What it Feels Like to be Interviewed by Larry King

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Entertainment - Television | Written by Robert L. Mills
Wednesday, 10 February 2010 12:27 | Viewed: 87 times | Word Count: 1082 |

Part of my job as a script writer for Bob Hope in the 1970s and 1980s was being interviewed by newspaper columnists and radio hosts all across the country.

Part of my job as a script writer for Bob Hope in the 1970s and 1980s was being interviewed by newspaper columnists and radio hosts all across the country. Hope believed that my background as a former lawyer was an interesting angle that might help promote his television specials. One day, he asked me to his house to be interviewed by an old friend who hosted a late-night radio show -- a yet-to-be famous Larry King.

Excerpted from THE LAUGH MAKERS: A Behind-the-Scenes Tribute to Bob Hope's Incredible Gag Writers (c) 2009 by Robert L. Mills and published by Bear Manor Media -- www.bearmanormedia.bizland.com/id370.html

FREE SAMPLE CHAPTERS + Photos: www.laughmakers.blogspot.com

An unabridged audio version read by the author is available at: http://teach.learnoutloud.com/Browse/Arts-and-Entertainment/Film_-Music_-Radio_-TV_-and-Pop-Culture/The-Laugh-Makers/33067

Part of my job as a script writer for Bob Hope in the 1970s and 1980s was being interviewed by newspaper columnists and radio hosts all across the country. Hope believed that my background as a former lawyer was an interesting angle that might help promote his television specials.

So he had NBC’s publicist send out a detailed bio with photos inviting columnists to use me as a subject. When requests came in, Hope’s publicist, Ken Kantor, would set up phone interviews, scheduling them just prior to a show’s air date so I could promote the upcoming special.

Over the years, I did eight or ten interviews a season and appeared in papers ranging from the "Washington Post" to the "San Diego Union," and in magazines like "The American Bar Association Journal" and "Writers Digest." As it turned out,I was way ahead of my time. Today, you need a law degree from Harvard even to land an interview for a writing job on "Saturday Night Live."

I was always happy to promote the specials, and in the fall of 1978, Hope asked me to help an old friend who had a late-night talk show on the radio in Florida. I thought he meant one of my regular telephone interviews, but this time, instead of working from home, I’d be on the air live from his house in Toluca Lake. To an inveterate ham, it sounded like fun. And I wouldn’t have to wear makeup.

When I arrived around quarter of seven (the show would begin at ten in the East), a fellow writer on the show named Gig Henry was already there. Hope’s buddy, working without an engineer, had patched a telephone hookup to the studio in Miami and had set up the microphones on a small table in Hope‘s gatehouse where we'd often meet with him to work on the television show.

With his horn-rimmed glasses and white shirt with rolled-up sleeves, he looked more like an accountant or an insurance salesman than a radio personality. His gruff New York accent made him sound more like a cab driver than someone making his living on the radio.

He began the interview, and soon, Gig and I were taking calls from listeners asking the usual questions about working with Hope. About a half-hour into the program, Hope came down from the main house and quietly slipped in through the gatehouse door.

He waited until there was a cutaway for a commercial and said, “Well, how are the boys doing?” “Great, Bob. I’ll introduce you next.” Then Hope turned to us and said, “I see you’ve met Larry King.”

Little did we know then that we were being interviewed by someone who would become a household fixture years later when he'd be tapped by CNN founder Ted Turner to host his own hour-long call-in show that's on the air to this day.

Excerpted from THE LAUGH MAKERS: A Behind-the-Scenes Tribute to Bob Hope's Incredible Gag Writers (c) 2009 by Robert L. Mills and published by Bear Manor Media.

FREE SAMPLE CHAPTERS + Photos: www.laughmakers.blogspot.com

An unabridged audio version read by the author is available at: http://teach.learnoutloud.com/Browse/Arts-and-Entertainment/Film_-Music_-Radio_-TV_-and-Pop-Culture/The-Laugh-Makers/33067

A native of San Francisco, Bob Mills served in the Navy from 1956 to 1959, graduated from San Francisco State University in 1962 and the University of California Hastings Law in 1965 and practiced in Palo Alto, California from 1966 until becoming a television writer in 1976, whereupon he ceased all contact with lawyers. He wrote for the "Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts" 1976-77; "The Bob Hope Show" 1977-92 In 1973, he married his wife, Shelley, with whom he lives in Studio City, California.

He writes a daily topical blog entitled "Dr. Digit's Hollywood Memory Blog" online at www.bereftontheleft.blogspot.com. He is a volunteer reader at Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic in Hollywood and hosts a weekly program entitled "Inside Television" for Los Angeles Radio Reading Service for the Blind in Northridge, California, streamed online each Tuesday at 0820-0900 Pacific at www.larrs.org. Each New Years Day, he co-hosts a three-hour audio description of the Pasadena Rose Parade broadcast to 52 radio stations for the blind reaching 2.7 million listeners via NPR satellite. He's also a substitute co-host of "Access Unlimited" heard on Tuesdays 2:30 to 3:00 pm Pacific on KPFK, 90.7 fm Los Angeles, 98.7 fm Santa Barbara. Streamed live and archived at www.kpfk.org

In 2009, his book THE LAUGH MAKERS: A Behind the Scenes Tribute to Bob Hope's Incredible Gag Writers was published by Bear Manor Media in both a print and an audio version read by the author. Sample chapters: www.laughmakers.blogspot.com An unabridged audio version read by the author is available at: http://teach.learnoutloud.com/Browse/Arts-and-Entertainment/Film_-Music_-Radio_-TV_-and-Pop-Culture/The-Laugh-Makers/33067 He is an emeritus member of the Writers Guild of America and holds memberships in two organizations: Yarmy’s Army, a group of veteran writers and entertainers who meet monthly for dinner and produce fund-raisers for worthy causes including the Motion Picture and Television House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, and in The Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters, a social club made up of former radio and television professionals that meets bimonthly for lunch and a celebrity “roast.”

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What it Feels Like to be Interviewed by Larry King
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Part of my job as a script writer for Bob Hope in the 1970s and 1980s was being interviewed by newspaper columnists and radio hosts all across the country.� Hope believed that my background as a...

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<html> <head> <title>What it Feels Like to be Interviewed by Larry King</title> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" leftmargin="0" topmargin="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0"> <h1>What it Feels Like to be Interviewed by Larry King</h1> Author: Robert L. Mills Excerpted from THE LAUGH MAKERS: A Behind-the-Scenes Tribute to Bob Hope's Incredible Gag Writers (c) 2009 by Robert L. Mills and published by Bear Manor Media -- www.bearmanormedia.bizland.com/id370.html FREE SAMPLE CHAPTERS + Photos: www.laughmakers.blogspot.com An unabridged audio version read by the author is available at: http://teach.learnoutloud.com/Browse/Arts-and-Entertainment/Film_-Music_-Radio_-TV_-and-Pop-Culture/The-Laugh-Makers/33067 Part of my job as a script writer for Bob Hope in the 1970s and 1980s was being interviewed by newspaper columnists and radio hosts all across the country. Hope believed that my background as a former lawyer was an interesting angle that might help promote his television specials. So he had NBC’s publicist send out a detailed bio with photos inviting columnists to use me as a subject. When requests came in, Hope’s publicist, Ken Kantor, would set up phone interviews, scheduling them just prior to a show’s air date so I could promote the upcoming special. Over the years, I did eight or ten interviews a season and appeared in papers ranging from the "Washington Post" to the "San Diego Union," and in magazines like "The American Bar Association Journal" and "Writers Digest." As it turned out,I was way ahead of my time. Today, you need a law degree from Harvard even to land an interview for a writing job on "Saturday Night Live." I was always happy to promote the specials, and in the fall of 1978, Hope asked me to help an old friend who had a late-night talk show on the radio in Florida. I thought he meant one of my regular telephone interviews, but this time, instead of working from home, I’d be on the air live from his house in Toluca Lake. To an inveterate ham, it sounded like fun. And I wouldn’t have to wear makeup. When I arrived around quarter of seven (the show would begin at ten in the East), a fellow writer on the show named Gig Henry was already there. Hope’s buddy, working without an engineer, had patched a telephone hookup to the studio in Miami and had set up the microphones on a small table in Hope‘s gatehouse where we'd often meet with him to work on the television show. With his horn-rimmed glasses and white shirt with rolled-up sleeves, he looked more like an accountant or an insurance salesman than a radio personality. His gruff New York accent made him sound more like a cab driver than someone making his living on the radio. He began the interview, and soon, Gig and I were taking calls from listeners asking the usual questions about working with Hope. About a half-hour into the program, Hope came down from the main house and quietly slipped in through the gatehouse door. He waited until there was a cutaway for a commercial and said, “Well, how are the boys doing?” “Great, Bob. I’ll introduce you next.” Then Hope turned to us and said, “I see you’ve met Larry King.” Little did we know then that we were being interviewed by someone who would become a household fixture years later when he'd be tapped by CNN founder Ted Turner to host his own hour-long call-in show that's on the air to this day. Excerpted from THE LAUGH MAKERS: A Behind-the-Scenes Tribute to Bob Hope's Incredible Gag Writers (c) 2009 by Robert L. Mills and published by Bear Manor Media. FREE SAMPLE CHAPTERS + Photos: www.laughmakers.blogspot.com An unabridged audio version read by the author is available at: http://teach.learnoutloud.com/Browse/Arts-and-Entertainment/Film_-Music_-Radio_-TV_-and-Pop-Culture/The-Laugh-Makers/33067 A native of San Francisco, Bob Mills served in the Navy from 1956 to 1959, graduated from San Francisco State University in 1962 and the University of California Hastings Law in 1965 and practiced in Palo Alto, California from 1966 until becoming a television writer in 1976, whereupon he ceased all contact with lawyers. He wrote for the "Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts" 1976-77; "The Bob Hope Show" 1977-92 In 1973, he married his wife, Shelley, with whom he lives in Studio City, California. He writes a daily topical blog entitled "Dr. Digit's Hollywood Memory Blog" online at www.bereftontheleft.blogspot.com. He is a volunteer reader at Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic in Hollywood and hosts a weekly program entitled "Inside Television" for Los Angeles Radio Reading Service for the Blind in Northridge, California, streamed online each Tuesday at 0820-0900 Pacific at www.larrs.org. Each New Years Day, he co-hosts a three-hour audio description of the Pasadena Rose Parade broadcast to 52 radio stations for the blind reaching 2.7 million listeners via NPR satellite. He's also a substitute co-host of "Access Unlimited" heard on Tuesdays 2:30 to 3:00 pm Pacific on KPFK, 90.7 fm Los Angeles, 98.7 fm Santa Barbara. Streamed live and archived at www.kpfk.org In 2009, his book THE LAUGH MAKERS: A Behind the Scenes Tribute to Bob Hope's Incredible Gag Writers was published by Bear Manor Media in both a print and an audio version read by the author. Sample chapters: www.laughmakers.blogspot.com An unabridged audio version read by the author is available at: http://teach.learnoutloud.com/Browse/Arts-and-Entertainment/Film_-Music_-Radio_-TV_-and-Pop-Culture/The-Laugh-Makers/33067 He is an emeritus member of the Writers Guild of America and holds memberships in two organizations: Yarmy’s Army, a group of veteran writers and entertainers who meet monthly for dinner and produce fund-raisers for worthy causes including the Motion Picture and Television House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, and in The Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters, a social club made up of former radio and television professionals that meets bimonthly for lunch and a celebrity “roast.” Article Source: <a href="http://www.freearticleforyou.com/">Article Directory - http://www.freearticleforyou.com</a> </body> </html>

- What it Feels Like to be Interviewed by Larry King Author: Robert L. Mills Excerpted from THE LAUGH MAKERS: A Behind-the-Scenes Tribute to Bob Hope's Incredible Gag Writers (c) 2009 by Robert L. Mills and published by Bear Manor Media -- www.bearmanormedia.bizland.com/id370.html FREE SAMPLE CHAPTERS + Photos: www.laughmakers.blogspot.com An unabridged audio version read by the author is available at: http://teach.learnoutloud.com/Browse/Arts-and-Entertainment/Film_-Music_-Radio_-TV_-and-Pop-Culture/The-Laugh-Makers/33067 Part of my job as a script writer for Bob Hope in the 1970s and 1980s was being interviewed by newspaper columnists and radio hosts all across the country. Hope believed that my background as a former lawyer was an interesting angle that might help promote his television specials. So he had NBC’s publicist send out a detailed bio with photos inviting columnists to use me as a subject. When requests came in, Hope’s publicist, Ken Kantor, would set up phone interviews, scheduling them just prior to a show’s air date so I could promote the upcoming special. Over the years, I did eight or ten interviews a season and appeared in papers ranging from the "Washington Post" to the "San Diego Union," and in magazines like "The American Bar Association Journal" and "Writers Digest." As it turned out,I was way ahead of my time. Today, you need a law degree from Harvard even to land an interview for a writing job on "Saturday Night Live." I was always happy to promote the specials, and in the fall of 1978, Hope asked me to help an old friend who had a late-night talk show on the radio in Florida. I thought he meant one of my regular telephone interviews, but this time, instead of working from home, I’d be on the air live from his house in Toluca Lake. To an inveterate ham, it sounded like fun. And I wouldn’t have to wear makeup. When I arrived around quarter of seven (the show would begin at ten in the East), a fellow writer on the show named Gig Henry was already there. Hope’s buddy, working without an engineer, had patched a telephone hookup to the studio in Miami and had set up the microphones on a small table in Hope‘s gatehouse where we'd often meet with him to work on the television show. With his horn-rimmed glasses and white shirt with rolled-up sleeves, he looked more like an accountant or an insurance salesman than a radio personality. His gruff New York accent made him sound more like a cab driver than someone making his living on the radio. He began the interview, and soon, Gig and I were taking calls from listeners asking the usual questions about working with Hope. About a half-hour into the program, Hope came down from the main house and quietly slipped in through the gatehouse door. He waited until there was a cutaway for a commercial and said, “Well, how are the boys doing?” “Great, Bob. I’ll introduce you next.” Then Hope turned to us and said, “I see you’ve met Larry King.” Little did we know then that we were being interviewed by someone who would become a household fixture years later when he'd be tapped by CNN founder Ted Turner to host his own hour-long call-in show that's on the air to this day. Excerpted from THE LAUGH MAKERS: A Behind-the-Scenes Tribute to Bob Hope's Incredible Gag Writers (c) 2009 by Robert L. Mills and published by Bear Manor Media. FREE SAMPLE CHAPTERS + Photos: www.laughmakers.blogspot.com An unabridged audio version read by the author is available at: http://teach.learnoutloud.com/Browse/Arts-and-Entertainment/Film_-Music_-Radio_-TV_-and-Pop-Culture/The-Laugh-Makers/33067 A native of San Francisco, Bob Mills served in the Navy from 1956 to 1959, graduated from San Francisco State University in 1962 and the University of California Hastings Law in 1965 and practiced in Palo Alto, California from 1966 until becoming a television writer in 1976, whereupon he ceased all contact with lawyers. He wrote for the "Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts" 1976-77; "The Bob Hope Show" 1977-92 In 1973, he married his wife, Shelley, with whom he lives in Studio City, California. He writes a daily topical blog entitled "Dr. Digit's Hollywood Memory Blog" online at www.bereftontheleft.blogspot.com. He is a volunteer reader at Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic in Hollywood and hosts a weekly program entitled "Inside Television" for Los Angeles Radio Reading Service for the Blind in Northridge, California, streamed online each Tuesday at 0820-0900 Pacific at www.larrs.org. Each New Years Day, he co-hosts a three-hour audio description of the Pasadena Rose Parade broadcast to 52 radio stations for the blind reaching 2.7 million listeners via NPR satellite. He's also a substitute co-host of "Access Unlimited" heard on Tuesdays 2:30 to 3:00 pm Pacific on KPFK, 90.7 fm Los Angeles, 98.7 fm Santa Barbara. Streamed live and archived at www.kpfk.org In 2009, his book THE LAUGH MAKERS: A Behind the Scenes Tribute to Bob Hope's Incredible Gag Writers was published by Bear Manor Media in both a print and an audio version read by the author. Sample chapters: www.laughmakers.blogspot.com An unabridged audio version read by the author is available at: http://teach.learnoutloud.com/Browse/Arts-and-Entertainment/Film_-Music_-Radio_-TV_-and-Pop-Culture/The-Laugh-Makers/33067 He is an emeritus member of the Writers Guild of America and holds memberships in two organizations: Yarmy’s Army, a group of veteran writers and entertainers who meet monthly for dinner and produce fund-raisers for worthy causes including the Motion Picture and Television House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, and in The Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters, a social club made up of former radio and television professionals that meets bimonthly for lunch and a celebrity “roast.” Article Source: Article Directory - http://www.freearticleforyou.com