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#365 Chip White Talks Fame, Family, and the Fun of Being Vanna’s Brother

What happens when your sister is a game show icon and you’ve got stories to tell? Chip White, brother of Vanna White and host of the podcast Relatively Famous, shares how he turned a clever concept—talking to relatives of celebrities—into a passion project. From hilarious behind-the-scenes moments with REO Speedwagon to deeply personal stories of family, recovery, and redemption, Chip opens up in this fun, heartfelt episode.

Episode Highlights:

  • Chip’s journey from LA talk show pilot to launching Relatively Famous
  • His unique guest list—from Morgan Freeman’s son to Batman co-creator Bill Finger’s granddaughter
  • Growing up with Vanna and what it’s like to be her brother for 41 seasons of Wheel of Fortune
  • Candid moments about addiction, sobriety, and second chances
  • Behind-the-scenes stories from producing Electric Jesus and Behind the Music

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CTS Announcer 0:01

If you're a pop culture junkie who loves TV, film, music, comedy and other really important stuff, and you've come to the right place, get ready and settle in for classic conversations, the best pop culture interviews in the world. That's right. We circled the globe, so you don't have to if you're ready to be the king of the water cooler, then you're ready for classic conversations with your host, Jeff Dwoskin,

Jeff Dwoskin 0:28

all right, Eve, thank you so much for that amazing introduction to get the show going each and every week, and this week was no exception. Welcome everybody to episode 365 of classic conversations. As always, I am your host. Jeff Dwoskin, great to have you back for what's sure to be an episode full of fortune. Wheel of Fortune that is, well, I have chip white with me. Vanna White's brother and chip has a podcast relatively famous. He talks to relatives of famous people, because he knows a thing or two about that. So great conversation. You're gonna love it. And that's coming up in just a few seconds. And in these few seconds, I hope you did not miss my legendary conversation with David Zucker. That's right part of zazz directed airplane Naked Gun created police squad, direct to police squad. All, every hilarious thing ever. Do not miss those amazing stories. But right now, do not miss my deep dive with Chip white coming up right now. All right, everyone. I'm excited to introduce my next guest, film, television, video producer, podcast host of relatively famous because he happens to be the brother of Vanna White. His podcast, relatively famous dives into those types of relationships. We're going to talk about that, but for the first 30 minutes, Chip is going to give us all the dirt on Pat Sajak, welcome to the show. Chip white,

Chip White 1:56

Thanks, Jeff, glad to be here.

Jeff Dwoskin 2:00

Great to have you here, fellow podcaster, it's an interesting podcast you have relatively famous so your sister is Vanna White from Wheel of Fortune, correct. Inspired the whole theme of your podcast, where you talk to other people who are siblings and or related to other people who are famous,

Chip White 2:24

famous? Yeah, it came about funny enough, in in the 90s, everybody was getting a talk show. I was living out in LA and, I mean, every seed actor was getting a talk show. And so we kind of pulled some friends together, decorated our backyard, put a fire pit in a bar. My wife's band wrote a theme song, and we did a pilot called Vanna White's brothers talk show. We were just going to be blatant. That's even vannas brother got one right. And at the time, I had President of Bill Clinton, brother Roger, the actress crystal Bernard. I had her sister Scarlet, and we just shot this like five camera episode in our backyard. Pitched around a little bit. Nothing really came of it. You can actually see it on YouTube if you type in Vanna White brothers talk show.

Jeff Dwoskin 3:06

All right, that was gonna be my next question. Actually, does footage actually exist? All right, so you're a little bit ahead of your time, because I imagine to do those five episodes was a lot more heavy lifting than it is to do the 30 plus episodes of your current podcast? Yeah. So

Chip White 3:24

we just basically, that was just one pilot. I broke down into segments. We did a thing as, like a 35 minute pilot, or something like that, maybe an hour, I can't even remember now, but it would just sat in a box. And when I moved to Charlotte, I met this guy. Was in netted, got these tapes. I love to get them on YouTube or something, so that they don't deteriorate. In the meantime, I had been in it. Whenever I do an interview or go to a red carpet, I'd find someone go, Hey, will you do me a favor and say I can't wait to see my brother or sister on Vanna White's brother's talk show? So I had these little celebrity snippets, and I just tagged them on the end of each little segment on YouTube, and we just kind of threw it out there for the yucks of it. Do

Jeff Dwoskin 3:56

you find that people with famous relatives I want to talk or are there been let me, let me focus that in actually. Are there some that want to have nothing to do with you? They're like, No, that is a shadow that I can't get out of, and I am not giving it like I imagine one of Tom Hanks sons would come on your podcast. The other one probably wouldn't.

Chip White 4:20

Yeah, I've had a couple of people say, no dick one of Dick Clark sounds is like, you know, I've said it. I'm done. I've battled the business. I have no desire. I've had a couple of other people, they thought about it, and they said, Yeah. Then they kind of him to haul and change their mind. And some other people, he's had to kind of coax them, give them a little time. I think in the beginning it was harder because it had nothing to show people, because it was a concept, and we were trying to get 12 episodes in the can before we launched. It's a little easier now, if I can get if I can get in touch with them, and they can then see the podcast or listen to it, and they go, Look, I'm not looking for dirt. I'm not looking for family secrets. I just want to know a little bit about your relationship and then who you are. Tell me about what your life is. Like and what you do and kind of give you that, give someone now a little bit of sunshine. Do

Jeff Dwoskin 5:05

you find the ones that say no, or maybe the ones that are a little too competitive with that famous relative? Like, maybe they wanted to be famous too, and they just didn't make it. The other one, did you know? Like, is there, like, some kind of patterns where you can say, like, these folks are always willing to come on. These aren't, no,

Chip White 5:22

not really. I mean, I've had some that are very competitive with their siblings and been in the business. And I've had some who just, you know, they just kind of, they're they've got their little life, I won't say little life, I don't mean it in a bad way. They've got their life that they live. And they just kind of don't necessarily need to go that way. I've had some who really want to talk more about their relative than about them? Okay, well, we'll go down that avenue too, even though the idea is really kind of finding out about who you are. But some are like, Yeah, you know, I'm more comfortable talking about my mom or my dad or my brother than I am about me. Well,

Jeff Dwoskin 5:53

I imagine some of them like to some cases like, probably want to carry the torch. So you talked to Keith Coogan. He was a grandson of Jackie Coogan. The folks that I talk to that I interview on my podcast a lot are from that era. So it's not if you Googled Coogan law, there's a good chance of my podcast, which okay, because there's so many people like Johnny Whitaker and like people that were literally impacted by that law coming into being and, or maybe missed the boat on it, and, but lot of people talk about the Coogan I like, that was that was interesting. And, like, just that he was actually had some time where he was sometimes you think, like that, some of these people, like, with the older folks, Jackie Coogan, by the way, for those can put in their head was Uncle Fester and the original Adams family movies, and I our TV show, that one popped out like, I thought that was really cool. Keith

Chip White 6:47

was great man. He's got great energy, you know. And he was just very forthright about, you know, like, my mom was the most watched parent in showbiz when he got into it because of what happened to his grandfather, you know, was his mother going to do the same thing? And, you know, and his dad, his grandfather, was the first self made millionaire as a kid, he was the first true child star. And by the time he was able to get to his money, there was barely 100,000 left. His parents had spent it all.

Jeff Dwoskin 7:14

Yeah, it's, it's horrible, the way, just good actors were just steamrolled back in the day, before some of these laws, and I think the Coogan law is only in California, even, right? I mean, it's not even like a national maybe I'm wrong about that. But

Chip White 7:29

I thought, yeah, I'm not sure. I can't I thought it was nationwide. Maybe

Jeff Dwoskin 7:32

it is, maybe yes, only kids in California. But yeah, I mean, so it's, I imagine he would love to talk about, because some, there's some folks that love to keep the torch alive, like, that's, yeah, that's their role, right? And so who's, who's some of your other kind of favorites I did, I did listen to one where I think you were talking to your niece, yeah, you were like, This is the first real big conversation we've ever had. Now, it's like, that was touching in itself.

Chip White 7:59

Yeah, you know, it, it wasn't because of lack of love. It was distance. I was in a when she was born, in her childhood, you know, I was knee deep into drugs and alcohol, so I wasn't a great uncle, and just that kind of distance. And then as we got older now, we would be in groups, and obviously spend more than 30 minutes together, but to sit down one on one, on one, that was probably the longest one on one conversation I've ever had with him. What an amazing lady she's grown up, grown up to be, and a great tattoo artist. Awesome.

Jeff Dwoskin 8:28

This is Vanna White's daughter. That was why she made it on your show, because that's how she was relatively Yeah.

Chip White 8:34

And I had, I had her son, Nico, on recently too. He, he and Vanna kind of had this internet explosion over a cooking segment, so we jumped on and had him pulled in a special episode and had Nico on, and that wasn't long as he and I have ever had one on one, because we've spent some time together, but it kind of may have been, again, the longest, just us two together in a setting, you know, without other people around. Funny, how that works.

Jeff Dwoskin 8:59

Well, you know, when you're older, you're thinking, you're the kid, and there's a kid is like, this is a certain dynamic, and probably, but no, that was, that was really cool. That's the greatest thing about podcasts, isn't it? Is that you get to spend the focus time with people, and they're willing to do it, you know? So it's like, I always think, like, there's so many people I've talked to where I was like, it's like, wow, yeah, these people would never, you know, Sal rubenick wasn't gonna just start, you know, if I called him, he wouldn't be like, Hey, let's talk about your career. Yeah, who is this? Why are you calling me, you know. So you know stuff like that. So do you have any other favorites that aren't related to Vanna? Yeah?

Chip White 9:37

You know, that's funny. I think everyone I find something that I truly enjoy in it, like Dom DeLuise, his son, David, hilarious. Looks like his dad. I had a great personal story to share with me. He goes, Hey, my dad told me the same thing. You know, got Alfonso Morgan, Morgan Freeman's, I mean, Freeman, Morgan Freeman's son, you know, he's looks like his dad. He's trying to make his own way. And I just had. Kate Erickson, Dumas, John Lee, Dumas, wife, who is famous in the podcast world for E on fire, entertainment on fire, Entrepreneur on Fire. And what a great lady she was. I mean, she just had this amazing story about their relationship and how they run business. And some really was fired up about her. You know, I've met some Leonard Nimoy cousin, Johnny Carson's nephew, who I worked with and known, it was fun to have to talk to him and kind of reminisce. And think there's something about if it's somebody that I know, it's fun because I get to go back and talk about our relationship together. It's fun if it's someone I don't know, because sometimes I don't, I don't do a lot of research. It's like, let's have a conversation. Jimmy McGuire, sister Jennifer, who lives in Pittsburgh. She's a nail tech and does some video content. Jimmy's big Jimmy was on, is, or was on Jeopardy for 21 seasons. So he's famous in the Jeopardy world. You know, his sister's just she was nervous. It wasn't her bag of tea, but she did it, and she was so much fun and just really genuine person. So everyone's probably like you as you know, everyone is a different conversation.

Jeff Dwoskin 11:00

Yeah, no, that's, I love it. It's interesting. I was, I was trying to think, like, I wish I had someone famous so I could and my family so I could be on your podcast.

Chip White 11:09

Hey, you never know DNA, right? You

Jeff Dwoskin 11:12

know, you're right. I'm gonna have to do 23andme just to get on chip White's podcast with just anyone. Oh, I was, you know, I was having related to Abraham Lincoln. And, yeah, let me tell you a few stories about Abe chip. Yeah. All right, so van let me ask you a question. Like, how long, I mean, I assume you and Vanna, obviously you've known Vanna as long as you've known her since your brother and sister. But how long before she became famous? How long has it been like, you know what I'm saying? Like, of this, I'm 6460 so of that wheel of Fortune's been on for, what, 150 years. I mean, it's been,

Chip White 11:46

yeah, she's in her 41st season of syndication. So she's done 42 because they did a year prior to being syndicated. It was just a little daytime show. So I would say 41 years, or at least 40 maybe the first year didn't quite, I mean, exploded pretty fast. So for 41 years, she's been a household name.

Jeff Dwoskin 12:07

That's incredible. And then have you loved it the whole time? Has there been pockets you had a rough patch with the drugs and stuff? Was there times where it was easier or harder to just deal with the fact that literally, everyone, in one way or another, probably knew who your sister was.

Chip White 12:22

No, you know what, I'm just she's so generous and kind and sweet and genuine, it's hard to be mad or jealous. I mean, that was, you know, as a point where, I think in everyone sibling relationship, where one sibling is doing better, or the older the younger, there's a little jealousy at some point. And I was always one that had the chip on the shoulder. She was always like the little brother, always taking care of me and being, you know, writing letters in college, you know, I've kept almost everything she's ever written me. One of my read back, and it goes, write me back, you little shit, because obviously I wasn't breaking, wouldn't write back.

Jeff Dwoskin 12:58

Sure, you know, all this stuff, you know, obviously, just typed in Vanna White, just to see. And I guess she has the world record for most frequent clapper. Do you know how many times estimated? And this is just in the first 30 seasons, this statistic like, how many times she's estimated she's clapped? I looked

Chip White 13:16

that up. Was it like 40 million or something crazy? I can't even remember now, yeah,

Jeff Dwoskin 13:21

as of January 31 2013 so this is all their data, but she has clapped an estimated 3.4 million times. Who keeps track of this stuff? Isn't that crazy like it is, and was in all of 10 of the shows, all but 10 of the shows up to that point. Obviously, she's still on the show, does? She's like Ryan Seacrest, I know you can't really say, but

Chip White 13:41

no, she really does. She likes the fact that they get along. He's got a lot a new energy. He's, you know, he's a workaholic. And he didn't come in and go, I'm going to change this and make it mine. He just, he came in play the game. And, you know, there's some things have changed. It's not just him, it's a new producer, and so the show's changed. But she loves working with him. Brings new energy. He brings some things that you know, that they weren't doing before. I heart stuff, and the New Year's Eve stuff, and the not Americans got talent,

Jeff Dwoskin 14:11

American Idol, man, you can cut

Chip White 14:13

that out. I'm kidding, you know. So there's, there's opportunities that weren't there for the show, which is great.

Jeff Dwoskin 14:20

I found one more piece of trivia on your sister. What was the first game show she actually appeared on?

Chip White 14:25

Price? Is right? Yeah. And she kept looking back at her friend to get a to get an answer, and Bob Barker told her she'd quit looking herself in the monitor. She could catch the amount, but she wasn't looking in the monitor.

Jeff Dwoskin 14:37

So funny. Very cool, very cool. All right, so was Vanna already famous when you got into the movie producing business?

Chip White 14:44

Yeah, I moved out. I moved out in the early 80s and worked with her manager at the time, before she got wheel, and she had just kind of gotten will, when I was like, Look, I'm gonna start. I'll starve back home. So I moved back to South Carolina. Was there a couple years will had really taken off. Her boyfriend, John, got. Killed in a plane crash. So I moved back out there, and I was working for her and and I went to work at King world, and kind of was just lost for a long time. And I actually didn't really start doing movies until I was in Charlotte, North Carolina, probably about 1015 years ago.

Jeff Dwoskin 15:15

Did I see that you did at least one episode of Behind the Music

Chip White 15:19

I did I worked on Saturday Night Fever, the movie behind the music. I worked on a little bit on Rod Stewart, worked a little bit on Everclear, and I worked a little bit on a couple of others, would pick up interviews and stuff like that. But I think probably credited, maybe on just one or two of them, definitely Saturday Night Fever.

Jeff Dwoskin 15:37

I love that, that show that was, like, one of the greatest shows. What was it? VH, one or MTV, yeah. BH, one. BH, one, yeah. Behind the Music was, I mean, that's like the greatest Saturday Live skit of all time. Cowbell is, is structured around that show, behind the music. It's a behind the music, a Blue Oyster coat, where they go in and then and do that, that that sketch. But that was one of the best shows, I think, ever.

Chip White 16:05

Yeah, it was fun to work on. I got to do some cool stuff, met some fun people, and got to hang out with REO Speedwagon in Champaign, Illinois one time. That was at that point where I just our son was, I don't know, a couple years old, maybe, if that, and I'm standing back in the green room, the meet and greet bands there, and we're shooting stuff, and I'm talking to Bruin out set my you know, backstage, it's a rock concert. It's REO Speedwagon, and the only song running through my head is Dragon Tails. Dragon Tails. And she goes, My son loves that show, too. But you

Jeff Dwoskin 16:37

know who created Dragon Tails? I do not William your Who was the guy from Land of the Lost, the older brother from land of lost, he created it.

Chip White 16:46

Oh, wow. He probably made more money on Dragon Tails than Land of the Lost.

Jeff Dwoskin 16:49

I bet he did. Comic Cons are huge for both. That's true. Yeah, the other movies that kind of came up when I was looking you up. My luchador, there's a bunch, but electric Jesus, like, what are some of the best of chip white movies that you were a producer on, associate producer on, that people need to check out.

Chip White 17:07

Well, electro Jesus is a feature that's out on pretty much every platform, I think, and maybe not Netflix, I don't even know. But I was a producer on that with Chris White, no relation, wrote and directed it, and his wife Emily was executive producer, and we spent like, five years raising money and finally getting that thing made. It's a summer of 1986 Christian rock band, youth rock band, goes on the road in hopes of getting a contract and opening for striper. And what could go wrong? Right? You got the office that Brian bumgarden, yeah, I can't remember blank on he plays the band manager, and more actually watch that, the more I watch his subtle acting, and he's phenomenal. And it really is a really good actor, great music. It's one that shouldn't have done better, but it came. Got it completed right at the beginning of COVID, and everybody with no theater run, so it kind of just got lost. There's a short called crab trap. Crab trap a short film by Shay Sizemore, it's on Vimeo. Won, probably, I don't know, 50 awards. We probably won 50 awards for our shorts and film festivals. Crab trap did really well. My luchador is a great little love story. Again on Vimeo. Chess Player I actually starred in, played the world's greatest chess player better

Jeff Dwoskin 18:17

than the girl from the Netflix show.

Chip White 18:21

I could have taken her. We did it first. They copied us, man, a horror called air, the witch that I was, think they gave me production manager or something, but I was one of the producers on it. It's out there, on on the platforms.

Jeff Dwoskin 18:37

What is the role of producer, associate producer, producer, depending

Chip White 18:41

on the size of the film, always look at try to explain it's like, if you're building a house, right? If you're you want to build a cabin. You're making a short. You want to build a better short. You're going to build a house. You want to build a duplex. You're going to build now you're making a feature. So it's kind of your GC, and basically everything from finding the script and the money and crew, and really just kind of lining. Make sure everything runs smoothly, stays on budget, help them find locations. If it's a short, you're wearing more hats. I mean, you're you're doing everything a feature. You can get really more compartmentalized as a producer, and because there's a producer for this, there's a producer for that and a producer for this. So it depends, but I always equate it, you know, Marvel you're building a skyscraper. So how many think of how many contractors you have for that? That's kind of the best way to do that. I try to explain it,

Jeff Dwoskin 19:28

got it, got it, got it. What was growing up like for you and you have other siblings too, right? It's not just you and Vanna, right?

Chip White 19:36

Yep, I have a half brother. Joe White, lives in New York, flight attendant for Jet Blue. He grew up in Michigan, though, van and I grew up together. Joe grew up in Michigan, and we met, I think when I was probably 15 or 16. He was deliver 18, maybe, or maybe he was 18. I might have been 15 or something, 14. We're in Michigan. He was in Utica,

Jeff Dwoskin 19:56

okay, I'm outside. That's right, yeah, coming to. From Michigan. There you go. I don't know your I don't know your brother. Yeah,

Chip White 20:04

half brother. He and I had the same father. Yeah, he's a cool guy. Funny thing is, he was a an actor and a dancer. Did a lot of Off Broadway and Broadway, and he's in one of the dancers and like Annie the movie, and couple of other things. So he was actually in show business too, with no connection that the other side of his family was in wanting to be in show biz also. Okay,

Jeff Dwoskin 20:27

so you share a father. So is there must be something in your dad's blood that has entertainment everywhere?

Chip White 20:34

Yeah, I don't know He was a retired postman, but I think he

Jeff Dwoskin 20:39

so. Did you guys like dream of Hollywood

Chip White 20:41

banner. Did I, you know, I did, and I was, I like to surf when I was younger, and I just, I'd have been happy being a professional surfer. But once she saw Christopher George from the rap patrol, was our southern uncle, right? My mom knew him growing up, so that was to us. Was Uncle George. Uncle Chris. She go, and then Vanna saw him on rap patrol. She goes, Well, I want to be on TV. And from that point on, she knew she wanted to be an actress and or be on television. And I was like, whatever. You know, I've kind of stumbled through life and ended up doing things like a podcast. I stumbled into this podcast, so talking to a guy about film mentioned the talk show, said, Yeah, I think I make a fun podcast. He's like, let's do it. Okay,

Jeff Dwoskin 21:23

it's a perfect podcast. I mean, it's really great idea for a podcast. It's because there's probably just so many people you can, you can have on. You just have to figure out how to figure out who's related

Chip White 21:34

to, yeah, you know. And it's because we're not just doing Film Television, we're doing Film TV, sports, music, art, science. I mean, you can the rodeo. I mean, it would. It doesn't have to be a household name, right? If you're famous, if I tell you, if I say Charlie Sampson to you, you probably doesn't mean much, right? But in the rodeo world, he was a 90s champion bull rider, African American from Compton,

Jeff Dwoskin 21:57

90s writer, I'm going to edit that in I'm going to move it and edit it when right, when you say his name, okay. Sorry to interrupt. Have to take a quick break, but I do want to thank everyone for their support of the sponsors. When you support the sponsors, you're supporting us here at Classic conversations, and that's how we keep the lights on. And now back to my conversation with Chip white, where you'll first enjoy a bit of clever editing, and we're back.

Chip White 22:24

If I tell you, if I say Charlie Sampson to you, you probably doesn't mean much, right? You know, he's got this great story, but in the rodeo world, he's he's huge. So he's famous in everyday life. He's not in my podcast. He counts, right?

Jeff Dwoskin 22:38

Well, right, because you're not defining fame as movie star or TV star, right. There's, there's definitely different. If you come to I had a guy on my podcast, Mark Crim, and he was huge in Michigan because he was like our news anchor. He was he kind of extended beyond Michigan because Will Ferrell said he was more Crim was a person that he based Anchorman on, his Anchorman character on, so he had written a book, and then I had him on the show and stuff like that. But most people didn't know who he was, but it me growing up, I totally know who he was. You know, there's certain people that you grow up and you can be a star in a or famous in a certain circle. I totally get that. It totally makes sense. Yeah, we all have that. So I guess my kids could be on your podcast because I'm a semi favorite podcast host. Excellent. I don't qualify, but they, they, they, yeah, man, so funny. You mentioned going through a rough patch with the drugs and alcohol, like, what? How long you've been sober?

Chip White 23:38

23 years. Yeah,

Jeff Dwoskin 23:41

2002 i Two. Oh, wow. So was there? Did your family? Oh, yeah, did you, what's the story there? Like, how did you,

Chip White 23:48

you know, I knew I had a problem, and I'd had a problem, and one point I had stopped, not necessarily drinking, but I was doing a lot of cocaine. Cocaine was, like, my my downfall. I just had stopped, and I started back. And it was 911 2022, one year after 911 and, you know, I'd use that as an excuse. So sad, blah, blah, blah. And my next morning, my wife woke up and said, done, you were high. Been High as a kite. You've been lying, you know, unemployable man. It was. We had a two and a half year old son, you know, and it was just bad. She said, you can, we'll sell the house. You can buy the biggest pile you want and go kill yourself, but our son's not gonna watch you do it. And I was like, Baby, baby, please give me one more chance. And eventually, pretty quick after that, I told my dad, and I told my sister and everybody, and kind of I started just going to ca meetings, and by October of that year, next month, I was like, All right, you know, God, I give up and I'm done. Let's see what happens if I do it their way. I know what's going to if I do it mine. And by the grace of God man, I haven't had the desire to get high or get loaded or have a drink or do any drugs since then.

Jeff Dwoskin 24:58

That's great. Congratulations. Yeah, you know. Here's to another 100 years of sobriety. Yeah,

Chip White 25:02

it I wouldn't be doing this. You know, if I, if I had lived, I wouldn't be doing this, because I just was never accountable. I couldn't be accountable.

Jeff Dwoskin 25:10

You said you told your dad and your sister, did they not know? Or were you kind of,

Chip White 25:14

my sister knew, because I told her a while back, like a year or two before that, like I had a problem. And she's like, I'll send you to rehab. And I'm like, No, I got this. And I did. I quit for like, nine months, and I was doing great, and, you know, and my dad had no clue. I mean, alcoholism runs on his side the family. His brother died from alcoholism. His dad was an alcoholic, and so he understood that part. He didn't understand the the drug part. I mean, when I told him, I said, Yeah, I've got a cocaine problem, he's like, son, don't you know that's illegal? It's like, well, yeah, Dad, I do, but didn't seem to be stopping me

Jeff Dwoskin 25:51

and expensive, I'd imagine,

Chip White 25:52

yeah, yeah. I like to joke that I sent Pablo Escobar kids to school college before I sent mine. You know,

Jeff Dwoskin 25:59

funny. Well, not similar, well, same vein of Joe. If I ever met someone, my dad was a dentist, and they'd go, Oh, your dad was my dentist. I go, Ah, thanks for college, you know, yep. Oh, man, I'm glad you're, I guess, scared you straight and gotcha so that we're able here to talk. So that's good, yeah. Like a PR issue where vannas people are like, gotta lock down Chappies. You gotta get them. So

Chip White 26:25

if there was, I didn't know about it, but there probably should have been. I did have to go back and, like, the producer, I was doing some work for Jeopardy and stuff, and on the road, I'd have a little bout. And I came back and had to apologize to to Harry for, you know, some of my behavior, and, of course, my sister and people and, you know, I mean it, I don't, I'm not justifying the fact, but it, it was a different time back then. I mean, when I was in the business, was just running rampant, you know, in the 80s and 90s, it was everywhere, kind of acceptable at work, almost, you know, not that it made it right, and it definitely didn't help my career, but it is what it is. I have the story that I have because of it and blessed to be on this side of the dirt, as I like to say,

Jeff Dwoskin 27:11

glad you're on the side of the dirt as well, because otherwise, yeah, I need, I need some contact. There you go. When you look for a TV or like a producer project, like, what? What do you look for? Do people come to you? Do you kind of go to people? You know? I mean, like, what? What's the type of stories that you like to tell? Or is there a specific kind of thing you want to bring into the world?

Chip White 27:36

You know, I haven't been doing this much lately. I am actually getting ready to act in a student short. A friend of mine is mentoring some high school kids. He wrote a script, and I was like, Yeah, I'll act in it, because he's a high school student. It's actually not a bad script. But other than that, I call it I like a good story. I don't care if it's a sci fi I don't care if it's a horror film. Like I want a story. I tend to really lean towards stories that aren't heavy special effects. They're people driven. There's an emotion, there's a twist. I've written a short that hope to direct and produce one day, I don't know. I was listening to Paul Hey Hagan, Hagen Hagee, who wrote a Million Dollar Baby and crash and stuff and and he was talking about how he likes to put his lead characters in a position where they have to make a choice, you know, that really affects the outcome of the decision. And so I wrote this short about that, with something that like that. So I just like to like a good story. And I have four rules as a producer, when I'm hiring people, I get people. I'm not a tech guy. I'm up front about that. You asked what kind of camera will use? I don't know. Ask the DP, but I'll tell you this, if you're the DP, or you're the director, and you're gonna, you're gonna be hired, I'm gonna, I got four rules. Gonna look, sound and feel like a movie. I don't care if it's five minutes or five hours. I don't want someone walking away, going, the audience walking, going, Ooh, that was a really nice video. It's got to be like, Wow, that was a movie, even if it was five minutes. Like, I want more. I want to know more. That's kind of the stuff I look for, and the quality that I look for as a producer.

Jeff Dwoskin 29:08

Very cool. How many times have you been on set a wheel of fortune? You know, I don't even know more than 100 less than 110

Chip White 29:16

probably at least 100 I'm guessing, over the years, turn a letter, No, I never even asked you this money. I don't think I've ever even spun the wheel.

Jeff Dwoskin 29:26

I know, not even, like when they're not filming, you just don't go

Chip White 29:29

into, yeah, I don't think I've ever even done that. It's funny. I'm just kind of either in the dressing room or I'm watching the audience or, yeah, it's funny. I've never

Jeff Dwoskin 29:39

that is fine, all right. Well, now I have something for your bucket list that you can add. There you go, that you can do that next time. So back to your podcast, relatively famous. So do you have any it can be a top one. It can be a top three. Like, is there like people that you want to be on the show? Like, I Oh, it'd be amazing to talk to these relatives, these famous people. Yeah,

Chip White 30:00

you know, I want cliff, Howard and Josh Brolin cliff. I think I read the boys the book that he and Ron wrote about their childhood stuff, and which is amazing, because written in like, two point of views, and Cliff and I have some background similarities with our drug use, but I'll just think he would be this great, because he's been in so many movies, like in 175 movies, compared to Ron, who's directed some. So his career is really,

Jeff Dwoskin 30:27

really big. Yeah, I think Ron puts him in almost every Yeah,

Chip White 30:31

it is a scene in every movie he does. It's which is great, and all the other stuff. And I just think he would be this great fun build as Ron Howard's brother. But the fact is, everybody knows cliff, and he's got this, I think one of his Star Treks is still one of the best, biggest, best known Star Trek. He weighs a little

Jeff Dwoskin 30:46

kid. Okay, so, all right. So this brings up an a follow up question. Clint Howard, right, is obviously Ron Howard's brother, so that would

Chip White 30:54

meant not Cliff guy. No wonder you don't be on my show.

Jeff Dwoskin 30:58

However, they're both qualified because of their father, Rance Howard, who was very famous in his own right. So you bring up Clint Howard. So then I'm like, Hmm, that's interesting. So do you find it more difficult that you don't know yet, just as you build up that if the person who's related to the other famous person also happens to be famous. Because I would say Clint Howard is famous, right? I mean, oh, absolutely, it's so does that make it like, less likely? Like, is it usually the non famous person who's related to the famous bird? You know, I'm saying like, Josh, obviously, hugely famous. If someone didn't even know that he was related to, you know who his father was, Barbra Streisand's husband? Yeah,

Chip White 31:41

well, you know. And flip side is he's Eden Brolin, dad, and Eden was in Yellowstone. I want Josh because of that, the humor, the fact, like for years, he was James Brolin, son, right now, James is actually getting people saying, Hey, aren't you Josh's dad. And for years, Eden was Josh brolins daughter. And now people going, Hey, aren't you Eden's dad? And here he is. Of course, he's got this ginormous career in the middle of it. I think the humor that it's the same with Clint, you know, it's like, yeah, we're going to bill you as someone else. But the fact is, it's all about you, because you're, you're the famous one too. They have the humor to see that to be a guest, and that makes it 100% where, like, Dude, this is awesome.

Jeff Dwoskin 32:21

Do you know what other famous daughter is in Yellowstone?

Chip White 32:25

I do Michael Landon's daughter. Yeah,

Jeff Dwoskin 32:29

tater Landon, I didn't realize that was her. I found out, like, way after I was like, damn, because she was good, she's good, yeah, yeah,

Chip White 32:37

yeah. I'd like to have her on too. She would be awesome. I think again, if they don't get the humor of why I'm asking them to be on it, they're gonna, they're gonna be insulted. And I'm not, I'm not asking to be on be insulting. I want, you know, fact is your Michael and his daughter. But I want, we want to find about who you are, other than teeter. You know,

Jeff Dwoskin 32:54

it helps too, like when, because now you're, you're put, you're past 30 episodes, you have, like, so many examples of people, you know, it's not like a new idea, hey, I'm trying to do this new thing. I found that with my podcast, like, it got to the point where people would look at the list of the names I would send them that people I've already talked to, and they'll be like, Oh, that actually helped me get them on the show. Like, oh, this is an impressive list. Yes, we'd love to be on your show, you know. So I think sometimes time and build your own cred, which I think you've got a lot of, at this point, we're working

Chip White 33:28

on it. I did upcoming episodes. We have Nick Cannon's brother, who I worked with at the beginning of his career. It's funny, when he was doing SNCC house, got to bring his brother on. It's coming out in a couple weeks. And Athena finger, who was Bill fingers, granddaughter, and Bill was finally credited as a co creator of Batman. Bob King got all the credit for years. So now, you know, we shoot our car our podcast in a comic book shop in San Antonio, and my first guest was Bill field, who was related to La Lovett, and he's a comic book historians. I'm finding out all this comic book history. I've had couple Star Trek people on so I'm like, I'm getting, I'm getting schooled at school in a lot of unique areas that I never had any clue about.

Jeff Dwoskin 34:12

The Bill Finger stuff is fascinating. I was just watching another video how, like Bob Kane, took credit for so much everything about Batman, and then it just, it took all these years where it's like, no, no,

Chip White 34:25

yeah, yeah. Athena's father started the process of trying to get him a credit. And I think when he passed away, she said, I inherited the mass, like 16, and it took her a while, but I think in 2014 or something like that, he finally got the credit. Yeah.

Jeff Dwoskin 34:38

It's, I think they kept pushing and pushing. It's a lot of the early like the Superman people like trying to get credit and then, or at least maintain some kind of legacy on it, you know, after selling it for $1 or whatever, not literally $1 but, you know, I mean, yeah, that's really cool. That's really cool. Awesome, man. It was so. Great hanging with you. I'm glad, like two people brought up your name to me, and they're like, You need to talk to chip white. And I'm like, okay,

Chip White 35:06

hey, I'm infamous, famous. In my own mind,

Jeff Dwoskin 35:09

you're famous. Yeah, any anything else, man, I'm plug your podcast again. Plug your socials, if you got them, and then

Chip White 35:15

sure the relatively famous with Chip white, our website is relatively famous.net. All our episodes live there, along with photographs and show notes, stuff like that. We're on YouTube, everywhere you can get about Amazon, yeah, pretty much anywhere you get your podcast. Some of chat put relatively famous with Chip white, because it's not a unique name, you know, it's other relatively famous stuff out the same

Jeff Dwoskin 35:37

problem with mine. Chip you type in classic conversations, it goes, Did you mean classical conversations? Like, no, that's a completely different word, you know. So you got to put my name into Yeah. I feel your pain. Yeah. I'll hook you up in the show notes with all that kind of good stuff chip. I gotta go work on getting a famous relative so I can get on your podcast.

Chip White 35:56

There you go. Yeah. And if you hey, if you have no someone or related to someone. Give us a shout. You can reach me at podcast, relatively famous@gmail.com you know, the cool thing is, we're actually a sponsored podcast too. Man, we're actually not going broke yet. Visit Myrtle beach.com you look for the perfect family vacation. Go to my hometown. Visit Myrtle beach.com Find out where Vanna likes to have her ice cream and her chicken and dumplings.

Jeff Dwoskin 36:24

It's awesome. That is awesome. Yeah. All right, thank you. Man, appreciate it. Appreciate you

Chip White 36:29

My pleasure. Man, thanks for having me. All

Jeff Dwoskin 36:32

right, how amazing was chip white, I know, right. Go check out his podcast, relatively famous. Go binge watch Wheel of Fortune. Check out his sister, Vanna, yeah, do whatever you know. There's so much you can do now. There's so much, so many I was re listening to the podcast, and I realized I made a 23 in me reference. Here we are two weeks later, and that reference just did not age well, huh? All right. Well, can't win them all. Huge thanks to chip white for joining me, and a huge thanks to all of you for coming back week after week. It means the world to me, and I'll see you next time.

CTS Announcer 37:09

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