Accomplished stage and screen actor Simon Callow wrote a biography of Charles Laughton, from whom he drew tremendous inspiration. Callow says Laughton's skill in part stemmed from the late actor's self-hatred and closeted homosexuality.
The punk band X returns with a live album recorded at the legendary L.A. rock venue. Rock critic Ken Tucker says it's a fitting testament to the group's decade-long career -- which, rumor has it, may soon come to an end.
Brian Wilson suffered a nervous breakdown and spent years in seclusion. Now he's back with a new solo album. He tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about how he approached songwriting early in his career, the influence of drugs on his music, and the role the controversial Dr. Eugene Landy plays in Wilson's personal and professional life.
Book critic John Leonard says Canadian author Timothy Findley's new mystery novel, The Telling of Lies, stands out among a solid batch of recent books. Its triple twist and political intrigue makes it an excellent read.
The musician is considered part of a recent flute revival. Wincenc joins Fresh Air to discuss the nature of the instrument and how she achieves her rich tone. Wincenc plays classic and contemporary pieces, including works she commissions from new composers.
Classical musical critic Lloyd Schwartz says the new CD, The Bernstein Songbook, avoids the composer's orchestral flops, instead featuring excerpts from his exuberant operas and musicals.
Rock historian Ed Ward tells the story of how Ray Robinson--an obscure emerging R & B singer--broke away from his image as a Nat King Cole imitator, changed his name, his record label, and established his identity as Ray Charles.
Lumet is known for completing movies quickly and under budget. He's made 38 films in 30 years -- a pace typically associated with the studio system of early Hollywood. He joins Fresh Air to discuss the consistency of American actors, including stars like Al Pacino and Henry Fonda, and the production of several of his classic movies.
Together, Griffin Dunne and Amy Robinson have produced respected, independent, low-budget features like Chilly Scenes of Winter, Baby It's You, and Martin Scorsese's After Hours. Rejecting auteur theory, they see movie-making as a collaborative process with the director. Their newest film, "Running on Empty," is directed by Sidney Lumet.
The PBS series' latest episode is a documentary of the legendary soul singer. TV critic David Bianculli say the film gives viewers a chance to see rare interviews and concert footage, but glosses over much of Franklin's personal life.
William Novak is the go-to ghostwriter for famous people who want to publish a memoir. He's best known for Lee Iacocca's autobiography. Novak is now working with First Lady Nancy Reagan.
Kirk Douglas says that growing up in abject poverty was an advantage: he had nowhere to go but up. Often known for his tough guy roles, he also enjoys playing men who are weak, lost and vulnerable. He started his own production company to make movies he believed had depth and substance. His new autobiography looks back on his career so far.
Pianist Curtis Clark, who moved to Amsterdam from the United States, assembled a quintet of diverse musicians of to record his new album, Letter to South Africa. Clark, jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says, is unique in how he treats radical ideas as normal.
Investigative reporter Ralph Blumenthal's new book takes a look at what the FBI called "the pizza connection": a heroin smuggling operation spearheaded by the Italian mafia in the United States. Pizza restaurants were used as drug fronts.
Folk singer Michael Cooney says that several classic songs from the early 20th century have verses that never made it onto recordings or sheet music. He joins Fresh Air to sing some of those forgotten words.
Linguist Geoff Nunberg looks back at the tradition of American political oratory. Debates and speeches drew crowds by the thousands in the 19th century., but television has reduced much of that discourse to soundbites. The rare moments in which we can hear a speech in full remind us of how much fun politics must have been in the past, says Nunberg.
In addition to his career as a science fiction writer, Bradbury helped design Disney's Epcot Center and the Pavilion of the Future for the 1964 World's Fair. His new collection of short stories is called the Toynbee Convector.
Errol Morris thinks of himself as much a detective as a documentary filmmaker. Known for his off-beat subjects, he's adopted a more serious tone with his new movie, The Thin Blue Line, about a murder investigation in Dallas. Errol believes the man sentenced to death for the crime, Randall Dale Adams, is innocent.
Cuban-born pianist Jorge Bolet was a mainstay of the concert circuit; only recently have his recording garnered much attention. Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz says that some of his performances of classic Chopin pieces have interpretive nuance, while others -- white pretty -- lack depth.
Critic-at-large Laurie Stone examines the style and content of Lewis Black's stand-up comedy. She says Black may not always be fall-down funny, but his political humor is trenchant.
