In this episode of The Tyler Wagner Show, host Tyler Wagner sits down with George Stevens Jr., a multigenerational Hollywood figure who has worn many hats—filmmaker, writer, producer, director, playwright, founder of the American Film Institute (AFI), and creator of the Kennedy Center Honors. Stevens recounts his family’s deep roots in the performing arts, tracing back to 19th‑century stage actors, and describes how his father’s career as a celebrated director shaped his early exposure to film. Initially aspiring to be a sportswriter, Stevens helped his father on the screenplay for A Place in the Sun and worked as a company clerk on the western Shane, which cemented his passion for cinema. He outlines his early professional trajectory: two years as a motion‑picture officer in the Air Force, directing television classics such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Peter Gunn, and collaborating with his father on The Diary of Anne Frank. Stevens later moved to Washington at Edward R. Murrow’s invitation to run the Motion Picture Division of the United States Information Agency, positioning him at the intersection of Hollywood and politics during the Kennedy era—a period he calls the "golden age of Washington." He founded AFI and the Kennedy Center Honors, earning a life‑achievement Oscar (one Oscar, 15 Emmys) presented by Annette Bening and Sidney Poitier. The conversation shifts to practical advice for authors seeking film adaptations, emphasizing the importance of reputable agents and relationship‑building, and discusses how modern technology and festivals have democratized entry into filmmaking. Stevens shares vivid anecdotes from his memoir My Place in the Sun: Life in the Golden Age of Hollywood and Washington, including a spontaneous flight to Cuba that ended with a drink beside Ernest Hemingway, a phone call from President Kennedy praising his documentary The Five Cities of June, and multiple personal encounters with icons like Elizabeth Taylor, Bob Dylan, and Led Zeppelin. Stevens promotes his memoir, available in bookstores, online, and as an audiobook, and directs listeners to his website (georgestevensjr.com) for further contact and information.
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All right, everyone, welcome back to another episode. Today we have George Stevens Jr. with us. So welcome to the show, man. Yeah, pumped to have you on. If you can just start us off with a little intro, just a little bit more about you and who you are.
Well, I am— I am many things. I am a filmmaker, a writer, producer, director. I'm a playwright, and I am the founder of the American Film Institute, and I founded the Kennedy Center Honors, and I've got a pretty good golf game. Oh, love it.
I need to get better at that, I'm not gonna lie. Um, so, uh, first question I have for you, and, and from my research, I understand— I think your father was in the business, um, and hence, you know, the junior. But can you tell us a little bit more about that? Like, what was it like? You know, I guess you kind of grew up in the industry. Would that be somewhat accurate?
I did. I was born in the Hollywood Hospital.
Okay, there we go.
That's a start. And my father then was a young director. He was 30 when he directed his first film, Alice Adams. With Katharine Hepburn and Fred MacMurray. And he went on to win a couple of Oscars. And he's, I guess, it's not at all an exaggeration to say he's one of the great filmmakers of all time. Giant, Shane, A Place in the Sun, Gunga Din, Swing Time, Starin' Rogers, And the list goes on.
That's incredible. So do you have, um, did you always know you kind of wanted to like do this as well, or when you were younger did you think you'd go down like a different path?
I thought I was going to be a sportswriter, but, um, I, I, I was around when my father was making films and I got interested in it. And he gave me, my senior year of high school, he'd just come back from the war. And he, I didn't have a job, and he said, well, you can help me. So he gave me two tasks. One was to break down Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy, the classic book. And I did that into 2 notebooks, every character, every scene from Parts 1 and Part 2, because he was about to start the screenplay for what became, based on the Dreiser book, that became A Place in the Sun, which starred Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters, and was one of the great films. He won his first Oscar for that. And the other was to read the stuff that came from Paramount Studios, where he had his film company. And there were books, novels, a lot of treacly love stories that for a 17-year-old were sort of heavy going on warm summer days. And I picked up on a— on an afternoon and read it that afternoon. And I went to see him that night, he was in bed, and I said, Dad, I said, this is— I had the book in my hand, I said, I think this is really a good story and I think you ought to read it. And he was reading in bed and he said, well, why don't you tell me the story? So I found myself kind of walking around his bed trying to reconstruct as best I could from my afternoon reading, the story of Jack Shafer's novel Shane. And of course, or not of course, but it happened the next summer. I was in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, right next to the camera, working at a job called company clerk on the making of the historic western that starred Alan Ladd, Van Heflin, Gene Arthur, Jack Palance, and others. So that was my introduction, and I think he was kind of giving me an opportunity to find out whether I had any aptitude for this sort of thing or any interest, and gradually I developed an interest that surpassed my interest in sports writing.
Got it. Okay, now I just thought of this question. How did your, um, how did your dad get into the business?
His parents were actors. My father grew up in San Francisco, and his father and his mother were actors and actresses on the stage. And his mother's mother had started in the theater. She was born after the Civil War in San Francisco. And became a very prominent actress. Her name was Georgia Woodthorpe, and she is remembered for being the youngest Ophelia to the great Edwin Booth, America's greatest Hamlet, to his Hamlet. And she started 5 generations of Stevenses in show business.
Wow, that's so cool. So this is like a full, like, family, um, like, just completely down. So it's, it's been What would that be like? Couple hundred years the family's been in the business, right? Something like that.
Let's see. None. I guess 1860, 1960, 160 years plus.
Okay, got it. That's awesome. Okay, so then, you know, obviously your dad's kind of like— I don't want to say testing, but just like seeing if you're into it or not. Turns out you are. What was your— I kind of like these questions. So like, what was your first like biggest success? But also, what was your first— did you have like a big failure that you like learned like lesson from?
Not really. I was in the Air Force for 2 years. And I was a motion picture officer. So because I had some background, and then I came out. And before long, I was directing. Jack Webb, who started Dragnet, made me a director at 25. And I've directed television shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Peter Gunn and Philip Marlowe, you know, some of the top television shows of the '50s. And then I went to work with my father on the Diary of Anne Frank, and we worked together on that. And I mentioned A Place in the Sun, and my memoir that's out now is called My Place in the Sun: Life in the Golden Age of Hollywood and Washington. And it, you know, of course, is is based on the title of his film. And it's also— it's now out in both bookstores and online. And also on— I recorded the audiobook. So it's on Amazon and Spotify.
Awesome, awesome. So yeah, what— when you say the golden age, obviously, like, I know what you mean. But can you go a little deeper on like, How would you describe, like, what does it mean, the Golden Age for Washington and Hollywood?
Yeah, well, the Golden Age of Hollywood is pretty much thought of the '30s and '40s, um, and of course that's the time that I was growing up and getting started. And, uh, there was a major turn in my life right after I finished working with my father on the on the great— on The Diary of Anne Frank. Uh, you've heard of Edward R. Murrow, the great broadcaster, uh, probably the greatest in my book. He went to work for President Kennedy, uh, as head of the United States Information Agency. And Murrow and I met, and at age 29— he— I was 29, he wasn't, uh— he asked me to come to Washington to run the Motion Picture Division of the United States Information Agency. And that led to me being there through the New Frontier. And I'm still— I'm speaking to you from Washington, where I live. And so I was part of what I call the golden age of Washington, the Kennedy years on through the Obama years.
Yeah, got it, got it. No, that makes sense. Um, and actually, just to say, I mean, for people that are just listening, you can't see, but I like the way your house looks. It looks pretty awesome back there. It looks like cozy or something like that.
Um, and that little thing in the background, that is my Oscar.
So, uh, oh, okay. Oh yes, got it.
Yes. It's a family habit.
Yeah, makes sense. I love that. What did that— and obviously I know it was positive feelings, but like when you won that Oscar, how many Oscars do you have? Is it one?
I have one Oscar and 15 Emmys. I did more television than movies. Yeah.
I wanted to make sure because I just, in case you had like 50 Oscars or something, I was like, I want to make sure I ask the question. So winning that Oscar though, What film did you win it for? And then like, can you share more about the experience of that? I'm just curious, like, did you—
Sure.
Do you ever like know that it's gonna happen before or is it a complete surprise?
In this case I did because this was an Oscar for my life achievement and it was voted by the board of governors. So I was told in advance and And it was a very— actually, I was producing the Kennedy Center Honors at the time, and that always took place on the first weekend in December. And we had rehearsals all weekend and a Saturday night dinner at the State Department where we, the honorees, received their laurels. And then on Sunday, a White House reception. And then the honors gala from the Kennedy Center. And it turned out that the Academy Awards that year were on Saturday night, December 5th. So I had to fly out from rehearsal and then fly back overnight. But it was an exciting 2 hours in which I received it. And Annette Bening and Sidney Poitier presented me with the Oscars. Sidney was a dear friend, as was Annette, as is Annette. And I worked with Sidney in a number of areas. So being, receiving that from prestigious and talented people like Annette and Sidney made it very special.
Yeah, that's incredible. I'm curious too, I mean, a lot of our audience, they're authors. So I mean, it's not necessarily a direct correlation, but it's pretty darn close because a lot of books get turned into movies. Okay, actually, I'll start here. What is, if an author wanted a book to be turned into a movie, is there some sort of like process that you'd recommend? Like, how would you go about doing that? Like, I feel like that would be valuable.
If somebody has written a book, are they know a book that they like, or what?
If somebody has written a book and they want to like have it, have it, uh, get in front of the right people or give it a chance at becoming a movie or turned into a movie, how do you like go about doing that? Like, what's the process?
Um, well, a lot of people have agents. Some authors, most authors have agents, and agents are very good at that. They know how to get in front of people. Um, and, uh, if you, uh, I would say basically that's the way. Or, you know, if there's a producer you admire, try and find their address and send them the book or send them the reviews. Yeah.
Okay, gotcha. So you'd really— essentially what you're saying is like, you know, obviously it'd be a good book, but you'd find a good agency that has a track record of this, and then if they'll take you on, then they could maybe get you in the door. So kind of like relationships in a sense.
It is, yes.
Gotcha. Um, and then as far as on the flip side, if somebody wanted to, um, because obviously this is kind of like your family thing, but say if like an outsider wanted to try to get into the industry, is there a way you'd recommend that, or would you basically just say like you know, make good film? Because now in the social media world, I feel like you could make really good things, post them online, and then you could be seen and then kind of brought in. Do you think that's a good way?
I, I, I think it's, it's more democratic than it used to be. I think, yeah, because, you know, when I was growing up, you know, most cameras were big 35mm cameras, and you had to have that expensive film, you know. But when video came along, uh, people are now able to do such good work. Um, and, uh, and most people who are— who want to do that have kind of got it figured out, you know, that their way of getting your work in front of people— and there are festivals and, uh, oh yeah, these museums and all different ways And people who are anxious to do that usually have a pretty good idea of how to try and get noticed. It's never easy, but it's— or sometimes it is. Sometimes people have, you know, lightning strikes.
Yeah. No, no, that makes sense. And I forgot there are— there's like film festivals, like I think Cannes Film Festival or something like— like there's all these.
Yeah. And in the United States, there's South by Southwest. The New York Film Festival and a lot of smaller film festivals, regional film festivals. Um, in Minnesota there's a festival every year, and there are ways that people kind of get into that world, you know. Or many people are— maybe, maybe they've started out and they're working as an assistant or something, uh, in New York or in Hollywood or in some, uh, film community.
And then as far, um, because this ties directly with our audience, as far as the book goes, when, um, let's start from the beginning on that. Like, when did you decide you wanted to write a book? And then what was it, what was it actually like, like the process of writing a book?
Uh, well, everything's different. Mine is, of course, is a memoir, and I've I'm a writer. I mean, I write television, I write plays, movies. So it was— and I'd done two books previously, and but in this case of a memoir, I collected things and kept things and led a very interesting life, um, with a lot of interesting people. And so I was conscious that one day I might want to do it. And then I sort of just, many years ago, I kind of scoped out, kind of traced my life and said, this was interesting. And, you know, I got a, you know, working on movies. When I was in the Air Force, I was a motion picture officer, as I mentioned, but I was making these films on the flight line in Panama City at Tyndall Air Force Base. Making training films about how to fly an F-86D jet interceptor. And I felt like kind of a wimp. So a friend of mine and I were driving around one day in Florida and we saw this hangar and it said in white letters, it painted rides on the side of this red hangar. And we went over to the hangar and a guy walked up in a red cap and said, my name's Jack. He said, I'll teach you to fly for $100. And so we signed up for flying lessons. The $100 was worth more than $100 now. And it was 10 one-hour lessons. And after 7 lessons, I was flying. And then my friend and I bought a small plane and we flew it to Cuba. So I have all these kinds of stories that I started putting it together. And then I just started writing.
What would you tell— I want to hear more about this Cuba trip. What happened?
Oh, well, it was great. You know, we had to take a little 90-horsepower plane. We didn't— I remember our survival kit was a box with ham sandwiches, bottle of scotch and some bandages. Yeah, except we were sort of rookie pilots, and it was 100 miles over water from— we were in Orlando and flew down to Key West, and it was great. And the climax of it was one afternoon we went into the Floridita Bar, which is famous because of the author who was known for hanging out there. And it was just a kind of 5 o'clock on a Thursday afternoon. And we looked over and there in a kind of bush jacket having his first daiquiri of the day was Ernest Hemingway. And so we thought, you know, our trip is complete. I think he called it a Papa Doble, his drink. So we had a couple of Papa Dobles and we didn't bother him, but we were in, you know, two tables away. So that was okay. We got back in our little plane and flew home.
That's so cool. That's actually one of the sickest stories I've ever heard. That's so wild. Okay, so if you were to pick out from your book, maybe like, I don't know, 2 more stories that are somewhat— they don't have to be similar to that, but are there any that like stick out that you think would be like a good teaser that you'd be like, hey, here's a couple of stories?
I mean, there are just so many. I mean, because of the people I was associated with and I have reason to write about them. I mean, I met Elizabeth Taylor. When I was 17, and she was about the same, when she was shooting A Place in the Sun, and she was a friend throughout my life. And so there are stories about Elizabeth and, you know, the people I associated with in the Kennedy Center Honors. One story, when I was working for Ed Murrow in Washington. President Kennedy was a very inspiring figure. And I loved his speeches. And he, quote, had wonderful quotes. And he read the ancient Greeks and quoted the Greeks occasionally. And I wrote down one, because he described the Greek definition of happiness. Which is the fullest use of one's powers along lines of excellence. And I realized I was making 300 documentaries a year with young filmmakers to be shown overseas by USIA, and it was— and we really aspired to excellence. And I realized that Ed Murrow and President Kennedy had given me my passport to Greek happiness. I was exercising my powers along lines of excellence. And I made a film— we made a lot of films about President Kennedy, and one was about his trip to Berlin in 1963, where he went to the Berlin Wall and made his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, and it was a wonderful documentary called The Five Cities of June. And I was— it was being distributed overseas, and I was in Ed Murrow's staff meeting with about 20 people, senior Foreign Service officers, the head of the Voice of America, and me, the motion picture And my deputy came in and handed me a note. And I looked at it and kind of glanced at Murrow and excused myself. And my office was just one flight downstairs. And I walked in and my secretary said, in reference to the note, she said, I'll get Mrs. Lincoln back on the line. And I walked in and sat down, picked up the phone, and President Kennedy's Assistant Evelyn Lincoln came on the line and said, "I'll put the President on, Mr. Stevens." And I waited, and there was that voice. We had met, and he said, "Hello, George." He said, "I saw The Five Cities of June last night. I think it's the best government documentary I've ever seen." And as he was known to do, he had tremendous curiosity. He said, "How many countries is it being shown in?" Is it being translated in other languages? And we had this back and forth about this film. And, and I never expected to be talking on the phone with the President. No, I just turned 30. And then suddenly he said, well, he said, keep up the good work. Thank you. And he was gone. And I went back into Murrow's office and sat down and told my deputy had told Murrow, you know, and he said, well, you want to tell us about your phone call? And so I described it. And it was so moving, because these Foreign Service officers who, you know, had been in government for a long time, many of them very talented. They were so moved to hear that President Kennedy had called one of them essentially, that he cared that much about what we were doing. And it was one of Kennedy's kind of techniques and one of his qualities that he wanted to talk to the person doing the work. You know, he could have called Murrow, but he called me. And it made everybody in that agency kind of— they were— their step was a little faster the next day.
Yeah. That's incredible.
I love that.
Oh my gosh. Yeah, I can't, especially at 30 years old, I can't imagine like talking to the president at 30. That's pretty cool. That's awesome.
And then he, then he, 2 weeks later, I was in Los Angeles. And I'd been out late, 3 hours earlier than Washington and my secretary called. And she said, Mrs. Lincoln just called. With the president. I gave her your number. And so I'm thinking, do I have time to get into the bathroom and splash some cold water on my face? And as I got out of bed, the phone rang, and I was, you know, in that moment of uncertainty. And I said, I can't do that. So I went and picked up the phone, and it was— and she put President Kennedy on. And he said, George, he said, how are we doing with the 5 cities of June? And I said, well, great. And I added a few things. He said, well, I think you ought to enter it in the Academy Awards. And so I said, actually, we've already done that, Mr. President. And he said, okay, fine. He was gone. You know, he's in Washington in the Oval Office. What does he turn to now that he's finished calling me about the Academy Awards?
I know, it's so interesting.
He was really an inspiring, uh, figure.
That's awesome. Well, look, here's what I want to do. If there's anything we didn't cover, please share it. Um, I think, uh, you know, for everybody listening, at least from my standpoint, I feel like in this interview all I want now is to know more. So I think that's kind of the goal sometimes of these is, you know, you give give a lot of value, give some story, but now I want to read the entire book. So regardless, if there's anything that we didn't cover, please share it and then let people know how they can like stay in contact with you and, um, uh, where the book is and all that.
Great. Okay, well, wonderful. Uh, yes, well, the book is called My Place in the Sun: Life in the Golden Age of Hollywood and Washington, um, and it's, uh, you know, at the usual places. And I have a website that's all lowercase letters, georgestevensjr.com. And that's my website. And you can track me down there. And it's very nice to have talked with you and your listeners, Tyler Wagner.
Thank you, man. Thank you so much for coming on. I enjoyed it. And yeah, some of the stories, I really am like, wow, it is a book full of stories.
And I have to say, people really love it because, you know, and they're to the point. I edited this book very carefully. So it moves from one to the other. And it's also a book of aspiration and, you know, dealing with people who really, these artists that we work with on the Kennedy Center Honors for 37 years, ranging from, you know, Isaac Stern to Led Zeppelin to Bob Dylan to Jessye Norman and Sidney Poitier and Jack Lemmon, dear friends of mine. And so people really find it interesting. And so I'm happy to— I'm not embarrassed to give them a tip on it.
Yeah, no, man, it's amazing. Thank you again. I appreciate it.
