Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with Paul Petersen, actor, singer and co-star of “The Donna Reed Show”.
Paul Petersen is a beloved former child star, pop singer, teen idol, author, spokesman and child rights activist. We first fell in love with him as “Jeff Stone” on “The Donna Reed Show”.
He also appeared in a number of major motion pictures including “The Monolith Monsters”, “Houseboat”, “A Time for Killing”, “The Happiest Millionaire”, “Journey to Shiloh”, “Mommy’s Day”, “The Portal” and others. And on TV, he’s guest starred in many classic shows including “General Hospital”, “The Virginian”, “Mannix”, “The Flying Nun”, “The Big Valley”, “My Three Sons”, “Lassie”, “Matt Houston”, “Mike Hammer” and many more.
He’s also starred in numerous TV movies including “Something For a Lonely Man”, “In the Year 2889”, “Gidget Grows Up”, “Scout’s Honor”, and “High School USA”. Paul Petersen was also a successful recording artist in the 60’s, with a number of hit songs including “She Can’t Find Her Keys”, “Keep Your Love Locked”, “Lollipops and Roses” and “My Dad”.
In the mid-70s, Paul Petersen embarked on a writing career. His first book, entitled “High Performance Driving”, teaches drivers to be skillful, safe and efficient. He then published 8 action-adventure novels in a series called “The Smuggler”. And then in 1977 he released a memoir entitled, “Walt, Mickey and Me: Confessions of the First Ex-Mouseketeer”, which is a fascinating and eye-opening account of his tumultuous 3 weeks, at the age of 9 years old, when he was a member of the Mickey Mouse Club TV show hosted by Walt Disney.
And then, in 1991, following the suicides of former child actors Tim Hovey, Trent Lehman and Rusty Hamer, Paul Petersen created a non-profit organization called “A Minor Consideration”, which provides support and assistance to former child stars, and advocates for legislative protection for child celebrities in terms of working conditions and financial security. A Minor Consideration has had a tremendously positive and profound impact in the entertainment industry, and it has given Paul Petersen the well-deserved title of “the patron saint of child actors”. And in fact, in 1997 our guest received the Former Child Star Lifetime Achievement Award at the Young Artist Awards.
Harvey Brownstone is a retired judge of the Ontario Court of Justice and was the first openly gay judge in Canada. He is also the bestselling author of “Tug of War: A Judge’s Verdict on Separation, Custody Battles and the Bitter Realities of Family Court” and hosted “Family Matters with Justice Harvey Brownstone,” a television talk show on matters involving the family justice system.
After a distinguished legal career, Harvey was appointed a judge at the age of 38 in 1995. He has presided in family and criminal courts. He has been a trailblazer in several ways. He was the first openly gay judge in Canada. He was the first sitting judge in the world to write a national best seller and to host a TV talk show.
Harvey has been a role model and icon in the LGBTQ community. When same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada in 2003, he was the only judge to make himself publicly available to officiate at weddings for lesbian and gay couples travelling to Toronto from all over the world to get married. In 2007, he officiated at the wedding of Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer, the American couple whose marriage triggered the 2013 United States Supreme Court decision overturning the definition of “spouse” in the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
In February 2021, Harvey launched his online talk show “Harvey Brownstone Interviews” on his own YouTube channel. He saw this as an interesting hobby. Within several months, the show attracted hundreds of thousands – and then eventually, millions – of viewers. Because of the overwhelming success of the show, Harvey decided to retire from the judiciary on December 31, 2021 after having presided as a full-time judge for 26 1/2 years. Free from the constraints imposed upon judges regarding the expression of opinions and the endorsement of private enterprise, Harvey now happily devotes his full-time attention to hosting “Harvey Brownstone Interviews” as a regular member of the public – albeit one with a rather illustrious and unique career history.
Watch Paul Petersen on Harvey Brownstone Interviews on Youtube here:
The official website for Harvey Brownstone Interviews may be found at https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com
Get “The Talk Show Blend” – Coffee For The Modern Day Trailblazer! By Harvey Brownstone from Breakfast At Dominique’s available at https://www.HollywoodBlends.com
For more information about Harvey Brownstone, here’s his Wikipedia page:
