First Big Break


The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

Tabs

About

Interviewees discuss how they got their start in the entertainment industry.

Highlights
Jaclyn Smith on being a "Breck Girl" and appearing on McCloud
02:24
Norman Stiles on going to write for Sesame Street
03:21
Edie Falco on how she got her first agent
00:48
Martin Manulis on being hired by CBS
08:45
Lucy Lawless on playing "Xena" on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys 
05:49
Hal Linden on making his Broadway debut in "Bells Are Ringing" with Judy Holliday
05:24
Who talked about this topic

Chris Albrecht

View Interview
Chris Albrecht on becoming President of Original Programming at HBO
04:44

Jason Alexander

View Interview
Jason Alexander on performing in "Jerome Robbins Broadway"
10:07
Jason Alexander on being cast in The Seinfeld Chronicles, the pilot to Seinfeld
04:56

Robert G. Anderson

View Interview
Robert G. Anderson on being rejected by television news stations as an on-air correspondent, and realizing he could be a producer
02:48

Dick Askin

View Interview
Dick Askin on his first job in television
07:34

Rona Barrett

View Interview
Rona Barrett on breaking into television
08:59

Samantha Bee

View Interview
Samantha Bee on auditioning for and being hired as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
10:37

Rick Berman

View Interview
Rick Berman on his early days in Los Angeles going to work at Warner Bros. and Paramount
08:49

Allan Blye

View Interview
Allan Blye on how a call from Tom Smothers led to him moving to the United States from Canada
03:07

Vin Di Bona

View Interview
Vin Di Bona on his first television job at WBZ in Boston and becoming a director
07:40

Yvette Lee Bowser

View Interview
Yvette Lee Bowser on deciding not to go to USC law school after college and moving into comedy writing instead -- on A Different World
02:30

Kevin Bright

View Interview
Kevin Bright on his first job after graduating from Emerson College
01:40

David Brinkley

View Interview
David Brinkley on being hired by NBC Radio
03:26

Connie Britton

View Interview
Connie Britton on being cast as "Heather" on Ellen
01:14

Harvey Bullock

View Interview
Harvey Bullock on coming to write for The Andy Griffith Show
01:09

Vince Calandra

View Interview
Vince Calandra on his big break into entertainment - getting a job in the CBS mailroom without having an Ivy League degree
02:22

David Canary

View Interview
David Canary on his first big TV role on Peyton Place, playing Mia Farrow's doctor
04:49

Jim Cantore

View Interview
Jim Cantore on being hired by The Weather Channel
02:37

Charles Cappleman

View Interview
Charles Cappleman on becoming a stage manager at CBS
01:44

Josie Carey

View Interview
Josie Carey on being hired by WQED before the station went on the air
03:22

Glenn Gordon Caron

View Interview
Glenn Gordon Caron on getting his big break at NBC - the unaired pilot The God Squad
06:14

RuPaul Charles

View Interview
RuPaul Charles on his breakthrough hit song "Supermodel"
02:46

Roy Clark

View Interview
Roy Clark on his first television appearance, on the local series The Hayloft Conservatory of Musical Interpretation
04:04

Kevin Clash

View Interview
Kevin Clash on going to work on Sesame Street full time
04:14

Alf Clausen

View Interview
Alf Clausen on being a copyist for The Carol Burnett Show  and various feature films
04:55

Norman Lear with Emerson College

View Interview
Norman Lear on he and Ed Simmons beginning their career writing for Ford Star Revue
00:56

Jan Murray with Emerson College

View Interview
Jan Murray on getting his big break -- working in the Catskill Mountains
02:14

Steven Wright with Emerson College

View Interview
Steven Wright on how his first time on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson came about
05:52

Rose Marie with Emerson College

View Interview
Rose Marie on her weekly NBC radio show as baby Rose Marie, and on touring RKO Theaters skirting child labor laws
05:42

Barbara Corday

View Interview
Barbara Corday on pitching a series with Barbara Avedon
05:41

Pierre Cossette

View Interview
Pierre Cossette on the first music shows he produced
05:16

Ron Cowen

View Interview
Ron Cowen on the first play he wrote, "Summertree", which was championed by his college professor Jerome Lawrence, developed at the Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, and optioned by Lincoln Center before being made into a movie
08:20

Douglas S. Cramer

View Interview
Douglas S. Cramer on working at Procter & Gamble
06:06

Ann Curry

View Interview
Ann Curry on being hired by NBC News, and on moving from reporting to anchoring
04:57

Jane Curtin

View Interview
Jane Curtin on being cast on Saturday Night Live
02:18

Greg Daniels

View Interview
Greg Daniels on writing for Not Necessarily the News  with Conan O'Brien
07:26

Tony Danza

View Interview
Tony Danza on getting his first acting job on Fast Lane Blues
04:24

Bill Davis

View Interview
Bill Davis on his first job at the Canadian Broadcasting Company
09:32

Elias Davis

View Interview
Elias Davis and David Pollock on their first big break as writers for Pat Buttram on the radio
03:12

Ramin Djawadi

View Interview
Ramin Djawadi on his big break -- composing music for a fight scene in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
01:49

Louis Dorfsman

View Interview
Louis Dorfsman on meeting CBS President Frank Stanton and being hired at CBS
03:06

Betty Cole Dukert

View Interview
Betty Cole Dukert on how she came to join Meet the Press  as a producer
09:10

Rebecca Eaton

View Interview
Rebecca Eaton on her first producing job, on an arts magazine show on WGBH radio in Boston
02:58

Jeff Fager

View Interview
Jeff Fager on his first job out of college, at the NBC affiliate WBZ in Boston
01:17

Edie Falco

View Interview
Edie Falco on how she got her first agent
00:48

Julian Fellowes

View Interview
Julian Fellowes on writing the feature film "Gosford Park" for director Robert Altman
07:52

Tom Fontana

View Interview
Tom Fontana on how he came to write for St. Elsewhere  after being discovered by Bruce Paltrow and Blythe Danner
06:53

Ray Forrest

View Interview
Ray Forrest on his first job as a junior radio announcer and why he finally joined AFRA (the precursor to AFTRA)
02:09

Albert Freedman

View Interview
Albert Freedman on his big break - writing for Groucho Marx on You Bet Your Life
02:58

Harry Friedman

View Interview
Harry Friedman on moving to Los Angeles and being hired to write for Hollywood Squares
03:52

Chuck Fries

View Interview
Chuck Fries on going to work for Ziv Productions and moving to California
07:36

Sandra Gimpel

View Interview
Sandra Gimpel on her first big job: as a dancer in the Fred Astaire movie "The Pleasure of His Company"
03:15

Paul Michael Glaser

View Interview
Paul Michael Glaser on getting cast in Love of Life,  appearing in the feature film "Fiddler on the Roof" and being put off by acting in film
03:29

Lesli Linka Glatter

View Interview
Lesli Linka Glatter on being tapped by Steven Spielberg to direct Amazing Stories, and on shadowing many directors on that show
02:12

Gary David Goldberg

View Interview
Gary David Goldberg on his mentor, Nate Monaster
00:34

Carl Gottlieb

View Interview
Carl Gottlieb on being hired to write for The Summer Brothers Smothers Show
04:00

Walon Green

View Interview
Walon Green on meeting David Milch and going to write for Hill Street Blues
01:43

Hal Gurnee

View Interview
Hal Gurnee on his first television job, at the DuMont Television Network as a page
02:35

Danette Herman

View Interview
Danette Herman on her first television job on the Dick Clark series Where the Action Is
08:43

Lee Holdridge

View Interview
Lee Holdridge on a seminal career moment: his involvement in scoring the film Jonathan Livingston Seagull
01:33

Ellen Holly

View Interview
Ellen Holly on being discovered as an actress by Charlotte Perry
01:37
Ellen Holly on appearing as "Stephanie" in the Broadway production of Too Late the Phalarope
19:58

Felicity Huffman

View Interview
Felicity Huffman on appearing on an ABC Afterschool Special called "Home Run for Love" when she was fifteen
02:06
Felicity Huffman on appearing on the Stephen King miniseries Golden Years, which she considers her first big break
01:49

Kim Hunter

View Interview
Kim Hunter on playing "Stella Kowalski" in "A Streetcar Named Desire" on Broadway in on film
05:51

David Isaacs

View Interview
Ken Levine and David Isaacs on selling their first script, a spec for The Jeffersons
02:42

Al Jean

View Interview
Al Jean on getting his first job in television
02:42

Geri Jewell

View Interview
Geri Jewell on how a college friend inspired her to try stand-up comedy at the Comedy Store, which led to her breaking into television
05:15

Hal Kanter

View Interview
Hal Kanter on his first big break writing for Eddie Cantor and other comedians on radio
12:11

Elodie Keene

View Interview
Elodie Keene on editing Tales of the Unexpected for Norman Lloyd
09:54

David E. Kelley

View Interview
David E. Kelley on meeting Steven Bochco and interviewing to work on L.A. Law
01:09

Walter Koenig

View Interview
Walter Koenig on being cast as "Pavel Chekov" on Star Trek and making the character Russian
07:24

Lucy Lawless

View Interview
Lucy Lawless on playing "Xena" on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys 
05:49

Norman Lear

View Interview
Norman Lear on how he schemed to reach out to Danny Thomas and write a bit for him that turned out to be his big break
05:29

Eugene Lee

View Interview
Eugene Lee on a pivotal moment in his career: doing set design for a theater in Madison, WI
01:21

Jack Lemmon

View Interview
Jack Lemmon on his first big break on the radio
04:00

Ken Levine

View Interview
Ken Levine and David Isaacs on selling their first script, a spec for The Jeffersons 
02:42

Barry Levinson

View Interview
Barry Levinson on writing and performing with Craig T. Nelson on Lohman and Barkley
04:03

Hal Linden

View Interview
Hal Linden on making his Broadway debut in "Bells Are Ringing" with Judy Holliday
05:24

James Lipton

View Interview
James Lipton on appearing on "The Lone Ranger" radio show at age 12
03:31

Susan Lucci

View Interview
Susan Lucci on auditioning for the character of "Erica Kane" on All My Children and finding out she got the part
01:55

Stewart MacGregory

View Interview
Stewart MacGregory on going to work for NBC television 
01:38

Gavin MacLeod

View Interview
Gavin McLeod on the first Broadway play he appeared in "A Hat Full of Rain"
06:15

Robert MacNeil

View Interview
Robert MacNeil on how he came to work for NBC
03:13

Jodi Mancuso

View Interview
Jodi Mancuso on how she started working as a hair stylist on Saturday Night Live
03:29

Barry Manilow

View Interview
Barry Manilow on becoming the musical director for the local WCBS series Call Back
02:51

Martin Manulis

View Interview
Martin Manulis on being hired by CBS
08:45

John A. Martinelli

View Interview
John Martinelli on assistant editing The Lawrence Welk Show
01:36

Rue McClanahan

View Interview
Rue McClanahan on being cast by Norman Lear as "Vivian Harmon" on Maude
04:52

Barney McNulty

View Interview
Barney McNulty on how he became involved with The Ed Wynn Show, where he first became involved in writing out cue cards
06:54

Eryn Krueger Mekash

View Interview
Eryn Krueger Mekash on attending Sandy Burman's makeup effects school, and how that led to her first job in the industry -- working for John Buechler
08:48

David Milch

View Interview
David Milch on how he came to write for Hill Street Blues
04:04
David Milch on how he came to write for Hill Street Blues
04:04

Millie Moore

View Interview
Millie Moore on her first big break - working on the travelogue documentaries of Jack Douglas
01:15

Donald A. Morgan

View Interview
Donald A. Morgan on his first job in television -- in the mailroom of KTTV -- and on how he became interested in lighting
06:30

Bob Newhart

View Interview
Bob Newhart on his big break at the local Chicago Emmy Awards and recording his first comedy album
06:07
Bob Newhart on his national big break at the 1960 Emmy Awards
03:11

Laraine Newman

View Interview
Laraine Newman on performing on The Lily Tomlin Special 
03:04

Edward James Olmos

View Interview
Edward James Olmos on being cast as "Martin Castillo" on Miami Vice
11:39

Lori Openden

View Interview
Lori Openden on getting hired as a secretary on Barnery Miller and getting interested in casting
03:01

Bernie Orenstein

View Interview
Bernie Orenstein on how he got his start in show business: he dropped out of college after appearing in a University of Toronto show called "The All Varsity Revue"
01:06
Bernie Orenstein on how his first writing job on a Canadian variety show produced by Norman Jewison led to his moving to New York City and writing for Candid Camera
02:31

Alan Perris

View Interview
Alan Perris on his first television job at PBS station WVIZ in Cleveland 
02:25

David Pollock

View Interview
Elias Davis and David Pollock on their first big break as writers for Pat Buttram on the radio
03:12

Fatima Robinson

View Interview
Fatima Robinson on John Singleton asking her to choreograph the music video for Michael Jackson's "Remember the Time"
00:34

Fred Rogers

View Interview
Fred Rogers on being hired at WQED to work in educational television
04:31

Stanley Ralph Ross

View Interview
Stanley Ralph Ross on becoming in-demand as a writer after being hired to write for Batman
03:19

Marion Ross

View Interview
Actress Marion Ross on her first television role, on Life with Father starring Leon Ames
03:37

Mark Rothman

View Interview
Mark Rothman on his first professional writing job on The Mike Douglas Show
05:01

Thomas Del Ruth

View Interview
Thomas Del Ruth on his working as an assistant cameraman at 20th Century Fox and learning his way around a camera
02:18

Joseph Sargent

View Interview
Joseph Sargent on his first directing job on the series Lassie
08:56

Bob Schieffer

View Interview
Bob Schieffer on moving to Washington, D.C. and on going to work for CBS News
03:27

John Shaffner

View Interview
John Shaffner on starting out in television
11:54
John Shaffner on his big break in television in first run-syndication
03:15

Nina Shaw

View Interview
NIna Shaw on her involvement in The Hollywood Reporter Women In Entertainment Mentorship Program and the importance of mentorship
06:57

Treva Silverman

View Interview
Treva Silverman on writing for the variety series The Entertainers, starring Carol Burnett
10:48

Sam Simon

View Interview
Sam Simon on how he came to write for Taxi
03:02

John Singleton

View Interview
John Singleton on getting his first agent based on the strength of the screenplay to "Boyz N the Hood"
02:01

Robert Smigel

View Interview
Robert Smigel on Dan Crowley inviting him back to Chicago and Second City and eventually joining his comedy group (All You Can Eat) as Dan's replacement, and on Al Franken and Tom Davis, original writers from Saturday Night Live, coming to Chicago to see a show he had created, "All You Can Eat and the Temple of Doom"
09:19
Robert Smigel on the "modern" type of "so bad it's good" comedy he was interested in early in his career; catching the comedy bug after performing and winning a comedy stand-up contest at NYU; "I was stung, I was infected"; on getting to perform at the Comic Strip in New York City; on his closing bit as Ronald Reagan (foreshadowing a later TV Funhouse sketch "The X Presidents"); on getting more gigs after that; on being a fan of comedy that "tore everything down and made fun of itself"; on being introduced to The Second City by Tim Kazurinsky
15:14
Robert Smigel on the first show of Saturday Night Live he was hired to write for; on a sketch he wrote for Madonna when she hosted Saturday Night Live in 1985 where she portrayed a Spanish variety show hostess; on his recollections of that show; on what he learned about writing a successful sketch for the show; on what it meant to him to be part of SNL- a show he grew up watching; on being a comedy nerd coming to the show and feeling he was not fitting in
05:41

Jaclyn Smith

View Interview
Jaclyn Smith on being a "Breck Girl" and appearing on McCloud
02:24

G.E. Smith

View Interview
G.E. Smith on playing guitar for Hall & Oates and appearing with them on Saturday Night Live
03:47

Yeardley Smith

View Interview
Yeardley Smith on how she got her first New York agent
01:54
Yeardley Smith on her Broadway debut in Tom Stoppard's "The Real Thing" directed by Mike Nichols
06:09

Mark Snow

View Interview
Mark Snow on The Rookies  being the first show he worked on and getting the job through his then-brother-in-law, Georg Stanford Brown
01:12

Suzanne Somers

View Interview
Suzanne Somers on her audition with George Lucas for the movie "American Graffiti"
02:35

Darren Star

View Interview
Darren Star on how his first industry job, as an assistant at the public relations firm Guttman & Pam, led to his first break: selling a film script to Warner Bros.
04:18
Darren Star on the serendipitous events early on his career that led to his first big break, including working at Showtime for Peter Chernin, who later became the decision maker on Beverly Hills, 90210 at Fox
03:09

Jeremy Stevens

View Interview
Jeremy Stevens on his first writing job for television on The Skitch Henderson Show
12:02

Norman Stiles

View Interview
Norman Stiles on going to write for Sesame Street
03:21

Jeffrey Tambor

View Interview
Jeffrey Tambor on appearing on Kojak, his first television role
02:10

Nina Tassler

View Interview
Nina Tassler on how agent David Windsor helped her to see her potential to become an agent
01:45

Daniel J. Travanti

View Interview
Daniel J. Travanti on finding out he was cast on Hill Street Blues
02:37

Saul Turteltaub

View Interview
Saul Turteltaub on forming a comedy team with a college friend and getting hired to perform at Catskills resorts
02:24
Saul Turteltaub on dating Shari Lewis (then Phyllis Hurwitz) at summer camp as a kid and calling her up for a writing job when he saw her on television in 1957
02:31

Leslie Uggams

View Interview
Leslie Uggams on how she began performing at the Apollo Theater when she was nine years-old
02:09
Leslie Uggams on getting her start in television as a child on The Milton Berle Show and other variety shows
01:19

Tracey Ullman

View Interview
Tracey Ullman on she transitioned from dance into acting early in her career, and on being cast in the play "Four in a Million" by Les Blair, which was improvised and how that led to her being cast on a sketch show on the BBC
03:44
Tracey Ullman on the first sketch show she was on, Three of a Kind
02:56

Bruce Vilanch

View Interview
Bruce Vilanch on his first job, writing for Bette Midler
08:22

Keenen Ivory Wayans

View Interview
Keenen Ivory Wayans on appearing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson; his childhood idol- and what it meant for him personally "like stepping into your dream"; on being asked to sit with Johnny after his act
04:45

Ellen Wheeler

View Interview
Ellen Wheeler on being cast as "Marley Love Hudson McKinnon" on Another World
09:39

Cindy Williams

View Interview
Cindy Williams on the effect the film "American Graffiti" had on her career and her fame
00:55

Hugh Wilson

View Interview
Hugh Wilson on going to work for Armstrong and how he started in television at MTM Productions
09:31

Ben Wolf

View Interview
Ben Wolf on his first television job as a cameraman at KLAC
05:49

Bud Yorkin

View Interview
Bud Yorkin on his big break becoming director of The Colgate Comedy Hour at the behest of Pat Weaver
02:14

Lauren Zalaznick

View Interview
Lauren Zalaznick on working on her first feature film, "Compromising Positions"
08:49

Jeff Zucker

View Interview
Jeff Zucker on getting his first job after college, as an Olympic Researcher for NBC
04:52

Alan Zweibel

View Interview
Alan Zweibel on meeting Lorne Michaels and being hired to write for Saturday Night Live
03:27

All Topics