First Big Break

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

Tabs

About

“Breck is a very important part of my career. I did that commercial and I'm swinging my hair around and Glen Larson saw me on that and said I want her to be a lead in a McCloud.” - Jaclyn Smith, Actress

Interviewees discuss how they got their start in the entertainment industry.

Highlights

Jaclyn Smith on being a "Breck Girl" and appearing on McCloud

02:24

Norman Stiles on going to write for Sesame Street

03:21

Edie Falco on how she got her first agent

00:48

Martin Manulis on being hired by CBS

08:45

Lucy Lawless on playing "Xena" on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

05:49

Hal Linden on making his Broadway debut in "Bells Are Ringing" with Judy Holliday

05:24

Who talked about this topic

Chris Albrecht

Chris Albrecht on becoming President of Original Programming at HBO

04:44

Jason Alexander

Jason Alexander on performing in "Jerome Robbins Broadway"

10:07

Jason Alexander on being cast in The Seinfeld Chronicles, the pilot to Seinfeld

04:56

Robert G. Anderson

Robert G. Anderson on being rejected by television news stations as an on-air correspondent, and realizing he could be a producer

02:48

Dick Askin

Dick Askin on his first job in television

07:34

Rona Barrett

Rona Barrett on breaking into television

08:59

Samantha Bee

Samantha Bee on auditioning for and being hired as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

10:37

Rick Berman

Rick Berman on his early days in Los Angeles going to work at Warner Bros. and Paramount

08:49

Allan Blye

Allan Blye on how a call from Tom Smothers led to him moving to the United States from Canada

03:07

Vin Di Bona

Vin Di Bona on his first television job at WBZ in Boston and becoming a director

07:40

Kevin Bright

Kevin Bright on his first job after graduating from Emerson College

01:40

David Brinkley

David Brinkley on being hired by NBC Radio

03:26

Connie Britton

Connie Britton on being cast as "Heather" on Ellen

01:14

Harvey Bullock

Harvey Bullock on coming to write for The Andy Griffith Show

01:09

Vince Calandra

Vince Calandra on his big break into entertainment - getting a job in the CBS mailroom without having an Ivy League degree

02:22

David Canary

David Canary on his first big TV role on Peyton Place, playing Mia Farrow's doctor

04:49

Jim Cantore

Jim Cantore on being hired by The Weather Channel

02:37

Charles Cappleman

Charles Cappleman on becoming a stage manager at CBS

01:44

Josie Carey

Josie Carey on being hired by WQED before the station went on the air

03:22

Glenn Gordon Caron

Glenn Gordon Caron on getting his big break at NBC - the unaired pilot The God Squad

06:14

RuPaul Charles

RuPaul Charles on his breakthrough hit song "Supermodel"

02:46

Roy Clark

Roy Clark on his first television appearance, on the local series The Hayloft Conservatory of Musical Interpretation

04:04

Kevin Clash

Kevin Clash on going to work on Sesame Street full time

04:14

Alf Clausen

Alf Clausen on being a copyist for The Carol Burnett Show and various feature films

04:55

Rose Marie with Emerson College

Rose Marie on her weekly NBC radio show as baby Rose Marie, and on touring RKO Theaters skirting child labor laws

05:42

Steven Wright with Emerson College

Steven Wright on how his first time on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson came about

05:52

Jan Murray with Emerson College

Jan Murray on getting his big break -- working in the Catskill Mountains

02:14

Norman Lear with Emerson College

Norman Lear on he and Ed Simmons beginning their career writing for Ford Star Revue

00:56

Barbara Corday

Barbara Corday on pitching a series with Barbara Avedon

05:41

Pierre Cossette

Pierre Cossette on the first music shows he produced

05:16

Ron Cowen

Ron Cowen on the first play he wrote, "Summertree", which was championed by his college professor Jerome Lawrence, developed at the Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, and optioned by Lincoln Center before being made into a movie

08:20

Douglas S. Cramer

Douglas S. Cramer on working at Procter & Gamble

06:06

Ann Curry

Ann Curry on being hired by NBC News, and on moving from reporting to anchoring

04:57

Jane Curtin

Jane Curtin on being cast on Saturday Night Live

02:18

Greg Daniels

Greg Daniels on writing for Not Necessarily the News with Conan O'Brien

07:26

Tony Danza

Tony Danza on getting his first acting job on Fast Lane Blues

04:24

Elias Davis

Elias Davis and David Pollock on their first big break as writers for Pat Buttram on the radio

03:12

Bill Davis

Bill Davis on his first job at the Canadian Broadcasting Company

09:32

Louis Dorfsman

Louis Dorfsman on meeting CBS President Frank Stanton and being hired at CBS

03:06

Betty Cole Dukert

Betty Cole Dukert on how she came to join Meet the Press as a producer

09:10

Rebecca Eaton

Rebecca Eaton on her first producing job, on an arts magazine show on WGBH radio in Boston

02:58

Jeff Fager

Jeff Fager on his first job out of college, at the NBC affiliate WBZ in Boston

01:17

Edie Falco

Edie Falco on how she got her first agent

00:48

Julian Fellowes

Julian Fellowes on writing the feature film "Gosford Park" for director Robert Altman

07:52

Tom Fontana

Tom Fontana on how he came to write for St. Elsewhere after being discovered by Bruce Paltrow and Blythe Danner

06:53

Ray Forrest

Ray Forrest on his first job as a junior radio announcer and why he finally joined AFRA (the precursor to AFTRA)

02:09

Albert Freedman

Albert Freedman on his big break - writing for Groucho Marx on You Bet Your Life

02:58

Harry Friedman

Harry Friedman on moving to Los Angeles and being hired to write for Hollywood Squares

03:52

Chuck Fries

Chuck Fries on going to work for Ziv Productions and moving to California

07:36

Sandra Gimpel

Sandra Gimpel on her first big job: as a dancer in the Fred Astaire movie "The Pleasure of His Company"

03:15

Paul Michael Glaser

Paul Michael Glaser on getting cast in Love of Life, appearing in the feature film "Fiddler on the Roof" and being put off by acting in film

03:29

Lesli Linka Glatter

Lesli Linka Glatter on being tapped by Steven Spielberg to direct Amazing Stories, and on shadowing many directors on that show

02:12

Gary David Goldberg

Gary David Goldberg on his mentor, Nate Monaster

00:34

Carl Gottlieb

Carl Gottlieb on being hired to write for The Summer Brothers Smothers Show

04:00

Walon Green

Walon Green on meeting David Milch and going to write for Hill Street Blues

01:43

Hal Gurnee

Hal Gurnee on his first television job, at the DuMont Television Network as a page

02:35

Danette Herman

Danette Herman on her first television job on the Dick Clark series Where the Action Is

08:43

Lee Holdridge

Lee Holdridge on a seminal career moment: his involvement in scoring the film Jonathan Livingston Seagull

01:33

Ellen Holly

Ellen Holly on being discovered as an actress by Charlotte Perry

01:37

Ellen Holly on appearing as "Stephanie" in the Broadway production of "Too Late the Phalarope"

19:58

Felicity Huffman

Felicity Huffman on appearing on an ABC Afterschool Special called "Home Run for Love" when she was fifteen

02:06

Felicity Huffman on appearing on the Stephen King miniseries Golden Years, which she considers her first big break

01:49

Kim Hunter

Kim Hunter on playing "Stella Kowalski" in "A Streetcar Named Desire" on Broadway in on film

05:51

David Isaacs

Ken Levine and David Isaacs on selling their first script, a spec for The Jeffersons

02:42

Al Jean

Al Jean on getting his first job in television

02:42

Geri Jewell

Geri Jewell on how a college friend inspired her to try stand-up comedy at the Comedy Store, which led to her breaking into television

05:15

Hal Kanter

Hal Kanter on his first big break writing for Eddie Cantor and other comedians on radio

12:11

Elodie Keene

Elodie Keene on editing Tales of the Unexpected for Norman Lloyd

09:54

David E. Kelley

David E. Kelley on meeting Steven Bochco and interviewing to work on L.A. Law

01:09

Walter Koenig

Walter Koenig on being cast as "Pavel Chekov" on Star Trek and making the character Russian

07:24

Lucy Lawless

Lucy Lawless on playing "Xena" on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

05:49

Norman Lear

Norman Lear on how he schemed to reach out to Danny Thomas and write a bit for him that turned out to be his big break

05:29

Eugene Lee

Eugene Lee on a pivotal moment in his career: doing set design for a theater in Madison, WI

01:21

Jack Lemmon

Jack Lemmon on his first big break on the radio

04:00

Ken Levine

Ken Levine and David Isaacs on selling their first script, a spec for The Jeffersons

02:42

Barry Levinson

Barry Levinson on writing and performing with Craig T. Nelson on Lohman and Barkley

04:03

Hal Linden

Hal Linden on making his Broadway debut in "Bells Are Ringing" with Judy Holliday

05:24

James Lipton

James Lipton on appearing on "The Lone Ranger" radio show at age 12

03:31

Susan Lucci

Susan Lucci on auditioning for the character of "Erica Kane" on All My Children and finding out she got the part

01:55

Stewart MacGregory

Stewart MacGregory on going to work for NBC television

01:38

Gavin MacLeod

Gavin McLeod on the first Broadway play he appeared in "A Hat Full of Rain"

06:15

Robert MacNeil

Robert MacNeil on how he came to work for NBC

03:13

Jodi Mancuso

Jodi Mancuso on how she started working as a hair stylist on Saturday Night Live

03:29

Barry Manilow

Barry Manilow on becoming the musical director for the local WCBS series Call Back

02:51

Martin Manulis

Martin Manulis on being hired by CBS

08:45

John A. Martinelli

John Martinelli on assistant editing The Lawrence Welk Show

01:36

Rue McClanahan

Rue McClanahan on being cast by Norman Lear as "Vivian Harmon" on Maude

04:52

Barney McNulty

Barney McNulty on how he became involved with The Ed Wynn Show, where he first became involved in writing out cue cards

06:54

David Milch

David Milch on how he came to write for Hill Street Blues

04:04

David Milch on how he came to write for Hill Street Blues

04:04

Millie Moore

Millie Moore on her first big break - working on the travelogue documentaries of Jack Douglas

01:15

Donald A. Morgan

Donald A. Morgan on his first job in television -- in the mailroom of KTTV -- and on how he became interested in lighting

06:30

Bob Newhart

Bob Newhart on his big break at the local Chicago Emmy Awards and recording his first comedy album

06:07

Bob Newhart on his national big break at the 1960 Emmy Awards

03:11

Laraine Newman

Laraine Newman on performing on The Lily Tomlin Special

03:04

Edward James Olmos

Edward James Olmos on being cast as "Martin Castillo" on Miami Vice

11:39

Lori Openden

Lori Openden on getting hired as a secretary on Barnery Miller and getting interested in casting

03:01

Bernie Orenstein

Bernie Orenstein on how he got his start in show business: he dropped out of college after appearing in a University of Toronto show called "The All Varsity Revue"

01:06

Bernie Orenstein on how his first writing job on a Canadian variety show produced by Norman Jewison led to his moving to New York City and writing for Candid Camera

02:31

Alan Perris

Alan Perris on his first television job at PBS station WVIZ in Cleveland

02:25

David Pollock

Elias Davis and David Pollock on their first big break as writers for Pat Buttram on the radio

03:12

Fred Rogers

Fred Rogers on being hired at WQED to work in educational television

04:31

Stanley Ralph Ross

Stanley Ralph Ross on becoming in-demand as a writer after being hired to write for Batman

03:19

Marion Ross

Actress Marion Ross on her first television role, on Life with Father starring Leon Ames

03:37

Mark Rothman

Mark Rothman on his first professional writing job on The Mike Douglas Show

05:01

Thomas Del Ruth

Thomas Del Ruth on his working as an assistant cameraman at 20th Century Fox and learning his way around a camera

02:18

Joseph Sargent

Joseph Sargent on his first directing job on the series Lassie

08:56

Bob Schieffer

Bob Schieffer on moving to Washington, D.C. and on going to work for CBS News

03:27

John Shaffner

John Shaffner on starting out in television

11:54

John Shaffner on his big break in television in first run-syndication

03:15

Nina Shaw

NIna Shaw on her involvement in The Hollywood Reporter Women In Entertainment Mentorship Program and the importance of mentorship

06:57

Treva Silverman

Treva Silverman on writing for the variety series The Entertainers, starring Carol Burnett

10:48

Sam Simon

Sam Simon on how he came to write for Taxi

03:02

John Singleton

John Singleton on getting his first agent based on the strength of the screenplay to "Boyz N the Hood"

02:01

G.E. Smith

G.E. Smith on playing guitar for Hall & Oates and appearing with them on Saturday Night Live

03:47

Yeardley Smith

Yeardley Smith on how she got her first New York agent

01:54

Yeardley Smith on her Broadway debut in Tom Stoppard's "The Real Thing" directed by Mike Nichols

06:09

Jaclyn Smith

Jaclyn Smith on being a "Breck Girl" and appearing on McCloud

02:24

Mark Snow

Mark Snow on The Rookies being the first show he worked on and getting the job through his then-brother-in-law, Georg Stanford Brown

01:12

Suzanne Somers

Suzanne Somers on her audition with George Lucas for the movie "American Graffiti"

02:35

Darren Star

Darren Star on how his first industry job, as an assistant at the public relations firm Guttman & Pam, led to his first break: selling a film script to Warner Bros.

04:18

Darren Star on the serendipitous events early on his career that led to his first big break, including working at Showtime for Peter Chernin, who later became the decision maker on Beverly Hills, 90210 at Fox

03:09

Jeremy Stevens

Jeremy Stevens on his first writing job for television on The Skitch Henderson Show

12:02

Norman Stiles

Norman Stiles on going to write for Sesame Street

03:21

Jeffrey Tambor

Jeffrey Tambor on appearing on Kojak, his first television role

02:10

Nina Tassler

Nina Tassler on how agent David Windsor helped her to see her potential to become an agent

01:45

Daniel J. Travanti

Daniel J. Travanti on finding out he was cast on Hill Street Blues

02:37

Saul Turteltaub

Saul Turteltaub on forming a comedy team with a college friend and getting hired to perform at Catskills resorts

02:24

Saul Turteltaub on dating Shari Lewis (then Phyllis Hurwitz) at summer camp as a kid and calling her up for a writing job when he saw her on television in 1957

02:31

Leslie Uggams

Leslie Uggams on how she began performing at the Apollo Theater when she was nine years-old

02:09

Leslie Uggams on getting her start in television as a child on The Milton Berle Show and other variety shows

01:19

Tracey Ullman

Tracey Ullman on she transitioned from dance into acting early in her career, and on being cast in the play "Four in a Million" by Les Blair, which was improvised and how that led to her being cast on a sketch show on the BBC

03:44

Tracey Ullman on the first sketch show she was on, Three of a Kind

02:56

Bruce Vilanch

Bruce Vilanch on his first job, writing for Bette Midler

08:22

Keenen Ivory Wayans

Keenen Ivory Wayans on appearing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson; his childhood idol- and what it meant for him personally "like stepping into your dream"; on being asked to sit with Johnny after his act

04:45

Ellen Wheeler

Ellen Wheeler on being cast as "Marley Love Hudson McKinnon" on Another World

09:39

Cindy Williams

Cindy Williams on the effect the film "American Graffiti" had on her career and her fame

00:55

Hugh Wilson

Hugh Wilson on going to work for Armstrong and how he started in television at MTM Productions

09:31

Ben Wolf

Ben Wolf on his first television job as a cameraman at KLAC

05:49

Bud Yorkin

Bud Yorkin on his big break becoming director of The Colgate Comedy Hour at the behest of Pat Weaver

02:14

Lauren Zalaznick

Lauren Zalaznick on working on her first feature film, "Compromising Positions"

08:49

Jeff Zucker

Jeff Zucker on getting his first job after college, as an Olympic Researcher for NBC

04:52

Alan Zweibel

Alan Zweibel on meeting Lorne Michaels and being hired to write for Saturday Night Live

03:27

All Topics