Today on another encore edition of The Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Eric Bonerz, son of actor and director Peter Bonerz. Host Josh Mills goes way back with Eric, who, while slightly older, attended the same Oakwood School that has become somewhat synonymous with this podcast. Like Josh, Oakwood was a Petri dish of children of celebrities and it’s partially the impetus for this podcast.
Our conversation with Eric was full of humor, pop culture references, lost LA lore and bizarre interactions with the film, TV, music and the world of animation if you can believe it. Eric recounts his father’s career as a comedic actor coming up in theater in San Francisco in the 60s and takes us on a journey through television in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Best known to fans as Jerry the Dentist on The Bob Newhart Show, Peter Bonerz moved behind the camera and became an in-demand television director with more than 350 credits to his name. So while we discuss shows like Wings and Murphy Brown, we also hear about Eric’s time on the set of the film Catch-22 as well as an evening spent in the Manson house with Nine Inch Nail’s Trent Reznor. Whoa.
Somehow on this episode we discuss AMC Jeeps, the Beastie Boys, the band Primus, actor Chuck McCann, actor Keir Dullea, the Jerry Lewis film, The Day The Clown Cried and much more. Eric is a touchstone to so many things, it just feels like he’s in the DNA of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Listen and find out for yourself, right now.
