Friday, January 22, 2010

Thu Jan 28, 2010

HELLO RC FANS:

THIS WEEK BOB WELCOMES LORENZO LAMAS:

Lorenzo Lamas (born January 20, 1958) is an American actor and reality television participant. Lamas is known for playing Lance Cumson on the popular 1980s soap opera Falcon Crest, Reno Raines on the
1990s crime drama Renegade, and Hector Ramirez on the daytime soap opera The Bold and The Beautiful. Lamas also served as a judge on ABC television's short-lived reality show Are You Hot?. Currently, he now stars in his own reality show, Leave it to Lamas, a series about his real-life family.  Lamas was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of the late Argentine actor Fernando Lamas and Norwegian-American actress Arlene Dahl and stepson of the swimming film starlet, Esther Williams, who married his father when Lorenzo was 11 years old. He was brought up in Pacific Palisades, California and moved to New York City in 1971, when he was 13 years old. He graduated from the Admiral Farragut Academy in Pine Beach, New Jersey, in 1975. He went back home to Beverly Hills to rejoin his family.  Longing to be an actor since the age of five, Lamas first studied acting in Tony Barr's Film Actors Workshop and quickly thereafter obtained his first TV acting role in 1976. He had a supporting role in the 1978 hit movie Grease. In 1980, he auditioned for and won the role of Jane Wyman's playboy grandson and henchman, Lance Cumson, for the pilot of a new series entitled The Vintage Years. The pilot was later retooled to become the hit prime time drama series Falcon Crest. Lamas was already familiar to Wyman as his father, Fernando Lamas, had guest-starred on Wyman's TV show in 1958. During a 2006 TV interview with Norweigan Television Team, he once said that for him getting the role, he'd auditioned twice and beat out five other guys for the part, which paid off. He also had a wonderful on- and off-screen chemistry with Wyman for all the nine seasons, despite his mentor and series' lead, who was taking a leave of absence from the show in 1989. At that time, he, along with his co-stars David Selby and Susan Sullivan had visiting the ailing Wyman at a hospital. During his stint on Falcon Crest, Lamas was nominated for two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Golden Globe. Lamas was the only actor to appear in all 227 episodes of the series. He didn't keep in touch of his mentor, except on September 10, 2007, he received word Wyman died. In 1984, Lamas was nominated for Worst Actor at the Golden Raspberry Awards for his performance in the movie Body Rock. Lamas also performed a song on the soundtrack for this movie, and the track "Fools Like Me" became his only single to date to crack the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 1992, two years after Falcon Crest ended, Lamas played the role of the falsely accused cop Reno Raines in the syndicated series Renegade. The series was seen in over 100 countries[citation needed], and during its final season, it moved from first-run syndication to the USA Network. The show ended in 1997 after a run of five seasons. From February 2004 until February 2007 Lamas played the role of Hector Ramirez on the CBS daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. In August 2007, Lamas starred as the King of Siam in The King and I at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit, Maine. That fall, he performed at Kean University Premiere Stages in Union, New Jersey in the title role in Steven Dietz's Dracula. Lamas performed as El Gallo in The Fantasticks at the Casa MaƱana Theatre in Fort Worth, Texas in June 2008. In June 2009, Lamas returned to the Ogunquit Playhouse as Zach in A Chorus Line. Lamas began appearing in the Zaxby's restaurant chain television advertisements in May 2008. In 2008, Lamas appeared in season 2 of CMT's Gone Country. Lamas now stars as himself in Leave it to Lamas, a reality show that focused on his own real-life family on E!  Lamas has been married four times. His first marriage was to Victoria Hilbert from 1981 to 1982. His next marriage was to Michele Smith in 1983, resulting in two children: son A.J. Lamas (born December 19, 1983) and daughter Shayne Lamas (born November 9, 1985). He and Smith split in 1985. He married Kathleen Kinmont (daughter of his Falcon Crest co-star Abby Dalton) in 1989; they divorced in 1993. Lamas married his fourth wife, Playmate of the Month Shauna Sand, in 1996. Lamas and Sand have three daughters: Alexandra Lynne Lamas (born November 22, 1997), Victoria Lamas (born April 24, 1999), and Isabella Lorenza Lamas (born February 2, 2001). Lamas and Sand divorced in 2002. Lamas fathered daughter Paton Lee (born 1988) with actress Daphne Ashbrook. He was engaged to Playmate of the Month Barbara Moore, but the marriage was called off. Lamas occasionally races automobiles in the IMSA and Skip Barber Formula Dodge Series racing series. In the past, he has driven a Ford Thunderbird in his races. Lamas also holds a commercial pilot's license. He is a co-chair of several children's charities, including Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Lamas supported John McCain for President in 2008. Lamas has studied karate and taekwondo since 1979;  he has a black belt in the latter. He has a motorcycle company called Lorenzo Motorcycles. His son, A.J. Lamas, continued the family acting tradition and starred as Rafael Ortega on As the World Turns from October 2004 to February 2005, when the role was re-cast.

 

 


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Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Thu Jan 21, 2010

RC Fans:
This week Robert Conrad talks with the legendary Mickey Rooney.
Joe Yule Jr., also known as Mickey Rooney, was born September 23, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York. His parents, chorus girl Nell Carter and comic Joe Yule Sr., were vaudeville performers. Two weeks after Mickey's birth, he was on the road with the circuit traveling throughout North mickey rooney gi jpgAmerica.  At 17 months old, his talent surfaced by accident. While hiding underneath a shoeshine stand in a Chicago theatre, fascinated by his father's act, he let out a sneeze. The noise caused a spotlight to find him in the crowd. Not knowing what to do he stood up and blew on his tiny toy mouth organ that was hanging on a string around his neck. The audience erupted with laughter. The show's manager got him a pint-sized tuxedo after the incident, and young Mickey began performing small ballads and speeches on stage. Mickey's parents divorced when he was three. Mickey's mother took him to Kansas City, Missouri so they could live with her sister. The normal way of life they had there was short lived, for in 1924, Mickey's mother decided he would be perfect for Hal Roach's "Our Gang" series. They headed west to Hollywood so Mickey could try out for the role. Once there, however, they realized the pay was insufficient. Penniless, they drove back to Kansas City. They returned to California again in 1926. This time Mickey
Mickey Rooneylanded his first film role in the movie "Not To Be Trusted," in which he played a midget. His big break came in 1927 when he was cast for "Mickey 'Himself' McGuire," a series based on a comic strip. His mother wanted to legally change his name to Mickey McGuire for publicity reasons, but the comic's creator did not approve this. Instead she renamed him Mickey Rooney after getting approval from his manager. In 1934, Mickey was competing in a table tennis tournament in Los Angles and was showing off to the audience. MGM producer David O. Selznick noticed his antics. He told MGM studio chief Louis Mayer that he had found a kid that was a "goldmine" and begged him to sign Mickey to MGM. Mayer was reluctant to do so. Selznick made a role for Mickey in the film "Manhattan Melodrama," which was later made famous when notorious gangster John Dillinger was shot and killed while leaving the theater where he had been watching it. Mickey's work on the film led him to being signed to a long-term contract with MGM. Although he had the reputation of being a troublemaker, he put his all into acting and began to receive rave reviews. Short in stature, but never short in confidence, Mickey was the number one box office actor in the United States from 1939-41. He became known for his work on films such as: "A Midsummer Nights Dream," "Boys Town," "Babes In Arms" and the hit "Andy Hardy" series. He also starred with many Hollywood leading ladies including Lana Turner, Anne Rutherford and Judy Garland. During the 1950s, he worked on a television series called "Hey Mulligan." It was short-lived and could not compete with the likes of "The Jackie Gleason Show " which was scheduled in the same time slot. Mickey never was one to settle down, which explains his eight marriages. In 1942, he married Hollywood star Ava Gardner, but they soon divorced. After entering the service for 21 months in 1944 to entertain the troops in WWII, he married Betty Jane Rase. This marriage was followed by similar experiences with Martha Vickers in 1949 and Elaine Mahnken in 1952. In 1958 Rooney married Barbara Ann Thompson, but tragedy struck when she was murdered in 1966. Stumbling into deep depression, he married Barbara's friend, Marge Lane, who helped him take care of his young children. The marriage lasted only 100 days. He married Carolyn Hockett from 1969-1974, but financial instability ended the relationship. Finally, in 1978 Rooney married Jan Chamberlin, his current wife, with whom he lives in Los Angeles, California.  In the early 1970s, Mickey undertook several short-lived financial ventures and acted in various dinner theatres. He reluctantly went back to the stage in the burlesque production of "Sugar Babies" in 1979. The production ended up being a phenomenal success, and his career was reborn. All in all, Mickey is a man with over 200 films under his belt. He earned an Honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement, a special Juvenile Oscar he shared with Deana Durbin in 1939, five Oscar nominations, one Emmy Award, five Emmy Nominations and two Golden Globes. Mickey's career has extended through many generations and in many different directions. Mickey Rooney: actor, survivor, inventor and Hollywood living legend.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Thu Jan 14, 2010

Dennis Farina with Robert Conrad this week

Dennis Farina (born February 29, 1944) is an
American film and television actor. He is a character actor, often tarina was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Italian American parents Yolanda, a homemaker, and Joseph Farina, a typecast as a mobster or police officer, the latter due to his earlier career as a police officer. Sicilian doctor. He was raised in a large family and has three brothers and three sisters.  Farina served 18 years as a policeman on the Chicago police force before becoming an actor. Farina himself has stated several times that his handgun skills while on the force were so poor that his fellow officers nick-named him and he began his work in show business working for director Michael Mann as a police consultant on Mann's early works. This led to an interest in acting when Mann cast him in a small role in the 1981 film Thief. Farina proceeded to moonlight as an actor in the Chicago theater scene before Mann chose him for his Crime Story series. Farina played the mobster Albert Lombard in Michael Mann's other television show Miami Vice.  Two of his most well-known movie characters are Jimmy Serrano, the mob boss from Midnight Run, and Ray "Bones" Barboni, a rival criminal of Chili Palmer's in Get Shorty. He also played the FBI agent in the first Hannibal Lecter crime film, Michael Mann's Manhunter.  Other movies in Farina's filmography include Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan (as an Army Lieutenant Colonel), Striking Distance, Another Stakeout, Little Big League, Snatch, The Mod Squad and Out of Sight. He co-starred with Bette Midler in the romantic comedy That Old Feeling.  Farina has demonstrated quite a flair for comedy. He won an American Comedy Award for his performance in Get Shorty and starred in a television sitcom, In-Laws, from 2002-03. He had a comic role opposite Ed Harris and Helen Hunt in the HBO production of Empire Falls in 2005 and opposite Alan Rickman in 2008's Bottle Shock. In early 2005, Farina provided the voice of aging boxer-turned-superhero Wildcat on Justice League Unlimited.  The producers of the long-running television series Law & Order hired Farina as Det. Joe Fontana after the death of Jerry Orbach. Farina stayed with the show for two years, but his character was not as popular with viewers as Orbach's Lennie Briscoe had been. As a result, in May 2006, it was announced that Farina was leaving Law & Order to pursue other projects, including 2007's You Kill Me opposite Ben Kingsley and 2008's What Happens in Vegas with Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher. His role of Detective Lt. Mike Torello on Crime Story was as a Chicago police officer, who was later seconded to the U.S. Justice Department. Farina's Law & Order character, Joe Fontana, worked for Chicago Homicide before his transfer to the NYPD. As is common on Law & Order, Fontana shares a number of other characteristics with the actor who plays him: they hail from the same Chicago neighborhood, attended the same parochial school, and have the same tastes in both clothes and music.  In October 2008, Farina became the new host of Unsolved Mysteries when it returned to television with a new five-season, 175-episode run on Spike TV. Farina was filling a void that the late Robert Stack left upon his death. (Stack hosted the series for its entire original 15 year run.) The series would include re-edited segments from previous incarnations on NBC, CBS, and Lifetime (all originally hosted by Stack) as well as several new original stories. Farina is the father of three sons, Dennis, Michael, and Joseph. His youngest son, Joseph, is also an actor. He was an officer in the Chicago Police Department from 1967 to 1985. When Farina quit the force, he became a private detective. He has one granddaughter, Brianna, and four grandsons, Michael, Tyler, Matthew and Eric. Dennis is a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan and played an avid fan alongside Dennis Franz in the play "The Bleacher Bums" for a few years.  

Thursday Jan 7, 2010

Jennifer Horn joins Bob as co-host for the first live show of 2010.
As promised, today's show features your calls and emails and we are taking your calls at 800-336-2225. Email Bob at
rconrad@crni.net .

Thanks for supporting "The  PM Show on CRN Digital Talk Radio".