Transcripts For WETA 20130923

Called whos that knocking on my door . L a tiny little first independet movie. But he was so inspike, every time i see him i say the same thing to him, why did you give me a c . Rose what does he say, you deserve aid fee. It was out of focusing. Everything was of you did was out of focus. Rose your parents concerned you to do whatever you want to do. You want to be a standup comedian from . My dad, who i lost when i was 15, really sent he on my way showing it was okay to stay up lake during the week to watch ernie socontact, and jack par, it was the 50s, look who was on television, gleason, carney, and every sunday Foyt Ed Sullivan would have a great different kind of standup comedian. And it was usually alan king. Every week it was alan king. And that was the time to elsewhere. Dad brought home comedy albums they had that jazz label. And he would bring you comedy albums. Youd listen, listen to the masters and youd hear the timing and start to develop your own timing but youd understand what nichols and may were doing live on broadway. Youd understand what Jonathan Winters was like. And then the 200yearold man became my baseball. Rose became your bible because you listened to those two, carl and mike and said mel. They originally were carl and mike. And they broke up. Mike was with elaine. Now that ive been working for a while, theyre very good friends of mine, and it really freaks me out they know carl and mel very well. Because they shaped you when you were a kid. You learned two things from them. You learned how to jump go. Them and them you learn to be unselfer like carl, you listen and feed. Rose you said failure is an important thing for a comedian to understand. Yeah. Rose meaning . I think you have to be willing to bomb. You have to go out on edge and say this may not work. And be bold. Dont work safe because then youre not exploring every second on there. Even if you do bomb and we all do something good will come out of that. Rose youll make it better than next time. And that was the best advice i was ever given. Its by a brilliant who is now 96, jack rollins. Rose oh, yeah. Mary he was woodys manager, nick scpolz, and i was one of his puppy comedians. Rose puppy comedians. It was the new boy. The man who worked under him, buddy moroh, was my everyday guy. And i was starting to do really well. Rose at the comedy clubs around. Catch a rising star in new york and the improv. And jack was domestic of coming to see me. He looked like an eclective Brooklyn College english rose like he was a navy admiral. Mary and want butt of a sihanking out his mouth. I really hit the 20 minutes good, hitting strong, the crowd was going strong. The first timeim going to see rose that he was that good . You get this afterflow for a good 20 minutes thats great. And jack said how did you feel it went tonight he said i thought i was great. I said i didnt like it. He goes why it was very effective but you never told me how you feel about something. You never use the word eye in a sudden sentence. Piknow what mohammed lee is pause im intersecting them. You can could do very well for these 20s minute. But you didnt feel safe and a tirng a little extra something you leave on the table to the as you yeps will take that with them. Theyll know when you are. What did you was very good chinese food because gnaw of you tonight remember that eight. He said you are a husband and father pup have an 18monthold baby. Talk about that. Talk about that. That yotalk about he said comn tomorrow. Dont co2 any of this stuff. It will be rocky and something good will come out of it. Rose how long did it take you . It took me a couple of weeks before you understood it. The next night i understood is it, i did bomb. One night a toe bitter end downtown im on stage, things are starting to go pretty well and i see a still wet of somebody in the door bay and thought, oh, man. Its bill cosby. That was my hero then, because cosghee was a guy and so relatable on records. He has brothers, i had brothers. He blade 52 in temple. He came baj backpage and introduced himself. This was cosby at hit fight. Very akin let them. Let them catch you working. So hopso and its taken a varioy well. Rose bill koz dee told me one of the most important moments in miown and he went to see Jonathan Winters and winters had a bad night, and i thought i can fail and sum tech city. Rose a lot of people loved him, dont they, bill crosby. Yes. Its just natural you feel like hes a prevent and has been for 40 year, how how much is learned ask how about of it distinctive way. Join dont know about percentages . It would have to to be vote. A loss of peep, with mar making thez xs capitol hill up. Some people will say theres nothing. Its just you. You have no band. You have no support. You have no vocalist. Just you standing up there with people saying, be funny. Its a tough job. I said, well, try boxing. Saturday night live was a big break for you. I was part of the i was going to be a guest on the first show and got bumped. What was it they Department Like . It wasnt that they didnt like everything. Everything was too long. When lorn michaels came over and say i need two minutes. I said two minutes after what i did . And the arguments and whatever happened and im waiting in the hallway to do the snow, and i said come oits not happening. That was hard because when i met lorne at catch a rising star i knew right away that i was brilliant young guy. The guests on the first show were andy cough map, who did mighty mouse on the first show, two musical acts. But i knew i was government officialed with something fantastic. And there was a big leadup on that show with me and everybody on the staff but it doesnt happen. Lauren had me become in 1984, dick ember sal was a producer and i of i hoped it case twiceand he said would you consider coming with us for a season if i can get marty short to come . And i said yes. Rose when the whole contact sense. Joan baez should be sitting here and all the different characters and working with chris fest garthy and making these thun films i bolted one curing the season. And then led to the movies. What is great about yr life is the remarkable relationship with some people. He called you his back televisions. That was my First Experience of a really agreed friend, any badly missed. Mohammed had just beaten george form man in marc and was now sport magazines editor of the year. They had local special it was only seen in three states high pressuring hue and a mutual agent said bobsount of up to but i have this young guy. Tell him friday night, 8 00, plaza hotel, archie 45ep just up with ties of mice taphe said how should i introduce you . I hadnt been on anything, nothing. Just say im one of his oldest and dearest friends. My thought was ill go right to the microphone, wont talk, go to cosell and then aali. Which i finished no one had done him yet. And here is this little jewish guy doing the greatest of all time. And i started getting heckled by bundani. Do you remember him . Rose oh, sure. He was a side man. Hes saying talk about joe frazier. And i hear it, you got it. You got it and i was like, what, what. My first im on television and im getting heckled. Sit down, sit down, drew. We know your story. Weve seen you. This is about mohammed. I just handled it and when i finished he said youre my little brother and weve been like that for a long time. Rose do you still see him . I do still see him. Rose how is he . Hes better than people think. Rose because of the speech. And he helped me raise 1 million for my hometown, for long beach, sackedy relief. Rose by an appearance . Theres an Organization Called fight night, and its in phoenix every march, and jimmy walker put this together and they raise money for Parkinsons Research rose not the comedian . No. Ive never seen an evening with as many sports and entertainment people mingled together, and the money that is raised in phoenix is unbelievable. And all ali, was there, of cour. He and his wife, lonnie who is a phenomenal person saw the damage on cnn. She called me and said, thats your hometown, isnt it . And i said, yeah. And she said, how can we help . I said, im coming to fight night. She said, well raise money that night and we will a portion of what we raise. Its not a seam davis jr. Kind of thing saying hes a friend of mine. But look what he did for me. I sat behind him at an nba allstar game. And i knew him slightly and he tapped me opt shoulder and gave me popcorn pop i said thank you and took a handful and handed it back. Three minutes later. Hes sharing his popcorn. I go to see him, this was about five, six years ago, and staying at a hotel in l. A. And i come into the room, and i of were talking and then he falls asleep. And lonnie, his wife, calls me over and whispers to me. Hes not sleeping at night and hes been having nightmares about his fights. He thinks hes in a fight and hell start throwing punches. And i have to leave the room so hes very exhausted. So thats why hes sleeping now. Now. And im sitting next to him like this and suddenly he starts hitting me in the back of the head. Look out, joe, frazier, joe frazier. Was it all a joke. And i laughed, and Howard Bingham comes in and takes pictures, all these pictures of me laughing. Rose he actually did that with ed bradley in a 60 minutes piece and ed was surprised, totally surprised. And really the joke was on him. Mickey mantle, your boyhood hero, other than comedy. Amaze they go got to know him. From the first time i saw him i was eight years old. He signed a program in the clubhouse that came out for us. My dad took us to the game it was sort of kismet. We had Louie Armstrong seats and the program came out, i kept it all these years, he signs the same program for me 20something years later. And then we became, like with mohammed we became frebz, and sometimes you shouldnt meet heroes, you know, but because youre going to find a part of them thats not as attract itch as it may be as you may want. And i was with him many times where the drinking was bad, and rose and the drinking becomes abusiveness. And sadness and regrets. And it was really interesting. I was doing a special for nbc, host a special at cooperstown. And mickey was a guest. He had not been in the hall of fame to see his plaque. When he got inducted he left because he said to me, you know, i was never good enough. I should have been better. I never was good enough. I dont so i walked him to his plaque with another writer named david israel. Rose oh, year, i know david. And we showed him where highs plaque was. The next night. Rose what did he say . Why am i here. I should be with willy. Now hes complapg, the man who didnt want to go. We had this talk late at night. He couldnt sleep, and he was drinking night and we were supposed to be up early the next morning to continue shooting. And he was all upset. And i said what is it . And he said,i always felt i failed my dad. Rose his fathers name was mutt, right, mutt man. Yes. He was 19. Every time i do something good on the field id out there and oes not there. I felt like i failed him i said, mickey, i lost my dad when i was 15. And im not you, but he set me on my way and what i do. And i know the feeling of doing a good show and looking out and the chairs empty. Theres no one there. Or a wedding, no ones there. So basically, this hero and i were basically two teenagers just missing our dads. And it was a phenomenal moment they had with Mickey Mantle thats not on the ballfield. Thats it was just two guys talking. Rose what was it about him . Was it the power because we love the home and run he could hit them and he was strong and he could hit from both sides of the plate or he could run fast . He had this gift. But he had this charisma, too, and it was the 50s. He was very much a prince of the 50s. He was elvis in pinstripes. It was all of it its blond hair, blue eyes, the perfect physique. He looked better in a uniform than anyone else. But it was the unpredictable power that you would see something spectacular. And he also was fragile. And know it was like it was like hoping hed get through a game sometimes because he was always breaking down in some way. And it was very akin to ali. Which ali was our champion, no one hit him. You know, and when he started to slow down just a little bit, now hes getting hilt and cut by henry cooper, and youd go, he going to hit when mantel would it just was so spectacular a player that he you just went, he got through the game okay. He got through okay. And he was so he was just so interesting on a ballfield. Its very hard to put into words, but ive been with him when grown men would cry when theyd see him. He meant that much to us. And, you know, the contribution those of us they said i dont understand it. They didnt live through it. People like bob costas rose i think bob gave the eulogy. Bob and i wrote that together. Rose i didnt than. Called him to come to dallas and we did not know that he was terminal and mickey said, listen, i want to be stronger when i see you. And then we can have some fun. And im looking forward to seeing you guys now that im sober. He knew that he was dying. So when it was all done, bob called me and i went to dallas, and the night before the funeral we stayed up like two High School Kids cramming for a final. And we we hugged each other like we were there to bury a very loved relative. But what we really were burying was our childhood glu have a remarkable quality for friendship. Im fortunate. I have great friends. Rose and oscar is in here, too. How many times, eight . Nine. Rose what was about you and the oscars . You did it. And this is a hard thing. Weve seen a lot of people do it okay. But did you it with a certain the proof is in the pudding. They wanted you you to come back every year. I wanted to make it special. I tried to change the job of what the host did. We did a lot of different things. We did the the musical medley of the nominated songs, started putting me independent nominated films, and we shot people in the audience and i would improvise what i thought they were thinking. And we tried to make it fresh and different and i had some of the my best moments as a comedian on the oscar stage. Rose when you look at this and all the things you do its pretty high up. Its very high up. But the highest thing would have to be batting leadoff for the new york yankees. Sorry, behind my wife, my kids, and my grand kids. I led off for the new york yankees. I i wanted it back. Rose what happened . I fouled it off. It was the night rose this is it. I mean, if you could have played for the yankees, nothing else would have mattered. No id be in broadcasting now, hes not going to his left the way he should. Rose thats right. Its a wonderful book. It really is. Thank you. Rose and i want to close because your wife is there. 43 years . Yes. Rose you talk about what is interesting is you talk about dying. You talk about what happens when you get 65. And you just talk about whats meant something to you. You learned jack rollins advice well and what people care about is who are you and what you its the personal things that people remember. Uhhuh is ther. Its call still foolin especially amyem them. Thank you for joining us. See you next time. Captioning sponsored by Rose Communications captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org