Herbie J Pilato Explained

Herbie J Pilato
Birth Date:October 9, 1960
Birth Place:Rochester, New York, US
Occupation:Writer
Years Active:1992–present

Herbert James Pilato (born October 9, 1960) is an American writer about television.

Early life and education

Herbert James Pilato was born on October 9, 1960, in Rochester, New York, to Frances Mary Pilato (née Turri) and Herbert Pompeii Pilato.[1] [2] His parents were of Italian descent.[3] He completed a bachelor's degree in Theatre Arts from Nazareth University, and also studied Television and Film at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Career

An aspiring actor, he applied in late 1983 to become an NBC page, and was accepted six months later.[4] He made uncredited appearances in several television shows, but never landed a breakthrough role. In 1989, he returned to Rochester to care for his aging parents and to write.[5]

Pilato's favorite TV show, the 1960s sitcom Bewitched, was the subject of his first book, The Bewitched Book, published in 1992. He followed it with a companion guide to the early 1970s television series Kung Fu. Writing for AsianWeek, Gerald Lim described The Kung Fu Book of Caine (1993) as, "everything and anything one could possibly want to know – and not want to know" on the subject, and "an overly heroic portrait of Caine". A second book about the series, The Kung Fu Book of Wisdom, followed in 1995. Given Pilato's subject expertise, he was hired to consult on the 2005 film Bewitched, a re-imagining of the original series.[6] A revised edition of his first book, retitled Bewitched Forever, was published in 2004.[7]

Pilato told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle that his usual practice when researching a show is to interview as many people involved with it as possible, and that directors, writers, and producers are often "more open to interviews as they don't get the chance to talk about themselves as much as actors". He also hires a team of fans to help with trivia.[8] He started writing a book about The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman in 1993, and finished it two years later, but it was not published until 2007, after he found a new publisher.[9] Nearly half of the book is devoted to an episode-by-episode guide. Brett Taylor, of Video Watchdog, wrote that the volume, "earns its definitive title hands down; even for those with only a casual interest, it proves more diverting than one might expect".[10] Another pop-culture/media tie-in book, about Life Goes On, quickly followed, as did as a book drawing on his experience as an NBC page.

In 2012, Pilato returned to Bewitched and its star Elizabeth Montgomery with his first biography, Twitch Upon a Star. Based to a great extent upon his four interviews with Montgomery, who died in 1995, Pilato's work explores her complicated life. A year later, he followed with The Essential Elizabeth Montgomery.[11]

In 2019, Pilato published a biography of television star Mary Tyler Moore, [12] which in subsequent years was followed by biographies of Sean Connery and Diana Rigg.

Selected publications

Notes and References

  1. Encyclopedia: Herbie J. Pilato . Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors . 2015 . subscription . May 28, 2021 . Gale In Context: Biography.
  2. News: Pilato, Frances M. (Turri) . Rochester Democrat and Chronicle . May 6, 2008.
  3. News: Lim . Gerard . January 1994 . TV's Kwai Chang Caine Immortalized By Author . . 28.
  4. News: Braxton . Greg . September 2, 1984 . NBC Pages Aren't Stars, but It's Show Biz . Los Angeles Times . GB1.
  5. Web site: Pilato . Herbie J . Every Good Thing I Did for My Parents... . The Caregiver's Voice. July 13, 2018 .
  6. News: Garner . Jack . June 24, 2005 . Show's Loyal Fan Wrote the Book . Rochester Democrat and Chronicle . C.1.
  7. Web site: Jone Devlin Interviews author Herbie J Pilato . Harpies Bizarre.
  8. News: Author Spotlight: Rochester's Writers . Rochester Democrat and Chronicle . December 30, 2007 . C.7 . Also, I usually hire a team of fans who help me with the general trivia of each show I profile..
  9. News: Quinlan . Linda . TV chronicler tackles original 'Bionic' TV series . Ionia Sentinel - Standard . November 20, 2007.
  10. Taylor . Brett . October 2008 . The Bionic Book The Six Million Dollar Man & The Bionic Woman Reconstructed . . 144 . Book review . 78.
  11. News: Zonkel . Phillip . Cerritos resident Herbie J Pilato writes biography of "Bewitched" TV star Elizabeth Montgomery . Press Telegram . December 2, 2012.
  12. News: Hayes . Anthony C . Mary: The Mary Tyler Moore Story . Baltimore Post-Examiner . November 22, 2018.

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