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The Mentor Hall of Fame


FASHION, MEDIA, AND CULINARY CELEBRITIES
Virtually anyone can benefit from having a mentor. And most well-known, accomplished and successful media and fashion personalities can identify people in their lives who acted as mentors.

The following list of mentor pairs was compiled by Rey Carr from a variety of sources including autobiographies, biographies, newspaper articles, personal interviews, and diligent historical research.

If you know of mentor pairs that ought to be added, we have provided an opportunity for you to submit the names and details: Add a Mentor Pair.

FASHION AND MEDIA CELEBRITIES, REPORTERS, JOURNALISTS, NEWSPAPER PERSONNEL

  • Storyteller John Henry Falk (1913-1990) was a mentor to Texas journalist Mollie Ivins (1944-2007).

  • Newsman, journalist and news ethics teacher Phil Record (1929-2010) is a mentor to extraordinary journalist and TV-newsman Bob Schieffer. Mr. Schieffer said about his mentor, "He taught me everything I know about being a reporter and a lot of what I know about life, and we were friends for more than half a century. I'll miss my friend, but I'll never forget what he taught me and the values that made him who he was."

  • NBA announcer and broadcaster Mike Breen considers pioneering sports announcer and track star Marty Glickman (1917-2001) his mentor.

  • Russian supermodel Natalia Vodianova is a mentor to American fashion model Karlie Kloss.

  • Former NBC Weatherman Willard Scott is a mentor to weatherguesser Al Roker.

  • Designer Alexander McQueen (1969-2010) is a mentor to British designer Sarah Burton
  • Broadway costume designer Stanley Simmons is a mentor to Oscar-winning costumer Albert Wolsky
  • Chef & author Jonathan Waxman is a mentor to New York chef Bobby Flay

  • Chef Thomas Keller is a mentor to chef Timothy Hollingsworth, who said of his mentor, "He taught me the importance of collaboration... He also taught me about the importance of memory in food, like how the salmon coronet is reminiscent of the ice cream cones from our childhood. ThatÕs something that really spoke to me; I was inspired by that. IÕve had a lot of interesting meals, but the ones that I remember connect to a certain memory or reference point."

  • Jack Collins is a mentor to chess champion Bobby Fischer
  • Deepak Chopra, physician and philosopher, is a mentor to Rachel Roy, fashion designer
  • Rose Marie Bravo, company director of Williams-Sonoma, Estee Lauder and Tiffany & Company, is a mentor to Ulrik Garde Due, chief executive of Georg Jensen, the Danish jewelry and silverware maker.
  • Rachel (Bunny) Lambert Mellon mentor to Jacqueline Kennedy
  • Maya Angelou (poet, writer, inspiration Bio) mentor to Oprah Winfrey
  • Oprah Winfrey mentor to "Dr. Phil" McGraw
  • Ivan Kronenfield is a mentor to Dr. Mehmet Oz
  • Chris Hayes of MSNBC is a mentor to Sally Kohn, a commentator on Fox News
  • Jack Marks (journalist) mentor to Ken Thompson (media mogul)
  • Raymond Blanc, a chef at Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons is a mento to chef Ollie Dabbous
  • Mike Wallace mentor to Barbara Walters
  • Peter Jennings mentor to Aaron Brown
  • Isaac Asimov mentor to Gene Roddenberry
  • James L. Brooks mentor to Paula Abdul
  • Barbara Walters mentor to Kathie Lee Gifford
  • Dick Ebersol, former chair NBC Sports Group, is a mentor to Jim Bell, NBC's executive producer of the Olympics
  • Ralph Allen (journalist) mentor to Peter Gzowski (Canadian broadcaster)
  • Tom Brokaw mentored by Frances Morrow (elementary teacher)
  • Rachel Maddow (news show host) mentor to Chris Hayes (TV-news show host)
  • TV producer Tommy Roy is a mentor to on-air host Dan Hicks
  • Roone Arledge and Danny Meenan mentors to Ted Koppel. Mr. Meenan told Ted, when he was a copy boy, "Do what you're good at, and do what you love."
  • Fred Birney (high school journalism teacher) mentor to Walter Cronkite (Bio)
  • Walter Cronkite mentor to Dan Rather
  • Turner Catlidge (1901-1983), former managing editor of the NY Times was a mentor to Arthur O. "Punch" Sulzberger (1926-2012), NY Times publisher
  • David Fanning (executive producer of "Frontline") mentor to Raney Aronson (producer and documentarian)
  • Peter Gzowski (writer, journalist, CBC host) mentor to Stuart McLean (CBC program host)
  • Sir Edward Pickering (newspaper executive) mentor to Rupert Murdoch (newspaper mogul)
  • Dick Schaap (sportscaster) mentor to Tony Kornheiser (Washington Post)
  • Herbert Marcuse (radical philospher and ecologist) mentor to Lowell Bergland (journalist and TV producer)
  • Milt Dunnel (Canadian sports journalist) mentor to Jim Proudfoot (sports journalist)
  • John Martin (TV-producer and creator of MuchMusic) mentor to Daniel Richler (Canadian journalist)
  • Ben Bradlee, former editor of the Washington Post, mentor to Jeff Himmelman, former Washington Post staffer and author of biography, Yours in Truth: A Personal Portrait of Ben Bradlee, in which he reveals the darker side of his mentor's reporting techniques.

  • Arthur Johnson (editor, Financial Post) mentor to Scott Steele (senior features editor, Canadian Business Magazine)
  • Jack Enefer (newsman, Broadcast News) mentor to Malcolm Morrison (Broadcast News)
  • Wes Gallagher (former CEO Associated Press) mentor to Keith Fuller (former CEO Associated Press)
  • Pamela Wallin (Canadian TV host) mentored by her sister Bonnie George
  • Don Obe (university professor) mentor to Stuart McLean (CBC showman and author)
  • Russ Froese (Canadian broadcaster) mentor to Suzette Meyers (award-winning news anchor Global-TV)
  • Dwight Whylie (Jamaican-born, CBC broadcaster, journalist) mentor to Jean Carter (CBC Radio reporter)
  • Christian Dior mentor to Yves Saint Laurent
  • Yves Saint Laurent mentor to Georges Chakra (couturier)
  • Coco Chanel (1883-1971) mentored by Etienne De Balsan and mentor to Fulco di Verdura
  • Victor Skrebenski (photographer) mentor to Cindy Crawford (fashion model)
  • Errol Le Cain (1941-1989), illustrator and artist, is a mentor to world-renowned make-up artist Kabuki
  • Paulina Porizkouva mentor to Liv Tyler
  • Julie Brett, Barbara Stone, Nina Blanchard mentors to Cheryl Tiegs (supermodel)
  • Paolo Zampolli mentor to Anna Hickmann (supermodel)
  • Max Robinson (first Black national US TV-network anchorman) described as mentor to many
  • Joanne Rossman (designer) mentored by Lillian Gilbert (Manager, Joseph Magnin)
  • Anna Wintour (editor in chief, Vogue) mentor to Katherine Betts (editor in chief, Harper's Bazaar)
  • Helen Gurley Brown (author, publisher, businesswoman, editor, Cosmopolitan magazine for 32 years) mentor to Bonnie Fuller (Canadian and former editor of Cosmo, Glamour, and Us magazines)
  • Diana Vreeland (fashion editor and consultant) mentor to Carolyn Carrie Donovan (fashion editor)
  • The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal is published by Penn State's Center for Excellence in Academic Advising
  • Jackie Gleason (TV comic) and Arthur Godfrey (radio personality) mentors to Larry King (CNN-TV talk show host)
  • "The Mentor Current" is the name given to that part of the Pacific Ocean that flows North, parallel to South America
  • Ed Masry (attorney) mentor to Erin Brockovich (advocate)
  • Andy Warhol mentor to Jed Johnson (interior designer)
  • Naomi Judd mentor to Pamela Anderson
  • Roland Henin (French chef) mentor to Thomas Keller (American chef, Bio)

  • American inspirational speaker, lawyer, New Thought spiritual teacher, author, life coach, and television personality Iyanla Vanzant is a mentor to empowerment coach, speaker, author and media personality Abiola Abrams.

  • Setting the standard for the beauty industry in 1946 when she and her husband started the Ford Modelling Agency, Eileen Ford (1922-2014) built an empire and launched the careers of Candice Bergen, Lauren Hutton, Jane Fonda, Suzy Parker, Ali McGraw and countless others. Ms. Ford believed that a model's personality was as important as her looks, and she established herself as a mentor with virtually all the women who worked at her agency. The youngest often lived at her apartment, and she insisted that they focus on studies and education. On one occasion she prohibited the young Kim Basinger from going out before finishing her French homework. Supermodel Christy Brinkley said of Ms. Ford, "She saw something in me and with her brilliant business acumen, her knowledge, experience and personal touch, she took me from Malibu surfer girl and guided my career." Ms. Ford, who herself obtained a bachelor's degree in psychology from Barnard College, was adamant that all her models learn how to take care of themselves, and almost all of them became successful business women in their own right.

  • Celebrity makeup artist and beauty blogger Kandee Johnson is a mentor to fomer reporter Angela Cruz. Johnson, who has more than 3.5 miliion followers on YouTube said, "To be able to have the opportunity to be a mentor to somebody, to teach them my knowledge, to go through what I've learned and share thatwith them and help boost their career, it just feels like a great reward that I'm able to give somebody."

  • French Expressionist painter Bernard Buffet (1928-1999) was a mentor to French-born fashion industry executive and czar of the Paris opera Pierre Bergé (1930-2017).

  • German-born, Paris-based fashion designer, artist and photographer Karl Lagerfeld was a mentor to French fashion designer and founder of the Hervé Leger fashion house Hervé Leroux (1957-2017).

  • Romanian-born Canadian Princess Marina Sturdza (1944-2017) was considered a mentor who left a legacy for younger Romanians, especially women of a can-do attitude and an independence of spirit that helped them realize they can do anything.

  • Drag pageant impressario Jack Doroshow (1939-2017), who was known as the drag queen Flawless Sabrina years before such performers found any public acceptance, was a mentor to many of those in that culture, including transgender artist and producer Zackary Drucker, who said, "I can't imagine anyone else believing in me with the passion and dedication that she did."

  • American chef and restaurant owner Angie Mar believes it is important to act as a mentor for both men and women. She says, "We need to focus on bringing the next generation up. Because what really matters is where my cooks are in 10 years, and who they are mentoring in 10 years."

  • French chef and considered to be the spiritual father of nouvelle cuisine Fernand Point (1897-1955) was a mentor to Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or, France-born celebrated French chef an member of the Free French Divison during WWII Paul Bocuse (1926-2018).

  • French fashion designer Nicolas Ghesquière is a mentor to fashion designer and creative director Natacha Ramsay-Levi.

  • Food and wine expert and TV-show host Ted Allen is a mentor to Montreal-born Canadian chef and TV-show host Antoni Porowski.

  • Paris-born American fashion journalist and magazine editor Diana Vreeland (1903-1989) is a mentor to magazine editor, author, and fashion guru André Leon Talley.

  • Texas-born American jewelry designer, considered the first "celebrity" designer Paul Flato (1900-1999) was a mentor to Italian jeweller Fulco di Verdura (1898-1978).

  • London, England-born journalist, celebrity columnist and host of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Robin Leach (1941-2018) is a mentor to founder of the Cleveland Clinic in Las Vegas Larry Ruvo; media executive Saville Kellner; and Las Vegas guidebook guru Jack Colton.

  • WomenÕs fashion retailer Ann Taylor has partnered with Vital Voices, a not-for-profit that invests in female leaders, on a leadership and mentor program for young women. Now in its eighth year, HERlead is designed to provide access to leadership training, mentors and grants for young women, training them to become future female leaders. Each year, Ann Taylor chooses 30 young female high school students to join the program, which has included more than 300 students from across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

  • Guelph, Ontario-born Canadian CBC-TV program producer and director Ross McLean (1925-1987) was a mentor to Saskatoon-born Canadian-American TV personality Joyce Davidson Susskind (1931-2020).

  • American businessman and media mogul Sumner Redstone (1923-2020) had a contentious mentoring relationship with the chief executive of his media conglomerate Philippe Dauman. The very public relationship was marked by both praise and disagreements.

BW
Barbara Walters: Mentored by Mike Wallace
 
 
 
MA
Maya Angelou: Her poetry, activism, and spirit mentored Oprah Winfrey and inspired many others
 
 
KLG
Kathie Lee Gifford: Mentored by Barbara Walters
 
 
LT
Liv Tyler: Developed her career with the help of a mentor
 
PW
Pamela Wallin: Top Canadian broadcaster mentored by her sister, Bonnie
CC
Cindy Crawford: One of the most successful models has a mentor
EB
Erin Brockovich: With her mentor she discovered a career filled with meaning
 
 
SM
Suzette Meyers: Her mentor was in the same business

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