Wednesday, May 20, 2026

More Proof Bruce Springsteen is A Mensch: He Invited First Manager Mike Appel to a Screening of “Deliver Me from Nowhere”

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The Boss is a mensch.

He actually invited his original manager, Mike Appel, to a screening of “Deliver Me from Nowhere.”

Appel managed Bruce through “Born to Run.” Then he caused so much trouble Bruce had to take a three year break before returning with “Darkness on the Edge of Town.”

(Appel had signed a 22 year old Bruce to an all encompassing contract, and it took immense legal wrangling to get him out of it.)

So I don’t know if this was out of the goodness of Bruce’s heart, or the old adage ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.’

Anyway, 50 years later time heals all wounds.

Funny PS I once wound up seated on a plane next to Mike Appel. He told me the whole story over 8 hours. Seems now like it must have been in 1943. Anyway, he was a nice guy.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is 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. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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