TVWriter™ Contributing Editor Emeritus Herbie J Pilato has inked deals to pen biographies of legendary actors Sean Connery and Diana Rigg, and a combined book about the equally iconic producers/directors George Lucas and Steven Spielberg and their blockbusting influence in Hollywood and with movie-going audiences around the world.
Repped by the Lee Sobel Literary Agency and attorney Gregory Tanner of the Tanner Firm, Pilato is the author of the critically-acclaimed, top-selling celebrity bios Twitch Upon a Star: The Bewitched Life and Career of Elizabeth
Montgomery, and Mary: The Mary Tyler Moore Story, among several other
successful media tie-in tomes.
He also hosts Then Again with Herbie J Pilato, a retro-geared TV talk show now streaming on Amazon Prime and Amazon PrimeTV, and distributed by Shout! Factory TV. In addition, Pilato serves as one of the show’s executive producers with Joel Eisenberg and Steven Hillard of Council Tree
Productions, with Lorie Girsh Eisenberg as producer.
Pilato’s new titles, Connery, Sean Connery: Before, During and After James
Bond and Lucas/Spielberg – The Director’s Cut: Their Billion Dollar Lives and Movies, will be published by the University of Kentucky Press for 2022 and 2024, respectfully. His One Tough Dame: The Life and Career of Diana Rigg, Before, During, and After The Avengers, will be published by the Mississippi University Press in 2023.
According to Pilato:
“Sean Connery will always be known as the first and best James Bond, and left behind a spectacularly complex legacy. From Diana Rigg’s ground-breaking debut on TV’s The Avengers in the 1960s to her regal, fierce presence on Game of Thrones, the prolific actress made her own indelible mark in popular culture.
“And George Lucas and Steven Spielberg continue to impact the world of block-buster entertainment in immeasurable ways, particularly in the scifi/fantasy/adventure sector.
“I will explore the extraordinary lives and careers of each of these remarkable individuals with the utmost honesty and dignity that they and the reader deserve.”
Says Tanner, “Due to his vast and respected experience throughout the entertainment and publishing industries, Herbie J Pilato is uniquely positioned to develop and deliver projects of the highest quality and literary merit.”
“This feels historic,” adds Sobel. “I signed Herbie J Pilato in October 2020 and by January 2021 I closed three book deals for him. He’s dedicated. He loves popculture. He’s professional. I’m both honored and delighted to have him as my client. His work and his work ethic speak for themselves.”
Congratulations, Herbie J! Now hurry up and deliver those three beauties so all of us at TVWriter™ will something wonderful to read.