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I WAS THRILLED TO HAVE MET: Louis Armstrong...TWICE! Gregory Peck, Howard Cosell, William Bendix, Rocky Marciano. Mel Blanc! Enjoyed a chat with George Foreman, worked with Joe Frazier, spent time with Mohammed Ali and his father. John Travolta was very gracious, Bob Newhart was nice, Bill Cosby was "cool, reserved, aloof. ." I was around Sean Connery during the shooting of "Never Say Never", but never actually met him. I'm a great admirer and have nominated him for "baldguy of the century" on my site at baldguysr.us. I did go shark fishing with his wife and the Seaquarium crew in the pre-dawn hours. She was very nice. I WISH I HAD MET: Jacques Cousteau. I met Elvis briefly in '54. (Did you notice earlier that my spell checker changed Mr. Cousteau to "Jaycees" Cousteau? and Newhart to Newport?) BTW, a friend wrote that they'd run into Cousteau in a hotel in Jamaica, and their cheery "Good morning" was met with aloof silence...Viva la France... I MAY HAVE MET: Barbra Steisand. In the early Sixties, I worked in a club across the street from the Smothers Brothers, and would rush over to see them perform between shows. A few years ago, Tommy and I were reminiscing about those days and he asked me if I remembered their opening act. I couldn't, and was shocked when he told me that it was Ms. Streisand! I was so involved in comedy that she was invisible to me! I assume we must have met since everyone knew each other in the Gaslight Square area of St. Louis. GREATEST CELEBRITY COMPLIMENT: The equivalent of an Oscar to me! After seeing me work, Edie Adams told me that I reminded her of her late husband. ERNIE KOVACS!!! 2nd Runner up was from Omar Shariff, who compared me to "my friend, Jonathon Winters." Also received compliments from Sir David Frost and Michael Caine. Have had many compliments from citizens of Great Britain, who said I was more like British comics than most Americans. Happily, those are just a few stars that went out of their way to say nice things. FUNNY STORY: I was working the Calgary Stampede with country star Ferlin Husky. Ferlin lost his voice and I stood by him and sang "Gone" while he moved his lips. Nice guy, great dummy! Here's to you Ferlin! Thanks for caring!
GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Living through my Wild Youth, NEVER SMOKING, and ignoring drugs. (OK, I drank too much in the 70's, but I never swallowed.) | S I T E M A P | |