From Harlem to Hollywood — Sonny Grosso’s Ratings-Breaking “Night Heat” Series Changed the Landscape in Hollywood North
“Storytellers have always enthralled us because when we create stories, we create gods, heroes, bad guys and magic. One of the youngest first-grade detectives in NYPD history, and later an award-winning TV and movie producer, Sonny Grosso is one of those captivating storytellers. Sonny always says, “Everyone always asks me how I went from being a detective in Harlem to a producer in Hollywood…Buckle up, it’s going to be one hell of a ride.” — from “Harlem to Hollywood”
A Storyteller. For. The Ages.
Forty years ago in 1984, retired French Connection cop, Sonny Grosso, and his US-based TV/movie production team, that included Mimi Bohbot and Christina Krauss, had a story he wanted to tell. He’d been a technical consultant on The Godfather, and classic TV cop series like Kojak and Baretta, and then he expanded into being an associate producer on other TV shows and movies, working with the likes of Frank Sinatra (Contract on Cherry Street).
Grosso wanted to put that unique combination of police experience and burgeoning expertise in filmed storytelling into practice for himself. So, he begun scouting talent and locations in Toronto to film a realistic-looking new TV cop series that was about to shake up both the Canadian and US television industries. The Canadian drama series Night Heat (1985–1989) changed the landscape of Canadian television — for example, Night Heat was the first Canadian TV series to air on an American network, CBS.
Co-produced by Grosso-Jacobson Productions and Canada’s Alliance Entertainment, Night Heat began airing on the CTV Television Network in Canada, and also on CBS on Thursday nights at 11:30, right after the late news and up against Johnny Carson on NBC in the U.S. The New York Times reported that Night Heat was being taken seriously because it “often topped the Carson show in key markets like New York and Chicago.” Moreover, during its original run it was the highest-rated Canadian-produced original series, attracting a million viewers weekly in Canada, and earning the Gemini Award for Best Drama Series in both 1986 and 1987. Night Heat also won the 1987 Gemini award in the category of TV Guide’s Most Popular Program, an award based on ballots submitted by the magazine’s readers in Canada.
Grosso’s storytelling prowess was supported by outstanding cast and production crews in Toronto
Indeed, Night Heat featured some of the best veteran and upcoming acting talent, directors and writers in Canada, with the main cast starring: Scott Hylands (as Det. Kevin O’Brien), Jeff Wincott (Det. Frank Giambone), Allan Royal (columnist Thomas J. Kirkwood), Sean McCann (Lt. James Hogan), Eugene Clark (Det. Colby Burns), Stephen Mendel (Det. Freddie Carson), Susan Hogan (Nichole Rimbaud), Stevie Louise Vallance (Det. “Stevie” Brody), Deborah Grover (Prosecutor Elaine Jeffers), Laura Robinson (Det. Christine Meadows), Tony Rosato (Whitey), and Clark Johnson (Det. Dave Jefferson) who later directed Grosso’s TV movie N.Y.-70,
And, that’s not including a wealth of guest-starring actors (like Keanu Reeves in his first network acting role, David Carradine, Danny Aiello, Hector Elizondo, Tony Lo Bianco, Nick Campbell and Art Hindle, along with legendary musicians Ronnie Hawkins and Domenic Troiano, and also Oscar winner-to-be Sarah Polley), all of whom were cast by Clare Walker, and then for the run of the show, by Lisa Parasyn, who later became an Emmy Award-winning casting director (Schitt’s Creek).
Additionally, Tim Van Patten, who initially acted in two Night Heat episodes, then went onto become an Emmy Award-winning director and “HBO’s unofficial in-house” director, through Grosso’s encouragement.
Moreover, Night Heat’s top-notch directors included Mario Azzopardi (RoboCop, Degrassi: The Next Generation), Jorge Montesi (NYPD Blue, The Outer Limits), René Bonnière (Diamonds, ENG), George Mendeluk (Miami Vice, and other Grosso productions like Top Cops, Counterstrike, Secret Service, True Blue), Allan Eastman (Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Clay Borris (Grosso’s The Gunfighters), among others. Not to mention the Gemini Award-winning writers like Peter Mohan/Tim Dunphy, Chris Haddock, and R.B. Carney.
But, at the heart of Night Heat, and subsequent dozens of other shows that resulted in 900 hours of TV/movies produced by Grosso-Jacobson, was Sonny Grosso, the legendary NYPD detective whose French Connection case, alongside partner Eddie Egan, earned 5 Oscar Awards as a screen adaptation.
When Sonny Grosso brought Night Heat and all those other shows to Canada, he positively changed the lives of hundreds, even thousands of people, giving them the career kickstart that all creatives and production crew people need.
“I feel the Night Heat/I feel your heart beat/Somethin’ ain’t right/There’s too much heat in the night…”— lyrics for Night Heat theme song
For example, screenwriter, actor, director, and playwright Sugith Varughese, who recently earned Reelworld’s 2024 Award of Excellence, an honor given to a diverse showbiz person with a career length body of work, says of Grosso’s influence on his own career:
“I was guest-starring on an episode of Night Heat, but Sonny wasn’t on set and there was a big debate about whether my character should wear a turban. Almost immediately the AD got a call on his headset and then turned around and said, ‘Okay, no turban!’ Then someone else asked, ‘Was that God?’ And the AD replied, ‘No, God’s boss.’ It was Sonny, of course. The thing is, every time Sonny did come to the set he always greeted me like a son. The strongest handshake and embrace. Like he’d known me all my life. But that’s how he was, you couldn’t help love him even though I barely knew him.”
God’s boss?! For sure, and in fact, he even helped another actor re-discover and use her real name partway through her career. Born Stephanie Louise Vallance, the actor who played Det. “Stevie” Brody in Night Heat tells how that happened:
“Before we filmed my first episode, he asked me if I wanted another name. Originally, I was Det. Jenny, but I’d played SO many ‘Jennys’ in my life, that I suggested going back to my original name Stephanie or ‘Stevie’ for short. I’d always gone by my middle name, ‘Louise.’ He loved the name ‘Stevie’ and so instantaneously, I became Det. Stevie Brody. And, after that I started using my real first name. But, I had to change all my head-shots and professional resumes. So, Sonny was responsible for my name — Stevie Vallance.”
Stevie’s story gets cooler as she continues: “Another time, the boss heard a VO recording I’d laid down for a cartoon for Saban, where I was playing a singing lizard. I was sort of embarrassed but he was so impressed that he made sure a part was written into the ‘Moonlight’ episode where Det. Stevie goes to this club in Yorkville after she left the precinct every night, and sang. It was so sweet of him to recognize that I had a good voice even though he’d heard me as a character singing. I mean he could see past the ‘funny voice’ I had to use in the cartoon. It was one of the best things I’ve ever filmed. It was like a mini-feature. It really took balls for him to stretch Det. Stevie like that but it worked. It was a fantastic episode and I’ll never forget that he did that for me.”
One of Stevie Vallance’s Night Heat castmates was Stephen Mendel who played Det. Freddie Carson, and he has a similar kind of eye-opening story about Sonny Grosso:
“Living in LA, I’d gone home to visit my family in Montreal and a friend invited me to tag along to Toronto to see his agent. Upon finding out that I was an actor with — what was then a big deal — network credits on ABC, CBS and NBC, the agent asked me if I’d like to audition for a pilot for a series. I shrugged ‘Why not?’ Even though I was not planning on staying in Canada, I went to the audition and was given a scene to read that was kind of funny — two cops handing off a case to two other cops because the case seemed really odd. I laughed my way through it. The fellow who was auditioning us asked me to ‘do it again only this time don’t find it quite so funny.’ So, I did it again and laughed a little less. The fellow conducting the audition then asked me if I would shave off my beard but I said, ‘No.’ The man looked at me directly and said, ‘Good answer.’ That man was Sonny Grosso.”
Mendel went back to visit his Montreal family, and the agent called him that the production wanted to book him but only for one line. He politely said that he wasn’t interested as he was heading back to LA:
“A little while later, the phone rang again, and it was Sonny. He said, ‘I’d like to welcome you to our show.’ I told him that I wasn’t really interested in a one-line role but thank you for considering me. He told me that if the series went to air that they ‘were really going to develop the characters.’ I decided to take a chance and stayed in Canada to do the pilot. I also booked a movie in Montreal, so for four months, from September through December 1985, I worked on one episode of Night Heat — we eventually did six. And, then I’d take the overnight train after wrap and worked on the movie in Montreal and then came back to Toronto to work on the next episode. That kicked off the busiest five years of my career. All thanks to Sonny who wouldn’t take no for answer.”
Irrepressible, thy nickname is Sonny Grosso.
And, Grosso sought out the very best and upcoming production people he could find. In fact, Jeff Wincott, who played the co-lead, the hot-headed Det. Giambone, openly praises the Canadian crews, explaining: “They were always amazing, working on Night Heat through the midnight hours, on the streets, in the cold and rain and snow.” Wincott says it was reminiscent of stories Grosso told of how he and Det. Eddie Egan were on stakeout in the dead of winter through long nights and early mornings, following the leads on The French Connection case.
And, then there were the post-production crew, who worked closely with Grosso, and included editors Dean Balser and David Thompson (both R.I.P.), and also post-production supervisor Michael Beard.
Yet, another of those Night Heat production crew members, who worked close to Grosso, was location scout/manager Aine Furey, who had known actor Wincott since he was a teenager. She tells of a strange coincidence that involved Wincott, and soon-to-become production manager Jeff King, and led to her meeting Sonny Grosso. Furey, who went on to be location manager for scores of TV episodes and movies, recalls: “I was checking out a possible location in downtown Toronto when I ran into young actor Jeff Wincott who was excited about possibly getting onto a new police show. I wished him well, and soon after I get a call from Jeff King, another friend who was also going to be working on a new police show that was going to be shot at nights. He asked me to come meet two American producers and put together some photos of possible buildings we could use as the exterior of a New York type Police precinct.
“Jeff introduced me to Alliance’s Andras Hamori, and also Larry Jacobson and…Sonny Grosso. I sat down opposite them with Jeff King by my side and showed some photos saying ‘some of these may be a little too ostentatious but take a look and give me your opinions.’ Sonny immediately quipped, ‘Lady, I don’t understand any words over five letters, so say that again.’ I said I meant that some of these photos may be a little too fancy but to give me your opinion. He said, “That’s better, we’re going to understand each other, now.’ My friend Jeff Wincott ended up being cast on the show, and I ended up becoming Location Manager. That was my first introduction to Sonny Grosso. He taught me so much about people and body language. Gawd, he was smart and could judge a phony in a second. He taught me so much about the street, and I used that knowledge when I was doing business with location contacts I’d just met. Sonny just knew people.”
Of course, Sonny Grosso knew, he was a master observer and storyteller. And, as he says in the book, Harlem to Hollywood, his people in Canada “were my extended family.”
Check out Det. Sonny Grosso’s story “Harlem to Hollywood — My Real-to-Reel Life” on Amazon, in the United States, Canada, and UK. And, also check out the theme song for Night Heat, and both the first (“Crossfire”) and final episodes (“Blues in a Bottle”) of the Night Heat series on YouTube. For additional Night Heat trivia, drop in on Rick’s TV site.
