Herbie J Pilato | |
|---|---|
 Pilato in 2020 | |
| Born | October 9, 1960 |
| Occupation | Actor/Writer/Producer |
| Years active | 1992–present |
Herbie J Pilato (born October 9, 1960) is a classically-trained American actor, and an award-winning writer and producer.
Herbie J Pilato | |
|---|---|
| Pilato in 2020 | |
| Born | October 9, 1960 |
| Occupation | Actor/Writer/Producer |
| Years active | 1992–present |
Herbie J Pilato (born October 9, 1960) is a classically-trained American actor, and an award-winning writer and producer.
Herbie J Pilato was born Herbert James Pilato on October 9, 1960, in Rochester, New York, to Frances Mary Pilato (née Turri) and Herbert Pompeii Pilato. [1] [2] His parents were of Italian descent. [3] He completed a bachelor's degree in Theatre Arts from Nazareth University, and also studied Television and Film at the University of California, Los Angeles. [1] Pilato served his internship in Television from May 1984 to December 1985 as an NBC Page at the network's facility in Burbank, California.
Herbie J Pilato began acting in his hometown of Rochester, New York, with early appearances in live stage productions of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, and Jesus Christ Superstar, among others.
In the 1980s, he moved to Los Angeles and was soon cast in bit roles on daytime soaps like General Hospital, The Bold and the Beautiful, and primetime fare like Highway to Heaven, and The Golden Girls, The New Leave It To Beaver, and more.
During this time, Pilato was also a stand-in dancer on TV’s music-variety series, Solid Gold, and acted and sang in clubs along the Sunset Strip.
In 1992, Pilato published his first book, The Bewitched Book, about the classic 1960s TV series. From there, he published other classic TV literary companions and began producing and appearing on classic TV documentaries for Bravo, A&E, and TLC, among others. He also consulted on and appeared in some DVD and Blu-ray packages of classic TV shows for Sony, Warner Bros., and NBCUniversal.
In 2013, Pilato established the Classic TV Preservation Society (CTVPS), a formal 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that celebrates and advocates for the positive social effect of classic TV shows.
In 2015, Pilato began his popular live weekly events, Throwback Thursdays with Herbie J Pilato, at the Burbank Barnes and Noble.
In 2019, Pilato hosted, co-created, and co-executive-produced his own TV talk show,Then Again With Herbie J Pilato , which began streaming on Shout TV and Amazon Prime .
In October 2022, the Reelz Channel aired the documentary, Elizabeth Montgomery: A Bewitched Life , for which Pilato presented with AMS Pictures as a co-executive producer, co-director, and co-writer. Pilato was also the primary on-screen cultural commentator for this production.
In December of 2022, Pilato published The 12 Best Secrets of Christmas: A Treasure House of December Memories Revealed , a holiday memoir of his youth growing up in Rochester during the 1960s and ’70s. Featuring a Foreword by TV icon Dean Butler, of Little House on the Prairie, and an Introduction by actor/voiceover star Jerry Houser (The Summer of ‘42), The 12 Best Secrets of Christmas universalizes the messages of kindness and unity for all cultures.
In early 2023, Pilato published Retro Active Television: An In-Depth Perspective of Classic TV’s Social Circuitry , which explores the positive impact of classic TV. The Los Angeles Book Festival recently named Retro “Book of the Year,” and subsequently, Pilato, “Author of the Year.” With a Foreword by actor Eric Scott, of TV's The Waltons, Retro Active Television has received additional high praise, including endorsements from those like Marc Wade of the Television Academy, and Emmys.com .
In his blurb on the back cover of Retro Active Television, Wade says the book “connects the dots between the medium’s origins and milestones, between the past and the present…and how we can utilize it productively for the future.”
In the fall of 2023, Pilato had two new books published: Connery, Sean Connery: Before, During and After His Most Famous Role , a biography of the Oscar-winning star, and a Special Commemorative Edition of The Bionic Book: The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman Reconstructed .
The Connery biography features a Foreword by actress Barbara Carrera, Connery’s co-star from Never Say Never Again, his final film bow as James Bond 007 — and which recently celebrated its 40th Anniversary. The book was also released with the 60th Anniversary of From Russia With Love, which was Connery’s favorite of his Bond movies.
The new edition of The Bionic Book was released in tandem with the 50th Anniversary of The Six Million Dollar Man’s debut (and features exclusive commentary from Bionic stars Lee Majors and Lindsay Wagner).
Additionally, 2023 saw the audiobook release of Pilato's Retro Active Television , along with his celebrity biographies, Mary: The Mary Tyler Moore Story , and Twitch Upon a Star: The Bewitched Life and Career of Elizabeth Montgomery . Furthermore, his Sean Connery biography also became available in audiobook form.
In other news for 2023, Closer Magazine featured Pilato's Sean Connery biography and Pilato's commentary in their October 9, 2023 issue; ReMind Magazine published Pilato's Bewitched cover story in their October 2023 issue.
Meanwhile, 2024 marked the 40th Anniversary of Pilato being an NBC Page, which he wrote about in NBC & ME: My Life As a Page In a Book, which has recently been released in hardcover.
In its March 2024 issue, Retro Fan Magazine published Pilato's Magical Memories of Elizabeth Montgomery article as a Bewitched 60th Anniversary Celebration cover story.
In its June 2024 issue, Retro Fan Magazine published Pilato's cover story tribute to The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman .
In its July/August 2024 issue, Retro Fan Magazine published Pilato's cover story tribute to CHiPs , the classic TV series starring Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox.
In the fall of 2024, the University Press of Mississippi published Pilato's new celebrity bio, One Tough Dame: The Life and Career of Diana Rigg , his book about the 1960s TV female icon. Rupert Macnee, son of Patrick Macnee (Rigg’s former TV Avengers co-star) has written the Foreword, while Avengers director Ray Austin has penned the Introduction. One Tough Dame is also available in audiobook form.
Additionally, Applause Books has published his new Christmas book, Christmas TV Memories: Nostalgic Favorites of the Small Screen , for which Marlo Thomas has written the Foreword. (Like One Tough Dame, it's also available as an audiobook.)
In 2024, Pilato established his YouTube Channel, HJP-TV (Herbie J Pilato Television).
The Six Million Dollar Man is an American science fiction and action adventure television series, running from 1973 to 1978, about a former astronaut, USAF Colonel Steve Austin, portrayed by Lee Majors. After being seriously injured in a NASA test flight crash, Austin is rebuilt with bionic implants that give him superhuman strength, speed and vision. Austin is then employed as a secret agent by a fictional U.S. government office titled OSI. The series was based on Martin Caidin's 1972 novel Cyborg, which was the working title of the series during pre-production.
Elizabeth Victoria Montgomery was an American actress whose career spanned five decades in film, stage, and television. She portrayed the good witch Samantha Stephens on the popular television series Bewitched, which earned her five Primetime Emmy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations.
Bewitched is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typical suburban housewife. The show was popular, finishing as the second-rated show in America during its debut season, staying in the top ten for its first three seasons, and ranking in eleventh place for both seasons four and five. The show continues to be seen throughout the world in syndication and on recorded media.
The Bionic Woman is an American science fiction action-adventure television series created by Kenneth Johnson based on the 1972 novel Cyborg by Martin Caidin and starring Lindsay Wagner, that aired from January 14, 1976, to May 13, 1978. A spin-off from the 1970s Six Million Dollar Man television science fiction action series, The Bionic Woman is centered around the fictional Jaime Sommers, who takes on special high-risk government missions using her superhuman bionic powers.
Robert Montgomery was an American actor, director, and producer. He began his acting career on the stage, but was soon hired by MGM. Initially assigned roles in comedies, he soon proved he was able to handle dramatic ones, as well. He appeared in a wide variety of roles, such as the weak-willed prisoner Kent in The Big House (1930), the psychotic Danny in Night Must Fall (1937), and Joe, the boxer mistakenly sent to Heaven in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941). The last two earned him nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Lee Majors is an American actor. He portrayed the characters of Heath Barkley on the American television Western series The Big Valley (1965–1969), Colonel Steve Austin on the American television science-fiction action series The Six Million Dollar Man (1973–1978), and Colt Seavers on the American television action series The Fall Guy (1981–1986).
Lindsay Jean Wagner is an American actress. Wagner is best known for her leading role in the American science fiction television series The Bionic Woman (1976–1978), in which she portrayed character Jaime Sommers. She first played the role on the series The Six Million Dollar Man. The character became a pop culture icon of the 1970s. For this role, Wagner won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Dramatic Role in 1977 – the first for an actor or actress in a science fiction series. Wagner began acting professionally in 1971 and has maintained a lengthy acting career in a variety of film and television productions to the present day.
Elizabeth Ann Sheridan was an American actress. While best known for her roles as the nosy neighbor, Mrs. Ochmonek, on the sitcom ALF (1986–1990), and Jerry's mother, Helen, in Seinfeld (1990–1998), her decades-long career was extensive and included work on the stage and on large and small screens.
Kathy Garver is an American actress most remembered for having portrayed the teenaged orphan, Catherine "Cissy" Davis, on the popular 1960s CBS sitcom, Family Affair. Before that, she was cast by Cecil B. DeMille in the film The Ten Commandments (1956), and after that, she provided the voice of Firestar in the animated television series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981–83). Garver authored The Family Affair Cookbook (2009), Surviving Cissy: My Family Affair of Life in Hollywood (2015), and X Child Stars: Where are They Now? (2016).
Tabitha is an American fantasy sitcom and a spin-off of Bewitched that aired on ABC from September 10, 1977, to January 14, 1978. The series starred Lisa Hartman in the title role as Tabitha Stephens, the witch daughter of Samantha and Darrin Stephens who was introduced on Bewitched during its second season.
A Case of Rape is a 1974 American made-for-television drama film directed by Boris Sagal and starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Ronny Cox, and William Daniels. It premiered on NBC on February 20, 1974. The film tells the story of a wife and mother who is raped twice by the same man and her ordeals dealing with the actual rape and her subsequent dealing with the police and the trial.
Cyborg is a 1972 science fiction/secret agent novel written by Martin Caidin. The novel also included elements of speculative fiction. It was adapted as the television movie The Six Million Dollar Man, which was followed by a weekly series of the same name, both of which starred Lee Majors. The movie also inspired a spin-off, The Bionic Woman.
"Sisters at Heart" is the thirteenth episode of the seventh season, and 213th episode overall, of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) fantasy television sitcom Bewitched. This Christmas episode aired on ABC on December 24, 1970, and again the following December.
Richard Michaels is a retired American film and TV show director and producer whose career spanned five decades.
Ashmont Productions was an American television production company. The company was founded by William Asher and his then wife Elizabeth Montgomery initially as a production company for the television series Bewitched.
"I, Darrin, Take This Witch, Samantha" is the pilot episode of American television series Bewitched. The episode was produced three weeks after starring actress Elizabeth Montgomery gave birth to her first child with her husband, series director William Asher. The episode was written by Sol Saks, the creator of the series, and initially aired September 17, 1964 on ABC. José Ferrer served as the episode's narrator, starting with the words, "Once upon a time...". Ferrer was not credited for this role. In the episode, Samantha Stephens promises her new husband Darrin that she will not use magic, a promise that initiates a pattern that continues into each subsequent episode of the series; the conflict in each episode surrounds Samantha's failed attempts to keep her promise.
Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman is a made-for-television science fiction action film which originally aired on April 30, 1989 on NBC. The movie reunited the main casts of the television series The Six Million Dollar Man and its spin-off The Bionic Woman. It is notably the first television appearance of actress Sandra Bullock and the first film which strongly featured her. In the movie, a diplomatic crisis threatens world peace after an unknown bionic person steals top secret information.
Bionic Ever After? is a made-for-television science fiction action film which originally aired on November 29, 1994 on CBS. The movie reunited the main casts of the television series The Six Million Dollar Man and its spin-off The Bionic Woman. Series regular characters Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers, Oscar Goldman, and Dr. Rudy Wells are featured along with new characters Kimberly Harmon / Haviland, Carolyn MacNamara, John MacNamara, and Miles Kendrick. In the movie, the long-overdue wedding of Steve and Jaime is put in doubt when Jaime's bionic systems start to fail and Steve is caught in a tense hostage situation.
Ed Spielman is a writer and executive producer for television and film, an author and journalist. He is the creator of the Emmy Award winning TV series Kung Fu. Spielman wrote the story and teleplay for the series pilot. The pilot of Kung Fu has been credited as "the first American Martial Arts film." He also created the Emmy Award winning TV series The Young Riders starring Stephen Baldwin and Josh Brolin. Another of his television series, Dead Man's Gun was nominated for three cable ACE Awards and received six LEO nominations.
Carol Burnett is an American comedian and actress known for her performances in film, television and theater.
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