Join beloved actors Steve Guttenberg and Tony Danza on Guttenberg’s life in Hollywood, their long friendship, and Guttenberg’s new memoir about caring for his aging father, Time to Thank.
In 1976, when he was 17, Steve Guttenberg’s parents gave him $300 for a two-week trip to try his hand at film acting in Hollywood. The moment he arrived he immediately started trying to sneak into studios, got into Paramount, commandeered an office in the Lucille Ball Makeup Building, strung a phone from the water stage and started making phone calls to casting directors, agents, and producers. But after a year in Hollywood, he decided the culture wasn’t for him, and at the request of his father he flew back East and became a college student. Three months later, he got an offer to co-star with Gregory Peck in The Boys from Brazil, and Steve was off and running again — going on to make films like Diner, Police Academy, Cocoon, and Three Men and a Baby (to name a few) grossing over a billion dollars.
But when his father was diagnosed with kidney failure, Steve didn’t hesitate to step into a wholly unexpected role: caretaker. Through the prism of the relationship with his father, Time to Thank looks back on his early life in Queens; his career as a rising Hollywood star, making those iconic films; and the painful and moving work of helping care for his ailing father — the hero and strength of the family. Hear Guttenberg and Danza as they discuss — with wit, empathy, and charm — the story of Guttenberg’s lifetime.