At long last: A top Emmy writer tattles all!
Starting way back in the late 1990s, I became a fan of Ray Richmond's articles in Variety on the TV biz. His writing about the entertainment industry was actually, egads, entertaining to read, so he was obviously a wag on the ball, I figured. I didn't know him personally back then, but I got a much closer familiarity with his work when I started scrutinizing it year to year while compiling my books on "Movie Awards" and "The Emmys" (Penguin Putnam). That's what I did with all coverage about showbiz awards in Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, L.A. Times, N.Y. Times and other top rags — I combed old accounts while scouting for colorful sections I could quote in my books' annual chapters. I always thought those chapters read best when packed with recreated reportage of the day, thus giving us the perspective of how those Oscarcasts and Emmycasts were viewed by journalists at the time.
Ray reviewed them like a TV critic, judging them as good or bad TV shows. When I stacked his reports up against the others, it was shockingly obvious how much better his were. Not only were they more savvy recollections of the show, but they were packed with Ray's sassy appraisal of events. Reading his work, you never know when Ray's going to ambush you with a devil's spear or a sudden puff of pixie dust.
Remember Roberto Begnini's exuberant outburst accepting his Academy Award? Ray gave it the perfect sum-up in his report of the 1998 Oscarcast.
First, let's recall the scene. Upon winning best actor, the "Life Is Beautiful" thesp threw up his arms with joy and gushed, "Now my body is in tumult because it's a colossal moment of joy. I would like to be Jupiter and kidnap everybody and lie down in the firmament making love to everybody."
In an aside to Variety readers, Ray added, "Whatever this man is looped on, let's all get some."
How could I NOT quote that in my book?
Well, now it seems that another journo has discovered Mr. Richmond as someone of note. FishbowlLA blogger Kate Coe casts a deserving spotlight on him in a profile piece at MediaBistro.com that I recommend to you as a great read. It's loaded with naughty riffing from Ray, who gallantly rats on his personal likes and dislikes (when reading the daily L.A. Times, "I usually pick up the Sports section first," he says, "under the philosophy that there are no guarantees in life and one should, therefore, eat dessert first"), personal romantic status ("Twice-divorced. I wave a white flag, ladies; you win") and, oh, yeah, how he broke into the business. You can follow the budding scribe from his first journo job on up to pseudo-media-respectability, as Ray would probably put it.
"I've been doing this stuff since my first year of college," he says, "when I worked for a regional newspaper chain on the West Side (of L.A.) covering high school football and basketball on Friday nights for $5.00 per story. It was a big deal when we got a 50 percent raise to $7.50. I caught on part-time at the L.A. Daily News -- then . . . " he continues the rest of his career story.
Today Ray is the chief Emmy writer at the Hollywood Reporter. He pens most of the top Emmy articles that appear in the special award supplements, plus he's a resident star as weekly columnist ("The Pulse") and daily "Past Deadline" blogger (CLICK HERE!).
So, however well you are already familiar with him, you should get to know him better. While reading this profile, I learned lots of new stuff about him. That rascal Ray is a secret gentleman? Who knew? I happen to know that he's holding back on his Lucille Ball story here. It has a colorful ending that he's chosen not to tell, because — surprise — Ray's an ole softie, after all.
READ MORE - CLICK HERE!
