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Home , Cybill, Dabney Coleman, Fourth wall, Garry Shandling, Jack Rollins (producer), Joanna Cassidy

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ALA RAFKI N ' SO Cassidy has been particularly busy during the past few years. Breaking the Rules She began filmi ng for Club Para­ dise with and list of the greatest Peter O 'Toole less than three shows of the last 30 years might look weeks after finishing her TV something like this: The Andy Griffith series Codename: Foxfire. Before AShow, I Dream of Jeannie, The Donna that, was the miniseries Holly­ Reed Show, Gomer Pyle, The Dick Van wood Wives. She also starred with Dyke Show, , Love American Style, as Jo Jo White M"A "S"H, The Bob Show, The Mary on NBC's Buffalo Bill (for which Tyler Moore Show, Laverne and Shirley, The L(JVe she won a Golden Globe award) Boat, and One Day ata Time. and played opposite Check the credits, and you'll find one and in the ac­ name affiliated with all of them: independent claimed political thriller Under producer and director Alan Rafkin-the king Fire. of conventional comedy. It hasn't all been smooth sail­ But Rafkin, a 1950 graduate of SU's ing for the redheaded beauty, School of Management, has taken a leap into who began her career as a mode l. the unorthodox of late. He is directing his She landed her first acting role in third season of It's Garry Shandling's Show, the the 1972 film The Laughing Police­ innovative Fox program that breaks tele­ man, starring . vision's imaginary fourth wall: Shandling But, like most young actresses, often speaks directly to the viewing she had problems getting a lead­ and asks them for advice. ing role. Between the short-lived It's a situation comedy that makes fun of TV series 240-Robertand numer­ the format. T he offbeat program, ous small TV and movie roles, which features self-mocking Garry her longest running role was five Shandling as a neurotic, 30-something bach­ episodes on Fa/con Crest. elor, frequently requires audience participa­ But Cassidy's career is tion. moving full-steam ahead now. "The show broke a lot of the rules I was ''I'm over the hump," she says. used to," says Rafkin, who began his career as Since he r role in Who Framed a gofer at CBS in in 1953 and Roger Rabbit?, Cassidy has starred worked his way up to directing comedy Sitcom director, Alan Rafkin, and , Garry Shandling in 1969 with Mariette Hartley programs within five years. Rafkin and the and Keifer Sutherland. And now entire Shandling show crew were required to she is in production for a new fea­ make several adjustments, he says. The dif­ J OANNA C ASS I DY '67 ture film titled The Package, scheduled for ferences in camera work alone were im­ release in late August. - N ARY E u .EN M ENcucct mense. "The average situation comedy will Leading Lady have somewhere more than 200 camera C HARLES JO FF E '5 1 shots," says Rafkin. "It's Garry Shandling's oanna Cassidy has played opposite such Show averages 30 shots. We use cameras leading men as Robin Williams, Dab­ Goodfor Woody much more precisely, rather than cutting, cut­ ney Co_leman, Peter O 'Toole, N ick ting, cutting." JNolt e, and Gene Hackman. Oh, and f the name Charles Joffe sounds familiar, Rafkin has proven his versatility. Since its you can add a rabbit to that list. you must be a fan. Joffe's premiere, the show has been nominated for Cassidy, a member of SU's Class of name has prominently appeared in the several (including directing), a 1967, played the bartender Delores in the Icredit s of each of Allen's fi lms. He's TV Guide poll deemed the Shandling show box office smash ?. produced them all. one of the five best comedy series, and the She calls the film the most complicated ever T he latest is , a three­ Television Critics Association has named it made. Cassidy says her co-star , part movie Allen filmed in conjunction with Best Comedy Series. In addition, Showtime, the British who appeared in each scene directors and Martin the pay-cable network, is so pleased with the with Roger Rabbit, made fi lming easier. "I Scorsese. The movie, as with most of Allen's witty series it has ordered an unprecedented felt lucky to be working with Hoskins in this work, was filmed in New York. The story line 54 episodes. - MARY ElLEN M ENGUCC/ kind offi(m--{)rany fi lm," she says. and remain guarded secrets. A release A seasoned television and movie actress, is expected this spring.

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Published by SURFACE, 1989 1 Syracuse University Magazine, Vol. 5, Iss. 3 [1989], Art. 3

Joanna Cassidy, with Bob Hoskins, in Roger Rabbit

As producer, Joffe is responsible for put­ Allen, and he's currently looking for other ting the project together: hiring the talent, ar­ projects in television and film. ranging the financing and distribution, In addition, Joffe serves on the board of working on the marketing and promotion. directors of Odyssey Films, a new film He calls his relationship with Allen "like a production and distribution company, and dream. We've worked together for over 30 teaches a course at UCLA titled "Turning years so we know each other pretty well," he Professional: For Writers, Actors, Directors, says. and Producers." His main message: if you s Joffe met Allen in the fifties when Allen don't like rejection, forget the entertainment was a struggling comedy writer and Joffe was industry. in the talent management business. Allen ap­ "It's a business of constant rejection and proached Joffe and his partner, , disappointment," says Joffe. "And hard work. about writing material for two of their clients, If they think it's a business of just luxury, and . T hey weren't they're wrong. You're always up at bat." SUMMER 1989 interested, but recognized Allen's talent and - RENEE GEARHART LEVY sensed it was misdirected. Joffe and Rollins promoted Allen as a stand-up comic. It was a good hunch. When All en was ready for motion pictures, they were right at his side, as producers of his USSR JAPAN movtes. SPAIN FRANCE Allen wasn't Joffe's only discovery. H is TURKEY ENGLAND talent management firm, which grew to be­ come Rollins Joffe Morra & Brezner, has an exemplary record of boosting careers for green . Their client list reads like a who's who of comics: Robin Williams, , , , Martin Mull, and , among others. Ironically, Joffe began his careeras a talent agent while an undergraduate at SU. He or­ ganized his own agency and booked fellow students into local clubs. Among his budding stars were alumni Peter F alk and . SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY The business helped pay his way through DIVISION OF INTERNATIONAL school and paved the way for his future PROGRAMS ABROAD career. After graduating in 1951, he was offered jobs by big agencies and ultimately 119 EUCLID AVENUE- DEPT. S he hooked up with longtime partner Rollins. SYRACUSE, NY 13244-4170 Joffe left Rollins Joffe Morra & Brezner a 315-443-9420/9421 year and a half ago to pursue a career as an independent producer. He, along with Rol­ lins, retains his business relationship with Charles Joffe, the man behind Woody

MAR C H 1 98 9 • 5 https://surface.syr.edu/sumagazine/vol5/iss3/3 2 et al.: On Our Short List

VANESSA WI LL IAM S '86 album, released in July, and the reason be­ MARSHALL GELFA N D '50 hind her demand. Back at the Top The hot rhythm and blues-oriented The Business of album sold about 400,000 copies in 1988 with anessa Williams began her day with two tracks cracking the top ten on Billboard's Show Business an interview with People magazine at R & B chart Vanessa herself was named best her home. She'd spent new female artist at the NAACP's Image n 1961, a relatively unknown folksinging Vthe entire previous day in a photo­ Awards in December, and has been nomi­ group called Peter, Paul and Mary hired a grapher's studio being shot for the nated for two Grammy's: best new artist and relatively unknown New York account­ story, but that was not enough. People best female R&B vocal. Iant named Marshall Gelfand. The group wanted more photos-with her husband/ "I appreciate being recognized for my work was an instant success and so was Gel­ manager/publicist Ramon Hervey, and with and my efforts," says the 26-year-old Williams, fand. their year-and-a-half-old daughter, Melanie. who has struggled to overcome the tarnished In no time, Gelfand was serving as busi­ She snuck in a few telephone interviews image dogging her since she was dethroned as ness manager to other music industry giants, before catching a quick flight to Sacramento Miss nearly five years ago. including Bob Dylan and Neil Diamond. His for a guest appearance at a radio party. The Williams's success is no surprise to those business continued to center on clients in the station was having a food drive and Williams who know her. The daughter of two music entertainment industry, and in 1969 Gelfand was there to sign autographs. teachers, she has prepared for a musical opened a second office in Los Angeles. T he next morning it was back to L.A. to career nearly all her life. She could play piano, Today, he serves as managing parmer of film a profile piece forC(fl)erStory, a cable-TV violin, and flute by age five, and also studied Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman, the largest in­ show, then off to Ojai, an hour-and-a-half French hom for nine years. As a high school ternational business management company drive north, for another radio function. T his senior she was named a finalist in the pres­ in the entertainment industry. There are 15 time the station was giving away a dream va­ tigious Presidential Scholarship Contest for partners and 130 employees altogether, lo­ cation. Again, Williams was there to sign Drama, which led to her acceptance at SU's cated in offices in Los Angeles, New York, autographs. musical theater department. She entered a Nashville, Palm Springs, and . A hectic schedule to be sure, but Williams local beauty pageant during her sophomore Gelfand, now based in the firm's central is not complaining. "I'd much rather have a year, and two pageant titles became the office in L.A., works with many of his clients record on the radio that I have to promote first black woman to be crowned Miss Amer­ on a one-to-one basis. Often in the entertain­ than something I'm ica. The rest, as they say, is history. ment industry, he says, a personality reaches begging people Williams says her notoriety was not an stardom- and subsequent ~ealth-befo re to listen to," asset in securing a recording contract. really understanding what has hit him. It's she says. "There was a lot of excess baggage that Gelfand's job to sit down with a client and She's the person I was approaching had to try help him establish an individual financial referring to leave and forget," she says. She met strategy. When asked, Gelfand also offers in­ to "The with executives of 10 record com­ vestment and real estate services for the Right panies before landing a deal with protection and growth of the client's capital. Stuff," Wing Records, a division of Poly­ As business managers, the firm also han­ her Gram specializing in developing dles its clients' routine accounting and book­ first new acts. Her second album is due keeping needs and has the responsibility for this summer and a concert tour is in reviewing and paying bills, collecting and the works. depositing income, and producing regular Williams's acting career is also financial statements. Furthermore, staff gaining momentum. She received criti­ members regularly review contracts and in­ cal acclaim for her performance in come schedules to monitor the receipt of Checkmates last year, a play she co­ incoming money. In other words, the firm starred in with Paul Winfield and takes care of money matters so clients can Roxy Roker. She co-starred in the concentrate on their dynamic, sometimes NBC movie The Sex Tape Scandal, volatile careers. and she's reviewing scripts for Gelfand's client list is extensive and in­ feature films. "I'd love to get a cludes personalities from music, motion pic­ role I could really sink my tures, television, literature, and medicine. teeth into," she says. James Taylor, , Kris Kristoffer­ No doubt stamina has son, Debra Winger, and Carly Simon are brought Williams where among his many clients. she is today. "I knew it A 1950 graduate of SU's School of Man­ was going to be hard," agement, Gelfand also represents several SU she has said, "but I alumni, including TV director Alan Rafkin knew I'd get there '50, movie/TV director William Persky '53, eventually.... I'm a and Warner Bros. executive James Miller '64. fighter. I always try - MARY EUENM ENGUCC/ to prove that I've got what it takes." Apparently, the Right Stuff. - RENEE GEARHART LEVY

Published by SURFACE, 1989 3 Syracuse University Magazine, Vol. 5, Iss. 3 [1989], Art. 3

and when the show transferred ing is etched in concrete because I believe to television, so did they. there's always another joke, another line. I'm "In those days they said willing to make changes, but I'll fight hard for women couldn't write comedy, the integrity of the show." just soap operas," Kalish -CAROL N ORTH S CHMUCKLER recalls. "I know they told themselves I wasn't really JAM ES BA CON '43 doing any of the writing-that my husband was writing and I and Lovers was only typing. I just smiled and kept on writing." he day he hit Hollywood in 1948, Kalish has more than 300 James Bacon telephoned Humphrey scripts to her credit, including Bogart, merely on the strength of the award-winning script for Thaving a mutual acquaintance. But as in which Edith the columnist newly Bunker feared she had breast assigned to Tinsel Town, Bacon was cancer. Her string of successes not without some clout includes scripts for Family Af "Bogie invited me to the Polo Lounge for fair, The Brian Keith Show, F lunch," Bacon recalls. "We met atone o'clock Troop ("pure fun"), The Bob and things quickly got very wet People kept Marshall Gelfand, business manager ofthe stars Newhart Show, Maude, and stopping by the table-Duke Wayne, Errol . Flynn, and many others. It turned out to be "Each show has its own kind of a long lunch. It lasted 'til two in the IRMA KALISH ' 44 personality and you learn it vety qu~ckly by morning." reading old scripts and watching it," she says. That set the tone for the impish Bacon's Just for Laughs "If you're good, you can hear the characters' four decades in Hollywood. He not only voices in your mind when writing." wrote about the stars. He drank with them, hen she took over as producer of Kalish moved into producing with Good attended their weddings and funerals, and FaasofLifea few years ago, Irma Heavens, and then went on to produce Good heard all their secrets. What he decided to Ginsberg Kalish found herself Times, Carter Country, Too Close for Comfort, print, h9wever, was strictly up to his journalis­ Won a television series with big and The Facts ofLife. tic instincts and his fine sense of discretion. problems. "Producing gives you more control. Bacon reached Hollywood via Syracuse, "The show was in its eighth Writers have traditionally been the lowest Albany, and . While working at the year and there was doubt that we'd last the echelon in Hollywood, but being executive Syracuse Herald Journal as nighttime stare season," Kalish says. "There had been a producer gives me control over not just my editor, he was a daytime journalism graduate series of producers, there were difficulties script, but over the show itself." student at SU. He would have graduated with some of the actresses, and there was a Kalish explains that her strength is as a with the Class of 1943, but he left to join the definite them-versus-us mentality." negotiator. "I consult with the director, the AP's Albany bureau. He then served in the Kalish turned it around. "I smoothed network people, the studio people, and the Navy, and after the war AP sent him to troubles over, established effective com­ actors. I listen to everyone's concerns. Noth- Chicago and then Hollywood. munications, and helped develop a team spirit. We not only finished that season, but went on to a ninth." Running a happy show is one of Kalish's greatest strengths. "I like peace and quiet," she says. "I listen to everybody and keep them happy. Some people say you have to be a killer in this business, but I don't find that to be true. I'm not a doormat by any means, but I feel there's always another way to do some­ thing. Above all, I want everyone to have a good time." This past fall she took on a new assign­ ment: executive producer of the popular Saturday evening comedy, 227. She also has a production development deal with Columbia Pictures Television. But it was as a writer, not a producer, that Kalish began her Hollywood career, and she and her husband, Austin, still write as a team. A 1944 SU graduate in journalism, Kalish was editor of Romance Hestern magazine when she married and moved to the West Coast. She and her husband began writing comedy for the Dean Marrin and radio show, Irma Kalish put The Facts of Life back on its feet.

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His column for CHERY L KAGAN '72 AP ran in 8,000 papers. But Bacon Publicity Stunts was invite d every­ where not because hen Moonlighting star of his influence, but Shepherd delivered her twins because he loved last year, Cheryl Kagan stood the stars and they Woutside the hospital birthing just as obviously room with Shepherd's body­ loved him. An ad­ guard, making sure no one from mitted fan, he found the tabloids, disguised as doctors or nurses, all doors open to entered the room. When Shepherd went him. His best friends home, Kagan found a secluded exit through were Bogie, Duke, the basement and arranged for two im­ Errol, Liz, Frank, posters-dressed as Shepherd and hubby, Mitch, and Marilyn. bearing dolls wrapped in blankets-to walk He was sup­ out the hospital's main entrance. posed to be on Mike All in a day's work for Cheryl Kagan. Todd's plane the She is senior vice president, arts and night it crashed, and entertainment group, of Rogers and Cowan, the next morning, he the largest independe nt public relations was the one to break agency in the world. "You have to know your the news to Eliza­ clients very well," says Kagan, "because you beth Taylor that her have to protect them. You become an ex­ husband was dead tended family and you really have to have a and get an exclusive good relationship. It's the only way it's going interview. He wrote Reporter James Bacon and good friend Norma Jean to work." the first national Kagan handles publicity for an assortment story about Marilyn Monroe, recognizing her "I found the big stars basically no dif­ of personalities, TV series, and entertain­ charisma when she was totally unknown. (He ferent from other people. They were down­ ment-oriented projects. And like any also confesses to having a "fling" with to-earth people who never took stardom publicist, she spends most of her time on the Marilyn and knowing all her secrets.) He en­ seriously. We had wonderful times. I went all phone or on sets, trying to coordinate pub­ couraged to go public with "the over the worlq and did everything. I even licity campaigns. "When I'm on a set, I'm Big C" but didn't break the story until Duke acted bit parts in more than 600 films. It was usually arranging inte rviews or getting was ready. He also knew when a story the most exciting life I could have imagined." answers to requests," says the 1972 graduate shouldn't be written. He refused to reveal -CAROL NoRTH ScHMUCKLER of the Newhouse School. that Betty Grable was dying, and when some­ one else wrote about it, Bacon got a tearful call from Grable saying that until she'd read that, she'd thought she was recovering. "I think I was also the only person ever officially named an 'evil companion,"' Bacon says. "I was with Jackie Gleason when he was shooting The Toy, and one day when he sup­ posedly had a light schedule, we drank our lunch. Later, on the set, the director put him in a golf cart to film him chasing . Gleason drove the cart into the swim­ ming pool and almost drowned. It was the funniest shot in the movie. "The next day, I was banned from the set because I was an evil companion to Gleason." Bacon left the AP to write a syndicated column for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner in 1968, continuing his close associations with the Hollywood greats. He retired in 1986 and today writes a weekly column for a supple­ ment of the . Now silver-haired, but with all his high spirits and good old boy charm intact, Bacon is as busy as ever. He's already sold a movie­ of-the-week about his days with AI Capone in Chicago, and he's working on a project for PBS. He's also writing his fourth book, a memoir of his escapades in Hollywood. When Cybi/1 had twins, publicist Cheryl Kagan diverted the press.

8 • SYRACUSE UN I VERSITY MA G A Z IN E Published by SURFACE, 1989 5 Syracuse University Magazine, Vol. 5, Iss. 3 [1989], Art. 3

Because her clients rarely lead nine-to­ five lives, Kagan doesn't either. She is up at all hours, catching clients between tapings to work out the details of a particular project. ''I'm as much a publicist as a special events coordinator," she says. "I have to be. I'm shaping and molding people's careers." Kagan, whose individual clients include WILLIAM such personalities as Kenny Rogers, the PEARSON Smothers Brothers, Bruce Boxleitner, and Tony Curtis, joined Rogers and Cowan in TOLLEY 1981. Prior to that, she worked in various capacities for ABC and NBC in New York. At the Fountain Since joining Rogers and Cowan, she has coordinated publicity for such shows as of Youth Moonlighting, Baby Boom, Miami Vice, Crime Story, and Houston Nights. Now she is working Memories of a College President on a big promotion campaign for 's soon-to-be-released movie, For those who have known Dr. Tol­ Chances Are. - MARY ELLEN M ENcuccJ ley, Chancellor of Syracuse Univer­ sity from 1942 to 1969, it is clear DAVID TE I TE LBA UM '8 2 Gate crasher David Teitelbaum that he is a rare and gifted educa­ tor. His autobiography is filled with a.k.a. Harvey Shine school together and he doesn't give me two a warmth, humor, and enthusiasm cents today." Successful interviews include which will appeal to all readers. f the name Harvey Shine, famous TV the vacuous , genial , showman and fixture from the Lisa Hartman, and . Saltzberg Published by Syracuse Unive rsity (Distrib­ uted by Syracuse lJ niversity Press) fifties, fails to ring a bell, don't worry. He edited down the two-hour film to 30 minutes 240 pages, I photograph Cloth $ 15.00 Iand his impressive career both were and titled it No Press Pass. dreamed up by David Teitelbaum. Using Los Angeles Times critic Jack Mathews Shine's wisecracking personality as the hailed the satire and singled out the skinny, Also by Dr. Tolley ... star attraction, Teitelbaum has created a radio angular Teitelbaum, calling him "an ego-free The Adventure show and two films, one shown on the Tonight version of David Letterman." By week's end, Show and the other on The Movie Channel. Teitelbaum had nearly 100 phone messages of Learning Harvey Shine may become the greatest show from hungry talent scouts. Teitelbaum and biz star who never lived. Saltzberg agreed to a guest spot with Johnny Dr. Tolley's own prescription for The saga of Harvey Shine began a couple Carson. Segments on Today and Cable News personal education and defense of of years ago at the Institute of the Network quickly followed. a liberal arts education. Arts where Teitelbaum, a 1982 SU grad in Teitelbaum says he is wary of the star sys­ I 12 pages, index Cloth $5.95 visual communications, was pur~uing film tem, but he hopes to use the Shine character (published in 1977) studies. For a weekly campus radio show, as a springboard to other projects. He's taken Teitelbaum created his alter ego, a washed­ a leave of absence from CalArt and signed up Hollywood legend whose friends have all with the agency that represents John Candy, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY PRESS achieved great stardom (usually thanks to Martin Mull, and Steven Wright. 1600 J amesville A venue Harvey, he'll hasten to add). His most recent project, commissioned by Syracuse, New York 13244-5 160 Last year, a fellow student offered Harvey The Movie Channel, was a mock documen­ Please send me: the chance for a comeback. Jack Saltzberg, tary about Harvey. The story takes place __ copy(ies) of AT THE FOU NTAI N also in CalArt's film program, suggested that during the early days oftelevision and uaces OF YOUTH $ 15.00 Dave-as-Harvey tty to crash the Academy the Iaughman 's once-promising career. At the Awards gala by protesting that he was an old recent American Cinema Awards show, Har­ __ copy(ies) of ADVENTURE OF pal of all the "biggies." Saltzberg would film vey was filmed as he chatted with honorees LEARNING $5.95 the event (and, ostensibly, old friends) , Dressed in an oversized tuxedo and C lint Eastwood, Donald O'Connor, and Name smoking a chic cigarillo, Teitelbaum ap­ . These items were added to proached the entrance gate, only to be waved the short Address away again and again. But when one lethargic What next for Harvey-Dave? Further security guard let Harvey and his camera fame or immediate obscurity? T he Please enclose payment. MC __ crew pass through and tread the red carpet, actor/director/comedian knows that Hol­ VISA __ C heck _ _ the result was a wicked lampoon with as lywood offers both alternatives. Fast-talking much star power as Entertainment Tonight. agents keep ringing with promises of movie Account No. l::xp. Date Rathe r than gush over the celebrity roles and club appearances, but young Teitel­ parade, Harvey takes potshots. Dirty Dancing baum vows to remain levelheaded: "The one Signature star Patrick Swayze glides by with an en­ thing I'm learning from all this is that until Please include NYS sales tax. if applicable. Postaf{e/ tourage and merely waves. Snubbed, our something happens, it's not going to hap­ handling: $2.00 for first book: $.50 h>r each addi­ emcee scowls, "Patrick and I were in dancing pen." - lAY B w rcHER tional book. Thank you.

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