Rarified Heir Podcast

Today on another encore edition of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we bring you part one of our interview w/ the children of zany comedian Harry Ritz, Janna Taninbaum & Michael Ritz. The reason this became a two part episode was because of some terrible technical issues which forced us to abort our initial conversation and pick it up two days later. What’s that old showbiz adage, “Never give a sucker an even break?” No, that’s not it, it’s “The show must go on” and true to their showbiz roots, Janna and Michael did just that. And we thank them for it.

For many of you, the Ritz Brothers were a comedy/dance team that has been spoken about in hushed tones for years but unless you were born before the Johnson Administration, you likely haven’t had the chance to see the Ritz Brothers perform. Due to many strange and offbeat scenarios, we get into why that’s the case on this episode. But in their day, the Ritz Brothers were not only wildly popular but were some of the highest paid performers in the world. Different than the Marx Brothers, The Ritz Brothers were essentially Harry Ritz who was THE comedian other comedians influenced. From Jerry Lewis to Don Rickles to Mel Brooks, everyone said Harry Ritz was the funniest, wackiest comedian they ever saw. So let’s right some wrongs here and talk about the best and funniest comedy team you perhaps have never seen, The Ritz Brothers. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story. Sometimes two!

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we speak to Larry Strauss, son of actress Charlotte Rae. To say we were more than a little surprised at how many of you connected to this episode with all of you comments, likes and metrics, is an understatement. You really took a liking to this one and why not? Larry was incredibly open about how both his mother and Josh’s mother both shared the stage in the Broadway musical Li’l Abner, about an indiscrete moment between Cloris Leachman and Martin Balsam,  how his mother turned a co-starring role on Diff’rent Strokes into a starring role on The Facts of Life and much more.

We also spoke to Larry about his books, the more recent biography of his mother The Facts of My Life as well as Lightman a book of fiction about two characters awash in catastrophe and possible redemption in 1973 New York City. What’s more we delved into his teaching students in the LAUSD system in Los Angeles and how rewarding it is for him in an often difficult environment.

We also learn about Larry’s father John Strauss who was a composer & editor whose credits run the gamut from The Phil Silvers Show, Amadeus, Take The Money and Run and so much more. This episode has a it all, some laughs, some heartache and some great storytelling. But it’s the story about Larry’s older brother Andrew that took place each Christmas season that still has us thinking about it today. Another child of a celebrity interviewed by the child of a celebrity. Everyone has a story.

Today on another encore edition of the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Anne Marie Snyder, daughter of the great Tom Snyder. We selected this very episode for this very date because on October 15 it will mark the 50^th anniversary of the Tomorrow show. And if that’s not a reason to raise your glass and toast one of the greatest talk show hosts in history with a colortini, I don’t know what is.

When we originally ran this episode, it quickly became one of our most listened to episodes. It was a true reminder that Tom Snyder connected with his fans in a way many in television did not. He was beloved by his fans for his one on one in-depth interviews, his ever-present cigarette in the early years and his penchant for a good stiff drink.

We spoke to Anne Marie about growing up with a firm but loving father, as well as her father’s guests on the show specifically Charles Manson to Tom Petty and Bono from U2. We also learned about her goal about trying to save the legacy of the Tomorrow show by preserving as many episodes on tape as she could. This has led her to a project we can’t really talk about but when it happens, we’ll have her back on to tell us all about it. But for now, take a listen to Anne Marie Snyder, our guest on this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast as we salute the 50^th anniversary of the Tomorrow show. Everyone has a story.

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking, for a second time to Eric Bonerz, son of actor/director Peter Bonerz. We spoke to Eric a while back and what started out as a fun connection to our time together as kids at the Oakwood School became a pop culture potpourri of 1970s LA, celebrity, movies, film, trivia, television, music, weird video stores and more. In fact, there was so much to talk about, we didn’t get to all of it so on this episode, we were able to go back to some of the things we missed. Like what you ask? How about dinner and a movie with cartoonist Chuck Jones at your house? Or being the drummer for Kim Gordon’s band Free Kitten in 1993 as part of the Lalapalooza tour? Or how about the time Nine Inch Nails Trent Reznor mixed a track for one of Eric’s projects in the living room of that infamous house on Cielo Drive? Got your attention? We thought so.

We loved talking with Eric about car culture in LA, crowbar wielding truckers, the Wonderland Avenue murders, befriending a school librarian, driving Peter Bonerz AMC Eagle station wagon, befriending a young director Harmony Korine, interrupting De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest’s pre-show doobie, an unmade version of Blade Runner starring his father and directed by Martin Scorsese and much more. So sit back, wind down and listen to our latest conversation with Eric Bonerz for this latest episode of the podcast. Somehow Bob Newhart and Friends never gets brought up…until Josh confuses the TV show with the movie Kids. It’s all here on the today’s episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.

Today on another encore episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we talk to Rachel Pollack, daughter of actor/director Sydney Pollack. We talk to Rachel about some truly amazing experiences that only a child of a celebrity could tell you. Like what you ask? How about being on set of Out of Africa IN AFRICA with Meryl Streep and Robert Redford and still wishing you were home in LA with your high school boyfriend? Or having to tell your dad who Dave Matthews was before a meeting? When your dad’s films are nominated for 48 Academy Awards, those things do tend to happen.

We also talk about Ben Stiller’s impression of her dad as Frankenstein on The Ben Stiller Show (which she didn’t know about), how her father met her mother in a very famous acting class in New York and how her mother gave up her dream so that they could raise a family together and – get this – her dad’s obsession with making BBQed ribs. I ask you, what other podcast can tell you that Sydney Pollack started making his ribs 24 hours in advance?

We hear stories about Tom Cruise, Tootsie, The Sopranos, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Burt Lancaster and much, much more. It was a truly fantastic discussion with Rachel and you get to hear about it right now, on this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.

Today on another encore edition of The Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Cleto Escobedo III, who is the bandleader for late night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! We talk to Cleto about his years growing up in Las Vegas with Jimmy when his pop, Cleto Jr. was head of a fantastic live band, Los Blues who performed for years in the lounge of the Sahara Hotel doing sets well into the early morning. A 4am slot might not seem ideal to you but both Jackie Wilson and Sammy Davis Jr. sat in with the band and none other than Elvis Presley watched from the audience.

The younger Cleto tells us stories about his years growing up in Vegas and haunts like Circus Circus, The Golden Steer, The Peppermill and Battista’s Hole in the Wall as well as his dads commitment to his family. Moving from the lounge to backstage butler at Caesar’s Palace, it was none other than Sammy Davis Jr. who took Cleto Jr. under his wing and took care of him. Today, both father and son play in the band Cleto and the Cletones, the house band on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and the stories flow fast and furious about legends they now perform with. Along the way we also hear stories about Paula Abdul, Marc Anthony, Phillips Bailey & more.

It was great talking to Cleto about growing up the child of a celebrity on the Las Vegas Strip and hearing terrific stories about best friends Cleto and Jimmy who still hang together and their families camp together. Everyone has a story. Take a listen.

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Noopy Rodrigues, daughter of comedian and singer Rose Marie and trumpeter Bobby Guy. Talking to Noopy was a fun and lively experience because the thing that became clear from the word go was how many connections we had that we didn’t even know about. From Broadway theaters our mom’s performed in, being brought out on stage by famous entertainers when we were likely not even in Kindergarten, strong single mothers who raised their families after devastating losses, growing up in the San Fernando Valley and more.

Noopy also somehow connected the dots to other guests – as she was a segment producer on the Tomorrow show with Tom Snyder, whose daughter Ann Marie Snyder was prior guest as well as how her mother saved all sorts of amazing things including the very recordings that make up the new CD Rose Marie Sings: The Complete Mercury Recordings & More. If that sounds amazingly familiar to what host Josh Mills is working on as well, don’t worry, we made that connection already. Along the way we also talk Rosalind Russell, Phil Silvers, Morey Amsterdam, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis and some guy named Popcorn who really will blow your mind.

Take a listen to our conversation with Noopy Rodrigues on this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Peter Knego, whose parents actor Peter Coe and Model/Actress Rosalee Calvert really come alive in the conversation you are about to hear. What’s our connection? Well Rosalee was in two films with Edie Adams, Josh’s mother and both Peter and Josh both went to the same high school. But listening to Peter talk about everything from his firsthand accounts of Mel Brooks and Ed Wood to James Galanos and Sparks – herein lies the the story of his celebrity parents.

Peter and Josh barely scratched the surface but somehow we cover everything from growing up on food stamps in the Hollywood Hills to his difficult relationship with his eight-time married father who over time becomes a friend. We hear about real life actual Nazis, the 20^thCentury train, Elektra Records mogul Ahmet Ertrgun, c-level actor Paul Marco, Cecil B. Demille, an unproduced Ed Wood musical, lunch at Pasta, Inc. on Sunset Plaza, the glory of Westwood in the 1980s as well as whaling songs from the 1930s. Actually that last part isn’t true. But it’s about the only thing Peter Knego didn’t touch upon in our wide ranging conversation about being the child of a celebrity. Peter’s story, is anything but normal. It’s funny, tough to listen to at times, uplifting and sometimes too much to believe. So Kimono My House and take a listen to this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story

Today on another encore bonus edition of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we talk to last week’s guests Kathleen Marshall and Scott Marshall, again this week. And again we learn first-hand what it was like to grow up the daughter and son of director Garry Marshall & the niece and nephew of actor director Penny Marshall.

This episode picks up where last week’s episode ends with tales about school nap time and Lord of the Flies, growing up in Hollywood and the hermits of the Hollywood Hills and the importance of the next generation making their mark. Take a listen to the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.

Today on another encore edition of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we talk to Kathleen Marshall and Scott Marshall, the daughter and son of director Garry Marshall & the niece and nephew of actor/director Penny Marshall. We loved talking to two fellow albums of the Oakwood School which host Josh Mills attended with them because it was a great chance to reconnect and talk about all things Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Mork and Mindy and a few pilots that didn’t really make the grade. We did get to talk about Garry’s films like Pretty Womanand The Flamingo Kid as well as Penny’s film A League of Their Own.

Kathleen and Scott give us first hand looks into what it was like being on set in the 70s and into the 90s, how they were not allowed on one set due to their age but another was pretty much a second home when growing up. What’s more, we learned how their mother, Barbara kept the kids feet on the ground as she was not one who loved the limelight and wanted to make sure the kids had a regular, everyday family life. Of course we talk about Garry’s passion for sports and why he pushed it on his kids, we hear Scott’s spot on impression of his dad from Albert Brooks Lost in America, tales of Scott’s post college indie band Chavez who once played the Hollywood Bowl & much more. It was a pleasure to reconnect with both Kathleen and Scott on this edition of the Rarified Heir Podcast Take a listen.

Today on another encore episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Sara Ballantine, daughter of comedian and magician Carl Ballentine. Or how some of you may know him: The Amazing Ballantine. Or maybe it’s The World’s Greatest Magician. Whatever the case, you might also remember Carl from his “magic act” or stints on McHale’s Navy, episodes of The Monkees, films like Speedway with Elvis Presley or via master magician David Copperfield who is a massive fan of Carl Ballentine.

We talk to Sara (or Saratoga – so named after the horse racing track her father liked to frequent) about her years with her dad and mother Ceil Cabot a New York actor who was every bit as wild and outrageous as her father – in the best says possible. Sara tells us about her growing up in Hollywood in the 1970s, her own voice over career in commercials and animated shows as well as stories about the famed Los Angeles venue, The Magic Castle, how her dad came up with the name Ballentine, his groundbreaking Las Vegas gig which purportedly was the first-ever magician to grace the stage on the Las Vegas Strip and much more. When both George Carlin and Steve Martin tell you how funny your dad was, you know just how funny Carl Ballentine was.

Take a listen on this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.

Today on the Rarefied Heir Podcast encore edition, we are talking to Cory Tyler, son of ventriloquist Willie Tyler & Lester. Taking to Cory was a great thrill as his dad was one of those celebrities you saw constantly when we were growing up - from successful runs on stage, to network television, on cable TV and even one place we did not know about - vinyl. Yes there is a fairly tough to find comedy album released when his dad was signed to Motown Records. In fact, we talk to Cory about this as we discuss the famed Motown Revue tours of the 1960s his dad was a part of during civil rights, that was famous not only for the performers but for the social progress they made at that time.

We also talk to Cory about having an inanimate family member, a long lost favorite coffee shop he and his father frequented, his years growing up in the San Fernando Valley that sounds familiar to host Josh Mills and his parents unique living arrangement hat while certainly not the norm, worked well for Cory and his brother. Talking to Cory was easy, fun and educational. We learned a lot. So where does one get a passion for ventriloquism in America post WWII that spans through to today? You’ll just have to listen to this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast and find out. Everyone has a story. 

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Dick Smothers Jr, son of, yes, you guessed it, Dick Smothers of the famed Smothers Brothers comedy team. We spoke to Dick Jr. about growing up with one of the best straight men in the business – his father, how his father and uncle Tom Smothers founded their musical comedy act, how they launched their massive CBS show of the 1960s The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and much more. We talked about the dichotomy between the real life personality traits of both brothers offstage and what it was like growing up in Beverly Hills, Woodland Hills and Santa Cruz, California as a young adult with a dad who clearly loved attention.

We also talk about Dick’s heavy metal band, Kamikaze of the 1980s who were part of the Northern California metal scene, how the band made their television debut on a Smothers Brothers special covering a track from the Great American Songbook and more. It was at about this point when our interview got very honest and while we don’t want to give anything away, let’s just say, if you know the names Ona Zee or Alister Crowley, you might have an idea where our interview headed. If not, well, all we can tell you is we’ve never broached either of these two topics on this podcast before. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that” to quote Seinfeld, but, it does make for some very enlightening and honest conversation from Dick Jr. about his life and his beliefs and we certainly appreciate that.

This is the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Kristi Callan, daughter of actress and author K Callen. That’s K as in the letter, no period.

We talk to Kristi about her mother’s 50+ year career in stage, film, television and commercials in everything from an iconic All in The Family episode to the recent Knives Outbuzzed about film. Along the way we talk about Sanka commercials, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Carnivale, American Gigolo, Deep Space Nine, A Touch of Class, The Onion Field and much more. We even discuss a long lost Benson & Hedges cigarette commercial. You remember the ‘healthy’ cigarette!

We also take time to discuss Kristi’s musical career in bands like Wednesday Week, The Roswell Sisters, Goat Deity, Dime Box Band and even aCheap Trick cover band, Cheap Chick. We hit upon everything from Hootenanny’s, several cross country moves, a great Norman Lear story, the LA punk rock scene of the late seventies, early eighties, The Ramones recognizing her mother on a flight, seeing Eddie Van Halen on the set of One Day at a Time, meeting The Brady Bunch’s Christopher Knight, long lost LA venues like The Starwood and the Music Machine and much more.

It's evident from this interview just how much Kristi loves her mother who is going strong and sill acting at age 87. So much so, Kristi barely wanted to talk about her own career and wanted to focus almost exclusively on her mother alone. But we persevered and got her to talk about it all on this brand new episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.

Today on the Rarified Hair Podcast we are sending you across the orthicon tube with a special edition bonus episode in celebration of the upcoming Fantagraphics book, “Ernie in Kovacsland: Writings, Drawings and Photographs from Television’s Original Genius”. Our host today is co-author Pat Thomas (although left to Pat, you’d never know that as you will soon hear), co-author Ben Model and our Rarified Heir Podcast host & co-author Joshua Mills is talking about the in’s and out’s of creating this new book, coming July 25.

It's a deep dive today with details about the genesis of the book, why the book was even created and some great stories about how this book came to be. We talk Ernie. We talk Edie Adams. We talk Mia Kovacs and we talk about Josh’s dad, photographer Marty Mills. This time the child of a celebrity is interviewed not by the child of a celebrity but co-authors Pat Thomas and Ben Model. Everyone has a story. Here’s one about Ernie in Kovacsland. Take a listen.

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Precious Chong, daughter of Tommy Chong, aka The Man, aka THE Chong in the comedy team Cheech and Chong. It was a real thrill to talk to Precious as she is someone Josh had never met before but was part of his peripheral circle as she was friends with a few of his childhood friends while we were growing up. Oh and Josh’s mom, Edie Adams, co-starred in Cheech and Chong’s Up In Smoke as Chong’s mother, Mrs. Stoner. Talk about connections!

We spoke to Precious about her very lean years growing up as Tommy Chong’s daughter which suddenly became very different with the success of the Cheech & Chong comedy albums, live shows and films in the mid 1970s and ballooned into superstardom in the 1980s. We also spoke to Precious about her years as an assistant in Hollywood (listen for the Val Kilmer story), her own career in comedy as well as her directing debut which was quite the buzzworthy indie film.

Along the way, we talk about long lost shooting scripts, lost LA restaurants, the comedy scene in Toronto, her dads incarceration on debatable charges, his status as a the elder statesmen of pot and much more. Precious had such a viv and verve talking to us that it was a real pleasure to have that energy at the other end of North America. So sit back and take a listen, to this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast with Precious Chong. Another child of a celebrity interviewed by the child of a celebrity.

Today on the 4^th of July edition of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Jazmin Erving, daughter of Julius Erving or as we all know him, Dr. J. To say Josh was psyched to talk to Jazmin would be an understatement. To those of us who grew up sports in the United States in the 1970s and 80s (ahem), Dr. J was an almost mythical figure who transcended basketball and the NBA to become some sort of cultural icon. Muhammad Ali, Evil Knievel, Reggie Jackson and Dr. J dominated the cultural sports landscape with their extraordinary skills that made them icons in during the time of America’s bicentennial year in 1976. They were the ‘must see’ TV before there was such a thing. Let’s just say, if you haven’t seen the film The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh, you really don’t know Dr. J.

We talked to Jasmin about growing up in Philadelphia and what it was like having a dad who was the biggest star in the city and also the entire basketball landscape. For trainspotters, we talk old school restaurants like Bookbinders and random Philadelphia 76er players like Mark Iavaroni and for a more macro view we talk about Julius days wowing them at the Harlem courts of Rucker Park, THE place to be seen one-on-one playing basketball and Jazmin having the run of The Spectrum, home to the 76ers when she was a girl.

We also talk about Jazmin’s crystal business and perhaps one of the most remarkable stories to come out of the pandemic that we can think of. It’s one of warmth, love and humanity that somehow led her to a new business that keeps on growing. So let’s hear it, it’s Jazmine Erving on this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast encore edition, we are talking to Innis Casey, son of writer/producer J. Rickey Dumm who worked with friend, classmate and iconic TV show hitmaker Stephen J. Cannell on many of his hit shows including Magnum PI, Silk Stalkings, Renegade and Rockford Files among others. Innis is brutally honest about his writer/producer father and his years growing up which was both fantastic and downright scary. This episode pulls no punches and I don’t’ think Innis would have had it any other way.

Aside from his years growing up with trips to Hawaii for Magnum, we learn that for a good period of time in the early 2000s, Innis made quite a name for himself in Latin music, becoming the much sought after star, Innis (like Charo, no last name) touring Mexico, Spain and both South America and Central America as a Latin pop star. Really, how many among our guests did a photo shoot for a magazine cover with Christina Aguilera? And believe me, we’ve seen it when someone gets all aflutter seeing Innis out and about in public in Los Angeles.

So how does a white dude from LA become a Latin pop star? Ah-ha! That’s the rub. You will have to listen to his story, right here, right now on this edition of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.

Today on the second part of another encore edition of the Rarified Heir Podcast we again are talking to Cathy Cole, a member of both The first family of song, the King Family as well as the King Cousins. So if you didn’t get enough of Cher, Ray Charles, Jonathan Winters and her amazing father Buddy Cole, we have much more to share with you.

It's all about reunion shows, recording new albums in Japan, surprise songwriters, LA restaurants, live dates at LA’s premiere jazz club The Catalina and much more. So take a listen to part two of this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story. And Cathy’s involve John Davidson, Rosemary Clooney, Gil Evans and more! Hot diggity!

Today on another encore edition of the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Cathy Cole, who like a prior guest was born into the King Family, The First Family of Song. It’s a fun and fascinating conversation with Cathy as she talks to us about her family (of course) but also of her own career in the King Cousins with fantastic stories about hanging with a new comic named Richard Pryor, guesting next to the Rolling Stones as well as hanging with Cher, Ray Charles and more.

Along the way we learn about her remarkable father, musician Buddy Cole and her stories about his home studio – maybe one of the first ever? – and his pipe organ in the garage blew us both away – for Cathy literally, for us figuratively. We also get to talk to Cathy about concerts in Tahiti, long lost LA restaurants, how Mad magazine parodied her and her family & a lot more. We end on Jonathan Winters and pick up on….well, you will have to tun in next week for that. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast….everyone has a story.