Columbus Monthly
Comedy Writer Bruce Vilanch Reflects on His Journey from Ohio State to the Oscars Stage
By Sheldon Zoldan
October 16. 2023

Ask Bruce Vilanch if he is famous, and he has a simple answer: It depends. “I will be in an airport surrounded by people giving selfies, and somebody will walk by and say, ‘Who is he?’ 

“So, what can I tell you? It ain’t Brad Pitt. There are declensions of fame.” 

If you still don’t know the name, you might recognize his cherub face—not to mention his attention-grabbing T-shirts, long, blond hair and red-framed glasses. It’s a familiar visage from his four years on the third iteration of Hollywood Squares. 

In show business, however, there is no debate whether he’s famous. Vilanch knows almost everybody, and almost everybody knows him. He’s written jokes for the funny (Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Steve Martin, Ellen DeGeneres) and the not-so funny (Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley MacLaine, Cher, the Osmonds). He wrote for as many as 25 Oscar shows, at least 14 as head writer. He co-wrote Bette Midler’s Johnny Carson tribute, “You Made Me Watch You,” for her Emmy-winning appearance on the late night host’s last regular show. Vilanch is famous enough to have had a documentary made about him, “Get Bruce.”

On Oct. 20, he returns to Ohio State to host “The Lantern Reunion: An Evening with Bruce Vilanch, the Almost Famous Buckeye,” sponsored by the School of Communication.

Born in 1948 in New York City, Vilanch was adopted four days later and whisked away to Patterson, New Jersey, where he grew up as a happy, chubby, only child who fell in love with the theater. “I was not one of the cool kids,” he says. “What made me palatable to them was I performed.” 

He did summer stock as a teenager, sharing billing with well-known actors of the time, like Tallulah Bankhead and Ethel Merman. Vilanch wanted to go to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh because of its theater program, but his perfect SAT score in English didn’t counterbalance his 350 score in math. “I couldn’t make change; I was terrible,” he says.  

So, it was off to Ohio State. “I said OK, I’ll go to Ohio State because it had a big journalism school, and it had a theater department, and it was an hour by plane, which was as long as the leash would go,” Vilanch says. 

He started school in 1965, just as the Vietnam War protests were percolating. Vilanch began working for the school newspaper, The Lantern, first as a reporter and then in various editing roles. Being a reporter wasn’t easy. “It was difficult because I was trying to be fair and balanced,” he says, “but I was anti-Vietnam, and I was mad at the [school] administration that they would not do a Black studies course.” 

He took to the stage like he did to journalism. On campus and off, he acted in plays, such as “Carnival,” “Finian’s Rainbow” and the “Glass Menagerie,” to name a few. His favorite was “My Fair Lady.” “Because it was a big show at Mershon [Auditorium], and I played Doolittle the father, and he had a lot of great numbers, and I got to do a lot of dancing and carrying on.” 

Vilanch had a great time in Columbus. “I loved being in Columbus,” he says. German Village was a constant stop. “Very artsy people were living there, and it wasn’t gentrified the way it is now. So, we would go down there with a group that did plays.” 

He finished his five-year program in 1970 minus a graduation ceremony. The school shut down early because of campus protests after the Kent State shootings. “It was probably the only time that the commencement speaker got a kill fee because they canceled,” he jokes. 

That speaker? “It was Walter Cronkite, and I think it cost them a little bit of money.” 

Vilanch’s next stop was the Chicago Tribune as a feature writer; that’s where he met Bette Midler when she was a newcomer performing at a local nightclub. He loved her act, but in his critique, he said she should talk more on stage because she was funny. She asked him to write some lines for her. 

He soon was off to Hollywood where he wrote for the Manhattan Transfer’s summer variety show. Then he moved on to writing for Donnie and Marie Osmond’s variety show, the Brady Bunch variety show, Sonny and Cher, and others. 

Vilanch first wrote for the Oscars telecast in 1989. He was one of the few survivors of a reviled program that included Rob Lowe and Snow White opening with a song medley. 

He had the title of head writer from 2000 to 2014. Vilanch is like a parent who doesn’t want to name a favorite child, but he thought the Hugh Jackman-hosted show was terrific, as were two or three of Billy Crystal’s, Steve Martin’s first show and Whoopi Goldberg’s. 

These days, Vilanch keeps busy with several projects. He just finished a book, “It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time,” about how he wrote some of the worst television shows—including the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special—but survived. 

He also co-wrote a musical, “Here You Come Again,” about a down-and-out waiter stuck in his parents’ home during COVID. The server tries to stay sane by talking to an imaginary Dolly Parton. 

The musical has two characters and 12 Parton songs. It has played in six venues around the country. “We’re going to see what happens with it; so far it’s been a hit every place, and audiences love it,” he says. 

Bruce Vilanch Discusses Some of His Famous Collaborators 

Bette Midler: “She’s one of the few performers I know who can turn on a dime. She can have you laughing hysterically one minute and crying the next.” 

Billy Crystal: “He’s the last of the vaudevillians. He can do everything. He can sing, dance, tell jokes. He can break your heart, and he can probably juggle. He’s a full-service performer.” 

Whoopi Goldberg: “She is unique. There’s nothing like her. She’s equal parts street and Upper East Side.” 

Robin Williams: “He was a force of nature, which is a cheap way of saying he was explosive. There’s nobody who was that fast and funny and congenial at the same time.” 

Cher: “She’s a survivor. She’s had hits in every single decade. She has managed to reinvent herself while still being Cher the whole time.” 

Steve Martin: “He’s an oddball. His stuff is at another level. He has a quality of absurdism about what he does.” 

Bruce Vilanch Recalls a College Prank by R.L. Stine

The Sundial was a campus humor magazine that loved to make fun of The Lantern, the student newspaper. Jovial Bob Stine was the irreverent editor of the magazine, and in one issue put an ad on the back page for a pizzeria offering cheap pizza. The phone number wasn’t the pizzeria’s; it was The Lantern city desk. 

“I was on the desk, and these calls kept coming in from every dorm for pizza orders,” Vilanch says. “I couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong. Of course, it was Jovial Bob, getting revenge for something we had written about him.” 

Jovial Bob became R.L. Stine, the author of the Goosebumps book series for young teens. 

This is an expanded version of a story from the October 2023 issue of Columbus Monthly. 

The post Comedy Writer Bruce Vilanch Reflects on His Journey from Ohio State to the Oscars Stage first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–IMDb (www.imdb.com), the world’s most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content, today announced the second annual “IMDb LIVE Viewing Party,” a live streaming companion show celebrating the Academy Awards that in its first year provided millions of fans and industry insiders with unique, entertaining and informative coverage of Hollywood’s biggest night. The live broadcast co-hosted by Dave Karger (IMDb Special Correspondent) and The IMDb Show co-hosts Tim Kash and Kerri Doherty will stream live on IMDb.com, IMDb’s mobile apps, Twitter and Twitch, and will be produced on site at an invitation-only industry viewing party at Neuehouse (formerly the historic CBS Radio Studio) in Hollywood, California.

“Twitter is the place to see and join the real-time Oscars conversation”

Tweet this

IMDb’s hosted coverage during the “IMDb LIVE Viewing Party” broadcast will take place before, after, and during breaks in the Oscars® telecast. IMDb does not broadcast the awards ceremony itself – while the program is in progress, the hosted conversation stops and IMDb delivers a “second screen” experience featuring videos, information, and trivia related to the Oscar nominees currently being celebrated.

The “IMDb LIVE Viewing Party” broadcast will begin at 4:30PM Pacific on Sunday, March 4, providing viewers with a uniquely fun and informative perspective on the Academy Awards, featuring conversations with celebrity guests, past nominees, experts and industry insiders, along with IMDb data and information. Guests include Aisha Tyler (Criminal Minds, Archer), Anne Heche (The Brave), Lea Thompson (Switched At Birth), past winner Tatum O’Neal (Paper Moon), two-time nominee Peter Fonda (Easy Rider), longtime Academy head writer Bruce Vilanch, IMDb’s Founder and CEO Col Needham, Clifton Collins Jr. (Westworld), Tamara Taylor (Altered Carbon), Boots Riley (Sorry To Bother You) and more. The live broadcast will also integrate IMDb information and proprietary, real-time IMDb trending data, comments and questions from users on Twitter and Twitch, and pre-produced segments including interviews with nominees Guillermo Del Toro (Director, The Shape of Water), Willem Dafoe (Supporting Actor, The Florida Project), and Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Songwriters, “This is Me” from The Greatest Showman).

Entertainment fans can tune in from anywhere to watch the “IMDb LIVE Viewing Party” via IMDb’s mobile apps or directly at IMDb (www.imdb.com). IMDb’s live show will also be simulcast and promoted by two of the industry’s live video leaders, Twitter and Twitch (http://twitch.tv/imdb). Twitter’s live stream of IMDb’s Live Viewing Party will be available globally for free to logged-in and logged-out users on Twitter and connected devices. Tweets about the #Oscars will appear in a timeline along with the live video on Twitter, available at www.live.twitter.com/IMDbLive or @IMDb. The broadcast on Twitch gives users the opportunity to participate in a real-time chat with an IMDb moderator throughout the evening, with some questions and comments to be addressed by hosts and guests during the show.

“Our goal is to produce a multi-hour, live Academy Awards companion show that is worthy of Hollywood’s biggest night,” said Col Needham, IMDb’s Founder and CEO. “With industry legends including Peter Fonda and Tatum O’Neal scheduled to appear, and hosts Dave Karger, and Tim Kash and Kerri Doherty of The IMDb Show on board, our goal is to delight, entertain and inform customers all over the world with IMDb’s real-time trending data, insightful conversation and nominee trivia.”

“Twitter is the place to see and join the real-time Oscars conversation,” said Kay Madati, Global Head of Content Partnerships, Twitter. “We’re excited to collaborate with IMDb to bring fans this behind-the-scenes broadcast alongside the real-time commentary from experts and fans during one of Hollywood’s biggest nights.”

IMDb’s editorial coverage of the 90th Academy Awards will also include real-time winner announcements, trivia quizzes, photo galleries and more.

About “IMDb LIVE Viewing Party”

IMDb’s second-annual viewing party will welcome, by invitation only, more than 300 industry insiders to Neuehouse in Hollywood, California on Sunday, March 4. Party guests will be treated to food and drinks while watching the Academy Awards and the production of IMDb’s live companion show, featuring celebrity conversations and a stream of real-time facts, data and social commentary from IMDb and IMDbPro, the essential resource for entertainment professionals. IMDb’s live companion show to the Academy Awards telecast will begin with a pre-show at 4:30PM, and will wrap up with a post-show after the Academy Awards broadcast concludes. IMDb’s show includes live conversation between hosts Dave Karger and The IMDb Show’s Tim Kash and Kerri Doherty, and celebrity guests including Aisha Tyler, Peter Fonda and Tatum O’Neal, as well as IMDb data and trivia related to nominees and winners. The live broadcast is produced by IMDb and Broadcast Management Group. Entertainment fans can tune in and follow along from anywhere on their mobile devices at www.imdb.com, IMDb’s iOS and Android mobile apps, and distribution partners Twitter and Twitch.

About IMDb

IMDb is the world’s most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content. The IMDb consumer site (www.imdb.com) is the #1 movie website in the world with a combined web and mobile audience of more than 250 million unique monthly visitors. IMDb offers a searchable database of more than 250 million data items including more than 4 million movies, TV and entertainment programs and more than 8 million cast and crew members. Consumers rely on the information IMDb provides – including local movie showtimes, ticketing, trailers, critic and user reviews, personalized recommendations, photo galleries, entertainment news, quotes, trivia, box-office data, editorial feature sections and a universal Watchlist – when deciding what to watch and where to watch it. IMDb’s portfolio of leading entertainment apps (http://www.imdb.com/apps/) includes its popular “Movies & TV” app for iPhone, iPad, Kindle Fire, Android phones, Android tablets and its mobile-optimized website. To date, there have been more than 150 million downloads of IMDb’s mobile apps worldwide. IMDb’s X-Ray for Movies & TV Shows (www.imdb.com/x-ray) is a feature that revolutionizes the viewing experience by bringing the power of IMDb directly to Kindle Fire HD, Fire TV and Fire TV Stick. IMDb’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/imdb) and official Twitter account (https://twitter.com/imdb) are followed by more than 12 million passionate entertainment fans. IMDbPro (http://www.imdbpro.com) is the essential resource for entertainment industry professionals. This membership-based service includes comprehensive information and tools that are designed to help entertainment industry professionals achieve success throughout all stages of their career. IMDbPro offers members the following: detailed contact and representation information; IMDb profile management tools; exclusive STARmeter rankings that are determined by page views on IMDb; a casting service to post breakdowns and apply to roles; a mobile optimized website and more. Additionally, IMDb owns and operates Withoutabox (http://www.withoutabox.com), the premier submission service for film festivals and filmmakers, and Box Office Mojo (http://www.boxofficemojo.com), the leading online source of box-office data. IMDb.com is operated by IMDb.com, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) (http://www.amazon.com). To learn more, go to: http://www.imdb.com/press.

About Twitch

Twitch is the world’s leading social video service and community for gamers. Each day, millions of community members gather to watch, talk, and chat about shared interests. Twitch’s video service is the backbone of both live and on-demand distribution for all types of content, including the entire video game ecosystem, the creative arts, vlogging (IRL), and more. Twitch also runs TwitchCon, the annual convention for celebrating the Twitch community. For more information about Twitch, visit our Press Center, Twitter feed (#Twitch), and Blog.

About Twitter (NYSE: TWTR)

Twitter is what’s happening in the world and what people are talking about right now. From breaking news and entertainment to sports, politics, and everyday interests, see every side of the story. Join the open conversation. Watch live streaming events. Available in more than 40 languages around the world, the service can be accessed via twitter.com, an array of mobile devices, and SMS. For more information, please visit about.twitter.com, follow @Twitter, and download both the Twitter and Periscope apps at twitter.com/download and periscope.tv.

The post Bruce Vilanch To Help IMDb to Celebrate the 90th Annual Academy Awards with Its Second Live-Streaming Companion Show and Industry Viewing Party first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Festival passes are now on sale for the 3rd annual North Louisiana Gay & Lesbian Film Festival to be held September 16-22, 2011, at the Robinson Film Center in downtown Shreveport, LA, with celebrity guest Bruce Vilanch. The film festival is sponsored by PACE, “People Acting for Change and Equality.”

With a festival pass, tickets can be redeemed for the following:

the lavish opening night reception at 6 p.m. on Friday, September 16 with celebrity guest Bruch Vilanch; Vilanch is a six-time Emmy winner and highly sought-after Hollywood comedy writer and stand-up comedian.
the opening night screening of the film Get Bruce with introduction before and Q & A after with Bruce Vilanch.
the stand-up comedy performance of Bruce Vilanch on Saturday, September 17 at 7:15 p.m.
the screenings of the films Undertow, Wish Me Away, Hollywood to Dollywood, Leave It on the Floor, Gen Silent, Thy Will Be Done, and a collection of original submission short films.

A festival pass sells for $95, a substantial discount over individual ticket prices to the above events.

Panel discussions will follow one screening of Gen Silent and Thy Will Be Done, and the executive producers and lead actors of Hollywood to Dollywood will be present to close out the festival on Thursday, September 22.

Festival passes on sale now, or individual tickets on sale August 29, can be purchased at the Robinson Film Center (617 Texas St., 318-459-4122; www.robinsonfilmcenter.org). For additional information see the film festival web site: www.nlglff.org.

For more information about PACE, north Louisianaâ€s leading advocacy organization for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, go to www.pacelouisiana.org.

The post Bruce Vilanch Headlines N. LA Gay & Lesbian Film Festival first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

PACE announces third annual film festival

People Acting for Change and Equality’s 3rd Annual North Louisiana Gay and Lesbian Film Festival is set for Sept. 16-22 at the Robinson Film Center

7:23 PM, Aug. 5, 2011

People Acting for Change and Equality’s third annual North Louisiana Gay and Lesbian Film Festival is set for Sept. 16-22 at the Robinson Film Center.

This year’s celebrity guest will be Bruce Vilanch, a six-time Emmy winner and one of Hollywood‘s most sought-after comedy writers, best known as a celebrity panelist and head writer for “Hollywood Squares.”

Opening night will kick off Sept. 16 with a reception featuring Vilanch, where he will introduce his film “Get Bruce,” followed by a question-and-answer discussion. Vilanch will perform a stand-up act on Sept. 17.

“Hollywood to Dollywood” executive producers, lead actors Mike Bowen and identical twins Gary and Larry Lane, will close out the film festival on Sept. 22 with a question-and-answer discussion, followed by a Dolly-themed after-party hosted by The Korner Lounge.

Other films during the week-long festival include “Undertow,” “Wish Me Away,” “Hollywood to Dollywood,” “Leave it on the Floor,” “Gen Silent,” “Thy Will Be Done” and a collection of original submission short films.

Panel discussions will follow some films.

A pre-festival event will be held Sept. 15 at minicine.

Festival passes and individual tickets will go on sale Aug. 15 at the Robinson Film Center, 617 Texas St., Shreveport. Tickets will also be available by phone at 459-4122 and online at www.rob

insonfilmcenter.org.

Contact Bryan Sullivan at hairchem@aol

.com before Monday to become a sponsor.

Visit www.nlglff.org for more film festival

information.

The post Bruce Vilanch To Be Celebrity Guest At The PACE Annual Film Festival first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

The News & Observer

The post Gay and lesbian film festival (feat. Bruce Vilanch) greets its 15th year first appeared on We Got Bruce!.