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Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Best of 2012
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This year marked the 10th anniversary of Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... column. In that time she has talked with more than 500 news makers covering the spectrum from entertainment to science and current events. 2012 was a year that seemed heavy on celebrities with a few notable exceptions, including the world's most famous Holocaust survivor, the former governor of Pennsylvania, the son of a president and a heroic pilot. Here's a sampling from the 52 PG-exclusive interviews.
Jan. 9: Judah Friedlander
Judah Friedlander
So your mother is from Pittsburgh.
Yes. I go there about once a year. I go to Pamela's P & G in Millvale. It's awesome. All the Pamela's are great. That's probably my favorite one. Yeah, best breakfast in the country. The hash browns, home fries, the pancakes, eggs -- it's all incredible. Read more ...
Feb. 6: Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Speaking of school, why did you feel it was necessary to go back to get your master's in music?
You know, I can only look at so much of the boob tube, and I can only do so much needlepoint, and my education has always been something very near and dear to my heart. At that time, I was singing Bacharach melodies, and you almost needed a degree to sing those melodies. You think about songs like "Promises, Promises" -- I don't think anyone else in the world has recorded it but me [and] of course, the cast. Read more ...
Feb. 27: Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston
You could have been defined by all these powerful men in your life, especially your dad and Jack Nicholson.
Well, I am defined by them, but I'm grateful to be defined by them. The only reason Jack and my father look big is they were more public than, for instance, my husband. But all of them have defined me, and I hope I've left my imprint on them. Read more ...
March 19: Jon Hamm
Jon Hamm
You also had to deal with the loss of your mother and then your dad when you were still young. How did that temper you?
I wish I could share this success with my mother and father. I think they'd be incredibly proud. I'd be happy to have them around to see it and to be proud. But it wasn't in the cards. I was incredibly fortunate to have a group of friends whose families kind of rallied around to help me and help steer me in the right direction, as well as some pretty excellent teachers to lean on. That was part of why I wanted to go back to my high school and teach. Read more ...
April 2: Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Do you ignore what is said in the tabloids now or does it still bother you? Or have you got thicker skin?
I don't ignore it. Thicker skin -- maybe a little, but I definitely don't ignore it. It still hurts. I'm a human being. It's not enjoyable, you know, but I definitely have learned that who I am is mine and doesn't belong to other people. ... So I just learned that my inner voice has to be louder than their outside voice [laughing]. I have learned to get through it and deal. Read more ...
May 7: Larry King
Larry King
Do you still want to be cryogenically preserved?
Yeah, I do. The reason is, I don't believe in any afterlife. I'm not religious at all. I'm a cultural Jew. I'm lucky to be in this race because I think my race teaches me to learn and to read and to constantly question. ... I'm married into a Mormon family. They totally believe. I don't share the belief. I allow my boys to be raised that way because I made that up with my wife when we got married. ... I'm an agnostic, almost an atheist. So there's either going to be an afterlife or there isn't. Or the only shot you got is to be frozen. Then if you're frozen and they cure it, you might come back. ... This way, I can't lose. I regard all of that as kind of malarkey. I respect it, but I sure don't believe it. So yeah, I want to be frozen. Read more ...
May 21: Kevin Costner
Kevin Costner
Do you think you are skilled at reading people?
No, I've been disappointed by a lot of people that I put a lot of faith in. I wasn't disappointed by Whitney [Houston]. I guess the truth is I haven't let the failures -- or the perceived failures -- I've not let them harden me. I've never let it close my circle. I am very willing to give people a first chance, though. ... I give actresses their first chance, I give directors their first chance, I give writers their first chance. I believe young blood can give blood. I want people to succeed around me. I get joy out of that. I don't like being the head flea on a dead dog. Read more ...
June 18: Brandy
Brandy
So what did you discover about yourself that was different than the brand "Brandy"?
I am not perfect, and I don't have to be perfect. I am not above mistakes. I can make them, and it's OK. I don't need to beat myself up for making a mistake. ... I beat myself up a lot as a teenager, wanting everything to be perfect. [I'm] absolutely a people pleaser, trying to please my fans, trying to please my family, trying to please my record label -- anybody that I worked with. I wanted everybody to like me. You know that will drive you into the grave. Read more ...
June 25: Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman
Do you fear the unknown?
No, I'm attracted to it. I am curious. I think death is bye-bye, so long, been nice knowing you. That's it. Not I'll see you around [laughing]. It's a human quest for immortality. ... I think basically life needs death needs life. Read more ...
July 2: Ed Rendell
Ed Rendell
So who are the wusses keeping Pennsylvania from getting a high-speed, state-of-the-art bullet train between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia?
Virtually everybody in the Congress who are unwilling to spend money on our infrastructure. We have just gotten so far away from investing money in big, significant projects. ... The Golden Gate Bridge was a great triumph, both in architecture and in opening up economic development. We have lost that spirit of adventure. We lost that spirit of doing tough things. I quote JFK when he said about going to the moon: "We do this not because it's easy. We do it because it's hard." Read more ...
Sept. 17: Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel
Have you ever encountered a former Nazi who said, "I'm sorry"?
No, no, never. On the other hand, I had a good moment, a very good moment. I was invited to address the German parliament in Berlin. I think it was the first session they had in Berlin. It was, I think, at the beginning of the millennium maybe.
I spoke about the importance of memory and -- openly, without insulting anyone, but still openly -- what I expect, what I hope and so forth. At the end, I turned to the president. I said: "President, postwar Germany has done great things. First it became a democracy, a great democracy. Second, it helped my people and many survivors of the Holocaust receive reparations from Germany, and Germany helped Israel. You've done great things, good things, but one thing you haven't done. You have never asked the Jewish people for forgiveness. Why haven't you?" You can imagine the silence in that hall.
Somehow, a week later, the same president took a plane, went to Jerusalem and to the Israeli parliament and officially asked the Jewish people for forgiveness. Then I felt sometimes words do carry a certain weight. Read more ...
Nov. 19: Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger
Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger
Did you dream about it [the accident]?
I did some. The first weeks and months there was some of that, but not any more at all. I think I slept maybe an hour or two that first night. We were all greatly affected by PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). I had distracted thinking. I would try to read a newspaper and end up trying to reread the same sentence five times and then giving up. Read more ...
Dec. 3: Steve Ford
Steve Ford
Your dad's mother, your grandmother, was very courageous.
Yes, she left her husband, who was very physically abusive. She left him and she remarried. Dad's original name was not Ford or Gerald R. Ford. It was Lesley King. It was his stepfather, Gerald R. Ford Sr., who adopted him and raised him. Dad would tell you today, if he were alive, that was his father. He's the one who invested in his life. Read more ...
Dec. 17: Hugh Bonneville
Hugh Bonneville
Are you finding you are more recognized in the airports and on the street since "Downton Abbey"?
Yeah, yeah, sure. The odd thing people actually think you are an earl, Lord Grantham, which I find very disconcerting [laughing]. Nothing could be further from the truth. Read more ...
First Published January 7, 2013 12:00 am
