Veteran publicist Frank Liberman was born in Manhattan on May 29th 1917, and educated at Cheshire Academy in Cheshire, Conneticut. He graduated from Lafayette College in Easton, PA, in 1938 with a BA degree. His career in public relations began at Warner Bros’ home office in New York City, following a year’s service on the…
The more I research the life of the actress Tallulah Bankhead, the more I realise she must have been the nemesis of every Hollywood publicist in the 1930’s. Bankhead started her career on the stage and had a publicist, Jimmy Julian, by the time she was 16. He was the publicist responsible for launching her…
Reasons why, over the ages, people have employed publicists, include some poignant moments in the history of Hollywood. At the time when Zsa Zsa Gabor was married to George Sanders, a momentary event put the “writing on the wall” for their marriage when the couple were taking a walk in Hollywood. A group of teenagers…
Robin Williams has checked into rehab to be treated for alcoholism. The 55-year-old actor, known for his heavy drinking in his youth, fell off the wagon after being sober for 20 years. His publicist revealed that Williams had started drinking again and decided to take “proactive measures” to stop himself. The booze-hounds of the early…
I have had a bag full of emails from publicists all over the place with their views on the history of PR. Reflecting a piece in today’s Express on “friendly bacteria” I was interested to find a stunt by a German publicist named Wolfgang Zeilman. Zeilman was responsible for hyping the talents of a German…
The Borkowski poet in residence on celebrity over-the-counterculture. In the celebrity market, everything is up for sale, from rentagob to rentamob to the contents of their mail You can buy their memoirs and their morals from the bargain bins in a couple of years you’ll even find the clothes they wear to hide their sins…
Mel Gibson, whose father is a holocaust denier, has risked career suicide after a drunken anti-semitic outburst after being pulled over for speeding in California. A car’s a lethal weapon but not as lethal as a tongue laced with tequila and a history of denial. A tongue’s a lethal weapon but not as lethal as…
after After the Gold Rush by Neil Young Sir Paul McCartney has issued formal divorce proceedings after his estranged wife Heather Mills rejected a £30 million offer. A source revealed: “In his eyes, they agreed they wanted to make the divorce quick and painless and a settlement was virtually in place. It now appears she…
The rise of MySpace is changing the face of the music business. The Borkowski poet in residence, who succumbed to the delights of MySpace recently, celebrates it with a poem. I want to network and I want to make friends I’m not here for dating but to see what life sends I want to show…
So here I am again staring at another blank piece of paper. Struggling to drive my grey matter to execute some intellectual gymnastics. I examine my scrawled notes balancing a reference book on my knee. As I begin to type and the juices start to flow, a bloody email pings up in the corner of…