I was just wondering about the cut-throat nature of Hollywood, and how over the years of endless stories of debauchery, there were/are some that seem to hold a special kind of esteem amongst their peers. Alive or dead, past or present, who do you think falls into this category? Not limited to actors, but film crew as well.
Based on all the interviews, podcasts, books I’ve heard, read over the years, it seems that Jack Benny gets the nod.
In addition to him:
Cubby Broccoli
John Ritter
Christopher Walken
Morgan Freeman
Tom Hanks
John Candy
That’s odd… I’d heard that Larry Linville got rather weird after being typecast so hard on MASH.
And given Jack Benny’s radio/TV character, I find it funny to think that he was apparently a great and beloved guy among his peers in real life. I do remember the actor who played Rochester couldn’t say enough great things about him, at a time where he could have trashed Benny with impunity if he’d felt the need.
The only knock I’ve heard about him was his desire to make his lady, Mary Livingston, a big star. From what I have heard, he rather resented that his two best friends in Hollywood, Phil Harris and George Burns both had wives who were mega-stars and he thought Mary should be there also.
I’ve never heard anybody speak ill of James Garner or Robin Williams. They were both regarded as nice guys by their peers. James Stewart was also very well liked. He and Jack Benny appeared to be great friends. Stewart and his wife Gloria appeared on Benny’s TV show a few times.
Veteran TV and film character actor Jeffrey Tambor (The Larry Sanders Show, Arrested Development) is pretty well liked. Not just because he’s a nice guy, totally professional, and always great in everything. But during the 80s and 90s he ran an acting workshop and so he has nearly taught half of Hollywood how to act.
Johnny was constantly praised by other celebs on The Tonight Show for the skill with which he did his job, with even the biggest of them observing that they couldn’t begin to do what he did. And in his recent book, Johnny Carson, Carson’s lawyer Henry “Bombastic” Bushkin relates a story where Carson had promised to attend a dinner party at the home of Henry Mancini. Bushkin was there, having been included at Carson’s request, and the guest list included Cary Grant, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Tony Curtis, etc. Carson was very late and virtually everyone at the party at one time or another approached Bushkin, anxiously wanting to know if Johnny was still coming and/or why was he late. Johnny and his wife eventually arrived, much to everyone’s relief, with Johnny soon the center of attention (a star among stars, as Buskin put it) as he sat on a sofa trading quips and doing magic tricks.
It’s particularly significant that Johnny was held in such high esteem considering his actual temperament, which came as quite a surprise. In his book, Buskin describes being summoned to Carson’s palatial apartment in the United Nations Plaza in 1970, shortly after having been hired by Carson during a brief meeting in Carson’s office. In attendance was sports magnate Sonny Werblin (former owner of the NY Jets and recruiter of Joe Namath), who was also Carson’s next door neighbor and business manager. During their meeting and right in front of Carson, Werblin warned Bushkin to tread lightly…that the unhappiest man he’d ever known was Jack Benny (Carson’s idol, btw), and that Carson was the second-unhappiest man he’d ever known. He then warned Bushkin to tread lightly as Carson’s mood could go from up to down in milliseconds.
So here we have two guys who were universally beloved by both their audiences and their peers, yet were profoundly unhappy men in their private lives. I would never have guessed it of either of them and it’s surprising to me that each was able to transcend his foul temperament and earn universal praise, love and admiration despite their seemingly overwhelming unhappy nature.
Jack Gleeson, who played one of the most hated and despicable characters ever written (Joffrey Baratheon) is universally described as one of the nicest and friendliest people ever by his co-stars from Game of Thrones.
Vanna White is awesome; I’ve never heard a bad word about her. I’ve worked on Wheel Of Fortune shoots here in Las Vegas about a dozen times, have met her and spoken with her, and always found her pleasant and very down-to-earth.
According to a recent PBS bio, Carson could be quite snappish, cold and aloof at times, and was known to cut off people he thought had crossed him - including Joan Rivers, when she got a short-lived rival talk show - very abruptly, and forever. Don’t think we can call him “universally beloved.”
I read somewhere long ago (Fred de Cordova’s autobiography, I think) that Joan kept her deal with Fox secret and didn’t place her call to Carson until her show was a done deal. Whoever the author was, he said that if Joan had called Johnny beforehand and told him she was going to do her own show, he’d have congratulated her and wished her well. Certainly other entertainers had tried to go up against Carson and he remained friendly with them. Jerry Lewis and Dick Cavett are two who come to mind. It was also alleged that Joan tried to hire Fred de Cordova and Peter Lassaly (Carson’s executive producer and the show’s director) for her own show. (Now that I think about it, I do believe it was de Cordova’s book where I read this account. I just remembered that he said something about her having told him she’d leave the light on for him if he changed his mind.)
To be honest, I find this account somewhat suspect because Ed McMahon still seemed fond of Joan and spoke well of her at various times for the rest of his life, and I doubt he’d have felt that way if these accounts of her alleged skullduggery were true.
But who knows?
Still, and funny as it seems, Joan herself still seemed to have fond feelings for Carson up to when she died. Shortly after her death I saw a clip of a recent in-studio interview she had done for a radio station somewhere, and she spoke quite glowingly of Carson and seemed genuinely sorry about their rift. She also seemed resentful of Carson’s last wife, Alex, stating in a rather scornful tone that she’d heard stories about how Alex had really been living it up “on Johnny’s money”. It was pretty clear that she still held a lot of affection for him even then.
But you’re right in that I probably overstated things by saying Carson was “universally” loved and admired. Still, apart from Joan Rivers I don’t know of another celebrity who’s ever expressed anything but admiration for Carson, and that was the main thrust of the OP - celebrities who were beloved by their peers.
I suppose Lamar Odom can be called a celebrity, as far as professional athletes go, and aside from his connection with the Kardashians. All of his NBA teammates, opposing coaches and players, and commentators have had nothing but kind words to say about him, especially during his current health crisis.
Stand-up comics reviled Robin Williams as a joke thief. No one I give a crap about, but the story comes up kind of a lot. At least two ex-wives found him problematic.
Paul Newman was hated by Charlton Heston, maybe nobody else.
She’s still young, but Jennifer Lawrence. I would’ve said Paul Newman too. People treat Keanu Reeves as a joke sometimes, but people who worked with him say he’s the genuine nicest ever.
Not from his peers but the public: when Robin Williams died, you’d think he was a saint with the way people mourned. Mostly jokes about not being funny and too much of a “character,” with an occasional drug abuse reference.
thelurkinghorror beat me to Keanu Reeves. Still, everything I’ve heard says he’s about the nicest, most generous star around.
Mr. Rogers…well, that’s a gimme, isn’t it?