Rarified Heir Podcast #101: Ron DeFore (Don DeFore)

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Katharine “Kat” Kramer, daughter of producer/director Stanley Kramer. Now, you might have heard of a few films Stanley directed like The Defiant Ones, Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, Judgement at Nuremberg, On the Beach and a comedy called It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. So it’s appropriate that this episode is airing two days after the Academy Awards. Why? Because Stanley Kramer’s films have received more than 80 Academy Award nominations, have received 16 Academy Awards and Kramer was given an Academy Award, the Irving Thalberg Award, in 1961. To say the man directed (and produced) some groundbreaking films with actors like Spencer Tracy, Marlon Brando, Katharine Hepburn and Sidney Poitier would mean you are just scratching the surface of his illustrious career.  

We talk to Katharine about everything about the themes of her father’s films and somehow, because host Josh Mills’ mum starred in It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, we end up talking about that film - a lot. We also talk about Phil Spector – who would have thunk? – Katherine’s one woman show, a Mick Jagger tribute album she recorded with many Stones alumni, her career as an actorvist, singing Judy Garland songs to Liza Minelli as a kid backstage, her haunted house growing up, the Kennedy assassination and much more. Katharine is absolutely the most motivated person we’ve had on this podcast as her career in TV, stage, music, charity and as a member of too many boards to count, will attest. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Matt Axton, son of singer, songwriter, commercial pitchman and actor Hoyt Axton. If you’re first thought is that Hoyt Axton was the dad in the film Gremlins, you’d be correct but you’d only be scratching the surface of this well rounded entertainer. We learn from Matt how his father wrote the smash hit “Joy To The World” made popular by Three Dog Night, how he became the house performer in the 1960s at the world famous Doug Weston’s The Troubadour for close to a decade and how bands like Steppenwolf & The Kingston Trio recorded his songs before the general public ever really heard of the name Hoyt Axton.

Matt also tells us about his grandmother Mae Boren Axton aka the “Queen Mother of Nashville” who was one of only two (yes you heard that right) in the music business in Nashville in the 1950s. She also penned more than 200 songs, got her undergraduate degree in journalism when most women simply did not go to college and she happened to be the person who introduced Colonel Tom Parker to Elvis Presley. Yes, you heard us correctly. But that’s not even half of it. She wrote Elvis’ first #1 hit song. Can you guess what that song was? Because you definitely have heard it. And that’s still not even the whole story.

It was great to talk to Matt, the third in his family to go into the entertainment business, as he also is a singer/songwriter and performer who talks to us about his own career on stage, the difference between how he, his father and grandmother toured and made records and how he’s bringing his own “Joy To The World” by practicing what his dad preached. That was:  “Be a conduit for good music and hopefully you can also be the satellite dish that pulls in the songs as they come in.” This is the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Denise Gautier, daughter of singer, comedian and painter Dick Gautier. As we discuss, many folks remember Dick Gautier as Hymie the Robot from the 60s sitcom Get Smart but as you will find out Dick Gautier was no one trick pony. He was a Tony award nominee for his role as Conrad Birdie in the original cast of the Broadway hit Bye, Bye Birdie, he wrote several books and several volumes of books on painting and caricature and he was a ground breaking stand-up comedian who got his start in show business at the Hungry-I in San Francisco in the 1950s.

Denise was happy to talk about her liberal and free spirited father who suntanned by the pool, was friends with fellow actors Dave Madden and Kenneth Mars, spent holiday parties at The Magic Castle in Los Angeles and made a life with his second wife, actress Barbara Stuart. But Denise also recalled a dad who often tried to show his daughter that there was another life away from her Jehovah’s Witness Mother where she could receive birthday cards and Christmas presents along with a more “worldly’ lifestyle as we discuss.

We talk to Denise about everything from her father’s frequent game show appearances on shows like Tattle Tales & Win, Lose or Draw, his two film scripts he wrote for AIP with Hollywood Squares host Peter Marshall, his infamous Cadillac, being on the set of his short-lived Mel Brooks sitcom When Things Were Rotten and even his comedic take on Quasimodo in a one man show that we need to know more about. Phew that was a mouthful. We even speak a bit about the recent Hulu film Pam & Tommy that directly talks about her life and that of her family. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.

Today on part two of our encore episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we continue our conversation with guests Daisy Torme and James Torme. And that can only mean one thing: more great stories about growing up the children of The Velvet Fog, Mel Torme, one of the greatest voices in all Jazz history.

We speak to Daisy and James not only about their father but also their mother, actress Janette Scott. Terrific stories abound. We hear about spending the Summer in Los Angeles with their dad, a bonkers story about how their parents met and there’s a heart-warming/hear breaking story about leaving their dad at the airport and returning home to England. Speaking of England, we learn more about their childhood as both their mother and grandmother Dame Thora Hild were nothing short of national figures in the U.K. I mean really, doesn’t everyone’s mother have an annual film festival in their honor or is namedropped in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Isn’t everyone’s grandmother a three-time BAFTA winner? But what makes this episode so terrific in our view is how enthusiastic Daisy and James were to talk about their parents and how much love and affection they exuded in doing so. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story. Take a listen.

Today on another encore edition of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking with Daisy Torme and James Torme, the children of singer/musician Mel Torme actress Janette Scott. This episode was a true pleasure to record as not only were there terrific Mel & Janette stories but also some great stories about out host, Josh’s dad as well. You see Mel and Martin Mills were buddies from as far back as the fifties who were runnin’ young guns in the entertainment business in New York during the Eisenhower administration. They formed strong bonds in their youth and it extended into old age…with some more-than-occasional bouts of silence for some misperceived slight or two.

In a sense, our conversation was a familial one as it felt like the next generation was reliving their parents together with stories about everything from photography to chocolate, from childish pranks to hanging with Buddy Rich and Sammy Davis Jr and much more. We talk “The Christmas Song”, Mountain Dew, Night Court & even a little known movie of Mel’s “Challenge to Survive” with William Shatner.

What began as a Twitter message to Daisy became a lunch, then another lunch and soon it became a full-blown Rarified Heir Podcast episode. So take a moment, set your internal clock back and let’s take listen to Daisy and James Torme talk about their father, The Velvet Fog, Mel Torme. Lucky for you that this is only part one! Part two is next week! Everyone has a story.

Today on Part two of our interview with Sam Nelson on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we talk about what it was like being the son of Rick Nelson and grandson of Ozzie & Harriet Nelson about growing up, well, Nelson. On part one we discussed with Sam how he became the keeper of the flame for the family business as the archivist & producer for the TV show & new DVD box set The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. But on this episode, Sam opens up to us about all sorts of things. From the wonderful and exciting to the tragic and the spooky.

Sam grew up very much the stuff of tabloid fodder while just in elementary school. Imagine going to the supermarket and seeing your picture on the cover of People magazine or the National Enquirer. We get into it. We also get into some really terrific stuff as well. What was Rick Nelson favorite hobby? What was his favorite ice cream shop? A-ha…you are going to have to listen to part two for details on this hard hitting topic.

Plus, we learn about the history and the ghostly stories surrounding the Nelson household that are the stuff of legend. Once owned by another very famous Hollywood actor, Sam tells us some truly bizarre and hair (not heir) raising tales of this haunted house in the Hollywood Hills. Evidently, a famous pop star owns it now. Again, you are going to have to take a listen to this second episode of our interview with Sam Nelson on the Rarified Heir Podcast to learn more. We promise, it’s another all-encompassing, honest, raw and intense episode. Take a listen.

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, it’s part one of our interview with Sam Nelson, son of the great Rick Nelson, nephew to David Nelson and grandchild of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson  If you grew up in America in the 1950s The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet defined post War America. It was a massive hit and ran for 14 years. We take a deep dive into the restoration and recent release of the complete, 435 episode DVD box set of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Beginning as a radio show in the 1940s (I betcha didn’t know that!) & coming to television in the early 1950s. The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet was the longest running, live action sitcom on American television until 2021 when It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia celebrated it’s 15^th year. To say that this show was part of the fabric of American life in the 1950s and today is part of it’s lexicon would be an understatement. Perhaps no other show from that era is as well-known or beloved that didn’t feature Lucy or The Beaver as this show.

On this first of two episodes, we spoke with Sam about the interest and hard work in being the sole heir of the Nelson clan that not only wanted to make something of this show after decades of semi-neglect but put in the time, the effort and the sweat equity to bring it back. It’s no small effort as Sam tells us how, why and what obstacles he had in making sure that people not only knew the name Ozzie & Harriet but knew the show again in 2024.

Of course we speak about his father, entertainer & rock star Rick Nelson & uncle David Nelson who starred on The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet and how Rick, then known as Ricky, single handedly brought rock and roll into America’s homes. It was Rick, with his matinee idol good looks and spot on singing voice that perhaps kept this show on the air long after it likely should have petered out. And this is a topic that particularly interested host Josh Mills as legacies and archives are something he has been dealing with every day of his life for the past decade and a half.

This is the Rarified Heir Podcast and this is Part One of our interview with Sam Nelson. Take a listen.

Today on part two of our interview with Radames Pera, we continue our conversation with the former actor known best as Grasshopper from the TV-series Kung-Fu. Believe us when we say, we wish we had another hour or two with Radames to get to all the stories that make up his own story, that of his mother’s story and that of his absentee father whose invention became a worldwide success that he unfortunately didn’t patent it.

On this episode, we discuss the Coogan law, a law that if you don’t know about you will get a crash course in this episode. Radames, like all child actors was protected under this law that was enacted in 1939 but was never totally enforced. We also learn through a YouTube video Radames posted about his mother actress Lisa Para whose addiction disorder became so acute, it had to be documented. Why? We discuss that on the episode and really we don’t even scratch the surface due to time constraints. All we can tell you is, Radames has a healthy and wonderfully openness to plainly discuss some of the most personal stories from his life. And for that, we thank him. Take a listen to part two of our interview with Radames Pera on the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.

Today on the first part of a two part episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are speaking to Radames Pera whose name you might know as well as that of his mother actor Lisa Pera. Because this episode is so jam packed – and we honestly didn’t even get to half of the stuff we wanted to talk about- so we split this episode into two parts. On this episode, we discuss Radames’ being a child actor in not one but two of the 70s most beloved television series. He is best known as young Caine or Grasshopper, if you like, in the series Kung Fu, a show that not only launched the martial arts craze but also a film that launched a global phenomenon that still resonates to this day. Radames also starred in Little House on the Prairie in a recurring role as John Jr.

Lisa Pera on the other hand, got her start in film and television as well, beginning in 1965 on the show Combat! in an episode directed by Vic Morrow. From there, she starred in films like The Hindenburg as well as shows like Perry Mason, Get Smart Man from Atlantis and even Hawaii 5-0 where she starred with Radames as his mother. Novel casting, that.

Radames pulls no punches (no pun intended) on this episode as we explore his life being raised by a mother too young and emotionally unequipped to deal with raising a child after a horrific childhood of her own. Being a Ukrainian -Russian finding herself in Nazi Germany and eventually the United States after WWII is jaw dropping stuff that doesn’t seem real. Suffices to say, this Part one is a ‘buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride’ episode. But it’s frankly just a palette cleanser for episode #2, coming next week. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.

Today on this encore edition of the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Nicky Trebek, daughter of Alex Trebek. Our conversation with Nicky was a fun one as host Josh Mills grew up on the same street as Nicky in the freewheelin’ 1970s San Fernando Valley and as we discuss those years as a starting point and off we went. Along the way we had many wonderful tangents including what famous director and his actress wife lived on that street, the personal connection their parents had with the Italian Stallion – Sylvester Stallone & his first wife Sasha, the NHL hockey connection that Alex had when the Los Angeles Kings played their games at the Fabulous Forum, the allure of Leif Garrett*, what it was like working on & with her dad on the game show Jeopardy!, Nicky’s mother Elaine who was a CBC broadcaster and even a discussion about fellow Canuck, comedian Eugene Levy whose impression of her dad on SCTV was letter perfect.

It was terrific to reconnect with Nicky as we learned so much about the icon as well as the father that was Nicky’s dad. We learned what times were best for taping Jeopardy! if you wanted to eat dinner at home and the personal battle Alex Trebek fought after a pancreatic cancer diagnosis that took his life only a year and a few months after his very public announcement. It’s one thing to be a fan pulling for Alex to get well, but it’s quite another to hear about his private battle behind the scenes. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.