Caroll Spinney, 80, has played both Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on “Sesame Street” for the last 45 years. A documentary about his life, “I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story,” premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival last weekend. Click here to learn more about this energetic puppeteer who says he has no plans to retire because “if you rest, you rust.”
Tune in to Experience Talks, our “Radio Magazine for the Experienced Listener.” Saturdays 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles, 98.7 FM Santa Barbara, 99.5 China Lake, 93.7 N. San Diego, streaming live online and now syndicated on up to 100 Pacifica Network stations! You can also enjoy hearing all of our previous shows on the Listen Page of our Experience Talks website.
Saturday, 6/21 at 8 AM PT: Host Tim Carpenter with Dale Bell and Henry Olek & Susan Priver
Dale Bell was a Producer of the Academy Award-winning film Woodstock and has produced public television and multimedia for over 50 years. With Harry Wiland, he founded the Media Policy Center and developed its media model, for which they were elected Ashoka Lifetime Fellows as social entrepreneurs. Since the broadcast of And Thou Shalt Honor in 2002, Dale has become a national spokesman for eldercare. Tim Carpenter talks to Dale Bell about how films can change the world.
Henry Olek and Susan Priver star in a new adaptation of “The Guardsman,” the comic tour de force about love, fidelity and illusion, by Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnár, playing now at the NoHo Arts Center. In this new rendition, Molnár’s classic has been freely adapted to be played by older actors. The couple in the play is in the autumn of their lives with a personal history between them, and they are played by a real-life couple who have performed opposite each other many times for over a decade. Tim Carpenter talks to Henry Olek and Susan Priver about relationships on and off the stage. Tickets available here for the final weekend performances on 6/20, 21, 22.
George Booth, 87, has been contributing cartoons and covers to The New Yorker since 1969. This week’s cover is one of our favorites. Read more and see a slide show of some of Booth’s work here.
Jill Tarter, 70, is in the news again, thanks to the success of the reboot of “Cosmos,” with Neil deGrasse Tyson. Tarter was the inspiration for the character of Ellie, the protagonist in Contact, the book by Carl Sagan. We posted about her earlier this year, but click here to check in on Jill Tarter today and watch this new 3:23 interview she did for PBS.
“The Metropolitan Museum of Art recently opened the second in a series of commissions for its rooftop garden overlooking Central Park. The new installation, ‘Hedge Two-Way Mirror Walkabout,’ is a collaboration between artist Dan Graham [72] and landscape architect Gunther Vogt [57]. It consists of a large S-curve metal and reflective glass wall flanked by two vine-covered trellises. The kempt lawn surrounding the structure slopes gradually upwards to meet its marble foundation.” Read more here.
“Bob Newhart [84] had modest expectations in 1960 when Warner Bros. Records released his first comedy album, ‘The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart.’
“The recording, which included such seminal Newhart routines as Abraham Lincoln getting notes from his press agent before delivering the Gettysburg Address, was a marked contrast to the 
more edgy, controversial comedians of the day, such as Lenny Bruce and Mort Sahl.
“‘I never thought much would come of these record albums, to be honest,’ said the affable comedian during a recent lunch near his home in Bel-Air. ‘I thought maybe 25,000 copies might sell. Then it went crazy.’
“How crazy? ‘Button-Down Mind’ sold 1.5 million copies and earned two Grammy Awards.”
Read more here about Bob Newhart’s career that includes his trademark understated stand-up comedy, brilliant sit-coms, and popular films.
“Worth Repeating” is a weekly feature on the EngAGE Blog that will bring you previous posts that we think are still timely, interesting, or just plain fun! From 6/4/13:
“At what age do people hit their stride professionally? Categorically speaking, athletes, engineers, politicians, television writers, salesmen, and actresses all have varying norms and shelf lives, sometimes affected by physical attributes or societal expectations. Seemingly immune to ageist perceptions and traditional notions of retirement are artists. A historical look reveals that a striking number have been highly productive and turned out some of their best work late into old age, including Bellini (who died at 86), Michelangelo (d. 89), Titian (d. between 86 and 103, depending on your source), Ingres (d. 86), Monet (d. 86), Matisse (d. 84), Picasso (d. 91), O’Keeffe (d. 98), and Bourgeois (d. 98).” Read much more in this excellent article by Hilarie M. Sheets in ArtNews.
[EngAGE wishes a very happy Father’s Day to all!]
