Yearly Archives: 2014

Asking Bob Hope A (Dumb) Question

Posted on December 18, 2014 by ronbase — 2 Comments

The first time I laid eyes on Bob Hope he was riding on the back of a convertible down the main street of Wapakoneta, Ohio in September 1969. An entertainment icon looking for a reporter with a dumb question. Luckily,…

Tagged with: Bob Hope, Dolores Hope, Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, NBC, Neil Armstrong, O'Keefe Centre, Ohio, Toronto, vaudville, Vietnam, Wapakoneta
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A New Novel, Marley Mourned, The Real Clinton Remembered…

Posted on October 28, 2014 by ronbase — 3 Comments

This week we said farewell to the beloved chocolate lab of my sister-in-law, Alicia, and brother, Ric. Marley’s sad exit after fourteen years, coincided with the publication of the e-book version of my new Tree Callister novel, The Hound of…

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How I Drove Bill Murray From The Movies

Posted on October 21, 2014 by ronbase — 2 Comments

These days, Bill Murray is everywhere. In Toronto, they had a Bill Murray Day in his honor. Words like “beloved,” and phrases like “national treasure” are used to describe him. There is “Oscar buzz,” as everyone says, around his performance…

Tagged with: Bill Murray, Columbia Pictures, Dan Aykroyd, Ghostbusters, Golden Cadillac, Harold Ramis, Hotel Frontenac, Ivan Reitman, New York, Oak Bar, Park Plaza Hotel, Quebec City, Ray Bennett, Somerset Maugham, St. Vincent, The Razor's Edge, Tyrone Power
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I Can’t Stop Watching: Sex and the TV Drama Revolution

Posted on August 21, 2014 by ronbase — 5 Comments

We’ll get to the sex stuff in a moment, but before we do, a brief look back… The first time I visited Los Angeles, I spent a lot of time at Universal Studios. In those days, Universal was a television…

Tagged with: Boardwalk Empire, Breaking Bad, Broadchurch, Bryan Cranston, Claire Danes, D.B. Weiss, David Chase, David R. Benioff, Dennis Weaver, Downton Abbey, Eddie Albert, Fargo, Game of Thrones, Homeland, House of Cards, Jenji Kohan, Justified, Kevin Spacey, Kojak, Mad Men, Martin Scorsese, Masters of Sex, McCloud, Nic Pizzolatto, Orange Is the New Black, Robert Wagner, Switch, Telly Savalas, The Americans, The Bridge, The Fall, The Sopranos, Top of the Lake, Toronto International Film Festival, True Detective, Universal Studios, Vince Gilligan, Wolf of Wall Street
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I Tripped Lauren Bacall

Posted on August 13, 2014 by ronbase — 5 Comments

This is how I came to trip a Hollywood legend. First of all, let’s set the scene: It is opening night at Detroit’s grand old Fisher Theatre. A new musical based on the classic 1950 Bette Davis movie, All About…

Tagged with: Adolph Green, All About Eve, Applause, Bette Davis, Betty Comden, Broadway, Charles Strouse, Detroit, Fisher Theatre, Humphrey Bogart, Key Largo, Lauren Bacall, Lee Adams, Len Cariou, Margo Channing, Ray Bennett, The Big Sleep, To Have and Have Not, Toronto Telegram
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On Top of the World With Robin Williams

Posted on August 12, 2014 by ronbase — 7 Comments

The world premiere of the musical Popeye, a live action movie based on the iconic spinach-eating comic strip character, written by Jules Feiffer and directed by Robert Altman, music by Harry Nilsson, was held on a warm December night at the legendary…

Tagged with: Dead Poets Society, Mann's Chinese Theatre, Moscow on the Hudson, Mrs. Doubtfire, Paramount Pictures, Popeye, Robert Altman, Robert Evans, Robin Williams, Shelley Duvall, The Angriest Man In Brooklyn, The Best of Times
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Lost on the Prairie With James Garner

Posted on July 21, 2014 by ronbase — 2 Comments

We were somewhere in the middle of Alberta, James Garner and me. Actually, there were a few dozen crew members around as well, not to mention Stuart Margolin, Garner’s long-time friend and a frequent co-star on The Rockford Files. But…

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