[ laughter ] that is that is dynamite. Really im not gonna make any fun of that. [ laughter ] anyway, i welcome you. We got a great show. We got the great one, tonight. Yes. Mr. Jackie gleason is here. [ cheering ] [ applause ] the gentleman, about the third seat up, i you can scratch all you want with a coin on your tonight show ticket. Youre not gonna win anything, here. [ laughter ] how many of youve been playing the lottery . [ applause ] all the money, as you know, goes for education, so, uh, someday our kids will be smart enough not to play the lottery. [ laughter ] nother fri im looking forward to another exciting weekend. Floods, after the fire. [ laughter ] they finally how many of you came out here, on [ applause ] happy to report they apparently have got all the brush fires in Southern California under control, because of they had a great team. They brought in the same team that put out, uh, fred de cordovas, uh, birth ca uh, cake candles. [ laughter ] what was that, again . I dont know what it was. Ii wasnt paying any attention. But, make up your own fill in the blanks, make up a joke, and pass it on. Malibu, though, is a convenient place to live. Youryour barbecue starts, without you, in the backyard, [ laughter ] well, in his First Official move, today, in baseball, Richard Nixon got gerald ford to pardon billy martin. [ laughter ] the dodgers, as you know, lost. And, uh [ applause ] [ cheering ] Tommy Lasorda is still despondent, over the loss. Today, he tried to jump off one [ laughter ] theres not a great deal, in the news, uh, today. Um, one kind of an important item this weekend marks the anniversary of the incandescent lamp by thomas edison, in menlo park, new jersey. Now, this [ applause ] this may not mean much to you, but, before that time, moths never had a place to gather socially. [ laughter ] [ applause ] and one of the one of the big drawbacks one of the big drawbacks to edisons invention of the light bulb was that, for the first time, people could see what menlo park looked like, at night. [ laughter ] what else is happening . Do you know our attorney general, ed meese . The winner of the ed mcmahon incidentally. [ laughter ] is in hot water again . Yeah. Because he reportedly said he disagrees with that youre innocent until proven guilty. Thats what he said. [ laughter ] of course, under heavy questioning, meese admitted he didnt really read the constitution. He read the classic comic book version. [ laughter ] you know, i worry about an attorney general who bones up on the law, while by watching perry mason reruns, on cable. [ laughter ] how many of you speaking of Jackie Gleason how many of youve, uh, been watching the lost honeymooners episodes . [ cheering ] [ applause ] good. I recently found some lost footage, from the only film oh. Yes. Looking for love. Looking for love, with connie franc did you find it . Well, i found it. And, i, uh [ laughter ] i found that lost film, and i got a [ chuckling ] i got a grant, from the Motion Picture academy, [ laughter ] it was a bad picture. Anyway, Jackie Gleason is the only man in the world who makes ed mcmahon look like a boy scout. [ laughter ] remember the kramdens apartment . How many of you know the street it was on . Trivia. Chauncey street. Tiny, cold water flat, on chauncey street. The building went condo. [ laughter ] that apartapartment recently sold, for 250,000. [ laughter ] bringing it up to date. Along with mr. Gleason, tonight, we have mr. Jim stafford. Yeah. [ applause ] and and, doc is gonna auction off his red shoes. [ laughter ] and we have actress [ applause ] so, stay where ya are, and well be right back. [ cheering ] well be back. Whoopee. [ music ] [ applause ] ho ho. Okay. Friday night. Nice night for mr. Gleason. Friday night audience. To see what kind of a mood theyre in a crazy mood. Strange, strange questions you get. You dont have to call out where youre sitting, in case youre with somebody youre not supposed to be with, but [ laughter ] tony is it tony stewart . Tony . Hes with someone hes not is that is that its a woman. Oh, i see. Yes, it is. Consider would you consider oh, come on having an affair, with a 20year old 24yearold woman . Are you 24, tony . Yes. Oh, now, come on. Ttwentyfour years old. Im old enough to be the guy wholl drive you out to malibu. [ laughter ] whoop. Willy wipff. Wipff. F willy wipff. [ laughter ] i like that. Willy wipff. I like that. You oughta be in show business. And starring willy wipff. Is it wipff, willy . Thats it. Wherere you from, willy . Uh, san francisco. Yeah. Willy wipff. Excuse me . Treetop. A wipff holds the treetop. Trust me. Its durable. [ laughter ] [ applause ] how long have you and willy been pals . I dont know. Well, look at the question [ laughter ] no, you cant, willy. No. Where do you wanna go to school, willy . Uh, norfolk state. Ah. Five thousand is that what tuition is, now . No, thats housing. Housing. [ laughter ] uh, larry huel . Yo [ laughter ] you know, this sounds like roll call, in the service. Huel. Yo whos your biggest influence, when you were growing up . Uh. Albert einstein. Zorro. [ laughter ] f nancy polinza . Pokanta. Whoo [ laughter ] can i photograph you, in the nude . [ laughter ] [ applause ] no. No, nancy, youll have to wear a robe. I cant, uh [ laughter ] [ applause] whats going on, here . [ laughter ] frank parra . Is that right . P frank . All right. How were you ever lucky enough to find someone from the state of oregon did i pronounce it right . No. Oregon. Oregon. To be your band leader . Doc is from oregon. Thats what hes talking about, right . [ applause ] well, i guess, our first choice, uh, freddy the salmon, remember, died. [ laughter ] whereabouts, in oregon . Well, originally, arlington, oregon, population 601. Now its only 600. [ laughter ] jim mona . Yeah how are ya, jim . Good. Is that right mona . Thats right. Where ya from, jim . Little falls, minnesota. Aha. [ cheering ] of a perfect woman . Uh, sensitive, intelligent, tolerant. Tolerant. Tolerant. Oh, thats important. [ laughter ] caring. Forgiving. Yes. Yeah. With jumble eyes out to glendale. [ laughter ] are these all written by the same person . Would you like to i cant read that. Have you got your glasses on . Yeah. I gotta start getting reading glasses. Its very small. Well, youre getting some nice offers, tonight. [ laughter ] would you like to go out to dinner, with three lovely ladies from allentown, pennsylvania, please . Wait, a minute. Is this would you like to go out to dinner, with three young i this is all the same people. Well, this is lady number one gene triani, is it . Yes. Would you like to be escorted to dinner, by three lovely ladies from allentown, pennsylvania . Thats got all three of em. What is this . What are you ladies names . Karen, rita ritter. Ritter. And yvonne. And jean. From allentown. Well, thats very nice. We go dutch . [ laughter ] sure. Beg your pardon . Jeffrey getts. Or gurts. Yeah [ cheering ] jeffrey has a very large group. [ laughter ] is it safe to eat across the street, at loslos arcos Mexican Restaurant . [ laughter ] [ applause ] [ chuckling ] freddy is going, easy, easy. [ laughter ] easy. Yeah, its safe. Of course its safe to eat at los arcos. Yeah. [ laughter ] long as you order a side order of priest. [ laughter ] maybe no, no. No. No, no. Nice restaurant. Thats not true. Its a good restaurant. Theyre friendly. Theyre nice people. cause they could they could sue us, for Something Like that. Yeah, very friendly. [ laughter ] ill tell ya they do have speed bumps, on the way to the mens room, though. [ applause ] [ cheering ] its a nice place. [ chuckling ] i cant read the name. B would you l would you like to work with me, at the post office . Whatswhats the name, here . Is it blanche . Thats it. Thats it. Yeah. This is dated 1963. [ laughter ] no, just joking blanche. Tom johnson. Wherere ya, tom . I saw your house, while on a tour, today. When is the last time you saw it . [ laughter ] [ applause ] [ chuckling ] ii saw it, on a tour, yesterday. Looks nice. Theyretheyre keeping it up well. Uh, jerry carney, from, uh, [ cheering ] why do you drive yourself to work, and ed has someone drive him . [ laughter ] thats interesting. I well, ed has to be driven to work. [ laughter ] no. You dont like to drive. No. No. Ed doesnt really he doesnt like to drive. No. And, ii like to drive. Dont you ever drive . Once in a while, on the weekends, occasionally, yes. I do recreational driving. Aha. Another question about you do you have any influence on whether or not ed mcmahons contract is renewed . What contract . [ laughter ] we have a handshake. I bought ed at a marine px, in 19 [ laughter ] in guam. 1957. No, thats not laurie dejulio . Wherere you, laurie . Right here. Is that your is that your helicopter, in the back parking lot . No. No. I think thats the that must be the nbc news helicopter, isnt it . And occasionally used to stir eds margaritas. [ laughter ] thats right. It does a wonderful job. Tom hhoxy. You frequently a oh hermit named dave, and ed always panics. Why . Well, thats an old limerick. To start it why dont you tell them the limerick . Tell em. I cant tell them. Its as far as you can go. Just go as far as you can. [ applause ] [ cheering ] all good limericks are a little bit, uh raunchy. Raunchy, yeah. And it started off there was an old hermit named dave yeah. And the rest of it i cant even tell ya. [ laughter ] lady from wheeling . Now, come on, now. Dont start that. [ laughter ] we will take a break. In just a moment, Jackie Gleason will be out here, so stay where ya are. [ cheering ] [ music ] [ applause ] thank you, doc. We are back. Okay. What can you say . My first guest, tonight, does not need, uh, a very effusive introduction, but id like to give him one, anyway, because i am an unabashed fan of Jackie Gleason, ever since i saw him in the early days of television, back in the early 50s, when he was doing the cavalcade of stars, out in new york. Hes the subject of a book written by a columnist, a pal of his for 36 years, jim bacon, called how sweet it is. Uh, he has worked in practically every branch, uh, of our business, including, uh, nightclubs and Motion Pictures and television. And he is one of the true comic geniuses of our times. Would you welcome mr. Jackie gleason . [ applause ] [ music ] [ music ] [ cheering ] [ whistling ] yeah . Yeah. Wonderful. Now, just say, how sweet it is, and well get on with it. How sweet it is [ laughter ] [ cheering ] you know you know, it must be a kick. You did the honeymooners in, uh what year, exactly . The first original 39 episodes. Uh, i think around, uh, 1951. 51. We started. Only did 39 episodes. Thirtynine. Of the half hours. And now, you have a whole new generation of fans. The youngsters, of course, who were just born then, are now seeing them all it must give you a great kick. It is. To see a whole new generation of fans. Its very gratifying, to years ago shows up and is a hit. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And a big hit. Yeah. And a big, big hit. You know, this is the this is the first time ive been doin this show for 23 years. Never had you on the show. I dont understand it, john. Yeah. [ laughter ] the only the only thing i can figure it out i was waiting to find out if this show was a hit. [ laughter ] youre out here, doin a picture with, uh with young tom hangs, right . Yes. And he is a fine actor. Yeah. Great actor. Now, tell me about your friend bacon, here. Youve known each other, for a number of years, and you both, uh the book is filled with a lot of your, uh, uh, for lack of a better word, pranks, or, uh escapades. Escapades. Evenings out. Um, matter of fact, youyou kinda wrote this, uh, book, over a sharing a littlelittle scotch, at one time or another. Well, wewe had a few aperitifs. [ laughter ] and, uh and, uh, jim is a good man, with the yes, he is. So, hes very nice company. Matter of fact matter of fact, when you were doin the toy, didnt they tell him to, uh oh, they considered him a bad companion, for me. [ laughter ] they thought, if he showed up, id get stewed. [ laughter ] and they were right. [ laughter ] you know, ii was reading the book, last night, and, uh i came in your dressing room a while, just before the show, tonight, and i said, you remember a show [ chuckling ] oh, john. We can get that one out of the way, right off. Yeah. Youve had many successes, but you did a television show, in 1961. Ugh. The show itself went on one time. It was called youre in the picture. Oh [ laughter ] now, the reason im bringing this up yes. Is because i was also a part of this show. You were the host, if i remember, and you sat over to the right of the stage, and sat at a little table, and you had your little coffee cup. And the i think i was on the show. I think arthur treacher. Arthur treacher. The late milt kamen. Jan sterling. Now, the idea of the show was, they had the Television Audience could see, at home, could see a picture. The celebrities would come, and we put our heads through a hole, in the picture, from the back. We didnt know what the picture was. Good god. Yeah. I was one of those people. And, uh, you would ask questions, and we would ask questions of you what we were doing. Are we an animal . And so forth. [ chuckling ] and it really did not go too well. [ chuckling ] and i remember one of the questions i asked you, about halfway through. I said, would you tell me why ive got my head through this hole, in this picture . The critics took the show apart, and, next week, you came on the stage and did one of the funniest half hours in television, because you didnt do that show. You just satsat down, and apologized. I came out, and apologized to the audience, for committing such a terrible crime. This was the biggest bomb ever put on television. [ laughter ] and when i went to the executives of cbs, and i said, uh, i gotta go on, next week, and apologize, for this. Anybody to go on, and apologize, for anything we put on. I said, well, this week, youre gonna. [ laughter ] and, uh, i had a lot of fun, thatthat night. Oh, it was a it was wonderful. You came out and sat there. It was one of the funniest half hours ive ever seen. You only did we talked lets talk about the honeymooners a little bit. You did 39, and they came to you and wanted you to do another season. Yeah. And you said no, at the time. Uh, they didnt believe me. They people have always wondered why you didnt, because its so successful. Well, we were running out of ideas, and, uh i liked the honeymooners. I liked doin em. And i didnt wanna denigrate them, by, you know, forcing scenes that didnt mean anything. Right. So, i wanted to quit, and they didnt belbelieve me, and they thought i had another job, right. But i didnt, and im glad i did stop, then. Because, what we had done was good, and if we had gone any further, we mightve spoiled it. Yeah. All these characters i saw the piece that morley safer did, all the characters you do, form Ralph Kramden to joe the bartender to the poor soul really came outta your background, in the early years in brooklyn, didnt they . Well, yes. The honeymooners, especially yeah. Because there were 1000 nortons and 1000 kramdens. And, uh, reggie, of course, uh, i did, in burlesque. And i did the poor soul, in on broadway. Right. So, theythey fit in pretty good, with television. Which of those characters, of all of them, uh, is the closest to Jackie Gleason . Well, uh you can you most identify with. I guess id have to say reggie. [ laughter ] i wish we had the train set up, where the train came out, with a little glass of booze. Were gonna take a short break. Were comin right back. [ cheering ] [ music ] [ cheering ] [ applause ] youre a great mu you used to play the trumpet. No, but i played at it. Played at it. Yeah. In your early act . Yes. [ chuckling ] you played a lot of what were some i had the worst act, johnny. [ chuckling ] in show business. It was horrible. And, uh, it was six minutes of absolute boredom and, on our show, one night, the curtain got stuck. So, i said, i am gonna do my old act. And it was a riot. It killed em. Kill the people. Cant understand it. When i needed it, it didnt work. Didnt you work was it jack whites . Uh jack whites 18 club. The 18 club . Greatest nightclub in the world. Was that one of your earliest jobs . Yeah. Uh, you werent allowed to do an act. You it was all adlibbed. And, every night, there were big stars robert taylor, jimmy cagney and theyd come in, and wed make fun of them. And, uh, it was a hot spot. Every night. It was a joy, working there. Didnt you used to hustle pool, after you got outta high school . Yes. Well, no, when i was grammar school, i did. Oh, grammar school. [ laughter ] i started out as a rack boy, when i was about nine years old. And theyd llet me play, on the back table. And i got pretty good at it. And when somebodyd come in and wanted to play somebody, theyd pick me. Right. I was the house boy. And then, on Graduation Day in grammar school, you know, they gave you those little gold pins . Yeah. And, i used to play the kids, for their gold pins. [ laughter ] and id get a nice box of them, and go down to the hock shop, and turn em in. Sso, this came up when you did the hustler, which you were nominated for an academy where that came in handy, shooting pool. Oh, sure, it did. Sure, it did. And, paul began to learn to play pool, very well. Yeah. You got willie mosconi, somebody said yeah. Did you do, in grammar school, little red riding hood, in a yiddish act . Is that true . You certainly have done your research yeah. Yeah. [ laughter ] yes, i did. And, uh, thats when i knew well, i knew i wanted to be in show business before then. Uh, my father took me to a vaudeville show, and, at intermission, they put the house lights on, and i was sitting in the first row. And i stood up, and i turned around, and i faced the audience, and i knew that thats the way i should look, for the rest of my life. And, uh, then the next thing was this school play. Right. And i got a couple of laughs, and that did it. That always does, doesnt it . For comedians. Oh, there is nothing like a big yamo coming in. [ laughter ] a big yuck a lot of the people have voted toots, uh your old friend, uh, whom i know course, not as well as you toots shor ah. And his, uh his saloon toots would never call it a restaurant. It was a saloon. He sure was. Uh. And, when toots died, ii read that you sent aa wreath, that said, uh, save me a table. Yeah. That right . Were the were the bouts uh, the drinking bouts asas large did you ever miss a performance because of it . No. Never did. Never missed a show. And, uh, im not advocating that everybody should drink. It just worked for me. [ laughter ] [ applause ] and, of course, the gentleman on my right has had a taste or two. Yes, he has. [ laughter ] uh, i was reading in the book, when you when you when you do the shows, you were one of those people whos got an instinctive ability to look at a piece of material, a script, and then go out and do it. You didnt particularly like rehearsing. No, i hated to rehearse. And i had a standin, who was funnier than i was. He would do the sketches with the performers. Id go through it with him once, and then he would do it. I thought it took something away from the performance. But there were some wonderful moments on the show, where things would happen. Oh. In fact, they played some of those, recently, with the with the old, uh the lost episodes. Carney, one time, was tryna get out the door, and it was stuck, so we went out the window. Yeah. [ laughter ] reasonable. Yeah. Went down the fire escape, and came back up. [ chuckling ] hes good. Carney is one of the greatest comedians of and dramatic actors of all times. Yeah. [ applause ] and audaudrey meadows. Sensational. You recently turned audrey down, didnt you . She came in, auditioned for the part, if i remember, looking very pretty, and you said, no, shes too pretty for the part, and then somebody gave you a picture, where she kind of, uh well, thats the legend. Yeah. Ill go along, with it. Yeah. [ laughter ] sounds good. But youre a you like to act, dont ya . Youre a youre a good actor. You have a lot of depth, as an actor. As a as a as a serious actor
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