#271 - We Have To Not Be Afraid of Change

Following the dreams of her best friend who moved to New York City to play guitar for John Lennon, Sandra Furton Gabriel, she discovered that she loved having that All Access pass that got you backstage, but she didn’t want to be an entertainer. Starting out doing odd jobs, she soon found herself interning at Rogers & Cowan, the internationally recognized public relations firm. Although that job didn’t pan out, she wound up transcribing tapes for Sam Merrill, who was doing interviews for Playboy Magazine. That in turn led to a gig with D.I.R. Broadcasting, where she was hired to book talent for comedian Robert Klein’s radio show, and the rest is history.

Sandra soon found herself becoming the producer for a newly developed TV show with a young comedian by the name of David Letterman. Now it was only a matter of booking guests for the show. It sounds easier than it was, but needless to say that the role was full of challenges including guests who didn’t know who David was (actor Peter O’Toole had no idea who Letterman was), those that didn’t show up at all (drummer Levon Helm of “The Band” fame), and actor Bill Murray (the very first guest on “Late Night With David Letterman”) who wandered off the set before taping, who finally arrived in the studio just as he was being announced. After leaving Letterman, she went on to produce “The Joan Rivers Show” up until Joan started her home shopping show.

Sandra went on to create a daytime talk show pilot tentatively titled “Girlfriends”, featuring women of different views, cultures, and ethnicities, and pitched it to ABC Television. Unfortunately the show didn’t get picked up, but in Sandra’s words, “The View” came out of her proposal, although she was left out of the production. She went on to file a lawsuit against ABC and Barbara Walters, but lost in the end. Picking herself up, and dusting herself off, she went on to work with actress, producer, and syndicated daytime talk show Rolanda Watts.

Sandra Furton Gabriel has worked with such legends as Robin Williams, Stevie Winwood, Ringo Starr, William Shatner, Kenny Loggins, Rodney Dangerfield, Michael J. Fox, along with Stevie Nicks and Art Garfunkel.

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