Audiobooks by Herbie J Pilato

Christmas TV Memories: Nostalgic Holiday Favorites of the Small Screen

For most of us, fond memories of the Christmas season are inseparable from television's holiday presentations. The world loves everything from iconic cartoons like How the Grinch Stole Christmas and A Charlie Brown Christmas to the groundbreaking Julia sitcom segment, 'I'm Dreaming of a Black Christmas,' Christmas in Rockefeller Center, and the 1992 television-remake of Christmas in Connecticut directed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Christmas TV Memories: Nostalgic Holiday Favorites of the Small Screen embraces it all, offering a tinsel-decked traipse down memory lane and chronicling animated classics, variety shows, made-for-television features, and holiday-specific episodes of series like The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. With a foreword by bestselling Free to Be You and Me author and That Girl star Marlo Thomas, along with commentary from other celebrities, historical quotes, and insights from entertainment journalists and archivists, Christmas TV Memories serves as the go-to companion to the small screen's most cherished holiday programs.

Herbie J Pilato (Author), Steve Marvel (Narrator)

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One Tough Dame: The Life and Career of Diana Rigg

One Tough Dame: The Life and Career of Diana Rigg offers a sweeping portrait of the revered performer's life and career. Deemed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1994, Diana Rigg (1938-2020) initially found fame as super sleuth Mrs. Emma Peel in the 1960s BBC/ABC-TV espionage series, The Avengers. A classically trained and multi-award-winning thespian, Rigg is known for her diverse body of work ― from her big-screen debut in 1969 as Countess Teresa di Vincenzo, wife of James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, to her Tony Award-winning, leading role in Medea on Broadway, culminating with her Emmy-nominated portrayal as Lady Olenna Tyrell on the heralded small-screen gem, Game of Thrones. This eclectic volume traces Rigg's career as a renowned star of television, film, and the stage. The author includes insights from rare, archived interviews, encompassing both video dialogues conducted by the University of Kent and Oxford Union. The meticulously curated archival material is further complemented by equally rare retrospections drawn from diverse media sources and hitherto unpublished accounts from the people who knew Rigg best, affording readers an unprecedented, all-encompassing glimpse into her private world. With exclusive commentary from Rupert Macnee (son of Riggs's Avengers costar and dear friend Patrick Macnee); the show's stunt coordinator/director Ray Austin; actors Samuel West, Bernie Kopell, Barbara Barrie, Juliet Mills, John Schuck, and Damon Evans; director Bruce Beresford; and documentarian David Naylor, among others, One Tough Dame delivers an in-depth perspective of a beloved, brave, brilliant, and trailblazing actor.

Herbie J Pilato (Author), Herbie J Pilato (Narrator)

Audiobook

Connery, Sean Connery: Before, During, and After His Most Famous Role

With an in-depth perspective, Connery, Sean Connery defines and distinguishes the iconic star's life and career before, during, and after his most famous role. With a foreword by Barbara Carrera, the actor's costar from Never Say Never Again (his final British secret agent film), and an introduction by Richard Demarco (Connery's lifelong friend), this book also features exclusive commentary from actors like Brendan Lynch (another of Connery's lifelong friends), Luciana Paluzzi (Thunderball), Tippi Hedren (Marnie), and more.

Herbie J Pilato (Author), Herbie J Pilato, Michael Butler Murray (Narrator)

Audiobook

Mary: The Mary Tyler Moore Story

Mary: The Mary Tyler Moore Story is the first, full-length, objective biography of Moore's entire life and career, from her birth in 1936 until the day she left this world on January 25, 2017. No previously published biography or book about Moore dares to discuss as honestly and as thoroughly her personal and professional life, exploring her triumphs as well as her struggles before, during, and after the countless TV productions, feature films, stage plays, and personal appearances that spanned her career. In covering the gamut of Moore's personal and professional life, this book features all-new commentary culled from exclusive interviews with many of her costars over the years, including Ed Asner, Gavin MacLeod, and Joyce Bulifant (from the Mary Tyler Moore Show); Larry Matthews (little Ritchie Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show); Carol Channing (Moore's costar from the 1967 feature film, Thoroughly Modern Millie), and many others. Mary delivers pertinent insights and unique behind-the-scenes perspectives and recollections of the multi-talented performer/humanitarian that Mary Tyler Moore was and will always remain in the eyes of millions of her fans the world over.

Herbie J Pilato (Author), David De Vries (Narrator)

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Twitch Upon a Star: The Bewitched Life and Career of Elizabeth Montgomery

Based on author Herbie J Pilato's exclusive interviews with Elizabeth Montgomery prior to her death in 1995, Twitch Upon a Star includes insider material and commentary from several individuals associated with her remarkable life and career before, during, and after Bewitched, including her classic feature films The Court Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955), Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed? (1963), and Johnny Cool (1963). Two of Montgomery's many popular TV movies, A Case of Rape (which remains one of the highest-rated TV movies of all time) and The Legend of Lizzie Borden, were groundbreaking and remain classics. But Twitch Upon a Star also goes behind the scenes to explore Montgomery's political activism, including her early advocacy for AIDS sufferers and the peace movement; her support for all minorities, including the gay community and the disabled; and her controversial participation as narrator of the 1988 feature film documentary Cover-Up and its 1991 Oscar-winning sequel, The Panama Deception. The book also explores Montgomery's tumultuous relationships with her father, screen legend Robert Montgomery (she was a liberal; he was a staunch conservative), and her four husbands. Through it all-and to family and friends-she was just Lizzie: down-to-earth and unaffected, just like Samantha, the 'witch-with-a-twitch' Stephens, her most famous role.

Herbie J Pilato (Author), Herbie J Pilato, Michael Butler Murray (Narrator)

Audiobook

Retro Active Television: An In-Depth Perspective on Classic TV's Social Circuitry

Grand Prize Winner Los Angeles Book Festival Ever wonder what the people who bring us our TV entertainment are thinking? Television and pop culture historian and author Herbie J Pilato has, and now takes listeners on a provocative and entertaining look into the agenda behind TV shows and the resulting trends. Even when it seemed television programming was primarily mindless, there was serious thought behind what audiences were presented. The networks, after all, believe in giving the people what they want, even when the people should have known better. We've spent years of our lives in front of the tube; isn't it about time we found out what makes that tube tick? Retro Active Television will enlighten you.

Herbie J Pilato (Author), Eric Scott, Herbie J Pilato (Narrator)

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