July 17, 2024 • 62 mins
Acting legend Robert Wagner stops by the ‘Our Way’ virtual studios shortly after the 80th anniversary of D-Day so he and Paul can trade memories of making the epic war drama ‘The Longest Day.’ Wager recalls the glorious days during the Golden Age of Hollywood, from getting his big break as Clark Gable’s caddy at the Bel Air Country Club, to getting acting tips from Spencer Tracy — and even acting opposite Marilyn Monroe during her first screen test. Wager also recalls his hilarious turns in two of the funniest movies of all time: 'The Pink Panther' and 'Austin Powers.'
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Our Way with yours Truly Paul Anka and my buddy
Skip Bronson, is a production of iHeartRadio. Hi, folks, this
is Paul.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Anka and my name is Skip Bronson. We've been friends
for decades and we've decided to let you in on
our late night phone calls by starting a new podcast
and welcome to Our Way.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
We'd like you to meet some real good friends of ours.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
There, leaders in entertainment and.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Sports, innovators in business and technology, and even a sitting
president or two.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Join us as we asked the questions they've not been
asked before. Tell it like it is, and even sing
a song or two.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
This is our podcast and we'll be doing it our way.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
You know.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Another kick for me was watching You with with Mike Myers.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
Oh yeah, I love that. He's a terrific man. He's
a truly fan. He wrote that character. Oh, Vidio, I've
been in the picture of business. What fault seventy years?
I guess seventy years and I'm known as Number two.
That's you know a little. He wrote that character for me,
(01:12):
So I am now referred to as Number two.
Speaker 5 (01:26):
Hello Skip, Hey, glad you're up and around. What you're
doing I'm just checking in. You know, we gotta have
the daily checking at least once a day or a
problem for me.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Well, it's always good to hear your voice, buddy. And
how about the voice we'll have on our podcast, mister Wegner.
I know, it's amazing. You'll hear a distinctive tonality with RJ.
You know, some of those actors have got that. They've
all got this certain tone. His has never changed. You're
gonna hear a voice and go wow, I've heard that
(01:56):
so many times. But you go for the archange. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (02:00):
I used to play with him, and in course, he
started off as a caddy at the bell Air Country
Club for you know, some of the greatest you know
stars in Hollywood at the time, including you know Fred Astaire.
I mean, this is the whole group of guys.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
How about when his father brought him out though there
was nothing there. Yeah, No, his father moved out from
Michigan and built a home when it was barren. Yeah,
I mean the Terra Firma there was empty and this
kid grew up there.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
RJ.
Speaker 5 (02:27):
You know, but you know, I want to talk to
them about this. One of the things is interesting. He
gets a real leg upbeat, so physically beautiful, such a
gorgeous looking guy that he has. He had a face
made for Hollywood, right, I mean, this is a guy
the women would look at this guy and go, oh
my god. I mean the movie poster with his picture
on it. You know you're going to buy a ticket
(02:48):
and go in and see him if you're a woman,
that's for sure.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
No, he was one of those guys. But he was
an actor. You know, he really morphed into being a
very good actor. And not only from uh, I think
from film. He went ready television and he's got it together.
I mean, he's in his early nineties and I got
to tell you, he's one of the sweetest guys and
he's never changed. And I've known him, you know since
I did the Longest Day with him years ago, back
(03:13):
in the early sixties, and we're very close and with
our families. But I'm looking forward to having him on.
I think he'll really enjoy him. He's got some great stories.
Fred Astaire was in his life. I mean, the guys
had so many great actors, right down to the Mike
Meyers situation. He's worked with some of the best.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
And I want to ask my friend Chuck Laurie, who
produced you know, of course Two and a Half Men
and so many other comedies. I told him that you
and I were going to have RG on and he
gave me a great question to ask him that I
think I'll get a kick out of. So I'm going
to do that, you know, because he was he played
Charlie Sheen's mother's love interests on the show. And you know,
(03:55):
his work has been so diverse, I mean, are you
kidding from you know, from one end to the other.
So I think that'll be fun to talk about. And
the pivot in his life from La and being deeply
ingrained in the LA society culture, the whole thing, and
now he lives up in Aspen, you know, just a
totally good choice and good timing. Yeah, yeah, get out
(04:16):
of here, real good choice and good timing. And he
deserves it, you know, he deserves to have that kind
of life and to doing it very gracefully. It's going
to be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to it,
looking forward to I also want to ask him if
he got, like, if a script showed up on his door.
He's ninety four years old, and I'm wondering if you
(04:36):
would say, you know, been there, done that, or if
you would say, yeah, let's try to do another one.
So be interesting to find that out. How did you
first meet him? Just did you meet him when you
did The Longest Day? You didn't know him until then,
or you know him before that.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
I didn't know him until the early sixties when we
did The Longest Day. I don't remember meeting him earlier
with Sinatra, you know, I very very well have because
he would come up to Vegas. But where we really
spent time was, you know, doing that film, which was
an incredible film, Beaches at Normandy Longest Day. And then
(05:10):
we stayed together ever since, and our kids grew up
together and knew each other, and I just always enjoyed them.
He's just he's a gentleman. He's just a sweet guy,
and he's got great style. You know, it's from that
old school skip that we don't have anymore. That business
is gone in every sense, it's not that kind of
business any and a.
Speaker 5 (05:29):
Very civil and elegant guy, you know, doesn't doesn't seek attention,
you know, it doesn't get involved in any controversy in
terms of what's happening in the you know, in the
zeitgeist right now. He's just just I think he's a
guy just as Joyce's life.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
You know.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Yeah, i'd love to see and land a great role
with the great director. I think it's still be very viable.
You know, but those scripts are hard to come by.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
But you know, you find these guys like him, you know,
gratitude plays such a big part for them, you know,
the ones they are fully grounded like RJ. You know,
they they you know, some movie stars, if you will
think you know, they've got this great sense of entitlement.
And I think whenever I've spent time with him, he's
very humble, you know, not full of himself at all.
(06:14):
Is that a fair statement?
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Very very much, very humble.
Speaker 5 (06:17):
Yeah, all right, Well anyway, this is as always, this
is going to be. I'm really excited about having RJ on.
He's such an icon. I mean, oh my god, it's
just incredible.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
He's all of that.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
And we'll have good time with him, and he's just
a cool head. All right, my boy, go to bed,
wom see, you've got three hours.
Speaker 5 (06:35):
Yeah, but I'll talk to you tomorrow for sure.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Well, you know that is a pulp pray, I hope,
So for sure, man, you know we're talking tomorrow. I
love you to.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
So all you folks out there, but it's so general
and all the wonderful feedback we've been getting today, we
have a very very very special guest on with us.
I remember the first time I met this man. It
was way back when we were in a foxhole on
the beaches of Normandy back in nineteen sixty two. I
(07:21):
was but a kid and he was a young man.
And ever since that a Darryl Zantik film called The
Longest Day, we've had a strong connection through all those years,
and not professing to know him infinitely, but knowing him
enough to always love him for a long time and
close with our families and Amanda and his girls, long
(07:41):
long time. And that voice you're hearing is the voice
of r J, otherwise known as Robert Wagner, one of
our amazing film stars for so many years. And welcome
to our show, Robert, say hello to Skip Bronson over there.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Well, it's so wonderful. I have a very deep affection
for you and have had for years. You know, our
families have been together, and I'm so close to Amanda
and Chasing and their weddings and grandfathers, and you and
I are grandfathers, you know. Isn't that wonderful?
Speaker 1 (08:17):
I'm loving it. I'm loving it. As overrated as it is.
I'm loving it, aren't you.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Well?
Speaker 4 (08:22):
You had you had a real good shot at you know.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Yeah, and I finally got the boy, right Jie.
Speaker 4 (08:30):
Yeah. But you've had such a wonderful career, Paul, and
you've had everybody such such joy and you've made so
many people happy. It's gotta make thing.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
For you, you know, Yes, and you too. I mean,
let's go back to the Longest Day. We're going to
go eclectically here, and I know, Skip being the avid
golfer that he is, go back to the Longest Day
because that was a memorable moment in my career, in life.
And where did it all fit in for you?
Speaker 4 (08:58):
Well? That was your first fixture, wasn't it?
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Want to talk about? Yes, I did one with Mami
Van during Duran called Girls Town, and then.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
Mickey Rooney that was later, wasn't it?
Speaker 1 (09:09):
No? I think it was before. Fortunately, I didn't want
to follow the Longest Day with that one. I did
about two or three before we could have on screen
and off. Yes, you would have been very happy south
to France, isolated. She was a great gal. I had
a lot of fun. I had a lot of fun. Yeah, yeah,
she was give me some memories about the Longest Day RJ.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
Well, you know, I think we were all very fortunate
to be in that film and spent such a success.
And you know, Zenik was responsible ready for my career,
and I was like under contract to Thought for twelve years.
You know, he placed me in some films and he
was really responsible for my being in the movies, you know,
(09:53):
and he put me under contract there when I was
eighteen years old. And it was a great e as
you can imagine, you know, to be in the picture
and be with all of them, all of us were
together and we were having a great time, and it's
a remarkable picture. I mean I was watching it the
other day. I mean, he already did some wonderful work.
(10:16):
Those directors were great, and you were terrific in it.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Really listen, I walked away with writing the music. That
was my proud moment.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
Yeah, thank god you did. You know, You've always been
so wonderful to us and so generous to the family.
We've you know, in Vegas, we've gone up there to
see you and yeah, you're so great and they all
love you, you know, they adore you. You know, I'm
(10:47):
doing this show with you, so well, we'll have a
few listeners, you know.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Okay, we could use them all. Hey, Jay, do you
remember in your memoir there's a couple of pages in
there about when you got so on one night that
you went to the wrong hotel. When we're doing the longesting, Remember.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
I went out with Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher and
we went to several places and I came back to
the hotel. Let me back this up a little bit.
When I went there, I was doing a couple of
films and they flew me in special to France, and
there was a car going alongside the airplane, and they
(11:27):
came on the aircraft and they said, we're here to
pick up Robert Wagner. And I got off the plane
and got on the car. They drove me to the
hotel and I got to the hotel and I walked
up to the desk and I said, I think you
have a room, and they said, what's your name? I said,
Robert Wagner. No. I was kind of shot down by
(11:48):
the by the concierge you know, Robert, I said it
was good. So that night I went out with Elizabeth
and Eddie and we went to several places and got
very you know, several bottles of wine and what have you.
I got back to the hotel and I walk up
to the guy and I said, do you have the
(12:10):
key to my suite? He said, what's your name? And
I reached over to the conra and grabbed him.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Robert Wagner again again.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
You know, it's me, Robert Wagner. Do you remember I'm
in the wrong hotel? That was? That was a story.
I felt that.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Do you remember what was when we'd go to work
every day down at the beaches. Do you remember that
while we were at work, someone or a group were
going into the hotels and stealing you remember, they're stealing
all our valuables and Xenik was very concerned. Never found them.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
No, I don't remember that. Tell me about that.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Well, when we were working, there was a group going
into the different hotels, as you remember, there were little
boutique hotels and they were ripping a they're just taking stuff.
But of course we were so involved with making the
film and Darryl and keeping us busy. They never ever
could find out who it was till Zaik brought down
(13:11):
some detectives from Paris and started investigating the point of it.
I was in Japan trying to come over and meeting
you guys on the longest day, and some guy sold
me this box of lighters and he said, I'll give
them to you for a penny each, and you can
put anything in writing that you want on there. You
can give them away his gifts. Well, I'm a kid,
(13:32):
and I'm saying, hey, that's great. So he said, what
do you want on there? And he shows me a
book and one of the scriptings said stolen from He said,
I said, that's great. Put stolen from Paul Ank on there.
He said, hell, put that stolen from Paul Ank. I
said great. So I get over there, I meet you
guys over there, and you know, I'm giving these away
the camera guys. I'm giving anybody I could give them to.
(13:55):
And I handed a bunch of them off. Fade out,
fade in. I go back to New York, finished the film.
Zanik comes to New York and meets me at the
copa and we're having drinks upstairs, and he said, you
remember when we were being looted by people are coming
down and Robbie were on the basic He said, well,
you were responsible for finding us. How did you do that?
He said, The detectives came down, They went to each hotel,
(14:16):
they checked out waiters, they checked out maids, et cetera,
et cetera, And in one hotel they went into one
of the waiters rooms at his home and they were
going through the place and sitting on top of his dresser,
and it was so scripted. He didn't know what the
hell it meant. It said stolen from Paul Anka. He said,
where did you get that? He says, says said, he said, no, no, no,
(14:39):
And that's how they found him for this one set lighter. Anyway,
that was the longest day experience of many right, Well,
but everybody was in that, I mean, Mitcham and you
and Lauferd and Burton and Connery, I mean, oh, it
was Yeah, it was just mind boggling experience, you know.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Yeah, that was that was a good time. I've been
back to Have you been back to Norman? Decent?
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Said, I've been back to the area, you know for years,
been on for vacation, be you know, went through Normandy sure,
we checked it out, of course.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
H fantastic time.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Yeah, that's very, very very.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
That's quite a long time ago, you know.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Paul sixty two, sixty three, sixty four, Yeah right, yeah,
sixty at least sixty four.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Yeah, a long time you've had. You've had a fantastic
career since then.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
My god, no, thank you and YouTube listen.
Speaker 4 (15:39):
Well you've happy, You've written so much, so many, so
much good stuff, and it's just amazing what you've done.
You know, I love your family. I loved I love
to have your wife, and I loved your girls, and
it's so wonderful that we've have this relationship over these years.
(16:02):
It's just great when you think of how many people
have left us. I mean, we're very fortunate man to
have our daughters and our family, which is so important.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
I think the most important thing is it is.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
The most important thing. Yeah, and it's it's mutual, all right, Jay.
We've had so many good times and of course the girls,
you know, it's ongoing.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
And your grandchildren, how about that?
Speaker 1 (16:28):
How about how about nine of them?
Speaker 4 (16:31):
I know you have no you got me beat by six.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Oh well I'm not done yet. I've got eighteen year
olds son warming up in the bullpen.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
Believe me, you're not done yet.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Believe no, no, no, I'm done, but he isn't. How's Jill,
how's the wife?
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Oh, she's wonderful, She's wonderful. You know, I got very
lucky Paul. You know, oh, you know, we did several
movies together, and I knew her from the time she
was sixteen years old. But we never had any romantic involvement.
You know, I was married, she was had, you know,
(17:13):
very many boyfriends and was very popular and all that,
and we just it just we never had a romance
until later on in life. Now we've been married last month.
It was thirty four years.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Wow, thirty fuck a long time.
Speaker 4 (17:33):
And it's been wonderful and I'm very grateful and for that.
And just I lucked out, you know, I lucked out.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
We deserved it, and I'm happy for you.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
K thank you, Paul, very much, happy for you.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
So r JA, let me just get in here for
one second. I was just going to say, because you know, Paul,
forever and we you and I met in the nineties
when Steve when first introducedus, and I was going to
mention to you now that you're up in Aspen. Steve
just bought a house in Aspen. I don't know if
you're aware of that.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
And you know what, I'm having dinner with him Monday night.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Oh you're kidding. Oh that's funny, because.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
Yeah, I still Yeah, he called us and they moved
up here and we're going to their home for dinner
to Monday night.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Oh that's great.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
I would have seen you. I was on my way
up there with him because I'm doing a big concert
for him in September. But I can't go up. But
I'll see you in September when I come up. You
will be yeah. Yeah, we're doing a big birthday party
on the twenty eighth of September.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
I'll be there, Yes, you will.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
That's a good song time there. Do you remember do
you remember being skip with Steve?
Speaker 4 (18:41):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:43):
I do, and we go, you know, taking it all
the way back to the beginning. I know you grew
up alongside the bell Air Country Club, and there are stories.
So many stories at bell Air are apocryphal, but I'm
wondering if this is true or not. They say that
you actually started off as a young boy caddying for
Fred Astaire. Carrie Grant Clark Gable. I'm just curious people.
(19:07):
You know, you hear these stories. You never know what's
true and what's not.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
Well, that's true. I waited there for Clark Dabe, you know.
I I saw saw of them walking up, all walking
up to Pharao Wind faraway one day, Kerry, Randolph Scott,
Clark Dable and FREDA Stair. Wow, four of them afore
(19:31):
And I said to myself, man, what I love to
be one of those people one day? And look at
what happened? What what? What a lucky man?
Speaker 2 (19:39):
I am.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
Gable got me set up at MGM, and Randolph Scott
was so wonderful to me. And Fred Astaire I played it.
I did a series called It Takes a Thief and
he played my father, and That Takes a Thief. Look
at that, Look at the odds. That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
I know I was going to ask you a funny question.
I was going to say, to that spark your love
of film or just your love of golf when you
saw that.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
That's a good question for you.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
I know you were. You became a very avid and
very good golfer. And everybody at Bellair Country Club always
enjoyed when they'd spot you up there, but you know
the history of the place, some of those old photographs,
you know, we were talking about the new clubhouse, of course,
a lot of the old photographs of you know that
the group that we just mentioned and Spencer Tracy and
(20:31):
Catherine Hepburn and you know, you know, I growing up
in Hartford, Connecticut at the club I belonged to, you
didn't exactly run into people like that that you do
it a place like bell Air.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
Yeah, that was a real big, uh, a very big
opportunity for me, very big opportunity. And well, of course
you knew men's of course.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
The fact I was going to ask was was it
Joe Novak or Eddie Merons back?
Speaker 4 (20:57):
And then well, Joe Novak was the pro when when
I was just a young kid, you know, at that time,
he and he got Eddie Meron's to come to the club.
And then I met Eddie Morons when he first came there,
got it. He was a wonderful man. I took quite
a few lessons from him. Did you ever go to
(21:19):
him for an.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Oh, yeah, swing the handle, you know that whole routine. Yeah,
but you were actually a caddy though at the club.
You caddied the ballanty.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
Oh yeah, well, you know, at that time, the war
broke out, and so all the caddies, you know, went
to work. They either went in the service or they
went to work in the aircraft factories. So you know,
all the kids, the young kids took over carrying the bags,
and I was one of those kids. Lucky.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
You great. What an incredible thing when you think about it.
I'm sure you've seen that video actually Fred Astaire when
he's dancing and hitting golf balls. It's sort of a
famous clip on YouTube. I mean he had a I
he you know, of course, he moved on the dance
floor like you know, no one else. But he actually
had a beautiful golf swing too. Just watching that.
Speaker 4 (22:05):
Oh he did have a good swing. He was a
good player. Yeah, he was a player. He liked it. Well,
he was wonderful in anything, you know. I mean he
rehearsed a lot, and I mean all all of that stuffing,
all the dance numbers of canes, so oh, amazing, amazing talent.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Did you ever work with him or not?
Speaker 4 (22:24):
Oh? Yeah I did. I did a television series called
Heart to Heart, right of course, and you know, and
before that, I did it takes a thief, and I
was a great thief, but he was the greatest thief
of them all, Bretastaire, and he played my father and
(22:44):
we worked together, and I want to tell you something,
It was the biggest thrill of my life to be
able to work with Bredastaire. That was that was really exciting.
That was something that's funny.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
You know. It's funny because we have a mutual friend
in Chuck Lourie and I was talking and I was
talking to Chuck this morning, course producer of Two and
a half, Men in the Big Bang Theory and all
these shows, and I said.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
Oh, he gave me some good shots on that. He
gave me some good stuff, I know.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
And I said to Paul that I spoke to Chuck
this morning, and I told him that Paul and I
were going to be, you know, doing this podcast with
you today. And I said, so tell me something that
I can say to him that that he'll get a
kick out of. And he said, well, you know, when
he played Teddy Leopold, you know, the love interest of
Charlie Sheen's mother. He said, when it was time to
(23:32):
kill off his character, you said, wait a second, can
I possibly come back as a ghost.
Speaker 4 (23:40):
Yes, I love working for Chuck Laurie. Tremendous south, very talented.
He's a tremendous sound of that man. He's great. Yeah.
I loved working for him, I really did. I was
disappointed that I didn't go on there. There was a
I was involved in another television situation he was aware of,
(24:01):
and uh, he thought that show was going to go,
and so did I. But it didn't go and he
let me go out of the out of the show,
which I was But I love doing the show and
I loved working for him. He was terrific.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
That's great.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
You know, when you talk about all the great people
we've been fortunate to be around. R Jay, I must
tell you the eulogy that you gave it Sinatra's funeral,
oh so memorable. And he was a buddy of yours
and mine, And you know I know that. I think.
Weren't you engaged to Tina for a bit, et cetera,
et cetera.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
Yeah, yes, we went for a together for a while.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Yea, but we were we were so close to him.
And give me some takes on Frank, because there's nobody
like him, never will be. And I know you were
very tight in there as I was in terms of
having him in my life.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
Well, you know, you were very tight. You were very
tight in there too.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Yeah, yeah, you know how special was he?
Speaker 4 (24:57):
Oh, he was such a special man. You know. I
to him when I was very young. I mean I
was like twenty one twenty two when I first met him.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
I too, maybe two days old.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
Yeah, but there's a little difference between you and me,
you know. Uh. And he was always so wonderful to me,
so so generous, took me places with him and.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Well, well with him. When he said we're going out,
you have to bring your passport. You never knew where
you you.
Speaker 4 (25:30):
Know, I introduced him one time, he said, he said,
I want you to He came to Rome and I
was and I was living in Rome and he played
there you and you can imagine Sonata and Rome Hello,
And uh he said, why don't you introduce me? I said,
oh Jesus, but uh so I walk out on the
(25:54):
stage and you can imagine how people love to see
me on the way to for Sinatra. Right, so, and
I said two words, Frank Sinatra, and out he came,
and he turned that place upside down.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Yeah, they loved him over.
Speaker 4 (26:15):
You've seen that many times.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Yeah, I've been around it all. But he was something special.
I mean he was just mesmer.
Speaker 4 (26:23):
Yeah, but you've done that too. I've seen you turn
it upside down too. I've seen you. I've seen you
come out and give performances that are absolutely magnificent. The
audience goes crazy.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
They had nothing better to do that night. They were
probably waiting for him. So, you know, another kick for
me was watching you with with Mike Myers.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Oh yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Are you still in touch with him?
Speaker 4 (26:50):
Oh? Yeah, I'm in touch with him once in a while. Yeah.
He's a terrific man. He's a truly man. He wrote
that character. Oh me, you know, I've been in the
picture of business what Paul seventy years? I guess. And
I'm known as Number two. That's you know a little
He wrote that character for me, so I am now
(27:13):
referred to as number two.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
It's cool between Myers and Sellers, who you're with, right,
How similar are those two guys?
Speaker 4 (27:24):
Oh? I don't think they were similar at all. Peter
Peter Sellers was a very very special guy and so
is Mike, and their personalities are are very very different,
very different but did you you know Peter did you?
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Yeah, yeah, we were with the same agent and then
knew him, you know, in England, met him over here.
I didn't know him well, but you know we've gotten
together with Dinners et cetera like that. Yeah, very time.
Speaker 4 (27:52):
I don't think I don't think anybody could get to
know Peter Bury.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Well, no, no, no.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
I think it was possible. I spent a great deal
of time with him and I had had wonderful fans
with him in London. He had a super souped up
many Cooper and but that Carr could really move and
he loved you know, drag racing with people and knocking
him out of the way, and it was quite interesting.
(28:19):
You know.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
He's a tortured soul though.
Speaker 6 (28:23):
Yes he was. Unfortunately he had a lot of a
lot of Davis. Yeah, but funny Mike, Mike Myers is
do you know have you met him?
Speaker 1 (28:33):
You know, yeah, I met only I think Bacrack was
involved in the film. Bert was a friend, you know,
I'd met Mike, you know, did.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
You see that? You know I did that special on
Bert back and it was on the other day. It
was pretty pretty good. I thought it really They really used.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Is a biography?
Speaker 4 (28:52):
R J?
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Was it a biography?
Speaker 4 (28:53):
Big Heart?
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Was it a biography or music? I haven't seen it yet.
Speaker 4 (28:57):
It's a music I did. I did it about five
years and it came out really well. I admired Burt
very much. I saw him first when he was playing
at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. That's a
long time ago, and I just thought he had so
much talent and it was a terrific person. I, by
(29:18):
the way, was on the phone the other day with
Angie and he's doing well.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
And yeah, I knew him back then with her and
I met him in the fifties. We were sharing a girlfriend.
Her name was Shirley Ornstein, and I didn't know him,
he didn't know me, but she knew both of us.
So she'd come and visit me and we'd have fun.
That she'd go see him and have fun that you
can go back and I heard this new song with
this guy Bert Bacharak. She started singing it to me,
(29:46):
and then that player mid new one, and she'd go
back and tell him. I never met him. So finally
one day we got together. I said, Hey, we're sharing Shirley.
He said yeah, and it was like late fifties and
we became buddies. Ever said, right right down to about
a month or two before he passed. Very talented guy, very.
Speaker 4 (30:04):
Talented, wonderful man. Yet he had wonderful parents, you know
his father. Did you ever meet them?
Speaker 1 (30:10):
Yes? And then the once in New York.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
Yes, very nice people, wonderful people, wonderful family.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Yeah, he was a stylish guy. He was very very cool.
Speaker 4 (30:18):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, terrific.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
Speaking of cool guys, Spencer Tracy, big part of your life.
I lived at What an actor he was? What's the
advice he gave your ja? Where did you learn from him?
Speaker 4 (30:31):
Oh? There's spent so many, so many they spent so
many things said about Spence. But you know, people ask
him how does he how do you do it? And
you know, how do how do you? How do you
be so natural? How do you get that character? He
said a lot of things. But one of the things
that he said, well try I just heard again the
(30:53):
other day was he said, you know, actress, say what
what what? What? What? What shall I do? He say?
He said, learn your lines, hit the mark and be honest.
And that's pretty simple. But that's what he did. I
(31:16):
don't know. I mean he was just did you ever work.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
With him, Paul, No, never had that pleasure.
Speaker 4 (31:24):
He was something. I did two films with him, and
it was the first time I went to Europe. I
went to Europe with him and Eddie Dimitrick, the director,
and we did a film up in Shamani called a Mountain,
and we drove up there. Eddie had bought a car,
a Mercedes convertible. I mean this is fifty years ago,
(31:47):
you know. But just had a wonderful experience being with him.
He was such a special man and I knew his children.
You know that John Tracy Klinet, which was formed because
John was deaf by his mother and his sister excuse me,
(32:08):
was you know, such a dear friend. She just left
us recently, both of them are gone. But the wonderful
organization and the John Tracy Clinic has done. She was
responsible for stopping the expression deaf and dumb. She missus,
Tracy Louise. She was just a remarkable woman, you know,
(32:31):
one of those women be in your life that never
leave you. And she was a very very wonderful person.
And they formed the John Tracy Clinic and they've done
so much for young children who are impaired with herring
and and they've been really, really done a great job.
(32:52):
Spence was very much involved in that.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Speaking of names from the past, I just went to
my friend Casey Wasserman's fiftieth birthday party and his grandfather
of course with Lou Wasserman, and he was just curious
of any of your memories of Lou Wasserman, the impact
he had on the entertainment industry, on Hollywood, all of it.
Speaker 4 (33:25):
Well, he was very responsible for my going into television,
you know, he was the one that wanted me to do.
It takes a thief, and it takes a thief, you know.
It changed my whole career. And I was very close
to lew and he was my agent at one time
(33:46):
and then as you know, he ran at owned Universal Studio. Say,
he was a remarkable man. He did so much for
me and I'm so indebted to him, and I loved
his wife. We were very close, you know, he was
He couldn't have been more generous to me. He was great.
You know him quite well.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
Paul may have known him. I didn't know him, but
Paul man him.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
Yeah, I knew Wasserman well. Him and Stein. You know,
they set a whole new tone back then. You go
over those offices, unlike some of the other agencies are
j and there were antiques everywhere, and they started that
whole gray suit, black tie, very very stylish, and he was.
He was one of those great guys with that low tone,
never never raised his voice.
Speaker 4 (34:29):
I mean, oh, very very very powerful guy.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
I hate the equation between Mayer Lansky that I used
to sit with at the Fountain, Blue and lou But
there's a certain elk of men that they never changed
their tonality. It was always one tone and very strong
and very powerful.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
But he was.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
He and Stein did an amazing, amazing contribution to our business. Oh,
I think they set the mold.
Speaker 4 (34:57):
Yeah, you were talking about his you they'd go to
Europe and they'd buy all those antiques.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (35:04):
I have one of a fireplace that he bought and
I got it. It was given to me. I have
it in my house up there. Yeah, yeah, you'll see it.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Cool. Yeah, they were stylish guys. They were very very
cool guys. Great agency.
Speaker 4 (35:21):
When are you coming up here, by the way.
Speaker 1 (35:24):
Well, I hope to come up within the next couple
of months to see our friend and just hang for
a few days, but I have to come in before
the concert on the twenty eighth. I'll probably get up
there into the Little Neils around when twenty eighth of September.
At Steve's house, we're just planning the tent and bring
an equipment in. You know, Stevie's right on nothing but
(35:47):
the best, so we're gonna have a hell of an evening.
But I'll come up before that because he just wants
me to come up and hang for a few days.
And I enjoyed Aspen because my daughter lived up there.
She was a ski instructor. So between there and Aspen,
you know, I'm very familiar with the turf and I
really like it up there.
Speaker 4 (36:03):
Oh that's great.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
What brought you to Aspen in the first place? Why Aspen?
Speaker 4 (36:07):
Well, I first came here to Aspen in nineteen forty
nine with two ski instructors of Antache and eve La Tree,
And they were both French guys, and they were instructors
in France and the top skiers and Colorado and Aspen
(36:27):
was the first place that they had the ski lift
and the snow was fabulous, and I came with the
two of them in nineteen forty nine, and then Jill
came in nineteen fifty nine. I didn't know her then,
but she lived here. I mean, Jill has lived here
for most of her life. And when Jill and you know,
(36:49):
and then I'd come back to Asphen on occasions and
vacations and all of that. But then when Jill and
I started going together, I was up here more often, obviously,
and I just loved it. As Paul knows because it's
happened to him. The children all grew up and left,
and we had this house in Brentwood, beautiful home, and
(37:14):
it was just Chill and myself and this wonderful woman
who worked for me called Willie May were then. And
that's when I see a lot of Paul's kids, you know,
they were all together, all of them, and they all
left and there was just Jill, myself and Willie May
and his home. And so we sold it and moved
(37:36):
into a condominium in Beverly Hills and lived there for
a while, and then Jill had her house here. Then
we saw this house that I'm living in now, and
we bought it. I think it's twenty five or thirty
years and we now live. We got married and we
(37:57):
lived here and it's all his firs and ours, my
mothers and fathers and her mother and fathers and tourises
and it's all together.
Speaker 2 (38:08):
That's great. And I just spoke yesterday actually to our
other mutual friend George Hamilton, who told me either just
he said he was just talking to you. See I
talked to him.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
Yeah, is he down in Florida's he he's teas unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (38:23):
He's flying to Europe to see a friend of his
perform and then he's going to go to the Hampton's.
He's going to stay in Southampton out on Long Island
for the big part of thee.
Speaker 4 (38:36):
He travels a lot. He's a wonderful guy. You know.
Natalie and I did a picture together with him. That's
when I first met him, called all the Final Cannibals,
and we just loved him. And he's been a very
good close friend and uh, I love him. You know,
he's he's a wonderful.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
He got all excited when I told him we were
going to be talking to you. I have to say,
two of the funniest people I know are Paul and George.
Paul's hysterical, but George is hilarious. He's just you know,
he doesn't take himself all that seriously. He's sort of
he's sort of in on the joke. But you know,
he was very close to my mentor, Melvin Simon, who
(39:17):
started me in business. And mel mel was backing George
and George's movies like Zarro the Gay Blade, mel Simon
produced it. And so George has always had somebody he
attaches himself to, Like now it's Donnie Sofer. Back then
it was Yeah, and before that it was with mel Simon.
(39:39):
And you know, George is such a character. He just
but he's so entertaining that everybody loves taking him around.
So Donnie bought a new plane, bought a Global Express
and he said to me, you know, Skip, I had
to take four of the seats out of the back
of the plane. I said why, He said, so I
can get all of George's luggage on board. Yeah, he
(40:00):
travels like a Oh, he travels like Elizabeth Taylor.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
When he moves in, he moves in.
Speaker 4 (40:07):
And he traveled with Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
Well, I know, I know he's so charming. You know
the word charming. I mean, you can't find a word
charming guy than George.
Speaker 4 (40:16):
Oh, he's terrific, terrific.
Speaker 1 (40:19):
He still goes to Germany, Skip for those shots. He
came to your house.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
When you played that practical joke. You have to tell
j what you did to him that you.
Speaker 1 (40:30):
Know he goes with sofa and they get the juice
of a lamb or the urine of a pig. I
don't know what it is, but some Germans sold, look
like you get this shot once a month and you're
gonna last forever. So it happened, you show, Yeah, but he's.
Speaker 4 (40:48):
He's so he was.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
I think he called you on the phone. He was
in town, Skip and he called you, and I was
with you. You were screening something for me exactly when
he said, hey, George, how are you? And then you
whispered to me George Hamilton. I said, tell him, tell
him you've got doctor Swing Dangle from Germany. He's here,
the guy that gave you the shots. Just tell him, George,
(41:12):
I've got doctor Swinger. Then if we hear from the institute,
is he there, Yes, she's George. How are you? George?
This is doctor Listen. We've got a new serum.
Speaker 3 (41:25):
Now.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
You won't believe if you and the sofa person you
come over We've got a new serum where it takes
six months for you see difference. It's gonna last twelve days.
You're gonna see the difference, the eyes, the wrinkles. It's
this new juice that we got from the colt over
in Switzerland. He says, we don't don't worry. I'm going
to be waiting for you. You're done, and I'm putting him
(41:46):
on like for about what twenty minutes? Skip skip At
one point's going tell him that you can't handle this, right,
But they go over religiously r J to get these shows.
Speaker 2 (41:56):
Do you remember what he's Yeah, R Paul, do you
remember what he said to you? He was thought he
was talking to the doctor and the doctor said, yes,
it's very expensive, but you know it's certainly expensive. And
he said, well done, so for having an account with you.
He said, oh yes, oh so we can put on his.
Speaker 1 (42:16):
Account right, the expensive but Silfa has that count.
Speaker 2 (42:21):
Yeah. Yeah, it was so crazy.
Speaker 4 (42:26):
I got on some of the stuff that he got
me on a really good, good program and I got
on to it about thirty years ago. Oh tell us
a wonderful doctor called doctor Anna Aslam. Did you her?
Speaker 1 (42:39):
No? Here here in Los Angeles.
Speaker 4 (42:41):
No, she's in she's in Romania.
Speaker 1 (42:44):
Oh, so he's covering you.
Speaker 4 (42:45):
The George shipped me off on that. And I started
taking those shots. And I gotta say, I went to.
Speaker 1 (42:51):
You, went over there, RJ. What's that You went over
there to her? She sent them to you?
Speaker 4 (42:56):
No, you can. You can buy them. He told me
about them, and I got them and started taking started
taking them. When I went to this spa in Germany.
You know, when you go there, the doctor's examine you
and everything else. And he said to you, what drugs
do you take and stuff whether as I told him,
you know, supplements and things like that. And he said,
(43:18):
and I told him, I took this anne Aslan medicine
of shots that are like novacane. You know, they hold
your your vessels and your organs, and that's the theory
of it. And he said, you know, I have several
patients that come in here and we can tell the difference.
(43:40):
So I've been taking those shots. George got me on them.
Speaker 1 (43:45):
When I take them, you're still take you Oh yeah,
she's still alive.
Speaker 4 (43:48):
She's not alive anymore. But the the company that she
created and the laboratories that she has are still functioning
under her name.
Speaker 1 (44:00):
There you go, these doctors that have their own thing
going for them, right.
Speaker 4 (44:03):
Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 2 (44:05):
Look at you? You look? You have to say you look,
you look incredible.
Speaker 1 (44:09):
Maybe perfect face for radio?
Speaker 4 (44:11):
What you know, it's the makeup. What can I tell you?
Speaker 1 (44:15):
Yeah? Well, look, the whoever's doing is doing a good job.
What's your day, like, buddy up there? I mean out
of winter? In winter? Give me your date? What do
(44:37):
you do?
Speaker 4 (44:37):
You know here everybody exercises a lot, you know, they
ride bikes and do all that. And I go to
the gym three times a week. And living you know,
in nature is really wonderful. And I read a lot,
and I'm just enjoying life, you know.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
All and gracefully, right, gracefully.
Speaker 4 (44:58):
I'm so fortunate and us so grateful. You can't imagine that.
I that I've wound up like this in this beautiful place.
And my family is all well and they're doing all right,
and I'm healthy, and I'm dealing with a little COPD now.
(45:19):
But I'm dealing with it, you know, and it's something
you can you can deal with.
Speaker 1 (45:25):
Well, it's not easy to die nowadays, are Jay. If
you've got good people around you. It's not easy to
die nowadays, and we can't afford good people around us.
And I hear you. You know, I think we can
deal with stuff like that, right.
Speaker 4 (45:38):
Yeah, I like that.
Speaker 2 (45:40):
Do you get back to la at all? Do you
ever get back to La.
Speaker 4 (45:43):
Oh once in a while? Yeah, we come back down
there because you know, Jill was born in Los Angeles
and I was raised there, and we have a lot
of friends. And two of my girls are there in
Los Angeles, Natasha and Kay. Well, Katie lives in Ohi.
We have a lot of friends there. So we go
(46:04):
down there two or three times a year and and
see our friends. You know, we have a lot of friends.
Speaker 2 (46:11):
What about the old haunts like Chasing's, the places, the
old hang you miss those places gone?
Speaker 4 (46:17):
Yes, that's gone. But I just had a wonderful birthday party.
Jill gave me my ninety fourth birthday party at George
Hill's at the Beach. And you know, I knew Georgia
very well. And his son, Edwardo. He has a restaurant
in Beverly Hills called Edwardo's, and the daughter a lot
(46:41):
of she runs the Georgia's at the Beach, And we
had a wonderful She gave me a wonderful party, just right.
Speaker 2 (46:49):
Yeah, we love Ellen and that's one of our favorite
restaurants where they're.
Speaker 4 (46:53):
Oh yeah, that's quite a bit a lot of us.
Speaker 2 (46:55):
Yeah, and never the restaurant never disappoints. It's always great.
Speaker 4 (47:00):
Oh that's great. H Well, there's a lot of wonderful places,
and we have a lot of good friends there to you.
Speaker 2 (47:06):
So, but everybody haspens the happening place now it's incredible,
I mean the place.
Speaker 4 (47:12):
Yeah, well, it's changed a great deal, like like everything else.
I remember when the hardware store had sawdust on the
floor and a bell to ring when he opened up
the door by the screen with a screen door, you know.
So it's changed. But every place that we've all met
has changed, you know.
Speaker 2 (47:33):
Of course.
Speaker 1 (47:35):
Of course, speaking of which, R Jay, you know that
the tabloid celebrity culture has changed in the last seven years,
and we all go back. I mean, you and I
had to Luella Parsons and had a hopper. Who are
you dealings with them? Well?
Speaker 4 (47:49):
I knew Luella pretty well and she was always I
got along with her really well and used to go
to the racetrack with her a great deal and she
was very kind to me, and you know, the press
was really really good to me. And as I you know,
I was under contract to Fox and they have very
(48:10):
good relationships with everybody, and I never had any problem
with them.
Speaker 1 (48:15):
You know, such a different system today.
Speaker 4 (48:18):
Oh so today, I mean it's just brutal. I mean,
they can find anything, they can pay anything about you.
It's terrible show pictures and oh my god, I mean
it's and none of it is true really, you know.
I mean you look at it and you just you
can't believe.
Speaker 1 (48:37):
It, and you look at the system itself. I mean,
today I don't know that the movie business is a business.
It's almost like American airlines. It's so changed. But the
fact that a lot of these actors, it's the goal
is just get an oscar and we're going to sell
whatever film we're doing. It's so changed. And you don't
have any true movie actors stars like you did yesterday.
(49:00):
It's a whole different landscape.
Speaker 4 (49:04):
I think that's very well. Football, that's very well. Absolutely,
I agree totally on that.
Speaker 2 (49:22):
Are you working on any projects right now, any current
or No, I'm not.
Speaker 4 (49:26):
I'm kind of waiting for you know, once in a
while the script hits the door, you know, and I
hear the thump, and I hope it's Steven Spielberg or
Martin Spressese. But so far that hasn't been.
Speaker 2 (49:42):
If you know what I mean, I'm sure you could
work plenty with your background, your history. I just saw
some pictures the other day of you when you were
a really young man. Best looking guy in Hollywood, no
question about it. You had good jeans. What do you
Your parents were from where? What was their background?
Speaker 4 (50:00):
Well, my mother was Norwegian. She was born in America,
first born in Lacrosse, Wisconsin, and my father was a German.
My grandfather settled in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and he was the
American dream, you know. He sold newspapers on the streets
(50:23):
and became a salesman, became involved with the Ford Motor
Company and became very successful. You know, it's the American story.
Speaker 2 (50:33):
That was your grandfather. What about your dad?
Speaker 4 (50:35):
Oh? No, that was my father.
Speaker 2 (50:37):
Oh there was your father. Oh I see.
Speaker 4 (50:39):
Now. My grandfather, as far as I knew, had a
like a pub, you know, a bar in Calamazoo. And
he came from Mannheim. And I only saw him once
when I was already young, just a kid, you know.
But I was raised in Michigan, and then we moved
to California, and luckily my father built a house bell
(51:02):
Air when there was nothing there. There was just mountains,
you know, and the clubhouse, the club that we were
talking about, was around the corner, you know. So he
belonged to there and played golf, and I wound up
on the golf course and lucky.
Speaker 2 (51:23):
And now bell Air is arguably the most expensive subdivision
in America. The prices, I mean is absolutely bell Air.
That whole area around you know what they call Lower
bell Air. I mean, the prices are just you know,
through the roof. It's incredible, right, very expensive. So one
of the things I just wanted to throw out. Our
(51:43):
producer Jordan indirectly has a relationship through Lou Wasserman. Jordan,
why don't you tell R Jay how that worked?
Speaker 7 (51:54):
Oh yeah, My my aunt worked for Lou Wasserman when
she worked at Universal. He was he was her boss,
and he was like a second father to her. He
was very very kind to her and was really her mentor.
Speaker 2 (52:08):
In a lot of ways too.
Speaker 7 (52:10):
So she had just the most wonderful things to tell
me about about lou and he was always always referred
to in very reverent tones in my household.
Speaker 4 (52:18):
Very cool guy. Oh they were good people, you know,
they were very good, good people.
Speaker 7 (52:24):
I mean, what was it like, because I feel like
you've written three incredible books, and I think it was
either in your memoir Pieces in My Heart or you
must remember this. I forget which one where you talk
about how you kind of came in at the end
of the studio system in nineteen forty eight when you
signed to Fox. What was it like before the studio
(52:45):
system kind of started to crumble, And what was it
like afterwards when you came back from Europe. What was
the difference like in Hollywood once the studio system began
to kind of be dismantled.
Speaker 4 (52:55):
Well, that's a big question, he just asked me. You know,
I mean, I think, to make it as simple as possible,
it was a family business. It was family you know people.
People really cared about you. They wanted to make you better,
(53:20):
They wanted to do things that were fortunate for your career.
You know. It it became corporate, you know, and uh,
corporate corporate change changed things a lot. It changes a
lot of values. When I was signed at Fox, I
was the test boy. I tested all of the all
(53:43):
of the people came in and I learned, and I
learned about the business, about lighting, about the camera. I
was diferent front of the camera. I didn't know anything
about that. I had a chance to do that. I
had a chance to have All that happened to me.
And the people that I was involved with with they
were really interested in me. They cared about me, you know.
(54:05):
They I had a man there that was a sign
to just take care of me and watch out for me.
Speaker 1 (54:12):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (54:12):
And when I went on the road and went out
to sell pictures and I was involved with twentieth Century Fox,
it was a company that I really cared about. You know.
Jill and I were talking about that because she was
under contract to Fox and we had we had an
involvement with him. We cared about those people you talk
about the longest day in Darryl. I mean, Darryl Zanik
(54:36):
was wonderful to me.
Speaker 3 (54:37):
You know.
Speaker 4 (54:38):
He put me in little small pictures and pieces that
had fan mail that I the fans reacted to me
through fan mail. They had a fan mail department. We
took care of the They took care of everything. You know,
it was wonderful. It was family.
Speaker 1 (54:56):
Not today.
Speaker 4 (54:58):
Well, I was there when it, you know, when it
when it all broke up and people became independent. And
don't no, it's not that today because people come into
the business and they want to uh you know, they
have money to buy a story, they want to make
a movie. It's all it's all corporative, you know, it's
it and it's transit. They're not there for a long time,
(55:20):
you know, like for me and like with Paul, you know,
we came from the floor, We came from the of
the stage from them, you know, rehearsals, people involved in
making something better or creating something. It's it's not so
much like that anymore. You know, it's very budget concert
(55:44):
you know, concerns and money and you know, I had
a project I took to to some people that have
made and I went into the first conversation and I
was trying to raise I think the picture was going
to cost like a between eight and ten million, And
they asked me how much I thought it would cost,
(56:04):
and I said, I think it could cost It costs
probably about ten million. I said, can you make it
for six? You know, that that became a discussion.
Speaker 1 (56:15):
And they were like twenty five years old.
Speaker 4 (56:17):
Yeah, you know, I wasn't interested in you know, I
wasn't interested in carrying the conversation on much longer because
it was just two different perspectives, you know.
Speaker 1 (56:31):
Jay one of the one of the sizzles for me
back then, you know, every time I was up at
the Sands Hotel with Sinatra and then anytime we knew
Marilyn Monroe was coming in, I mean, everybody was hyped.
I mean, and I'm a kid, so to me, it
was Bridget Bardeaux who had met and Marilyn Monroe just
sing her on the periphery. You did a screen test
(56:51):
with Maryland, didn't you.
Speaker 4 (56:53):
Yes, I did both.
Speaker 1 (56:55):
Tell me tell me about that. Because she's she's just
iconic and she was.
Speaker 4 (57:00):
Loved well, you know, Paul I thought she was absolutely terrific.
She had a wonderful sense of humor. She didn't have
every Everybody wasn't on top of her then, you know,
and wanting her for something, you know, and she was
just great. I've got some pictures with her where we're laughing,
laughing like crazy, and she she loved to have fun,
(57:22):
you know, she was a really wonderful lady. But you know,
you know what it's like. I mean, she couldn't go anywhere.
She couldn't, you know. But I I loved her. I
thought she was great.
Speaker 1 (57:34):
What was the screen test for?
Speaker 4 (57:37):
Do you remember on that one? No, that was for
her contract at Fox.
Speaker 1 (57:42):
Oh so it was with you and her, for her
to get a contract with Fox.
Speaker 4 (57:47):
Yeah, that was that was for her to be in
a contract of the studio.
Speaker 1 (57:51):
And do you remember what the scene was from? Oh?
Speaker 4 (57:53):
No, I don't, No, I don't. But you know, I
always liked her. She was such a wonderful you know,
she was fun. She was a fun girl, and she
was a lot a lot of laughs.
Speaker 1 (58:02):
And well, Frank and the guys loved her. I mean
you every time you were around it, you could just
see they adored her.
Speaker 4 (58:07):
Yeah, I mean she, you know, had a lot of
demons running around.
Speaker 1 (58:11):
Yeah, she did.
Speaker 4 (58:12):
That later came out obviously, But what a loss, you
know what, what an unfortunate thing. I just read her house.
There's not going to become a monument.
Speaker 1 (58:23):
That's right. They won't tear it down. Historic mine in Brentwood.
They can't touch it, that's right. Historic like the Beverly
Hills Hotel.
Speaker 4 (58:32):
Right, yeah, that's what happened to my house in Brentwood.
You know where a panda was there a lot. You
know that your daughters were there a lot. It's become
a you know, not a monument. But because the architect,
Cliff May was so responsible for the California Ranch House
(58:55):
and you know, he created it. He created this, the flighting,
that glass stoor, you know, and he was a wonderful
man and that house was was his house at one time.
So they're they're going to keep that for perpetuity, which
is great. I lived in it for twenty five years
(59:17):
and I loved it and he helped me, help me
bring it back to what it was.
Speaker 2 (59:21):
Amazing. Well, you've you've seen it all, you've done it all,
and you're still doing it. You're still doing it.
Speaker 4 (59:27):
That makes what I'm doing this podcast.
Speaker 1 (59:29):
So I'm loving that, and we loved it.
Speaker 2 (59:33):
I can't tell you how much Paul loves you. You know,
the way he talks about not just you know, related
to this podcast, but whenever your name comes up, man,
Paul just he likes right up. He just loves you.
Speaker 4 (59:45):
Well, so wonderful man. And there isn't anything in the
world I wouldn't do for him.
Speaker 8 (59:50):
Likewise, he's a special, very special human being, and he's
been so generous and so kind to me over the
years and to our family, and we have great love
and affection for him.
Speaker 1 (01:00:03):
Thank you, r J.
Speaker 2 (01:00:05):
Well, we appreciate you. We really appreciate your taking the
time to do this. You were on our you were
one of our bucket list people. So I'm just so
happy that this worked out well.
Speaker 4 (01:00:13):
I'm so pleased to be here in the beat with
the boot both of you and and Paul. You're the best.
I love you.
Speaker 1 (01:00:22):
Thank you, Jay.
Speaker 4 (01:00:23):
It's for a long time and it beings a great
deal to me to have you in my life.
Speaker 1 (01:00:32):
I agree with that sentiment and I feel the same
way about you. And I'll see you very soon, my boy,
within the next few months.
Speaker 4 (01:00:38):
I look forward to Okay, I'm looking forward.
Speaker 1 (01:00:41):
Sarah to Jill for me.
Speaker 4 (01:00:42):
Huh, I sure will okay?
Speaker 3 (01:00:44):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:00:45):
Thanks.
Speaker 1 (01:00:52):
Our Way with Paul, Anka and Skip Bronson is a
production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (01:00:57):
The show's executive producer is Jordan Runt, with supervising producer
and editor Marcy Depina.
Speaker 1 (01:01:04):
It was engineered by Todd Carlin and Graham Gibson. Mixed
and mastered by the wonderful Mary Do.
Speaker 2 (01:01:12):
If you like what you heard, please subscribe and leave
us a review.
Speaker 1 (01:01:15):
For more podcasts on iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite children
Our Way with yours Truly Paul Anka and my buddy
Skip Bronson, is a production of iHeartRadio. Hi, folks, this
is Paul.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Anka and my name is Skip Bronson. We've been friends
for decades and we've decided to let you in on
our late night phone calls by starting a new podcast
and welcome to Our Way.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
We'd like you to meet some real good friends of ours.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
There, leaders in entertainment and.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Sports, innovators in business and technology, and even a sitting
president or two.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Join us as we asked the questions they've not been
asked before. Tell it like it is, and even sing
a song or two.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
This is our podcast and we'll be doing it our way.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
You know.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Another kick for me was watching You with with Mike Myers.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
Oh yeah, I love that. He's a terrific man. He's
a truly fan. He wrote that character. Oh, Vidio, I've
been in the picture of business. What fault seventy years?
I guess seventy years and I'm known as Number two.
That's you know a little. He wrote that character for me,
(01:12):
So I am now referred to as Number two.
Speaker 5 (01:26):
Hello Skip, Hey, glad you're up and around. What you're
doing I'm just checking in. You know, we gotta have
the daily checking at least once a day or a
problem for me.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Well, it's always good to hear your voice, buddy. And
how about the voice we'll have on our podcast, mister Wegner.
I know, it's amazing. You'll hear a distinctive tonality with RJ.
You know, some of those actors have got that. They've
all got this certain tone. His has never changed. You're
gonna hear a voice and go wow, I've heard that
(01:56):
so many times. But you go for the archange. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (02:00):
I used to play with him, and in course, he
started off as a caddy at the bell Air Country
Club for you know, some of the greatest you know
stars in Hollywood at the time, including you know Fred Astaire.
I mean, this is the whole group of guys.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
How about when his father brought him out though there
was nothing there. Yeah, No, his father moved out from
Michigan and built a home when it was barren. Yeah,
I mean the Terra Firma there was empty and this
kid grew up there.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
RJ.
Speaker 5 (02:27):
You know, but you know, I want to talk to
them about this. One of the things is interesting. He
gets a real leg upbeat, so physically beautiful, such a
gorgeous looking guy that he has. He had a face
made for Hollywood, right, I mean, this is a guy
the women would look at this guy and go, oh
my god. I mean the movie poster with his picture
on it. You know you're going to buy a ticket
(02:48):
and go in and see him if you're a woman,
that's for sure.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
No, he was one of those guys. But he was
an actor. You know, he really morphed into being a
very good actor. And not only from uh, I think
from film. He went ready television and he's got it together.
I mean, he's in his early nineties and I got
to tell you, he's one of the sweetest guys and
he's never changed. And I've known him, you know since
I did the Longest Day with him years ago, back
(03:13):
in the early sixties, and we're very close and with
our families. But I'm looking forward to having him on.
I think he'll really enjoy him. He's got some great stories.
Fred Astaire was in his life. I mean, the guys
had so many great actors, right down to the Mike
Meyers situation. He's worked with some of the best.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
And I want to ask my friend Chuck Laurie, who
produced you know, of course Two and a Half Men
and so many other comedies. I told him that you
and I were going to have RG on and he
gave me a great question to ask him that I
think I'll get a kick out of. So I'm going
to do that, you know, because he was he played
Charlie Sheen's mother's love interests on the show. And you know,
(03:55):
his work has been so diverse, I mean, are you
kidding from you know, from one end to the other.
So I think that'll be fun to talk about. And
the pivot in his life from La and being deeply
ingrained in the LA society culture, the whole thing, and
now he lives up in Aspen, you know, just a
totally good choice and good timing. Yeah, yeah, get out
(04:16):
of here, real good choice and good timing. And he
deserves it, you know, he deserves to have that kind
of life and to doing it very gracefully. It's going
to be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to it,
looking forward to I also want to ask him if
he got, like, if a script showed up on his door.
He's ninety four years old, and I'm wondering if you
(04:36):
would say, you know, been there, done that, or if
you would say, yeah, let's try to do another one.
So be interesting to find that out. How did you
first meet him? Just did you meet him when you
did The Longest Day? You didn't know him until then,
or you know him before that.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
I didn't know him until the early sixties when we
did The Longest Day. I don't remember meeting him earlier
with Sinatra, you know, I very very well have because
he would come up to Vegas. But where we really
spent time was, you know, doing that film, which was
an incredible film, Beaches at Normandy Longest Day. And then
(05:10):
we stayed together ever since, and our kids grew up
together and knew each other, and I just always enjoyed them.
He's just he's a gentleman. He's just a sweet guy,
and he's got great style. You know, it's from that
old school skip that we don't have anymore. That business
is gone in every sense, it's not that kind of
business any and a.
Speaker 5 (05:29):
Very civil and elegant guy, you know, doesn't doesn't seek attention,
you know, it doesn't get involved in any controversy in
terms of what's happening in the you know, in the
zeitgeist right now. He's just just I think he's a
guy just as Joyce's life.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
You know.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Yeah, i'd love to see and land a great role
with the great director. I think it's still be very viable.
You know, but those scripts are hard to come by.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
But you know, you find these guys like him, you know,
gratitude plays such a big part for them, you know,
the ones they are fully grounded like RJ. You know,
they they you know, some movie stars, if you will
think you know, they've got this great sense of entitlement.
And I think whenever I've spent time with him, he's
very humble, you know, not full of himself at all.
(06:14):
Is that a fair statement?
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Very very much, very humble.
Speaker 5 (06:17):
Yeah, all right, Well anyway, this is as always, this
is going to be. I'm really excited about having RJ on.
He's such an icon. I mean, oh my god, it's
just incredible.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
He's all of that.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
And we'll have good time with him, and he's just
a cool head. All right, my boy, go to bed,
wom see, you've got three hours.
Speaker 5 (06:35):
Yeah, but I'll talk to you tomorrow for sure.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Well, you know that is a pulp pray, I hope,
So for sure, man, you know we're talking tomorrow. I
love you to.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
So all you folks out there, but it's so general
and all the wonderful feedback we've been getting today, we
have a very very very special guest on with us.
I remember the first time I met this man. It
was way back when we were in a foxhole on
the beaches of Normandy back in nineteen sixty two. I
(07:21):
was but a kid and he was a young man.
And ever since that a Darryl Zantik film called The
Longest Day, we've had a strong connection through all those years,
and not professing to know him infinitely, but knowing him
enough to always love him for a long time and
close with our families and Amanda and his girls, long
(07:41):
long time. And that voice you're hearing is the voice
of r J, otherwise known as Robert Wagner, one of
our amazing film stars for so many years. And welcome
to our show, Robert, say hello to Skip Bronson over there.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Well, it's so wonderful. I have a very deep affection
for you and have had for years. You know, our
families have been together, and I'm so close to Amanda
and Chasing and their weddings and grandfathers, and you and
I are grandfathers, you know. Isn't that wonderful?
Speaker 1 (08:17):
I'm loving it. I'm loving it. As overrated as it is.
I'm loving it, aren't you.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Well?
Speaker 4 (08:22):
You had you had a real good shot at you know.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Yeah, and I finally got the boy, right Jie.
Speaker 4 (08:30):
Yeah. But you've had such a wonderful career, Paul, and
you've had everybody such such joy and you've made so
many people happy. It's gotta make thing.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
For you, you know, Yes, and you too. I mean,
let's go back to the Longest Day. We're going to
go eclectically here, and I know, Skip being the avid
golfer that he is, go back to the Longest Day
because that was a memorable moment in my career, in life.
And where did it all fit in for you?
Speaker 4 (08:58):
Well? That was your first fixture, wasn't it?
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Want to talk about? Yes, I did one with Mami
Van during Duran called Girls Town, and then.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
Mickey Rooney that was later, wasn't it?
Speaker 1 (09:09):
No? I think it was before. Fortunately, I didn't want
to follow the Longest Day with that one. I did
about two or three before we could have on screen
and off. Yes, you would have been very happy south
to France, isolated. She was a great gal. I had
a lot of fun. I had a lot of fun. Yeah, yeah,
she was give me some memories about the Longest Day RJ.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
Well, you know, I think we were all very fortunate
to be in that film and spent such a success.
And you know, Zenik was responsible ready for my career,
and I was like under contract to Thought for twelve years.
You know, he placed me in some films and he
was really responsible for my being in the movies, you know,
(09:53):
and he put me under contract there when I was
eighteen years old. And it was a great e as
you can imagine, you know, to be in the picture
and be with all of them, all of us were
together and we were having a great time, and it's
a remarkable picture. I mean I was watching it the
other day. I mean, he already did some wonderful work.
(10:16):
Those directors were great, and you were terrific in it.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Really listen, I walked away with writing the music. That
was my proud moment.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
Yeah, thank god you did. You know, You've always been
so wonderful to us and so generous to the family.
We've you know, in Vegas, we've gone up there to
see you and yeah, you're so great and they all
love you, you know, they adore you. You know, I'm
(10:47):
doing this show with you, so well, we'll have a
few listeners, you know.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Okay, we could use them all. Hey, Jay, do you
remember in your memoir there's a couple of pages in
there about when you got so on one night that
you went to the wrong hotel. When we're doing the longesting, Remember.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
I went out with Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher and
we went to several places and I came back to
the hotel. Let me back this up a little bit.
When I went there, I was doing a couple of
films and they flew me in special to France, and
there was a car going alongside the airplane, and they
(11:27):
came on the aircraft and they said, we're here to
pick up Robert Wagner. And I got off the plane
and got on the car. They drove me to the
hotel and I got to the hotel and I walked
up to the desk and I said, I think you
have a room, and they said, what's your name? I said,
Robert Wagner. No. I was kind of shot down by
(11:48):
the by the concierge you know, Robert, I said it
was good. So that night I went out with Elizabeth
and Eddie and we went to several places and got
very you know, several bottles of wine and what have you.
I got back to the hotel and I walk up
to the guy and I said, do you have the
(12:10):
key to my suite? He said, what's your name? And
I reached over to the conra and grabbed him.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Robert Wagner again again.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
You know, it's me, Robert Wagner. Do you remember I'm
in the wrong hotel? That was? That was a story.
I felt that.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Do you remember what was when we'd go to work
every day down at the beaches. Do you remember that
while we were at work, someone or a group were
going into the hotels and stealing you remember, they're stealing
all our valuables and Xenik was very concerned. Never found them.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
No, I don't remember that. Tell me about that.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Well, when we were working, there was a group going
into the different hotels, as you remember, there were little
boutique hotels and they were ripping a they're just taking stuff.
But of course we were so involved with making the
film and Darryl and keeping us busy. They never ever
could find out who it was till Zaik brought down
(13:11):
some detectives from Paris and started investigating the point of it.
I was in Japan trying to come over and meeting
you guys on the longest day, and some guy sold
me this box of lighters and he said, I'll give
them to you for a penny each, and you can
put anything in writing that you want on there. You
can give them away his gifts. Well, I'm a kid,
(13:32):
and I'm saying, hey, that's great. So he said, what
do you want on there? And he shows me a
book and one of the scriptings said stolen from He said,
I said, that's great. Put stolen from Paul Ank on there.
He said, hell, put that stolen from Paul Ank. I
said great. So I get over there, I meet you
guys over there, and you know, I'm giving these away
the camera guys. I'm giving anybody I could give them to.
(13:55):
And I handed a bunch of them off. Fade out,
fade in. I go back to New York, finished the film.
Zanik comes to New York and meets me at the
copa and we're having drinks upstairs, and he said, you
remember when we were being looted by people are coming
down and Robbie were on the basic He said, well,
you were responsible for finding us. How did you do that?
He said, The detectives came down, They went to each hotel,
(14:16):
they checked out waiters, they checked out maids, et cetera,
et cetera, And in one hotel they went into one
of the waiters rooms at his home and they were
going through the place and sitting on top of his dresser,
and it was so scripted. He didn't know what the
hell it meant. It said stolen from Paul Anka. He said,
where did you get that? He says, says said, he said, no, no, no,
(14:39):
And that's how they found him for this one set lighter. Anyway,
that was the longest day experience of many right, Well,
but everybody was in that, I mean, Mitcham and you
and Lauferd and Burton and Connery, I mean, oh, it
was Yeah, it was just mind boggling experience, you know.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Yeah, that was that was a good time. I've been
back to Have you been back to Norman? Decent?
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Said, I've been back to the area, you know for years,
been on for vacation, be you know, went through Normandy sure,
we checked it out, of course.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
H fantastic time.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Yeah, that's very, very very.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
That's quite a long time ago, you know.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Paul sixty two, sixty three, sixty four, Yeah right, yeah,
sixty at least sixty four.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Yeah, a long time you've had. You've had a fantastic
career since then.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
My god, no, thank you and YouTube listen.
Speaker 4 (15:39):
Well you've happy, You've written so much, so many, so
much good stuff, and it's just amazing what you've done.
You know, I love your family. I loved I love
to have your wife, and I loved your girls, and
it's so wonderful that we've have this relationship over these years.
(16:02):
It's just great when you think of how many people
have left us. I mean, we're very fortunate man to
have our daughters and our family, which is so important.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
I think the most important thing is it is.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
The most important thing. Yeah, and it's it's mutual, all right, Jay.
We've had so many good times and of course the girls,
you know, it's ongoing.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
And your grandchildren, how about that?
Speaker 1 (16:28):
How about how about nine of them?
Speaker 4 (16:31):
I know you have no you got me beat by six.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Oh well I'm not done yet. I've got eighteen year
olds son warming up in the bullpen.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
Believe me, you're not done yet.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Believe no, no, no, I'm done, but he isn't. How's Jill,
how's the wife?
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Oh, she's wonderful, She's wonderful. You know, I got very
lucky Paul. You know, oh, you know, we did several
movies together, and I knew her from the time she
was sixteen years old. But we never had any romantic involvement.
You know, I was married, she was had, you know,
(17:13):
very many boyfriends and was very popular and all that,
and we just it just we never had a romance
until later on in life. Now we've been married last month.
It was thirty four years.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Wow, thirty fuck a long time.
Speaker 4 (17:33):
And it's been wonderful and I'm very grateful and for that.
And just I lucked out, you know, I lucked out.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
We deserved it, and I'm happy for you.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
K thank you, Paul, very much, happy for you.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
So r JA, let me just get in here for
one second. I was just going to say, because you know, Paul,
forever and we you and I met in the nineties
when Steve when first introducedus, and I was going to
mention to you now that you're up in Aspen. Steve
just bought a house in Aspen. I don't know if
you're aware of that.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
And you know what, I'm having dinner with him Monday night.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Oh you're kidding. Oh that's funny, because.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
Yeah, I still Yeah, he called us and they moved
up here and we're going to their home for dinner
to Monday night.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Oh that's great.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
I would have seen you. I was on my way
up there with him because I'm doing a big concert
for him in September. But I can't go up. But
I'll see you in September when I come up. You
will be yeah. Yeah, we're doing a big birthday party
on the twenty eighth of September.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
I'll be there, Yes, you will.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
That's a good song time there. Do you remember do
you remember being skip with Steve?
Speaker 4 (18:41):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:43):
I do, and we go, you know, taking it all
the way back to the beginning. I know you grew
up alongside the bell Air Country Club, and there are stories.
So many stories at bell Air are apocryphal, but I'm
wondering if this is true or not. They say that
you actually started off as a young boy caddying for
Fred Astaire. Carrie Grant Clark Gable. I'm just curious people.
(19:07):
You know, you hear these stories. You never know what's
true and what's not.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
Well, that's true. I waited there for Clark Dabe, you know.
I I saw saw of them walking up, all walking
up to Pharao Wind faraway one day, Kerry, Randolph Scott,
Clark Dable and FREDA Stair. Wow, four of them afore
(19:31):
And I said to myself, man, what I love to
be one of those people one day? And look at
what happened? What what? What a lucky man?
Speaker 2 (19:39):
I am.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
Gable got me set up at MGM, and Randolph Scott
was so wonderful to me. And Fred Astaire I played it.
I did a series called It Takes a Thief and
he played my father, and That Takes a Thief. Look
at that, Look at the odds. That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
I know I was going to ask you a funny question.
I was going to say, to that spark your love
of film or just your love of golf when you
saw that.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
That's a good question for you.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
I know you were. You became a very avid and
very good golfer. And everybody at Bellair Country Club always
enjoyed when they'd spot you up there, but you know
the history of the place, some of those old photographs,
you know, we were talking about the new clubhouse, of course,
a lot of the old photographs of you know that
the group that we just mentioned and Spencer Tracy and
(20:31):
Catherine Hepburn and you know, you know, I growing up
in Hartford, Connecticut at the club I belonged to, you
didn't exactly run into people like that that you do
it a place like bell Air.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
Yeah, that was a real big, uh, a very big
opportunity for me, very big opportunity. And well, of course
you knew men's of course.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
The fact I was going to ask was was it
Joe Novak or Eddie Merons back?
Speaker 4 (20:57):
And then well, Joe Novak was the pro when when
I was just a young kid, you know, at that time,
he and he got Eddie Meron's to come to the club.
And then I met Eddie Morons when he first came there,
got it. He was a wonderful man. I took quite
a few lessons from him. Did you ever go to
(21:19):
him for an.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Oh, yeah, swing the handle, you know that whole routine. Yeah,
but you were actually a caddy though at the club.
You caddied the ballanty.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
Oh yeah, well, you know, at that time, the war
broke out, and so all the caddies, you know, went
to work. They either went in the service or they
went to work in the aircraft factories. So you know,
all the kids, the young kids took over carrying the bags,
and I was one of those kids. Lucky.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
You great. What an incredible thing when you think about it.
I'm sure you've seen that video actually Fred Astaire when
he's dancing and hitting golf balls. It's sort of a
famous clip on YouTube. I mean he had a I
he you know, of course, he moved on the dance
floor like you know, no one else. But he actually
had a beautiful golf swing too. Just watching that.
Speaker 4 (22:05):
Oh he did have a good swing. He was a
good player. Yeah, he was a player. He liked it. Well,
he was wonderful in anything, you know. I mean he
rehearsed a lot, and I mean all all of that stuffing,
all the dance numbers of canes, so oh, amazing, amazing talent.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Did you ever work with him or not?
Speaker 4 (22:24):
Oh? Yeah I did. I did a television series called
Heart to Heart, right of course, and you know, and
before that, I did it takes a thief, and I
was a great thief, but he was the greatest thief
of them all, Bretastaire, and he played my father and
(22:44):
we worked together, and I want to tell you something,
It was the biggest thrill of my life to be
able to work with Bredastaire. That was that was really exciting.
That was something that's funny.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
You know. It's funny because we have a mutual friend
in Chuck Lourie and I was talking and I was
talking to Chuck this morning, course producer of Two and
a half, Men in the Big Bang Theory and all
these shows, and I said.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
Oh, he gave me some good shots on that. He
gave me some good stuff, I know.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
And I said to Paul that I spoke to Chuck
this morning, and I told him that Paul and I
were going to be, you know, doing this podcast with
you today. And I said, so tell me something that
I can say to him that that he'll get a
kick out of. And he said, well, you know, when
he played Teddy Leopold, you know, the love interest of
Charlie Sheen's mother. He said, when it was time to
(23:32):
kill off his character, you said, wait a second, can
I possibly come back as a ghost.
Speaker 4 (23:40):
Yes, I love working for Chuck Laurie. Tremendous south, very talented.
He's a tremendous sound of that man. He's great. Yeah.
I loved working for him, I really did. I was
disappointed that I didn't go on there. There was a
I was involved in another television situation he was aware of,
(24:01):
and uh, he thought that show was going to go,
and so did I. But it didn't go and he
let me go out of the out of the show,
which I was But I love doing the show and
I loved working for him. He was terrific.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
That's great.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
You know, when you talk about all the great people
we've been fortunate to be around. R Jay, I must
tell you the eulogy that you gave it Sinatra's funeral,
oh so memorable. And he was a buddy of yours
and mine, And you know I know that. I think.
Weren't you engaged to Tina for a bit, et cetera,
et cetera.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
Yeah, yes, we went for a together for a while.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Yea, but we were we were so close to him.
And give me some takes on Frank, because there's nobody
like him, never will be. And I know you were
very tight in there as I was in terms of
having him in my life.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
Well, you know, you were very tight. You were very
tight in there too.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Yeah, yeah, you know how special was he?
Speaker 4 (24:57):
Oh, he was such a special man. You know. I
to him when I was very young. I mean I
was like twenty one twenty two when I first met him.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
I too, maybe two days old.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
Yeah, but there's a little difference between you and me,
you know. Uh. And he was always so wonderful to me,
so so generous, took me places with him and.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Well, well with him. When he said we're going out,
you have to bring your passport. You never knew where
you you.
Speaker 4 (25:30):
Know, I introduced him one time, he said, he said,
I want you to He came to Rome and I
was and I was living in Rome and he played
there you and you can imagine Sonata and Rome Hello,
And uh he said, why don't you introduce me? I said,
oh Jesus, but uh so I walk out on the
(25:54):
stage and you can imagine how people love to see
me on the way to for Sinatra. Right, so, and
I said two words, Frank Sinatra, and out he came,
and he turned that place upside down.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Yeah, they loved him over.
Speaker 4 (26:15):
You've seen that many times.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Yeah, I've been around it all. But he was something special.
I mean he was just mesmer.
Speaker 4 (26:23):
Yeah, but you've done that too. I've seen you turn
it upside down too. I've seen you. I've seen you
come out and give performances that are absolutely magnificent. The
audience goes crazy.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
They had nothing better to do that night. They were
probably waiting for him. So, you know, another kick for
me was watching you with with Mike Myers.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Oh yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Are you still in touch with him?
Speaker 4 (26:50):
Oh? Yeah, I'm in touch with him once in a while. Yeah.
He's a terrific man. He's a truly man. He wrote
that character. Oh me, you know, I've been in the
picture of business what Paul seventy years? I guess. And
I'm known as Number two. That's you know a little
He wrote that character for me, so I am now
(27:13):
referred to as number two.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
It's cool between Myers and Sellers, who you're with, right,
How similar are those two guys?
Speaker 4 (27:24):
Oh? I don't think they were similar at all. Peter
Peter Sellers was a very very special guy and so
is Mike, and their personalities are are very very different,
very different but did you you know Peter did you?
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Yeah, yeah, we were with the same agent and then
knew him, you know, in England, met him over here.
I didn't know him well, but you know we've gotten
together with Dinners et cetera like that. Yeah, very time.
Speaker 4 (27:52):
I don't think I don't think anybody could get to
know Peter Bury.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Well, no, no, no.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
I think it was possible. I spent a great deal
of time with him and I had had wonderful fans
with him in London. He had a super souped up
many Cooper and but that Carr could really move and
he loved you know, drag racing with people and knocking
him out of the way, and it was quite interesting.
(28:19):
You know.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
He's a tortured soul though.
Speaker 6 (28:23):
Yes he was. Unfortunately he had a lot of a
lot of Davis. Yeah, but funny Mike, Mike Myers is
do you know have you met him?
Speaker 1 (28:33):
You know, yeah, I met only I think Bacrack was
involved in the film. Bert was a friend, you know,
I'd met Mike, you know, did.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
You see that? You know I did that special on
Bert back and it was on the other day. It
was pretty pretty good. I thought it really They really used.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Is a biography?
Speaker 4 (28:52):
R J?
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Was it a biography?
Speaker 4 (28:53):
Big Heart?
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Was it a biography or music? I haven't seen it yet.
Speaker 4 (28:57):
It's a music I did. I did it about five
years and it came out really well. I admired Burt
very much. I saw him first when he was playing
at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. That's a
long time ago, and I just thought he had so
much talent and it was a terrific person. I, by
(29:18):
the way, was on the phone the other day with
Angie and he's doing well.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
And yeah, I knew him back then with her and
I met him in the fifties. We were sharing a girlfriend.
Her name was Shirley Ornstein, and I didn't know him,
he didn't know me, but she knew both of us.
So she'd come and visit me and we'd have fun.
That she'd go see him and have fun that you
can go back and I heard this new song with
this guy Bert Bacharak. She started singing it to me,
(29:46):
and then that player mid new one, and she'd go
back and tell him. I never met him. So finally
one day we got together. I said, Hey, we're sharing Shirley.
He said yeah, and it was like late fifties and
we became buddies. Ever said, right right down to about
a month or two before he passed. Very talented guy, very.
Speaker 4 (30:04):
Talented, wonderful man. Yet he had wonderful parents, you know
his father. Did you ever meet them?
Speaker 1 (30:10):
Yes? And then the once in New York.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
Yes, very nice people, wonderful people, wonderful family.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Yeah, he was a stylish guy. He was very very cool.
Speaker 4 (30:18):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, terrific.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
Speaking of cool guys, Spencer Tracy, big part of your life.
I lived at What an actor he was? What's the
advice he gave your ja? Where did you learn from him?
Speaker 4 (30:31):
Oh? There's spent so many, so many they spent so
many things said about Spence. But you know, people ask
him how does he how do you do it? And
you know, how do how do you? How do you
be so natural? How do you get that character? He
said a lot of things. But one of the things
that he said, well try I just heard again the
(30:53):
other day was he said, you know, actress, say what
what what? What? What? What shall I do? He say?
He said, learn your lines, hit the mark and be honest.
And that's pretty simple. But that's what he did. I
(31:16):
don't know. I mean he was just did you ever work.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
With him, Paul, No, never had that pleasure.
Speaker 4 (31:24):
He was something. I did two films with him, and
it was the first time I went to Europe. I
went to Europe with him and Eddie Dimitrick, the director,
and we did a film up in Shamani called a Mountain,
and we drove up there. Eddie had bought a car,
a Mercedes convertible. I mean this is fifty years ago,
(31:47):
you know. But just had a wonderful experience being with him.
He was such a special man and I knew his children.
You know that John Tracy Klinet, which was formed because
John was deaf by his mother and his sister excuse me,
(32:08):
was you know, such a dear friend. She just left
us recently, both of them are gone. But the wonderful
organization and the John Tracy Clinic has done. She was
responsible for stopping the expression deaf and dumb. She missus,
Tracy Louise. She was just a remarkable woman, you know,
(32:31):
one of those women be in your life that never
leave you. And she was a very very wonderful person.
And they formed the John Tracy Clinic and they've done
so much for young children who are impaired with herring
and and they've been really, really done a great job.
(32:52):
Spence was very much involved in that.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Speaking of names from the past, I just went to
my friend Casey Wasserman's fiftieth birthday party and his grandfather
of course with Lou Wasserman, and he was just curious
of any of your memories of Lou Wasserman, the impact
he had on the entertainment industry, on Hollywood, all of it.
Speaker 4 (33:25):
Well, he was very responsible for my going into television,
you know, he was the one that wanted me to do.
It takes a thief, and it takes a thief, you know.
It changed my whole career. And I was very close
to lew and he was my agent at one time
(33:46):
and then as you know, he ran at owned Universal Studio. Say,
he was a remarkable man. He did so much for
me and I'm so indebted to him, and I loved
his wife. We were very close, you know, he was
He couldn't have been more generous to me. He was great.
You know him quite well.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
Paul may have known him. I didn't know him, but
Paul man him.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
Yeah, I knew Wasserman well. Him and Stein. You know,
they set a whole new tone back then. You go
over those offices, unlike some of the other agencies are
j and there were antiques everywhere, and they started that
whole gray suit, black tie, very very stylish, and he was.
He was one of those great guys with that low tone,
never never raised his voice.
Speaker 4 (34:29):
I mean, oh, very very very powerful guy.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
I hate the equation between Mayer Lansky that I used
to sit with at the Fountain, Blue and lou But
there's a certain elk of men that they never changed
their tonality. It was always one tone and very strong
and very powerful.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
But he was.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
He and Stein did an amazing, amazing contribution to our business. Oh,
I think they set the mold.
Speaker 4 (34:57):
Yeah, you were talking about his you they'd go to
Europe and they'd buy all those antiques.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (35:04):
I have one of a fireplace that he bought and
I got it. It was given to me. I have
it in my house up there. Yeah, yeah, you'll see it.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Cool. Yeah, they were stylish guys. They were very very
cool guys. Great agency.
Speaker 4 (35:21):
When are you coming up here, by the way.
Speaker 1 (35:24):
Well, I hope to come up within the next couple
of months to see our friend and just hang for
a few days, but I have to come in before
the concert on the twenty eighth. I'll probably get up
there into the Little Neils around when twenty eighth of September.
At Steve's house, we're just planning the tent and bring
an equipment in. You know, Stevie's right on nothing but
(35:47):
the best, so we're gonna have a hell of an evening.
But I'll come up before that because he just wants
me to come up and hang for a few days.
And I enjoyed Aspen because my daughter lived up there.
She was a ski instructor. So between there and Aspen,
you know, I'm very familiar with the turf and I
really like it up there.
Speaker 4 (36:03):
Oh that's great.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
What brought you to Aspen in the first place? Why Aspen?
Speaker 4 (36:07):
Well, I first came here to Aspen in nineteen forty
nine with two ski instructors of Antache and eve La Tree,
And they were both French guys, and they were instructors
in France and the top skiers and Colorado and Aspen
(36:27):
was the first place that they had the ski lift
and the snow was fabulous, and I came with the
two of them in nineteen forty nine, and then Jill
came in nineteen fifty nine. I didn't know her then,
but she lived here. I mean, Jill has lived here
for most of her life. And when Jill and you know,
(36:49):
and then I'd come back to Asphen on occasions and
vacations and all of that. But then when Jill and
I started going together, I was up here more often, obviously,
and I just loved it. As Paul knows because it's
happened to him. The children all grew up and left,
and we had this house in Brentwood, beautiful home, and
(37:14):
it was just Chill and myself and this wonderful woman
who worked for me called Willie May were then. And
that's when I see a lot of Paul's kids, you know,
they were all together, all of them, and they all
left and there was just Jill, myself and Willie May
and his home. And so we sold it and moved
(37:36):
into a condominium in Beverly Hills and lived there for
a while, and then Jill had her house here. Then
we saw this house that I'm living in now, and
we bought it. I think it's twenty five or thirty
years and we now live. We got married and we
(37:57):
lived here and it's all his firs and ours, my
mothers and fathers and her mother and fathers and tourises
and it's all together.
Speaker 2 (38:08):
That's great. And I just spoke yesterday actually to our
other mutual friend George Hamilton, who told me either just
he said he was just talking to you. See I
talked to him.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
Yeah, is he down in Florida's he he's teas unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (38:23):
He's flying to Europe to see a friend of his
perform and then he's going to go to the Hampton's.
He's going to stay in Southampton out on Long Island
for the big part of thee.
Speaker 4 (38:36):
He travels a lot. He's a wonderful guy. You know.
Natalie and I did a picture together with him. That's
when I first met him, called all the Final Cannibals,
and we just loved him. And he's been a very
good close friend and uh, I love him. You know,
he's he's a wonderful.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
He got all excited when I told him we were
going to be talking to you. I have to say,
two of the funniest people I know are Paul and George.
Paul's hysterical, but George is hilarious. He's just you know,
he doesn't take himself all that seriously. He's sort of
he's sort of in on the joke. But you know,
he was very close to my mentor, Melvin Simon, who
(39:17):
started me in business. And mel mel was backing George
and George's movies like Zarro the Gay Blade, mel Simon
produced it. And so George has always had somebody he
attaches himself to, Like now it's Donnie Sofer. Back then
it was Yeah, and before that it was with mel Simon.
(39:39):
And you know, George is such a character. He just
but he's so entertaining that everybody loves taking him around.
So Donnie bought a new plane, bought a Global Express
and he said to me, you know, Skip, I had
to take four of the seats out of the back
of the plane. I said why, He said, so I
can get all of George's luggage on board. Yeah, he
(40:00):
travels like a Oh, he travels like Elizabeth Taylor.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
When he moves in, he moves in.
Speaker 4 (40:07):
And he traveled with Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
Well, I know, I know he's so charming. You know
the word charming. I mean, you can't find a word
charming guy than George.
Speaker 4 (40:16):
Oh, he's terrific, terrific.
Speaker 1 (40:19):
He still goes to Germany, Skip for those shots. He
came to your house.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
When you played that practical joke. You have to tell
j what you did to him that you.
Speaker 1 (40:30):
Know he goes with sofa and they get the juice
of a lamb or the urine of a pig. I
don't know what it is, but some Germans sold, look
like you get this shot once a month and you're
gonna last forever. So it happened, you show, Yeah, but he's.
Speaker 4 (40:48):
He's so he was.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
I think he called you on the phone. He was
in town, Skip and he called you, and I was
with you. You were screening something for me exactly when
he said, hey, George, how are you? And then you
whispered to me George Hamilton. I said, tell him, tell
him you've got doctor Swing Dangle from Germany. He's here,
the guy that gave you the shots. Just tell him, George,
(41:12):
I've got doctor Swinger. Then if we hear from the institute,
is he there, Yes, she's George. How are you? George?
This is doctor Listen. We've got a new serum.
Speaker 3 (41:25):
Now.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
You won't believe if you and the sofa person you
come over We've got a new serum where it takes
six months for you see difference. It's gonna last twelve days.
You're gonna see the difference, the eyes, the wrinkles. It's
this new juice that we got from the colt over
in Switzerland. He says, we don't don't worry. I'm going
to be waiting for you. You're done, and I'm putting him
(41:46):
on like for about what twenty minutes? Skip skip At
one point's going tell him that you can't handle this, right,
But they go over religiously r J to get these shows.
Speaker 2 (41:56):
Do you remember what he's Yeah, R Paul, do you
remember what he said to you? He was thought he
was talking to the doctor and the doctor said, yes,
it's very expensive, but you know it's certainly expensive. And
he said, well done, so for having an account with you.
He said, oh yes, oh so we can put on his.
Speaker 1 (42:16):
Account right, the expensive but Silfa has that count.
Speaker 2 (42:21):
Yeah. Yeah, it was so crazy.
Speaker 4 (42:26):
I got on some of the stuff that he got
me on a really good, good program and I got
on to it about thirty years ago. Oh tell us
a wonderful doctor called doctor Anna Aslam. Did you her?
Speaker 1 (42:39):
No? Here here in Los Angeles.
Speaker 4 (42:41):
No, she's in she's in Romania.
Speaker 1 (42:44):
Oh, so he's covering you.
Speaker 4 (42:45):
The George shipped me off on that. And I started
taking those shots. And I gotta say, I went to.
Speaker 1 (42:51):
You, went over there, RJ. What's that You went over
there to her? She sent them to you?
Speaker 4 (42:56):
No, you can. You can buy them. He told me
about them, and I got them and started taking started
taking them. When I went to this spa in Germany.
You know, when you go there, the doctor's examine you
and everything else. And he said to you, what drugs
do you take and stuff whether as I told him,
you know, supplements and things like that. And he said,
(43:18):
and I told him, I took this anne Aslan medicine
of shots that are like novacane. You know, they hold
your your vessels and your organs, and that's the theory
of it. And he said, you know, I have several
patients that come in here and we can tell the difference.
(43:40):
So I've been taking those shots. George got me on them.
Speaker 1 (43:45):
When I take them, you're still take you Oh yeah,
she's still alive.
Speaker 4 (43:48):
She's not alive anymore. But the the company that she
created and the laboratories that she has are still functioning
under her name.
Speaker 1 (44:00):
There you go, these doctors that have their own thing
going for them, right.
Speaker 4 (44:03):
Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 2 (44:05):
Look at you? You look? You have to say you look,
you look incredible.
Speaker 1 (44:09):
Maybe perfect face for radio?
Speaker 4 (44:11):
What you know, it's the makeup. What can I tell you?
Speaker 1 (44:15):
Yeah? Well, look, the whoever's doing is doing a good job.
What's your day, like, buddy up there? I mean out
of winter? In winter? Give me your date? What do
(44:37):
you do?
Speaker 4 (44:37):
You know here everybody exercises a lot, you know, they
ride bikes and do all that. And I go to
the gym three times a week. And living you know,
in nature is really wonderful. And I read a lot,
and I'm just enjoying life, you know.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
All and gracefully, right, gracefully.
Speaker 4 (44:58):
I'm so fortunate and us so grateful. You can't imagine that.
I that I've wound up like this in this beautiful place.
And my family is all well and they're doing all right,
and I'm healthy, and I'm dealing with a little COPD now.
(45:19):
But I'm dealing with it, you know, and it's something
you can you can deal with.
Speaker 1 (45:25):
Well, it's not easy to die nowadays, are Jay. If
you've got good people around you. It's not easy to
die nowadays, and we can't afford good people around us.
And I hear you. You know, I think we can
deal with stuff like that, right.
Speaker 4 (45:38):
Yeah, I like that.
Speaker 2 (45:40):
Do you get back to la at all? Do you
ever get back to La.
Speaker 4 (45:43):
Oh once in a while? Yeah, we come back down
there because you know, Jill was born in Los Angeles
and I was raised there, and we have a lot
of friends. And two of my girls are there in
Los Angeles, Natasha and Kay. Well, Katie lives in Ohi.
We have a lot of friends there. So we go
(46:04):
down there two or three times a year and and
see our friends. You know, we have a lot of friends.
Speaker 2 (46:11):
What about the old haunts like Chasing's, the places, the
old hang you miss those places gone?
Speaker 4 (46:17):
Yes, that's gone. But I just had a wonderful birthday party.
Jill gave me my ninety fourth birthday party at George
Hill's at the Beach. And you know, I knew Georgia
very well. And his son, Edwardo. He has a restaurant
in Beverly Hills called Edwardo's, and the daughter a lot
(46:41):
of she runs the Georgia's at the Beach, And we
had a wonderful She gave me a wonderful party, just right.
Speaker 2 (46:49):
Yeah, we love Ellen and that's one of our favorite
restaurants where they're.
Speaker 4 (46:53):
Oh yeah, that's quite a bit a lot of us.
Speaker 2 (46:55):
Yeah, and never the restaurant never disappoints. It's always great.
Speaker 4 (47:00):
Oh that's great. H Well, there's a lot of wonderful places,
and we have a lot of good friends there to you.
Speaker 2 (47:06):
So, but everybody haspens the happening place now it's incredible,
I mean the place.
Speaker 4 (47:12):
Yeah, well, it's changed a great deal, like like everything else.
I remember when the hardware store had sawdust on the
floor and a bell to ring when he opened up
the door by the screen with a screen door, you know.
So it's changed. But every place that we've all met
has changed, you know.
Speaker 2 (47:33):
Of course.
Speaker 1 (47:35):
Of course, speaking of which, R Jay, you know that
the tabloid celebrity culture has changed in the last seven years,
and we all go back. I mean, you and I
had to Luella Parsons and had a hopper. Who are
you dealings with them? Well?
Speaker 4 (47:49):
I knew Luella pretty well and she was always I
got along with her really well and used to go
to the racetrack with her a great deal and she
was very kind to me, and you know, the press
was really really good to me. And as I you know,
I was under contract to Fox and they have very
(48:10):
good relationships with everybody, and I never had any problem
with them.
Speaker 1 (48:15):
You know, such a different system today.
Speaker 4 (48:18):
Oh so today, I mean it's just brutal. I mean,
they can find anything, they can pay anything about you.
It's terrible show pictures and oh my god, I mean
it's and none of it is true really, you know.
I mean you look at it and you just you
can't believe.
Speaker 1 (48:37):
It, and you look at the system itself. I mean,
today I don't know that the movie business is a business.
It's almost like American airlines. It's so changed. But the
fact that a lot of these actors, it's the goal
is just get an oscar and we're going to sell
whatever film we're doing. It's so changed. And you don't
have any true movie actors stars like you did yesterday.
(49:00):
It's a whole different landscape.
Speaker 4 (49:04):
I think that's very well. Football, that's very well. Absolutely,
I agree totally on that.
Speaker 2 (49:22):
Are you working on any projects right now, any current
or No, I'm not.
Speaker 4 (49:26):
I'm kind of waiting for you know, once in a
while the script hits the door, you know, and I
hear the thump, and I hope it's Steven Spielberg or
Martin Spressese. But so far that hasn't been.
Speaker 2 (49:42):
If you know what I mean, I'm sure you could
work plenty with your background, your history. I just saw
some pictures the other day of you when you were
a really young man. Best looking guy in Hollywood, no
question about it. You had good jeans. What do you
Your parents were from where? What was their background?
Speaker 4 (50:00):
Well, my mother was Norwegian. She was born in America,
first born in Lacrosse, Wisconsin, and my father was a German.
My grandfather settled in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and he was the
American dream, you know. He sold newspapers on the streets
(50:23):
and became a salesman, became involved with the Ford Motor
Company and became very successful. You know, it's the American story.
Speaker 2 (50:33):
That was your grandfather. What about your dad?
Speaker 4 (50:35):
Oh? No, that was my father.
Speaker 2 (50:37):
Oh there was your father. Oh I see.
Speaker 4 (50:39):
Now. My grandfather, as far as I knew, had a
like a pub, you know, a bar in Calamazoo. And
he came from Mannheim. And I only saw him once
when I was already young, just a kid, you know.
But I was raised in Michigan, and then we moved
to California, and luckily my father built a house bell
(51:02):
Air when there was nothing there. There was just mountains,
you know, and the clubhouse, the club that we were
talking about, was around the corner, you know. So he
belonged to there and played golf, and I wound up
on the golf course and lucky.
Speaker 2 (51:23):
And now bell Air is arguably the most expensive subdivision
in America. The prices, I mean is absolutely bell Air.
That whole area around you know what they call Lower
bell Air. I mean, the prices are just you know,
through the roof. It's incredible, right, very expensive. So one
of the things I just wanted to throw out. Our
(51:43):
producer Jordan indirectly has a relationship through Lou Wasserman. Jordan,
why don't you tell R Jay how that worked?
Speaker 7 (51:54):
Oh yeah, My my aunt worked for Lou Wasserman when
she worked at Universal. He was he was her boss,
and he was like a second father to her. He
was very very kind to her and was really her mentor.
Speaker 2 (52:08):
In a lot of ways too.
Speaker 7 (52:10):
So she had just the most wonderful things to tell
me about about lou and he was always always referred
to in very reverent tones in my household.
Speaker 4 (52:18):
Very cool guy. Oh they were good people, you know,
they were very good, good people.
Speaker 7 (52:24):
I mean, what was it like, because I feel like
you've written three incredible books, and I think it was
either in your memoir Pieces in My Heart or you
must remember this. I forget which one where you talk
about how you kind of came in at the end
of the studio system in nineteen forty eight when you
signed to Fox. What was it like before the studio
(52:45):
system kind of started to crumble, And what was it
like afterwards when you came back from Europe. What was
the difference like in Hollywood once the studio system began
to kind of be dismantled.
Speaker 4 (52:55):
Well, that's a big question, he just asked me. You know,
I mean, I think, to make it as simple as possible,
it was a family business. It was family you know people.
People really cared about you. They wanted to make you better,
(53:20):
They wanted to do things that were fortunate for your career.
You know. It it became corporate, you know, and uh,
corporate corporate change changed things a lot. It changes a
lot of values. When I was signed at Fox, I
was the test boy. I tested all of the all
(53:43):
of the people came in and I learned, and I
learned about the business, about lighting, about the camera. I
was diferent front of the camera. I didn't know anything
about that. I had a chance to do that. I
had a chance to have All that happened to me.
And the people that I was involved with with they
were really interested in me. They cared about me, you know.
(54:05):
They I had a man there that was a sign
to just take care of me and watch out for me.
Speaker 1 (54:12):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (54:12):
And when I went on the road and went out
to sell pictures and I was involved with twentieth Century Fox,
it was a company that I really cared about. You know.
Jill and I were talking about that because she was
under contract to Fox and we had we had an
involvement with him. We cared about those people you talk
about the longest day in Darryl. I mean, Darryl Zanik
(54:36):
was wonderful to me.
Speaker 3 (54:37):
You know.
Speaker 4 (54:38):
He put me in little small pictures and pieces that
had fan mail that I the fans reacted to me
through fan mail. They had a fan mail department. We
took care of the They took care of everything. You know,
it was wonderful. It was family.
Speaker 1 (54:56):
Not today.
Speaker 4 (54:58):
Well, I was there when it, you know, when it
when it all broke up and people became independent. And
don't no, it's not that today because people come into
the business and they want to uh you know, they
have money to buy a story, they want to make
a movie. It's all it's all corporative, you know, it's
it and it's transit. They're not there for a long time,
(55:20):
you know, like for me and like with Paul, you know,
we came from the floor, We came from the of
the stage from them, you know, rehearsals, people involved in
making something better or creating something. It's it's not so
much like that anymore. You know, it's very budget concert
(55:44):
you know, concerns and money and you know, I had
a project I took to to some people that have
made and I went into the first conversation and I
was trying to raise I think the picture was going
to cost like a between eight and ten million, And
they asked me how much I thought it would cost,
(56:04):
and I said, I think it could cost It costs
probably about ten million. I said, can you make it
for six? You know, that that became a discussion.
Speaker 1 (56:15):
And they were like twenty five years old.
Speaker 4 (56:17):
Yeah, you know, I wasn't interested in you know, I
wasn't interested in carrying the conversation on much longer because
it was just two different perspectives, you know.
Speaker 1 (56:31):
Jay one of the one of the sizzles for me
back then, you know, every time I was up at
the Sands Hotel with Sinatra and then anytime we knew
Marilyn Monroe was coming in, I mean, everybody was hyped.
I mean, and I'm a kid, so to me, it
was Bridget Bardeaux who had met and Marilyn Monroe just
sing her on the periphery. You did a screen test
(56:51):
with Maryland, didn't you.
Speaker 4 (56:53):
Yes, I did both.
Speaker 1 (56:55):
Tell me tell me about that. Because she's she's just
iconic and she was.
Speaker 4 (57:00):
Loved well, you know, Paul I thought she was absolutely terrific.
She had a wonderful sense of humor. She didn't have
every Everybody wasn't on top of her then, you know,
and wanting her for something, you know, and she was
just great. I've got some pictures with her where we're laughing,
laughing like crazy, and she she loved to have fun,
(57:22):
you know, she was a really wonderful lady. But you know,
you know what it's like. I mean, she couldn't go anywhere.
She couldn't, you know. But I I loved her. I
thought she was great.
Speaker 1 (57:34):
What was the screen test for?
Speaker 4 (57:37):
Do you remember on that one? No, that was for
her contract at Fox.
Speaker 1 (57:42):
Oh so it was with you and her, for her
to get a contract with Fox.
Speaker 4 (57:47):
Yeah, that was that was for her to be in
a contract of the studio.
Speaker 1 (57:51):
And do you remember what the scene was from? Oh?
Speaker 4 (57:53):
No, I don't, No, I don't. But you know, I
always liked her. She was such a wonderful you know,
she was fun. She was a fun girl, and she
was a lot a lot of laughs.
Speaker 1 (58:02):
And well, Frank and the guys loved her. I mean
you every time you were around it, you could just
see they adored her.
Speaker 4 (58:07):
Yeah, I mean she, you know, had a lot of
demons running around.
Speaker 1 (58:11):
Yeah, she did.
Speaker 4 (58:12):
That later came out obviously, But what a loss, you
know what, what an unfortunate thing. I just read her house.
There's not going to become a monument.
Speaker 1 (58:23):
That's right. They won't tear it down. Historic mine in Brentwood.
They can't touch it, that's right. Historic like the Beverly
Hills Hotel.
Speaker 4 (58:32):
Right, yeah, that's what happened to my house in Brentwood.
You know where a panda was there a lot. You
know that your daughters were there a lot. It's become
a you know, not a monument. But because the architect,
Cliff May was so responsible for the California Ranch House
(58:55):
and you know, he created it. He created this, the flighting,
that glass stoor, you know, and he was a wonderful
man and that house was was his house at one time.
So they're they're going to keep that for perpetuity, which
is great. I lived in it for twenty five years
(59:17):
and I loved it and he helped me, help me
bring it back to what it was.
Speaker 2 (59:21):
Amazing. Well, you've you've seen it all, you've done it all,
and you're still doing it. You're still doing it.
Speaker 4 (59:27):
That makes what I'm doing this podcast.
Speaker 1 (59:29):
So I'm loving that, and we loved it.
Speaker 2 (59:33):
I can't tell you how much Paul loves you. You know,
the way he talks about not just you know, related
to this podcast, but whenever your name comes up, man,
Paul just he likes right up. He just loves you.
Speaker 4 (59:45):
Well, so wonderful man. And there isn't anything in the
world I wouldn't do for him.
Speaker 8 (59:50):
Likewise, he's a special, very special human being, and he's
been so generous and so kind to me over the
years and to our family, and we have great love
and affection for him.
Speaker 1 (01:00:03):
Thank you, r J.
Speaker 2 (01:00:05):
Well, we appreciate you. We really appreciate your taking the
time to do this. You were on our you were
one of our bucket list people. So I'm just so
happy that this worked out well.
Speaker 4 (01:00:13):
I'm so pleased to be here in the beat with
the boot both of you and and Paul. You're the best.
I love you.
Speaker 1 (01:00:22):
Thank you, Jay.
Speaker 4 (01:00:23):
It's for a long time and it beings a great
deal to me to have you in my life.
Speaker 1 (01:00:32):
I agree with that sentiment and I feel the same
way about you. And I'll see you very soon, my boy,
within the next few months.
Speaker 4 (01:00:38):
I look forward to Okay, I'm looking forward.
Speaker 1 (01:00:41):
Sarah to Jill for me.
Speaker 4 (01:00:42):
Huh, I sure will okay?
Speaker 3 (01:00:44):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:00:45):
Thanks.
Speaker 1 (01:00:52):
Our Way with Paul, Anka and Skip Bronson is a
production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (01:00:57):
The show's executive producer is Jordan Runt, with supervising producer
and editor Marcy Depina.
Speaker 1 (01:01:04):
It was engineered by Todd Carlin and Graham Gibson. Mixed
and mastered by the wonderful Mary Do.
Speaker 2 (01:01:12):
If you like what you heard, please subscribe and leave
us a review.
Speaker 1 (01:01:15):
For more podcasts on iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite children
Host
Paul Anka
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