I was coming back from an extended Thanksgiving stay with my extended family in Miami, Florida when I thought I saw a familiar face at the Miami airport. As I got closer, it was a familiar face indeed…the famed game show host Mr. Nipsey Russell! Of course he was mobbed by adoring fans-including me!
Luckily I carry my press credentials from VLKF on me at all times. Once I whipped that out, Mr. Russell eagerly agreed to do an interview right then and there! Well, almost then and there…We quickly retired to the Delta Airlines Crown Room Club® where we were promptly admitted as I showed a second set of credentials: my international fax technician identification. Fixing faxes pays off in more ways than the obvious!
So here it is: my impromptu interview with Nipsey Russell.
VLKF: I used to fix the fax machines for this club. Have you ever fixed a fax machine?
Russell: No.
VLKF: How did you get your start hosting game shows?
Russell: I started out back in ’65 hosting Here is Your Life with Merv Griffin. After that I moved on to Family Feud and a few other shows here and there. I was actually the first African-American host to appear in reruns on the Game Show Network.
VLKF: Truly inspiring. You have often been described as the poet laureate of the United States of America. How does this make you feel, and how did this start?
Russell: If you ever go out with a schoolteacher, you’re in for a sensational night; she’ll make you do it over and over again until you do it right.
VLKF: That’s beautiful. Did you just make that up?
Russell: No, of course not. That was Ezra Pound.
VLKF: Ah, she was one of the greats.
Russell: Indeed.
VLKF: Your work as a serious actor was described by president Obama as “pivotal for the advancement of African American artists.” What was it like acting in such true classics as In the Heat of the Night? And do you think that In the Heat of the Night will ever be shown on television?
Russell: Don’t be ignorant. There is a time and a place for everything there is, but now is the time when I gotta take a whizz.
VLKF: You are certainly no stranger to controversy, especially in the early nineties when you denounced your former friend Dick Clark as a fraud and a charlatan. Any regrets?
Russell: I am a straight shooter. I calls ‘em like I sees ‘em, and I sees ‘em like I calls ‘em.
VLKF: Can you tell us more about your son David Hampton and his attempt to pass himself off as the son of Sidney Poitier?
Russell: No comment.
VLKF: How have the recent internet rumors concerning your death affected your career?
Russell: I will survive. As long as I know how to love, I know I’ll stay alive. I’ve got all my life to live, I’ve got all my love to give, and I’ll survive.
VLKF: Have you ever incorporated any of your poetry into your game show or acting work?
Russell: No.
VLKF: Oh, I see. Do you have anything else that you would like to share with our readers today, Nipsey?
Russell: Playing Family Feud today are some talented women and men; lost their jobs giving money away, so now they're trying to win!
VLKF: Thank you. That was wonderful. Thank you.
Posts
3 comments:
Thank you VLKF. I've always loved Mr. Russell's work. He was an absolute godsend in his turn as Fred T. Sanford in the powerful, emotional sanitation engineering drama "Sanford and Son." I think he even got a Grammy for that one.
Dear Pops: Thanks for your comment! As a "bonus" fact, originally the show was entitled "Stanford and Son" to reflect the tensions between the Stanford-educated Fred and his hip-hop-listening, gang-banging son. Eventually though they decided to take the "T" out of Stanford and makes it Fred's middle initial. Thanks again for your comment!
Dear Pops: Thanks for your comment! As a "bonus" fact, originally the show was entitled "Stanford and Son" to reflect the tensions between the Stanford-educated Fred and his hip-hop-listening, gang-banging son. Eventually though they decided to take the "T" out of Stanford and makes it Fred's middle initial. Thanks again for your comment!
Post a Comment