My latest interview subject, Debbie D, was first mentioned to me by our mutual friend Deborah Dutch when I interviewed her in 2020. Two years or so later, I would meet Debbie D at the Chiller Theatre convention, and I said I would reach out to her about an interview. When I saw her IMDB page, though, I was taken aback by her many credits, and I knew that I would need time to formulate the right questions.
The drama of WWII is a setting that many of the greatest filmmakers have set their stories in for maximum effect. From Spielberg to Tarantino to Waititi, the angles are varied, but audiences still clamor for more. Battle for Saipan, now available on digital and on demand from Paramount and Saban Films, is the latest in this line of war stories featuring a familiar cast giving performances from the trenches.
Years before I knew her name, I first saw Wally Wharton as the character of Debbie in the Cheech and Chong movie Up In Smoke. Many years later, I saw her leave a comment on a mutual Facebook friend’s page, and I was so fascinated by her comment that I reached out to her with a friend request. She accepted it, and we hit it off so much that I knew I wanted to do an interview with her.
Hello, everybody. It’s been a while since I last put up an article on here, but I wanted to share a new interview with all of you. I recently had the great pleasure of doing a brief e-mail interview with Adrienne Barbeau. It’s a brief one because Ms. Barbeau is in the middle of several new projects, but she did take the time to answer a few of my questions about her work from the 70s to today. I hope you all enjoy reading this interview.
The interview you’re about to read will mark my 200th article for Pop Geeks, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the occasion. Michele Burke is an acclaimed and accomplished makeup artist who has won multiple awards for her work, including two Academy Awards for, respectively, Quest For Fire and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. With a career spanning decades and continents, I knew Ms. Burke would be a fascinating interview subject, so I reached out to her via her website and she agreed to speak to me. This is the end result, and I hope you all enjoy reading it.
I was an early crowdfunder for the documentary Valerie, a film about Oscar-nominated actress Valerie Perrine that was directed by her good friend, Stacey Souther. The film is a touching piece about Valerie’s journey from Vegas showgirl to acclaimed actress, as well as her current health issues. I recently reached out to Mr. Souther about the possibility of having him and Valerie answer some questions about the documentary, and through e-mail, the both of them did. Before you purchase Valerie, here are some stories from both Mr. Souther and Ms. Perrine about what went into the documentary, as well as memorable stories from the both of them.
I first interviewed Katharine “Kat” Kramer back in 2016. The interview was a big success, and she liked my lines of questioning. A few months back, she contacted me to compliment me on my 2021 interview with Ve Neill. Katharine also mentioned that she was venturing into stand-up comedy, and was interested in possibly doing a second interview. It took me a few months to get back to her, but I had the pleasure of interviewing Katharine for the second time recently, and I hope you’ll all enjoy hearing of her more recent projects and advocacies.
The gentleman in the beret in this article’s cover photo is my newest interview subject, Barney Burman. Barney has been active as a makeup artist for almost four decades now. Coming from a family of makeup artists, Barney started as a teenager, and isn’t showing any signs of stopping. That’s fantastic as he’s a versatile designer who has worked on all sorts of amazing projects, most notably 2009’s Star Trek, which won him a Best Makeup And Hairstyling Oscar, which he shared with Mindy Hall, who’s next to him in the cover photo, and Joel Harlow.
Over the course of my time so far at Pop Geeks, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing quite a few talents with connections to Playboy. From Playmates like Carrie Stevens and Jeana Keough to celebrity models like Shari Shattuck and Darcy DeMoss, I’ve loved hearing their stories. However, there was a former interview subject of mine with a Playboy connection I’d been hoping to do a second interview with for a long time, and that’s Charlotte Helmkamp-Kemp.
Last year, I interviewed Tiffany Helm about her life and career. The interview went well, and I’ve kept in touch with Tiffany since then. One day, I asked if she could put in a good word for me with her mother. Who is Tiffany’s mother? She’s actress Brooke Bundy, who 80s horror fans will remember from her role as Elaine Parker in A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, but who also has a career going back to the 1960s. Tiffany connected us, and earlier this month, I had the pleasure of interviewing Brooke about her long and diverse career. I hope you all enjoy getting to know her.