St. John's Confidential File

HELLO AMERICA!─If you’ve grown up being on a stage or waiting for a voice to yell out, “LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION on a film set, it becomes a natural part of who you are as an existing human being.  One quickly becomes an eager member of the club of actors who struggle earnestly to bring truth to whatever character they...

HELLO AMERICA!—Everyday thousands of young creative  hopefuls and future filmmakers are arriving in Hollywood to make their way in an industry which is one of the most difficult journeys one can pursue. Recently, I was introduced to Romane Simon who hails from Haiti.  He didn’t waste any time writing scripts and setting up his cameras in making his mark as...

HELLO AMERICA!—Many of my readers who know that actor Phillip Michael Thomas and I were extremely close during the early years of his career, may wonder why I haven’t written about him very much. The answer is simply that when he became so successful in his TV series “Miami Vice,” he changed so much I hardly recognized the guy...

HOLLYWOOD—Oh, devastating news struck the San Francisco News family last week when we learned our entertainment columnist Michael St. John passed away peacefully on Friday, July 23 in his sleep. Michael had been part of the San Francisco News family since our inception, delivering his witty, blunt, entertaining, and awesome columns each week for the column, St. John’s Confidential...

HELLO AMERICA!—If you’ve been in Hollywood as long as I have, it is so easy to assume you know everything about everybody! As for me, since I have known Marla Gibbs who has developed quite a reputation as one of the industry’s top actors based on her successful shows since the 1970s which include two of the funniest shows ever, “The Jeffersons”...

HELLO AMERICA—I had a very emotional, but stimulating exchange with one of my production partners, Bobby Wright. It was my contention that the few Black directors and producers seem to be feeding into the sick historical beliefs that affected the image of persons of color as stupid, graveling, worthless, lawless bunch of jungle garbage waiting for a hand out....

HELLO AMERICA!—Many-times honored for his work in films and television, Louis Gossett, Jr. speaks out about an industry he has loved most of his life and career. The actor made his debut on Broadway in Lorraine Hansberry's play "A Raisin in the Sun" in 1959, since that time, there have been numerous other awards bestowed on Gossett. MSJ: Today, there...

HELLO AMERICA!—We have got to face and understand the effect Hollywood has on millions of people all over the world. When they first view those magic moving images in a theater or on a home screen, something happens and suddenly there is an intense desire to see more. On the magic screen, their dreams come true, the impossible becomes...

HELLO AMERICA!—When I first appeared on a Baltimore TV show called “In the Know,” hosted by Oprah Winfrey in the late 1970s, I was warned by my New York editors that I should be very careful because Oprah had a reputation of ripping certain guests apart. It was during that time I published a national entertainment publication “PLAYERS” and...

HELLO AMERICA!—I want to thank all of you so far who took the time out to get the “third printing” of my book “Hollywood Through the Back Door.” Even my brief stay at Cedars Hospital a few days ago, several of the nurses insisted I sign their books. It was quite gratifying to have so much support from my...