Ep 161 I Killed Bette Davis by Larry Cohen

Ep 161 I Killed Bette Davis by Larry Cohen

December 1, 2025 · 1h 56m

About this episode

The episode features a discussion with Larry Cohen about his memoir and filmmaking experiences, along with insights from guests James Kenney and Andrew Overbye.

If you're a fan of Larry Cohen, the maverick filmmaker behind such mind-bending genre pictures as It's Alive, God Told Me To, Q: The Winged Serpent and The Stuff, you owe it to yourself to check out his newly published memoir: I Killed Bette Davis and Other Confessions of Heinous Crimes Committed in the Name of Moviemaking. The legendary director recounts all the great anecdotes you've already heard - driving a cab on actual NYC sidewalks, firing machine guns from the top of the Chrysler Building with no permit - and about a thousand you haven't. He recounts his fascinating origins as a Borscht Belt comedian and in-demand television writer, includes tribute chapters to Bernard Herrmann and Samuel Fuller, details his ambitious cinematic efforts and the struggle to bring screen legend Bette Davis to the public one last time. We're joined on the episode by James Kenney, who not only edited Cohen's memoir but also discovered and published an unproduced screenplay of Cohen's called Headhunter, the insane tale of a superhero who dresses like a doctor and "cures" criminals of their evil vices. We've also got Andrew Overbye, host of the Authorized Novelization Podcast and recent Cohen…

People in this episode

Host: The Pink Smoke

Guests: Larry Cohen, James Kenney, Andrew Overbye

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Authorized Novelization Podcast, stickingplacebooks.com, tremblesighwon

Books & works: I Killed Bette Davis and Other Confessions of Heinous Crimes Committed in the Name of Moviemaking, Headhunter

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