Arthur Axelman
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LaVyrle Spencer Hits Gold and Pays Back
Even in Hollywood, one good turn can lead to another
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Arthur Axelman -
‘The Mormon Murders’ — the Mini-Series the Latter Day Saints Shut Down
It is said that LDS President Gordon B. Hinckley called CBS founder and chief William S. Paley and asked, “How would you like some outsiders doing a vicious four hour attack on your Jews?”
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Arthur Axelman -
My Ill-Fated Trip to Bill Cosby’s House
We were gathered to discuss the writing of a four-hour script about the life, career and sacrifices of Winnie Mandela. All I wanted to do was go to bed
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Arthur Axelman -
David Stein, an Artist Forged by Extraordinary Gifts and Flaws
Stein was an extraordinary and gifted artist; yes, misdirected at times, who deserves to be remembered
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Arthur Axelman -
‘Cary Grant Is on Line 2’
“There is a buzz going around both the 32nd and 33rd floors, I could feel it, people gathering outside my little office. Lucy returns and sees that the phone call is real and now all the secretaries and assistants are walking by…”
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Arthur Axelman -
Pulling Strings in Hollywood: The Business of Making TV Movies
“Highway to Heaven” violated every rule of a television movie, and the public still showed up
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Arthur Axelman -
G. Gordon Liddy and Robert Conrad: Risking your Life for a TV Movie
Unlike Liddy, I refuse to eat a rat, I keep kosher
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Arthur Axelman -
Jack Webb: The Next Big Thing
“Just then, a Secret Service agent recognizes that it’s Jack, and the bodies are parted like the Red Sea”
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Arthur Axelman -
Making a Deal with the Devil — The Patricia Neal Story
“It’s show biz, it’s biopic, it’s overcoming odds, it’s a catastrophic malady, it’s a female ‘Brian’s Song!’ I told whomever would listen
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Arthur Axelman -
13 Days to Glory: Jim Arness & the New Alamo
This was our chance to do the real Alamo, not what we’ve always been lied to about
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Arthur Axelman -
How Elizabeth Taylor Helped Move Me to the Coast
Harvey Herman had optioned a novel “The 42nd Year of Mrs. Charles Prescott” — he asked me to find a star.
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Arthur Axelman -
Inside ‘Kent State’: How I Brought My First Mini-Series to TV
I had to dodge slings and arrows to bring the image of a hippie girl placing a flower in a guardsman’s rifle to the small screen
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Arthur Axelman -
‘Deadman’s Curve’: How We Turned Near-Forgotten ’50s Surfer-Rockers Into Icons
All the story of Jan and Dean needed was a joyous resolve — the problem was, the story was so tragic we had to invent one
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Arthur Axelman -
Jerry Lewis’ ‘The Tour Guide’: The TV Movie of the Week That Never Got Made
Somewhere in a Bekins storage facility there exists a script called “The Tour Guide.” Who knows? Jim Carrey, Kevin James or Will Ferrell, could sure use something truly funny for a change
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Arthur Axelman -
‘Nobody’s Child’: My Package and My Triumph
Marlo Thomas and Lee Grand battled each day of the shoot until both were brought to tears. In the end, Thomas won an Emmy, just like we planned
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Arthur Axelman