He was a teen idol here in Milwaukee and around the world in the 60s and early 70s. In fact, the screaming of the young women in the audience caused him to lose some of his hearing. He was the star of “Shindig” and “Here Come the Brides” TV shows. Bobby received more fan mail than any other entertainer on ABC-TV. He had seven gold singles and five gold albums. His hit “Little Woman” became a million seller. He had many other hits including “Julie Do Ya Love Me,” and “Easy Come, Easy Go.” He was my guest on the “Bob Barry Calls the World” program several times. This time he added a lesson for young people on how to become successful…with a surprise ending!

Bob Barry's Unearthed Interviews

Bobby Sherman

Gary Burghoff is known for originating the role of Charlie Brown in the off-Broadway musical “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” and better known for playing corporal Walter Eugene “Radar” O’Reilly in the film and TV series “MASH.” A little-known fact is that Gary played the drums and performed in two episodes of MASH. And, at one time, Gary lived in Delavan, Wisconsin. In the middle of this interview, I got a surprise visit from his dad.

Gary Burghoff

Live radio is a lot of fun, especially when the unexpected happens. Listen to what happens in the middle of this interview when I interviewed Connie Stevens about her latest movie. The little girls at that time, Jolie and Tricia, she had when she was married to Eddie Fisher. Connie tried to control the situation with little luck. Connie Stevens was born Concetta Rosalie Ann Ingolia. She began her career in 1957 and got her first taste of fame playing Cricket Blake on the TV series “Hawaiian Eye” in 1959. Connie also had a hit record that we played back in 1960 called “Sixteen Reasons.”

Connie Stevens

Here’s another two-fer podcast featuring a game show host and a legend on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.   Monty Hall’s first job was working for CKRC Radio in Winnipeg, Canada. He moved to New York City in 1955 and hosted several TV game shows there. After moving to California, he became host of the hilarious half-hour gameshow, “Let’s Make a Deal.” In this exchange he’ll reveal some fun facts about TV series.         As a child William Miller was nicknamed “Fishbait” for his small stature. He weighed 75 pounds at the age of 15. Miller began working at the United States House of Representatives as a clerk and later became doorkeeper for the House. He was known for having an outgoing personality and loved the spotlight when he announced the President of the United States before the State of the Union speech. He once told Bella Abzug to remove her hat before entering the chamber.  She told Miller: “Go  (blank) yourself.” In this short podcast he’ll tell of another embarrassing moment in the House.

Monty Hall and Fishbait Miller

How could you tell the good guys from the bad guys on TV shows in the 60s? Yvonne Craig, the commissioner’s daughter Barbara Gordon, and Batgirl on the 1960s Batman TV shows revealed that secret. And she told us why she was unhappy wearing the Batgirl costume in the show.

Yvonne Craig (Batgirl)

Holy podcast, it’s Robin! Burt Ward is an actor from Los Angeles who played Robin on the Batman TV series. Like many males growing up, he was an avid fan of the Superman comic books. He excelled in high school sports, such as wrestling, football, and track. He was 19 years old when he auditioned for the role of Robin. He did his own stunts because his costume revealed more of his face, making it difficult for a stunt double to look like him. In this podcast he will expose more Batman secrets. Holy expose!

Burt Ward

You wouldn’t know who William West Anderson is, but you might remember Adam West, the name he took professionally. Adam is best known for portraying Batman in the 1960s series on ABC Television. He was very upset when he was not chosen to play Batman in the movie. West said he played Batman for laughs, but to do that one had to never think it was funny. He did a good job pulling that off. Did it bother him to be typecast or was he pleased that he took the role?

Adam West

Sir Thomas John Woodward is better known as Tom Jones. He has 19 hits in the United States and has sold more than 100 million records. His hits include: “Delilah,” “She’s a Lady,” What’s New Pussycat,” and the theme for the James Bond film “Thunderball.” In this podcast we find out how Thomas Woodward got the name Tom Jones, how his hit songs came about and his favorite Tom Jones song. Surprisingly this love song was written by the man who had a hit with the crazy tune called “Does Your Chewing Gun Lose its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight.”

Tom Jones

Most of you will remember Michael McKean as the annoying neighbor Lenny Kosnowski in “Laverne and Shirley.” He was also David Hubbins, lead vocalist in the fictional rock band “Spinal Tap.” And most recently he played Chuck McGill, Saul’s paranoid brother on “Better Call Saul,” for which he won a primetime Emmy award. Michael has appeared in many films, TV shows, and on Broadway.

Michael McKean

Many of you, if you’re from the Milwaukee area, will remember Reed Kailing when he was with Michael and the Messengers and the Destinations. His destination was way beyond the group. He met a lot of recording artists and played with some including Badfinger and the Grassroots. Reed was also the voice of Frank Hardy on the animated series “The Hardy Boys” and was in “Beatlemania” on Broadway. Some of his memorable encounters were with music legends like John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and Sir Paul McCartney. Reed wrote a song that he recorded with the Destinations. You may recall that catchy tune: “Hello Girl.”

Reed Kailing

In the jungle and not always so quiet jungle is where Tarzan the Ape Man lived. Johnny Weissmuller won five Olympic gold medals for swimming and one bronze medal for water polo. After retiring from competition, he became the sixth actor to portray Tarzan, a role he played in twelve feature films. Dozens of other actors have played Tarzan, but Weissmuller is by far the best known. 

Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan)

If you were around in the 1960s you would remember the U-2 Spy incident. If not, you probably heard about it in school. Francis Gary Powers was an American pilot whose CIA U-2 spy plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission in Russian airspace. Powers received the Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, and Prisoner of War Medals. Later he became a helicopter traffic reporting pilot for KGIL radio and a news reporter for KNBC-TV in Los Angeles. While reporting on brush fires in Santa Barbara County his aircraft crashed, killing him and his cameraman.

Francis Gary Powers (Spy Plane Pilot)

You’ll never guess where this group is from. I didn’t know until they told me. They’re best known for their chart-topping singles: “You’re the One” and “Five O’Clock World.” They toured the world and appeared on American Bandstand, The Tonight Show and the Ed Sullivan Show. They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001. Of course, we’re talking about the Vogues. The photo is from their appearance on my TV show in the late 60s.

The Vogues

I wonder how many of you have heard the name Jimmy Durante. He was an American actor, comedian, musician, and singer. His gravelly voice and murder of the English language made him one of the most popular radio and TV entertainers of his time. He was often referred to as the schnozzola or schnoz due to his large nose. He was a popular radio star, appearing on Eddie Cantor’s show, “The Chase and Sanborn Hour,” and the Armed Forces Radio Network. Jimmy’s version of the song “Smile” is part of the soundtrack to the 2019 film “Joker.” He was also known for breaking into a song to tell a joke.

Jimmy Durante

Meet Mary Jean Tomlin, better known as Lily Tomlin. You may have seen her on the popular Netflix series “Grace and Frankie,” but do you know about her long career in show biz?  She’s an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. Her first big role was on Rowan and Martin’s “Laugh-in” from 1969 to 1973. She has earned nominations for four prime time Emmy awards, three Screen Actors Guild awards and a Golden globe. Her first film performance was in “Nashville” followed by “9 to 5” and many more. She also won a Grammy for her 1972 comedy album “This is a Recording.” We’ll hear her voice some of the characters from that LP and get the inside on the “Laugh In” show.

Lily Tomlin

The music of the 60s and 70s was groundbreaking and it set the stage for the decades of amazing music that followed it. Milwaukee radio legend and Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Barry spoke with countless musicians and celebrities over the years and collected remarkable recordings of his encounters with these talented people, which he's now sharing with the public in this podcast. He spoke with Sonny and Cher, James Brown, Dolly Parton, and and many others, and they shared their amazing stories about their lives and careers. All the episodes will be available as they’re released at WisconsinBroadcastingMuseum.org. This podcast was made possible by a generous contribution from Terry Baun.

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Bob Barry's Unearthed Interviews

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