Showing results by author "Terry Gross" in All Categories

Actor, director, screenwriter Billy Bob Thornton on this archive edition of Fresh Air. The 1996 film Sling Blade which he wrote, directed and starred in put him on the map and earned him an Academy Award for Best Adapted screenplay. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the 1998 film A Simple Plan. Last year he directed the film All the Pretty Horses.

Computer programmer Linus Torvalds on this edition of Fresh Air. He is the creator of Linux, a computer operating system intended to improve upon Unix. When Torvalds wrote the original code in 1991, he sent it out on the Internet to allow anyone to make changes and improvements.

Jazz pianist Keith Jarrett on this archival edition of Fresh Air.

Writer and director Terry Gilliam and British actor Simon Russell Beale on this edition of Fresh Air. Terry Gilliam's new film is Lost in La Mancha. It's a documentary about Gilliam's failed attempt to adapt the story of Don Quixote to the screen. The film Gilliam was supposed to make was titled The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, starring Johnny Depp, Vanessa Paradis and Jean Rochefort.

Fresh Air, Sissy Spacek and David Atkins

British actor Colin Firth on this edition of Fresh Air. Firth is co-starring in the new romantic comedy/holiday feel-good film, Love Actually. Firth is probably best known for his role as Mr. Darcy in the BBC/A&E production of Pride and Prejudice. The film turned him into a heartthrob.

Singer Emmylou Harris and horror writer Peter Straub on this archive edition of Fresh Air.

Actress, writer, comedians Ellen Degeneres and Andy Richter on this edition of Fresh Air. Ellen Degeneres will soon begin a comedy tour. Her five-year sit-com Ellen won an Emmy for her much anticipated coming-out episode. She and her character came out at the same time. This was followed by a very public relationship with actress Anne Heche, which eventually ended.

Listen to songwriter/singer Neil Sedaka and book critic Maureen Corrigan, on this edition of Fresh Air. This year marks Neil Sedaka's 50th in the music business. He was part of the original creators of the "Brill building sound" of the late 50s and early 60s. His early songs "Stupid Cupid" and "Where the Boys Are" were hits by Connie Francis.

This audio is like an informal writing clinic, as you listen to these writers talk about their lives, experiences and, of course, their writing. While you are listening, Terry Gross draws out from these great writers the answers to your questions, just as the query begins to form in your own head.

Author Martin Amis is considered one of the leading British writers of the late twentieth century and one of the most controversial.

Hear singer-songwriter Ray Davies on this edition of Fresh Air. Davies first became known as the leader of the band The Kinks, one of the great and enduring British bands to came out of the 60s. Davies' first solo record, Other People's Lives was released in 2006. While recording the album in New Orleans, he was shot in the leg by a man who stole his girlfriend's purse. His new album, Working Man's Cafe, was released this month.

Commercial fisherperson Linda Greenlaw and director John Woo in this rebroadcast edition of Fresh Air. Greenlaw has worked on commercial fishing boats for nearly 20 years. She has written about her experience leading a sword fishing boat to Newfoundland in the book The Hungry Ocean, which has just been released in paperback. She is also featured in the best selling book, The Perfect Storm, which is being made into a movie and released this summer.

Writers Jed Horne and Edmund White on this edition of Fresh Air. Jed Horne is metro editor of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. His new book Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City. Edmund White has been writing about gay culture in fiction and nonfiction since the 1970s. He has a new autobiography, My Lives. He is the author of over 17 books including a trilogy of autobiographical novels.

Comic book writer Stan Lee and evolutionary biologist and journalist Olivia Judson on this edition of Fresh Air. Stan Lee was the leading creative force behind the rise of Marvel Comics and is responsible for many of the best-known comic book heroes. Forty years ago, he co-created the character Spider-Man. He also helped create The X-Men, The Fantastic Four, and The Incredible Hulk.

Veteran actress Angela Lansbury on this archive edition of Fresh Air. She's spent over 50 years in the business on stage, and in film and television. When she was 17 she debuted in Gaslight, and was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Ingrid Bergman's Cockney maid.

Singers Teddy Pendergrass and Al Green on this edition of Fresh Air Teddy Pendergrass was a popular soul singer in the group "Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes.

Reporter Melinda Henneberger and British actress Brenda Blethyn on this edition of Fresh Air. Henneberger, Washington Correspondent for The New York Times, is writing a series of biographical profiles on Al Gore. Blethyn is starring in the new comedy Saving Grace about a middle-aged widow whose irresponsible husband left her in huge debt. She decides to start growing marijuana in her greenhouse instead of orchids. Blethyn's other films include her Oscar nominated role in Mike Leigh's Secrets and Lies and Little Voice. (Broadcast Date: August 14, 2000)

Actor Christopher Walken, Reverend Louis Sheldon and Winnie Stachelberg, political director of the Human Rights Campaign on this edition of Fresh Air.

Filmmaker Kirby Dick, MPAA Ratings Board Chair Joan Graves, and actor Jeremy Sisto, on this edition of Fresh Air. Kirby Dick's new documentary is This Film is Not Yet Rated. It's a look into the secretive world of the MPAA film ratings system. Dick considers the highly secretive process of rating films G, PG, PG-13, R and NC-17. MPAA board members are anonymous, deliberations are private, and standards are seemingly arbitrary.