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Noshing With Thaao Penghlis – April 18, 2024
Manage episode 413132211 series 2928496
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Author, Seducing Celebrities One Meal at a Time
Host, Thaao Penghlis’ Lost Treasures Podcast
This week, Ira spoke with actor Thaao Penghlis, author of Seducing Celebrities One Meal at a Time and host of Thaao Penghlis’ Lost Treasures Podcast. In this delicious episode of “Ira’s Everything Bagel,” Thaao talks about exploring the world as an outlet from acting; how travel helped him with his dialogue on television; actors he was influenced by; the importance of listening; the imperative of relaxation and humor; how he learned lines for “Days of Our Lives”; why he wrote the book; why Doris Roberts wrote the introduction to the book; how life is a work in progress; why the book is more than recipes and more on how he experienced life with celebrities; some of the greats he cooked for; the challenging part of writing the book; and his four-episode podcast on exploring the Trilogy of Homer through the life of German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann.
When Thaao Penghlis looks in the mirror, he sees different faces. During his remarkable run over the last four decades on the NBC daytime drama “Days of Our Lives,” the Australian-born actor has played both the seductively villainous Count Tony DiMera and the count’s evil look-a-like impersonator Andre DiMera.
The double roles are on top of a wide-ranging collection of characters on two other daytime series, General Hospital and Santa Barbara, as well as television series, movies and plays.
But one thing has remained constant for Thaao Penghlis: his Greek identity. The grandson of Greek immigrants to Australia in the 1940s, Penghlis celebrates his heritage in his acting, writing, cooking, travels, and now, in a new podcast.
In The Lost Treasures, Penghlis channels his passion for Greek history and culture by exploring the Trilogy of Homer through the life of German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, who himself changed history by uncovering the real-life locations and treasures in the ancient epic poems.
His travels inspired his first book, the deeply personal Places: The Journey of My Days, My Lives (2014), which delves into his Greek and Australian heritage and recounts his escapades from his entertainment career, including an afternoon tea with Jacqueline Kennedy that was life changing – for him and, he wonders for her. Fascinated with his Greek heritage, she asked him many questions. “And she later married a Greek!” he says – shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.
His second book, Seducing Celebrities One Meal at a Time (2015), presents recipes for what would be his dream Hollywood dinner parties. “With all the celebrities that crossed my path, I asked myself; How would I embrace and seduce them with food?” he says. “Through my imagination and experiences, I have put together recipes that would resonate with these wonderful talents.”
While the cookbook imagines the perfect meals for the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and George Clooney, Penghlis’ real-life dinner parties in his home in the hills above Hollywood are legendary.
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