Sharing Stories About A Great Hollywood Career!
Sherry Lansing was one of Hollywood’s most powerful Executives, and she has decided to tell some of the wild behind-the-scenes stories from her career!
This “Wednesday Bookmobile” drives down Hollywood Boulevard to tell some candid tales of tinseltown excess!
The Hollywood Reporter’s Stephen Galloway wrote “Leading Lady”, his biography of Lansing…and THR printed an excerpt to promote the release and it’s a doozy!
This excerpt talks about her run-in with Mike Myers during the planned filming of “Wayne’s World 2.”
When Lansing was in charge of Paramount Studios, Mike Myers was ready to begin filming the sequel to his massive comedy hit “Wayne’s World” – but there was a BIG problem:
“The then-Paramount chairman made an unfortunate discovery weeks before shooting was due to commence: Myers had heavily based the sequel on the 1949 British comedy ‘Passport to Pimlico’ — only nobody had bought the underlying rights.”
“Mike had always wanted to do Passport to Pimlico as the basis of Wayne’s World,” said SNL creator Lorne Michaels, who produced the comedy. “So he went and wrote it. I think he believed the studio understood that, and I think he even believed they had bought the rights to the other movie so that he was free to use it.
Furious, Lansing summoned Myers to her office and told him exactly that — in much different (and harsher) words. Remembers one participant in the Myers-Lansing meeting: “She said, ‘How dare you? How dare you put us in this position?’ She turned to Mike and said, ‘We’ll sue you. We’ll take your f—ing house. You won’t even own a f—ing home.'”
The story continues:
“The verbal scathing went on, with Lansing adding a special twist, as then-production chief John Goldwyn recalled: “She made up this fabulous story about all of the lawyers sitting with [Paramount Communications executive] Stanley Jaffe. She said, ‘As I’m sitting here with you, there’s a team figuring out how they can take every single thing away from you.'”
Myers believed it, and was so shaken that he curled up in a fetal position on Lansing’s couch.
Said Lansing: “If I were you, Mike, I’d go to Lorne’s office right now and stay there until you come up with a new script. We’ll slide food under the door.”
Wow! She had a reputation for being tough as nails, and I can’t wait to read more stories about her career. Other anecdotes from the book have been released dealing with Mel Gibson’s temper and a real boiled bunny from “Fatal Attraction!”
Speaking of Gibson:
Here is another book that also has a shocking Mel Gibson story – Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas wrote about his shocking interaction with the mercurial Actor – read about it here – along with MY Mel Gibson encounter:
https://johnrieber.com/2013/08/14/heaven-and-mel-shocking-mel-gibson-book-my-mel-encounter/
Lansing’s book is sure to be a page turner based on the stories teased so far!
She is also married to one of Hollywood’s greatest filmmakers, William Friedkin. Friedkin of course directed such great films as “The Exorcist”, “The French Connection”, “Sorcerer”, “To Live And Die In LA” and most recently “Killer Joe.”
He wrote his autobiography a few years ago – read all about it here:
Finally, Mike Myers has been largely absent from movies for a few years, but he did direct a terrific documentary:
Shep Gordon was a legend in Hollywood, handling some of the biggest stars of the 70’s and 80’s…see the trailer for this terrific documentary here:
https://johnrieber.com/2015/07/12/rocks-supermensch-mike-myers-brilliant-documentary-on-shep-gordon/
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Enjoy these terrific exposes of life in Hollywood’s fast lane!
Categories: 70's Cinema, 70's Music, Academy Awards, Action Films, Art, Books / Media, Comedy Movies, Cult Movies, Film Fight Club, Great Films, Hollywood, Memoirs, Movies, Pop Culture, Talent/Celebrities
johnrieber 
Good to read about a powerful woman in the film business. A nice change from all those powerful men. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Yes Pete, she was an empowered female in a business dominated by men – bravo to her, she had a fascinating story to tell!
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A really tough woman, John, and a fascinating story. These insights into Hollywood and its people are so interesting.
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I cannot wait to read both of these ! And wow, your encounter! What a d$&@!
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HA! He WAS – and Eszterhas’s book really digs into it…I’ve been lucky enough to interact with a lot of stars – some GREAT like Jim Carrey, who is on my wife’s show (The Kelly Clarkson Show) on Friday the 14th….he’s incredible. So is Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman…and then there are the Mel Gibson ones….real creeps….thanks for reading!
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did I ever tell you that I was an entertainment publicist prior to going back to school and becoming a teacher? mostly film and some live shows such as plays, the circus, and major city parades. the stories are unbelievable. film studios hire ad agencies in each major market to do pr and promo and that was my agency in the Detroit market. crazy times, but I loved it too –
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That’s terrific! The stories you must have as well!
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