Episode #162: Luke Yankee (Eileen Heckart)

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to a Connecticut Yankee in Hal Prince’s Court. And while that might not make sense to you now, believe me, it will after you listen to this episode with guest Luke Yankee. Son of Oscar winning actress Eileen Heckart, Luke talked to us about his mother with great affection as well as great humor. You see Eileen didn’t suffer fools gladly and it made for some very pointed (but funny) asides which we read about in his book about his mother Just Outside the Spotlight and discuss here.

I ask you, on what other podcast can you hear first-hand accounts of both Soupy Sales and Elizabeth Ashley, Sophia Loren and Bette Davis as well as Marilyn Monroe and, you guessed it, Edie Adams? While Eileen’s love was Broadway and she played roles in everything from Butterflies Are Free to Barefoot in the Park, it was her roles in films lie The Bad Seed and the film version of Butterflies that fans might know her best from After all, she did win an Oscar for the latter and was nominated for the former.

Along the way we discuss roles as Aunt Flo on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, her drive for normalcy in New Canaan for her children and family while in show business and maybe one of the most poignant stories we’ve ever heard on this podcast that frankly, unexpectedly choked us up. Along the way we hear stories about the randy George Segal, the ‘bad boy’ Jack Cassidy and the play that Luke will have produced about his relationship with his mother in February 2024. So sit back and take a listen to this episode is the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.