Hollywood in the Golden Age with Robert Wagner
Media Mayhem with Allison Hope Weiner
Episode 150
Episode Synopsis
Robert Wagner talks about his legendary career and lifetime in Hollywood, from growing up in Los Angeles to partying with Frank Sinatra and much more in this uncensored interview. Paparazzi, glitz, glamour and gambling in international waters with the jet set, as well as the dark days and prejudice of the past (as featured in his new book, You Must Remember This) are all laid bare for Allison Hope Weiner on Media Mayhem.
Guest Bio
After making his uncredited screen debut in The Happy Years (1950), Wagner was signed by 20th Century Fox, which carefully built him up toward stardom. He played romantic leads with ease, but it wasn’t until he essayed the two-scene role of a shellshocked war veteran in With A Song in My Heart (1952) that studio executives recognized his potential as a dramatic actor. He went on to play the title roles in Prince Valiant (1954) and The True Story of Jesse James (1957), and portrayed a cold-blooded murderer in A Kiss Before Dying (1956). Wagner was chosen by Sir Laurence Olivier to star with him in the television adaptation of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” in which he costarred with his wife, the late Natalie Wood. Wagner also teamed up with Sir Laurence Oliver in “This Gun for Hire,” Danielle Steel’s “Jewels” and “To Catch a King.”
Wagner made a respectable transition to television as star of the lighthearted espionage series It Takes A Thief (1968-1970). He also starred in the police series Switch (1975), but Wagner’s greatest success was opposite Stefanie Powers in the internationally popular Hart to Hart (1979), which ran from 1979 through 1984. He was nominated for an Emmy for his role as Alexander Mundy in “It Takes a Thief”. Since the end of the regular run of the series, the actor has produced eight “Hart to Hart” movies for both NBC and cable’s Family Channel. Considered one of Hollywood’s nicest citizens, Robert Wagner has continued to successfully pursue a leading man career into his sixties; he has also launched a latter-day stage career, touring with Stefanie Powers in the readers’ theater presentation “Love Letters”. He found success playing Number Two, a henchman to Dr. Evil in the blockbuster trilogy Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), and in 2007 he began playing Teddy, a recurring role on the hit CBS series Two and a Half Men (2003).
In addition to all his film and television ventures, Wagner has toured the world performing A.R. Gurney’s “Love Letters”, with Stefanie Powers, who were the first to launch the tour Internationally. Currently, Wagner performs “Love Letters” at charity events with his wife, actress Jill St. John.
Wagner has written has written two books; Pieces of My Heart and You Must Remember This.
Hosts
Allison Hope Weiner
Episode Breakdown
00:01 Welcome to Media Mayhem.
00:30 Introducing Robert Wagner.
01:30 Wagner talks about growing up and working in Bel Air and breaking into Hollywood.
08:20 “You Must Remember This,” and building a dream in the Golden Age of Hollywood.
13:40 The architecture of old Hollywood and the glamorous clubs that Wagner frequented.
20:00 How Hollywood has turned more casual, and how the once friendly press has become more aggressive.
29:10 Gambling, art, and racial prejudices of old Hollywood.
37:30 Partying in Palm Springs at Frank Sinatra’s house and the style of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
51:50 Thanks and goodbye.
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