One of America’s greatest female swimmers of all time, Donna de Varona, will be the featured guest on A Mick A Mook and A Mic on March 16th.

At the age of 17, Donna appeared on ABC’s Wide World of Sports, becoming the youngest and one of the first women sportscasters for a national network. Her groundbreaking career has earned her an Emmy, two Gracies, and the opportunity to cover a wide variety of sports events including 17 winter and summer Olympic games.

In 1969 de Varona was inducted to the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an “Honor Swimmer.” In 2003, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York.And in 2006, she was inducted into the Museum of Television & Radio’s first class of fifty “She Made It” pioneers in media.

Donna has also served as an activist for sports and fitness opportunities for America’s youth. Since her retirement from competitions in 1965, she has served five terms on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and has been appointed to Presidential Commissions under presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and Bush.

A consultant to the United States Senate, de Varona took a leave of absence from her pioneering television career to help with the passage of the 1978 Amateur Sports Act, which restructured how Olympic sports are governed in the United States.

A promoter of women in sport, Donna joined Billie Jean King, in the mid-70s, establishing the Women’s Sports Foundation. She served as its first President (1979–1984) and subsequently, became the chairman and Honorary Trustee for the Foundation. Under de Varona’s leadership, the Women’s Sport Foundation initiated the Hall of Fame Dinner (now the Annual Salute to Women in Sports Awards Dinner). Over the years, the Foundation has raised more than $30 million to support its programs.

Donna’s professional and personal contributions as an athlete, sportscaster and an activist are vast and extremely impressive – and her appearance on A Mick A Mook and A Mic is a must see.

R. Brandon Johnson: Actor/Host. Co-star of SHAKE IT UP, with Zendaya. Ubiquitous host of many shows, including TNT reality series 72 Hours.

Mykelti Williamson: Actor/Director, has worked constantly over the course of his 40 year career. He is best known for his roles in the films Forrest Gump (as Bubba), 12 Angry Men (1997), Con Air, and Ali, and the television shows Boomtown, 24, and Justified. In 2016, he portrayed Gabriel Maxson in Denzel Washington’s acclaimed film adaptation of August Wilson’s play Fences, reprising his role from the 2010 Broadway revival. Mykelti has also directed numerous episodes of television including the Law & Order franchise.

World renown entrepreneur Art Levitt will be joining Frank and Billy on A Mick A Mook and A Mic podcast this summer.

Levitt was the founding CEO of Fandango, Inc., the premier online movie ticketing and entertainment business. Art launched Fandango in July 2000, and led the company to growth and profitability, establishing the company as a nationally recognized brand known for its creativity, operational excellence, and premium service experience.

From 1996 to 2000, Levitt also served as President of Disney Regional Entertainment, a division of The Walt Disney Company focused on launching Disney-branded entertainment concepts for expansion in markets throughout the U.S. Levitt was responsible for such businesses as the ESPNZone, a sports, dining, and entertainment complex, DisneyQuest, an indoor interactive theme park, and Club Disney an interactive children’s play center.

Art’s current focus is working with environmental nonprofits, where he is able to leverage his executive experience and pursue his passion for making a difference in the health of the planet. He serves on the boards of The Aquarium of the Pacific, Reef Check Foundation, and Channel Islands Restoration.

.Levitt has been involved in the Philanthropy and conservation world, serving as Chief of Staff of the Dalio Foundation, where his responsibilities included managing initiatives in Global Oceanographic work and Marine Conservation.

Before Disney Regional Entertainment, Levitt served as President and CEO of Hard Rock Café, International from 1993 to 1996, where he managed the company’s global business, including global expansion, repositioning the brand for worldwide growth, business extensions, and increased revenues and profitability.

Preceding Hard Rock Café, Levitt was vice president of resorts and special projects for The Walt Disney Company, where he oversaw the operation of the Walt Disney World Resort’s nightlife and entertainment complex, Pleasure Island, as well as The Disney Village Marketplace, and the resort hotels Disney Village Resort and Disney Vacation Club.

Levitt completed the Program for Management Development (P.M.D.) at Harvard University and graduated from Southampton College with a B.A. in Biology with a focus on Marine Science.

Be sure to join Billy and Frank for this fascinating interview with the iconic entrepreneur.

The Gents- Billy and Frank share wild stories about their past.

TODD GRINNELL: Actor, Credits include, Norman Lear’s, ONE DAY AT A TIME (Janitor Dwayne Pat Schneider), FOUR KINGS, GRACE & FRANKIE, and WITH LOVE.
Actor and Director Todd Grinnell, known for playing janitor Dwayne Patrick “Pat” Schneider in Norman Lear’s 1970s sitcom, ONE DAY AT A TIME, joins Billy and Frankon the April 17th episode of A Mick A Mook and A Mic.

Additional Grinnell credits include FOUR KINGS, GRACE & FRANKIE, and WITH LOVE.

Born in Massachusetts, Grinnell landed his first professional gig at the age of 26, appearing in the film “Lost Soul” (2002). His television debut came in 2006 with a guest role on the short-lived sitcom “Love, Inc.”

Todd married actress India de Beaufort in 2015, and they have one son.

Be sure to join Billy, Frank, and Todd on 17 April for this fun episode.

Tom Arnold is both a funny and controversial individual. This is definitely an episode you won’t want to miss, especially if you like show business stories.

Arnold is best known for playing Arnie Thomas on Roseanne, which starred his ex-wife Roseanne Barr, and opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in True Lies.

Tom has appeared in many films, including True Lies, Nine Months, Big Bully, Carpool, McHale’s Navy, Animal Factory , Cradle 2 the Grave, Mr. 3000, Happy Endings, Pride, The Great Buck Howard, and Madea’s Witness Protection

Tom was also the host of The Best Damn Sports Show Period for four years, and appeared on Sons of Anarchy.

In the early ‘80s, Arnold began his career as a prop-based comedian in a routine called Tom Arnold and the Goldfish Review. It was there he met a then unknown comic named Rosanne Barr. A year later he was brought in as a writer and eventually co-star for the television sitcom, Roseanne.

Everything good and bad took off from there for Tom … from stardom, to addiction, to multiple divorces, to eventual sobriety.

Be sure to lock-in March 20th on your calendar for what will surely be one of the more memorable episodes of A Mick A Mook and A Mic.

###

Ren Bell, one of America’s foremost young TV Comedy Directors, will join Billy and Frank on the April 3rd episode of A Mick A Mook and A Mic.

This young, South Carolina native is not only a Dick Van Dyke lookalike he is a throwback to the days Van Dyke, Carroll O’Connor, Andy Griffith, Candice Bergen, and Robin Williams plied their trade under the watchful eyes of genius directors such as Howard Morris, Howard Storm, Joel Zwick, and Barnet Kellman.

Ren knows where the jokes are, and he knows where to put the cameras. He has directed multiple episodes of NIGHT COURT and CALL ME KAT and is becoming a go-to guy for the casts, studios, and networks.

Be sure to join Billy and Frank for this fun episode.