Episode #263: Denise Gautier (Dick Gautier)
Rarified Heir Podcast
Today on another encore edition of the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Denise Gautier, daughter of actor, painter, artist and raconteur Dick Gautier. Perhaps best known for his role of Hymie in the TV series Get Smart even though he was only on a limited number of episodes, we delve into the wonderful and sometimes difficult world of what it was like to grow up the daughter of a delightful but often too casual father. Ahem. The idea of looking into connecting with Denise came entirely from our interview with Susannah Mars, daughter of comedian Kenneth Mars. Susannah told us a very...
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Episode #262 Sam Nelson (Rick Nelson, Ozzie Nelson, Harriet Nelson) (Part Two)
Rarified Heir Podcast
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...
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Episode #261: Sam Nelson (Rick Nelson, Kristin Nelson) (Part One)
Rarified Heir Podcast
Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, encore edition, we are talking to Sam Nelson, the son of actor/musician Rick Nelson aka Ricky Nelson and actress mother Kristin Nelson). He also has some pretty famous grandparents, an uncle, brothers, a sister and likely more relatives who spent some time in front of the camera and the microphone we discuss as well. Sam spoke to us about so many things on part one of this interview including, what it’s like to run a television archive which is right up host Josh Mills’ alley, the challenges in keeping an archive relevant in 2025 and how to best honor...
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Episode #260: Radames Pera (Lisa Pera) (Part Two)
Rarified Heir Podcast
Today on another encore episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to guest Radames Pera on part two of our conversation about growing up a child actor to actress Lisa Pera. Like episode one of our conversation last week, we dig into some really intense and really dark places that have to be heard to be believed. As the young Grasshopper on the 70s TV show Kung Fu to an eventual, genuine teen heartthrob thanks to his role as John Jr. on Little House on the Prairie, we learn on this episode that all that glitters is not gold. On this episode we get a deep dive into the aforementioned...
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Episode #259: Radames Pera (Lisa Pera) (Part One)
Rarified Heir Podcast
Today on another encore episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are bringing you part one of our conversation with former child actor Radames Pera, best known for his roles on shows like Kung-Fu and Little House on the Prairie. We had to split this episode into two episodes because there as so much more than we bargained for when we sat down to record this episode. Somehow in addition to covering Radames’ career, we got into spin art, the Coogan Law, punk rock, fitting in at school and so much more. Part of that so much more involved his mother Lisa Pera whose acting career involved TV...
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Episode #258: Luke Yankee (Eileen Heckart)
Rarified Heir Podcast
Today on another encore episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to playwright, author and educator Luke Yankee, son of Oscar-winning actress Eileen Heckart. Luke spoke to us about his biography about his mother, Just Outside the Spotlight, his then upcoming play about his mother and the many, many tales he witnessed growing up the son of his actor/mother who was anything but a wilting flower. Eileen was a pistol and o’re to be the subject of one of her pointed barbs! We also talk about host Josh Mills’ mother Edie Adams who Luke had a first person connection to as well as some...
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Episode #257: Carnie Wilson, Shawn Kay, Jenny Brill (Brian Wilson, John Kay, Mitzi McCall, Charlie Brill)
Rarified Heir Podcast
Today on another encore episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to three prior guests of the podcast who are talking to us in the boldest experiment in Rarified Heir Podcast history! How so? We are talking to them all at once. Something we had never done before. But don’t fret, Carnie Wilson, Jenny Brill and Shawn Kay have been friends for quite a long time and, in fact, they know each other and host Josh Mills from as far back as elementary school. There are laughs and some tears on this one. Since the time of this recording, sadly we have lost two of the celebrity parents of...
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Episode #256: Nikki Nash (Dick Nash)
Rarified Heir Podcast
Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Nikki Nash, daughter of musician, trombonist Dick Nash. Now, you may not know the face or the name, Dick Nash but you certainly know his work with Henry Mancini, or should we say Hank Mancini with some of his best known work. Before the Wrecking Crew, Dick and a small group of side-men WERE the Wrecking Crew, playing on hundreds of studio dates for film, TV and major label albums in the 50s and 60s. But as we learn, Dick Nash didn’t take every date offered for a very specific reason. Our conversation with Nikki centered around her new...
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Episode #255: Donavan Freberg (Stan Freberg)
Rarified Heir Podcast
Today on another encore edition of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are speaking to Donavan Freberg, son of the genius humorist, comedian, advertising executive and writer Stan Freberg. Donavan was a guest we had tried to get on the podcast for quite some time and thankfully he finally agreed to be in the hot seat and we can’t thank him enough. Our conversation with Donavan was frank and not always easy but at other times wonderful and whimsical. You’ll see what we mean after you take a listen. Our chat with Donavan often started with the almost Wonka-like existence of growing up with a dad...
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Episode #254: Pamela Dillman (Bradford Dillman, Suzy Parker)
Rarified Heir Podcast
Today on another bonus episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to a lost, family friend. Our guest today is actress and voice over actress extraordinaire, Pamela Dillman. How we connected to Pamela actually thanks to one of you, our listeners, Barbara Bassett, who alerted us to an interview with Pamela on another site and mentioned she was friends with Mia Kovacs, sister to host Josh Mills. What? Yes really. So we reached out and lo and behold, Pamela could not have been nicer, more kind, more loving in her effusive answer to, did she want to be a guest on our podcast. An emphatic...
info_outlineToday on another encore edition of the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Denise Gautier, daughter of actor, painter, artist and raconteur Dick Gautier. Perhaps best known for his role of Hymie in the TV series Get Smart even though he was only on a limited number of episodes, we delve into the wonderful and sometimes difficult world of what it was like to grow up the daughter of a delightful but often too casual father. Ahem.
The idea of looking into connecting with Denise came entirely from our interview with Susannah Mars, daughter of comedian Kenneth Mars. Susannah told us a very funny, if entirely inappropriate story, about meeting up with her dad and his actor friends at lunch and receiving a drawing from Gautier. While that drawing simply would not fly in 2025, it’s what made us laugh and frankly, some of us also had dad’s like that too. Ahem. Anyway, Denise gives us the lowdown on what it was like being with the very funny, exceedingly talented artist father as well as his unconventional ways.
Along the way we discuss Dick’s connections to Broadway, the beatnik coffee culture of San Francisco in the sixties, the famed Magic Castle, fellow actors and friends Dave Madden, Mel Brooks, his second wife actress Barbara Stuart, his various game show appearances on shows like Tattle Tales and much more. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.