Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - In Memoriam 2021 Part 1

Episode Date: February 7, 2022

Gilbert and Frank are joined by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Michael H. Weber in paying loving tribute to some of the irreplaceable artists and performers who left us over the last year, including Ned Beatty, Charles Grodin, Jackie Mason, Christopher Plummer and George Segal as well as GGACP guests Peter Bogdanovich, Richard Donner, Art Metrano and Jessica Walter. Also in this episode: Mel Brooks spoofs The Last Supper, Yaphet Kotto tangles with 007, Dean Stockwell inspires a classic rock album and Hal Holbrook plays Mark Twain for an astonishing six decades. PLUS: "Murder by Decree"! "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"! The brilliance of Cicely Tyson! The many talents of Polly Platt! And Alfred Hitchcock saves Norman Lloyd from the blacklist! Go to ShipStation.com, click on the microphone at the top of the page, and type in GILBERT to get a 60-day free trial. That’s 2 months FREE of no-hassle, stress-free shipping. Make SHIP happen! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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the single malt whiskey that started it all for a balanced flavor and smooth finish. Just sit back and listen to the music. This single malt scotch whiskey is guaranteed to impress dad this father's day. The Glenlivet. Live original. Please enjoy our products responsibly. Hi, I'm Gilbert Gottfried, and this is Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Show with my co-host, Frank Santopadre. And this is our annual In Memoriam episode.

As always, we're looking back and paying tribute to some of the famous names, former guests, and friends we lost in 2021, as well as a few who left us early in 2022. Joining us once again to help us remember these greats is our six-time podcast guest, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of popular films like The Disaster Artist, The Fault in Our Stars, and 500 Days of Summer, our pal Michael Weber. Thanks, Gil. Hey, Frank. Thanks, guys. It's good to see you again. Mickey Weber. Thanks, Gil. Hey, Frank. Michael's here.

Thanks, guys. It's good to see you again. Mickey and Wiggly, Gil. At the Academy Awards, you wore one of our pins. I wore an orange wedge pin on the red carpet, and I believe I'm the only guest in the show's history to do that. I'm very proud. My family is proud.

Everybody who knows what that pin is about is very proud of me. And had you won, you could have tearfully held up the award and screamed out, this is for you, Caesar. Next time I'm nominated, now you have something to root for. Okay. I think if you're ever nominated for a Caesar, obviously the pin would be appropriate. So Mickey Wiggly, the artist formerly known as Mickey Wiggly, has returned, as he does every year, very generously. And thank you, Mike, for making yourself available.

We know how busy you are. Thanks for having me back. Of course. You're rivaling, you're hot on Mario's heels. I think he's a eight-time guest. You know, Mario sings. I can't hold a candle to that. We're going to make you do a little carol chanting. Tell us

quickly, before we get to these wonderful names and these wonderful people who left us, you yourself had a blessed event recently. I did. My son was born in August, my first child. And my wife and I, it's been a blast. We're just, we love the little guy.

It's been crazy. So you're catching me this year. Thank you. Thank you. I definitely have baby brain this year. So I'm excited. What is his name? His name is Ernie, named after my grandfather.

Oh, I was going to say not Ernest Dessinger. What? Not named after Ernest Dessinger. No, no. Or Ernest T. Bass. You could have also named him Colin Clive. I wanted to do Miggly Wiggly the second, but my wife vetoed that.

Ernie is named after your grandfather. Yes, who would have been 100 last year. Congratulations to you and Ellie. Thank you. Thank you. And briefly, any projects you can talk about? Upcoming things? You don't have to go into too much detail,

but can you tease us? Yeah, there's a few things going on right now. We have a movie coming out. I'm not sure when, but it will be later this year on Hulu. I say we, my friend and writing partner, Scott Neustadter, and I wrote a movie called Rosalind. And it's a retelling of Romeo and Juliet from the point of view of Romeo's ex, the girl before Juliet. Romeo's ex, the girl before Juliet. Wow. And it's our attempt at doing sort of a Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead of the Romeo and Juliet story. And we have Caitlin Deaver playing Rosalind and Bradley Whitford's in it and a bunch of other cool people.

And that will be on Hulu hopefully maybe this summer. We'll see. that'll be on hulu hopefully uh maybe this summer we'll see and and there's a million other projects that you're floating around as as you always are whenever we talk and catch up yeah we got a few other things fun things going on so what how's that tango and cash remake starring gilbert and richard kine coming along this this is gonna shock you guys we're really having trouble with the financing it's really just it's no one wants to cut a check for this. Well, Richard is talking to George Clooney, who, as we know, he's good friends with.

We love Richard. We just did our 400th episode, and I called Richard to try to get him, and he was playing golf in Hawaii. Wait, he wasn't on an airplane? No, he wasn't on an airplane this time? You really can't blame him for opting for Hawaii over our 400th episode. Where would you like to begin here, gentlemen?

And Michael, as always, has done some research and helped. There's so many names here, so much ground to cover, which I appreciate. Gilbert, how about we start with somebody who comes up a lot on this podcast and somebody that you knew personally and I think dined with recently. And we'll bounce around, as we always do. The late, great Jackie Mason. Yes. The man you loused.

Ha ha ha. That Gilbert Gottfried, he loused me. He went there. I never was so angry in my life that he loused me like that. Now, Jackie Mason comes into a story I had that's one of the few things in my life where I say, you know, I'm proud of that. Can't wait. And I saw he was playing at Dangerfields, which has since closed. Yeah.

And I knew my mother always was a big fan of Jackie Mason. And so I bought tickets. Thank you. You are Rodney. I bought tickets and and we went there together, took the second avenue or the first avenue bus like it really matters up there to 70 something street and i just remember looking over at my mother she had a napkin uh wiping the tears from her eyes from laughing wow and yeah and i think that's one of those few moments where i go, okay, that's one time I did something good. That's amazing. So wait, two things. You also dined with him not long ago.

Yes. Set up by Rabbi Mike. Rabbi Mike set it up where we went to a delicatessen in Brooklyn and I was sitting with Jackie Mason eating deli food.

Doesn't get more chewy than that. So he got over the lousing. Yes. Do you know what that incident was? The original incident? I have no idea. I was probably doing an imitation of him

on how it's turned and something crazy. I see. And I heard two stories from his wife that one time he went down to a hotel lobby and it was filled. There were a mob of Arabs in white sheets and the white headdresses. And they turned around and saw him and screamed out, it's Jackie Mason. And they all ran over and wanted their picture taken with them. And another one, a guy got in touch with Jackie Mason and he said, I don't tell anyone that I'm such a big fan of yours because I belong to the Ku Klux Klan.

Oh, Jesus. And even and so he was embarrassed to be a fan of this Jew. And but then I heard later on he resigned from the Klan. There you go. I had no idea there were all of these untapped Jackie Mason stories. Yes. And we were going after him, but, you know, unfortunately. 93.

Jackie hung on for a long time. And, of course, we've told the Sullivan story, the infamous Sullivan story, with a finger. A finger for you and a finger for you. And John Beiner, who was apparently an eyewitness to that story, also told it on this podcast and has been. You fucking bastard. You're coming on my show. We've got fucking nuns and Boy Scouts watching us.

That's what Biner claimed he said through a closed door. The guy did a little bit of everything. A former rabbi, as has been widely reported. That Sullivan story hurt his career for years, but he had a lot of lives, Jackie Mason. He had a lot of lives in the business. Conquered Broadway, eventually, many times.

I loved him in The Jerk. The Jerk, yeah. He's so good in The Jerk. Yeah. He won an Emmy for playing Krusty the Clown's father on The Simpsons. Right. Rabbi Krustofsky. And Caddyshack 2, of course, Gilbert.

Oh, yes. Isn't he tortured in The History of the World Part 1? I think so. Oh, yes. During the Inquisition. Yes, yes. I think so. I mean, he conquered Broadway and Vegas and Catskills.

He had a little bit of a movie career. He had a TV career. Not a long TV career with, well, the infamous Chicken Soup. Remember that one, Gil? Oh, yeah. Did you know, you sometimes find fun trivia when you go digging. Did you know that he starred and produced in a Broadway play called A Teaspoon Every Four Hours about a Jewish man who's a widower who falls in love with a black woman,

and it closed in one night? What year? I'm going to say it was in the 70s, late 60s, early 70s. If they gave it two nights, it would have found an audience. Let's move to somebody, and we'll come back to some funny people who sadly left us recently. But let's go to, and yes, Jackie would have been great on this show. Back to some funny people who sadly left us recently. But let's go to – and yes, Jackie would have been great on this show.

We could never make it happen for whatever reason. Here are a couple of really funny people. And Mike, I think you have something on these two wonderful, wonderful actors, George Siegel and Charles Grodin. Yeah, yeah. Two big losses for this show, people we chased forever. Oh, yes. Both of them were like the white whales. I mean, both of them were terrific and in the business so long. Yeah.

And kept working till the very last second. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like as a super fan of the the show there's probably no movie that's been mentioned more times than bye-bye braverman in the history of this podcast yeah that's a favorite of mine that's fair to say but like where's papa comes up a lot and the hot rock comes up a lot and no way to treat a lady we love that one with Steiger. I have a poster for Loving in my office. Oh, Irvin Kershner.

Yeah. Irvin Kershner movie. Yeah. George was born in New York City and raised in Great Neck, the same as yours truly. Oh, look at that. Yeah. Very nice. I got a lot of New Yorkers on this list tonight.

I know. I heard that George Segal, they asked him about doing interviews, and he said he hated it. He hated going on like the Tonight Show and all that. And they said to him, but you're always taking out the ukulele and playing it and singing, and you look like you're having a great time. And George Segal said, well, I'm an actor. I go on and I play the part of a guy having a great time. And he was very convincing at it.

Let me mention some other pictures. The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox, if people haven't seen that, a lesser known comedy. Score by Charlie Fox. Bloom in Love. The Hot Rock you mentioned. California Split. Awesome. Really good picture. A Touch of Class

with Glenda Jackson, which I think she won an Oscar for. Fun with Dick and Jane. The original. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. You mentioned Where's Papa, The Owl and the Pussycat. No Way to Treat a Lady. Could go on and on. Terrific in Flirting with Disaster. David Russell's film. and A Small Role.

You know, I read somewhere he was cast as the lead in 10. That is correct. And then something like within a week of the start of shooting, he dropped out. Yes. And they cast Dudley Moore. Yeah, he clashed with Blake Edwards, which is too bad. And the Blackbird, Gilbert. Oh my God, yeah.

As Sam Spade's son. Yes, and also he was making comedies in those days like the Blackbird and who was killing the great chefs of Europe. Oh, with Jacqueline Bissett. Yes, yes. And I'll tell you, the guy did everything. We adored him. We tried to get him, Richard Kind specifically.

And I think we've told this story on the show. Richard was the one who said to George, you don't understand. It's a 90-minute blowjob. We tried so hard. He was at the top of our want list. And then mere months ago, Richard Benjamin was back here, because he was in a film with George called Last Married Couple in America. And Richard says, oh, why didn't you tell me?

I would have just thrown him in the car and drove him over. It was like a dagger. And a little bit about Grodin, a guy I got to work uh once who was uh that was a pleasure for me uh seagull was 87 groden was 86 i guess he'd been sick a while too we had alan's white bell working on that the master of droll and deadpan yes i i always a funny movie, Real Life from Albert Brooks. And there's one part, he's like, he's operating on a horse and they give the horse a certain amount of tranquilizer and he freezes and Broden goes, oh, oh no, no, that's too much. That's too much.

And such wonderful deadpan he always was. So what a body of work too. Heaven Can Wait and you mentioned real life and The Heartbreak Kid, Drew's Daddy, Bruce J. Friedman's story, which is turning 50 this year.

Wow. Gilbert and I even liked him in King Kong where he's hammy as hell and chewing the scenery for two hours. The Dino De Laurentiis version of King Kong. And what about Midnight Run with your old boss?

Yeah, I mean, Midnight Run is just perfect. He's so good in that. The banter he and Bob have together is just... It's amazing. That movie still holds up. It's so well done that the banter he and Bob have together is just it's amazing that movie still holds up it's so well done did you ever have sex with an animal Jack?

you know between us by the way I love him in Clifford a movie that was so maligned when it came out and if listeners of the podcast want to hunt this down, New York magazine, vulture earlier this year, put out an oral history of Clifford. And it is so amazing to hear how that movie came to be. It's it's, and there are, um,

they have videos of, of Grodin's audition with, uh, with Martin short and it's amazing. Oh, the stories from that set. If we ever get Marty here. By the way, Gilbert, you mentioned talk show guests. A masterful talk show guest. Yes. And, you know, he turned that into an art form with Carson and then Letterman later. Yeah, because he was like the curmudgeon who came on.

He was angry about stuff. He was something that was always bugging him. We've got to clear something up. You see, and you're starting again tonight. Every time you're on the show, we get mail. I don't want to say tons of mail. Do you use eyeliner at all? What?

Only when I try to get out of the service, you know. But that... A lot of people, when you're on the show, they write me and they call and they say, why does Charles Brodin treat you so shabbily? Doesn't he like you? What is it? I mean, you want to address that or speak to that question?

I don't know what to do when I'm out here because most of the reasons people come on a talk show, I can't really do that. I can't come out and... Why do people come on a talk show, in your opinion? You're Mr. Talk Show. To plug this book, to plug this movie. Okay, and if I would do that...

What else are you here for? That's what I'm asking. If I would do that, your attitude would be disdain. You know, when I tried to talk about my book in the hardcover, you said, 1895, you know, that's a lot of money for a book. I thought it was. I said, it's my whole life.

I thought it was. And you said, you know, maybe if it's Mother Teresa's life, you know. You remember those things, don't you? Yes, I do. I didn't know you were that sensitive. You actually remember that. I'm so sensitive,

I really can't answer a question from someone who's not interested in the question. I'm very interested in the question. It's all right. It's okay. I'm used to it. Now, what does the paperback go for? This is $9.95. Well, now we're talking. And when he hosted SNL, and it was the first thing I watched when he passed, and I went back and watched it, and he hosted it.

You know this, Mike? He played it as if he was completely clueless and incompetent. He missed rehearsal because he was out buying personalized gifts for everybody. And he didn't know. He would wander through each sketch not knowing what was going on and get the other actors mad at him. And it was, of course, another Grodin put-on.

That's amazing. But he never did the show again, which creates this mystery of was it a put-on or were they really pissed off at him? I prefer to believe it's... Almost played Benjamin Braddock, by the way. Right. Right.

In The Graduate. And I will direct our listeners to, if you can find it, it's online, the Paul Simon. Let me get this title right. The Paul Bridge Over Troubled Water Simon Special, which he co-wrote and directed with Paul Simon. and it's absolutely brilliant. In fact, I saw him introduce it at Paley Center. And he wrote a book called It Would Be So Nice If You Weren't Here. It's a great book. Yeah. It's a great memoir.

He said in the book he was talking to some woman, like, I don't know, at an airport or hotel behind the desk, and she just looks at him and said, it would be so nice if you weren't here. So he used that for the book title. People, our listeners are always asking us for recommendations for books and celebrity memoirs. That is a great one. Let us talk about, boy, a loss for this show not not getting them

and as long as we're talking about great actors and i'm segwaying around here we don't have no rhyme or reason as we approach these we don't really put them in in uh into specific categories let's mention three legendary actors and i think mike you did you did a little digging on these three people, starting with the great Hal Holbrook, who was 95. Wow. Oh, my God. And played Lincoln, I believe, starting in 1954 and played him to the end. Excuse me, Mark Twain. Mark Twain, yeah.

Mark Twain. Right, right. Yeah, I misspoke. He also played Lincoln in an NBC miniseries. I always think of him for all the president's men. That's right. Deep fruit. The definitive role.

But yeah, he did great TV work for such a long time. Great TV work. And good in films like Magnum Force and Wall Street and Star Chamber. And he played Mark Twain thousands and thousands of times. I think he's in the Guinness Book of Records. Yes, I always remember hearing Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain. And that would be, I grew up on it. I know.

It's like as long as we've been alive, he was playing Mark Twain. And that would be, I grew up on it. I know. It's like as long as we've been alive, he was playing Mark Twain. Yeah, he won an Emmy for playing Lincoln in an NBC miniseries. He also played John Adams. The man who comes to mind, I guess him and James Whitmore, when you hear the term one-man show. Oh, yes. Those are the two guys you think of. Here are two other legends that we lost. Here's a guy with a 70 year career

on stage and screen, the great Christopher Plummer. Yeah. It's a, I mean really one of the great Shakespearean actors of, of all time. I mean, he, he won an Oscar, two Tonys, two Emmys. Gil, you're going to love this. Obviously, he's most known for playing Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music. And I guess he famously disparaged it for years, calling it The Sound of Mucus. Yes, that was what people say. Yeah, he always hated it, was embarrassed embarrassed by it but he said in his later years that you know a lot of it came from him being a spoiled brat you know right right he was like a bit of a bad boy when he was younger and then kind of grew up a little i always i always thought of him as a brit when growing up and he's canadian Yeah, he was born in Toronto and grew up in Montreal.

Yeah. Yeah. But he had so much success. But he also was sort of like a high and low. Sorry, Gil? Oh, I always thought he was English, too. And he replaced, that was another news story. Oh, Spacey.

He replaced Kevin Spacey. That's right. Yeah. Oh, Spacey. He replaced Kevin Spacey. That's right. Yeah, yeah. In that Ridley Scott picture. So the night before, and he was Oscar nominated for that. That's right. That's right. And the night before I wore my orange wedge pin, my wife and I went to dinner in our hotel.

And at the next table, he was there literally three feet away having dinner. And I was too nervous. I wanted to say something to him. And then I was like, oh, I don't want to, I'm going to piss him off and he's going to want to punch me in the face. So I said nothing. Even though he was 82. Oh, he, by the way, could totally, he was 82 and I was probably 39 and he, I'm sure he could have kicked my ass. I think he was the oldest Oscar winner at 82. Yes. Yes. For, for beginners, which I think he was the oldest Oscar winner at 82. Yes, yes.

For beginners, which I think the Mike Mills movie, which by the way, if listeners haven't heard, is outstanding with Ewan McGregor. It's really terrific. I'm writing it down. And I heard a story that he and, oh, geez. Julie Andrews. Julie Andrews.

Julie Andrews. I was going to say he and Julie Newmar. He gives me the J and I get it. That's how long we've been working together. Yeah, he and Julie Newmar. Julie Newmar. He worked with Catwoman. He and Julie Andrews.

When they were doing one of the scenes, I think it was a camera or something. It was a really big camera. And they didn't have, you know, advanced stuff back then. And they would push it. And the story was he would make a large fart sound as it was moving forward. And he and Julie Andrews would crack up. They ruined a few takes from this parting camera.

Gilbert, you've got all these great anecdotes tonight. You're like you're shot out of a cannon. This is great stuff. Plummer had one of those interesting high and low careers because he could play the Shakespearean protagonist, but then he would star in

the Star Wars rip-off, Star Crash, and you're like, what's he doing in that? Taking a check so they could go produce a play in the UK. Did you mention already The Silent Partner? Oh, it's a great one. Yes, with Elliot Gould.

That's a really good one. Canadian picture. He was a pretty good Star Trek villain in Star Trek VI. Absolutely. Chang, I think the character's name was, but he was really good. Yeah, P.F. Chang. He's very good in that film. the character's name was, but he was really good. Yeah, P.F. Chang. As long as we're...

He's very good in that film, I'm joking. Also, Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys and The Insider, Michael Bansky's The Insider. That's what I was about to say. When he plays Mike Wallace in The Insider, it's phenomenal. Yeah. Mr. Cluster said, quote,

the atmosphere is tougher than ever. Where's the rest? Sam? Where the Where's the rest? Sam? Where the hell's the rest? You cut it. You cut the guts out of what I said. It was a time consideration, Mike. Bullshit.

You corporate lackey. Who told you your incompetent little fingers had the requisite skills to edit me? I'm trying to band-aid a situation here, and you're too dim to... Mike. Mike. Mike? Mike! Try Mr. Wallace. We work in the same corporation doesn't mean we work in the same profession. What are you going to do now?

You're going to finesse me, lawyer me some more? I've been in this profession 50 fucking years. You and the people you work for are destroying the most respected, the highest rated, the most profitable show on this network. Yeah, I love that picture, by the way. And a movie that we have talked about on this podcast, I think we did a mini episode about it. He played Holmes in Murder by Decree. Yes. With James Mason as Watson. A terrific movie with an all-star cast.

And what a career. What a career. I met him backstage at The View. I didn't chat him up long, but I wasn't afraid he was going to punch my lights out. I was just intimidated. I mean, I've been doing this a long time in my career and I still get starstruck. If you're not getting starstruck by standing next to Christopher Plummer, there's something wrong with you. We will return to Gilbert Gottfried's amazing colossal podcast after this. Here's a name and another guy that we

pursued and he gave us a rather amusing answer for not doing the show, which was, I've done a lot of those. And that was Norman Lloyd, the legendary Norman Lloyd. God, how old was he? 106, my friend. Oh, jeez. And I heard he was in a movie. Well, he was in a Judd Apatow movie. Yeah, he's in Trainwreck with Colin Quinn.

Yeah. And someone told me it may have been that one or another one when he was like, you know, 200 or whatever. And they said he traveled. He'd take the plane by himself. Yeah. And travel by himself. That was Judd. Judd told us he was driving himself to work, to the set.

He had to be 100. I don't know if that movie, is that movie more than six years old? He had to be 99 or 100. Colin Quinn was in a couple of scenes with him in that movie, told us he knew Babe Ruth. Wow. I saw the numbers. He worked from 1923 to 2015.

I know. Jeez. If you think you've accomplished anything in your life, and I say this not to just us, but everybody listening, if you think I've had a pretty busy life, I've been pretty prolific. Go to Norman Lloyd's Wikipedia page. You cannot believe what this guy got done in one lifetime. Working with Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton in the same movie. Yeah.

He worked with Charles Lawton and Charles Boyer and Jean Renoir and Hitchcock. It's an incredible career and body of work. I loved St. Elsewhere. Like, to this day, I still think one of the great TV shows of all time. Me too. Me too. It was amazing. And I think we've asked both Ed Begley and Howie when they were here

to tell us... Tell us Norman Lloyd's stories. He worked with Hitchcock and Scorsese. He ran the gamut. He says that Hitchcock helped save him from the blacklist, which I found in my research,

which was interesting. Did everything. He also worked with Wells. He was a member of the Mercury Theater. So the guy touched every part of show business. He's also a producer and a director, if you Google or you look at his IMDb page. It's quite a rabbit hole. He directed episodes of Columbo.

He produced a horror anthology series, Gilbert. He produced Bruce J. Friedman's Steam Bath for television and died in his sleep at 106. Jeez. Which is how we all want to do this. Yeah. Let us, and again leaping around with no rhyme or reason, we're talking about great directors here. Just mentioned a few. Two people we lost, and this is us moving on to podcast guests. One we lost last year, and one we lost just recently in recent weeks. Excuse me.

And two people that I will confess, I am heartbroken over not having back on the show a second time. I think we could have booked these guys twice, if not more, just for whatever reason. And the craziness and the chaos of booking people, sometimes you don't go back through the old roster, through the old archive. Richard Donner and Peter Bogdanovich. And so much to say about these two guys. Yeah. And Peter Bogdanovich. And so much to say about these two guys.

And I worked with Peter Bogdanovich, unfortunately, in a terrible movie. Oh, that was a terrible film. That's what Vincent Price said to me when I said I met him on Thick of the Night. He said, oh, that was a terrible show. And I remember when they fired him, I heard this story that some rule that the new director who takes over has to call the old director and tell him. And Peter Bogdanovich brought up a story of somebody who replaced, like, Howard Hawks or Orson Welles or something.

And he said to this director who was replacing him, he said, do you know what his name was? And the guy said no, and he says, there you go. That's a great story. Yeah. What do you have on Peter, Michael? Because there's so much to say. I was lucky enough.

I went a couple years ago to an event at the Metrograph, the theater in New York. Sure. Incredible place. I think you turned me on to the Metrograph. Yeah, yeah. Thank you. They really just, their lineup. And if you don't live in New York, they, a lot of their stuff is streaming online, but they, um, they had an event for, they all left and Peter was there

and it was supposed to be maybe like a 10 or 15 minute Q and a afterwards. And he must, he, he stayed and told stories for an hour, and it was just incredible. And he said he started, he opened the Q&A by saying, and he had stayed in the audience to watch the movie, and it was the first time he had seen the picture since Dorothy Stratton was killed. And he was emotional talking about it all the, you know, decades later. And it just, what an incredible, I mean, he stayed and then just told these stories and he did all the voices of everyone he was talking about. Oh my God, just incredible. And then you, you know, you, you, you read up on his life and his career. And it's sort of like, if he had never made a movie and he made some incredible films, he would have gone down in history just as a film scholar and as a critic. Like it's

what he did to preserve film history, uh, uh, is so invaluable and really a gift. And, um, just, yeah, like you said, he's someone you guys could have done 10 episodes with him. Somebody described him. I'm forgetting now who is the best friend the movie's ever had. Oh, that's great. A lovely way to describe him. He was wary of us at first, Gil, I think. As was every guest. Well, there are a lot of them. Yeah, you certainly could say that.

He was in the old studio at Sideshow Network back in the old days, and there are some pictures that our friend Sean Merrick published of Peter sitting there. There's a look on his face like, what have I gotten into with these guys? I think it was so gratifying to us to realize, to see at the 20-minute mark, you could see it in his facial expression, that he knew he was in good hands. He knew he was with two guys that were movie buffs and also were so interested in his stories, his impressions of Jimmy Stewart and Walter Brennan and Cary Grant.

And he knew everybody. He also knew Chaplin and Wells, obviously, close friendship, and Ford. And it goes on and on. Have you seen that Dick Cavett episode with him? Have you seen this with him and Capra?

And I think it's John Huston. No, I need to find this. You've got to see it. One of our best shows, I think, Gilbert. Yeah. Adonovich is one of those, you know, they always talk about like these film school filmmakers, like the ones who really studied on film and they love film. And he was one of those, like he really, he was a student of film. Yeah. Oh, oh, like it, like Mike said, I mean, if he wasn't, if he wasn't going to be revered

as a filmmaker, he'd be revered as a, as a, as a scholar. I misspoke that Cabot episode, which you can find is Capra, Peter, Mel Brooks, and Robert Altman. Oh, I got to watch that. See if you can find that. I saw someone on Twitter when Peter passed away said, in his honor, for a little while, instead of calling them films or movies, we should call them pictures. Like he always did, which is nice. Yeah, well, let's recommend those books. I mean, Peter Bogdanovich's Movie of the Week

and Who the Devil Made It. What's the other one called? Who the Hell's In It? Who the Hell's In It. And then he has his Orson Welles book, which is also terrific. And the films, Paper Moon and What's Up, Doc? You know, our pal Scott Alexander's favorite movie.

And The Last Picture Show, of course. And St. Jack, which is wonderful. And They All Laughed, which is underrated. Even The Cat's Meow, which is a lot of fun, if you haven't seen it. And a movie for film buffs. And let's give a shout out to Polly Platt too who deserves a lot of the credit for those for those films for the classic Bogdanovich

body of work a great storyteller you're right he probably had days and days of stories in him and I'll forever be angry with myself for not asking him back but here's another guy that I mentioned and a New Yorker from the Bronx and got a lot of New Yorkers on the list,

the great Richard Donner. Who Gilbert put through his paces on that episode, I must say. You remember what you asked him about, Gilbert? Specifically related to the movie The Toy? Oh, yes. I think you know. Yeah, with Jackie Gleason

and Richard Pryor. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, terrible movie. Yeah, but... And Richard Pryor got fucked by Marlon Brando. Well, this is what he asks. This is what he asks Richard.

And I wish I had... Obviously, the days before Zoom, so we weren't recording video of these episodes. I wish I had, you know, obviously the days before Zoom, so we weren't recording video of these episodes. I wish I had Richard's reaction. And yet, you know, a guy with a wonderful sense of humor who directed comedies rolled with it beautifully. Well, shout out Superman and The Omen and The Lethal Weapon series and Goonies, a terrific little movie he made called Inside Moves. And a TV career that was really something to behold before he even got into features. Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Fugitive and Get Smart and Wild Wild West and that very famous Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, Twilight Zone episode with Liam Shatner.

Oh, yes. And most importantly, he worked with Richard Pryor and he, Richard Pryor and Marlon Brando got crazed on and then fucked each other. I'm going to do my Jack

Benny now because I haven't done it in a while. Now cut that out! Norman each other. I'm going to do my Jack Benny now because I haven't done it in a while. Now cut that out! Norman Steinberg, our friend, yours and mine Michael, Norman told me that, maybe told us at lunch, that they used to have, Richard was among the guys that used to get together at Arts Deli

in LA. Right. And he said never was there a mensch, a gentleman like this guy, like Richard Donner. He was beloved. Not a dry eye in the house when he passed. And, of course, I went back. We re-released it over the summer because he passed.

And I went back and listened to it. And what does he say in the last three minutes? Sure, I'll come back. He was in L.A. He says, I'll come back when I'm back in New York. So, you know, I always say time is the enemy of this show. Yeah. You know, as well as good taste.

But mostly time. You know, I think he doesn't get enough credit because right now. He doesn't. Is there anything bigger than the comic book movies? I mean, they're sort of keeping theaters in business i mean it's they're sort of the only movies that people are going to right now at least during the pandemic i mean they're they're just seem unstoppable as like a pop culture force and yet i i think superman one and two are the best well his version of version of Superman too. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, right. Not the Lester version.

Yeah. Yeah. But like it's Superman one, especially the first one is really just, uh, um, a masterpiece. I mean, really, you know, he told us that if you want to say that he directed the first great, you know, respectable superhero movie, definitely, but he rescued it from that, from, from the original script, you know, where they had, he told us they had gags in the script where Superman is looking for Lex Luthor in a series – or Luthor in a series in a crowd of bald men. And he turns one around and it's Kojak. It's a Tully Savalas cameo. Oh, jeez. He was – he wanted to respect the source material and and and the character so he was you

know uh ironically he was the hero too of that uh of that production and then right right by grounding it by grounding it it made it more real yeah it's uh and that shows that the filmmakers didn't have enough confidence in it. No, that's right. Like they thought, oh, it's going to look stupid, so we might as well make it stupid beforehand. It was gag after gag, and he said treat it real to his credit. And since you're talking about superhero movies,

I mean the Shuler-Donner Company and being behind the X-Men series as well. And as long as we're talking about guests that we lost, here we go, Gilbert. Here's a name. Art Medrano. And for those who don't know, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da- He would do this thing. You could look it up. Yeah, you could find it. He would do a thing just with his hands like a magician.

He'd do the sound. He'd just hum it like that, that, that, that. And he would just put two fingers up on one hand, close his hand, then put two fingers on the other like he switched them all the dumbest he'd like pull a playing card out of his pocket and hold it up for the audience the dumbest most non-magical magic tricks the amazing metrano. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Like Carl Ballantyne before him, a not quite magical magic act. But he was a serious actor who studied with Stella Adler and Cassavetes. You find things when you go digging about these people. You find surprises and truths buried. And also he had a fascinating story that he was doing work on his house and he fell off the ladder.

Well, that was in 1989, and that changed his life. He suffered multiple injuries and became a paraplegic. Excuse me, a quadriplegic. became a paraplegic excuse me a quad a quadriplegic and it was joe bologna the actor joe bologna you talk about a mitzvah who worked with him for months helped him out of depression and worked with him on writing a one-man show about his tragedy and helped him and and and he got on stage i didn't see the show but at one point during the show, he gets out of the wheelchair and walks for a couple of seconds, which was obviously a major turning point for him. Doing that digging, I found out that Bologna had done this for him, which I think flew under the radar. I certainly didn't know about it.

That was a turning point, well, obviously, a tragedy that befell him. He continued to work, not as much. He was a writer, Gilbert, on that Lohman and Barkley show out of L.A. that we talked about that Barry Levinson was on and John Amos and Rudy DeLuca and Craig T. Nelson. Remember those guys? Yes. We're a team.

And Fine and Dandy is the name of the song, by the way. Yes. That people have wondered all these years. But also Barney Miller, Mod Squad, Bewitched, Ironside. He did a ton of TV. He was in a show. He was in History of the World Part One also. We mentioned that earlier.

He's Da Vinci. He's Da Vinci and he says, all I have are backs. Okay, everybody on that side of the table. That's backs. Okay, everybody on that side of the table. That's great. Everybody on that side of the table. In the Police Academy of Films, he's Mouser. A funny guy, a brave guy, made a lot of people laugh. Brooklynite Gilbert from Bensonhurst.

And I think he was a Jew, even though he had an Italian name. I'm going to research that. So, you know, we find a lot of New Yorkers in this research. Yes. Richard Donner from the Bronx, Art Matrano from Brooklyn. And raise your hand. We're going to move on to one of Gilbert's favorite actors here. And somebody who's come up a lot on the podcast.

And see, I'm going to use your he was a Jew as a segue here, Gilbert. Maybe you know where I'm going. It would be Yafit Kodo. It would be Yafit Kodo. Yes, Yafit Kodo was a Jew. E-I-E-I-O. And he wasn't someone who converted to Judaism. His parents raised him Jewish.

Well, his father, I did the research, his father, Abraham, was a black Jew from Cameroon. Which would make a movie. That's the greatest movie title ever. That's the greatest movie title ever. I like you. Now also, raise your hand if you knew that Yafit Kodo was born in New York City, but Jackie Mason was not. Oh, I didn't notice. Jackie Mason was born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Oh, gee.

Yafit Kodo, somebody we also tried to get. Yes, and Yafit Kodo. 81. Yafit Kodo is another one I name as the two Jewish Bond villains. Yes. Him and Joseph Weissman. Bye-bye Braverman. Once again.

Back to bye-bye Braverman. It all leads back to bye-bye Braverman. Yaf. Back to bye-bye Braverman. It all leads back to bye-bye Braverman. Yeah, Takoto, great in Midnight Run, obviously. And with Midnight Run, yes, Alonzo Mosley. And then I loved him on Homicide, Life on the Streets. Me too. He was so good on that show. And what was he in that real-life story of the...

Radon and Tebby. Yes. Yes. Victory at Entebbe. Yeah. He was great in that. One of those. Which was his Bond movie?

I forget the name. Which Bond movie was. He's Mr. Big in Live and Let Die. The first Roger Moore picture. And he was in a movie I always liked called Blue Collar. That's a terrific movie. Oh, yeah. I always liked called Luke Holler.

That's a terrific movie. Oh, yeah. It was him and Richard Pryor is best known for fucking Marlon Brando. Derek, can you unplug his mic? As a public service to these people we've lost. When people would watch the movie, they'd go, hey, who's that guy? Didn't he fuck Richard Pryor?

It's on the LaserDisc. Yes, and also Harvey Keitel. Another great actor. That's a terrific Paul Schrader movie. Yes. Blue Collar, but also great in Alien. A gritty 70s movie called a hundred across 110th street. Yes.

Recommended. Uh, so funny in midnight run. He had three wives and six kids. Hmm. Interesting, interesting life. And,

was inspired to become an actor. I can't believe I'm walking into this buzzsaw again, but here I go. Was inspired to become an actor after seeing Brando. Well, he saw Brando, though, in the guest bedroom. Did he? Fucking Richard Pryor. That's the irony.

It wasn't a movie. You know, every year, Mike, people say, oh, I thought TCM had the most moving in Memorial. Or I thought the Oscars had the most touching. Nope, it's right here. I would refer

our listeners back to the Paul Lynn tribute show I attempted to do several years ago, which turned into an entire episode about his anti-Semitism. Yes! Oh, those Jews! They're the reason I don't have a career.

Beautifully done. So beautifully done. Here's a segue for you. From Homicide Life on the Street with Yafit Koto to Homicide Life on the Street with Ned Beatty. Yes. A wonderful character actor with an enormous career. And also Superman.

Yeah. These are again bridges crossing or people connecting up. Wanted a career in musical theater. He wanted to be a singer. The things you find. Carl Reiner wanted to be an opera star, which we found out on this very podcast. But there you go.

I'm not even going to mention Deliverance, given where this conversation's been going. By the way, you know, Ned Beatty was in the toy with Richard Pryor. Oh, yes, he was. Very good. Very good. Who, what's Richard Pryor known for?

Another legendary name. I, um... In case I forgot to mention it, Marlon Brando fucked Richard Brown. The day I co-hosted an In Memoriam show and it turned into a roast. Yes. I love the Ned Beatty's one scene in Network.

Yeah, we nominated for an Oscar for that one scene. In a movie full of great scenes. There's no bad scene in that movie, and maybe that's the best scene. He's just, oh, it's so good. The world is a business, Mr. Bale. It has been since man crawled out of the slime. It has been since man crawled out of the slime. And our children will live, Mr. Beale...

to see that... perfect world... in which there's no war or famine, oppression or brutality. One vast and ecumenical holding company for whom all men will work to serve a common profit, in which all men will hold a share of stock, all necessities provided, all anxieties tranquilized, all boredom amused.

And I have chosen you, Mr. Beale, to preach this evangel. Why me? Because you're on television, dummy. I remember I once was like a guest on the comedy awards. And I did this whole bit like when they offered Ned Beatty the part in Deliverance, did they show him page 37? And he said, did they at least offer it to Charles Durning? And Charles Durning was in the audience.

And he said to me afterwards, he said I would have taken the part, I can squeal laughter laughter that's a great anecdote laughter

let's point out some Burt Reynolds vehicles he was in after Deliverance Network Mike brought up, a great moment, Life and Time of Judge Roy Bean a movie we like to talk about on this show Reynolds Vehicles, he was in after Deliverance Network. Mike brought up. A great moment. Life and Time of Judge Roy Bean, a movie we like to talk about on this show and talked about with Stacey Keech. Rudy. Very funny in a small part in Spielberg's 1941, a movie I will always defend. Dad, You're Ruining Christmas.

He worked with Altman, Cassavetes, Lumet. He played John Goodman's father on Roseanne. He was in Silver Streak with... Never mind. Could it have been a comedian? I'm going to turn all the cards over and say it was Richard Pryor. Okay.

Who fucked Marlon Brando. All right, Wally Bruner. We will return to Gilbert Gottfried's amazing, colossal podcast. But first, a word from our sponsor. Let's move to another great actor we pursued for this show. Oh, but, and Ned Beatty, I always remember he was in, I guess it was maybe Cat on a Hot Tin Roof or something, and he hated both his co-stars. Did he?

Yeah. I assume he was playing Big Daddy. Yeah. And not Brick. Yeah. Who could forget the sitcom Sysnick from the 70s? Yeah, I have the box set. Our listeners are shouting out, don't forget Sysnick from the 70s? Yeah, I have the box set. Our listeners are shouting out,

don't forget Sysnick. Which, for some reason, I remember that Reggie Jackson guest starred on that show back in the, the things that stick in your brain and you can't pull out. Here's an actor we pursued. He was in bad health for a long time. And just, my God, talk about a long career.

You were talking about norman lloyd's career here's a guy who made his broadway debut at age six uh late great dean stockwell oh yeah what an actor he had over 200 roles in movies tv and theater really just uh started yeah started working at six died at 85 and i, it's just unbelievable, unbelievable career. Always great. Always great. Oscar nominated for Married to the Mob, but probably most known for Blue Velvet and Quantum Leap.

And was I in a movie with him? Dean Stockwell? Was he in Beverly Hills Cop 2? Hang on, I'm looking. Dean Stockwell's in Beverly Hills Cop 2? Hang on, I'm looking. Dean Stockwell's in Beverly Hills Cop 2. Oh, Gilbert, Gilbert, Gilbert. Let's see. Uh-oh.

Oh, Gilbert. Judge, look at that. He was Chip Cain. Yes. Wow. I worked, in a matter of speaking. How did I not find that? Frank's always amazed when I know anything.

Especially about your own career. Yes. Did you hang out with him at all? No, no, never met him. Yeah. What a guest he would have made. He was the kid in Anchors Away, which is mind-blowing. He worked with Sinatra, yeah.

He worked with Liz Taylor, Gregory Peck, Sinatra, Dennis Hopper, Coppola, everybody. Here's fun trivia. Neil Young's famous album, his iconic album After the Gold Rush, was inspired by an unproduced Dean Stockwell script. Jeez. And I know no more on that, but I would like to do a deeper dive. He designed album covers. So did Phil Hartman, but I would like to do a deeper dive. He designed album covers. So did Phil Hartman, by the way, he was a sculptor. He was a very interesting guy, uh,

with a, with a lot of range, clearly not a guy who ever took himself seriously, which I think you could see on screen. Have you heard the story? Have you heard the story of how he ended up working with David Lynch? I have not not please please uh he david lynch ran into him in mexico and and lynch said to him i thought you were dead and and he was very much not dead and and lynch put him in dune and then and then put him in blue velvet there you go i read he had dropped out of show businesses was selling houses houses at one point. He was an interesting guy. He would get bored with the business and go do something else. I have to recommend to listeners, on Roger Ebert's website, Sheila O'Malley, who's such a good writer,

she wrote this incredible tribute essay to Dean Stockwell's career. Oh, wow. It's career. And it's just, it's, it's magnificent. And when this, when this episode posts, I'll, I'll, I'll tweet it out again, but it's just, if you're a fan of his work, it's just one of those tributes that makes you want to just, you know, go and rewatch everything Dean Stockwell's ever done. I love him in blue velvet, uh, Paris, Texas, another, another picture people should find. Another picture people should find. Here's a great actress who left us at 96 just two days after her memoir was published.

The late, great, wonderful, versatile Cicely Tyson. Another legend and another New Yorker. And another New Yorker, buddy. You got that right. She won a Tony, three Emmys, and an honorary Oscar. Yes. And then like countless, countless awards from civil rights groups and women's groups. Yeah, she was an activist too. Oh my God, Obama gave her the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Yes. She won her Tony at 88, which I think she's the oldest actor to ever win a Tony, I think. That's pretty cool. She's the first African-American actress to win a lead Emmy. I know that. Yeah, won a Tony. Several Emmys. Wonderful career.

I did not know that she was married for a time to jazz legend Miles Davis. Right, yeah. Did you know that, Gilbert? No. There's some interesting. She had a 65-year acting career, and yet she didn't start acting until she was 31. Think about that.

Jeez. Yeah, late bloomers, late bloomers. And what a wonderful body of work. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Sounder. I love Sounder. Sounder's turning 50 this year, by the way. Great bodies of work for all four of these people. What guests they would have made.

I guess that goes without saying. We'll come back to some—I'm going to do a segue here as long as we're talking about a great actress. And this is a hard one to talk about because Gilbert and I got to know her just a little bit, and she did the podcast. And it's probably or arguably my favorite episode that we've ever done, Jessica Walter, Gil. Yeah. Jessica Walters came on with – Ron Liebman.on liebman ron ron liebman and they were it's like when i was listening to it i've said it before i i thought it was like watching uh stiller and

mira yeah like this funny married couple with the give and take, very quick. Each one played off the other, and it was so much fun to watch. I don't think we ever clicked with a guest, or two guests, the way we clicked with them, as quickly and bonded with them. And it was magic. It was magic to be in that room. I have such warm memories of it.

And when I listen to that episode, I laugh and I feel like I said a wonderful feeling inside but I'm sad that they're both gone they were great to us, Ron picked up on the vibe and he says it's still Ramira, they were playing

different kind of roles, Ron was playing the curmudgeon criticizing the show she was saying stop that, stop that be polite, be kind they had this thing going she was playing the good cop criticizing the show. She was saying, stop that, stop that, be polite, be kind. And they had this thing going. She was playing the good cop to his disgruntled cop. Everything you want in a podcast.

I love them instantly. I've told many times on this show what Ron said as I was walking to the elevator. And for all his bluster, he grabbed my sleeve at the elevator and he said he looked at me said do me a favor never stop doing this show and that was so i get choked up yeah now thinking about it um but and and a body of work between them where to begin yeah i i always liked him in the hot rock which is a fun movie also george seagull is in that yeah and paul sand who we had here on the show yes and and she was in bye-bye braverman she is that's right that's see it all goes back again she could do drama she could play a scary as hell character like and play misty for merated. That movie's great.

Really underrated. Don Siegel. And also, and she was funny as hell. And so was he. And he could move, he won the Tony for Angels in America

for playing Roy Cohn. So he could move from dramedy, drama, from a drama like that to something as funny as the guy in the gorilla suit, the brother-in-law in the gorilla suit, and

where's Papa? Or what's the name of that movie? Super Cops? Oh, that's right! Yes, Super Cops. Just a versatile actor. He joked with us that most people knew him as

Rachel's father on Friends after this whole body of work that he had. And he did not take himself seriously. He let Gilbert break his balls about Mad Magazine's Up the Academy. Yes, terrible movie. And Juan Tonton, the dog who saved Hollywood. Yes. Which he's also in.

He was the original, I think he was the original Roy Cohn on Broadway in Angels in America. He was. He was the original I think he was the original Roy Cohn on Broadway in Angels in America. He was. I imagine he was great in that. I know. I wish I could have seen it. She obviously wound up much later in life. We're talking about late bloomers. What happened to her with Arrested Development and Archer?

Arrested Development is... She is iconic in that role. Wonderful. They accomplished so much of the two of them. I would have loved to have seen them do something together. She's also great in The Flamingo Kid. So many great pieces of work. Jessica Walter from Brooklyn.

Yeah. There you go. And you have any memories of listening to that episode, Mike? I mean, that easily top five episode of the show ever. I mean, it's just so great hearing them together with you guys.

I want to go re-listen to it now. I just remember it being like... It was the sweetest. Ron's from New York too. Let's not forget to point that out. They were the kind of guest where you go, well, we can just sit back and let them take over. They got up and sang us a song and danced at the end. Yes, yes.

Is this the end of the show? I want to end on a positive note here. End on a positive note. I have learned more about acting from Ron Liebman than I did from any acting teacher or any experience that I've ever had on stage. That I will tell you. Thank you. You're welcome. Okay, now I'm going to wrap up the show and I want you to sing that song you started singing.

Which one? You know, Goodbye. The Breakfast Club again? No, no. Oh, it was from television. So long for a while. That's all the songs for a while. Yes, hit parade.

So long from your hit parade. And the songs that you pick to be played. So long. Lucky Strike means fine tobacco. Well, this is... Goodbye, Godfrey. Goodbye, everybody. Nice to see you in the television show.

Very good. He's very funny. Sit up. So we're going to put a pause on things right there, folks, because there were so many deserving artists that we wanted to honor and pay tribute to this year that we didn't want to rush through it. So we'll call this part one. Part two will be next week as we remember some of our favorite character actors and giants like Betty White and Stephen Sondheim, as well as a few podcast guests that we lost, unfortunately, and even one or two friends that we'll miss dearly.

So part two of our annual In Memoriam show next week. Until then, much love from us. Stay safe, and please keep these great entertainers in your minds and in your hearts. Small and white, clean and bright, you look happy to meet me. Blossom of snow, may you bloom and grow, bloom and grow forever Edelweiss, Edelweiss Bless my homeland forever Thank you.