This is Later with Lee Matthews, The Lee Matthews podcast Warm. What you Hear Weekday Afternoon is on the Drive.
William Keck began his career working for Titanheerance.
This is Later with Lee Matthews The Lee Matthews podcast, What You Hear Weekday after Do is on the Drive.
Inquirer USA Today, Senior editor in Commonness for TV Guide, a regular contributor to People US Weekly. Uh and so you can imagine he's had a lot of experience interviewing and interacting with some of the big top celebrities. He's decided to write a volume full of many of those stories, and it's called When You Step Upon a Star Crimsworthy Confessions of a Tabloid bad Boy William Keck. I can't believe you're a bad boy.
Oh I know, I'm just horrible. Aren't I a sort of spanky?
And you got your share of the verbally did you not?
I'm afraid I did. Yes. You may have read a few of them from some of the people who had a hard time forgiving me for my transgressions.
What got you into this type of journalism? What interest did you more than say going after the hard core Woodard and Bernstein stuff.
Well, you know, I'll tell you I grew up as an only child in upstate New York. My dad died at an early age, and I just became a kid raised on television and the TV families that I watched, the Ewings of Dallas and the Carringtons of Dynasty, the Brady Bunch, they became my surrogate family members, and I really wanted to meet them before they were gone. So I came out to LA and the Inquirer offered me an opportunity to meet all these people. I just didn't
realize it was going to be. I was going to meet them at their wedding and funerals in their hospital rooms.
And he's written all about it. And when You Step upon a Star Crench were the confessions of a tabloid bad bull boy. William Kick is with it and the books now out everywhere you get books. So let's talk about some of your more awkward run ends.
Yes, my goodness, Well gee, uh, you know a lot of the stars that I wanted to meet were the Golden Age stars, the vintage stars. Again, I wanted to meet them before they passed. One story you involved Telly sabalas, do you remember Telly Sabajack? And he was that's right, exactly, yeah, the bald head and the lollipop. So he he passed away, and but we found out that he never received a tombstone,
So Telly was buried in an unmarked rave. And I looked into this and I found out the reason was is that the family was not speaking to each other. His new wife was not speaking his children, and so they never could come together to find a date. So I actually pretended to be somebody in a Sabalis family and I called Forrest Lawn and I asked them to call all the family members to get them together. I
picked the day in time. We had photographer in the bushes and we got photos of Kelly Sabalis's plaque being installed. So Kelly has meet a bank for his brave no longer being on the market.
So you really really was born out of fandom for you? Was there one particular star that you became stars struck when you did come in contact with them. I'm not going to say meat, because I don't think you met many people, did you?
I did. I met a lot of security officers who walked me out of certain places. Well, this is sort of a similar story. But the person I was most anxious to meet was Lindsay Wagner. I was a big six million dollar man woman fan. My license plate on my car actually is bionic. So I said to dance interview Lindsay Wagner let me know, and they said, hey, good news, it's your lucky day. Lindsay's father died. Go to her funeral and try to get an interview about
her new boy toy that she's dating. So I went to the service and Lindsay assumed I was just one of the regular mourners. I told her who I was, and we had snapped some photos of her with her young lover, and she said, well, what do you need then, and I said, well, maybe a caption and she said, well, I'll give you a caption few. So that was brutal, but you know what, she she took sympathy on me and actually gave me a nice story and we're friendly now.
She actually wrote a very lovely thing for my book, talking about the power forgiveness and it's never too late to change your ways. So thank you, Lindsay.
Lovely woman, A babe inside and out.
Yes, exactly, A bionic babe.
What was the more classic you know, from old classic Hollywood star that you encountered.
Oh my goodness, Well, gee, you know, Elizabeth Taylor is in one that I was involved in a high speed shape with actually both a little the tailor and Britney Spears. They weren't together in the same car. That would have been an amazing show.
That would have been.
Two different car chases, but in one, uh, we followed Brittany for several miles on the freeway with Elizabeth, I let her go. I really was. I was feeling like a real jerk for following this legend uh on these twists and turns in bel Air. So I'm like, you know what, let's let let's let Dame Elizabeth have a free pass today.
At what point in her career was this was she was this a pre Larry Fartinsky or post.
Oh it was it was posts Oka. Yeah, so she was, he was up there and she was she was actually going to the hospital to get a procedure done. And I'm like, what kind of jerk am I casing a woman to the hospital. So every once in a while, my you know, little Jimmy cricket would step forward and do the right thing. So thank you, mister Cricket.
And he writes about it and when you step upon a star cringeworthy Confects of a tabloid bad boy, William Kent. It's an interesting read about all kinds of different celebrities and private lives. And I imagine you're on some you're on some some I don't want to say hit lists, but do not enter lists.
You know, this was a while ago, so I actually, I said three years and that's it. So I quit the Inquirer, and then I ended up becoming a legit journalist, as you mentioned, for USA Today and people in ew Entertainment Weekly, So that really is what most people remember. What my problem was is that even though I quit the Inquirer, I found that the Inquirer didn't necessarily quit me.
So a lot of the tricks of the trade that I had learned at the tabloids followed me in my interviews with some of the A listeners that I had a chance to speak with.
I find that when I talked to celebrities, because I interview my share of them on this program, I usually find that they really want to talk like a regular person. Most of the time. Even though they're probably if they're on a press junket and they're being asked the same questions over and over and over again. I try to go at it with a all right, I'm not gonna
go with any of the pre asked questions. I'm just gonna just start talking to him about what what he got planned for lunch, you know that kind of thing, and that seems to just break the ice and they open right up.
You're absolutely right. All day long, they hear, oh my gosh, I love you, I loved you with this movie and TV, and it just it goes in one ear and out the other. They're just labeled fan, they're not labeled a person. If you just treat them as if they're a regular person, that usually does the trick. I know, will Bill Shatner, William Shatner, he just listen. Obviously, he's he has a certain respect for his fans because it's made him a millionaire.
But if you really want to get on his good side, just sort of like talk to him like like in a in a locker room. Yeah, and he'll he'll have taken a back startle, but you'll you'll have a nice conversation with them.
The most people after them. Yeah, they are the most. The most I ever say, is I enjoy your work because to them it is work. To us, it's entertainment, but it's work to them.
Yes, And I say, I enjoy looking in your windows.
And he's looked in plenty and he'll tell you all about it in his new book, When You Step Upon a Star cringe Worthy Confessions of a Tabloid bad Boy William Keck. This will be an amazing and amusing summer read. And I thank you for joining us.
Thank you, Lee, thanks for listening to Later with Lee Matthews, the Lee Matthews Podcast, and remember to listen to The Drive Live weekday afternoons from five to seven. And iHeartMedia presentation