Rarified Heir Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Today on another brand new episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we give you part one of our conversation with Suzanne Lloyd, the granddaughter of silent film comedy star & Christmas tree obsessive, Harold Lloyd. Now, if the name (or the image) of Harold Lloyd doesn’t immediately ring a bell like Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin, this is one of the reasons we do this podcast, to make sure the legacy of legendary (or sometimes just working actors) are not forgotten. And after you hear Suzanne’s lengthy and almost encyclopedic remembrances of the man who raised her and why his name isn’t always mentioned as one of the three silent film comedians, you will understand it after listening to part one and next week’s part two. There is a reason. One we know all too well ourselves with the Ernie Kovacs estate.

On today’s episode, we discuss the silent era of film and names like Hal Roach, Colleen Moore, Mary Pickford, Daryl Zanuck, Irving Thalberg, Snub Pollard and more are bandied about like so many of Suzanne’s colorful stories about Harold Lloyd. We also hearabout Suzanne’s grandmother, actress Mildred Davis who was a pretty huge silent film star in her own right. It’s a whirlwind of information that fans of silent films won’t get enough of and fans who love old Hollywood but maybe don’t know the silent era well will want to learn more about.

Suzanne was a marvelous guest – someone who knows dates, places, studios, names and more like these things happened just yesterday. It’s clear that because she now controlls the Harold Lloyd Estate and his production company that she learned all this while also genuinely loving her grandfather who raised her like a daughter. It’s terrific stuff. So now podcast listeners, we bring you the story of Speedy aka Harold Lloyd on this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Take a listen.

Welcome to another bonus edition of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Today we bring you something a little different. Just for fun. On Saturday September 28th and Sunday the 29th, 2024 the good folks at the VideoFest in Dallas presented Devo’s Gerald Casale with the Ernie Kovacs award. Since the 1997, Bart Weiss and the Video Association of Dallas has given out a (semi) annual Ernie Kovacs award with the help of Edie Adams and since her passing in 2009, her son, Rarified Heir Podcast host Josh Mills. Past recipients include Joel Hodgson, Paul Reubens, Amy Sedaris, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Mike Judge, George Schlatter, Kevin McDonald & Dave Foley of Kids in the Hall, Al Franken, Martin Mull, Michael Nesmith and more.

Thank you to Kyle Riche for recording the event, Bart Weiss and the VideoFest in Dallas Texas for holding an Ernie Kovacs award annually, Gerald Casale for being such an Ernie Kovacs fan, Jeff Winner for making this event happen, the good folks at the Texas Theater, DJ George Gimarc, all the VideoFest volunteers and everyone who has attended any of the Kovacs Awards through the years.

So Rarified Heir Podcast fans, this is not your typical episode, but we thought you all might want to hear some of what happened that weekend. And here it is.

Today on another encore edition of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to actor David Deluise, son of comedian/actors Dom Deluise & Carol Arthur. Ok, sure, we talk about the 80s cable TV classic film Hot Stuff a little bit too much on this episode but it’s one of the few films Dom directed and also featured his wife and family. And like the film, we hear from David that in many ways that film mirrored their life off camera. There was lots of food, laughter and spending time with friends and family when the camera’s weren’t rolling.

We discuss with David many of his father’s friends including Mel Brooks, Burt Reynolds, Dean Martin and more. When you have prominent roles in everything from Blazing Saddles to The Muppet Movie, there is a lot to talk about. Of course we talk about Dom’s other passion: food. Cooking, eating and procuring free food as well. Clearly the man lived to eat and that’s a man after our own hear.

We also talk about David’s acting and directing career on television shows like The Thunderman’s, Lab Rats and more. We also learn how the show Felicity got its name, the family’s favorite restaurants, being too nervous to meet Robert De Niro, dining with Martin Sheen & sending Anthony Hopkins a pizza as an introduction. You know, the typical things most kids grow up doing all over this great land of ours. So sit back, maybe order Chinese food for 50 people as the Deluise’s did and take a listen to this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Colin Cosell, grandson of legendary broadcaster and American cultural icon, Howard Cosell. Now, if you are born in the United States, you will definitely know Howard Cosell. But for those outside the US, that name night not be as well known. But in the 1970s and 80s, Cosell was at the Zenith of where celebrity, sports and pop culture mixed.

Famous for his “Tell it like it is” manner on air, Howard Cosell was as famous for his calls of the boxing, football, baseball & the Olympics while also being remembered for his voice, his wit and his sometimes prickly manner. He got as much hate mail as he got praise and he was often at the center of controversy for his comments on air as well as his opinions off air. For many of us, Howard Cosell will be remembered as the man who broke the news to America that John Lennon was shot and killed which we watched Monday Night Football. For others he will be remembered for  as the  butt playful jokes from one of his best friends Muhammad Ali. This was a man who famously parlayed his fame as a sportscaster to television, film and the larger pop culture zeitgeist of the latter half of the 20th Century as you will soon hear.

Talking to Colin, we get to see another side of Howard, a grandfather who doted on his family and young Colin. We discuss how the family all played board games together, the many dogs they grew up with and how he would see his grandfather every week or two growing up. Howard was a very present grandfather who could also pull some strings and arrange a meeting with a world famous athlete one day and hang with you eating bagels the next. Colin was a jovial guest who told  stories about the other Saturday Night Live Starring Howard Coselland how Cosell impacted the late night comedy juggernaut SNL we know today. We talk Monday Night Football with Frank Gifford and ‘Dandy’ Don Meredith as well as the time  Jon Bon Jovi came over to talk. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast and everyone has a story.

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Brad James, son of game show host and television icon, Dennis James. We loved talking to Brad because of all the many connections his dad had to early – and we mean early – television that connected with host Josh Mills own family in early television. Fans of classic television should appreciate this episode as we talk about televisions earliest beginning when there were literally just a few hundred sets in the New York metropolitan area.

From there we discuss all the many game shows Dennis James was a part of including landmark shows like: The New Price is Right, Let’s Make a Deal and Name That Tune as well as obscure shows like Haggis Baggis, Cash and Carry and Name’s The Same. It’s why he was known as the “Dean of Game Shows.” We are just scratching the surface here as James worked on commercials, radio, movies and became a philanthropic juggernaut when he hosted the first-ever telethon for united Cerebral Palsy Associations as emcee that continued well into the 1990s. In fact, after his father passed away in 1997, Brad took over that role as host to help keep his father’s life work alive.

Along the way, we talk golf & Kevin Costner, a skinny kid from New Jersey like James named Sinatra who came up through the ranks together and how his father raised – get this $750 million dollars in his five decades of work for United Cerebral Palsy. There is also a story about Foster Brooks and a gun that entertained us to no end. So please, take a listen to the Rarified Heir Podcast with guest Brad James. Everyone has a story.

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to journalist Claudia Cowan who grew up the daughter of actress Barbara Rush and pioneering A-list publicist Warren Cowan. Claudia spoke with us about growing up with a mother co-starred with Paul Newman in The Young Philadelphians and whose father was Paul Newmand’s press agent. It was a difficult task to focus on both her mother and father because they both did so much personally and professionally – including marrying and divorcing – twice.

Along the way we hear about Claudia’s favorite LA restaurants, her mother’s disappointment at not singing a duet with Frank Sinatra in Robin and the Seven Hoods, how her father invented the “Top Ten list,” what it was like being on tour with her mother while she was starring in regional theater in Chicago and how her parents met The Beatles at a garden party the night after their famed Hollywood Bowl performance that her father was publicizing and so much more.

So what is it like to have a father who represented Clint Eastwood, Kirk Douglas, George Burns, Ronald Reagan and others while her mom was starring in movies with Rock Hudson, Dean Martin Marlon Brando, Hope Lange and Ernie Kovacs? You’ll just have to listen to this episode and find out. And let us say this, in honor of her father, when asked, who his favorite client was said “The next one,” let us just say that our favorite episode is the next one, which in this case is THIS one with Claudia Cowan. Another child of a celebrity interviewed by a child of a celebrity. Everyone has a story.

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to actor David Pressman and both delving into both of his actor parents, Lawrence Pressman and Lanna Saunders. Like our previous guest, Christopher Murray, David seemed destined to become an actor – not just because of his parents but also because his grandparents and even his great grandfather were actors as well – going all the way back to the Russian/Ukrainian stage before he emigrated to America. We are talking generations!

David spoke to us about his time growing up in Los Angeles with his mother Lanna who appeared on more than 500 episodes of the popular soap opera Days of Our Lives as Marie Horton and his father who is still going strong at age 85. Depending on how old you are, you will know Lawrence’s best from his roles in Nine to Five, Mulligan’s Stew, M*A*S*H, Doogie Howser and so much more. We also talk about both of his parents love of theater and their time on Broadway, working on the stage prior to their move out to Los Angeles when David was seven years old.

Along the way we speak about the such things as the CIA, Robby Benson’s gang film Walk Proud, the difference between overtime and golden time on set, a fear of flying that led to a marriage, partying with Steve Coogan on the set of Tropic Thunder, famous LA restaurants, Jane Fonda’s kindness at a dinner party and much more. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast and everyone has a story. Take a listen.

Today on another episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we continue our conversation with actor Christopher Murray and delve deeper into some fun and fascinating new stories about his mother actor Hope Lange, father actor Don Murray and step father Director Alan J. Pakula. Christopher talks to us about one of the most interesting connections he and his parents have – Director David Lynch. Hope Lange starred in Blue Velvet and both Christopher and Don played roles on Twin Peaks all in three separate decades. A totally weird Lynchian through line that is perhaps only rivaled by Laura Dern and Diane Ladd.

Moreover we discuss some of the backstage jealousies of making the film Bus Stop which his parents were both cast in – although no one knew they were married. It sheds a light on some of the insecurities and well documented frailties of Marilyn Monroe. We also discuss Sean Connery’s golf game, Scarlett Johansen’s first role in the film Just Cause, how you ingratiate yourself into the good graces of a Scotsman and more.

This leads to a Christopher’s reminisces of his truly remarkable stepfather Alan J. Pakula both at home and at work. From his time on the set of the film Klute where he met Jane Fonda to the trips Alan took he and his sister on to Morocco & Italy we really feel like we are getting a story very few know about. Part two of our conversation with Christopher is filled with beautiful memories and some tragic losses. Thanks for taking us along for the ride Chris. The Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to actor Christopher Murray, who we find out, was quite literally born into show business. From both his maternal and paternal grandparents as well as both of his parents, Christopher likely couldn’t have escaped a career in front of the camera if he tried. So who are his parents? Well, both are Oscar nominated and his mother is a two-time Emmy award winner. Can you guess? None other than actors Don Murray & Hope Lange.

Between his parents, they have starred in films and TV productions with Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Robert Wagner, Charles Laughton, Roddy McDowell, Michelle Lee, Kathleen Turner, Joan Crawford, Glenn Ford, Suzy Parker and more. And if that isn’t enough, his stepfather was a giant of a director,  Alan J. Pakula who directed some of the best films of the 70s as well.

Our time  with Christopher was more a conversation than an interview and frankly, those are the ones we love best on this podcast. We jumped around a lot but the connections were never more apparent than when we were discussing how it is that Charles Nelson Reilly spent so much time at his house. We delved into just about everything with Christopher to the story of how his parents helped displaced European war refugees from WWII & the Korean War that still functions to this day as well as the fabulous dinner parties his mother gave that were a safe haven for gay Hollywood couples in an era when things like that were very rare.

This conversation that spans the stage, film and television and involves everyone from Hubert H. Humphrey to Eleanor Roosevelt, Sean Connery to Ed Harris & Freddy Kruger to Don Deer. But to hear all of those stories, we had to spread this episode into two parts – there was just too much great stuff to cut out. You’ll have to take a listen to this episode, part one,  of the Rarified Heir Podcast to begin this verbal scavenger hunt.  Everyone has a story.

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Christopher Lewis, son of entertainer & human juggernaut, the one, the only, Jerry Lewis. Chris was kind enough to reach out to us via a mutual connection at the Library of Congress and was pretty terrific about answering all our questions, big and small about the man known as “The King of Comedy.” The impetus for our chat was Chris’ book Jerry Lewis on Being a Person, a 300+ page book is packed with photos, ruminations, life lessons, antidotes and more. It’s a wonderful look at a complex comedian, director, writer, producer, golfer and philanthropist.

Chris talked to us about his father and was frank about why he looks at his father with “rose colored glasses,” his father’s lust for life and everything in between. Somehow we get to a vast amount of information on “Le Roi du Crazy” as the French called him. Our discussion hits everything from his love of audio and video technology to just how much of the Jerry Lewis archive was delivered to the Library of Congress. We also spoke about culturally significant high points like his guest appearance on Pink Lady and Jeff ans Slapstick (of Another Kind). Along the way we get to talking about The Day the Clown Cried, an true art imitates life Rupert Pupkin stalking situation that had everyone in the family on edge, why handshake deals were so important to Jerry and what comedians made Jerry Lewis laugh. All you have to do is sit back and listen to this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Take a listen.