On this episode Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with Jim Mahoney, renowned Hollywood press agent.
If you’re a fan of the golden age of Hollywood, this episode of Harvey Brownstone Interviews is most definitely for you. For over 30 years Jim Mahoney was one of Hollywood’s most successful, respected and sought after press agents in show business history.
At the age of 19, he was hired by Howard Strickling, head of publicity at MGM studios, and was assigned to the legendary Clark Gable. In those final years of MGM’s heyday, he also handled publicity for other stars including Debbie Reynolds, Ann Blyth, Howard Keele and Roger Moore.
Then, after a stint with the iconic syndicated newspaper columnist, Harrison Carroll, at the Los Angeles Herald Express, he became a publicist at the prestigious firm of Rogers and Cowan in Hollywood. And after 3 years, he opened his own immensely successful entertainment public relations business, where he acquired the most prestigious list of legendary clients in show business history, including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Judy Garland, Bob Hope, Tony Bennett, Jimmy Stewart, Robert Wagner, Peggy Lee, Jack Lemmon, George C. Scott, Lee Marvin, Steve McQueen, Johnny Carson – and believe me, this is just scratching the surface.
And when business partner Paul Wasserman joined the firm, they became THE premiere representatives for the greatest music acts of all time, including The Rolling Stones, U2, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Neil Diamond, Linda Ronstadt, Glen Campbell and dozens more. Over the years he developed close friendships with many of his superstar clients, and he worked night and day managing their mercurial and fragile egos, keeping their secrets, suppressing their outrageous and scandalous behaviors, and pulling out all the stops to preserve their all-important public image.
He quickly became an expert not only in communications and media relations, but crisis management.
And NOW he’s written a highly compelling, entertaining and incredibly eye-opening book entitled “Get Mahoney: A Hollywood Insider’s Memoir”, in which he FINALLY tells many of the stories that he’s kept close to the vest all these years. The book provides a unique perspective on the history of Hollywood, and some of its most notorious characters and events. I absolutely loved this book and could not put down until the very last page.
Harvey Brownstone is a retired judge of the Ontario Court of Justice and was the first openly gay judge in Canada. He is also the bestselling author of “Tug of War: A Judge’s Verdict on Separation, Custody Battles and the Bitter Realities of Family Court” and hosted “Family Matters with Justice Harvey Brownstone,” a television talk show on matters involving the family justice system.
After a distinguished legal career, Harvey was appointed a judge at the age of 38 in 1995. He has presided in family and criminal courts. He has been a trailblazer in several ways. He was the first openly gay judge in Canada. He was the first sitting judge in the world to write a national best seller and to host a TV talk show.
Harvey has been a role model and icon in the LGBTQ community. When same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada in 2003, he was the only judge to make himself publicly available to officiate at weddings for lesbian and gay couples travelling to Toronto from all over the world to get married. In 2007, he officiated at the wedding of Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer, the American couple whose marriage triggered the 2013 United States Supreme Court decision overturning the definition of “spouse” in the federal Defence of Marriage Act.
In February 2021, Harvey launched his online talk show “Harvey Brownstone Interviews” on his own YouTube channel. He saw this as an interesting hobby. Within several months, the show attracted hundreds of thousands – and then eventually, millions – of viewers. Because of the overwhelming success of the show, Harvey decided to retire from the judiciary on December 31, 2021 after having presided as a full-time judge for 26 1/2 years. Free from the constraints imposed upon judges regarding the expression of opinions and the endorsement of private enterprise, Harvey now happily devotes his full-time attention to hosting “Harvey Brownstone Interviews” as a regular member of the public – albeit one with a rather illustrious and unique career history.
Watch Jim Mahoney on Harvey Brownstone Interviews on Youtube here:
The official website for Harvey Brownstone Interviews may be found at https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com
Get “The Talk Show Blend” – Coffee For The Modern Day Trailblazer! By Harvey Brownstone from Breakfast At Dominique’s available at https://www.HollywoodBlends.com
For more information about Harvey Brownstone, here’s his Wikipedia page: