Recent Interviews

We have over 900 interviews in our collection, most of which are available for viewing online. See the most recently uploaded interviews below.

Jodi Mancuso

Fri, 05/17/2019

In her two-hour interview, Jodi Mancuso talks about her early life, and how she followed her mother into a career as a hair stylist. She describes stepping away from hair to raise a child, and eventually going back to it to work on Saturday Night Live. She chronicles the crazy atmosphere during Saturday Night Live’s live broadcasts, and recounts a typical workweek styling wigs for the cast members and the hosts of the show. She specifically recalls working with several cast...

Peter Arnett

Tue, 05/07/2019

In his five-hour interview, Peter Arnett talks about his early years, and his first journalism jobs, at newspapers like "The Southland Times" and "The Sydney Sun." He describes his time at the Associated Press, first in Laos, and later in Indonesia. He chronicles reporting on the Vietnam War for the AP, where his coverage of the Tet Offensive received complaints from the Johnson Administration. He recalls being hired by then-fledgling cable news outlet CNN, where he filed several reports as...

Hal Gurnee

Tue, 04/23/2019

In his four-hour interview, Hal Gurnee talks about his early years, and his first job in television, working at the DuMont Network with stars like Dennis James and Jackie Gleason. He describes starting as a director on Tonight Starring Jack Paar, detailing many aspects of the show, including favorite guests, announcer Hugh Downs, trips to Cuba and the Berlin Wall, and Paar’s infamous walk-out. He recounts directing a few other talk and variety shows, like The Jimmy Dean Show...

Jeff Kisseloff

Thu, 03/14/2019

In his three-hour interview, Jeff Kisseloff talks about his early years, and the fact that his family were early adopters of television, color television, and cable television. He describes doing the research and conducting the interviews for his book “The Box: An Oral History of Television, 1929-1961,” which included speaking to Elma Farnsworth, Frank Stanton, Bob Keeshan, Dominick Dunne, and many others. Kisseloff chronicles the various narratives that emerged during his interviews for the...

Lauren Zalaznick

Wed, 12/05/2018

In her five-hour interview, Lauren Zalaznick talks about her early years, and choosing the entertainment industry over a possible career as a doctor. She describes working on several feature films, including “Compromising Positions,” “Kids,” and Todd Haynes’ “Safe.” She chronicles her years working on promos for MTV Networks, which led to a position as vice president in charge of promotion, where she was charged with completely rebranding VH1. She recounts the changes she brought to VH1,...

Walon Green

Thu, 11/15/2018

In his three-hour interview, Walon Green talks about his early years, and working for David L. Wolper and Jack Haley, Jr. on documentaries. He describes directing the Time-Life Special “The Search for Vengeance” about the search for Nazi war criminals, as well as executive producing the Gene Roddenberry-inspired Strange New World. He chronicles his time working for producer David Milch as a writer for Hill Street Blues, and what he learned about writing for television...

Louis Gossett, Jr.

Fri, 10/19/2018

In his two-hour interview, Louis Gossett, Jr. talks about his early life, and his early interest in sports and performing. He recalls taking classes at the Actors Studio, and early television roles on The Nurses and East Side/West Side. He recalls appearing both on stage and in the feature film version of Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” and along side James Garner in “Skin Game.” He details playing the role of “Fiddler” in the groundbreaking miniseries Roots...