October 31, 2023 • 40 mins
When John Stamos landed a role on General Hospital, his father, a restaurateur, required that the then-teenager keep working around the kitchen in addition to his acting gig. Today, Stamos doesn’t resent this ordinance, and in fact he credits it as being particularly important to his later success. For this reason and others, he considers his father as one of his mentors, among others such as Anthony Geary, Jack Klugman, Don Rickles, and Sammy Davis Jr. Stamos speaks to the importance of each of these role models—as well as the invaluable lessons they imparted to him—in his newly released memoir, If You Would Have Told Me. On this week’s episode of Table for Two, the Emmy nominated performer sits down with host Bruce Bozzi to discuss the affecting stories in his new book, including the lasting influence of a childhood bully, his relationship with sobriety, and the recent passing of his close friend Bob Saget
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
From actors to icons and everything in between. You're having
lunch with Bruce Bosie on Table for two.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Everyone, it's Bruce Bosi. Thank you for joining me on
Table for two.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Today.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
We're back in sunny southern California for another great lunch
at the Tower Bar.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Are we recording?
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Yep?
Speaker 4 (00:23):
Now yeah, just kissed me fall on the lips.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
I'm so excited for today's guest.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
He grew up kind of down the street in Cypress, California,
and is one of.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
The nicest guys in Hollywood.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
He's been on huge TV shows, acted on Broadway, and
even as an occasional beach boy. Now he's written a
book about his life called If You Would Have Told
Me And If That's not enough.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
He also has a great head of hair. What are
you in the mood for?
Speaker 4 (00:54):
Food wise?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Yeah? Eat with that body beat out.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
It's good.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Huh.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
So pull up a chair, grab a bite to eat,
because we're having lunch with John Stamos.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
I'm Bruce Bosi and this is my podcast Table for two.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
So if you've pulled up a chair today, we're sitting
at the Tower Bar. I have two surprises for John today,
just so you know. One based on your book, okay,
and one based on our experience together. And when we
left the West dollar Wood Palm, all the pictures were
taken down and gave them to.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
But by the way, one of the great honors to
have my picture up in the poll. And I used
to just take people in there actually, you know, and
they knew what seat my picture was under, so they'd
always set me there and I'd be like, oh, well,
look at this is.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
The picture be up there.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
So when we left we gave them out. I framed
them as art and you said, you hold on to mine.
And what I did was when we opened the Beverley
there was very few. We didn't put them back up right,
so we put like fair Foscet and the majors up.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
They had one out, Andy Cohen had.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Cohen and Frank Sinatra with. We put Valerie Harper with
Sammy Davis Junior. We put I don't know that many,
don no, there was like only five I got was yours.
I know, you guys can't see it if you're pulling
up a chair, but it's framed.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
It's cut from like you actually see the wall that
it was on.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
That's not Scott Bail because.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
No it's not. This is free.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Thank you, thank you. I thought it got lost.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
And now I kept it was hung in my house.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Yeah, we got to see it. And he's taking art
off my wall.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
So I opened the book. You asked me why why now?
Speaker 1 (02:49):
And if you know Jamie the Curtis, you know she's
a good friend. She alway says, if not now when,
which always makes me think about getting doing things that
you got just that you want to do, right.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
I never thought about writing a book. I wasn't. It
was the last thing on my mind.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
I never thought I could could do you ever think
about writing a book?
Speaker 3 (03:08):
It's like, it's funny you should say that. That was like
someone approached like, would you be interested? I mean, I
don't know how to do that. I couldn't.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
And I think your life is just as interesting as
as mine, if not more. But you for sure have
a book in you. Everybody does, but you have a
good one. But it was the It was the.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
Hardest thing I've ever done, pretty much.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
But as you as you can see in the book,
like I I never put obstacles up in front of
things that I wanted to get done. I didn't want
to do this until I did it, but I just
did it. I never thought it was at I can't,
you know, So I just started and at first I
kept saying no, and then you know, it was a dad.
And then Bob died and they saw an obituary that
(03:48):
I wrote in the La Times about Bob, and I
felt that it was a good writing, and I don't
you know, it was so you know, broken up it was.
I don't even remember writing it, but apparently it was
good and.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
And the and the most beautiful moth. I'll talk about
Bob a lot, probably today, and I'll probably cry at
least twice.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
But his his Uh Kelly, his widow, and I hate
say that. Uh called me the other day crying and
she said, you did such justice to Bob. And the
people that don't know Bob and they read this book.
It's a great representation of who he was because it
was a complicated man, but he was beautiful.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
So I so I said, okay, I'll do that, And
so I thought, I'm going to start with the two
hardest chapters. The first chapter is when I was on
my way to meet Bob at the Palm that faithful night,
when I got a DUI easily the lowest point of
my life ever, and I could have killed somebody.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Bruce, Yeah, that's why you were. It's really vivid in
that chapter.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
And I was, I was, I was circling that that area,
I must have passed. I just kept going in circles
and said, there's the same place again, the same part. Anyway,
I was going to meet Bob, so and my five
Stages of grief then was I mean, I got you know,
it's d u. I I ended up hospital because I
was so fucked up, and I when I straightened up
and they got me out of there, I went home
(05:05):
and drank another bottle of wine. So my five Stages
of Grief with more booze, sex, everything bad. Right then
I tackled the last chapter, so I didn't know if
it was gonna be the last chapter.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
I didn't know.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Where about the day I found out about Bob when
he died, and pretty much in detail in that Five
Stages of Grief. Then wore health, sobriety, therapy, my family,
my wife, yeah, med station.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
So then I had to feel like, okay, how did
I get from me to zeke? And it was And
then the other big part was my mom's letters the
notes for my mother. I knew I had them, so
but I gathered them all up from my sister and
my sister's in my attic and I just kind of
laid him out and said, Okay, here's a road.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Here's a road.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Is that interesting?
Speaker 4 (05:48):
I bet you could do it. You just sit down.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
And I asked so many friends that were writing books,
how do you do it?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Out of time?
Speaker 1 (05:54):
At first I was doing it. I do like a
vomit chapter. And at first I was like, I'm gonna
write a hero story.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
How great.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
I I was like, nah, man, this is I have
to write a human story. And then I got into it,
maybe the last four or five months of doing it,
especially when I knew that deadline was coming up. My
friend saying, you're pretty relaxed for having a deadline. I'm
like yeah, and I just started to stand up on it.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
But there's a certain I mean, your ability to write.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
So I mean, would you just when you sat down
at your desk, were you like focused in on like
So now I'm going to talk about the I'm going
to talk about the audition process for General Hospitals. John's
next gift. You might want to explain what this is
it's a yellow bandana.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
And I I'm gonna try it.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
I feel like I feel like the first time I
ever I remember this story and told the story was
last time we had lines?
Speaker 4 (06:50):
Well, I remember I was when I auditioned for General Hospital.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
I know you and you know who loves black General Hospitals,
your boy Andy oh love.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Talking about we all who didn't love Blackie?
Speaker 4 (07:01):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
I mean I was watching Blackie Jackie Templeton, I was
g I had the ABC line on it.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Were you in New York and I was in New York?
And then post g H you had Lori's Lachlan who
was on it? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Ed and I thirty That was the thirty minute one
that like wrapped up the day four.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
And then four one age?
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Did you and he used to call each other and
say we didn't know each other that I know people
were rearranged.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
I didn't know about the pup I was.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
So I hope that comes across how naive I was
through all most and I think my naivete helped me
in the long run. But so I was when I
was audition for General Hospitals. It was for part A
street punk Black Parish. Yeah, street, and I was like,
what's that. I went to the library and looked up
the street. Urchin I'd never.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Been to New York.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Southern California.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Yeah, like souning in my hair, and I was like, what,
what's New York to me? And and I knew that.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
So this other guy was auditioning, Brian Robbins, who was
from New York ends up now being the head of Paramount, right,
but he was very New York. He's like yo, I'm like,
oh shit, I got to and I love travolt To
then and I still do it. And then the first
set I ever stepped foot on was the Seth Greece
at my father. His friend was a coach there, but
(08:23):
I was mainly looking at Saturday a fever at that
time because he.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Had this walking on the say you and I need
to walk. So I went and I drove around up here.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
It was before the audition, and I was driving on
these streets and again I'm like so naive, I'm just eighteen,
but I'm up, I'm fourteen, right, And I find a
street over there, Santa Monica Boulevard, and I thought, this
looks kind of New York.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
I look, there's a place called Rage.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
I got to get my rage up for this character
park try to park there a terrible parker.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
And I get and I and I needed. I needed
like a leather jacket.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
My mom had this, you know, sort of full up,
like this big puffy, long letter jacket. I walk out
and I'm I'm working on my walk up and down
Santa Monica sat up a boulevard for those folks at
playing at home. It's Boystown, right, it's a Boystown. And
there's a lot of bars and everybody's outside and I'm
walking was like, well, there's a lot of men around.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
In fact, it's all okay good.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
And somebody who you know, get a girl, my girl, Okay,
I'll take the con. And I'm literally walked working on
my walk, like and I look like a fucking weirdo
with faster, slower, tighter ass.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
And so then I go.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Then I was thinking, Chochi man, he's from New York,
I think, and I need a band He used to
have bandana time around his thigh and.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
That's what I'm wearing now.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
The Bruce brought me and so I went into this
one of the stores.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
There's a lot of a lot of bandana.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Starts a lot of band It took me two seconds
to get there.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Literally two days here they and so I got this
band and the guy was super sweat because you're in luck,
you know, with every bandanna and you get a free
massage today.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
I said, thank you, sir, I'll come back.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
You know, I've got an audition for general free massage.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Right.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
I loved it and I found it all very flattered.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
So I walk in and I was working doing my
walk to the audition of Marvin Page was the casting director.
That's another guy name is Skitch Hendricks, and I remember
him because I think I don't know if anyone can
confirm it out that he had a fake hand, a
rubber fake hand, okay, and it was and there was
like a cigarette and he was kind of a you know,
cud of pricky and he was I would start just
like stop, stop to stop moving around something like I
(10:32):
was doing my walking.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
Just stand still and save the lines. Fuck, I wasted
my time.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
I got a banda and then I keep going and
then he goes, uh, I'll stop sp what he goes
you like to be Pete.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
On from Morris County. We don't know about that.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
I go, what do you mean, He goes, well, you're
wearing a yellow bandana. That that means you like to
be pete on. Oh Jesus, this Hollywood ship. And I
don't know if I can take it. And I walked out.
I kind of bombed me. I thought I tanked the audition.
I walked out the bright sun. I was like, go ahead, Hollywood,
piss on me. And ended up getting a job.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
And you at the jump.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
You know what I found so interesting about And I'm
gonna li liken this to your upbringing with your mom
and your dad.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
You obviously were super just it's a love story. It's
a love story.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Met my mom and it's palm.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
I think, so yep, yep, yep.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
And I also think that the fact that your dad
had you work in the kitchen, that it teaches you something.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Okay, I think everyone should work in hospitality.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
So like here you are on the set of g
H and you, you know, miss Monty, Gloria Monty. You
start talking when you start talking about the people, at
the level of respect you have like you were a
young guy, and gratitude you have for being in that room. Yes,
that I think comes from obviously from your parents and
your working I'm like working in the kitchen.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
Old were you when you started?
Speaker 2 (12:03):
I think my first summer job with them was sixteen seventeen.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
My dad treated the bus boys with the same as
he treated his best customer.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
When you write that line, that resonated so with me.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Yeah, because it's the one thing that if you are
in hospitality, you do it right.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
That's yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
I've seen you at your place talking to the waiters
and the bus boys.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
Yeah, but you do the same.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
I mean, obviously you do the same, but we don't
do it out of oh it's our job now, Like
I care about people, and so are you, right, So
unless they're an asshole, where you're going to get.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Full by full attention, right, and you could go exactly
so those two years, you know, and then I mean, look,
you talked very candidly about like kind of what a
douche Rick Springfield was at the time, who was like
hitting it up.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
He didn't clearly work.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Right right, right, you know, hospitality is this like here
you were a young buck, like being like, you know, impressed, and.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Yeah, you know, I've I felt I didn't want to
put anybody down in the book because that's just not
my thing, and you know I could have, but I
think with him, like everything in this book. Here's Here's
the other thing I want to say is like as
I started writing it, that's when I discovered my story,
Like I didn't know what my story was, and writing
it down and then oh wow, and looking back at
(13:20):
things like like for instance, at the General Hospital, when
you know, the black storylines were a lot less than
the than the white people's storylines. And I remember these
great actors, Todd Phillips's name was, and you know they're
always complaining.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
I'm like, what do you guys complaining about? We're on TV.
You don't get it standads, you know.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
And then Sammy Days came in and they had a
big story. Then then when he left it wasn't And
I believe I said, double chi. I know I wrote
it though, that they would have to get their hair
and makeup somewhere else, and so I but I didn't
I didn't understand. I knew there was something wrong. I
know it wasn't right, but I didn't. So looking back,
I go, oh, I don't know that was there. And
there was a lot of those moments in the book.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
That I discovered. But we were talking.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
About so when you are when you're when you sit
down to write, you like.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Literally, do you not know what you're about to write?
Are you're like okay?
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Or do you wake up in the the night going
wait a minute, you are you taking notes saying like wait,
I remember something?
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Because how do you?
Speaker 2 (14:14):
I couldn't remember. I feel like I can't remember my life?
Speaker 1 (14:17):
But did you a blur? But if you sat down
and you remember, here's the deal. My mom and then
I subsequently me, I took so she had I had
all boxes and my mom kept everything, every contract, every calendar,
every journal that I had, every note, every every picture,
(14:38):
every Tiger magazine it was. And so I was like
I have to write, you know. I remember saying like, Mom,
let's get rid of the shock.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
Why do you have it?
Speaker 2 (14:45):
No?
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Right? And so that helped a lot. I mean, I'll
have a memory about something like General Hospital, for instance.
I was like I used to always say, all I
auditioned on a Tuesday and then I got a call
back on Wednesday, and I worked on Thursday and it
aired two weeks there.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
I went to the calendar, that's the exact gates.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
So there was a lot of.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
That there was a lot of I think I did
some journaling, but mostly I wrote stuff on my calendars.
And not only that, I wrote, like, you know, I
would draw pictures of if I was happy or sad,
how my eyes were.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
I thing.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
You know, these are priceless things for you to have,
and they also for you to pass on.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
To your son, And that's part of the writing a
book too for him. But I know those questions you're asking,
because I asked the same thing to my friends, like
how do you even? But the memories came back, and
like I said, I had the and I went and
talked to a lot of people, and people remembered stuff.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
But you'd be surprised at what, oh the people that
you were working with on the show and things like that. Yeah,
you start to like sort of reminisce and you bring
it back and you go, oh, yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
I mean one of the funny one of the things
about that came to me too then was like did
I had this when I went from And you probably
had this too.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
I don't know what you were like as a kid,
probably handsome.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
I was not, And so that transition from being a
caterpillar to a butterfly was really I wanted to really
focus on that.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
You did I didn't.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
I found that like really like you, I mean you
you depict yourself so sort of like like not as
handsome as you are now and kind of nerdy but
kind of not and you know, wanting the girls and
then like the.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Boy, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
And then when it happens, it was such a trick.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
But I had a bully before it was even great bullying, Right,
this guy gave me a black guy and we had
no words, right, and I did that happen?
Speaker 4 (16:28):
No, you probably bullied you.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
I was bullied you. Yeah, for gay. They could read gay,
kids could read gay.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
I'm gay and there was no no.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
I learned how to hide.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Yeah, that's that that when you got started lifting weights.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
No, no, no, no much later that was all Vanni. That
was to get the guy too.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
The so this guy popped.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
So it was one of the first times because I
just wanted to be liked and I wanted who doesn't
I thank god there's no social media, I know.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
Would you just want to be.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Liked and you wanted people to think your cool and
nice everything, and they didn't. As far as I was
could feel, I was goofy and I did magic and puppets.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
And I love you. You would have been, you know,
into puppets. That would have been your career.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Yeah, I would have, all right, I still might, I mean,
you know, And so I was. So it was that.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
And there was a girl who the hottest girl. She
went to a Catholic school.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
And I heard when from one of the guys in
my in the marching band that she wanted to go.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Out with me.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
She thought I was cute Mark, but said, don't tell anybody.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
I told everybody, and I was at this block party,
and of course I was at the door of your
house party.
Speaker 4 (17:39):
And then at the end of the jocks.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
So the boyfriend of this girl who wanted to go out,
so I tell everybody, like a telephonic game of telephone
went from the house house house.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
It's like you know in the movie Grease was knocked up.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Yeah I was, and then he came in and tried
to knock me out. I wasn't even pants. I was
in sitting in a car and sucker punch. I wanted
to dedicate the book to this guy because I don't
know if we'd be here right, I don't.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Know if you said that I wanted to thank you, man.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
I wanted to to every every plot, everything, every.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Goal I reached, like TV beach boys.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
I thought of him, I really yeah, do you know
anything about him?
Speaker 1 (18:17):
No, he is. I had to change his name. But
I don't know if he'll read this book, because I'm
not sure if you could read.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
But I don't know.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
I think he's around, you know, But I would, And
then I talk about like I would go back. A
lot has happened, water on the bridge, four years ago,
whatever longer, But I would, you know, like a phantom
limb if you lose it. I'm always thinking I'd like
to go to him and say, hey, thank you. I mean,
(18:45):
you really pushed me to be who I am, and
I always you know, maybe it was not the most positive,
but I thought about you and I wanted to, you know,
I wanted to really make it just to show you and.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
So thank you.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
But I think that then I'd.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Say, but I dated that girl for two years and
she told me how a tiny So I'll see you later.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
You said that, so you must be you know it's big.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Well is it big?
Speaker 4 (19:08):
You're gonna have to ask others. We'll take the large
pepper shake. I need to show Bruce pepper Mill, you
know this big long this is not this is.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
This is that, dude, this is the guy that colocks you.
(19:49):
Thanks for joining us on Table for two. John Stamos
is so youthful. It's hard to believe that he's been
in Hollywood for over four decades. When you started acting
as a teenager, you have to learn the ropes as
you go along. And I'm interested to know those early
years on GH General Hospital.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
How did that affect his career, his life? Who he
became One of the things.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
You know, when you were on GH with Sammy Davis
Junior and who you wanted to play drums? That's Elizabeth
Taylor's in your sightline. You're like, who's that old lady?
I mean, these are the things.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
I forgot about Dolin.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
I mean that's like, those are great nuggets of information.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
And you say you just love going to work. I
love it.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
Yeah, they had that.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
They're like, you have to go home, mom, there was
a job your mom called time to go home. I
would stay and watch Jny Garrett was a was a
big flea.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
Yeah he's in Amsterdam. But I got to write.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
I sent a book to him and I wrote, you
know how much he influenced me.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
But and then you know, these people don't realize them.
We're watching them, right.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
I think he knew but he was so good man,
and I was like, why is he so good? And
he would take these pauses and for me, I thought
I had to fill up every space like this guy.
And he didn't lose any energy, but he would take
a beat and then come back. You're so powerful him
his eyes. He was so intense and but always kind
to me and always you know, I just have had
these mentors over the years, as I write about Jack Club, Bennet, Garry, Marshall, Rickles,
(21:21):
and I've always been sort of attracted to that older
gentleman vibe, you know, and and like I would just
want to learn everything I could from them.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Yeah, you were like soaking it all in.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
And I love that Sammy Davis, you wanted to play
drums and he did that.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
They weren't Glory wasn't really taking requests, you know, And
I wanted to play drums on the show, you know,
can I play music? But no, And Sammy Davis was
on him and my dad said, I said, Dad, it
was this guy's on today, Sammy Junior something Sammy, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:55):
My dad really turned me onto the wrap pack.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
You know.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
We would argue who was better, Sinatra, Elements. I finally Kim.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
We both listen, listened to El frank and then I said, oh,
you're right, Dawn Man. That Franklin school. What do you
think of else? He was old school right, so did so.
He said, we'll talk to talk to Sam and Davis
about playing drums. He's a drummer standing next to mister
Davis Junior. They won't let me play drums on it.
(22:23):
But we had this I remember again like it came back.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
We had this.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Pretty cool conversation about music, and I think through that,
I think, at least verbally, he thought that I got it.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
So he says, hold on, man.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
What he goes off and here's he'll click, and he
goes to Gloria Monty and says.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
Something and comes back and says, just do what I say, man, And.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Then I do impressions in case anyone out there tell
your husband.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
He says, uh.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
I said, what are you talking? And I remember him
being very firm.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
I said, God, this memory comes so clear, just do
what I say, man. In the scene, he was gonna
ad libs. I introduced him because my character was and
he and he gets something and he talks a little
bit about the charot we were. It was a fundraiser,
but so there was a whole band set up.
Speaker 4 (23:11):
He was gonna say for the water.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
I remember.
Speaker 4 (23:15):
He says, uh.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Black, you played drums right, and totally get up there.
What are we gonna play? A little jed And I
can see him look at me like, all right, this
guy's got he gets it. We're speaking the same language.
It's the sage. And then and then he gave me
this big hug at the end. And then I heard
later that it was playing on all the monitors and
(23:39):
and here at ABC and in New York, and.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
Everybody kind of gathered around and they started.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Going closer to the monitors and they let us play
for a long time. And then and then I went
to see Samy at the Greek and he was dying.
Speaker 4 (23:52):
He hadn't.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
And after he comes into the backstage, there's gonna white
cape and again like I remember this ass loft there
and he goes over and as the bartender for two
orange crushes. He said, he said, the dope and the
SIGs I don't miss the booze, I miss we cheered.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
And then yeah, you, I mean your whole You have
a very kindred spirit. When you talk about Sinatra, Elvis,
Sammy Davis, Don Rickles, Klugman, when you were in on
Broadway with James Earl Jones, you.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Really kind of I think, your whole life.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
And I think maybe based on your relationship with your dad,
who so you had this like incredible relationship with and
respected so much older, so you respected that.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
I also think it's.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Interesting reading your book and hearing it from your perspective,
so a guy's perspective, talking about guys, you know, really
being sexualized and being objectified and you know you and
just that experience, because I do think people forget that
that does happen.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
To man, it happens, it happened to you.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
I think it's like one I think it's seven out
of every twenty five girls by the time of every
teen have been sexually abused, and it's like one out
of every twenty five boys.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
But that's not real because boys don't talk about it right.
It's numbers are fault.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
So I just talk about it very briefly in the
book because I certainly don't want it to be about that.
But I also felt like a Charlottan if I didn't,
because I've done, you know, thirty five years I've been
advocating for the children, trying to get that right.
Speaker 4 (25:34):
But so I felt like a phone.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
If I it was just the right time to kind
you know, I just graze it. It's a page. But
and I don't know how it affected me. I don't,
you know, again, looking back at all this stuff, I don't.
Speaker 4 (25:47):
I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
But it's always been that, you know, most of those
growing up, most of those sexual experiences have been with
women that were a little more sophisticated. And I'm not
a victim, no nobody, you know, I don't feel like
but the babysitter thing was like felt good maybe yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Well that's what's sort of confusing, because when someone is
doing something that's like right, inappropriate, but yet it's gentle
or it feels good, you're confused no matter, yeah, you know,
And and the work that you've done is so I
think for so long now with kids. Yeah, so I
think I was really just beautiful and I think it
(26:24):
was it was that, like, why have I been so
interested in helping children?
Speaker 4 (26:29):
Through all through a lot of different causes, but certainly
the abuse to them.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
And one of the reasons I didn't put it in
the I could put it in the book is it didn't
make sense, but maybe I could have. But we have
an eight hundred number, one eight hundred for a child.
And if you're any of this kind of thing, and
you know it doesn't it's not like some weirdo with
a trench coat on it takes in the back of
a van. It's a priest, it's a neighbor, it's an uncle.
And so that's why I want to talk about but
(26:54):
one eight hundred four a child. And the other thing is,
you know, during the pandemic especially, it was on it.
It was on the rise. Because if it's stuck at home,
you don't have jobs, drinking, come fine.
Speaker 4 (27:07):
And it's also this hot line is also good for parents.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
If you're a little frustrated and you maybe want to
hurt your kid or you can't control your anger, call
that number and we talk you through that as well.
I think the book I talked about like that idea.
(27:31):
If you would have told me, I don't know how
I stump. It's a beautiful time, it's you know, and
they said, what do you want to call it? If
you were to tell me Mike Love was calling me
one day years ago. Mike Love was the lead singing
of the Beach Boys. It was the first concert I
went to and he was calling and calling. Someone was
over and I didn't answer it. I said, I told
me when I was a kid, my first concertant, Mike
Love was calling and I didn't pick it up.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
That's where it came from.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
But it also is you know, you could use it
as you know, if you would have told me that
one of my best friends would die, you know. Yeah,
So the point is that if you had have told
me these things and then you avoid them. Okay, So anyway,
there's probably jobs that I should have taken that I lost,
or or that was off.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
To me, or just all the things.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
And before writing this book, I would say, you know,
you'd say do you have any regrets? To say, yeah,
I reget this, forget that. Writing a book and realizing
that everything happened for a reason, like you said, and
one thing like to another, and the divorce and the
heart break taught me what I really wanted in love
and prepared me for when Caitlyn came around, and then
I wouldn't change a thing.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
Yeah. I also think you wrote this book at a
perfect moment in your life, because I actually think your
fifties are a time of great reflection.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
And like you said, you know, so the door was
shutting you and you got under it, and now you're
to me. You're going through the arch of the next
chapter of your life, which is just so rich with
love and family and like gratitude.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Exactly. This is a and you know you do have
of this, you know the body of war that you have.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
You know, here you are a kid from Cypress, California
and you're like having this epic career.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
Welcome back to table for two.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
You most likely know John from his time on a
both wildly successful soap opera and a primetime sitcom, but
he's also acted on stage.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
What was it like to make that transition.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Let's swing it over to you know you talk about
when you were on Broadway, and yes, you know, I
think that's one of the times we first met.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
But you know you were DMC and Cabaret. You replaced
Matthew Broderick when he took he went to Way to
do a movie on how to succeed.
Speaker 4 (30:01):
And where where did I get those balls? Like I
never I was in a theater, like I didn't grow up.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
I try auditioned in the high school for the Wizard
of Oz to play the scarecrow.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
I got about once, you know, while a while away
the stops up. If you do makeup? Can you make
up in the show? Don't sing? That's where I was
and so but Jack Clickman was always in my air.
Speaker 5 (30:23):
Got to the theater, got it when full hous in it,
I was like, oh, all right, man, I play this
idiot right years. Everybody thinks I'm like fucking dope, you know,
guitar wheeled and elm was looking it.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
Gets to the theater. I never did it before. I
don't really I can't sing, doesn't matter. He was in Gypsy.
You know I can't sing.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
I said, really, don't good, don't practice it. But so
I just I just went far it in my mind
then and I tried. Look, I was fearless, right you
remember those that do you have a fearlessness in your life,
and I, you know, I've been trying to get back
to that our sense.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
But I would just think, like, well.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
If I danced, if I practice dance and I want
to dance with If I sang enough, if I really
worked on something fifteen hours a day, I could do it.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
And I did well because you have that thing that
you can't get, which is charisma and the light from
the audience, like people are drawn to you, so.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Like yeah, like a moth. Yeah, like a yeah, like
a just sounded like a moth to but aflap you.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
And so I think when you when and clearly you
loved it, like it was something that you what was
the high like on being in front of a live
audience all of a sudden like that kind of like
eight shows a week you had you I know, you
had your rituals. I mean that's you've left. I think
it was a great time. As Clegman said to like,
get out of La yeah, right, get out of this zone.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
Right, life was changing.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
Stay in Trump Tower, that's where I was staying. I
forgot I was I don't think I put it in there.
But but Tony Bennett lived there too, and he was
like one floor above me.
Speaker 4 (32:05):
Go to the show.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
I can price see like, okay, great, I'm getting off.
It's hard to rely. It took me, you know, you
know a lot you know this business. Like I say,
like some people get it right away. DiCaprio out of
the gate was a brilliant actor, right, Lawrence people like
me and there's the others. Takes twenty five thirty years,
(32:26):
and I think I'm in that category.
Speaker 4 (32:28):
Like just to last maybe eight ten years ago. Stop
trying so hard, stay more.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
I remember when Jason Bateman, we kind of grew up
together when he was really hitting it. So let's go
to lunch man, How did you what happened? Because I
you know, and there was a long time still, I mean,
I'm not you say, oh, you've had quite a career. Yeah,
I've been in the lower part of the middle. But
I think I'm still around. That's the maybe the impressident.
Speaker 4 (32:53):
But I asked him how.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
He said he just stopped trying so hard, just let
go relaxed. He literally could and get arrested. Then it
gets arrested them, right, and it just let's you know,
and it's.
Speaker 4 (33:04):
A hard thing.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
Should you trust because it's trusting itself.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
We don't think we that.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Do you feel like that's part of the next chapter
of your life that you're you know now that you
are you know, every things have settled around you. You're
in this, you know, are you now able to foresee
letting go? And if so, what are the things that
you'd like to do in this next piece?
Speaker 1 (33:27):
Well, I think I have let go a lot, you know,
holding onto everything so important. By the way, like there's
no one job anymore really that that makes or breaks you.
And the ones that you think are gonna that you
don't get, you know, that's going to be the hitch.
Speaker 4 (33:40):
It isn't the little.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
Ones Like I remember, I was a couple of meetings
with great Borlantia and he said, hey, well you go.
Speaker 4 (33:46):
Do you do me a favorite?
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (33:48):
Anything is we do a few episodes of the show
I got going on. It's called You on Life shot
I love.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
I said, great, the show tanks on Lifetime and Netflix
buys it.
Speaker 4 (33:59):
It's third number one and tro and all a sudden boom.
I never thought that was So it is about letting go?
Speaker 1 (34:06):
Do I feel the only career wise, I really have
let it go. I don't care. I mean I don't
really care anymore. And I try to find projects I
like or I put stuff together, but I am waiting
for my breaking bad.
Speaker 4 (34:18):
I hope that comes around. It at something.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
I've had such a nice time with John today.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
He is so smart and honest and open about his
life and journey. I would be remiss if I didn't
ask him about his dear friend and Full House Coach
star Bob Saggatt, who passed suddenly last year. How do
you memorialize someone who's had such an impact on your life.
You know, you've talked about Bob a couple of times,
and you've talked about him at length in The Brotherhood
(34:50):
and the Love and as you end this book.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
And as we sort of are getting close to the end.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
Of our lun Yeah, you really talk about that last
dinner you had with your wives at NOBU and it's
really beautiful, and you say you just never know. And
I guess the question I'm not asking about Bob because
he's you know, he's missed by so many and he
(35:15):
really was great.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
I guess how do you? I mean, every day you
must honor him.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Somehow life is not as it's not as funny or
fun sure, but I mean you got to get over that.
But a little piece of view is gone, right, Yeah,
have you lost anybody.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
Close to Yeah?
Speaker 1 (35:31):
Yeah, and you just go But did you see the
movie Coco Disneyland.
Speaker 4 (35:36):
Yes, yeah, what they.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
Said, and they were so beautiful, which was a person dies, okay,
and then if you don't talk about him, you don't
tell stories about him, if you don't put their pictures up,
they die again for good up there. So that's one
of the things where I certainly try to talk about
him as much as I can, and I'm sure if
we're real quiet, we can hear him complaining that I
don't talk about him enough.
Speaker 4 (35:54):
You knew Bob right very well. He was the greatest.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
He was the most COMPLI you know, he was very
It was the biggest insecure egomaniac. You know, he had both.
But that night we were at Nobu. Sorry we didn't
go to the palm, but Bob and I did go
to the pump all the time, and again I was
going to meet him and he had a drawing right there. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
(36:18):
you know you want to know the truth about So
Bruce said, out of think we're moving and you said
come pick up the things, and you know why I didn't.
I was too drunk to drive that day. Really, I
thought I better not drive. That's interesting. It was like
it was a shitty you know boozy times all I
want that.
Speaker 3 (36:37):
Really, I wondered why.
Speaker 4 (36:39):
Remember I was probably one of the only people that came.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
I was like, Okay, he just doesn't want it, but
that's okay, Well you know I want it and drew
my friends.
Speaker 3 (36:48):
So I didn't take personal. It wasn't insulting. I was
great and we put it.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
But that's the thing about anyway I was. That's why
I never picked it. But I'm sober now getting it.
In the beginning of the book, I talk about going
to the poem and meet Bob and what the palm
meant to me. It was like, you know, like everybody
knew my name there there was a place that you guys.
But I say that because there's a lot of Snatra
stuff I talked about, and I talk about the characters
over there and the new place, the old there was
(37:16):
like you put me right next to Sinatra too, and
I remember seeing that.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
And then Andy Cohen and mate, you want or to
how did I make it over here? You just marked
that in your house staring at you like the mansion.
Speaker 4 (37:27):
I follow you around no matter where you.
Speaker 5 (37:29):
Said the book.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
Well, all I could say is everybody your your book
comes out on October twenty fourth, this will probably you
would have heard this or the book will be out
and it's beautiful.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
And it's also a beautiful.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
Book to listen to because to hear you read it.
Speaker 4 (37:47):
So that was so hard.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
Mostly they said, well, I said, how long the four
or five sessions you'll get it? Give me like thirty
because like kids, I just kept going over and over
and I could change stuff. And I also I hope
that it's a book that if you're not a fan
of mine or whatever, like it's just.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
One hundred percent okay it is.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
It's a book about love, it's a book about family,
and just to I also want to close with you
know you sure, and you've talked about your mom leaving notes. Yes,
I think that's so like beautiful and insightful of your
mother because that is that is a great gift to have.
Speaker 4 (38:21):
Have you done it to you?
Speaker 3 (38:22):
You're not okay, Brian has done that and I am not.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
You know what I'm doing with Billy is I'm I've
set up an email compra end and he you know,
he can't get into it obviously, and I just write
them emails once and it's easier because I can just
talk to my like the other night going to bed
and Caitlyn was out of town, so me and they
have this special prayer together that they say it was
so good.
Speaker 4 (38:43):
He kind of cobbled through it. It was really beautiful.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
And then as he fell asleep in my arms, I wrote,
but I talked on my phone into an email and
I said to a beautiful Then in the morning we
woke up and he's his face is right next to
my little nose. He goes, Dad, I go, yeah, he goes,
you smell like my bathroom at my school breath.
Speaker 4 (39:00):
I thank you, little ship.
Speaker 3 (39:03):
You gotta love it.
Speaker 4 (39:04):
And I love you, Bruce, and I love you doing this.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
And I think this conversation it was really nice to
have with you.
Speaker 4 (39:10):
And I appreciate you taking the time to read the
book that it means. Yeah, it's weird having a book.
I bet it, like, oh my god.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
I know, but you know what, this is a gift
for people because it is a story of not just
your celebrity and your career. It's a story of friendship, love,
finding yourself, sobriety, saving yourself.
Speaker 3 (39:31):
It's a great memoir.
Speaker 2 (39:33):
John Stamos, very much, Thank you so much for being
I don't have to pay you don't I don't have
to split it. No, my touch baby anyway. Anyway, thanks
for showing up. Everyone on the Table for two, I
Love You.
Speaker 4 (39:47):
Table for two.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
Table for You with Bruce Bosi is produced by iHeart
Radio seven three seven Park and Airmail. Our executive producers
are Bruce Bozzi and Nathan King. Table for two is
researched and written by Bridget arsenalt Our sound engineers are
Paul Bowman and Alyssa Midcalf. Table for two's la production
team is Danielle Romo and Lorraine viz.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
Our music supervisor is Randall Poster. Our talent booking is
by James Harkin.
Speaker 2 (40:22):
Special thanks to Amy Sugarman, Uni Cher, Kevin Yuvane, Bobby Bauer,
Alison Kant, Graber, Barbara and Jen and Jeff Klein and
the staff at the Tower Bar in the world famous
Sunset Tower Hotel. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
From actors to icons and everything in between. You're having
lunch with Bruce Bosie on Table for two.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Everyone, it's Bruce Bosi. Thank you for joining me on
Table for two.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Today.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
We're back in sunny southern California for another great lunch
at the Tower Bar.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Are we recording?
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Yep?
Speaker 4 (00:23):
Now yeah, just kissed me fall on the lips.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
I'm so excited for today's guest.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
He grew up kind of down the street in Cypress, California,
and is one of.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
The nicest guys in Hollywood.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
He's been on huge TV shows, acted on Broadway, and
even as an occasional beach boy. Now he's written a
book about his life called If You Would Have Told
Me And If That's not enough.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
He also has a great head of hair. What are
you in the mood for?
Speaker 4 (00:54):
Food wise?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Yeah? Eat with that body beat out.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
It's good.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Huh.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
So pull up a chair, grab a bite to eat,
because we're having lunch with John Stamos.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
I'm Bruce Bosi and this is my podcast Table for two.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
So if you've pulled up a chair today, we're sitting
at the Tower Bar. I have two surprises for John today,
just so you know. One based on your book, okay,
and one based on our experience together. And when we
left the West dollar Wood Palm, all the pictures were
taken down and gave them to.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
But by the way, one of the great honors to
have my picture up in the poll. And I used
to just take people in there actually, you know, and
they knew what seat my picture was under, so they'd
always set me there and I'd be like, oh, well,
look at this is.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
The picture be up there.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
So when we left we gave them out. I framed
them as art and you said, you hold on to mine.
And what I did was when we opened the Beverley
there was very few. We didn't put them back up right,
so we put like fair Foscet and the majors up.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
They had one out, Andy Cohen had.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Cohen and Frank Sinatra with. We put Valerie Harper with
Sammy Davis Junior. We put I don't know that many,
don no, there was like only five I got was yours.
I know, you guys can't see it if you're pulling
up a chair, but it's framed.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
It's cut from like you actually see the wall that
it was on.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
That's not Scott Bail because.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
No it's not. This is free.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Thank you, thank you. I thought it got lost.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
And now I kept it was hung in my house.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Yeah, we got to see it. And he's taking art
off my wall.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
So I opened the book. You asked me why why now?
Speaker 1 (02:49):
And if you know Jamie the Curtis, you know she's
a good friend. She alway says, if not now when,
which always makes me think about getting doing things that
you got just that you want to do, right.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
I never thought about writing a book. I wasn't. It
was the last thing on my mind.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
I never thought I could could do you ever think
about writing a book?
Speaker 3 (03:08):
It's like, it's funny you should say that. That was like
someone approached like, would you be interested? I mean, I
don't know how to do that. I couldn't.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
And I think your life is just as interesting as
as mine, if not more. But you for sure have
a book in you. Everybody does, but you have a
good one. But it was the It was the.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
Hardest thing I've ever done, pretty much.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
But as you as you can see in the book,
like I I never put obstacles up in front of
things that I wanted to get done. I didn't want
to do this until I did it, but I just
did it. I never thought it was at I can't,
you know, So I just started and at first I
kept saying no, and then you know, it was a dad.
And then Bob died and they saw an obituary that
(03:48):
I wrote in the La Times about Bob, and I
felt that it was a good writing, and I don't
you know, it was so you know, broken up it was.
I don't even remember writing it, but apparently it was
good and.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
And the and the most beautiful moth. I'll talk about
Bob a lot, probably today, and I'll probably cry at
least twice.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
But his his Uh Kelly, his widow, and I hate
say that. Uh called me the other day crying and
she said, you did such justice to Bob. And the
people that don't know Bob and they read this book.
It's a great representation of who he was because it
was a complicated man, but he was beautiful.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
So I so I said, okay, I'll do that, And
so I thought, I'm going to start with the two
hardest chapters. The first chapter is when I was on
my way to meet Bob at the Palm that faithful night,
when I got a DUI easily the lowest point of
my life ever, and I could have killed somebody.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Bruce, Yeah, that's why you were. It's really vivid in
that chapter.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
And I was, I was, I was circling that that area,
I must have passed. I just kept going in circles
and said, there's the same place again, the same part. Anyway,
I was going to meet Bob, so and my five
Stages of grief then was I mean, I got you know,
it's d u. I I ended up hospital because I
was so fucked up, and I when I straightened up
and they got me out of there, I went home
(05:05):
and drank another bottle of wine. So my five Stages
of Grief with more booze, sex, everything bad. Right then
I tackled the last chapter, so I didn't know if
it was gonna be the last chapter.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
I didn't know.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Where about the day I found out about Bob when
he died, and pretty much in detail in that Five
Stages of Grief. Then wore health, sobriety, therapy, my family,
my wife, yeah, med station.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
So then I had to feel like, okay, how did
I get from me to zeke? And it was And
then the other big part was my mom's letters the
notes for my mother. I knew I had them, so
but I gathered them all up from my sister and
my sister's in my attic and I just kind of
laid him out and said, Okay, here's a road.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Here's a road.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Is that interesting?
Speaker 4 (05:48):
I bet you could do it. You just sit down.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
And I asked so many friends that were writing books,
how do you do it?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Out of time?
Speaker 1 (05:54):
At first I was doing it. I do like a
vomit chapter. And at first I was like, I'm gonna
write a hero story.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
How great.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
I I was like, nah, man, this is I have
to write a human story. And then I got into it,
maybe the last four or five months of doing it,
especially when I knew that deadline was coming up. My
friend saying, you're pretty relaxed for having a deadline. I'm
like yeah, and I just started to stand up on it.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
But there's a certain I mean, your ability to write.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
So I mean, would you just when you sat down
at your desk, were you like focused in on like
So now I'm going to talk about the I'm going
to talk about the audition process for General Hospitals. John's
next gift. You might want to explain what this is
it's a yellow bandana.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
And I I'm gonna try it.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
I feel like I feel like the first time I
ever I remember this story and told the story was
last time we had lines?
Speaker 4 (06:50):
Well, I remember I was when I auditioned for General Hospital.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
I know you and you know who loves black General Hospitals,
your boy Andy oh love.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Talking about we all who didn't love Blackie?
Speaker 4 (07:01):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
I mean I was watching Blackie Jackie Templeton, I was
g I had the ABC line on it.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Were you in New York and I was in New York?
And then post g H you had Lori's Lachlan who
was on it? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Ed and I thirty That was the thirty minute one
that like wrapped up the day four.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
And then four one age?
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Did you and he used to call each other and
say we didn't know each other that I know people
were rearranged.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
I didn't know about the pup I was.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
So I hope that comes across how naive I was
through all most and I think my naivete helped me
in the long run. But so I was when I
was audition for General Hospitals. It was for part A
street punk Black Parish. Yeah, street, and I was like,
what's that. I went to the library and looked up
the street. Urchin I'd never.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Been to New York.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Southern California.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Yeah, like souning in my hair, and I was like, what,
what's New York to me? And and I knew that.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
So this other guy was auditioning, Brian Robbins, who was
from New York ends up now being the head of Paramount, right,
but he was very New York. He's like yo, I'm like,
oh shit, I got to and I love travolt To
then and I still do it. And then the first
set I ever stepped foot on was the Seth Greece
at my father. His friend was a coach there, but
(08:23):
I was mainly looking at Saturday a fever at that
time because he.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Had this walking on the say you and I need
to walk. So I went and I drove around up here.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
It was before the audition, and I was driving on
these streets and again I'm like so naive, I'm just eighteen,
but I'm up, I'm fourteen, right, And I find a
street over there, Santa Monica Boulevard, and I thought, this
looks kind of New York.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
I look, there's a place called Rage.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
I got to get my rage up for this character
park try to park there a terrible parker.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
And I get and I and I needed. I needed
like a leather jacket.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
My mom had this, you know, sort of full up,
like this big puffy, long letter jacket. I walk out
and I'm I'm working on my walk up and down
Santa Monica sat up a boulevard for those folks at
playing at home. It's Boystown, right, it's a Boystown. And
there's a lot of bars and everybody's outside and I'm
walking was like, well, there's a lot of men around.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
In fact, it's all okay good.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
And somebody who you know, get a girl, my girl, Okay,
I'll take the con. And I'm literally walked working on
my walk, like and I look like a fucking weirdo
with faster, slower, tighter ass.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
And so then I go.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Then I was thinking, Chochi man, he's from New York,
I think, and I need a band He used to
have bandana time around his thigh and.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
That's what I'm wearing now.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
The Bruce brought me and so I went into this
one of the stores.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
There's a lot of a lot of bandana.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Starts a lot of band It took me two seconds
to get there.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Literally two days here they and so I got this
band and the guy was super sweat because you're in luck,
you know, with every bandanna and you get a free
massage today.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
I said, thank you, sir, I'll come back.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
You know, I've got an audition for general free massage.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Right.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
I loved it and I found it all very flattered.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
So I walk in and I was working doing my
walk to the audition of Marvin Page was the casting director.
That's another guy name is Skitch Hendricks, and I remember
him because I think I don't know if anyone can
confirm it out that he had a fake hand, a
rubber fake hand, okay, and it was and there was
like a cigarette and he was kind of a you know,
cud of pricky and he was I would start just
like stop, stop to stop moving around something like I
(10:32):
was doing my walking.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
Just stand still and save the lines. Fuck, I wasted
my time.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
I got a banda and then I keep going and
then he goes, uh, I'll stop sp what he goes
you like to be Pete.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
On from Morris County. We don't know about that.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
I go, what do you mean, He goes, well, you're
wearing a yellow bandana. That that means you like to
be pete on. Oh Jesus, this Hollywood ship. And I
don't know if I can take it. And I walked out.
I kind of bombed me. I thought I tanked the audition.
I walked out the bright sun. I was like, go ahead, Hollywood,
piss on me. And ended up getting a job.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
And you at the jump.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
You know what I found so interesting about And I'm
gonna li liken this to your upbringing with your mom
and your dad.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
You obviously were super just it's a love story. It's
a love story.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Met my mom and it's palm.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
I think, so yep, yep, yep.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
And I also think that the fact that your dad
had you work in the kitchen, that it teaches you something.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Okay, I think everyone should work in hospitality.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
So like here you are on the set of g
H and you, you know, miss Monty, Gloria Monty. You
start talking when you start talking about the people, at
the level of respect you have like you were a
young guy, and gratitude you have for being in that room. Yes,
that I think comes from obviously from your parents and
your working I'm like working in the kitchen.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
Old were you when you started?
Speaker 2 (12:03):
I think my first summer job with them was sixteen seventeen.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
My dad treated the bus boys with the same as
he treated his best customer.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
When you write that line, that resonated so with me.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Yeah, because it's the one thing that if you are
in hospitality, you do it right.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
That's yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
I've seen you at your place talking to the waiters
and the bus boys.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
Yeah, but you do the same.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
I mean, obviously you do the same, but we don't
do it out of oh it's our job now, Like
I care about people, and so are you, right, So
unless they're an asshole, where you're going to get.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Full by full attention, right, and you could go exactly
so those two years, you know, and then I mean, look,
you talked very candidly about like kind of what a
douche Rick Springfield was at the time, who was like
hitting it up.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
He didn't clearly work.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Right right, right, you know, hospitality is this like here
you were a young buck, like being like, you know, impressed, and.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Yeah, you know, I've I felt I didn't want to
put anybody down in the book because that's just not
my thing, and you know I could have, but I
think with him, like everything in this book. Here's Here's
the other thing I want to say is like as
I started writing it, that's when I discovered my story,
Like I didn't know what my story was, and writing
it down and then oh wow, and looking back at
(13:20):
things like like for instance, at the General Hospital, when
you know, the black storylines were a lot less than
the than the white people's storylines. And I remember these
great actors, Todd Phillips's name was, and you know they're
always complaining.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
I'm like, what do you guys complaining about? We're on TV.
You don't get it standads, you know.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
And then Sammy Days came in and they had a
big story. Then then when he left it wasn't And
I believe I said, double chi. I know I wrote
it though, that they would have to get their hair
and makeup somewhere else, and so I but I didn't
I didn't understand. I knew there was something wrong. I
know it wasn't right, but I didn't. So looking back,
I go, oh, I don't know that was there. And
there was a lot of those moments in the book.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
That I discovered. But we were talking.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
About so when you are when you're when you sit
down to write, you like.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Literally, do you not know what you're about to write?
Are you're like okay?
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Or do you wake up in the the night going
wait a minute, you are you taking notes saying like wait,
I remember something?
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Because how do you?
Speaker 2 (14:14):
I couldn't remember. I feel like I can't remember my life?
Speaker 1 (14:17):
But did you a blur? But if you sat down
and you remember, here's the deal. My mom and then
I subsequently me, I took so she had I had
all boxes and my mom kept everything, every contract, every calendar,
every journal that I had, every note, every every picture,
(14:38):
every Tiger magazine it was. And so I was like
I have to write, you know. I remember saying like, Mom,
let's get rid of the shock.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
Why do you have it?
Speaker 2 (14:45):
No?
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Right? And so that helped a lot. I mean, I'll
have a memory about something like General Hospital, for instance.
I was like I used to always say, all I
auditioned on a Tuesday and then I got a call
back on Wednesday, and I worked on Thursday and it
aired two weeks there.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
I went to the calendar, that's the exact gates.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
So there was a lot of.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
That there was a lot of I think I did
some journaling, but mostly I wrote stuff on my calendars.
And not only that, I wrote, like, you know, I
would draw pictures of if I was happy or sad,
how my eyes were.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
I thing.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
You know, these are priceless things for you to have,
and they also for you to pass on.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
To your son, And that's part of the writing a
book too for him. But I know those questions you're asking,
because I asked the same thing to my friends, like
how do you even? But the memories came back, and
like I said, I had the and I went and
talked to a lot of people, and people remembered stuff.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
But you'd be surprised at what, oh the people that
you were working with on the show and things like that. Yeah,
you start to like sort of reminisce and you bring
it back and you go, oh, yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
I mean one of the funny one of the things
about that came to me too then was like did
I had this when I went from And you probably
had this too.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
I don't know what you were like as a kid,
probably handsome.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
I was not, And so that transition from being a
caterpillar to a butterfly was really I wanted to really
focus on that.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
You did I didn't.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
I found that like really like you, I mean you
you depict yourself so sort of like like not as
handsome as you are now and kind of nerdy but
kind of not and you know, wanting the girls and
then like the.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Boy, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
And then when it happens, it was such a trick.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
But I had a bully before it was even great bullying, Right,
this guy gave me a black guy and we had
no words, right, and I did that happen?
Speaker 4 (16:28):
No, you probably bullied you.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
I was bullied you. Yeah, for gay. They could read gay,
kids could read gay.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
I'm gay and there was no no.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
I learned how to hide.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Yeah, that's that that when you got started lifting weights.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
No, no, no, no much later that was all Vanni. That
was to get the guy too.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
The so this guy popped.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
So it was one of the first times because I
just wanted to be liked and I wanted who doesn't
I thank god there's no social media, I know.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
Would you just want to be.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Liked and you wanted people to think your cool and
nice everything, and they didn't. As far as I was
could feel, I was goofy and I did magic and puppets.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
And I love you. You would have been, you know,
into puppets. That would have been your career.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Yeah, I would have, all right, I still might, I mean,
you know, And so I was. So it was that.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
And there was a girl who the hottest girl. She
went to a Catholic school.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
And I heard when from one of the guys in
my in the marching band that she wanted to go.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Out with me.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
She thought I was cute Mark, but said, don't tell anybody.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
I told everybody, and I was at this block party,
and of course I was at the door of your
house party.
Speaker 4 (17:39):
And then at the end of the jocks.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
So the boyfriend of this girl who wanted to go out,
so I tell everybody, like a telephonic game of telephone
went from the house house house.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
It's like you know in the movie Grease was knocked up.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Yeah I was, and then he came in and tried
to knock me out. I wasn't even pants. I was
in sitting in a car and sucker punch. I wanted
to dedicate the book to this guy because I don't
know if we'd be here right, I don't.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Know if you said that I wanted to thank you, man.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
I wanted to to every every plot, everything, every.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Goal I reached, like TV beach boys.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
I thought of him, I really yeah, do you know
anything about him?
Speaker 1 (18:17):
No, he is. I had to change his name. But
I don't know if he'll read this book, because I'm
not sure if you could read.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
But I don't know.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
I think he's around, you know, But I would, And
then I talk about like I would go back. A
lot has happened, water on the bridge, four years ago,
whatever longer, But I would, you know, like a phantom
limb if you lose it. I'm always thinking I'd like
to go to him and say, hey, thank you. I mean,
(18:45):
you really pushed me to be who I am, and
I always you know, maybe it was not the most positive,
but I thought about you and I wanted to, you know,
I wanted to really make it just to show you and.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
So thank you.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
But I think that then I'd.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Say, but I dated that girl for two years and
she told me how a tiny So I'll see you later.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
You said that, so you must be you know it's big.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Well is it big?
Speaker 4 (19:08):
You're gonna have to ask others. We'll take the large
pepper shake. I need to show Bruce pepper Mill, you
know this big long this is not this is.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
This is that, dude, this is the guy that colocks you.
(19:49):
Thanks for joining us on Table for two. John Stamos
is so youthful. It's hard to believe that he's been
in Hollywood for over four decades. When you started acting
as a teenager, you have to learn the ropes as
you go along. And I'm interested to know those early
years on GH General Hospital.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
How did that affect his career, his life? Who he
became One of the things.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
You know, when you were on GH with Sammy Davis
Junior and who you wanted to play drums? That's Elizabeth
Taylor's in your sightline. You're like, who's that old lady?
I mean, these are the things.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
I forgot about Dolin.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
I mean that's like, those are great nuggets of information.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
And you say you just love going to work. I
love it.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
Yeah, they had that.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
They're like, you have to go home, mom, there was
a job your mom called time to go home. I
would stay and watch Jny Garrett was a was a
big flea.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
Yeah he's in Amsterdam. But I got to write.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
I sent a book to him and I wrote, you
know how much he influenced me.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
But and then you know, these people don't realize them.
We're watching them, right.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
I think he knew but he was so good man,
and I was like, why is he so good? And
he would take these pauses and for me, I thought
I had to fill up every space like this guy.
And he didn't lose any energy, but he would take
a beat and then come back. You're so powerful him
his eyes. He was so intense and but always kind
to me and always you know, I just have had
these mentors over the years, as I write about Jack Club, Bennet, Garry, Marshall, Rickles,
(21:21):
and I've always been sort of attracted to that older
gentleman vibe, you know, and and like I would just
want to learn everything I could from them.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Yeah, you were like soaking it all in.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
And I love that Sammy Davis, you wanted to play
drums and he did that.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
They weren't Glory wasn't really taking requests, you know, And
I wanted to play drums on the show, you know,
can I play music? But no, And Sammy Davis was
on him and my dad said, I said, Dad, it
was this guy's on today, Sammy Junior something Sammy, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:55):
My dad really turned me onto the wrap pack.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
You know.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
We would argue who was better, Sinatra, Elements. I finally Kim.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
We both listen, listened to El frank and then I said, oh,
you're right, Dawn Man. That Franklin school. What do you
think of else? He was old school right, so did so.
He said, we'll talk to talk to Sam and Davis
about playing drums. He's a drummer standing next to mister
Davis Junior. They won't let me play drums on it.
(22:23):
But we had this I remember again like it came back.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
We had this.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Pretty cool conversation about music, and I think through that,
I think, at least verbally, he thought that I got it.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
So he says, hold on, man.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
What he goes off and here's he'll click, and he
goes to Gloria Monty and says.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
Something and comes back and says, just do what I say, man, And.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Then I do impressions in case anyone out there tell
your husband.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
He says, uh.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
I said, what are you talking? And I remember him
being very firm.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
I said, God, this memory comes so clear, just do
what I say, man. In the scene, he was gonna
ad libs. I introduced him because my character was and
he and he gets something and he talks a little
bit about the charot we were. It was a fundraiser,
but so there was a whole band set up.
Speaker 4 (23:11):
He was gonna say for the water.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
I remember.
Speaker 4 (23:15):
He says, uh.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Black, you played drums right, and totally get up there.
What are we gonna play? A little jed And I
can see him look at me like, all right, this
guy's got he gets it. We're speaking the same language.
It's the sage. And then and then he gave me
this big hug at the end. And then I heard
later that it was playing on all the monitors and
(23:39):
and here at ABC and in New York, and.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
Everybody kind of gathered around and they started.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Going closer to the monitors and they let us play
for a long time. And then and then I went
to see Samy at the Greek and he was dying.
Speaker 4 (23:52):
He hadn't.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
And after he comes into the backstage, there's gonna white
cape and again like I remember this ass loft there
and he goes over and as the bartender for two
orange crushes. He said, he said, the dope and the
SIGs I don't miss the booze, I miss we cheered.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
And then yeah, you, I mean your whole You have
a very kindred spirit. When you talk about Sinatra, Elvis,
Sammy Davis, Don Rickles, Klugman, when you were in on
Broadway with James Earl Jones, you.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Really kind of I think, your whole life.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
And I think maybe based on your relationship with your dad,
who so you had this like incredible relationship with and
respected so much older, so you respected that.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
I also think it's.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Interesting reading your book and hearing it from your perspective,
so a guy's perspective, talking about guys, you know, really
being sexualized and being objectified and you know you and
just that experience, because I do think people forget that
that does happen.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
To man, it happens, it happened to you.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
I think it's like one I think it's seven out
of every twenty five girls by the time of every
teen have been sexually abused, and it's like one out
of every twenty five boys.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
But that's not real because boys don't talk about it right.
It's numbers are fault.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
So I just talk about it very briefly in the
book because I certainly don't want it to be about that.
But I also felt like a Charlottan if I didn't,
because I've done, you know, thirty five years I've been
advocating for the children, trying to get that right.
Speaker 4 (25:34):
But so I felt like a phone.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
If I it was just the right time to kind
you know, I just graze it. It's a page. But
and I don't know how it affected me. I don't,
you know, again, looking back at all this stuff, I don't.
Speaker 4 (25:47):
I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
But it's always been that, you know, most of those
growing up, most of those sexual experiences have been with
women that were a little more sophisticated. And I'm not
a victim, no nobody, you know, I don't feel like
but the babysitter thing was like felt good maybe yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Well that's what's sort of confusing, because when someone is
doing something that's like right, inappropriate, but yet it's gentle
or it feels good, you're confused no matter, yeah, you know,
And and the work that you've done is so I
think for so long now with kids. Yeah, so I
think I was really just beautiful and I think it
(26:24):
was it was that, like, why have I been so
interested in helping children?
Speaker 4 (26:29):
Through all through a lot of different causes, but certainly
the abuse to them.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
And one of the reasons I didn't put it in
the I could put it in the book is it didn't
make sense, but maybe I could have. But we have
an eight hundred number, one eight hundred for a child.
And if you're any of this kind of thing, and
you know it doesn't it's not like some weirdo with
a trench coat on it takes in the back of
a van. It's a priest, it's a neighbor, it's an uncle.
And so that's why I want to talk about but
(26:54):
one eight hundred four a child. And the other thing is,
you know, during the pandemic especially, it was on it.
It was on the rise. Because if it's stuck at home,
you don't have jobs, drinking, come fine.
Speaker 4 (27:07):
And it's also this hot line is also good for parents.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
If you're a little frustrated and you maybe want to
hurt your kid or you can't control your anger, call
that number and we talk you through that as well.
I think the book I talked about like that idea.
(27:31):
If you would have told me, I don't know how
I stump. It's a beautiful time, it's you know, and
they said, what do you want to call it? If
you were to tell me Mike Love was calling me
one day years ago. Mike Love was the lead singing
of the Beach Boys. It was the first concert I
went to and he was calling and calling. Someone was
over and I didn't answer it. I said, I told
me when I was a kid, my first concertant, Mike
Love was calling and I didn't pick it up.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
That's where it came from.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
But it also is you know, you could use it
as you know, if you would have told me that
one of my best friends would die, you know. Yeah,
So the point is that if you had have told
me these things and then you avoid them. Okay, So anyway,
there's probably jobs that I should have taken that I lost,
or or that was off.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
To me, or just all the things.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
And before writing this book, I would say, you know,
you'd say do you have any regrets? To say, yeah,
I reget this, forget that. Writing a book and realizing
that everything happened for a reason, like you said, and
one thing like to another, and the divorce and the
heart break taught me what I really wanted in love
and prepared me for when Caitlyn came around, and then
I wouldn't change a thing.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
Yeah. I also think you wrote this book at a
perfect moment in your life, because I actually think your
fifties are a time of great reflection.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
And like you said, you know, so the door was
shutting you and you got under it, and now you're
to me. You're going through the arch of the next
chapter of your life, which is just so rich with
love and family and like gratitude.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Exactly. This is a and you know you do have
of this, you know the body of war that you have.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
You know, here you are a kid from Cypress, California
and you're like having this epic career.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
Welcome back to table for two.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
You most likely know John from his time on a
both wildly successful soap opera and a primetime sitcom, but
he's also acted on stage.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
What was it like to make that transition.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Let's swing it over to you know you talk about
when you were on Broadway, and yes, you know, I
think that's one of the times we first met.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
But you know you were DMC and Cabaret. You replaced
Matthew Broderick when he took he went to Way to
do a movie on how to succeed.
Speaker 4 (30:01):
And where where did I get those balls? Like I
never I was in a theater, like I didn't grow up.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
I try auditioned in the high school for the Wizard
of Oz to play the scarecrow.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
I got about once, you know, while a while away
the stops up. If you do makeup? Can you make
up in the show? Don't sing? That's where I was
and so but Jack Clickman was always in my air.
Speaker 5 (30:23):
Got to the theater, got it when full hous in it,
I was like, oh, all right, man, I play this
idiot right years. Everybody thinks I'm like fucking dope, you know,
guitar wheeled and elm was looking it.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
Gets to the theater. I never did it before. I
don't really I can't sing, doesn't matter. He was in Gypsy.
You know I can't sing.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
I said, really, don't good, don't practice it. But so
I just I just went far it in my mind
then and I tried. Look, I was fearless, right you
remember those that do you have a fearlessness in your life,
and I, you know, I've been trying to get back
to that our sense.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
But I would just think, like, well.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
If I danced, if I practice dance and I want
to dance with If I sang enough, if I really
worked on something fifteen hours a day, I could do it.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
And I did well because you have that thing that
you can't get, which is charisma and the light from
the audience, like people are drawn to you, so.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Like yeah, like a moth. Yeah, like a yeah, like
a just sounded like a moth to but aflap you.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
And so I think when you when and clearly you
loved it, like it was something that you what was
the high like on being in front of a live
audience all of a sudden like that kind of like
eight shows a week you had you I know, you
had your rituals. I mean that's you've left. I think
it was a great time. As Clegman said to like,
get out of La yeah, right, get out of this zone.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
Right, life was changing.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
Stay in Trump Tower, that's where I was staying. I
forgot I was I don't think I put it in there.
But but Tony Bennett lived there too, and he was
like one floor above me.
Speaker 4 (32:05):
Go to the show.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
I can price see like, okay, great, I'm getting off.
It's hard to rely. It took me, you know, you
know a lot you know this business. Like I say,
like some people get it right away. DiCaprio out of
the gate was a brilliant actor, right, Lawrence people like
me and there's the others. Takes twenty five thirty years,
(32:26):
and I think I'm in that category.
Speaker 4 (32:28):
Like just to last maybe eight ten years ago. Stop
trying so hard, stay more.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
I remember when Jason Bateman, we kind of grew up
together when he was really hitting it. So let's go
to lunch man, How did you what happened? Because I
you know, and there was a long time still, I mean,
I'm not you say, oh, you've had quite a career. Yeah,
I've been in the lower part of the middle. But
I think I'm still around. That's the maybe the impressident.
Speaker 4 (32:53):
But I asked him how.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
He said he just stopped trying so hard, just let
go relaxed. He literally could and get arrested. Then it
gets arrested them, right, and it just let's you know,
and it's.
Speaker 4 (33:04):
A hard thing.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
Should you trust because it's trusting itself.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
We don't think we that.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Do you feel like that's part of the next chapter
of your life that you're you know now that you
are you know, every things have settled around you. You're
in this, you know, are you now able to foresee
letting go? And if so, what are the things that
you'd like to do in this next piece?
Speaker 1 (33:27):
Well, I think I have let go a lot, you know,
holding onto everything so important. By the way, like there's
no one job anymore really that that makes or breaks you.
And the ones that you think are gonna that you
don't get, you know, that's going to be the hitch.
Speaker 4 (33:40):
It isn't the little.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
Ones Like I remember, I was a couple of meetings
with great Borlantia and he said, hey, well you go.
Speaker 4 (33:46):
Do you do me a favorite?
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (33:48):
Anything is we do a few episodes of the show
I got going on. It's called You on Life shot
I love.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
I said, great, the show tanks on Lifetime and Netflix
buys it.
Speaker 4 (33:59):
It's third number one and tro and all a sudden boom.
I never thought that was So it is about letting go?
Speaker 1 (34:06):
Do I feel the only career wise, I really have
let it go. I don't care. I mean I don't
really care anymore. And I try to find projects I
like or I put stuff together, but I am waiting
for my breaking bad.
Speaker 4 (34:18):
I hope that comes around. It at something.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
I've had such a nice time with John today.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
He is so smart and honest and open about his
life and journey. I would be remiss if I didn't
ask him about his dear friend and Full House Coach
star Bob Saggatt, who passed suddenly last year. How do
you memorialize someone who's had such an impact on your life.
You know, you've talked about Bob a couple of times,
and you've talked about him at length in The Brotherhood
(34:50):
and the Love and as you end this book.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
And as we sort of are getting close to the end.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
Of our lun Yeah, you really talk about that last
dinner you had with your wives at NOBU and it's
really beautiful, and you say you just never know. And
I guess the question I'm not asking about Bob because
he's you know, he's missed by so many and he
(35:15):
really was great.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
I guess how do you? I mean, every day you
must honor him.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Somehow life is not as it's not as funny or
fun sure, but I mean you got to get over that.
But a little piece of view is gone, right, Yeah,
have you lost anybody.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
Close to Yeah?
Speaker 1 (35:31):
Yeah, and you just go But did you see the
movie Coco Disneyland.
Speaker 4 (35:36):
Yes, yeah, what they.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
Said, and they were so beautiful, which was a person dies, okay,
and then if you don't talk about him, you don't
tell stories about him, if you don't put their pictures up,
they die again for good up there. So that's one
of the things where I certainly try to talk about
him as much as I can, and I'm sure if
we're real quiet, we can hear him complaining that I
don't talk about him enough.
Speaker 4 (35:54):
You knew Bob right very well. He was the greatest.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
He was the most COMPLI you know, he was very
It was the biggest insecure egomaniac. You know, he had both.
But that night we were at Nobu. Sorry we didn't
go to the palm, but Bob and I did go
to the pump all the time, and again I was
going to meet him and he had a drawing right there. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
(36:18):
you know you want to know the truth about So
Bruce said, out of think we're moving and you said
come pick up the things, and you know why I didn't.
I was too drunk to drive that day. Really, I
thought I better not drive. That's interesting. It was like
it was a shitty you know boozy times all I
want that.
Speaker 3 (36:37):
Really, I wondered why.
Speaker 4 (36:39):
Remember I was probably one of the only people that came.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
I was like, Okay, he just doesn't want it, but
that's okay, Well you know I want it and drew
my friends.
Speaker 3 (36:48):
So I didn't take personal. It wasn't insulting. I was
great and we put it.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
But that's the thing about anyway I was. That's why
I never picked it. But I'm sober now getting it.
In the beginning of the book, I talk about going
to the poem and meet Bob and what the palm
meant to me. It was like, you know, like everybody
knew my name there there was a place that you guys.
But I say that because there's a lot of Snatra
stuff I talked about, and I talk about the characters
over there and the new place, the old there was
(37:16):
like you put me right next to Sinatra too, and
I remember seeing that.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
And then Andy Cohen and mate, you want or to
how did I make it over here? You just marked
that in your house staring at you like the mansion.
Speaker 4 (37:27):
I follow you around no matter where you.
Speaker 5 (37:29):
Said the book.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
Well, all I could say is everybody your your book
comes out on October twenty fourth, this will probably you
would have heard this or the book will be out
and it's beautiful.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
And it's also a beautiful.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
Book to listen to because to hear you read it.
Speaker 4 (37:47):
So that was so hard.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
Mostly they said, well, I said, how long the four
or five sessions you'll get it? Give me like thirty
because like kids, I just kept going over and over
and I could change stuff. And I also I hope
that it's a book that if you're not a fan
of mine or whatever, like it's just.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
One hundred percent okay it is.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
It's a book about love, it's a book about family,
and just to I also want to close with you
know you sure, and you've talked about your mom leaving notes. Yes,
I think that's so like beautiful and insightful of your
mother because that is that is a great gift to have.
Speaker 4 (38:21):
Have you done it to you?
Speaker 3 (38:22):
You're not okay, Brian has done that and I am not.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
You know what I'm doing with Billy is I'm I've
set up an email compra end and he you know,
he can't get into it obviously, and I just write
them emails once and it's easier because I can just
talk to my like the other night going to bed
and Caitlyn was out of town, so me and they
have this special prayer together that they say it was
so good.
Speaker 4 (38:43):
He kind of cobbled through it. It was really beautiful.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
And then as he fell asleep in my arms, I wrote,
but I talked on my phone into an email and
I said to a beautiful Then in the morning we
woke up and he's his face is right next to
my little nose. He goes, Dad, I go, yeah, he goes,
you smell like my bathroom at my school breath.
Speaker 4 (39:00):
I thank you, little ship.
Speaker 3 (39:03):
You gotta love it.
Speaker 4 (39:04):
And I love you, Bruce, and I love you doing this.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
And I think this conversation it was really nice to
have with you.
Speaker 4 (39:10):
And I appreciate you taking the time to read the
book that it means. Yeah, it's weird having a book.
I bet it, like, oh my god.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
I know, but you know what, this is a gift
for people because it is a story of not just
your celebrity and your career. It's a story of friendship, love,
finding yourself, sobriety, saving yourself.
Speaker 3 (39:31):
It's a great memoir.
Speaker 2 (39:33):
John Stamos, very much, Thank you so much for being
I don't have to pay you don't I don't have
to split it. No, my touch baby anyway. Anyway, thanks
for showing up. Everyone on the Table for two, I
Love You.
Speaker 4 (39:47):
Table for two.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
Table for You with Bruce Bosi is produced by iHeart
Radio seven three seven Park and Airmail. Our executive producers
are Bruce Bozzi and Nathan King. Table for two is
researched and written by Bridget arsenalt Our sound engineers are
Paul Bowman and Alyssa Midcalf. Table for two's la production
team is Danielle Romo and Lorraine viz.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
Our music supervisor is Randall Poster. Our talent booking is
by James Harkin.
Speaker 2 (40:22):
Special thanks to Amy Sugarman, Uni Cher, Kevin Yuvane, Bobby Bauer,
Alison Kant, Graber, Barbara and Jen and Jeff Klein and
the staff at the Tower Bar in the world famous
Sunset Tower Hotel. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
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