CBS Sunday Morning on 29 March 2015

Charles Osgood introduced the stories for March 29, 2015. First, Legends on Frank Sinatra. Second, Tracy Smith on Jeff Hansen. Third, Jon Cryer interviewed by Ben Tracey. Seth Doane on railroading in India. Scott Simon on Brian Grazier. Steve Hartman on a math teacher.

News: Pope Francis at Vatican on Palm Sunday. News of the German pilot involved in the Airbus crash. NCAA: Kentucky and Wisconsin win. Earth Hour. Weather: 40s in Northeast.

Fact: As to airplane crashes. One could fly for everyday for 123,000 days before being involved in a crach


Elizabeth Palmer began the substantive show with a news account of the airplane crash in France, on flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf.

Scott Simon interviews Brian Grazer. What is a producer? Generates idea; creates team and has a creative and fiscal vision



Almanac. March 29, 1962. The night Jack Paar retired from the Tonight Show. He had begun in 1957. Kennedy, Nixon, Zsa Zsa Gabor. Jack Paar's walkout; return three weeks later. There must be a better way of making a living than this.
Paar died in 2004 at the age of 85.

Best decade in American life, 1980s (20%), 1990s (19%)

Tracy Smith interviews Jeff Hansen in piece Inner Vision. Paintings of vibrant colors. Hampton is blind. Lives in Kansas City. Neurofiber mitosis. Jeff started to create paintings on notecards. Plastic goop put on canvas; feels contours. Jeff Hansen original goes for $4000. At charity auctions, sell for $20,000 or more.

Now 425 recordings in national audio registry. Johnny Mercer. Ernie Ford: 16 Tons. Joan Baez, first solo album. The Doors in 1967. Steve Martin. ben e king: stand by me. Lauryn Hill is among 25 new entries. Blind Lemon Jefferson.
[Background: Under the terms of the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, the Librarian, with advice from the Library’s National Recording Preservation Board (NRPB), is tasked with annually selecting 25 recordings that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and are at least 10 years old. The selections for the 2014 registry bring the total number of recordings on the registry to 425, a small part of the Library’s vast recorded-sound collection of nearly 3 million items. ]

Last week in stocks briefly shown.

Ben Tracy does Sunday Profile on Jon Cryer. Jewish gay Matthew Broderick? Alan Harper. Show ended February 2015. Thirty years in show business; now a book. All that weirdness came back. Both of Jon's parents were actors.
Spent summers at theater camp. 1983: debut in Brighton Beach Memories. Cryer was a theater geek at a science geek high school. Ringwald had wanted Robert Downey Jr. as Ducky. Effeminate heterosexual dork. SuperMan IV: Lex Luther's nephew. Newsweek: Cryer as a show killer. In 2003, Two and a Half Men. Les Moonves did not want Cryer.
Eight years into run, Sheen's meltdown. Winning. Cryer was scared that Charlie would be dead. Cryer: a troll a traitor and a turncoat. Would you work with him again? I don't know. We'll see. Lisa Joiner.

Steve Hartman on Jim O'Connor, California school teacher. Archbishop Jose Gomez. St. Francis High School.
71 year old Viet Nam vet. You can't make school fun. An alter ego. Cuddling sick babies. The epitome of a man of service.

Mo Rocca on Frank Sinatra, who would be 100 this year. Walter Cronkite: an appealing enthusiasm for the life he has lived. 1966 special with Nancy Sinatra. Home in Palm Springs. Nancy interviewed by Mo Rocca. Frank was delivered with forceps, leaving a scar. Sinatra wanted to be better than Bing. Tina Sinatra: Frank Sinatra Hall at USC.
Appeal to both men and women. Left Nancy in 1950 for Ava Gardner. Frank wanted to be on the fast track. Movie: From Here to Eternity. Ava was pals with Harry Cohn. Got Sinatra role of Maggio. Signed deal with Capitol Records.
Studio A. Agony of lost love. Nelson Riddle. The magic word was truth. Sammy Davis, Jr. suffered at hands of Kennedys because of Mae Britt. Issue of mob ties. Sinatra singing Girl from Ipanema.

Seth Doane in New Delhi. Train transports tourists through time. Campbell family from Baltimore on Maharaja's Express. Sir Mark Tully. British were building railroads across India. Up to 23 coaches/88 passengers. Train from Delhi to Agra. John Stone is on-board chef. Stone visits each and every table. Maha means big and raja means king.
Elephant polo in Jipore. Cabin for a week is $5000. Presidential suite is $23,000 per week. Typical Indian train experience is different.

Golden anniversary of Black Rock, which opened in 1965. Eero Saarinen. CBS Tower has black granite. Black Rock remains as distinctive as the day it opened.

Week ahead. Monday: BrianFest on Brian Wilson. Tuesday: 42nd Emmies. Wednesday: April Fools. Thursday: Children book. Friday: Good Friday. Saturday: Final Four in NCAA. Friday is also beginning of Passover.

Next week: Jane Pauley interviews Candace Bergen.

Moment of nature. Viking River Cruises. Sea Lions on Galapagos Islands.