Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to James Tomlinson, son of actor David Tomlinson. James was incredibly gracious with his time and patient with the lag of an international podcast recording and really spent some time talking to us about the big, and small stuff, about growing up the son of Mary Poppins employer, Mr. Banks.

Of course we talk about the Disney films David Tomlinson was known for – the aforementioned Mary Poppins, The Love Bug and Bedknobs and Broomsticks but we also discuss his massive career prior to Walt & company on the British stage and screen. We hear about films like Warning for Warriors, Miranda and Up the Creek to name a few. We also hear about how a role in a light comedy on the London stage led him to his most famous character on the big screen.

James was also incredibly open as we discuss the tragedies his father endured and the very awkward family life that his father dealt him. We also discussed his dad’s time as a flight instructor for the RAF in WWII as well of that of his two brothers. Plus we hear about David’s own father who lived a very conventional life. I mean lives. I mean, more than one. We get into that shocking story and his grandfather’s backstory of WWI that is hard to believe.

This is the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story. And this one, you won’t forget.

Today on another encore edition of the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to actor/impressionist Jim Meskimen, son of actor Marion Ross. We speak to Jim (and his many guises – he really has an amazing ear for voices) about growing up the child of everyone’s favorite TV mum, Mrs. C., Marion Cunningham from the 70s TV juggernaut Happy Days. We also delve into his mother’s ‘issues’ with her onscreen husband Tom Bosley but you are going to have to read her book, My Days: happy and Otherwise for those juicy details.

Our conversation with Jim centers around his years growing up with a single parent mother who struggled to make it in Hollywood after her divorce from Jim’s father. But we also talk about the salad days as well – checking out the set of Happy Days and the very homey, family atmosphere that show provided. What started as a chance meeting with a casting director led his mother to becoming a household name in very little time at all.

We also spoke to Jim about his years acting in film and TV and commercials (he was Colonel Sanders after all in numerous KFC ads), his then-recent film Gaslight as well as his ‘breakthrough’ on America’s Got Talent with his amazing impressions, I mean Jim-pressions. (Ahem). Plus we hear some terrific stories about Rich Little, Phyllis Diller and Clark Gable that you won’t want to miss. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast. Another child of a celebrity, interviewed by a child of a celebrity. Take a listen.

Today on another encore edition of the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Charlie Matthau, son of actor Walter Matthau. We spoke to Charlie about his amazing father & their special relationship but also his incredible mother, actor/author Carol Matthau. We quickly learn that she was (wait for it), the basis for Truman Capote’s Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. There is one small difference between the character and the person however and we discuss that too. We also discuss Carol’s first husband, author William Saroyan and Charlie’s grandfather Charles Marcus of Bendix Aviation – which are both bigger-than-life stories unto themselves.

Somehow we were able to parse all this out and discuss what it was like growing up the son of one of the most beloved actors of his generation. Be it comedy or drama, we get into Walter Matthau’s career on stage & film as well as the weird and wonderful curios of his career. An uncredited cameo in Earthquake? We discuss it. His viewing habits of the television version of The Odd Couple? We discuss that too.

Along the way we discuss the Malibu beach house Charlie inhabited when host Josh Mills & family along with Walter’s best pal Jack Lemmon took to Broad Beach road in the 1970s. Plus, we get to hear about Walter’s penchant for card tricks, Christmas’ spent at the Lemmon’s house as well as what it was like for Charlie to direct his father in a film, The Glass Harp. Along the way we discuss Gloria Vanderbilt and Oona O’Neill, Howard Hughes, the unsung film Mikey and Nicky his mom starred in and much more. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast and everyone has a story.