Entertainment

Helm, the longtime drummer of The Band who backed Bob Dylan and sang with Van Morrison, died Thursday. He was 71. Fresh Air remembers Helm with excerpts from his two appearances on the show in 1993 and 2007.

Day started singing and dancing when she was a teenager, and made her first film at 24. After nearly 40 movies, she walked away from that part of her life in 1968, and started rescuing and caring for animals. Here, she speaks to Terry Gross in a lengthy interview about her career in film and music.

The comedian, who plays Tom Haverford on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation, just released a new comedy special directly on his website. He's also embarking on a multicity tour, where he'll be riffing on the things that terrify him — marriage, for instance, and babies.

For five seasons, actress Sonja Sohn played Detective Shakima "Kima" Greggs on the critically acclaimed HBO series The Wire, which chronicled life — and death — on Baltimore's toughest streets. When the series ended, Sohn stayed in Baltimore -- to help young people straighten out their lives.

The comedian spent seven seasons on Saturday Night Live and went on to star in the raunchy comedy Bridesmaids. Now she's exploring what's funny about parenting in the new movie Friends with Kids and the TV series Up All Night.

In his new one-man show, William Shatner talks about his childhood growing up in Montreal -- and the ups and downs of creating iconic characters, from starship captain James T. Kirk to lawyer Denny Crane.

The book publisher who championed the works of beat poets and Samuel Beckett, and who defied censors with the publication of Lady Chatterley's Lover and Tropic of Cancer, died Tuesday at age 89. Fresh Air remembers Rosset with excerpts from a 1991 interview.

This interview was originally broadcast on Apr. 9, 1991.

McKenzie, half of the New Zealand musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, wrote five songs in the recent Muppets movie. "Man or Muppet" is nominated for Best Original Song at this year's Academy Awards. [extended cut]

A shorter version of this interview was broadcast on Feb. 13, 2012.

Through his many New Yorker covers, Barry Blitt has become one of the pre-eminent satirical cartoonists of America's recent presidents. Now Blitt has trained his eye and pen upon our first president in a new children's book, George Washington's Birthday.

McKenzie, half of the New Zealand musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, wrote five songs in the recent Muppets movie. "Man or Muppet" is nominated for Best Original Song at this year's Academy Awards.

The actress earned her second Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of a maid in the 1960s-era film The Help. She talks to Fresh Air about why she thinks the character is anything but the cliche some have claimed.

Meryl Streep won a Golden Globe for her performance as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. She talks about preparing for that role, her other films and how her perceptions of herself have changed over the years.

In the past year, actor Michael Fassbender has played a mutant villain in X-Men: First Class, psychoanalyst Carl Jung in A Dangerous Method, Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre and a sex addict in Shame. He discusses several of those roles, as well as his part in Inglorious Basterds.

The Souther actor discusses playing a white supremacist turned born-again Christian on the critically acclaimed FX series Justified -- and how he gets into the mind-set to play one of TV's worst bad boys.

The actor is so good at what he does, you might not recognize him from role to role. He's played everyone from Sid Vicious and Dracula, to Sirius Black in the Harry Potter films, and now George Smiley in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

The veteran voice-over actress, who played 12-year-old Bobby Hill on Fox's animated comedy King of the Hill, now co-stars in the raunchy Showtime drama.

The star of Showtime's bloody crime drama talks about the show's eventual plans for an ending — and also about matters both professional and personal, from how he plays an emotionless killer to how Hall himself, while filming Dexter, has dealt with both cancer and a divorce.

Burstein has played a wide range of roles, from casino owner Lolly Steinman in HBO's Boardwalk Empire, to his current role as Buddy Plummer in the Broadway revival of Follies. He talks about his lengthy career on stage, screen and television.

Rowan got his start performing with the father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe. In the '70s, he formed the band Old and in the Way with Jerry Garcia. Now, he joins his group for an in-studio session and interview on Fresh Air.

The filmmakers behind Forgetting Sarah Marshall have teamed up to create a new Muppet movie. "We set out to make a Muppet movie that harkened back to the late-'70s [and] early-'80s Muppets that we grew up with," says Jason Segel.