Yes, I'm going to drag you kicking and screaming again down my VH1 memory lane. This time, with Oscar winner Michael Caine. I dig his work so much. I've been entertained by it. I've learned from it. This master of screen acting technique turned 80 today. I feel like I've grown up with his work. When I was young, drive-in movies were still popular and plentiful in Southern California. One night, Mom and Dad put my sister and me in the back seat of the green Plymouth and we were off to see a big historical war drama ripped from the pages of British history. The Joseph E. Levine production was called Zulu. This 1964 film marked Michael Caine's screen debut.
I was a youngster. I was more interested in the cartoon that played before the movie than I was in the historical movie itself. I had my pajamas on underneath my street clothes as I sat in the back seat. So did my little sister. However, when there was a close-up of that high-tone officer with the blond hair, there was a certain quality about the actor that just jumped out from the screen. It was star quality, I'd learn in later years. The British actor clicked with American audiences in his screen debut.
Still, show business being the way it is, that success with American movie-goers did not stop the producer from canceling the new actor's contract. Levine didn't feel that this talented new actor had the right sexual energy to be a star. Caine, understandably, was emotionally flattened by what Joseph E. Levine did. But his smart, super cool performance in the spy thriller, The Ipress File, got atttention that picked Caine right back up again. The 1965 release was even more popular with American audiences.
Then came his lead role as the "love 'em and leave 'em" working class British Lothario called Alfie. The ladies can't get enough of Alfie and he can't get enough of them. But...what's it all about, Alfie? Is sex all there is? Doesn't love mean anything? This performance brought the actor his first Oscar nomination.
Michael Caine was an Academy Award nominee for Best Actor of 1966 -- just a couple of years after Joseph E. Levine canceled his contract. His first Oscar win came for his Best Supporting Actor performance in Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters.
Unfortunately, the actor wasn't there to accept because he was on location making a god-awful sequel, Jaws: The Revenge. This is one reason, coupled with his years of excellence, why he got the immediate standing ovation that he did when he won again in that same category for 2000's The Cider House Rules. He was there to accept -- and to see how beloved he is in the Hollywood community. A very touching Oscars moment.
See? I've sort of grown up with Michael Caine in my life. I headed to movie theaters to see his other Oscar-nominated performances -- in Sleuth and Educating Rita. A number of his non-nominated performances are favorites of mine -- in movies like Gambit with Shirley MacLaine, The Man Who Would Be King, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with Steve Martin, Miss Congeniality and the Christopher Nolan Batman adventures.
If there's any proof that I have been lucky in my unorthodox television career, it's the fact that I went from being a little kid seeing Michael Caine at a Los Angeles drive-in movie to having Michael Caine as my sole guest one night on my VH1 talk show in New York. He was promoting his 1988 Sherlock Holmes comedy, Without A Clue, at the time. He'd won his first Oscar. He was a great guest, the kind of celebrity you hope to have as a guest. Even if he had nothing to promote, he'd still have something to say. Something very entertaining. That's what I find missing in many talk show guests in the current arena of night time entertainment talk shows. Remove the self-marketing and product placement of the moment and they have very little to say. Caine is a terrific storyteller.
Deathtrapwas a hit Broadway murder mystery. Michael Caine played a writer in Sidney Lumet's 1982 film version opposite Superman movie star, Christopher Reeve.
Their characters seemed to become very good friends in that movie.
Michael Caine and I talked about his early career disappointment with film producer Joseph E. Levine and about making Deathtrap with Christopher Reeve.The Oscar-winner starts with his memories about Zulu and the sexual vibe the producer didn't like.
I loved that show! To this very minute, it's one of my favorite on-camera experiences in my entire television career. I still can't believe I was lucky enough to interview him. To have grown up in the South L.A. curfew area during the Watts Riots of the 1960s and then to host a national prime time VH1 talk show in New York City in the 1980s with him as a guest ... wow. I wish Michael Caine an extremely, fabulously happy 80th birthday.
Talk about being snubbed by the Oscars. Although they were eligible, not a single one of the Paul McCartney and John Lennon compositions in their hit 1964 madcap pop music comedy, A Hard Day's Night, was nominated for Best Song. Besides the title tune, their other new songs in the movie were "And I Love Her," "Can't Buy Me Love," "This Boy," "Tell Me Why," "I Should Have Known Better," "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You" and the tender number that went on to become my favorite Beatles song, "If I Fell."
The Academy Award went to "Chim Chim Cher-ee" from Disney's Mary Poppins. Paul and Linda McCartney were contenders in the Best Song Oscar race for their title tune to the 1973 James Bond adventure, Live and Let Die. When I was a VH1 veejay and talk show host, I had the extreme privilege and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fly to London to interview the pop music legend for a VH1 hour-long special. This is the kind of work I have loved doing for decades. Here's a brief clip of Sir Paul chatting with me about James Bond and the classic romantic character he could have played on film.
In modern times, I found myself wishing that I had TV work. Whether onscreen as a host/entertainer or selling TVs at Circuit City. On Saturday morning, March 9th, NPR's Scott Simon had a fine, moving feature on the long-term unemployed and under-employed. The truth and reality of Scott's feature landed on my heart. I was one of several folks laid-off from a full-time job. Eventually, being without employment for so long, I lost my NYC studio apartment. Despite my years of national and local New York City TV credits, no broadcast agent took me on as a client. Some veteran agents asked me if I had on-camera experience before they rejected me. I had no representation to help me find employment. A year after my lay-off, my mother was in a near-fatal situation. Unemployment began a tough but enlightening period of transformation, reinvention and reconnection that's got me temporarily living with relatives in a California suburb. I've tried to land TV work -- because it's the work I love. I co-hosted a pilot currently under PBS consideration. I also pitched myself for clerical, customer service and retail jobs. I even interviewed to wear a Gumby outfit and hand out store flyers. I felt lucky to get each interview in my determination to pick myself up from having been knocked flat by the Great Recession in 2010. Millions of other Americans know the feeling. This rough patch has bulked up my faith and my gratitude for the encouragement, advice and kindness from folks I know. Like Paul McCartney sang, "I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends..." Keep the faith and don't give up.
So...when I recently got a call from a producer with RLTV, a cable channel aimed at babyboomers, I was thrilled. He didn't ask if I'd done any on-camera work, he complimented me on the work he'd seen me do over the years. He'd seen my VH1 prime time talk show in the late 1980s. He'd seen my post-VH1 television work in New York City. He needed my help, if I was available. "If?" Yes, indeed, I was.
RLTV will launch of program spotlighting writers. It's called Bookmark. One of the show's contributors had a family emergency that needed her help. The producer had seen me with noted authors on my VH1 show. He said, "If you can interview Norman Mailer, you can do this." What a blessing! I was honored and grateful to fill-in.
"Experience matters" is one of RLTV's slogans.
I eagerly, quickly accepted the opportunity to interview the author of a new enhanced e-book about The Rolling Stones. I'd fly out and tape the interview in NBC offices in New York City. This new e-book absolutely rocks. It's a gorgeous, informative digital product called Mick and Keith Never Stop: My Conversations with The Rolling Stones.
The cherry on this cake assignment I got was that the author is a VH1 co-worker whom I'd not seen since the early 1990s. I had a sweet reunion with Rona Elliot, former rock/pop music journalist for NBC's Today program. Rona has covered Mick Jagger and Keith Richards since the band was new and their concert ticket prices were low. The e-book is rich with personal photos and clips of interviews from her NBC segments.
Rona Elliot is a top rock journalist. She did weekly music reports as a contributor on VH1 and also as a contributor on NBC. I loved how Bryant Gumble loved presenting her segments on Today. He appreciated her skills. She has great stories about and insights into those rock legends. The archive NBC video clips really make her e-book pop.
Rona and I had a big giggle when I told her about the time I interviewed Mick in New York City. He was promoting the songs he wrote for the 2004 remake of Alfie, with Jude Law in the role that helped make young Michael Caine famous. Even if I was as straight as a lumberyard stick, I still would've wanted to make-out with Mick Jagger. When he breezed into the room and shook my hand, I almost swooned from his intense sexual magnetism. It's extraordinary. Yes, I would be his "Beast of Burden." And he's charming! Rona told me a story about Mick Jagger being in an elevator with Cary Grant. Can you just imagine? I love her digital book about this dynamic duo of rock music.
My "Enhanced Ebooks" segment with rock journalist Rona Elliot is now slated for the RLTV Bookmark show that premieres Friday, May 17th, at 11am and 10pm. The show repeats Saturday and Sunday that same weekend.
To find out where cable's RLTV airs in your community, check out its website and click your zip code in the "Where To Watch" section: www.RL.TV
Thank you, RLTV, for inviting me to fill-in. Thanks for knowing I interviewed Norman Mailer. What a joy it was to be called into television duty again. And I loved your crew.
By the way, Leonard Whiting donned tights and took on the role Sir Paul turned down in Franco Zeffirelli's hit 1968 version of Shakespeare's classicco-starring Olivia Hussey.
P.S. Pardon my vanity, but here's a sample of the first talk show I hosted on VH1.
I grew up in a Catholic household in South Los Angeles. Millions of Americans didn't even know we existed. Not my family (although they didn't). I mean...Black Catholics in America. Most of my education was received in parochial schools. I graduated from Marquette University, a Catholic institution in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. But, if you looked at entertainment on television, if you looked at Hollywood films, if you looked at the local or network news, you really weren't aware that we Black Catholics existed in America. It was sort of like the experience I had early in my freshman year at Marquette. I still remember Rich Gilman, an Anglo dude from rural Plymouth, Wisconsin, who majored in Engineering. We were in the same dorm. Not that we became good friends and still keep in touch. We didn't and we don't. But, one day, we attended the same mass on campus during freshman orientation. On the way back to the dorm, we chatted. He was impressed that I knew when to stand and when to genuflect during the service. He was also surprised to see me receive Communion. I said to him, "Rich...I'm Catholic. I was an altar boy." He stopped and innocently replied, "Oh! I thought all you people were Baptists." This was in the 1970s.
Maybe Hollywood and news producers thought the same thing. During network coverage of the Papal Conclave, I was thrilled to see ABC News present Archbishop Wilton Gregory to give anchor Diane Sawyer commentary on today's historical events in Rome.
He reflected the world I knew. The world of my youth. A world I loved. My world. We saw black members of the College of Cardinals. The conclave is racially diverse.
I graduated from Verbum Dei High School in Watts. The community had made national headlines when days of race riots erupted in the 1960s. Some of my favorite teachers, some of the most memorable teachers I ever had, were the black, Latino and white priests who taught there. The New York Times carried the obituary of Bishop Joseph A. Francis. After his time with Verbum Dei, Father Francis went on to distinguish himself elsewhere. The obit noted that he was Auxiliary Bishop of Newark. Fr. Francis was the fourth African-American Catholic who became a bishop in the U.S.A. When I first met him, he was our high school principal there on South Central Avenue in Watts. He was one of the first priests to speak openly on racism. To me, Fr. Francis was like a rock star at our all-boys high school. We sons of the Civil Rights era needed his vitality and inspiration. Growing up, one of the few (if only) black priests we ever saw on film and TV was the one Ossie Davis played in 1963's The Cardinal, starring Tom Tryon.
Before he's ordained as a cardinal, this young Irish priest deals with issues of sex, abortion, inter-faith marriage, Naziism, war and American bigotry in the name of Christ.
Director Otto Preminger, who guided the late Dorothy Dandridge through a fabulous crash through the Hollywood color barrier as the first black woman to be an Oscar nominee for Best Actress thanks to her sizzling 1954 musical performance as Carmen Jones, showed movie-goers that black Catholic priests are a reality. As a black youth, seeing Ossie Davis in this Preminger film made me feel significant.
The Vatican tossed some money into this big production. The Vatican's liaison dealing with the famed Hollywood filmmaker (Laura, Anatomy of a Murder) was a young man named Joseph Ratzinger. He went to become the now ex-Pope Benedict.
If, in the year 2000, a casting call went out for actors to play a bit part as a Catholic movie critic in a dramatic TV episode, I probably would not have been submitted by my agent at that time. Not unless it said "seeking African-American actors" or "race unimportant." With the impression they get from TV and film, agents wouldn't think that there are A) black people who review movies and B) black people who are Catholics.
ABC was one network that had awareness. I saw black priests on its fine and greatly under-appreciated 1997 dramatic series, Nothing Sacred. ABC News had Archbishop Wilton on today. Carmela consulted a black priest during a spiritual crisis in an episode of HBO's The Sopranos. Little Jordy attended parochial school on the wonderful sitcom, The Bernie Mac Show. Viola Davis got her first Oscar nomination for playing the conflicted parent of a Catholic grade schooler in Doubt opposite Meryl Streep. That drama, based on a Broadway play, was set in the 1960s. Bryant Gumble had an endearing altar boy-like glee when he did a remote from Vatican City during his years anchoring the Today Show. He's Catholic too.
I've been in parochial scholastic experiences where there was only one white student in the class. In 7th grade at Mother of Sorrows in Los Angeles -- tall, lanky Michael Cox from Arkansas was the only white kid in a class full of Mexican-American and African-American Catholics. As Dad used to say about Michael, "He's one of us. Poor is poor." Michael's family was scufflin' just like most of ours were. Robert Enkosky was the only white guy in my Verbum Dei High School graduating class. He, too, was "one of us." The school still stands. I pray that I can resurrect my TV career this year and make some Al Roker-like money so I can joyously make a donation to my alma mater. Things I learned at this school, fine arts events that Verbum Dei made possible for me for enjoy, helped me years later when I became a prime time celebrity talk show host on VH1 in New York.
The Black Catholic life and presence has been an under-reported and under-reflected image in network news and popular entertainment. There's history that should be acknowledged. I benefitted educationally and spiritually from a priest who helped make some of that history.
By the way, the late Bishop Joseph A. Francis, the former principal of my high school, would have been one excellent pope. He made us feel safe. He spoke out against intolerance. He knew a thing or two about the importance of diversity.
This is a big, historic week for us Catholics. We now have an ex-Pope due to His Holiness Benedict giving two weeks' notice and leaving the star spot last month.
This week the Conclave gathers in Vatican City to pick a new pope. The ritual! The drama! The costumes! The backstage secrets! The papal hopefuls! Rosary beads, prayer books and personal crucifixes will get quite a workout starting Tuesday.
I keep thinking this whole selection process should be done like Michael Bennett's classic 1975 Broadway musical drama.
Repeat that with these Vatican candidates in -- A Papal Line.
(Candidates sing) "God I hope I get it...I hope I get it. How many pontiffs does he need?"
We could see that one candidate who should have been Pope before but didn't make it. In A Papal Line, he'd been the equivalent of Cassie, the exceptional singer/dancer Donna McKechnie played onstage in the original production of A Chorus Line.
Cassie got raves on Broadway. She went to Hollywood. She should've been a star. But stardom didn't happen. Now she's humbly back to auditioning for a Broadway chorus job. I'd love to see that one papal candidate do a Vatican version of "The Music and the Mirror."
(Singing) "....All I ever needed was a Bible and the red shoes and the hope to pope for you......
Make me The Pope and you instantly get me involved,
If you make me The Pope then you know that your sins are absolved....
Make me The Pope, you would think that by now I'm allowed...
I'll do you proud.
Give me some beads to hold onto,
Give me apostles who care...
Give me a chance to look forward to saying
"Hey, I've got a big cross to bear..."
"Make me a pontiff, give me a chance to come through...
All I ever needed was a Bible and the red shoes and the hope....
To pope...."
DANCE BREAK
That's my Vatican Pick-A-New-Pope idea.I pray they elect the best person for the job.
If a black pope is chosen, our next musical will be...The Color Papal. (I'm here all week.)
I watched Justine Timberlake host Saturday Night Live. I dig seeing him do comedy. He's a versatile entertainer whose talents are a perfect fit for that kind of TV show.
Think back to the 1970s (if you can). The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour was a summer replacement show that graduated to the prime time line-up. It was a hit. When the pop/rock star couple divorced, she stayed at CBS and continued the musical/comedy work in The Cher Show. It marked one of her many reinventions. Her solo show, too, was a hit. She gave us music, she gave us comedy sketches, she gave us fabulousness in Bob Mackie fashions every weekend in prime time.
It probably won't happen, but a network should give Justin Timberlake a summer replacement variety series to host, like the one Cher had in 1975. He was consistently good last night on SNL. He opened with an funny, accurate spoof of Elton John singing a tribute to the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
I thought about Cher's old TV series as I laughed at that sketch. Remember how Cher booked A-List guests for musical comedy fun? Guests like Bette Midler and Elton John....
....and guests like The Jackson 5 with young Michael Jackson.
Cher played comedy characters and her guest stars joined in. I loved Cher as "Laverne."
That was terrific network entertainment that we don't see anymore. Big stars got a chance to appear and let their hair down -- or put some new hair on. We do see network entertainment, but it's mostly amateurs auditioning for the chance to become stars. We see hours of unknowns who want to be an "American Idol" or prove that they've got "The Voice." But, as for the professionals, we don't see them in the variety show format that was once a highly-rated staple of network television. We don't have "The Ed Sullivan Show," "The Hollywood Palace," "The Flip Wilson Show" or "The Carol Burnett Show." Or "The Cher Show." And Cher did that before making her Broadway acting debut followed by film work that brought her two Oscar nominations with one Best Actress victory. Just like Justin, she started as a top pop music star with a huge teen following.
I could do without mate-seeking Bachelors and Bachelorettes. Give me more Bob Mackie fashions. For me, one of the high points of last month's Oscars was seeing the graceful dance number Charlize Theron did with Channing Tatum. She was wonderful! Who knew the Best Actress Oscar winner for Monster was such a sublime dancer? On a network variety show, she could be a special guest and give us more of that.
Let music and movie stars shine on a variety show. Try reviving the format with a Justin Timberlake summer replacement show. He made me laugh out loud last night in the singing vegetarian character sketch --
He was slick singing with special guest Jay Z who dropped in for a musical number.
Justin, who has been host of SNL before, held his own last night opposite veteran SNL stars in cameo appearances. The opening "Five-Timers Club" sketch was a big treat.
I won't tell you more about last night's show. If you haven't seen it, I'm sure it'll be repeated. It's one of the best of this season. If you did see it or when you do see it, let me know if you agree that JT has the skills to host a network variety show reviving that classic "old school" flavor.
I became a bigger fan of his work after I saw his dramatic acting in the 2006 drama, Alpha Dog. Based on a true life story, he's in with Southern Californian middle-class suburban youths beguiled by the "gangsta" life image. They deal drugs. One becomes one of the youngest males ever to wind up on the FBI's "Most Wanted" list. Timberlake wasn't the star of the crime film...but, to me, he stole the picture.
He confirmed his serious film acting talent in The Social Network, the 2010 film based on the male egos desires that drove the creation of Facebook. I won't be surprised if Timberlake receives a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination one day.
I had the same feeling about "Marky Mark" when I reviewed his performance in The Perfect Storm on national TV in 2000. Mark Wahlberg went on from that movie drama to earn a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for Martin Scorcese's The Departed, Oscar winner for Best Picture of 2006. I have a feeling the same thing will happen to Justin Timberlake.
He was relaxed, warm, charming, hilarious and he has a sense of show biz history that showed in his respect and affection for senior performers who came before him. He should've been last month's Oscars host. In the meantime, it would be so cool to see Justin Timberlake give us some summertime laughs with guest stars in a prime time weekend hour of entertainment. And have Cher on as a very special guest. Dig it.
This is for my buddy John in Manasquan, New Jersey. He wanted to know this story.
As you saw on ABC, the supremely gifted Daniel Day-Lewis made Hollywood history last month as the first man to have won three Oscars for Best Actor in his career.
He won Oscar Number 3 for his extraordinary performance as President Lincoln.
I had a brief encounter with Daniel Day-Lewis one night in Central Park. It was thrilling and memorable. News from it got the attention of Tom Cruise. This goes back to 1993 when I was in the first year of being a regular on WNBC's Weekend Today in New York. The show premiered in the fall of 1992. Also in the fall of 1992, I started a relationship. I received an invitation to an AIDS benefit party being thrown by amfAR at the Central Park Boathouse. There would be entertainment, free food and free drinks at the weeknight event. I asked Richard, my late partner, if he felt like a night out. He did. Fabulous! It was a swell event. Richard was a smalltown white Southern Baptist. I'm from Southern California. That amfAR function was the kind of event you dream of attending when you move to New York to start a new life for yourself. It was for a great cause, one important to us. And, let's be honest, we were not too proud or too hightone to turn down free food and beverages.
We expected drinks. We expected pieces of chicken on little pointed sticks. We did not expect to meet an Oscar winner while we were stuffing out faces with free appetizers. Daniel Day-Lewis was present. This was when he had "only" one Oscar. He got it for My Left Foot. This was a casual event and he was very casually dressed. White jeans, shirt, no tie. No entourage. There were no TV cameras present and this was years before the birth of cameras in cellphones and internet alerts via Twitter and such. An amfAR rep introduced him to Richard and me. It was tough for me not to have a Ralph Kramden "Hummina, hummina, hummina" moment. Yes, I had my own celebrity talk show on VH1 and I've interviewed many stars on national television -- but that was in a work situation. This was after hours. He's an Oscar winner. I was a guy on a local weekend news program.
I knew my mother would be jealous. My Left Foot is one of her all-time favorite movies. We had a great mother-son bonding day seeing that film when she came to visit me once in New York. I share her affection for the film and congratulated the actor on his Oscar win. He graciously thanked me. Well, Richard and I expected that he'd then move on to waft through the party crowd. He didn't! Daniel Day-Lewis stayed a few moments longer and engaged us in conversation. That made us feel so...significant. And special. We told him that we were a couple and that Richard had recently been diagnosed. At first glance, people wouldn't have assumed he was sick. The steroids in his medication bulked him up like a linebacker and helped his appetite. But he was sick. And unemployed. The way the socio-political climate in 1992/93 was, I was warned by co-workers not to tell executives that my partner had AIDS. The bosses present at that time didn't seem to embrace diversity. I couldn't be open about my life for fear of losing my job. And that job helped me take care of Richard through his terminal illness. I couldn't tell my bosses about my off-screen life. But, there I was by Richard, sharing our story honestly and openly with Daniel Day-Lewis -- because he was interested and he cared. He was a regular, down-to-earth artist who truly connected to people.
He'd knocked out three solid performances in major dramas: 1992's period adventure The Last of the Mohicans, 1993's The Age of Innocence for Martin Scorcese and the political thriller In the Name of the Father, also released in 1993. As we wished Daniel a good night and good-bye, I also wished him good luck with his upcoming assignment. He was announced for Interview with the Vampire. He'd play Lestat. He thanked me but revealed that he was wiped out from those three heavy-duty, back-to-back big pictures. He needed some time off and decided to pull out of the vampire project. I told him I was on a local weekend news program and asked if I could mention that item that coming Saturday morning. He said "Yes" because, by then, all the parties that needed to know he was withdrawing would have been notified.
My WNBC boss wouldn't let me do the entertainment news exclusive. Why? Because she didn't think I had "the skills" to cover entertainment. (Don't get me started. That's why I was assigned live shots at shopping malls and petting zoos. And that's why I ultimately quit.) I gave the item to a buddy who'd done a favor for me -- Michael Lewittes, then a columnist at the New York Daily News. He didn't know about the casting for the film version of Anne Rice's supernatural best-seller. I told him I'd heard Tom Cruise was really eager to play vampire. Mike, now known on Twitter as @GossipCop, printed my item. Later Mike told me that he did, indeed, get a call from a Cruise representative to confirm the show biz news item. My Left Foot was out. Top Gun was in.
Tom Cruise replaced Daniel Day-Lewis in 1994's Interview with the Vampire and Tom sank his fangs into Brad Pitt. He got the part he wanted. Daniel got a vacation.
As for Daniel Day-Lewis -- I hope to interview him one day. Because of his kindness and charm that one night in Central Park, I will always feel this: As wonderful as he is on-screen, he's even more wonderful off-screen. He, himself, is Hollywood gold.
