My Top 12 Celebrity Surprises from 2014

During 2014 I had the opportunity to chat with plenty of fascinating celebrities and Hollywood insiders for my Showbiz Analysis column and Whine At 9 podcast. And while it sometimes seems that there are few secrets left in Tinseltown, I’ve been repeatedly surprised by my storytelling guests. Below are my top celebrity surprises from 2014.

1. Drew Scott used to be a clown. That’s right, the popular entrepreneur, realtor, actor, and Property Brothers’ co-host once clowned around for cash. Says HGTV’s favorite fixture, “Jonathan and I used to design floats when we were younger. We used to actually be clowns. One of our first entertaining gigs– we were clowns at parades and birthday parties.” So who better than to co-host HGTV’s live Rose Parade coverage? Watch for Drew and Jonathan Scott on New Years’s Day on HGTV 11 am/12c.

2. Anson Williams expanded his creative opportunities by singing to a bulldog. I know, this surprised me too. But the actor, producer, and business man has always been one to read between the lines. During his tenure on the hit show Happy Days (1974-1984), Williams (who portrayed Potsie Weber), also a singer, asked producer Garry Marshall to add a band into the story line. Marshall agreed with one stipulation– Williams had to sing to a bulldog. Explained Marshall, “If you’re good I get laughs, if you’re bad I get laughs. You’re singing to a bulldog. Go get a song.” Notes Williams, “That moment opened up so much more than just singing. It opened up my life and it opened up all these other opportunities that would have never happened.” Williams’ new memoir Singing to a Bulldog: From Happy Days to Hollywood Director, and the Unlikely Mentor Who Got Me There grabs its title from this canine moment. “In my head I’m thinking jump the shark is the precise moment when success starts to decline and singing to bulldogs is the precise moment you start to climb. So that was my reason for the title.”

3. I have been misspelling and misinterpreting The Moody Blues’ hit song ‘Nights in White Satin’ for decades. This song has always been a favorite, but this year I was stunned to discover I was absolutely clueless about the tune. I’ve been known to misinterpret lyrics, but usually it’s because I didn’t catch the words. After chatting with The Moody Blues’ Justin Hayward, I realized I had conjured up a totally different subject when it came to the band’s hit song ‘Nights in White Satin’– which I had innocently thought was ‘Knights in White Satin’. Chalk it up to the fact that I was barely out of kindergarten when the song hit the charts and so fairy tales were pretty much a staple in my life. But still, I was shocked to learn that the song was about satin sheets and not beautiful castle-dwelling love-struck characters. Explained Hayward, “With ‘Nights’ in particular– Yes I was at the end of one big love affair, which at 19 years old which I was– It was over that period when I was 19-20. It was just one big love affair that I thought I would never recover from or have again– And (I was) at the beginning of another one (love affair), which also had my head spinning. So I think ‘Nights’ is a series of random thoughts by a boy who’s at the end of one love affair and the beginning of another. But there curiously seems to be quite a lot of truth in it which I never really realized or thought about until I’ve been analyzing it.” Now that I know Hayward and the real story behind the tune, I love it even more.

4. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark always stays in character. Long known as “The Queen of Halloween”, Elvira has been entertaining fans for decades. And Cassandra Peterson, the woman behind the character continues to be one of the busiest women on the planet especially during trick-or-treat season. Her nonstop fall schedule includes endless guest appearances and a nightly stage show, so I just assumed Peterson would be thrilled to toss her notorious little black dress in November and put on a little Christmas plaid. But Elvira will not hear of it. She admits to donning her costume even for those highly anticipated Christmas parties. Says the sultry, horror movie queen, “I always wear it!  Black is perfect for every holiday!

5. Micky Dolenz and Joyce DeWitt teamed up and kept fans laughing. It’s not unusual for celebrities to join forces, but when you didn’t anticipate the collaboration, it can be a wonderful surprise. And that’s just what happened when I caught the stage performance of Comedy Is Hard! starring Monkees’ legend Micky Dolenz and Three’s Company sensation Joyce DeWitt at the historic Ivoryton Playhouse. Dolenz and DeWitt proved that acting chops only get better with age and that on-stage chemistry can be as powerful as any popular sitcom.

6. Hollywood legends seem to keep popping up. Author and Hollywood historian Laurie Jacobson is known for her ghost tales. Because of this, the author of Hollywood Haunted: A Ghostly Tour of Filmland, has become one of my favorite Halloween “go to” people. This year she confessed that the Roosevelt Hotel is one of her favorite haunted destinations. And she shared a Marilyn Monroe sighting that gave me goose bumps. Jacobson shared the mesmerizing details– “This place was so popular with celebrities from its inception. And Marilyn Monroe used to love to stay there. And she stayed there so often– in Suite 1200– that she went out and purchased this beautiful full-length antique mirror and she installed it there in her favorite suite. And when she passed away, they removed the mirror from the suite and they buried it in the basement. And there it stayed for 25 years. And what I love about this story is that, you know, 25 years later, the history was long forgotten. They found a pretty mirror in the basement. They were renovating the hotel and they decided to use it. And they hung it in the lower lobby. And on the eve of the big opening party– re-opening, an employee walked by and saw the mirror was dirty. And she went over to clean it and she saw a blonde in the mirror. And she thought someone had walked up behind her, (she) turned around, no one (was) there. (She)Turned back to the mirror, blonde is still there, (she) looks closely–it’s Marilyn Monroe. And she’s (Monroe’s) fixing her make up, fussing with her hair as she must have done a thousand times looking into that mirror.”

7. The Beatles and Barbra Streisand were once spotted having a cookies and milk moment. This is an image I love, but never considered until I spoke with author, filmmaker, and Hollywood legacy Rocky Lang. The son of veteran producer and Universal Studios executive Jennings Lang and stage and screen star Monica Lewis, Rocky Lang has plenty of Hollywood tales few can top. Of course this also makes him the perfect person to pen the memoir Growing Up Hollywood: Tales from the Son of a Hollywood Mogul. So, how do I know that the Fab 4 and the Fab Voice shared a sugar moment together? I quizzed Lang about his parents’ parties and he recalled his favorite. “At that party there was Hugh Hefner and the Beatles showed up….And I woke up in the middle of the night, came to the kitchen and there the Beatles were sitting around at the table with Barbra Streisand drinking milk and eating cookies.”

8. The Cake Boss uses 20,000 pounds of sugar and 20,000 pounds of butter in December. I’ve spent a chunk of time chatting with Buddy “The Cake Boss” Valastro this year, but nothing surprised me more than the sugar and butter tab for Carlo’s Bakery during December. The master baker and restauranteur warned me I’d be blown away (“You sure you want to know?”), but I had to get the details. That’s a lot of frosting!

9. It’s A Wonderful Life’s Karolyn Grimes was 6 years old when she played tiny Zuzu Bailey, daughter of Jimmy Stewart’s character George Bailey, but she never watched the entire film until 34 years later. “I was 40 years old before I actually saw the whole film. You know, I was raising seven kids. I lived in the bedrooms, in the laundry room, in the kitchen, in the car– car pooling all over. I just didn’t have time to sit down and watch a lot of TV. So I really didn’t. So when I watched the movie– Oh my goodness– I realized what a wonderful film it really was and how it touched so many people’s lives.” Today, the 74-year-old former child actress spends much of her time maintaining the legacy and enhancing the memories of this iconic holiday film.

10. Comedian, talk show host, and late night favorite Loni Love was an engineer at a Fortune 500 company before she landed a headlining career. “I used to be an engineer and I was the worst engineer in the United States of America,” joked Love. “That’s why I became a comic.” The funny woman admits that her analytical background has helped her survive and thrive in show business. “The thing with engineering is that engineering teaches you how to problem solve. And when you really think about a joke, a joke teaches you–you have set up, conflict, and then solution. So it’s basically applying those same steps to writing a joke as if you’re answering a theory or a problem in engineering.” A co-host of Fox’s The Real and frequent guest DJ on Ellen, Love will be headlining Lipshtick’s Valentine’s Day Show at The Venetian Las Vegas.

11. Actor George Hamilton began tanning because he wanted to save time. Chatting with legendary film star George Hamilton is a pleasure. He’s frank and insightful and someone who is comfortable in his own skin. The debonair Hamilton admits that he’s been tanning all of his life, but explained that when he first landed in films he talked with Cary Grant, Glenn Ford, and Robert Mitchum who didn’t like wearing make up. Said the legendary actor, “And whether it was a western or a movie that we were shooting on location, most of us would sit outside, get some sun, and the makeup man really wouldn’t have to do anything.”

12. Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft starred in The Graduate (1967), but Linda Gray literally had her foot in the door. Linda Gray may be best known for her role as Sue Ellen Ewing in the beloved series Dallas, but long before she hit South Fork, the actress played an important role in an iconic movie poster. The notorious stockinged leg (presumably that of Bancroft’s Mrs. Robinson) tempting Dustin Hoffman’s character Ben Braddock, was the actual leg of Linda Gray. Ironically, Gray would later star as Mrs. Robinson in the stage version of The Graduate on London’s West End and later during its U.S. tour.

Happy New Year!!!

Nancy Berk, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist, author, comic and entertainment analyst. The host of the showbiz podcast Whine At 9, Nancy digs a little deeper as she chats with fascinating celebrities and industry insiders. Her book College Bound and Gagged: How to Help Your Kid Get into a Great College Without Losing Your Savings, Your Relationship, or Your Mind can be seen in the feature film Admission starring Tina Fey and Paul Rudd.