Saturday, November 9, 2024

Owen Wilson Says His Father Has Alzheimer’s; Robert Wilson Brought Monty Python to PBS

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I just read Owen Wilson’s interview in the Dallas Morning News. He says his father, former PBS exec Robert Wilson, has Alzheimer’s. He’s just 74.

Bob Wilson brought “Monty Python” to PBS in 1974  when he was head of the Dallas station KERA. He also gave PBS’s famous newsman, Jim Lehrer, his start on TV when he was a newspaper man. The Wilsons moved from Boston to Dallas in 1963, an auspicious moment in history for that city.

At the 2005 premiere of “The Family Stone,”  I met the Wilsons (son Luke is a star of that movie) and chatted with them at length. They were lovely, a really great cool couple.

I asked them what they thought of son Owen’s then-nickname in the press, the “Butterscotch Stallion”?

“I don’t think you should ask my wife that,” Robert Wilson said, with a chuckle.

“I think it’s going away now, I don’t hear it so much anymore,” said Mrs. Wilson.

They also told me neither of one of them expected either of their sons to become movie stars.

It’s nice to hear the family has pulled together during this crisis. Sending prayers and good thoughts to them.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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