TSC News TV host Fred Richani interviews writer, producer, music historian, and best selling author Randy Schmidt about the powerful documentary Karen Carpenter: Starving For Perfection, her cautionary tale, why he didn’t involve Richard Carpenter with the doc, The Carpenters’ impact, and what fans can learn from her story.

For more info: https://karencarpenterdoc.com/

Check out the SoundCloud version or stream wherever you get your podcasts:

About Karen Carpenter: Starving For Perfection Team – “Karen Carpenter: Starving For Perfection” is an AMS Pictures production from the incredible film team led by Director Randy Martin (The Sundance Channel series “The Inspiration Sessions,” “Barack Obama: The Man and His Journey”), Producer & Writer Randy Schmidt (bestselling author of the 2010 national bestseller “Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter,” “Judy Garland on Judy Garland: Interviews and Encounters”), Producer & Editor Brad Osborne (“Tom Petty: Won’t Back Down,” “Shania Twain: The Price of Fame”), and Executive Producers Carnie Wilson (the multi Billboard 100 charting and Grammy Nominated pop band “Wilson Phillips”) & Andy Streitfeld (“I Was Lorena Bobbitt,” “A Defining Moment: Four Tuskegee Airmen and the Inauguration of Barack Obama”), Director of Photography Osman Tello (“Murder Made Me Famous”), and Editors Chuck Brown & Paul Ellison.

Karen Carpenter was the first in a long line of celebrities to suffer from an eating disorder during an era when the vastly misunderstood disease brought shame and public humiliation. For the first time, we hear Karen Carpenter’s personal struggle in her own voice through never-before released recordings and through the legendary voices of those who knew her and were inspired by her music.

As the #1 American musical act of the 1970s, the Carpenters were on “top of the world,” producing a string of pop masterpieces, including “Close to You,” “We’ve Only Just Begun,” and “Rainy Days and Mondays.” But behind closed doors, Karen’s quest for perfection resulted in low self-esteem, a disheartening love life, and a public battle with anorexia nervosa, which ended with her untimely death at the age of only 32.

Forty years after her death comes “Karen Carpenter: Starving For Perfection,” a captivating, revealing, and unvarnished documentary providing astounding new insight into the singer’s tragically short life and enduring musical legacy.