Rarified Heir Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #31 : Amanda Gari (Eddie Cantor) Jul 06, 2021

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Amanda Gari, actress, singer and impressionist who talks to us today about her grandfather Izzy Iskowitz, better known as Eddie Cantor. Starting in the 1920s until the late 1950s, Eddie Cantor was one of America's biggest stars – from vaudeville to Broadway, from radio to television, from film to recorded music, there was arguably no bigger star in the first half of the 20th Century than Eddie Cantor, the man they called "Banjo Eyes." Amanda's tales of growing up around her composer mother Jane Cantor Gari, actor/painter father Roberto Gari and her grandfather Eddie, we learn a great deal about what it was like growing up Cantor. We touch on names like W.C. Fields, Will Rogers, Fanny Brice, Sammy Davis Jr., Amy Sedaris, Judy Garland, Shelly Winters, Ronald Reagan and many more. We learn that Cantor co-wrote the theme tune to the iconic Warner Bros. cartoon Merry Melodies which began as "Merrily We Roll Along." Cantor's hyperkinetic energy and manic stage presence, are no match for Cantor's generosity. He started the March of Dimes charity at the behest of President Franklin Roosevelt, made the song "Making Whoopie" famous, whose stance against Hitler & fascism prior to WWII caused his sponsors to leave his radio program, how he was the first president of the Screen Actors Guild and how his influence made a hit out of the then-unknown song, "Santa Clause is Coming to Town." But even knowing all that, the moment you won't to miss is Amanda's spot on impression of Flipper that really leaves you wanting more. On the next Rarified Heir Podcast.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #30: Bill Funt (Allen Funt) Jun 29, 2021

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Bill Funt, whose father Allen Funt was creator, host, producer and force of nature behind the iconic television show Candid Camera. Founded in 1947 as a radio program called Candid Microphone Funt spun-off the property into LPs in the 1950s and even movies like What Do You Say To A Naked Lady in 1970 and Candid Candid Camera for Playboy TV in the 80s. But I digress. We talk to Bill about what his father would think about being known as the very first reality show, if Candid Camera was either a cruel show as the critics said or a fantastic human experiment as his fans believed, it's genesis during WWI, Funt's interview on the Ernie Kovacs hosted The Tonight Show where they do a spoof of the show called Rancid Camera, surviving a literal hijacking of their Eastern Airlines airplane to Miami which was diverted to Cuba in the 60s, his mother's Marilyn Funt's book Are You Anybody? interviewing celebrity wives, his aunt, Lyricist Elaine Laron whose song "Name Dropping" might as well have been the theme song for this podcast and a whole lot more. All in all we had a lot of Funt. So sit back, take a listen and "Smile! You're on Candid Camera" on the Rarified Heir Podcast.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #29 : Kelly Carlin (George Carlin) Jun 22, 2021

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we talk to Kelly Carlin, humorist, monologist, writer, therapist and all around amazing woman about growing up Carlin. That's right, she's the daughter of one of the greatest stand-up comedians of all time, the one, the only George Carlin. And boy, is this episode a winner. First off, Kelly was the inspiration for this podcast after a meeting at the grand opening of the National Comedy Center in Jamestown, New York in 2018. Her book A Carlin Home Companion about growing up Carlin is a must read. It's a wonderful and truthful look at herself and her family and she doesn't pull punches. It's honest and raw and gives great insight into not only her own life but the uncomfortable issues we all face with our families but rarely talk about. Her candor and insight into growing up as the child of a celebrity touches on everything from guru Ram Dass and comedian Jack Burns to Ted Knights Ted Baxter character and the alternative comedy stylings of The Jerky Boys. It's a 'very special episode' of the Rarified Heir Podcast because it's Kelly Carlin, talking to you about her own life as a Jungian therapist to her Women on the Verge program that is necessary and needed program in this wacky world we live in. We loved everything about this episode and somehow we didn't even mention Wally Londo. Take a listen to the Rarified Heir Podcast.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #28: Josh Davis & Tony Davis (Jerry Davis) Jun 15, 2021

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to brothers Josh Davis and Tony Davis, whose father Jerry Davis was a five-time Emmy nominee and mother actress turned Psychologist, Beryl Davis were a second family to our host, Josh Mills growing up in the 1970s. Jerry came to Los Angeles from Brooklyn where he was then writing for the New Yorker and became a fixture behind the scenes as writer/producer on TV shows such as The Odd Couple, That Girl and Bewitched. And if you listened an earlier episode of the podcast with Andy Marx who confirmed to us that it Jerry who introduced Groucho Marx to later-years-companion Erin Fleming. We also learn it was Jerry was likely the man who introduced Ronald Reagan and a then little-known actress named Nancy Davis. All this makes perfect sense and even sounds like something from one of his TV scripts. Jerry was a one-of-a-kind raconteur whose TV credits were slightly more famous than his celebrity filled Gin card games and legendary as his "Hello Jerry" dinners on the town because it took him 20 to 30 minutes to actually sit down at dinner before he made the rounds and said hello to friends, collogues, waiters, bartenders, valet parkers and anyone else in his line of vision. It's a behind's the scenes look growing up Davis with special guest stars, Phil Spector, Eartha Kitt, Tony Bennett and Sydney Sheldon on the Rarified Heir podcast.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #27: Elmo Kirkwood (Curt Kirkwood, Meat Puppets) Jun 08, 2021

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we speak with Elmo Kirkwood, son of Curt Kirkwood from one the greatest cult bands of all-time, The Meat Puppets. Our conversation with Elmo is as anarchic as any of the bands albums as we touch on everything from punk rock, the Shut Up, Little Man tapes, the glory of fanzines, the term 'College rock', iconic record label SST, that infamous Nirvana Unplugged session on MTV everyone knows about and the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame where the original band reunited for the first time in more than twenty years in 2017. Speaking to us from his home in Tempe, Elmo tells us about touring with his dad and uncle, Curt Kirkwood, mid-nineties side projects the Royal Neanderthal Orchestra, Eyes Adrift and Volcano, his own recorded output, his philosophy about how to release music on Bandcamp in 2021 and the power of the power trio. As fIREHOSE once said, we're "Under The Influence of Meat Puppets" on the Rarified Heir Podcast. Take that Huskers!

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #26: Doug Denoff (Stan Denoff) Jun 01, 2021

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On this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Broadway theatrical producer Doug Denoff whose father was part of one of the greatest comedy writing teams of all-time, Sam Denoff. Along with writing partner Bill Persky, the team of Persky and Denoff wrote an amazing amount of the show that has arguably come to be known as the greatest and most-well-loved sitcom's in American television – the Dick Van Dyke Show. We also a deep dive into WNEW radio from the 1950s, the Friars Club, wine, TV specials, LA restaurants, Dave Frishberg, Carl Reiner, the Brooklyn Dodgers, Le Dome, Desilu Productions and Alfred Hitchcock. Plus we get the up-to-the minute take on the reopening of Broadway, the magic of seeing a musical in person and the playbook template for a successful run on Broadway from a five-time Tony-nominated producer. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #25: Ethan Lawrence (Anthony Lawrence) May 25, 2021

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to screenwriter Ethan Lawrence, son of one of the most prolific writers in Television history, Anthony Lawrence. It's not everyone who can play poker with Rod Serling and Harlan Ellison, contract as a day player in Audie Murphy Westerns, do karate with The King, Elvis Presley on the set of Roustabout or pen one of the most beloved scripts in the TV show Bonanza's 23 year run, the Christmas epic entitled "Gabrielle". Writing for film and TV seems to be all around Ethan. An accomplished screenwriter himself on shows like Eureka and The Pretender, both his mother Nancy Lawrence (who teamed up with her husband Anthony for the cult series The Phoenix and The Sixth Sense) and his wife Dee Harris-Lawrence who is currently a show runner for not one, but two current series All Rise and David Makes Manwent into writing for television. So sit back, relax and hear Ethan wax poetic about his days with John Carpenter, Kurt Russell and Shelly Winters on the set of the Dick Clark produced Elvis biopic, getting a red belt in karate from Chuck Norris and smoking his first joint ever w/ Judson Scott while looking for the amulet. Wait what? This is the Rarified Heir Podcast.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #24: Quincy Coleman (Dabney Coleman) May 18, 2021

Show notes

This week's guest on the Rarified Heir Podcast is Quincy Coleman, daughter of actor Dabney Coleman and actress Jean Hale. While we can't give away too much away here, it's connection city on the podcast with Josh and Quincy as well as their acting mothers. Shhh, no spoilers! We also discuss important subjects like Dabney Coleman's favorite Mexican Restaurant, his career in Television on shows like Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Buffalo Bill & The Slap Maxwell Story, to mother Jean's run-in at a photo shoot with Marilyn Monroe, the Franklin Hart persona her father cultivated as one of the funniest bad guys in films like 9 to 5, North Dallas Forty, Tootsie and Wargames. We also talk to Quincy about her music career and her current project H-OM-E.ORG, a non-profit that has its roots in a stage 4 cancer diagnosis 11 years ago and runs all the way through climate change, systemic racism and global unity. It's a call to action and it begins with this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #23: James Coburn Jr. (James Coburn) May 11, 2021

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This week on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to James Coburn, son of, you guessed it, James Coburn. It's a wild ride on the podcast with topics ranging from Bruce Lee, The Muppets, Sam Peckinpah, the Z Channel, a 4 year trip to Africa, a Coburn biography based on his own words and much much more. It's a deep dive into the Beverly Hills enclave of Tower Road with neighbors Jack Lemmon and Donald Sutherland, of being paid 1,0000 pesos a-day as an extra on Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid in Mexico, of drives on Mulholland Drive in his father's Ferrari Spyder which sold In 2008 for almost $11 million dollars, of iced milk in Jamaica on location with Our Man Flint and ultimately a career as a Professional Sound Mixer at the New York Film Academy. It's all next on the Rarified Heir Podcast in THX Spatial Audio, coming up next.

Rarified Heir Podcast Episode #22: Spencer Garrett (Kathleen Nolan) May 04, 2021

Show notes

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to actor Spencer Garrett who you all have seen on shows like CSI & News Radio as well as films like Air Force One and most recently in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. We talk to Spencer about growing up in Los Angeles with two parents in show business with deep Midwest roots. His father, agent/manager Richard Heckencamp & his mother, actress Kathleen Nolan. We talk about what it was like moving back and forth between Los Angeles to New York while living in the Dakota as his mom was starring on Broadway, to his mother's star turn as Wendy in the Broadway and live TV versions of Peter Pan with Mary Martin, her most beloved role in The Real McCoys and her groundbreaking stint as the first female president of the Screen Actors Guild in the 1970s. In between we talk about Walter Brennan, Burt Reynolds, Andy Dick and Chick Hearn. And watch Josh geek out when talking about Spencer's latest role as the iconic Los Angeles Lakers play-by-play announcer in an upcoming HBO series we can divulge almost nothing about. But the cast is mind blowing! Next on the Rarified Heir Podcast.

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