Robert Crane, Christopher Fryer, and Jack Nicholson
Original Airdates: June 28-July 1, 2024
TVC 652.4: Ed welcomes back Robert Crane and Christopher Fryer, co-authors of Jack Nicholson: The Early Years (the first authorized filmography of Oscar winner Jack Nicholson, covering Nicholson’s early film career through 1974), Bruce Dern: Things I’ve Said, But Probably Shouldn’t Have: An Unrepentant Memoir (a three-way collaboration between Dern, Bob, and Chris), Crane: Sex, Celebrity, and My Father’s Unsolved Murder, and other books on movies, television, and Hollywood culture in general. Topics this segment include how Bob and Chris first connected with Nicholson in 1971—a set of circumstances that would likely be impossible if they were to attempt to do so today.
Robert Crane, Christopher Fryer, and Bruce Dern
Original Airdates: June 28-July 1, 2024
TVC 652.5: Robert Crane and Christopher Fryer talk to Ed about how they first connected with Bruce Dern while researching Jack Nicholson: The Early Years and how that led to a series of subsequent interviews with Dern for various publications over the ensuing thirty years, culminating with their collaborating with Dern on his memoir. Both Jack Nicholson: The Early Years and Bruce Dern: Things I’ve Said, But Probably Shouldn’t Have: An Unrepentant Memoir are available from University Press of Kentucky.
Bruce Dern, Jack Nicholson, and “Dernseys”
Original Airdates: June 28-July 1, 2024
TVC 652.6: Bruce Dern biographers Robert Crane and Christopher Fryer talk to Ed about “Dernseys,” a phrase that Jack Nicholson coined to describe Dern’s unerring knack for knowing what a character might say, or might think, in any given scene, regardless of whether it’s in the pages of the script. Jack Nicholson: The Early Years and Bruce Dern: Things I’ve Said, But Probably Shouldn’t Have: An Unrepentant Memoir are available from University Press of Kentucky.
Bruce Dern, John Wayne, and The Cowboys
Original Airdates: July 5-8, 2024
TVC 653.1: Bruce Dern biographers Robert Crane and Christopher Fryer talk to Ed about Dern’s famous appearance in The Cowboys (in which he played the man who kills Wayne’s character halfway through the picture) and how the actor had to navigate a schedule conflict over production of another movie, Silent Running, so that he could film that pivotal scene. Other topics this segment include Beyond Where the Buses Run, the anthology of short story anthologies to which Bob and Chris both contributed; how Bob came to collaborate with Dave Thomas on SCTV: Behind the Scenes; and how actors have a furnace of emotions that they can bring to their faces whenever they need it. Jack Nicholson: The Early Years and Bruce Dern: Things I’ve Said, But Probably Shouldn’t Have: An Unrepentant Memoir are available from University Press of Kentucky.
Bruce Dern’s Early Television Career
Original Airdates: July 5-8, 2024
TVC 653.2: Bruce Dern biographers Robert Crane and Christopher Fryer talk to Ed about why Dern worked frequently in television in the 1960s—even when he was making movies like The War Wagon with John Wayne—because casting directors from both industries always knew to keep an eye on him. Other topics this segment include the nearly fatal lung injury Dern suffered in 1967 while filming an episode of Run For Your Life; the secret behind Bob and Chris’ longtime writing partnership; and the backstory of how they came to write Crane: Sex, Celebrity, and My Father’s Unsolved Murder. Jack Nicholson: The Early Years, Bruce Dern: Things I’ve Said, But Probably Shouldn’t Have: An Unrepentant Memoir, and Crane: Sex, Celebrity, and My Father’s Unsolved Murder are all available from University Press of Kentucky.
Paul Schrader, Bruce Dern, and James Garner
Original Airdates: July 5-8, 2024
TVC 653.3: Robert Crane and Christopher Fryer tell Ed how Bob’s experience working with director Paul Schrader on Auto Focus (Schrader’s depiction of the Bob Crane murder case) spurred Bob to work with Chris in telling his own account of what happened in their book Crane: Sex, Celebrity, and My Father’s Unsolved Murder. Other topics this segment include a poignant memory that Bruce Dern shared about working with James Garner on Support Your Local Sheriff that captures the essence of both actors. Jack Nicholson: The Early Years, Bruce Dern: Things I’ve Said, But Probably Shouldn’t Have: An Unrepentant Memoir, and Crane: Sex, Celebrity, and My Father’s Unsolved Murder are all available from University Press of Kentucky.
