(via press release) – For 20 years, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) host Robert Osborne has introduced thousands of films and interviewed hundreds of stars, including several longer in-depth interviews with Hollywood legends in his continuing series of specials, Private Screenings. This January, TCM is going to turn the tables on Osborne as the interviewer becomes the interviewee in TCM’s brand new special Private Screenings: Robert Osborne. Osborne was interviewed for the special by his longtime friend and former co-host of “The Essentials Alec Baldwin. Private Screenings: Robert Osborne” is slated to premiere Monday, Jan. 6, at 8 p.m. (ET/PT). It will be followed by a night of four films hand-picked by Osborne.
The special is packed with great stories from Osborne’s life and career, which has included influential encounters with several notable figures, Jane Darwell, who suggested he move to Hollywood after working with him in a regional theater production; Lucille Ball, who put him under contract at Desilu and later encouraged him to go into journalism; Natalie Wood, who helped him work out the questions for his first interview; Olivia de Havilland, who asked Osborne to escort her to the American Film Institute’s tribute to Bette Davis and whom Osborne continues to talk nearly every Sunday; and Dorothy Lamour, who introduced Osborne to the executives who would eventually launch Turner Classic Movies. Osborne also speaks about the many memorable Private Screenings interviews he has conducted since the franchise launched in September 1995, including with such stars as Betty Hutton, Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell and Mickey Rooney.
The following is a complete schedule for TCM’s salute to Robert Osborne, which includes the premiere of “Private Screenings: Robert Osborne,” followed by four of Osborne’s favorite films.
Monday, Jan. 6
8 p.m. – Private Screenings: Robert Osborne (2014)– Premiere
9:30 p.m. – The Third Man (1949)
11:30 p.m. – Private Screenings: Robert Osborne (2014)– Encore
1 a.m. – Libeled Lady (1936)
3 a.m. – Love Letters (1945)
5 a.m. – The Band Wagon (1953)
