Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - 129. John Amos

Episode Date: November 14, 2016

"Good Times" and "Roots" star John Amos stops by the studio to reminisce about everything from his days as a struggling comic to his breakthrough role on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" to working with Eddie Murphy and James Earl Jones in the film "Coming to America." Also, John remembers Ted Knight, cuts up with Tim Conway, shares the screen with Lena Horne and moves into Archie Bunker's old house. PLUS: Yaphet Kotto! Famous Amos! "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre"! Praising Ernest Borgnine! And the mystery of the misheard theme song! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Cut. Take two. Hi, this is Gilbert Gottfried saying to you, give me money. I want money. Just give me money to make more Gilbert Gottfried's amazing colossal podcast. It costs money, believe it or not. You're over there saying, but it's so cheap and amateurish. I know that, but it still takes money. So it's patreon.com slash Gilbert Gottfried. Patreon.com slash Gilbert Gottfried.

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But it's patreon.com slash Gilbert Gottfried. Give me money! Hi, this is Gilbert Gottfried, and this is Gilbert Gottfried's amazing, colossal podcast. Gottfried's amazing, colossal podcast. I'm here with my co-host, Frank Santopadre, and we're once again recording at Nutmeg with our engineer, Frank Furtarosa. Our guest this week is a celebrated and versatile actor, writer, producer, with a long list of credits. You've seen his work in films like Die Hard 2, Ricochet, The Beastmaster,

American Flyers, Let's Do It Again, Coming to America, Medea's Witness Protection, The World's Greatest Athlete. Memorable TV appearances include Maud, Sanford and Son, Love American Style, Future Cop, The A-Team, Hunter, Two and a Half Men, All About the Andersons, Men in Trees, The West Wing, and of course as the TV weatherman, Gordy Howard, on the Mary Tyler Moore Show. From 1974 to 76, he starred in a groundbreaking situation comedy, Good Times, as the strict but lovable James Evans. And in 1977, he was nominated for an Emmy for his outstanding work as the adult Kunta Kinte in the landmark ABC miniseries Roots. In a career spanning more than five decades. He worked with Sidney Poitier, Lena Horne, Redd Foxx, Bruce Willis, Eddie Murphy, James Earl Jones, as well as former podcast

guests, Ken Berry, Ed Asner, and Dick Van Dyke, just to name a few. Please welcome to the show one of our favorite actors and the pride of East Orange, New Jersey, the multi-talented John Amos. Thank you, Gilbert. Thank you. You started, actually, as far as TV, the main thing was the Mary Talamore Show? No, there was work before that. He was a writer first. He was a writer first. Yeah. On a local basis, it was the Loman and Barclay show, which was first a radio show.

Then NBC gave them an hour and a half on Saturday nights, and they experimented. They formed an ensemble group that included myself, Art Matrano, Craig T. Nelson. Oh, Art Matrano. That is a great name. Yeah. We talked about da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Yeah. We love Art Matrano, that is a great name. We talked about da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Yeah. We love Art Mitrano.

And, I mean, just everybody was getting started at the time. It was a wonderful time to be breaking into television. You wrote in both radio and television. Yes. And who were some of the other people you were working with? Oh, Joni Gerber, She was an incredible voiceover artist. Michael Bell, he was an incredible voiceover mimic. And let me see, Rudy DeLuca, Craig T. Nelson.

My goodness. McLean Stevenson. McLean Stevenson. Paul McCauley was one of the writer-performers. And we had a lot of fun. We had to have fun. We weren't making any money. Loman and Barkley was a popular radio show.

It was a very popular radio show. Very popular radio show. They were like the Clavin and Finch on the East Coast, you know? Right, right, right. You went from there to writing for the Leslie Uggam show? Not directly, but it tracked pretty much that way. Yeah, I got the job writing for the Leslie Uggams show, and I had the audacity to ask the producers if I could audition for one of the roles. And they said, no, you're here as a writer.

They said, what role did you want to audition for? I said, I'd like to audition for the role of her husband. Well, ultimately, it was done by a fine actor by the name of Lincoln Kilpatrick. And that was my first time ever meeting Leslie Uggams and all the other wonderful actors that I was later to work with years later. Right. Everybody was on that show. Everybody.

Yeah. I just got a flashback of the Leslie Uggams show. Now, did she have a recurring bit called the Sugar Hill gang? Yes. You've got a great memory. That's right. That spawned the, as some people say, it really created the good times thing. It spawned out of that.

But what it was, it was a little 15-minute segment on a family that lived in Sugar Hill. And it was Leslie and her TV husband, Lincoln Kilpatrick, Johnny Brown. Oh, Johnny Brown, yes. The comedian from Good Times. Was in there. Buffalo Butt, he was known to his. Right. Bookman.

And, yeah, boy, you've got a good memory, Gilbert. That one stuck with me. Yeah. And what was the, oh, God, now've got a good memory, Gilbert. That one stuck with me. Yeah. And what was the—oh, God, now this is going to kill me. What was the song? It was a hit song that they'd play whenever that bit started. Whenever Sugar Hill came on? Yeah.

I can't recall. Well, we'll have our researcher look it up. Oh, God. But everybody— This is going to kill me. Well, you come up with it. Yeah. Everybody was on that show.

Sammy Davis and Jim Neighbors and Johnny Mathis. Everybody. Don Knotts, even Sly and the Family Stone. Right? We crammed a lot into that short run because we got canceled almost immediately. I think it was like—what was it, like 16 episodes or something? It wasn't a long one at all. Well, we were slated for 16, but I think we only did eight or nine, something like that.

Right. Yeah. But everybody loved Leslie Uggam. She was America's sweetheart along with Mary Talleymore. So Leslie never stopped working. Thank God. Yeah. She's still around, too.

Oh, absolutely. A talented lady. Absolutely. She's appearing in that new series, Power. Oh, is she on that? Yeah. Oh, absolutely. She's appearing in that new series Power. Oh, is she on that? Yeah. Great. Did you work with Bob Einstein on the Leslie Uggams? Yeah. We just had him on. Is that right?

He was our previous guest before you. Is this where you come just before you die or what? Everybody's coming through here. We've only lost two guests out of 120, John. I was originally going to call the show the Before It's Too Late Show. Bob Einstein did a lot of variety television. Yes, he did.

In those days. Yes, he did. And, okay. So, how did you then make it over to acting? Well, from the writing comedy, it was not that hard a transition for me, I don't think. Because, you know, when you write comedy, you have to act out the bits. Yes. And so I found myself going on auditions and getting more acting jobs than I was getting writing jobs,

so I stayed with it. So far, so good. They haven't found me out yet. But you work with Lorenzo Music. You remember Lorenzo Music, Gil Cartland, the door man? Absolutely. Absolutely. On the Uggam show. And as a writer on the show, did you work out sketches with the guests? Well, that's what they saw in you? That's what I was hired to do, according to the producers. But again, that was a case where the show got canceled after, I think, eight or nine shows. But they paid for the whole season, so I was very, very happy about that. And so it was all over in about eight or nine weeks.

and so it was all over in about eight or nine weeks but that was the job I was supposedly hired for was to help introduce guests and to write little bits for them make them comfortable with the rest of the cast and somehow they saw something in you and they suggested this project that they were working on actually I I went yeah I uhorenzo music or jerry music at that time he hadn't changed his name to lorenzo or whatever at any rate he uh said let's have a little dialogue so he had lunch and he said you know dave davis and i are creating or involved in the creation of something called a mary tyler moore show and we think you'd be right for one of the characters. So, you know, you hear a lot of talk. And I said, yeah, that'd be great. Fine.

Meanwhile, I got a job, you know. So this is real, okay. And as it turned out, I was called in to audition for Grant Tinker, who was the producer of the show. And her husband. And her husband. And Mary's husband. And, I mean, that was like heaven because you knew the writing was going to be there.

You knew the cast was going to be superlative. It was just wonderful to be in that environment. You didn't have to worry about anything. The usual things that an actor has to, are we going to get picked up? It was a given. Once you got on the Mary Tyler Moore show, it was almost like a ticket to ride. It was unbelievable. The chemistry, everybody was happy all the time. Right. Brooks and Burns ran a happy set.

They ran a happy set, you know. And Mary Tyler Moore, you said, was easy to work with, I think. Yeah, very easy to work with. She's a consummate professional. I mean, there was no doubt whose show it was. It's the Mary Tyler Moore show. Yeah. You know? She didn't have to fight for lines, you know? And we had Ed Asner on.

Yeah. And Ed Asner, although I don't know if he was ever, like, really friends with Ted Knight. I think there might have been tension. Ed Asner had nothing. You mean in real life? Yeah. You know, the truth of it is, these guys were such good actors that when they got in character, you really did feel like somebody could get punched out at some time. Because he had a way of getting on Lou Grant's nerves. Right, sure. Whether or not he got on Ed's nerves or not, I don't know. But he had nothing but glowing things to say about Ted Knight. It was hard

to dislike Ted Knight. He was such a funny man. I mean, he was unbelievable. And he took such pride in the fact that people thought his character was really... Whenever he got a piece of fan mail from somebody, he had really pissed off. Like, a bunch of old ladies somewhere in Iowa, that's all they did was write letters about Ted Knight.

And he would share the letters with us, and they would say, can you believe this, Mary? Will you believe the way these people are talking about me? They are just disgusted with Ted Knight. I mean, with Ted Baxter. And I'm going to have to change everything because I'm getting a lot of people in Iowa upset. Yeah, right. You know, Ed told us that he and Gavin McLeod were so impressed by Ted's ability to grasp a piece of comedy, to do a scene. They would sit in the bleachers. They would sit and watch him

and study him almost with a sense of envy. His timing was perfect, perfect. And he was game. Whatever the situation was, he'd go along with it. You guys were funny together. I watched the two episodes that come to mind are Hail the Conquering Gordy, which is the one where you come back as a big success. After making the big bucks. Right,y, which is the one where you come back as a big success.

After making the big bucks. Right, and he's terribly envious of you. He's asking how many kids you have. It doesn't matter. Is everything just as you remember it? Everything. Say, Gardo, speaking of remembering, do you remember when we did the news together? I mean, as a team?

Yeah, sure, Ted. Does it give you any ideas? Ideas? Ted, aren't you supposed to meet Georgette for lunch today? Well, that was over an hour ago. She's probably finished by now. Georgette, you got yourself a new girlfriend, huh? Oh, hey, that's right. You don't know.

Ted got married last year. Well, Ted got married. Somebody finally chopped a silver fox. I tell you, the writing was there. Oh, great. Wasn't the writing great? Just great. Didn't have to pander to the lowest common denominator. I mean, these guys wrote. You had to reach for their material, you know?

The other great episode with you and Ted is the Good Time News, when you guys end up co-hosting, do you remember this? Vaguely, yeah. Mary has this idea to do good news only, and you guys end up as co-anchors? I think I remember. And then Ted finds out that he's there to set you up, that you're the funny guy, I remember. And then Ted finds out that he's there to set you up, that you're the funny guy and he's the straight man, and he resents it. He would. It's on YouTube.

It's very, very funny. I got to check that out. I still enjoy watching some of that. It holds up so well. Go ahead. Oh, no, no. I was just going to say, well, you go ahead with what you were saying, Albert. I forgot. I got to outside.

It's your turn. Well, you're not with what you were saying, Albert. I forgot. I got it. It's your turn. Well, you're not the first of our guests. We just had someone on recently, and once again, this person was the conversation turned to the Poseidon Adventure and how much we all loved Ernest Borgnine. Ernie Borgnine. When you say Poseidon Adventure, I figured that's who you were talking about. Yes, you bet. You know, I had the joy of working with him early on in my career. Yeah.

I did a pilot, I guess you would call it, called Cleaver and Haven. We played two police officers, uniformed cops. But unbeknownst to me, the third person in the car was a robot, was an android. Future cop. Future cop. Yeah. Yeah. And I tell you, Ernie was something else, man.

He was something else. I'll never forget working with him on that show. And at one point, it dawned on me who I was working with. him on that show and at one point it dawned on me who I was working with and I was back in the neighborhood theater watching him and from here to eternity or bad day at Black Rock and my mouth went dry and Ernie looked at me. We were right in the middle of a scene. We were dressed as our police officer characters. We were about to go into the police station. And he looks at me, and it's my turn to talk. My character's turned to talk.

I'm just sitting there like, Like, it's going through my head. My God, that's Ernie Borg. From here to eternity. Academy Award winner. And Ernie looks at the cameraman. He says, you guys can cut. I think the kid is up.

He's watching me in the movies again. He had this great laugh, but he put me at ease, you know, made me comfortable. Okay, now I'm going to talk about Adam and Eve, and that's a story I've been kicked out of several times. That doesn't surprise me. Yeah. And that's a store I've been kicked out of several times. That doesn't surprise me. Yeah. But go to adamandeve.com. For a limited time only, you'll get 50% off just about any item.

When you select one item at 50% off, you'll also receive three free adult DVDs plus a free mystery gift. What's the mystery gift? I think it's hamantash. Fresh baked hamantash. See, you don't realize how sexy. I wish. A delicacy. That is.

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code word GILBERT at checkout. That's GILBERT G-I-L-B-E-R-T, at adamandeve.com. Use code Gilbert at adamandeve.com. You'll thank me. Didn't you also say you one time saw Ernest Borgnine's face on a magazine cover? And that scared the shit out of me. Yes. But I think you said that that gave you like more of an ambition to make it. I said, if this guy can get on the cover of a magazine, I should be able to make, I should be able to get a job or two, you know, acting.

And everybody knows now, Ernie was a consummate actor. He did comedy, drama, all of them. Best actor for Marty. I mean, the man was serious. So all I could do would be to learn. That was a blessing coming along when I came along. I got to work with some of the finest actors in the business. I worked on

TV. I did an episode on The Funny Side where Jack Benny was the guest host. Wow! Yeah, Jack Benny and Gene Kelly. Oh yeah, Gene Kelly was a narrator of that show. Gene Kelly was a narrator of that show, so you got to learn with legends.

Who could not learn working with Jack Benny, you know? So I was blessed to come along at the time that I did, man. Today, I don't think I could learn too much from the kids that are coming along. We will return to Gilbert Gottfried's amazing, colossal podcast. But first, a word from our sponsor. This episode is brought to you by FX's The Bear on Disney+. In Season 3, Carmi and his crew are aiming for the ultimate restaurant accolade, a Michelin star.

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Cheap. No, he was a gentleman. And the fact that you were working with Jack Benny, you know, and I'd grown up listening to him on the radio, he could do no wrong. You know, everything the man did, his timing, he just sat there and crossed his legs, you know, and said, Rochester, you know, and said, Rochester, you know, crack you up. For no reason at all. You just crack up. Because it was Jack Benny, the legend.

Bill Persky created that show. That's right. Persky and Denhoff. Persky and Denhoff. Bill's still around. Lives about 20 blocks from here. You're kidding. No, he was on this show. You've seen him and spoke to him. I talk to him all the time. Oh, well, please give him my regards. He just turned 85. I'll be damned.

Absolutely will. Give him my regards. I sure will. Who were some of the other people you worked with? Early on? Oh, you name it, man. I mean, I got to do a Red Fox episode, and Red had Slappy White, and I think, yeah, I even got to do, no, I never got to work with Sammy. I was thinking Sammy Davis Jr. He was on the Uggam show when you were there,

but maybe you guys. Yeah, at that time we didn't hook up. I've worked with enough people to fill any hall of fame, you know. Well, tell us about Redd Foxx. And I think, if I'm not mistaken, Lena Horne was on that episode. That's right. That's right. So I got to meet two legends in one show, in Lena Horne and Redd Foxx. And Redd was a gentleman because it was Lena Horne, but he referred to her as the Horn. Hey, Amos. I said, yeah, right.

You know who's on the show this week? The horn. I said, the horn? Lena Horne. Yeah, Bob Einstein has some great Red Fox stories. I imagine. He told us a couple. Yeah, there's one that I've heard from other people.

The one where he's sitting on the makeup girl? Yes, yes. I mean, I've heard it two different ways. One, he's sitting on the makeup girl. Or she's sitting on him. Yeah, and his head is under her skirt. And someone says, runs in there and goes, Red, we're filming now.

It was Bob. Yeah. Yeah. And Red sticks his head out from under this girl's skirt and goes, can a guy relax? That was red. You worked with everybody. Tell us a little bit about, we're going to jump around a little bit, but tell us a little bit about working with Tim Conway on The World's Greatest Athlete.

I couldn't keep a straight face because I'm a sucker for a good comedian, and Tim is just a naturally funny guy. So he'd wait until they were pushing in on a close-up of me, and then he would ease his face into the frame. You know, and I'd be looking out of the corner of my eye, and here comes his face sliding into frame. I guess you have to see it to understand it. He is easily, organically, one of the funniest people in the business for my money.

I mean, he kept me crying. He almost got me fired because I was laughing so hard at the inappropriate places that the director said, come on, you got to get a little serious here. This is a Disney comedy. Howard Cosell turns up in The World's Greatest Athlete. Of course, Jan

Michael Vincent. Jan Michael Vincent. Poor baby. Yeah. Yeah, what? Was he in shape back then? Oh, he was a Greek god. Yeah. Yeah, what? What? Was he in shape back then? Oh, he was a Greek god. Yeah. He was what you saw on the screen, you know? And

well, things took a turn for the worse. Yeah. Yeah, with drugs. It's a fun movie. A lot of fun actors in there. Roscoe Lee Brown, too. Yeah, Roscoe Lee. And the ex-NFL star Joe Capp. Right, Joe Capp actors in there. Roscoe Lee Brown, too. Yeah, Roscoe Lee. And the ex-NFL star Joe Capp. Right, Joe Capp was in it. Yeah. We had a lot of fun in that movie. Tell us a little bit about, and I'm not sure how much Gilbert knows about your early career as a football player,

as a running back. Well, let me put it to you this way, my friend. I kept running back and running back and running back. Well, I dreamed about doing that because it seemed to me to be the only way I was ever going to be able to make a buck, you know, was playing football. And the first team I signed with was the Denver Broncos. And I signed with them because I went to Colorado State University, and they used our college campus as their training camp. So I didn't have far to go to go to training camp. In fact, I think about four blocks from my house to the dormitory where they kept us during the training camp. I was only there for 24 hours. That's it?

Yeah, that was it. No, I pulled my hamstring before I got to training camp. I wanted it so bad I spent the whole summer working out, working out, and I overdid it. And opening day I pulled my hamstring, running a 40 for time, so the next day I was out of there. running a 40 for time. So the next day, I was out of there. And over the course of the next three years,

I would play for semi-pro teams in the Continental Football League, the Canadian League, the Wheeling Ironmen, the Waterbury Orbits. Joliet Explorers. Joliet Explorers. Yeah, we explored all season long and never found one victory. It was, I tell you, I had it bad. I had the football joys real bad. You really wanted to be a football player. Oh, I wanted it so bad, man.

It was like God was telling me, hey, John, I don't want you to play football. Can you get that through your head? You're not going to make it no matter what league, what team you go out for. You're going to get cut or the league's going to fold or whatever. This is not what I got in store for you, you know. So I finally got the message. And it was funny. Once I declared myself an actor, I went out for a commercial audition, and it was for Schmidt's Beer of Philadelphia. So I was totally naive as to the process. I didn't know what to do. And I asked my agent, I said, well, what should I do? He said, go to the process. I didn't know what to do. And I asked my agent.

I said, well, what should I do? He said, go to this address. And when they call you into the room, if they ask you to read, then read the sides. And like he was saying, please, why do I – why do all these guys that can't do it come to me? Anyway, I went and I walked through the door. It was in Burbank. And I walked through the door and the director looked at me and And I walked through the door, and the director looked at me, and he says, that's it.

That's what I want. I said, me? And it was for Schmitz Beer Philadelphia, and I got the commercial. And the part was for that of a football player. Perfect. Okay. After getting cut from all these teams, I mean, teams you never even heard of. In leagues you never even heard of.

You stayed at it a while. I mean, the dream was dying hard. It died hard, man. It died hard. But when, you know, that's all you've been dreaming, I couldn't see myself doing anything else until it became obvious that I can't play football anymore. It's just gotten too old. Right.

Too beat up. So I said, well, I'll take a shot at stand-up comedy. You get the same amount of abuse. First of all, it's interesting that the Hall of Fame coach, Hank Stram, told you that you had talent, but it wasn't for playing ball. He saw something else in you. Well, what it was, after getting cut from all those teams, Hank called me in his office and said, John, we're going to have to let you go. And I knew that was it. There was no comeback from that. You were gone. The dream was over. And I had

written a poem called The Turk, which really tracked the life and death of a football player, the metaphorical life and death of a football player, as he aspires to and signs with a team and then gets cut. In my case, it happened 13 times. I mean, I was getting cut from teams you'd never even heard of, in leagues you'd never even heard of. But I still pursued it. And when I did get cut, Hank said, well, is there anything you'd like to say to the team? Yeah, I said, I'd like to read this poem.

So I read the poem, The Turk. And when I got to different parts of it, it got dead quiet in there because it was about them. Sure. And what it meant, if you pulled a hamstring or if you got a bad toe or sprained a finger and you're a receiver or something, it's over. You know what the Turk is, Gilbert? It's an expression in football. It's like an imaginary guy, almost like a scythe.

Yeah. He comes and he cuts you from the team. That means that you're – and bring your playbook. Yeah. It means you're done. Now, from your football days, you have a lot – like a lot of athletes have this. They have lifelong injuries. Yeah.

So what are among your injuries? I'm sitting here with a boot on my foot now. I wasn't going to say anything. And the reason being is I tore my Achilles tendon. How did I do it? Real dangerous athletic act. I stepped off the curb at Dunkin' Donuts. No, but seriously, years ago, maybe 40 years ago when I was playing ball, I tore it.

And I guess it's still in there. The muscle memory or whatever you call it is still in there. It's one of the weakest parts of my body. It's still in my Achilles. So I stepped off the curb just last week and tore it again. But the injuries go on and on and on. I'm so glad that the NFL has taken a hard look at the injuries, the mental injuries, and the cerebral injuries that players incur as a result of sometimes a very fabulous career. Usually the more aggressive guys are the ones that suffer the most damage

because they're sticking their head right in the middle of it. And they're just now getting to the place where they can attribute a lot of the symptoms that guys are displaying to the trauma that they suffered earlier on in their career when it was usually just overlooked. I mean, I remember when I first started playing ball, the helmets we had, you might as well wrap a piece of cardboard around your head. You definitely were going to have some post-trauma, you know. Well, you didn't have any of that.

You didn't have concussion protocol or none of that in those days. Nothing, nothing. You just go back in. They just, come on, come on, shake it off. I've heard both athletes, especially football players, and also dancers. Like some wind up crippled later on in their lives. Dancers. Because, you know, when I worked on those variety shows,

I would meet all the dancers that were coming through and doing their special numbers. And you could hear them warming up. It sounded like somebody was shaking dice. You know, their bones were rattling and they had so much ligament damage. It's a tough profession with a short lifespan, football and professional dancing. It's funny because I always used to look at dancers saying, oh, they must stay healthy their whole lives. But then I started finding out, you know, they suffer the same injuries as athletes that's it did you find

your song okay i still don't know if this is the one but this is uh put a little love in your heart is that it jackie to shannon that doesn't sound right doesn't sound right to me either doesn't sound right to me either so it's unanimous i say I say it's a waste of time. Keep looking. There's a song that might have to do with sugar or something. And it wasn't honey sugar sugar. He's obsessed. We'll come up with it. This is horrible. We'll come up with it. I think our

listeners would be curious to know what your stand-up was like. My stand-up when I first started, it was like who is this guy and why is he up there? Did you write your own material? That's my career. I wrote my own stuff. Yeah.

And it was interesting because I was really just working out whatever came across my head. I couldn't hire a writer. I didn't know any writers. And so I would just get up and wing it. And whatever I thought was funny usually wasn't when I first started. Did you do clubs here in the village? I started in the village. The very first stand-up gig I ever had

was at the Cafe Wah. Wow. Legendary club. Wow, still standing. Still standing. I didn't, you know, get it torn down. So at any rate, let me see.

Godfrey Cambridge was working up the street. Wow. Bill Cosby was getting started on his comedic career. Touché. Okay. And all sorts of – Dick Gregory must have been around. Dick Gregory was around.

I think Dick was already touring a little bit. Mort Sahl maybe. Who else? Mort Sahl. But Woody would have been down there, right? The Blue Angel and some of those. Yeah, all the comedians that were making the circuit, they would start here in New York City.

And it was beautiful because you could go and see some of the best emerging young comedic talent in the world all right here in Manhattan. It's terrific. So you got up, and how many times did you attempt this? After the first night, it took me about a month before I could get up the courage to do it again because it was painful. It was really painful, but I tried it again, and then I would look for encouragement from my buddies that I'd grown up with. I'd ask them, I'd say, hey, I'm working in a club.

What are you doing? I'm working in a club. Are you serving drinks? No, well, hell, can you get me a drink? I might be able to get you a drink. Well, if you guarantee me a drink, I'll come. And that's the only way to get my friends to come. So they're paying me all of, I think, $4 a night at the Cafe Wa.

In fact, everything I made went into drinks. Okay. So ginger ale costs a buck and a half. So I was broke by the end of the night. Gilbert was 15 when he got on stage. Yeah, first time I got on a comedy stage. Well, you were a deranged child. Yes.

You could say that. What was the club, Gil? What was the venue? Do you know? Was it not in the city? I had thought it was the Bitter End, but then my sister, who went with me to the club, said it wasn't the bitter end. She doesn't remember the name of the club. Was it in town or on the outskirts?

It was in Manhattan. Interesting. In Manhattan, yeah. There was a club called the bitter end. You know that. Yeah, that's still there, of course. Yeah. But she says it was a different place.

Hmm. I wonder what club that was. They'd have all these places that would pop up. Right. I remember. It's like. So we're talking about the late 60s in your case. Yeah.

Yeah. Mm-hmm. And I haven't written anything new since then. Yeah. I can attest to that. So jumping around, you're on the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Yeah. And you find out that there's a pilot, that there's a Norman Lear project.

Right. That's pretty much the sequence of events. You're working on the show, and I was going into my second year, and they're slowly but surely building up Gordy to where they're at. And I'm liking it. Always enjoyed the Gordy episodes. I know. I'm with a hit show.

Where am I going? So I got the call, said Norman Lear would like to see you. And Miss Rowell, Esther Rowell, had insisted on having a husband on the show. So I went in, I read for her and for Norman and got the job. So far, so good. And you said, as far as knowing about Norman Lear, is that you had seen the original pilot episode of Olna Family. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I saw the original pilot episode.

Now, that's important because the stars that went on to be in the series that we know, they weren't in it. Rob Reiner, he wasn't in it. And Sally Struthers. Sally Struthers wasn't in it. So the nucleus family that we came to know wasn't in that episode. And the material, I couldn't believe it. When I heard the language coming out of this character's mouth and his racial attitudes, I said, you can't put this on television.

I mean, they showed it to me, and my manager was Wally Amos, of all people. Really? A famous Amos Cookies. Wow. Wally was my personal manager. So he called me, and he said, I want you to come up to my office and take a look at something. This is a pilot that they're going to produce. I said, you can't put this on the air. Look at it. This is a pilot that they're going to produce. I said,

you can't put this on the air. Look at, look, what's that guy's name? He said, Archie Bunker. Oh no, this will never work. You can't, the language is too strong. And was I wrong or was I wrong? That's how innovative it was. That's how groundbreaking it was. I just could not believe that they were going to do this. And of, they did. Norman Lear was a genius. He was a bona fide genius. I was so lucky to work for a guy that had his finger right on the pulse of what people were laughing about, what they were serious about, the whole nine yards. He had his finger right on the pulse. He knew just what was coming and what was going to work. Very fortunate to have worked for that so you had luck in two series one the mary tyler

moore show yeah where it was all totally professional extreme talent to norman lear yeah from brooks to brooks and burns to norman lear it's a nice nice company no doubt no doubt yeah and ester roll uh you said she was from real poverty. Oh, Esther didn't get her first pair of shoes that were her shoes because she had a number of siblings. I don't know how many children there were in the family when she grew up in Florida. But her own personal shoes, she didn't get until she was 13. The rest of the shoes that she had, she had to share with her brothers and sisters. And some of her brothers had big feet, so. Anyway, but she brought that humility to that character,

and she brought an understanding of what life would be like if the Evans family had grown up in that poverty. So she was a wonderful, wonderful actress. She was wonderful to work with. And she always gave me the feeling that we had grown up, part of us had grown up together. We knew each other because she was from the South. My relatives were from the South. My mom and dad were from, both were from Alabama. And so we had that link, you know, that unspoken link. And it worked. The magic that we had between us as a couple worked for us.

Real chemistry. Yeah, it was real chemistry. When we would chastise the kids, we'd really be chastising them. Because we knew how important it was that these kids living in the Cabrini Green apartments have something to emulate that was worth emulating. You know, give them something to shoot for. And it was understood. We never talked about it a great deal. We just went ahead and did it.

And fortunately, more often than not, the writers would hit the mark. Daddy? Yeah? I want to apologize. For what, Michael? For thinking Cletus was was a hero i acted just like a kid oh that's all right son you didn't know no better but i do know one thing for sure when it comes to heroes there's only one in this house well it's nice of you to say that little brother jj i was talking about Daddy.

Oh, now, Michael, as much as I appreciate that, I ain't no hero. You don't have to be no hero to catch a chop like that. You know, I think, son, if you're talking about heroes, you're thinking about people like Martin Luther King or Thurgood Marshall or Medgar Evers. And James Evans Sr. Right on! James Evans Sr.!

You did that same that mixed up. You've been outvoted. You've been outvoted. What you all doing? And then, well, we have to hit upon this one. Jimmy Walker. Yes, we have to hit upon this one. Hard and often.

Subtle. Very subtle. I had never, I tell you, the first time I saw him, I thought that they were doing a benefit for Biafra or something. I didn't know. I'd never seen anybody that thin. He was thin at the time. Very, very. I mean, he was emaciated.

He was almost transparent. And the first time I saw him was in the studio at NBC. I said, wow. Is he here to plug one of those starvation shows? They said, no, no, he's a comedian. And he's, you might be working with him. I said, I don't think so. I don't think he's going to be around long. No, he was incredibly thin. I'd never seen anybody that thin and alive in my life. And we didn't have too much to do. There was some

game show or something that they wanted us both on. I think they just wanted to see what we'd look like together on camera. One way or the other, it worked out all right. And Jimmy and I had our differences because he will tell you, he's the first one to tell you, he never considered himself an actor. He said, I'm a comedian. I'm a comic. And I'm not into acting. I said, yeah, but it'd be nice if you'd learn the lines.

We got to do this. This part of what I do is called acting, okay? And he did have a great sense of comedy. I give him that, and he was funny. He was physically a funny guy. There was no way he was going to do one of his dynamite poems and not have the audience break up. So that's nice when you create those moments, those savors.

You know, if this guy says dynamite, none of us have to do anything for another minute and a half, two minutes, maybe a page and a half. You know, we can coast. So, yeah, let him have all the dynamites he wants. But eventually you and Esther, I think, felt like the show was going from, like, really making a statement to, like, just being like, you know, him doing it. Yeah, I felt like after a fashion, we started to pander to the lowest common denominator. You know, anything for a laugh.

Put chicken hats, you know, anything. And you remember that show had some very relevant subject matter at different times, and that's what was capturing that audience. We were doing episodes on gang violence, J.J. getting shot, seniors being forced to eat pet food because of economic constraints, teenage pregnancy. We were touching on some very serious subject matter, and it was getting people's attention. And people were appreciating it because nobody else was addressing these things on television.

So we had something going for us, and it had its time, it had its moment, you know, and then it was over. And you said around that time you weren't very diplomatic. No, I was what you might call an asshole. I believe the They called me a disruptive influence. I was still having flashbacks to football, you know, in of all places. So if you have a difference with somebody in a comedic situation, you just say, hey, let's try it this way instead of, no, let's take this shit outside. so anyway it took me quite a while to mature and to get to the point where i we could have discuss our creative differences without me uh wanting to go outside and yeah i was uh i was a little bit off off the uh off the farm there and tell us how you found out you were no longer your services were no longer.

Yeah, it happened not unlike the way it does with football. You get that magic phone call. I was at home. We were on hiatus from good times. I think we were into our second year, and the show was doing phenomenally well. The numbers were good. So I get a phone call, and they say, John, J.D. Joe, Norman's assistant is on the phone. She'd like to talk to you. I said, okay. So I'm thinking it's about a rehearsal or something.

Yeah, J.D., this is John, and I can hear it. She's very cold. Yes, John, Norman's here. He'd like to speak with you. I said, okay. Wow, this is serious. Hello, John. Hey, Norman. How are you? I'm fine, Big John. John, I got some good news and some bad news. What do you want first? I said, it's your dime. Well, John, the show's been picked up for, that's the good news,

been picked up for another full season. Well, that was a foregone conclusion. We were in the top 20, top 10 maybe in some polls. So that didn't surprise me. He said, now the bad news. Yeah, Norman, you won't be with us. Nothing from me. Well, don't you have anything to say, John?

No. It's your show. Good luck, Norman. We'll see you around. Click. That was it. I was extended the phone call. That's how they let me know that

I was killed off of Good Times. And I never felt it. You know, I never, I really never felt the pain of being cut from the show because there's almost a seamless transition from that show six months down or six or seven months down the road to Roots. And that changed everything for me as an actor. So a blessing in disguise, really. Absolutely, because had I continued in good times, I would have missed out. I wouldn't have been available for Roots, and that established me as a dramatic actor. So far, so good. And when was the next time you spoke to Norman Lear?

far so good. And when was the next time you spoke to Norman Lear? God, I bet you it was the better part of two, good two years. And he came to me with another project. Wow. And we did. We did the pilot. I was playing, I was taking, the character was taking over the office of a recently deceased incumbent congressman. And I can't recall the name of the show, but it didn't fly. I thought it was a pretty damn good pilot. And it had a lot of political, as you can imagine, with a Norman Lear show, it had a lot of political overtones. And I thought it had a shot, but it didn't make it. In fact, Norman and I did two more pilots together, neither of which flew. Well, then eventually you did 704 Houser Street.

Yeah, 704 Houser Street, right, where we move into the Archie Bunker house, my family. And my son is a conservative Republican. Norman was really, he was really mixing it up. He was having a lot of fun with the chemistry in those days. And then I think the time that you saw Norman after not speaking for years, you said to him, hey, I would have fired me. Yeah, that's true. I told him, I went to a gathering in Vegas, I think it was,

and we were honoring Norman for his work that he'd done in television. And I told him and the audience, looking back at the John Amos I was then, I would have fired me too. Who needed to put up with that much aggravation? You know, the aggravation I was bringing, I was giving him an adjective every day, you know. But I thought that was the way that you got things done. I didn't appreciate the professionalism that goes into a long career. I do now.

Long periods of unemployment have a way of getting the message across. I do now. Long periods of unemployment have a way of getting the message across. Oh, yes! I watched some of 704 Hauser on YouTube and also kind of ahead of its time. Yeah, it was. Isn't it a young interracial couple? Exactly. And it's treated rather casually.

Yeah, exactly. I mean, it was not the reason for the show. Right. It was just one of the key ingredients of the show. And was it Cindy Williams? It was, I think, Maura Tierney from News Radio. Maura Tierney. Right. Maura Tierney. Yeah. Yeah. And now you're kind of in the crusty Archie Bunker role a little bit.

How about that? role a little bit. How about that? It must have felt weird. You're now on the Archie Bunker set and you're thinking back to this pilot that you saw a million years ago. It felt weird, all right. It's strange. I said, this is my punishment. Come back as a bigot.

Let's talk a little bit about Roots and you got to tell Gil. Oh, wait. Before we get to Roots, I would be remiss to all my fans if i didn't throw in keeping your head above water making a wave when you can good times temporary layoffs good times yeah let's be remiss. Early credit. Early credit ratings. Rip-offs, I think. Rip-offs, yes.

Good times. All right. Well, wait a minute. Now that we got John. Ain't we sorry? Aren't we happy we got it? Good times. We had two of the impractical jokers here.

Okay. Brian and Q, you got that out of your system? Yes. We were trying to figure out what that one lyric was from the Good Times theme. Do you remember that he stumped us on? Oh, that's right. Do you know? Temporary layoffs.

No, no, no. Let's hear it. Frankie, can you call it up? James Evans himself is going to solve this mystery. From Television City in Hollywood. Good times. Any time you need a payment. Good times.

Any time you need a friend. Good times. Any time you need a friend. Good times. Any time you're out from under. Not getting hassled. Not getting fussed up. Keeping your head above water. Making a way when you can. Temporary layoffs.

Good times. It ripples. Good times. Okay, what's the next line, John? I know it. I know it. Hanging and adjoining? Living and adjiving.

No, no, no. I don't think that's it. I think it's living and adjiving. Well, there's two theories. Yes. One theory is that it's hangin' and jivin'. Hangin' in and jivin'. Hangin' in and jivin'.

Or hangin' and jivin'. Okay. And another theory is, and Q's theory, not Q. We deal with important subject matter. Yeah, well, I want to know, what did Donald Trump have to say about it? What's his interpretation? Well, we have Hillary. The jokers were claiming that it was hanging in a chow line.

Yeah. Yeah, that's what I keep hearing all the time. Hanging in a chow line. Okay. And that makes sense. That one makes more sense. That's what Sal claims that it was, hanging in a chow line. Okay.

Okay. The mystery will remain unsolved, but we'll go with that one. Now let's ask about Roots. Yeah. Yeah. And you originally auditioned for a different part than the one you wound up with. Right. The one that they, the character that they asked me to come in and read for initially,

I wanted to do, and it wouldn't have been as pivotal a character as Kunta Kinte, obviously, but I wanted to do it nevertheless. So that got back to them, and then they came back a second time and said, we'd like you to read for another character that was substantially more involved in the development of the play. And I said, oh, yeah, I'd be glad to do it. Now I'm beginning to see little references or they're alluding to the Kunta Kinte character as I read this other character. So David got back to me and says, well, would you do that? I said, yeah, I'd be glad to do it.

Now I'm really intrigued because I've been offered a job pretty much, but that character Kunta Kinte is still out there. And I said, boy, whoever gets that, man, that is some piece of meat. That's going to be a fine, fine role. And sure enough, they called me back in. They said, David would like you to read for the role of Kunta Kinte. And I just about had a stroke. I mean, it was unbelievable.

It was like hitting the lottery, you know? Sure. And all the things that all the research that I'd done, not even knowing that I'd be ever offered a role like that, I'd gone to Africa a number of times on my own. I'd studied the dialect and the indigenous food and etc., etc., etc.

Just out of my own curiosity. Sure enough, I get a chance to use those memories when David Walper offered me the job of Quintin Quintan on roots. Girl, your name is Kizzy. You're from special people, baby is Kizzy. You're from special people, baby Kizzy, special.

And you're gonna be a special kind of woman, too. Your name means stay put. But it don't mean stay a slave. It won't never mean that. You is the daughter of the African Kunta Kinte, of the village of Jufare, on the banks of the river called the Kambi Balango. The father of Kunta Kinte is the Mandinka warrior Omoro.

His mama is Binta. The warrior Omoro was the son of the holy man, the rabbi Kunta Kinte. In the time of the 17th day, the father of the wrestler part originally. Yeah. And then did you read for Lou Gossett's part too, for the fiddler? The truth of it is, I would have loved to have done the role that Louis Gossett did. I would have loved to have been part of Roots in any capacity.

And that was certainly a memorable role and he justifiably won the Emmy for it. He's a marvelous actor, Louis is. Because he's out of the old school. He knows what it is to give in a scene. Not to just

hog the scene or try and steal the scene. But he's a stage-trained actor, and he's sharp. He's as good as he gets. Well, tell Gilbert that great story. Go ahead, Gil. No, I was just saying he said to you to be in the moment and experience what Yes. We were sitting underneath the tree, and the scene was, ironically enough, where Fiddler, his character, passes away. So we were sitting underneath the tree, and they were reloading the cameras and whatever, and I said, you know, this is a real blessing, man. He said,

you better believe it. He said, we got to pretend that this is a real blessing, man. He said, you better believe it. He said, we got to pretend that this is a real good piece of meat because we're never going to get a steak like this again in the industry. This is incredible. And sure enough, it worked out. I've never seen any material like that since then, including the remake of Roots. Once something like that is done, it's like the great film classics,

like Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Why would you want to do that again? Leave it alone. You know, from here to eternity, leave it alone. It's been done. They're masterpieces. And yet they do try to remake them all the time. Yeah, unfortunately.

Unfortunately. Yeah. Tell Gil the wonderful story about you deciding that you had the right accent. They were questioning it. Oh, yes. And then you wound up and an incident happened that convinced you that you had made the right choice. I'd been traveling to Liberia more frequently than any other part of the continent. And I just what I called the pigeon accent. You know, I'd hear it and I'd just what I called the pigeon accent.

You know, I'd hear it, and I'd emulate it. So I was with a friend of mine. His name is Charlie Mitchell, one of the locals in Liberia, and we were having a beer in what they called a shabine, which is just somebody's house. He's got a couple of barrels of beer, and he's selling beer, maybe making a buck or two. So we're having a beer, and Charles, my friend, he was keeping an eye out for me because we were in some pretty rough territory. So Charles said, John, I see one guy.

He's staring at you. Subtit guy. He's staring at you. Subtitles, he's staring at you. Yeah. Do you know him, Charles? No, I don't. Oh, what? John, he's coming this way. He's walking.

John, he's having a machete. I know what a machete is. You don't have to translate. That translates. And John, the two guys with him, they both be having machete. Oh, you're coming for your head, John. No, not today, brother. Not coming for no head today.

This guy evidently thought I was a security guard that had been his security guard when he worked in a diamond mine and was badly mistreated. And a guy said to me, he said, a diamond mine and was badly mistreated. And a guy said to me, he said, hey, I told you when I reached outside, I'm coming for you. You treat me real bad in Bummehill Diamond Mine. Now I'm coming for your head. I said, wait a minute, buddy. Hold it. Time out.

I pulled out my water. You see this? John Amos, Los Angeles, California. I'm a player, an actor, okay? I don't know who you thought I was, but I ain't him, okay? So you can put away the machete. He ain't coming for the head today. When I told the casting director at the Walper,

when I shared that story with David, I think he was satisfied that I'd made the right choice as far as picking an accent that would be believable. That's a great story. Great story. And that was the truth. That actually happened. That actually happened. I haven't used that accent since then for the obvious reasons.

You're still working. Yeah. It'll happen. Some great actors in Roots, too, and one that we talk about, Moses Gunn, who we've talked about on this show, and, I mean,

Richard Roundtree and Scatman. Absolutely. And Chuck Connors and Vic Morrow, and everybody's in that. Everybody. Thomas Rosalala. Right. Another guy we love.

Right. Names you don't hear anymore. Don't hear them. Guys who turn up in 70s movies that Another guy we love. Names you don't hear anymore. Don't hear them. Guys who turn up in 70s movies that just – we love Moses Gunn. Moses Gunn from the Hot Rock. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, Moses had an enviable career.

He had some important roles, and he was a fine actor. Lots of good people in that. Yeah, he was like – and I think he was an African in Hot Rock. I think so. Yeah. And Thelma's Rosalala turns up in a great, one of the Dirty Harry movies. I want to say it's the third one, The Enforcer.

And he's just, I love those guys. Yeah. Oh, yeah, the old character. Calvin Lockhart, too, turns up in Coming to America with you. Yeah, right. We worked together. What was that series he had? He was a teacher.

Oh, gosh. Oh, God. We'll look that one up, too. Yeah. I just love those actors, and I love to see them in 70s films. Yeah. Richard Roundtree, another one. It's funny when you look at like 70s movies well like when I

look at Bullet was on yeah recently and you just you're in the police station and going oh him him him right right right you knew every actor right right Norman Fell was there Robert Vaughn.

Oh, yes, yes. Yeah, yeah. And Don Gordon, maybe? Yes. Yeah, Don Gordon. Yeah, yeah. Love seeing those guys. Absolutely.

Love Yafit Koto in Across 110th Street. Right. With Anthony Quinn. Yeah, I mean, they don't make them like that anymore. Raymond St. Jacques. Raymond St. Jacques is another one, yeah. Now, here's something I have to find out. Raymond St. Jacques. Raymond St. Jacques is another one, yeah. Now here's something I have to find out. Go ahead. I don't think he was born this way, but another favorite topic. Was Yafit Kodo in fact Jewish? Well, that'd be a scoop. You know, I don't know. I believe he was. I believe

he declared Judaism as his faith at one point. I'm fairly confident. I could be wrong, but I think he did. That's good stuff. That's good enough for me. We should explain, John. He's obsessed with other performers

who are Jewish. Okay. Wait a minute. I want to tell you something. I've been wanting to talk to you about it for a long time. I told you you'd do another accent. Let's talk about coming to America and how it came to be. Oh, I tell you. You're so funny in that. I got the call from John Landis.

He says, look, I'm making a movie. I want to talk to you about it. Come over to Paramount. So I go over to Paramount. Oh, I think. I'm making a movie. I want to talk to you about it. Come over to Paramount. So I go over to Paramount. Oh, I think. Dara's holding up a website. Excuse us, John.

It says Jew or not a Jew. And they have Yafit Kodo. Thumbs up on Yafit Kodo? Jewish. We were right on that. Okay. Good call. So at any rate. Sorry.

So I go over to Paramount. And I meet John Landis and a couple of the other execs involved in the film. And John begins to tell me the story. And I'm laughing, just as he describes the different scenes. And he says, I've got an elderly couple. They come over to the house, and they're sitting there. And they leave a big greasy grease stain, Jerry Carl stain on the couch. And they get up. So I fall on the floor laughing. I just think that's one of the funniest things.

I said, you're going to do that? He said, oh, yeah, we're going to do that. And I didn't get to read any of the script at all. He just would describe the scenes to me. And I said, I'm in, man. So he said, OK, terrific. And as it turned out, it was one of the best experiences I've ever had. I knew the movie was going to be a hit.

I was working on the film well over a month, and I'm staying outside in between takes on a break, let's say a lunch break, and this character comes up to me and says, Hey, you working on the movies? So I said, Yeah. He said, What, you working on the movies? So I said, yeah. He said, what do you do? I said, I'm working on this movie called Coming to America. He said, what's your name?

I said, John Amos. He said, I never heard of you. He said, you any good? I said, well, I'd like to think so. The guy's starting to get on my nerves now. What movies have you been in? So I named a couple. I don't watch television.

And the more I tell this guy, the more he busts my chops. Finally, I look at this guy and say, hey, look, you know, I only got a little time for lunch. You're getting on my nerves. How about leaving me alone? Okay? And he says, it's Eddie. He's in costume. He got me he really got me so pissed off i was getting ready to punch him out you know was he in prosthetic makeup yeah he had different no he was i think he was chocolate brown or one of the one of those characters sure well he that was a joy though you

never knew what you're going to spend the day doing, but it was probably going to be laughing. And how was it to work with James Earl Jones? It was intimidating, that voice. Sure. The first time I heard him really speak, we were in the rehearsal hall, and we were just doing a read-through of the script. And there was a question as to whether or not

one of the lines that I had was going to be appropriate. And I think the line was something to the effect of something, whatever it was, it wasn't working too well. So I changed the line and James says, Yes, the other line was rather obtuse. I said, what? And Eddie said, all Eddie said was, obtuse. I mean, that's the way it went, man.

So who could call it work under those conditions, you know? It was a joy. It was an absolute joy. I've heard you say that about certain projects, certain dream projects, that when you know you're right for the part. Oh, yeah. And the part is right for the part, the part loves you back. That's it.

And the part loves you back. There's nothing better. You can't do any wrong. You can't do any wrong. They could tell you, you know, guess what? We're going to pay you in yen. Okay. I don't care.

I'm having too much fun to argue. Do people still come up to you and ask you to do certain dialogue from coming to America? They will do the line. They'll do it. And they look at me like, how was that? Like, the boy's got his own money. Huh? How was that do you? Of course, in that movie, you work right

across the street from McDonald's. Right. And you've got a hamburger place called McDonald's. Right. That also has a

golden arch. Oh, his is a golden arch. What are you trying to imply? Right. The business of America is business.

And you work with those writers on SNL. Did you not? Sheffield and Blousteen? Oh, yes, yes. Equally as funny, in real life, I worked for McDonald's, the McDonald's Corporation. When I was up in Canada, after I got cut from my last Canadian football team, I needed a job. My daughter was an infant at the time, so I applied for and got a job as a McDonald's franchise trainee.

And I'm working at McDonald's during the day, and we weren't doing any business because they were just introducing the chain to all of Canada. So I had like 20 crewmen with nothing to do. So I had like 20 crewmen with nothing to do. So I started getting into songs and dances, rehearsing. Oh, that's right. You wrote song parodies about McDonald's.

And people would come up to me and say, what is this place? I'd say, this is McDonald's. We sell hamburgers. You never sell anything. What do you got all these people dancing and singing around? You say, do I have this right? You took, like, music from West Side Story. Right.

And you. A bun like that could cause a trouble. A bun like that could ruin a double. Stick to your own bun specification. I was damaged goods in those days. And you also, and we have something here that you've also talked about. This is scary. What's this?

Frankie, speaking of McDonald's. Oh, yes. Bucket and mop. Scrub the bottom and top. There is nothing so clean as my burger machine. With a broom and a brush. Clean it up for the rush. Before you open the door. For the shine on the floor.

On the floor. When we finish one day. Not all over again. Tell me what does it mean. John is singing. And Donald is singing. McDonald's is great. You deserve a break today. So get up and get away to McDonald's, McDonald's, McDonald's. Okay?

Fantastic. You still remember it. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Here's the killer. I walk into Tom Hanks' dressing room. I go to see him in Broadway. I walk into his dressing room, and he breaks into that song of all the things in the world.

What was that, 1971, I think? What, when we did the commercial? Yeah, 70, 71. Oh, it might have been earlier than that. Yeah, it could have been 70, 71. And talk about being an athlete. You're like leaping over the counters. Oh, yeah. And some familiar being an athlete. You're like leaping over the counters. Oh, yeah.

And some familiar faces in there with you. Anson Williams. Right, Anson Williams. Robert Ridgely. Okay. Do you remember that actor? Absolutely. And Johnny Hamer, I think is his name, the guy that played Zale on MASH, if I have the actor's name right.

I think he's the guy in Annie Hall that does the bad comedian. Fascinating to see those faces. I tell you. A little history there. That was great. And you remember every word of it. Yeah. Gil, what else do you have for this man?

After that. Retirement, right? Yeah, I don't think anything could top that. Tell us about Halley's Comet. Halley's Comet came about as a result of me falling in love with the idea of something that happens once every 76 years. The last time it came through our solar system, it inspired me to write a fictitious piece about the comet itself. And it's a very simple premise. I portray an old man.

This is a one-person show now. It's a one-man show. It inspired me to write a one-man show about a man who has lived long enough to see Hitler's comic come twice. Once as a 10-year-old sitting on his father's shoulders in a part of deep rural south. And a second time as an octogenarian. He's gotten up in age now and he's sired a family. And he's seen all the things that mankind has seen, you know, two world wars, et cetera, all the things that have happened to us politically and generationally over the last 76 years of his life.

And he sets out on an early morning to see the comet as it makes its cycle through our solar system again. He wants to share with the comet everything that has transpired in his life since they last saw each other. So it's been a wonderful ride for me because I love the stage so much. I think if you're a compulsive performer, most of us comedians are. Every once in a while we just have to have the live feedback from an audience. And when I present my own words to that audience and they appreciate it and I'm storytelling, that's nirvana. That's as good as it gets, you know. You just portray an old man who's reflecting back on his life and the audience is enjoying it and moves him in different places to tears, to laughter.

I've had people wet themselves laughing so hard. That's a nice compliment. It's a good compliment. I peed, man. I peed. It must have really been good. Okay. So I've been enjoying that.

And lately, that is lately in the last year or so, my manager and I have been working on putting the elements together to make it a film. Because after touring with it for 20-some-odd years in every imaginable venue, I don't know how many countries overseas, how many states, a minimum of at least 40 dates, various states throughout the United States. And I've enjoyed it. I've enjoyed it. And the old man's got a lot of sense, you know. He's got the sense that comes from having lived as long as he's lived

and seeing everything that he's seen. So it works. And do you have a foundation? Yeah, the Halley's Comet Foundation, exactly. What I do through my foundation is I love to sail and I love the ocean. So I try and teach. I set up programs for young kids, the younger the better, at a certain age, cutoff age, to learn not just how to sail, but to learn all the possible job opportunities that exist in the maritime industry. It's one area that most inner-city kids don't even think about.

They never even get to see a boat, much less how am I going to get a job on a boat if I've never even seen a boat. So I'm enjoying it. Good for you. And I'm getting tremendous support from some well-established veterans. And Donald Trump is not involved. So it's a good thing. Well, I think that should be it.

Oh, good. Well, I want more, more, more. You sang those song parodies with Steve Allen. Yes, that's right. You guys did your homework. I mean, man. We do a little bit of digging here, John. Yeah.

What was that like? That was heaven. I mean, Steve Allen was always one of my favorites anyway. When you grow up in the age of television that I did, you look forward to the Steve Allen because you knew they were going to come up with something fresh. So when I was invited to do his show, he started talking to me and I

didn't realize the guy loves song parodies and he loves that kind of thing. That was his weakness. I told him, I said, well I wrote a whole bunch of parodies set to the music of West Side Story about McDonald's. He said, you did? Like he didn't know that already.

And then he got on the piano. He knocked out a couple of tunes and I ad-libbed some lyrics. Let me see. I feel queasy and uneasy. I feel

queasy, uneasy, and sick because I just ate my 13th cheeseburger real quick. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Stuff like that. That's great. It's some journey, John. You're a kid

born in Newark, raised in East Orange, New Jersey, want to be a football player. Somehow you end up working with Steve Allen and Jack Benny and Sidney Poitier and Lena Horne. It's been a hell of a ride. What a ride. And sitting here talking with Gilbert Gottfried. The biggest thrill.

Okay. So this is when I know I've arrived. Anybody could work with a Steve Allen, but Gilbert Gottfried, now you're talking. This is talent here. You will not get more flattery than that in your career. See, I think now with that accent, you could be Tevye. Why not, Boobie?

Why not? So, I guess we should wrap up. Yeah. We could keep talking to this man about all the people he worked with. Great, great stuff. You worked with Art Carney in a TV movie about Alcatraz? I sure did. I totally forgot about that. Yeah.

Right. That's what we're here for, John. Yeah. Remind me. Written by Ernest Tidyman, of all people. Yeah. The Working French Connection. And Shaft. for, John. Yeah. Remind me. Written by Ernest Tidyman, of all people. Yeah. The Working French Connection. And Shaft.

And Shaft. Okay. And Alex Karras was in it. And Tully Savalas was in it. Woo. Well, you've got some good stories about that. Hey. And he worked with your favorite, Gilbert, Tanya Roberts.

Oh, my God. The Beastmaster. We worked in the Tanya Roberts. Oh, my God. Oh, yeah, the Beastmaster. We worked in the Beastmaster together. Oh, wow. She, she, did you, were you in any? What, what? Yep. Did I, did I, did we, what?

Were you in any scenes where she was naked in it? Because she was doing a lot of naked. Also Jewish. Yeah, Jewish. Almost. No, almost naked. Oh, almost, right? Not almost Jewish. Almost. No, almost naked. Oh, almost. Not almost Jewish.

Oh, God. That's a new category. Almost Jewish. Almost Jewish. Yes. This has been a treat, John. Thank you. It's worked for me, too, guys.

Thank you, buddy. Okay. So I'm Gilbert Gottfried. me too guys thank you okay so i'm gilbert godfrey this has been gilbert godfrey's amazing colossal podcast with my co-host frank santo padre once again at nutmeg with our engineer frank ferderosa and we've been talking to who john amos writer director actor producer songwriter everything Producer. Producer. Songwriter. John Amos. Thank you, man. This was great. Thank you.

Thank you, gentlemen. I appreciate it.