Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth Interview with Legendary Actress, Michele Lee

About Harvey's guest:

Today’s special guest, Michele Lee, is a highly popular and beloved, multi-award-winning actress, singer, dancer, recording artist, producer and director who’s conquered every medium in the world of entertainment.

She’s appeared on Broadway in 6 shows, including “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”, “Bravo Giovanni”, “Seesaw”, for which she won a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics Award AND a Tony Award nomination, and of course, “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife”, for which she received another Tony Award nomination. She also starred as “Mame” at the Hollywood Bowl alongside Christine Ebersole and Benjamin Platt. And most recently she played “Madame Morrible” on Broadway in “Wicked”.

And on the big screen, our guest has appeared in a number of great movies including “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”, “The Love Bug”, “The Comic” and “Along Came Polly”. And on television, our guest has been immortalized for her portrayal of the resilient and compassionate “Karen MacKenzie” on the blockbuster TV series, “Knots Landing”, for which she received an Emmy Award nomination, and she won 5 Soap Opera Digest Awards, as well as the 2009 TV Land Anniversary Award.

But beyond that iconic role, our guest has appeared in many classic TV shows including “Ben Casey”, “The Red Skelton Show”, “The Carol Burnett Show”, “Marcus Welby”, “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in”, “Will & Grace”, and many more. And she’s starred in dozens of TV movies and miniseries including “Only With Married Men”, “Dark Victory”, “A Letter to Three Wives”, “The Fatal Image”, “A Murder on Shadow Mountain” and “Scandalous Me: The Jacqueline Susann Story”, which she also executive produced.

And let’s not forget the 1997 miniseries, “Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac”, and the 2005 TV movie, “Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again”. In 1996, our guest became the first woman EVER to produce, direct, co-write and star in a TV movie, “Color Me Perfect”, for which she was honored with the prestigious Christopher Award, which recognizes artistic works that “affirm the highest values of the human spirit.”

She’s also a recipient of the Gracie Allen Award presented by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation. And in 1998, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

And now, our guest is starring in a brand-new podcast, along with her pals from “Knots Landing”, Joan Van Ark and Donna Mills, called “We’re Knot Done Yet”.

For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/

To learn more about Michele Lee, go to:

https://michelelee.com/

https://www.facebook.com/TheMicheleLee/

https://www.instagram.com/themichelelee

@harveybrownstone,#harveybrownstone,@harveybrownstoneinterviews,#harveybrownstoneinterviews,#MicheleLee,@MicheleLee,#TheMicheleLee,@TheMicheleLee,#DonnaMills,#JoanVanArk,#KnotsLanding,#NeilSimon,#CarolBurnett,#MichaelFeinstein,#LouCostello,#LindaLavin,#CharlesBusch,#AbbottandCostello

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth Interview with Susan Stroman, Legendary Broadway Director & Choreographer

About Harvey's guest:

Today’s special guest, Susan Stroman, is one of the greatest directors and choreographers the theatre world has ever known.

She’s won 5 Tony Awards for her work in “Crazy For You”, “Show Boat”, “Contact”, and “The Producers”, for which she won TWO Tony Awards, for Best Direction and Best Choreography. She also directed and choreographed the movie version “The Producers: The Musical”, which received 4 Golden Globe Award nominations.

Some of her other most popular theatrical productions include “Oklahoma”, “The Music Man”, “Bullets Over Broadway” “Big”, “Steel Pier”, “Young Frankenstein”, “The Scottsboro Boys”, “Prince of Broadway”, “Big Fish”, “New York, New York”, “Picnic”, “Left on Tenth”, and believe me, I’m just scratching the surface. Her shows have been produced not only on Broadway, but in London’s West End and in countless national tours. For ten years she choreographed Madison Square Garden’s annual spectacular, “A Christmas Carol”.

She directed and choreographed “The Merry Widow” for the Metropolitan Opera debut. For the New York City Ballet, she created “Double Feature”, a full-length ballet highlighting the music of Irving Berlin and Walter Donaldson, and she also created “For the Love of Duke”, featuring the music of Duke Ellington.

She won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Classical Music Dance Program for the TV production of “Contact”, and she received an Emmy Award nomination for Liza Minnelli’s TV special, “Liza – Live from Radio City Music Hall”. And for her work in the feature film, “Center Stage”, she received the American Choreography Award.

And her latest Broadway musical is SMASH, which opened in April and has been getting rave reviews. The show, which is inspired by the hit TV series of the same name, is a terrific musical comedy about all the backstage pandemonium as opening night approaches for a splashy new show about Marilyn Monroe called “Bombshell”.

In addition to her 5 Tony Awards, our guest has received 11 more Tony Award nominations, and she’s won a Helen Hayes Award, a Commonwealth Award, 2 Laurence Olivier Awards, 6 Drama Desk Awards, 13 Outer Critics Circle Awards, 2 Lucille Lortel Awards, 6 Fred Astaire Awards, and 3 Lifetime Achievement Awards including the George Abbott Award and the Oscar Hammerstein Award. And in 2014, she was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame. And I just have to mention that in 2001, our guest was named Woman of the Year by Glamour Magazine.

For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/

To learn more about Susan Stroman, go to:

https://www.susanstroman.com/

@harveybrownstone,#harveybrownstone,@harveybrownstoneinterviews,#harveybrownstoneinterviews,#SusanStroman,@SusanStroman,#Broadwaymusicals,#KanderandEbb,#LizaMinnelli,#MelBrooks,#NewYorkNewYork,#JulianSchlossberg,#ShowBoat,#Oklahoma,#TheProducers,#TheMusicMan,#BulletsOverBroadway,#AChristmasCarol

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth Interview with Johnny Whitaker, Former Child Star, “Family Affair”

About Harvey's guest:

Today’s guest, Johnny Whitaker, is an actor, filmmaker, educator, addiction counselor and humanitarian whom we all grew up watching and loving on the classic TV series, “Family Affair”, on which he portrayed “Jody”, the brother of “Buffy” and “Cissy” portrayed by Anissa Jones and Kathy Garver, and co-starring Brian Keith and Sebastian Cabot.

But beyond that iconic role, our guest appeared in the 1966 movie, “The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming”, he originated the role of “Scotty Baldwin” on “General Hospital”, he starred in the 1973 musical version of “Tom Sawyer”, and he starred in 5 Walt Disney films: “The Littlest Angel”, "Snowball Express", "The Biscuit Eater", "Napoleon and Samantha" and "The Magic Pony"

He also starred in the Sid and Marty Krofft Saturday morning TV show, “Sigmund and the Sea Monsters”, and he appeared as “Zach” in the 2016 reboot of the series. He guest starred in many iconic TV shows including “Bonanza”, “Bewitched”, “Green Acres”, “Gunsmoke”, “Marcus Welby”, “Adam-12” and many others. He played Santa Claus in the highly acclaimed TV movie, “A Husband for Christmas”.

And most recently, he played the Bishop in the TV series, “The Last Evangelist”. After overcoming his own struggles with substance abuse, our guest became certified as an Addiction Counselor and Advocate, in addition to writing, directing, teaching and acting. He actually wrote, directed and executive produced a compelling documentary showcasing Portugal's groundbreaking treatment of drug addicts, which focuses on rehabilitation, rather than punitive criminal prosecution, making Portugal a world leader in positive change in drug policy.

In 1999, our guest received the Former Child Star Lifetime Achievement Award from the Youth in Film Awards.

For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/

To learn more about Johnny Whitaker, go to:

http://www.johnnywhitaker.com/

http://www.pasoporpaso.org/

@harveybrownstone,#harveybrownstone,@harveybrownstoneinterviews,#harveybrownstoneinterviews,#JohnnyWhitaker,@JohnnyWhitaker,#FamilyAffair,#TheRussiansareComingTheRussiansareComing,#GeneralHospital,#TomSawyer,#Bonanza,#Bewitched,#GreenAcres,#Gunsmoke,#MarcusWelby,#Adam12,#substanceabuse,#AnissaJones,#BrianKeith,#KathyGarver,#JodyFoster,#DanaPlato

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth Interview with Legendary Actress & Producer, Donna Mills

About Harvey's guest:

Today’s special guest, Donna Mills, is a highly popular and beloved, multi-award-winning actress and producer who has been immortalized by her unforgettable portrayal of the conniving, scheming “Abby Cunningham” on the blockbuster TV series, “Knots Landing”, for which she won 3 Soap Opera Digest Awards.

But beyond that iconic role, our guest has brought us dozens of memorable performances in a career that has spanned 6 decades. She appeared on Broadway in Woody Allen’s hilarious play, “Don’t Drink the Water”. On the big screen, she played Clint Eastwood’s girlfriend in “Play Misty For Me”, and she’s been many other great movies like “The Incident”, “Murph the Surf”, “Life Gets in the Way”, “Joy”, “Turnover”, “Origin”, and “Best Mom”, for which she won a Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actress.

On television, besides her work on “Knots Landing”, she played “Jane Miller” in “The Good Life”, she was “Laura Donnelly” in “Love is a Many Splendored Thing”, she was “Victoria Trisk” in “Hilton Head Island”, and she was “Madeline Reeves” on “General Hospital”, for which she won an Emmy Award.

She’s guest starred in numerous classic TV shows including “Gunsmoke”, “Marcus Welby”, “McMillan & Wife”, “The Six Million Dollar Man”, “Hawaii Five-O”, “Melrose Place”, “Nip/Tuck” and “NCIS”. She starred in many highly acclaimed TV movies and miniseries including “Woman on the Run”, “He’s Not Your Son”, “Alice in Wonderland”, “The World’s Oldest Living Bridesmaid”, “In My Daughter’s Name”, “The Stepford Husbands”, “Deadly Revenge”, “V.C. Andrews’ Dawn”, and of course, the 1997 miniseries “Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac”.

And in 2005, she reunited with her “Knots Landing” cast mates for the highly anticipated TV special, “Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again”. And recently, our guest along with Joan Van Ark and Michele Lee launched a brand new podcast called, “We’re Knot Done Yet.”

And if all of that weren’t enough, our guest is also a passionate advocate for the environment. She co-founded an organization called E C O, which stands for Earth Communications Office, which has been instrumental in numerous initiatives including public awareness campaigns, recycling and energy saving programs.

For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/

To learn more about Donna Mills, go to:

https://donnamills.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Donna-Mills/

http://instagram.com/thedonnamills

https://twitter.com/thedonnamills

http://instagram.com/thedonnamills

@harveybrownstone,#harveybrownstone,@harveybrownstoneinterviews,#harveybrownstoneinterviews,#donnamills,@donnamills,#thedonnamills,@thedonnamills,#KnotsLanding,#AbbyCunningham,#PlayMistyForMe,#ClintEastwood,#FredMacMurray,#GeorgeHamilton,#LarryHagman,#PattyDuke,#FlorenceHenderson,#EarthCommunicationsOffice,#JoeNamath,#WalterPigeon,#Soapopera,#JoanVanArk,#MichelleLee

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth Interview with Legendary Country Music Superstar, Jo Dee Messina

About Harvey's guest:

Today’s special guest, Jo Dee Messina, is a highly popular and beloved, multi-award-winning country music superstar whose beautiful, powerful and instantly recognizable voice has brought us NINE number one, and SIXTEEN Top 40 hit songs including “Heads Carolina, Tails California”, “You’re Not in Kansas Anymore”, “Lesson in Leavin’”, “That’s The Way”, “Burn”, “Bring on the Rain”, “My Give a Damn’s Busted” and dozens more.

In fact, she was the first female country music artist in history to have THREE consecutive multi-week, chart-topping songs from the same album: “Bye Bye”, “I’m Alright” and “Stand Beside Me”. She led the way in the resurgence of country music in 90s.

She’s received 2 Grammy Award nominations, and in 1999 she won the Academy of Country Music Award for Top New Female Vocalist AND she won the Country Music Association Horizon Award. She’s also received SIX MORE ACM and CMA Award nominations, as well as TWO American Music Award nominations for Favourite Country Female Artist.

She has multiple platinum and gold certified albums, and her digital streams and YouTube views are in the billions and constantly climbing. And her passionate, high-energy performances at her sold-out live concerts on the biggest stages in the world, are always captivating and unforgettable, because of her authenticity, commitment to her fans, and her open vulnerability on stage.

She’s currently on a North American tour, but she’s taken time out of her busy concert schedule to speak with me today.

For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/

To learn more about Jo Dee Messina, go to:

http://www.jodeemessina.com/

https://www.facebook.com/jodeemessina

https://www.instagram.com/jodeemessina

https://twitter.com/jodeemessina

https://www.youtube.com/jodeemessina

@harveybrownstone,#harveybrownstone,@harveybrownstoneinterviews,#harveybrownstoneinterviews,#JoDeeMessina,@JoDeeMessina,#FMurrayAbraham,#Countrymusic,#Faithbasedmusic,#GrammyAwards

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth Interview with Celebrated Actor, Bronson Pinchot

About Harvey's guest:

Today’s guest, Bronson Pinchot, is a highly popular and beloved actor who will forever be immortalized as the naive, optimistic, and loveable “Balki Bartokomous” on the hit TV sitcom, “Perfect Strangers”, for which he received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, and a People’s Choice Award nomination for Favourite Actor in a new TV series.

But beyond that iconic role, he’s brought us dozens of iconic performances in movies, on TV and on the stage. On the big screen, you’ve seen him in many great movies including “Risky Business”, “Beverly Hills Cop 1, 3 and Axel F”, “The Flamingo Kid”, “Courage Under Fire”, “The First Wives Club”, “Diamond Zero”, “Mr. Art Critic”, “From a Place of Darkness”, “Virgin Alexander”, “The Strike”, “Clowning”, and many more.

On television, besides his iconic role in “Perfect Strangers”, he was “Dennis Kemper” in “Sara”, he was “Jean-Luc” in “Step by Step”, he was “Patrick Dalton” in “The Young and the Restless”, he was “Principal George Hawthorne” in “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”. And for 2 years he starred in his own reality show, “The Bronson Pinchot Project”. And he’s guest-starred on dozens of iconic TV shows like “3rd Rock From the Sun”, “Clueless”, “Law & Order”, “Hawaii Five-O”, “NCIS”, “Ray Donovan”, to name just a few.

He’s also appeared in numerous TV movies and miniseries including “The Incredible Time Travels of Henry Osgood”, “Jury Duty: The Comedy”, “The Langaleers”, “Merry Christmas, George Bailey” and “The Residence”. On the stage, our guest appeared on Broadway in “Zoya’s Apartment”, “Putting it Together” and “Sly Fox”, and he also starred in the national tour of “Stones in His Pockets”. And if all of that weren’t enough, our guest is an extremely successful voice actor.

He’s won numerous awards for his portrayal of “Bash” in the highly acclaimed podcast series, “A Voice in Violet”. And he’s narrated well over 400 audio books and received multiple awards, including the prestigious Narrator of the Year Award in 2010 from Audible Dot Com. And that same year, AudioFile Magazine named him the Best Voice in Fiction & Classics.

For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/

@harveybrownstone,#harveybrownstone,@harveybrownstoneinterviews,#harveybrownstoneinterviews,#BronsonPinchot,@BronsonPinchot,#BalkiBartokomous,#PerfectStrangers,#RiskyBusiness,#BeverleyHillsCop,#AIDS,#RandalKleiser,#ItsMyParty,#TippyHedren,#BetteMidler,#CarolBurnett,#GeorgeBurns,#TomCruise,#DenzelWashington,#LaurelandHardy,#CharlesDickens,#TheYoungandtheRestless,#TheResidence

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth Interview with Mo’Nique, Legendary Actress, Comedienne & Author

About Harvey's guest:

Today’s special guest, Mo’Nique, is a multi-award winning and beloved superstar actress, comedienne, writer and producer, whose brilliant and unforgettable performance in the 2009 movie, “Precious”, earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, as well as over 30 other major prestigious acting awards including a Golden Globe, a BAFTA Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, the Film Critics Awards from Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, the Independent Spirit Award, and the Sundance Film Festival's Special Jury Prize, to name only a few.

Our guest has also appeared in many other great movies including “Hair Show”, “Shadow Boxer”, “Domino”, “Fat Girls”, “Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins”, “Blackbird”, “Interwoven”, “Almost Christmas”, “The Reading”, “The Deliverance”, and many more.

On TV, she co-starred with Queen Latifah in the highly acclaimed TV movie, “Bessie”, for which she received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress, for her compelling and nuanced portrayal of the legendary blues singer Ma Rainey. She also co-starred with Danny Glover and Whoopi Goldberg in the terrific TV movie, “Good Fences”. And of course, we all remember her as the boisterous, confident, loveable single mother “Nikki Parker”, in the highly acclaimed, multi-award winning sitcom, “The Parkers”, which ran for 5 seasons.

And for 3 years, she hosted a highly entertaining reality show called “Mo’Nique’s Fat Chance”, which won a Women’s Image Network Award in 2006 for Outstanding Reality Series. She hosted the first season of the VH1 reality show, “Charm School”. She hosted her own radio show, “Mo’Nique in the Afternoon”. And for 2 years, she hosted her own late night talk show, “The Mo’Nique Show”, which won an NAACP Image Award in 2010 for Outstanding Talk Series.

And over the years, she’s hosted dozens of episodes of the iconic variety TV show, “Showtime at the Apollo”. She’s also starred in many highly acclaimed TV Specials including “One Night Stand”, “I Could Have Been Your Cellmate”, “Mo’Nique’s Fat Chance: The Road to Paris”, “Mo’Nique and Friends: Live From Atlanta”, and “My Name is Mo’Nique”.

She’s performed her comedy act on the biggest stages in the world, she’s had a residency in Las Vegas, and in 2001 she was nominated for a Grammy Award for her album, “The Queens of Comedy”. She’s also a best selling author of 3 books: “Skinny Women are Evil: Notes of a Big Girl in a Small Minded World”, “Skinny Cooks Can’t be Trusted”, and “Beacon Hills High: A Novel”.

She’s won 5 NAACP Image Awards, a Women’s Image Network Award, and 3 awards granted by the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, and in 2010 she received the Gold Derby Award for Best Supporting Actress of the Decade.

For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/

To learn more about Mo’Nique, go to:

https://www.therealmoworldwide.com/

https://www.instagram.com/therealmoworldwide/

https://www.twitter.com/moworldwide

https://www.youtube.com/@moniqueworldwide3537

@harveybrownstone,#harveybrownstone,@harveybrownstoneinterviews,#harveybrownstoneinterviews,#MoNique,@MoNique,#therealmoworldwide,@therealmoworldwide,@moniqueworldwide3537,#OprahWinfrey,#TylerPerry,#Precious,#LeeDaniels,#racisminHollywood,#Blackcomedy,#TheParkers,#Blackbird,#QueenLatifah,#JamesEarlJones,#MaRainey,#Bessie,#TheMoNiqueShow,IAmMoNique

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth Interview with Andrea Simon, Author, “Bashert: A Granddaughter’s Holocaust Quest”

About Harvey's guest:

Today’s guest, Andrea Simon, is a multi-award winning writer from York City, whose captivating and historically important book entitled “Bashert: A Granddaughter’s Holocaust Quest” moved me so much that I just had to invite her on our show. In this engrossing book, she tells of her search for her roots, which began in Voŭčyn, a town in Belarus, where her beloved grandmother came from, before creating a new life in America.

Through interviews, personal testimonies, historical accounts, archival documents and family anecdotes, the book reveals the unprecedented barbarism of the Nazis, and the brutal reality of the massacres of the Jews who were living in Soviet territory occupied by the Germans after June of 1941, and before the Nazis came up with the “final solution” in 1942.

Although most people think of concentration camps and gas chambers when they think of the Holocaust, the fact is that between 40 and 50 percent of the Jews killed during the Holocaust, were killed by methods other than by being gassed. We’re talking about savagely horrific mass murders, exterminating the Jewish populations of dozens of cities, towns and villages, by being shot in the head and then piled in mass graves in the forest. In particular, our guest uncovered the facts surrounding the massacre on September 22, 1942, of 500 Jews from the town of Voŭčyn, where her family came from, AND the even more shocking and barbaric massacre of 50,000 Jews including 9,000 children, in Bronna Gora, located in a forest between Brest and Minsk.

The book also deals with the refusal of the Soviets, after the war, to recognize and commemorate the Jewish genocide that took place on their territory. In 2021 the book was ranked at number one on the Book Authority’s list of the “Best Holocaust Biography Books of All Time,” and in 2023, the book received Honorable Mention for the Eric Hoffer Award in the category of Legacy Nonfiction.

Our guest has also written several other books, including “Esfir Is Alive” and “Floating in the Neversink”, both of which received numerous prestigious awards. Our guest has published numerous stories and essays, and she’s received many prestigious literary honors, including the Ernest Hemingway First Novel Contest, two Dortort Creative Writing Awards, the Stark Short Fiction Prize, the Short Story Society Award, and the Authors in the Park Short Story Writing Contest.

Our guest holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from the City College of New York where she has taught creative writing courses. She’s also taught courses on “How to Write About Your Family — and Still Talk to Them Afterwards”, and she’s even taught a course on how to write about your mother without guilt. That course led to an anthology published last year called “Here’s the Story … Nine Women Write Their Lives”.

For more interviews and podcasts go to:

https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/

To learn more about Andrea Simon, go to:

https://www.andreasimon.net/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005598465031

https://www.instagram.com/andrea.p.simon/

@harveybrownstone,#harveybrownstone,@harveybrownstoneinterviews,#harveybrownstoneinterviews,#AndreaSimon,@AndreaSimon,#andrea.p.simon,@andrea.p.simon,#Holocaust,#BelarusJewishhistory,#PolandJewishhistory,#WorldWarII,#Naziatrocities,#NazimassexecutionsofJews,#Einsatzgruppen,#Bashert,#Volchin,#Stalin,#BronaGora,#BabiYar