Acting

Tom Waits discusses his fame, his unique voice and his small role in the film Paradise Alley.

Part one of Terry Gross's interview with Linda and Conrad Bishop, a married couple who write and perform theater pieces for a variety of different settings and audiences.

Part two of Terry Gross's interview with Conrad Bishop and Linda Bishop. They perform two short dramatic pieces and talk about their theatrical influences.

Leonard Nimoy wrote, produced, and now acts in the one-man show Vincent, in which he portrays Theo van Gogh, brother of the famous painter. He also shares his experiences as a film actor and the impact his celebrity has had on his personal life.

Ruth Kobart is an actress. She joins the show to discuss her current roles as Miss Hannigan in the musical "Annie," now playing in Philadelphia at the Forrest Theater. (INTERVIEW BY DANNY MILLER)

Actor, Herschel Bernardi currently stars as Tavia in a production of "Fiddler on the Roof," currently playing at the Academy of Music. He joins the show to discuss his career in theater, film, and television. (INTERVIEW BY DANNY MILLER)

Susan Strasberg is an actress and the daughter of Lee Strasberg the director of The Actor's Studio who trained such actors as Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, James Dean, and Marilyn Monroe in what came to be known as "method acting." Susan Strasberg made her acting debut at 17 as Anne Frank in a Broadway production of "The Diary of Anne Frank." Strasberg has recently written her memoirs, "Bittersweet," which discuss growing up in her eccentric family, her love affairs with figures such as Richard Burton and Warren Beatty, and her daughter, who was born with a

Milo O'Shea is an Irish actor currently starring as a priest in "Mass Appeal" at the Walnut Street Theater. He played the same role on Broadway for which he won several awards and was nominated for a Tony award. O'Shea has appeared in numerous films and plays. He will appear with Paul Newman in the upcoming film "The Verdict."

Singer and lyricist Peggy King was well known in the 1950s, especially for her appearances on television variety programs, such as the Mel Torme Show. She left the business to raise her children in Philadelphia, but has returned to performance. King will perform with the Philly Pops, singing a Johnny Mercer set.

Billy Hayes' years spent in a Turkish prison for smuggling hashish have been well documented in his book Midnight Express, which was later adapted into a book. He now pursues an acting career in California.

British actor Jonathan Miller gave up a medical career to pursue acting. His career led him to become a television critic, director, and producer. He eventually returned to medicine, and is a practicing neurologist and medical writer.

Studs Terkel studied law and acted in theater before becoming a radio broadcaster. His syndicated program and books feature oral histories of everyday people in the United States. He joins Fresh Air's Terry Gross to discuss how he conducts interviews in a way that is both insightful and respectful.

Studs Terkel studied law and acted in theater before becoming a radio broadcaster. His syndicated program and books feature oral histories of everyday people in the United States. He joins Fresh Air's Terry Gross to discuss how he conducts interviews in a way that is both insightful and respectful.

Spalding Gray was already famous in experimental theater for his funny and erotically-charged monologues when he made his film debut in "The Killing Fields," about the American involvement in Cambodia. His experiences as a novice making the movie in Thailand inspired his new monologue "Swimming to Cambodia." The monologue contains stories of the real fighting in Cambodia.

Actor Alec Guinness begin acting in classic English theater in the 1930s and 1940s. After World War II, he began to appear in films, and won an Academy Award in 1957 for his work in the film "The Bridge Over the River Kwai." He is known to a new generation of viewers as Obi Wan Kenobi from the Star Wars films. Guinness has recently published a memoir "Blessings in Disguise." (PARTIAL INTERVIEW)

Frequent Fresh Air guest Spalding Gray takes stories about his life and anxieties and transforms them into comedic monologues he delivers in a direct fashion. His monologues include "Sex and Death to the Age of Fourteen," "A Personal History of American Theater," and "Swimming to Cambodia." His current monologue is "The Terrors of Pleasure," and it chronicles his attempts to "grow up" and experience ownership by purchasing a house in the Catskills.

Spalding Gray's career performing humorous, autobiographical monologues has sometimes been a detriment to his attempts to break into film and television acting; no casting director wants to be mentioned in one of Gray's stage shows.

The playwright and performance artist came from the New York fringe scene--which he believes is too afraid to really push cultural boundaries. His play Talk Radio is being made into a film.

Broadway actress Sophie Hayden worked in New York as an accomplished baton twirler before making it onto the stage. She put her skills to use in a recent production of Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors--where she twirled a machete.

Actor and playwright Rebecca Wells is touring the country with her new one-woman show, about the life of a beautician.