Rarified Heir Podcast

Today on another brand new episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Adam Nimoy, son of actor, director, pilot, musician and much more, Leonard Nimoy. We spoke to Adam about growing up the child of one of the most beloved actors of his generation because he portrayed one of the most iconic characters of the 20th century, Spock from Star Trek in television and film. Of course, not too long ago we spoke to Adam's sister Julie Nimoy and brother-in-law David Knight and we learned a few things about Leonard. But this one is just a bit different. On this episode, we learn from Adam about the relationship, struggles and finally acceptance he had with his father which was outlined in two books, 2008's My Incredible, Wonderful, Miserable Life:An Anti Memoir and 2024's The Most Human: Reconciling with My Father, Leonard Nimoy. Among other things, it was with the help of getting sober and a 12-Step program that both father and son leaned on to connect after a period of estrangement and also how it helped to be open and honest and share – something that was in limited supply for most of Adam's life. Along the way, we take a deep dive in L.A. nostalgia including our shared education at University High School in West L.A, restaurants he and his family frequented, several of his father's automobiles, the Paisley Underground scene of the 1980s, how the band the Rain Parade were his first clients when he was becoming a lawyer via his relationship growing up with them as a kid, Leonard's TV movie Baffledwhich holds a special place in host Josh Mills's heart and how the last vestiges of the beloved Stan's Donuts in Westwood has finally closed shop. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story. Live long and prosper friends. Take a listen.

Today on part one of this interview on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Grammy-winning musician Leo Sidran, son of jazz musician, professor, radio host, VH1 TV host and author Ben Sidran. Now if you are a jazz fan, likely you know the name Ben Sidran. In a career that spans more than 50 years, Ben Sidran has had a truly remarkable career as a solo performer and has somehow performed with, recorded with or produced pretty much everyone in and out of jazz. Like who? How about Steve Miller, Diana Ross, Boz Scaggs, Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, Peter Frampton, Mose Allison and so many more. But as we learn from Leo on this episode, Ben's literate background, his poetic lyrics and his fantastic piano playing make him, we would argue, more than just a musician but more of a national treasure. There is just something about a world class jazz musician who can also write lyrics that make you think, and often times laugh, that just gives you pause. It's a rare talent and Ben Sidran has it. So on this episode we learn about Leo's entre into music. Yes of course it's via his dad but it also involves going on tour with The Steve Miller Band where technology plays a major part in his world on the tour bus. From there we learn how Leo became a songwriter before he could drive, how he was looked after by the Steve Miller Band band members and how it set him up for his first recording date not too long after. Along the way we discuss the importance of merch, Camus, Madison Wisconsin, the importance of having a mother who was a travel agent – and much more than that, why his parents left Los Angeles when Ben's solo career was just getting going and much more. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast and everyone has a story.

Today on another encore episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to San Francisco television journalist Claudia Cowan whose parents were the actors Barbara Rush and publicist Warren Cowan. And as we learned on this episode, once wasn't enough for this Hollywood power couple as Claudia tells us. Her parents got hitched twice. The second time, was slightly more clandestine as you will hear. So what was it like to have a father who represented clients his mother starred in films with? We dig into it and a lot more on this whimsical episode. Claudia tells us what it was like to have a father whose clients included Ronald Reagan, George Burns and Kirk Douglas among many, many other A-list celebrities and a mom who starred in films with everyone from Frank Sinatra and Ernie Kovacs to Bob Crane and Hope Lange. As you may remember, we spoke to the children of both of Crane and Lange on recent episodes, so this episode comes full circle. Along the way we discuss things like Top Ten lists & celebrity golf tournament PR which her father invented, her mother finding love late in life after Warren's passing as well as things like The Rat Pack, The Beatles and other pop culture icons. Claudia was open and honest and a lot of fun as a guest and we covered everything from her home life, to her personal life behind the scenes as well as her career in local television in the Bay Area. It's all here on this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.

Today on another encore episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to David Pressman, son of actors Lawrence Pressman and Lanna Saunders. Now if you are a fan of soap operas, you know Lanna who starred on more than 500 episodes of the NBC daytime show Days of Our Lives as Marie Horton. And if you are a fan of film you know Lawrence Pressman for his many roles starring in movies like 9 to 5, Making It and American Pie. From television, you know Lawrence Pressman from Doogie Howser M.D., The Bob Newhart Show, M*A*S*H & likely hundreds of other programs. He's a very familiar face, you just know brings a comedic edge to many of his 'oily' roles And he's still with us at age 86. (It must be all that craft service, ahem). As we learn and as we have heard on recent episodes and guests, David was born into an acting family that goes back, generations in fact – evidently his great grandfather performed on the Russian/Ukrainian stage when Minsky's Follies was simply known as Minsk. You get the picture. We are talking a long time ago! And it was the stage where both David's parents got their start as well on Broadway and other regional theater alike. But when the family moved to Los Angeles from New York when David was 7, the cameras took over for the footlights as Hollywood came calling for both his parents. And guess what? It came for David too as he had roles in films & television alike in big budget films such as Tropic Thunder & Blades of Glory as well as tv shows like Newhart, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Monk and many others. We dive deep into some behind the scenes stories involving Steve Coogan, Jane Fonda, Bob Newhart (him again) and Ben Stiller. This is a fun one. Take a listen to this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast right now.

Today on another encore episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to actor Christopher Murray, son of the acting dynamo parents, Don Murray and Hope Lang. Born into show business – his grandparents we in show business too, Christopher tells us all about his life growing up with two famous parents. When both your father are Academy Award nominated actor for his first film, Bus Stop with Marilyn Monroe and your mother earns one at age 24 for Peyton Place, it's probably likely, acting will be your calling. So on part one of our conversation with Christopher, we get quite a bit of background on both of his amazing parents. Like what you ask? Well, how about the work his parents helped displaced Europeans during WWII and the Korean War that still is making inroads to this day? Or possibly how his mother provided a safe haven for good friends and gay Hollywood couples during his youth? Or maybe it's how after his parents' divorce, his step-father became iconic film director Alan J. Pakula? And that's just the beginning. If Elvis Presley, Roddy McDowell, Charles Laughton, Sean Connery, Kathleen Turner and Eleanor Roosevelt mean something to you, then this is your episode. The Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story. This one has two. And we haven't even mentioned his parents Broadway yet, have we?

Today on another encore episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Hugo Morley, grandson of the great actor, pitchman, foodie and much beloved Robert Morley. It's strange what stays with you as a you grow older but for host josh Mills, the obsession with the Morley film, Who's Killing the Great Chef's of Europe is right up there on this episode. We discuss this offbeat comedic crime caper as well as Morley being the face of an entire nation as the spokesman for British Airways. And that's just the Yank version of Robert Morley. For Britons and Australians, Robert Morley was known more for the 100+ films he made, beginning in 1939 which garnered him an Academy Award nomination opposite Norma Shearer and Tyrone Power in Marie Antoinette. We also learn about Hugo's father, noted U.K. theatre critic Sheridan Morley, an especially wonderful friendship with Carol Channing, along with Yul Brenner, Eli Wallach, David Tomlinson and Griff Rhys Jones as well. All played a part in Hugo's time with his grandfather and his father. Of course we discuss his grandfather's love of cuisine, time spend at grandpa's back garden pool and his ever present cigars. And did we mention Robert Morley's time in the Muppet movies? Well, sit back and relax and check out this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast and learn about how to become a bartender and not make a mixed drink to boot. Everyone has a story.

Today on an another encore edition of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we bring you part two of our conversation with Patricia Weidenfeld, daughter of comedian Pat Cooper. As you heard on the first episode, Weidenfeld's life as a child of a show business comic was pretty terrific until it wasn't. Learning rather abruptly at age eight that her father had a family prior to hers after being accosted outside a Broadway theater, Patricia tells us more on part two of our conversation than she has ever told anyone publicly, at any time before. It turns out that the Broadway incident was the first in a series of jarring revelations and family secrets that her parents kept from her over the years. How she learned about them is another story entirely. Patti was amazingly open, honest and truthful in this conversation for the podcast about some deeply personal stories that she had never spoken about prior. Her complex relationship with the father she thought she knew and the father she learned he was at the end of her life are nothing short of revelatory as well as heartbreaking. But through it all, Patti expressed to us via her complex and jumbled feelings a genuine sense of love, affection and pride as well as confusion, hurt and pain through the years as she looked back on it all. This episode took quite a while to lock in as Patti had to take some time contemplating things before telling us her remarkable story in such a public manner. The fact that she does so with such authentic emotions and feelings is a testament to who she is as a human being. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast and this one isn't easy. Everyone has a story.

Today on another episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Nabil Ayers, son of musician Roy Ayers, a jazz/funk/soul giant most famous for his song "Everybody Loves the Sunshine" and is likely one of the most sampled artists of all time. A vibraphonist, singer and composer, Ayers songs have been sampled by everyone from Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige and Snoop Dogg as well as had collaborations with Alicia Keyes, The Roots and Tyler, The Creator among others. As you will soon hear, Nabil's story is unlike anything we have heard before on the podcast. Imagine growing up knowing who your father was but only meeting him occasionally. By design. Sometimes it was a planned meeting that lasted just long enough to ask, "Do you want some Tempura?" and others were times that were literally a chance meeting on the street at a music store. As you will soon hear, we discuss this and much more around his book, 2022's My Life in the Sunshine that explains all this and much more. Nabil himself was open, engaging, honest and ready to discuss everything. What it was like growing up with a Jewish/Baha'i Faith mother who really only wanted a child at the age of 20, his relationship with his uncle Alan, a jazz musician himself who really was the masculine figure Nabil looked up to the most and how he finally had lunch with his dad well into his 30s when things seemed to not be making as much sense as they did earlier in his life. Currently a record executive, he's the President of the Beggars Group of labels, a group of well respected, independent US and UK labels, Nabil has also played in bands, owned his own record store, has his own podcast on both family and identity, called Identified, has written articles for The Guardian, the New York Times and others, has his own Substack page and much more. Accomplished, talented and versatile, Nabil opened up to us about pretty much everything we asked about. His story is about as unique take on celebrity and growing up the child of a celebrity as we could imagine. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast and everyone has a story. But none of them are like the one you are going to hear, right now.

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Today, we are doing something different but not totally unprecedented. Last year in 2024, we presented a bonus episode, recorded live at the Texas Theater in Dallas, Texas with Ernie Kovacs award winner, Gerald Casale from Devo at VideoFest. This year, we'd like to present this year's VideoFest's Ernie Kovacs Award recipient, comedian Fred Armisen. This is just one of the ways we keep the legacy of both Ernie and Edie Adams going and frankly, it's really a major impetus for this podcast itself. How better to keep someone's legacy alive than via the children of those who knew them best, their children? Recorded on November 23, in the very same theater where Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, exactly 62 years prior, this episode exists only because of one person and we wanted to thank Dev Shapiro of Selig News for his recording. You see, we recorded this directly from the sound board for ideal sound quality but when we got the digital files, they were corrupted and unusable. Thankfully, it was Dev to the rescue and while Dev was not recording directly from the sound board, I think we can all forgive the minor audio issues because well, he saved our bacon by just being there. Preservation is key and we thank Dev for making that happen. And thank you to yours truly for some of the audio fidelity we goosed up for this episode too. Big thanks to VideoFest's Founder Bart Weiss, the VideoFest team including Kelly Kitchens (who is also a Patreon supporter), Reid Robinson, Elijah Cruz Barron, Janeth Farnsworth, Jessica Spawn, Andy Streitfeld and Mark Wickersham as well as Barak Epstein of the Texas Theatre and Erin Barros of Concord Hospitality. More big thanks to Ernie Kovacs and Edie Adams archivist Ben Model for the tip to bring up the Ernie in Kovacsland book on stage prior to the interview as well. And now, here's Fred Armisen. Take a listen. Everyone has a story.

Today on another encore episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Ed Eckstine, son of smooth as silk singer & bandleader Billy Eckstine. Our chat with Ed was funny, educational, occasionally jaw dropping and always engaging. Now, before we even started our chat with Ed, upon his agreeing to be a part of the podcast, we got a list of topics from Ed that he thought we might want to discuss. Effectively, he sent us a cheat sheet that they didn't get to on his appearance on the Questlove Supreme podcast prior to our chat. Who were we to say no? There were like 60 totally engaging topics Ed had written out and we get to some of them here. Jazz fans and pop fans will know Billy Eckstine for his deep baritone voice that singers of the era loved and the ladies swooned for. Sinatra was a fan and a friend. As was Ella and a host of others. Dapper, good looking, classy, entrepreneurial and courageous, we discuss with Ed all of those qualities his father had that made him a star. It also made him a target as you will hear, surrounding an article in Life Magazine that exposed America's racists past that frankly, doesn't seem too far removed from where we are today. We also talk to Ed about his own career as a journalist and music executive who recounts his obsessive love of rock music, his time working for the one and only Q, Quincy Jones and some of the most insane and jaw dropping interviews he conducted with the likes of Issac Hayes. We also get into his years as his father's helper before he went on stage at Jewish and Italian resorts in the 1960s and as Nabil Ayers said in a 2020 New York Times piece, what it "was like to be the first black person to be let in — to be allowed by the predominantly white music industry to helm one of its largest entities,"when he was the president of Mercury Records. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast and everyone has a story.

Today on another encore episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are speaking to musician Matt Axton about his larger-than-life actor, musician, spokesman and songwriter dad, Hoyt Axton. Now if you grew up in the eighties, you would know Hoyt from Gremlins. If you grew up in the 70s, you'd know him as the songwriter to the smash hit "Joy To The World" made popular by Three Dog Night and in the sixties perhaps the hit show Bonanza. As Matt explains to us, his dad was many things to many people, a shit kicking psychedelic cowboy, a Busch beer pitchman and even Mogwai's dad. Everyone could relate to Hoyt. We also talk about the fact that Matt is a third generation musician, as his grandmother was known as the Queen of Nashville. Mae Boren Axton, was a well-known songwriter of more than 200 songs including – get this – "Heartbreak Hotel". Now that's some serious lineage. To know that your grandmother introduced Elvis Presley to his manager, Colonel Tom Parker is just a bit of a mind fuck. Our conversation with Matt was both melancholy and prideful. Matt was fiercely proud of his dad's legacy in country music and in film and television but he also let us know that for reasons you will hear, he has almost nothing of his father's possessions but his own memories. But he's not bitter. In fact, he's got a terrific outlook and draws on his dad's legacy to push him in his own career. Matt loves the one nighters, the travel, the live music and the recording. After all, it's in his blood. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast and everyone has a story.

Sam Nelson (Ozzie Nelson, Harriet Nelson) (Part Two) Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we present for you part two of our interview with Sam Nelson, son of Rick Nelson and grandson of Ozzie Nelson and Harriet Nelson. In the 1950s The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet was a massive hit television show and ran for 14 years that made both Rick, then known as Ricky and brother David Nelson major, major stars. But this episode takes a very intense turn from the first episode as we move from one type of a family legacy to quite another. If you recall, in the 1980s Sam was at the center of a very public custody fight between his mother Kristin Nelson and her brother, actor Mark Harmon and his wife actress Pam Dawber. Imagine heading to the supermarket and seeing your own face on the cover of the National Enquirer and People magazine while still in elementary school? And this after the tragic and speculated up death of his father, Ricky Nelson in a plane crash not too long before that. Ooof, this one is doozy. We do manage to get into a few things outside of the more sensational aspects of Sam's life including the very real ghost stories from his childhood home, his father's favorite flavor of ice cream and the famous beach house his grandparents owned that was part of the Nelson family lore. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast and everyone has a story.