Frank Liberman

In his two-hour Archive interview, Frank Liberman chronicles his early career at the New York Daily News and then at Warner Bros. in New York and Chicago where he began in the publicity department. He talks about moving to Hollywood, where he left Warner Bros. and began his own publicity firm. He recalls representing Bob Hope, who he handled for 41 years and Phyllis Diller, who he handled for 32 years, among many other clients. Liberman speaks of dealing with the press, including powerful columnists Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, and of how the process of publicizing talent has changed over the years. He discusses the craft of publicity and defines some of the components that go into successful publicity campaigns. Karen Herman and Reba Merrill conducted the interview in a joint venture with the Television Academy's Archive of American Television and the Publicists' Guild of America on February 21, 2001 at the Publicists Guild's offices in Sherman Oaks, California.