31, 2021

Show notes

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we have a first and it's a good one – a celebrity who is also an athlete. We talk to Jazmin Erving, daughter of one of the greatest basketball players of all-time, Julius Erving, or Dr. J. Named to ESPN's list of Greatest Athletes of the 20th Century, Dr. J captured the zeitgeist of the 1970s with his graceful moves in the ABA and his spectacular dunking ability that thrilled hoop fans coast to coast. Before Bird and Magic, it was Dr. J who kids wanted to emulate in the 1970s. There were very few people who transcended their chosen field in the same way Dr. J did. He occupied the rarified heir of other 70s legends, Evil Knievel, Mohammad Ali & Bruce Lee. We talk to Jazmin about growing up in Philadelphia in the 1980s where she was around for Dr. J's retirement season, who her favorite Philadelphia 76ers player was, the film The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh starring her dad, some classic Philly restaurants, how her father is featured in the Natural Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. and her own career as an entrepreneur, event planner and philanthropist. Josh tried his best not to nerd out too much in talking 70s basketball but it was Jazmin's amazing story about founding her business, Because I Rock during Covid that really made an impression. Getting a peek into the pro sports world was a real thrill but it was Jazmin who really lit it up with her humor, charm and personality. Take a listen.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #39: Cathy Cole Green (The King Family, Buddy Cole) (Mini Bonus Episode) Aug 24, 2021

Show notes

For the first time ever on the podcast, we bring you a bonus episode. There was so much great stuff from our guest Cathy Cole Green of The King Family and the King Cousins, we just had to give you more. Another 30 minutes more. So sit back and keep listening to this bonus episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #38: Cathy Cole Green (The King Family, Buddy Cole) Aug 24, 2021

Show notes

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Cathy Cole Green, whose family you might remember from a conversation we had about them just a few episodes ago with Cam Clarke. It's a three headed hydra of an episode as we jump back into, "The First Family of Song," The King Family, along with Cathy's turn in The King Cousins and her dad, ace musician Buddy Cole. (And no, not the Scott Thompson character from The Kids in the Hall, but the real Buddy Cole.) Somehow we cover more ground than a long-lost Los Angeles Thomas Guide as we discuss everyone from Nat King Cole, George Carlin, Clara Bow, The Rolling Stones, John Davidson, Henri Mancini, Bob Mackie, Cher, Gil Evans, Richard Pryor, Rosemary Clooney, Ray Charles and more. Cathy weaves a great take of growing up in the San Fernando Valley with a spitfire of a mom who essentially founded The King Family on television, her world-class piano/organ player father who may or may not had the first stereo studio - in his home no less and Cathy's lunch in Toluca Lake with Richard Pryor. It's all about Aqua-Net, falsies, record albums, Summer replacement variety shows, long-lost LA restaurants, Tahitian concerts, Japanese wives songwriters, Mad Magazine parodies and more. Our next conversation will surely include the amazing experiences The King Cousins had at reunion shows from 2013 throughout 2017 launched at the Catalina Jazz Club in Los Angeles and beyond after a 30-year hiatus on the next Rarified Heir Podcast. But there was so much here to listen to, we decided to give you a mini episode if you will. So if you want more King Family news….just click on the bonus episode. We end on Jonathan Winters and pick up on LA restaurants. Everyone has a story.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #37: Chrissy Quinn (Louis Quinn, Christine Nelson) Aug 17, 2021

Show notes

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Chrissy Quinn. Chrissy's parents were a comedy team but not in the traditional sense. Her father, Louis Quinn was likely best known as Roscoe The Bookmaker on the popular television series 77 Sunset Strip. He also a writer for Milton Berle, a radio host and has credits in films as diverse as All The President's Men to Vasectomy: A Delicate Matter. Her mother, Christine Nelson is perhaps best known for her comedic singing role as "Sarah Jackman," the foil to Allan Sherman's Jerry Bachman from the classic comedy album, My Son The Folks Singer. While they didn't perform together, Louis did write Christine's autobiographical comedy LP Did'ja Come Here to Play Cares, Or to Talk? Stories abound on this episode with comedians like Milton Berle, Ray Bolger and a 'get-outta-here/ once-in-a-lifetime' story about meeting & befriending Robin Williams just as he is on the cusp of mega-stardom on Mork and Mindy. When you Godfather is Sammy Davis Jr. and Sean Penn & former Rarified Heir Podcast guest Jason Culp come to your 2nd birthday party hosted by the real llife Bozo-The-Clown…. well that is certainly Rarified Heir indeed. Take a listen.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #36: Hollye Dexter (Dan Haggerty) Aug 10, 2021

Show notes

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Hollye Dexter. Now, by strictest semantics, Hollye isn't a child of a celebrity. But everyone has a story, right? And Hollye's story is a unique one that straddles two distinct worlds – that of celebrity and that of being your typical LA kid growing up in the seventies. Her step-siblings growing up were Kristy McNichol and Jimmy McNichol via her mother's marriage to a man nicknamed Bullet. Yes, Bullet. And who do you think introduced Bullet to Hollye's mother? None other than Grizzly Adams himself, Uncle Dan Haggerty. We talk to Hollye about her time growing up with her cousins in the Haggerty home which is described as both magical and something out of Harry Potter. Owls, wolves and even a lion named Samson were regulars around in the house. Friends were bikers, celebrities, stunt people and circus performers – and this was before The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams that propelled Uncle Dan to stardom. It went from pickup trucks in Sun Valley, to Ferrari's in Malibu very quick. We also learn about Hollye's time as a backup singer for the likes of Dionne Warwick, Blake Shelton, Stephen Bishop and Don Felder, why she became an author which begat the book Fire Season, her political activism and her harrowing tale of literally losing everything at age 30. You won't believe this story when you hear it, I can promise you. This episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast is both a laugher and a crier. And yes, Everyone has a story.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #35: John Denney (Dodo Denney) Aug 03, 2021

Show notes

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we talk to John Denney about his mother, actress Dodo Denney. Now, you may not know the name Dodo Denney but definitely have seen her. This episode is a roaring good time with John as we talk about his mother being in one of the most beloved movies of all-time, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and also because John is the lead singer of one of the greatest punk bands of all-time, The Weirdos. Somehow we combine the best of LA punk rock, the allure of Hollywood and the difficulties of auditioning for a role against the same actors time and time again. We bop-diddly-uhm-bop tonight from topics as wonderfully weirdo as Kansas City TV horror host Marilyn The Witch, the Penelope Spheeris' punk rock documentary The Decline of Western Civilization, George "Goober" Lindsey, Corvair cars, Frontier Records, Hallmark Cards, Iggy Pop, Rock-n-Roll Denny's, hitchhiking and a whole lot more. We got the Neuron Bomb in guest John Denney as he talks about growing up in the San Fernando Valley, seeing his mother lose roles to Alice Ghostley and making the difficult decision to be an extra in Dustin Hoffman's Straight Time or to headline The Whisky-a-Go-Go on the Sunset Strip in 1977. (Sigh) What's a young punk to do? And I say, destroy all podcasts, next on the Rarified Heir Podcast.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #34: Cam Clarke (The King Family, Robert Clarke) Jul 27, 2021

Show notes

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we talk to Cam Clarke, an ace voice actor who also happens to be from "The First Family of Song", the King Family. We talk to Cam about growing up in the family business – where literally almost everyone was in on the act. Sometimes numbering 30 or more performers, The King Family defined wholesome American family entertainment from the 1950s until around 1985 when they headlined the second inauguration of American President Ronald Reagan, which was the last time the King Sisters performed together. We talk to Cam about a number of things including performing on television at age 5, being utterly mortified the family didn't sell out The Hollywood Bowl when he was in third grade, his best and longest running character as the voice of Leonardo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the surprising connection his fans have with him at events like Comic-Con, his one man show Stop Me If I've Told You This : Child Star, Superhero & Recovering Mormon and more. We hear about dinners at long-forgotten haunts like Tail of the Cock in in the San Fernando Valley, his father Robert Clarke's career in B-movies like The Hideous Sun Demon, guitarist extraordinaire & uncle, Alvino Rey, two members of his family founding, alternative rock band the Arcade Fire, the soundtrack to his brother's Lex de Azevedo's LDS musical Saturday's Warriors and everything else in between. It's all Cam all the time on this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #33: Eden Alpert (Herb Alpert) Jul 20, 2021

Show notes

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Eden Alpert, daughter of the legendary Herb Alpert. Now, if you think you know Herb Alpert, I'm here to tell you, you really don't. Sure you know him from his iconic hits in the 1960s "The Lonely Bull," "A Taste of Honey" and "Tijuana Taxi" and many others. But did you know he sold more albums than The Beatles in 1966? Or that he had five albums simultaneously in the Top 20 on the Billboard charts which has never happened before or since? That he's won nine Grammy awards and that he's the A in A&M Records? You want more? He's also a sculptor whose Black Spirit Totems are world renown. He's also an abstract expressionist painter whose works have been exhibited in museums and galleries in the US, Europe and Asia. What's more, he's a philanthropist and his Herb Alpert Foundation has funded programs as diverse as the Harlem School of the Arts, Homeboy Industries, The Soldiers Project and Vista Del Mar Family & Child Services which is the home to The Eden Alpert Therapeutic Music Program. We talk to Eden today about The Herb Alpert Vibrato Grill, a supper club/jazz club she runs expertly due to her outgoing personality, her youth spent in schools with the children of Sonny & Cher, Shirley Jones, Jack Lemmon and Elliot Gould & Barbra Streisand as well as getting a phone call on her 13th birthday from Peter Frampton because….well, he was on A&M Records. Those are the perks of being the child of a celebrity. And this is Rarified Heir.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #32 : Gigi Garner (James Garner) Jul 13, 2021

Show notes

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Gigi Garner daughter of James Garner, star of films like Grand Prix, The Americanization of Emily & Victor/Victoria, as well as Television icons Bret Maverick & Jim Rockford in classic shows like Maverick and The Rockford Files. We also hear about James' love of animals which pushed daughter Gigi to start the James Garner Animal Rescue Fund (https://www.jgarf.org) in his honor after more than 30 years helping animals herself. With a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, 15 Emmy nominations, a SAG Lifetime Achievement Award and a Television Hall of Fame inductee, we also discuss James Garner's love of sports cars, Raiders football and his dedication to his work. He often ran lines & stayed off camera to run his lines with actors after he'd been released for the day or as a producer, coming in under budget because the crew loved him so much. In a career that spanned more than 50+ years, James Garner was able to move from light comedy to heavy drama on both television and movies easily. We also learn about his love of Italian food and current/former Los Angeles restaurants Matteos and Peppone,being the 'fun dad' and being the most competitive and excelling at pretty much everything he tried. It's a romp down memory lane sprinkled with a little about Gigi's newfound love – painting. Oh and did you know her father took on the TV studios to court, not once but twice and won or settled both? Or that he was a double purple heart recipient during his time in the Korean War? There's lots to unpack here on the current episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast.

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