Meet Hollywood's 'Nice Guy' Sam Haskell - the Man Behind
ABC-TV's 'LOST' Nov 8-10 in Chicago
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| Sam Haskell, the man behind ABC-TV’s hit series “LOST” and the syndicated hit series ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air will be in Chicago November 8-10 |
2009-11-05 05:21:23 -
Sam Haskell will be speaking at the Elgin Rotary Club at 12 noon on November 9 followed by a public event at the Ela Public Library in Lake Zurich from 3-4:30pm. He’s one of three authors speaking at “Books & Brunch” hosted by the Assistance League of Chicagoland West at The Abbington in Glen Ellyn on November 10. Chicago, IL, Sam Haskell, the man behind ABC-TV’s hit series “LOST” and the syndicated hit series ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air will be in Chicago November 8-10, 2009.
Haskell will be speaking at the Elgin Rotary Club at 12 noon on November 9 followed by a public event at the Ela Public Library in Lake Zurich from 3-4:30pm.
He’s one of three authors speaking at “Books & Brunch” hosted by the Assistance League of Chicagoland West at The Abbington in Glen Ellyn on November 10.
Haskell is the former Worldwide Head of Television for the William Morris Agency and current Chairman of the Miss America Organization and author of Promises I Made My Mother, published by Random House
Sam Haskell, named one of TV Week’s “25 Most Innovative and Influential People in Television of the Last 25 Years is widely recognized as “the nice guy in Hollywooda reputation that has won him clients ranging from Bill Cosby and Dolly Parton to Whoopi Goldberg and George Clooney. Haskell credits his success to the life lessons his mother taught him. His new memoir chronicles his rise to the top of a cutthroat industry with the integrity, morals and values he learned from her intact.
Haskell has appeared on numerous TV programs including Access Hollywood, Bonnie Hunt, Morning Joe, FOX News and The Crystal Palace. He was even on the Food Network’s Iron Chef. For more information visit:
www.samhaskell.com/
Praise for Sam Haskell’s
PROMISES I MADE MY MOTHER
“My friend Sam Haskell’s journey has taken him from rural Mississippi to the great cities of the world—including the White House and Buckingham Palace. This book will tell you exactly how he did it. He had an inspirational mother who taught him life’s lessons
—Morgan Freeman
“It has been over 30 years since I signed on as Sam’s first client right out of the mail room at the William Morris Agency. He has kept his promises to his beloved mother and to all the rest of us who owe him so much. This book is a must-read for anyone who hopes to find ‘true’ success in any field…the kind that lasts forever
—Kathie Lee Gifford
“Sam Haskell is an anomaly in Hollywood. He brings to this book his humor, his honor and his unique perspective on how to live life. He is a great friend
—Les Moonves, President and Chief Executive Officer, CBS
“My friend Sam Haskell has revealed aspects of his life that even I didn’t know…PROMISES I MADE MY MOTHER is an eye-opening read for anyone who has the capacity to dream
—Dolly Parton
“I’ve always wondered how Sam Haskell survived in Hollywood, a viper’s nest that would make any asp jealous! Sam always treated everyone with respect and behaved with honor. Now having read PROMISES I MADE MY MOTHER, I understand that Sam found success by being true to himself and keeping his promises to his mother. It’s all in the breeding, and for you, it’s all in the reading
—Doris Roberts, actress, “Everybody Loves Raymond”
“My friend Sam Haskell’s PROMISES I MADE MY MOTHER is a portrait of a character—something mothers and sons should read together while celebrating one of the greatest bonds that exist in the world today
—Lily Tomlin
Promises I Made My Mother
By Sam Haskell
With a foreword by Ray Romano
_
“People find it hard to believe that a guy with [Sam Haskell’s] outlook and approach to life can ever make it in this business, and that’s what amazes me. He did and he still does and I don’t see him ever compromising who he his. … After reading [PROMISES I MADE MY MOTHER], and learning more about his life, what inspires him, the things he’s accomplished, the way he did it, and the core of who he really is, I felt I needed to call my brothers and tell them something. My list of heroes has changed. I have three now
—From Ray Romano’s Foreword
_
“What would my mother say As former Worldwide Head of Television for the William Morris Agency, Sam Haskell asked himself that same question more than once in his long career. Haskell has handled the hottest stars and packaged the highest-rated shows. But he didn’t land those opportunities by acting like the agents we see on Entourage. His Mississippi roots—and, above all, his devoted and indomitable mother Mary—instilled in him values of faith, integrity, and honor that made this small-town boy successful beyond his wildest dreams, and still guide him to this day. In PROMISES I MADE MY MOTHER (Ballantine Hardcover 2009), Haskell reveals how the pledge he made to his mother to live a decent life allowed him to thrive—not only as a husband and father, but in the cut-throat, shark-infested waters of Hollywood.
In amusing, affecting, and frequently warts-and-all anecdotes, Haskell chronicles his upbringing in Amory, Mississippi (pop. 7,000), weaving his mother’s life lessons into the fabric of his engaging story. In these pages, you’ll discover Haskell as a child, experiencing the power of hope as he waited patiently for the “Cheer Man” (a rep for the detergent company who gave ten dollars to anyone using the brand) to visit his tiny town, as advertised on TV; learning humility after losing an eighth grade “Good Citizenship” award he cockily assumed he’d win; and confronting the complications of human character when a traumatic, near fatal car crash exposed the true nature of his judgmental, unfaithful father.
In Hollywood, Haskell would rely upon honesty, self-reliance, and his mother’s teachings of faith to rise swiftly from scoring a gig as a worker in the William Morris mailroom to becoming an agent and then an executive vice president. His capacities for friendship, foresight, and being “thoughtfully political” would allow him to handle client crises like Swoosie Kurtz’s deal-breaking insistence on a private bathroom while shooting Sisters, to tense negotiations that nearly scuttled the last year of Everybody Loves Raymond and the entire existence of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. They also helped him breathe new life into the flagging Miss America pageant—desperately in need of a makeover when he took the reins in 2005.
At last, Mary Haskell’s precept that “it takes a good parent to make a good child” would help Haskell lovingly (though not infallibly) raise his own family, and both ease and endure his mother’s death from cancer. Ultimately, Haskell achieved success with self-respect, and through his story, we learn how we too can maintain our dignity and integrity when faced with life’s challenges. This stirring memoir is a testament to mothers everywhere who instill in their sons the lasting values they need to become devoted fathers.
About the Author
SAM HASKELL, former Executive Vice President and Worldwide Head of Television for William Morris, was named by TV Week as one of the 25 Most Innovative and Influential People in Television. Now focused on philanthropy, he lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.
PROMISES I MADE MY MOTHER
By Sam Haskell
A Ballantine Books Hardcover;
ISBN: 978-0-345-50655-9; $24.00; 256 pp.
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