THE DAY THE MONOCLE DECIDED TO JOIN THE GENERAL FOR LUNCH
It was a rainy Tuesday night in 1984, and I was sitting in a small, cramped university theater for a retrospective on classic television. The room was packed…
THE DAY CORPORAL LEBEAU WAS FORCED TO RUN A REAL KITCHEN
The interviewer leans forward, shifting a few papers on the mahogany desk before pulling out a slightly yellowed, glossy eight-by-ten photograph. He slides it across to Robert Clary,…
WERNER KLEMPERER REVEALS THE DAY THE MONOCLE FINALLY FAILED HIM
“Werner, you were always known as the most disciplined man on that set,” I say, leaning toward the microphone. We are sitting in a quiet, dimly lit recording…
THE MAN BEHIND THE HELMET: JOHN BANNER’S UNFORGETTABLE ENCOUNTER
Interviewer: John, looking back at Hogan’s Heroes, people always ask about the comedy, but for you, it must have been a bit surreal. You were a Jewish man…
THE RADIO WAS PLASTIC BUT THE SILENCE FELT HEAVILY REAL
The warehouse at the edge of the studio lot was a cathedral of forgotten things. It smelled of old sawdust, ozone, and the kind of heavy, settled dust…
THEY LAUGHED BENEATH THE BARRACKS… BUT THE SILENCE SPOKE LOUDER
The sun was dipping low over the old backlot in Culver City, casting long, skeletal shadows across the patch of dry earth where Stalag 13 used to stand….
THEY THOUGHT IT WAS JUST A SCRIPT… UNTIL THE HELICOPTER LIFTED.
Loretta Swit sat on the porch of her home, the California sun casting long, amber shadows over the hills that looked remarkably like the ones they had spent…
ALAN ALDA WAS PREPARED FOR SURGERY BUT THE CHICKEN WASN’T
The air in the podcast studio was cool and quiet, a sharp contrast to the memories swirling in my head as the host leaned into the microphone. I…
THE HELICOPTER SOUND BROUGHT THE DUST BACK AFTER FORTY YEARS
The air at the Malibu Creek State Park was thin, smelling of parched sage and the ghost of a thousand generators. Mike Farrell stood next to Loretta Swit,…
WE THOUGHT WE WERE ACTING… UNTIL THE HELICOPTER TOOK OFF.
The patio was quiet, the kind of stillness that only comes when the world stops trying to be loud for a moment. Loretta Swit sat across from Mike…