Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - 2. Gianni Russo

Episode Date: June 7, 2014

Actor and alleged wiseguy Gianni Russo, who played the traitorous Carlo Rizzi in the original Godfather, stops by to talk about people he?s bumped off in real life (two, maybe three that he'll admit to), having sex with Liza Minnelli and Marilyn Monroe and taking acting lessons from Marlon Brando. Also, crime boss John Gotti and Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega get mentions! (Did you know that Liza and Noriega briefly toured together in the '80s? Okay, we made that part up). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. With Golden Globe and Emmy wins, the show starring Jeremy Allen White, Io Debrey, and Maddie Matheson is ready to heat up screens once again. All new episodes of FX's The Bear are streaming June 27, only on Disney+. All right, I'm not going to ask my audience right now, are you a fan of The Godfather? I assume everyone's a fan of The Godfather, with Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, and a lesser-known actor at the time, Gianni Russo. He played the part of Carlo, who marries Connie Corleone, who's the sister of the other Corleones that Pacino and James Conn play, Michael and Sonny, and he's horrible. He's like, he beats her throughout the whole movie, and he sets up Sonny,

and eventually, he gets his comeuppance, but Gianni stopped by for an interview, and it was different. It was certainly this guy was like no other guy you'll meet. And he talked to us about everything, about his real-life connections with the biggest families, biggest crime families, and also taking acting lessons from Marlon Brando to possible affairs with Liza Minnelli and Marilyn Monroe. And a couple of guys he says he may have murdered. It was a memorable interview. I'm not sure how much I believe, but I'm certainly not going to accuse him of lying. Hi, this is Gilbert Gottfried, and I'm here with my friend and co-host, Frank Santopadre. Hello, Gilbert.

Hello. And this is the Amazing colossal podcast now if there's anyone out there i mean how can you not be a fan of the godfather it's one of those movies you cannot turn off yeah when it comes on comes on it's like if you watch like a second of it you gotta go oh oh this next scene i gotta see and then three hours have gone by yes and and one of the you know the greatest moment is there's a guy carlo who marries talia shire who's uh michael corleone and sunny corleone's sister. And he turns out to be a real bastard. And a rat, right? Yes, and a rat.

And he beats her. And then James Caan comes after him and beats him up. And then the ending of The Godfather, I don't think this is a spoiler because everyone has seen it. Shame on you if it is yeah it is uh when pacino tells him he's out of the family business and he's just sending him off and that's his punishment and he gets in the car the front seat and behind him uh richard castellano goes hello carlo and wraps Hello, Carlo. And wraps a cord around his neck. It is great. And we have him here tonight. Yes. Yes.

They dug me up. Yes. Johnny Russo, who played Carlo in the original Godfather. Johnny, thanks for doing this. What, as an unoriginal one? As opposed to the second one. We won't talk about the third one. No, please.

Now, how did you get the part in The Godfather? You want the truth or the L.A. bullshit? Either one. I'll give you both versions. Anyway, I always wanted to be an actor, and I made a few dollars early on in my life, fortunately. And I read the book, and I'm sitting at the Palm Restaurant many, many years ago, early on in my life, fortunately. And I read the book.

And I'm sitting at the Palm Restaurant many, many years ago. And Rocky comes over to me and he says, Johnny, that guy wants to talk to you. And I used to go there every Sunday night before going to Studio 54. Because Sunday night was invitation only. So the guy comes over to me and his name was Al Ruddy. Sunday night was invitation only. So the guy comes over to me,

and his name was Al Ruddy. And I didn't know who Al Ruddy was. And he says, what do you want to talk to me about? He says, well, you know, I know you know people. I said, it's all lies, because I don't know who the guy is.

Maybe he's wired. Long story short, I straightened out a couple of things for Ruddy and Ruddy is the executive producer of Godfather he had the rights he met with Mario Puzo and he brought it to Paramount and I said okay

maybe if I can straighten this out for you I don't know if I can but if I do I want to play Michael Sonny or Carlo typical in this out for you. I don't know if I can, but if I do, I want to play Michael, Sonny, or Carlo. Typical Hollywood bullshit. Oh yeah,

don't worry. And now they have a problem, a bigger problem than they really had with Joe Colombo. Now the gates of Paramount were blown off the hinges on Melrose. We've all been to the Paramount lot blown off the hinges on Melrose.

We've all been to the Paramount lot. Sure. That's a big gate. And they knew they had a real problem with the mob. So with this said, Betty McCart, which is an interesting piece of Hollywood trivia, was Ruddy's secretary at the time. Betty McCart,

later on in life, becomes a manager and manages, what's his name, a major guy, he was from Magnum P.I. Tom Selleck. Tom Selleck.

She becomes his manager. Long before that, so she calls me, says, you know, they're really having problems, you better help them. So I said, I'll do. So they

all just left. They all ran like little rats from L.A. They take a flight to New York and they were all hiding in the Sherry Netherlands. Bobby Evans, all of them. Because they think they're going to, you know, they've got to get this strained out. And that Charlie

Blue Dawn just bought Paramount, Gulf and Western. And I could say this because I don't care about Charlie Blue Dawn or anybody. Charlie Blue Dawn had connections with the mob in Milan. And he did not want that to come out. So that's what the threat and the rumor was all the time about they were ready to pull the plug out. Because Charlie Blue Dawn, the last thing he wanted to do was make a mob movie. That's what the threat and the rumor was all the time about they were ready to pull the plug out because Charlie Blew the one, the last thing he wanted to do was make a mob movie. And they're picketing the FBI building down on Madison Avenue

about anti-defamation and all that. I mean, it was all bullshit. So I just read the book. My ego, I'm like, I'm a young kid. I'm 26 years old. I have a triplex brownstone on 85th and 5th. So you can understand I had a few dollars. And I wanted to make a movie.

But I wasn't going to go try out and read for bullshit. So I said, here's what I'm going to do. I said, I could straighten this out. And I didn't know if I could. And I said, why don't we have a sit down? Because they all read the movie, the book, obviously. You know, most of them didn't know what a sit down was. They thought it was a chair.

So I go down to the league office, which was on Madison Avenue, and I meet with Senior. I said, you know, you're missing a great opportunity. You're selling these stupid buttons for a buck. A buck of buttons to support the Italians. I can make a better deal for you.

He says, what are you going to do? Am I talking too long? Not at all. When you say Senior, you mean Columbo. Yeah, Joe Columbo. I said, this is an opportunity. You can get the script. Read it.

What's bothering you? I'm sure they'll let you straighten out. Because I knew they couldn't read it anyway. But so Barry Slotnick, who's still my attorney, was their attorney at the time. So I said, let Barry read it. What's bothering you? Let it straighten out.

And I'll get you the world premiere to Godfather in every city. Now you sell the ticket for $100, $150. You're making a lot of money. That's all they were interested in, making money. They didn't care about defamation. They didn't care about nothing. They're all killers. So now I bring them all there.

The next morning, they come. And I mean, Stanley Jaffe, Blue Dawn Newton show up, Bobby Evans, all of them, Francis. And we all sit down. And here comes the entourage. Butterass, Joe Jr. Every guy you can booze is DiGicco. They got names that were not even in the book. And here comes the entourage. Butter ass Joe Jr. Every guy you can booze is DiGicco. They got names that were not even in the book.

We all go to the meeting. They all agree. Okay, we're going to let this guy, you know, let him read it. And whatever we don't want in it, we'll take it out. And I said, you know, if this happens, you'll get the cooperation from the unions, you'll get the locations you want, but we get the world premiere the night before it opens in every major city.

They all agreed. So now they're all getting up and I look at Joe, because I already had my deal with Joe. I said, Joe, what about me? And my God, I swear to God, it was so funny to see all these powerhouses. He goes like this.

And they all sit back down. He's, what are you going to do for my boy here? He said, no, we're going to give him a part. No, we understand. I said, oh, excuse me. Joe, can I talk? He said, yeah, talk. I said, I made a deal with you, Mr. Ruddy,

that if this movie gets made, I play Michael, Sonny, or Carlo. And he thought I was an idiot. He says, well, are you in the union? Well, talk to your agent. I said, no, I'm not in the union, and I don't have an agent. He says, well, you know, we can't, you know.

I said, excuse me, this is New York City. It's a Taft-Hotley state. You give me a contract, I'll join the union. They're all looking at each other. They said, well, you know, and maybe you know this and maybe you don't. Maybe the audience don't know this. They said, well, we cast Michael as James Caan.

Sonny as Carmine Caridi. Because when they read the book, they thought he should be this big guy. Carmine Caridi was on Broadway with Manful La Mancha. And they said, we didn't cast Carlo yet. I said, I'll play Carlo.

So I said, Joe, can I play Carlo? He said, yeah. He's playing Carlo. I said, okay, he's Carlo. That's how it happened. And that's how I became an actor. But, I mean, it's here. He's playing Carlo. It's okay. He's Carlo. That's how it happened. And that's how I became an actor. But, I mean, it's an amazing run. I don't think anybody made more money than me in the 42 years.

I capitalize on this every way there is. And now I heard a story. And this is why I feel like I have to be extra nice to you and extra polite. why I feel like I have to be extra nice to you and extra polite. Now, you actually killed two people. Three. Three?

Don't sound short. Where'd you hear the Vegas ones? Whichever. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to say, shut'm not going to say I'm not going to say Shut the fuck up

I'll tell And listen to me I love his voice Yes How many windows Do you break at night? Tell us Just pick the murder

You want to talk about And follow it The only murders I could talk about If my lawyer was sitting with me Now he'd kick me under the table. See, there is no statutes on murder. Oh.

So I can only talk about the ones I was convicted on. Okay. Or tried on. I'm fine with that. But they were all self-defense. Yeah, can you... See, what I do, let's say this poor guy gets mad at me

i let him cut me first and i kill him and you're the witness and and i would be the first one to just throw him under the train and say no he attacked him first that's right yes i wouldn't want to be. So how did you find that out? No, I heard you talking about it. One was a guy, I think you were managing a casino or something. No, I owned a casino. You owned a casino. State Street, yeah. Okay.

No, that was the Lorenzo Morales. Oh, okay. The underboss to Pablo Escobar. And so could you tell us that story? Oh, sure. I could tell you anything. I don't give a shit about nothing. You don't know about me.

Believe me. Look, if you killed three people, it wouldn't surprise me. I didn't say I killed three. I killed three that I was tried on. There may be more out there. I don't know. Well, just the ones that we have some evidence on. Right.

We talk about. Not enough evidence for conviction, though. I never slept in a jail. So you were managing a casino. I own a casino. It's called Johnny Russo State Street. I'm sorry. A legend.

I'm sorry, sir. A legend place. No, Sinatra performed for me. Everybody performed for me. And in the casino, this guy, what was his name again? Lorenzo Morales. He was attacking his girlfriend. Yeah, you know the story well.

Yeah, so... Let me set it up for you. He walks into the casino. He's giving everybody $100 bills, which is not abnormal in my place. And he opens the check with a bottle of Cristal and a bottle of Louis XIII,

which at that time was maybe $1,500, $1,600. We're talking about the 80s. Yeah. And goes into the casino, drops $10,000, comes back. And I didn't care about recreational sports. These guys had all snorting coke at the table. I used to give them glass mirrors. I didn't give a shit.

But anyway, so he's doing lines, doing, you know, Louis XIII and washing it down with Cristal. This guy didn't have a long night.

And then he got crazy. The girl, the answer argument, he breaks the bottle and sticks it in her face. Oh, man. Now, I'm going to throw a name at you. It became American history or TV history.

Stevie Sharapa. Remember from the surprise? Oh, yes, yes. Yeah, I know him. Stevie was my doorman at the time. He was going to be. And I hired this guy because they were all big statue football players. I put them all in tuxedos.

They got diarrhea when they started. They didn't move. And I'm yelling. I'm calling down to the front desk before cell phones and all that. I said, guys, you got a problem on seven. Oh, yeah, you see what he did? Yeah, I see it. How about you get over here?

They wouldn't move. I swear to God. They wouldn't move. So I walked down and I said, you know, and I wanted to declare myself because I don't know who the guy was with. Until I heard him speak, I realized he's not with any of the five crime families. Yeah.

So I go to the table and I said, let me tell you something. They said, this is my home. Do you understand what I'm saying? I said, no, man. I said, no, man. What's this? I said, do you hear the sirens? They're coming here for you.

Now, I don't want to know anything about it. Just get out of here. This lady needs some attention. And he goes for the girl. I said, no, she stays here. He said, no, she comes with me. I said, no, she stays here. He said, no, she comes with me. I said, no, no, no. I'll tell you one more time.

Get out of here now, or you're going to get out of here in a black bag. And with that, he goes for the girl again, but I don't know, he still has the bottle in his hand. He goes to me, and he slits my throat. Now, this is going to sound ridiculous to you. So, you went away from the mic. He slit your throat with a broken bottle.

Fortunately, I was agile enough. He didn't get my neck. He got my chin. Yeah. What really pissed me off, Jack Weiss, who makes my shirts in Beverly Hills, It really pissed me off. Jack Weiss, who makes my shirts in Beverly Hills. I waited six months for this pink Sea Island copy. You're worried about your shirt.

I'm looking down. There's blood all over my shirt. I said, now you fucking pissed me off. Fuck her. Get the fuck out of here. He's, fuck you, I said. So I put two right between his eyes in front of 150 people. On my kids.

And I got 11 of them. He goes like this. That we'll talk about later. No, he wipes. He wipes. He's looking at me. I see a hole in his head. So I just pick up the gun

and I lay the other four in his heart. Then he goes down. Only to find out later from the coroner, which I should know, you shoot people in the back of the neck to close them down immediately, unless it spins for five or six seconds, which is a long five or six seconds when you're looking at a guy with a hole in your head. Who says this podcast isn't educational?

Oh, yeah. But that's murder one. Now, so, but then it doesn't end there. No, it got worse. Yeah. Okay. Tell us the second half of this story. So now, being as vain as I am, they take me to Sunrise Hospital.

And, you know, I'm old. I learned something that maybe a podcast audience don't realize either. The most traumatized. Now, the girl got stabbed. He got shot. I got my, would have been my throat, but my neck. Yeah. They come in.

They take him first because he's the most traumatized. I said, the guy's fucking dead. How about the girl? The girl is bleeding for a half hour. That's how it goes. Wow. Is that weird? And didn't you have to have a meeting then after that because you killed this guy?

You had to go to like South America or something? I went to Bogota. Yeah, okay. I went to Dominican first. Yeah, okay. We've done our homework, Johnny. Well, I came up to see John, John Gotti. Yeah, okay.

Who we grew up with together. And I said, John, I went to the club on Mulberry Street. And I wasn't supposed to leave because this was now Monday. And this happened Saturday night at like 3 o'clock in the morning. I had to wait for Murray Parks, my plastic surgeon, to come from Beverly Hills to take care of my neck. I wasn't going to have some ER guy walk around like Cosimo over here.

So that night, I realized when I come home, there's a Marie Lito in my apartment. I had a building that I had called the Marie Antoinette, the only eight-story high-rise. And there was a whole thing with the kids and all this. So we brought somebody in from UNLV again that knew the Colombians and what that means. And she said, you're marked for death, but you're going to die last.

Your whole family, they kill first. They avenge. So I left. And I told Rex Bell was the district attorney I said Rex I know I'm not supposed to leave for 21 days

I'm out of here and I fly to New York and I meet John and John and I were always on the edge he always hated me I hated him not that I hate

I don't hate anybody but he didn't like me because I got certain positions in life before he did. So he said, oh, now you're a killer. This, that, and the other. I said, John, we got a problem. He said, no, I don't have a problem. I said, I got to get to Bogota.

He said, what? I said, I'm going to Bogota. I'm straightening this thing out. And he was very happy to make the arrangements because he thought that was the end of me. I'll never come back.

So I go, stop at the Dominican and meet with certain people. They set up a meeting for me. The only thing that felt good for me to meet was they were going to meet me

in the church. That's how stupid I am. And so I met, I met Pablo Escobar. I met him for about two seconds. And I was in the back of a truck with a bag over my head. And they captured me for like 24 hours. And then we started, you know, what they were doing in this torture room. Well, that they had.

And the Godfather saved my life. He kept looking at me. This is a classic story. He said, I know you. I said, you don't know me. I said, but Pablo, you have a daughter the same age as my daughter. My children have nothing to do with this.

And we start talking. I swear, this is like a joke. You couldn't write this stuff. The next day he comes down with an 8x10 picture of me. He's, you were calling the Godfather. I said, yeah, why'd you say that? So being in the Godfather saved your life. It saved my life.

You know, the next 24 hours while we were waiting, he was trying to get his brother to come in so we could sit and talk about it. He's playing Michael Cotillon, and we're doing live. That's nuts. Wow. Now, but now the second half. Oh, no, the brother. Oh, yes.

So they reassure me that I'm, you know, that they're going to straighten it out. Don't worry about anything. So I land in Miami, like a movie, and these suits get on the plane. They pick up the intercom. They say, Johnny Russo here. I ain't worried, man.

I still have the band to John. And they take me off the plane. They have a jet on the tarmac. The DEA. That's how stupid they are. They saw me with John Gotti. They saw me with Noriega. They saw me with Pablo Escobar.

They thought I was the new drug guy. So now I'm on a jet, handcuffed, and I said, I'm not getting a clear picture here. I mean, I already talked to Rex Bell, the DA. I could leave. He said, what are you talking about? That's why I killed a guy Saturday night. They knew nothing about it.

All they were watching was all their film and all that stuff. So then they wanted to set me up as a decoy to get the brother because he was like second most wanted man in the world, and I wouldn't go along with it. So I killed him 30 days to the day. Okay, explain to us how that took place. Nobody knew where I was. I didn't want anybody to know where I was.

But I had eyes in the sky in my casino, in my club. And I get a call from a guy who's very close to me, Luis Diaz, who's in the DEA. And they said they tracked the guy down. He just crossed the border in Texas. And he should be to you. You know, if he drives all night, he'll be there soon. And with that said, I go to my club.

And I'm watching everything. And there's a guy at the bar. And he's drinking with his right hand. So I called the bar, phone. I said, and it was Betty. I said, Betty, that guy in the beige jacket, they don't know where I am. I said, the guy in front of you with the beige jacket,

I said, do you know him? He said, no. I said, go talk to him. She says, why? I said, I wanna hear if he has an accent. He said, oh, he has an accent. He's from Columbia. I said, okay.

So I miraculously appear, and I figured he's drinking with. I said, okay. So I miraculously appear, and I figured he's drinking with his right hand, so he's got to be carrying on the left. So I go to him, and I put my arm around him. I pull him close to me, and sure enough, I could feel the stovepipe. And I said, you looking for me? He said, no, no, Ma, no.

I said, let me just tell you something. You see over there? I killed your brother right over there. I'm going to kill you right here. And I could see his face distort. I said, these people have nothing to do with it. Why don't you and I go out in the alleyway, and I heard you're this and that and all that.

I said, why don't you challenge me, okay? And he loved the idea. He never got to the cubicle, because across my dance floor in the disco, there's a fire exit. So with the kick panel, I knew once I had him in there, I had to take him then. Because if I got outside, this guy was trained. I mean, this guy was a maniac.

So the autopsy ready died of drowning. I did a Don andella on him That was amazing So what was the You beat him I didn't beat him You know I took him In a shock position Because he was carrying

He knew he had me Right But as soon as I got him down I started jumping on him I totally destroyed his rib cage Which punctured his lungs He really did die of drowning But what I did do Before I left the room Because the statues Are over on that Totally destroyed his rib cage, which punctured his lungs. He really did die of drowning.

But what I did do before I left the room, because the statues are over on that, I took his, I took, I always wear a pocket hanky. I took his gun out and I laid it next to his hand. Just in case. Well, I mean. I wish I had my cell phone and took pictures and said, look at the guy drew on me.

So with your bare hands, you killed a guy with a gun. But I'm 10th degree Taichi Matsu. My hands are still. I'm 72. I move. I'm still very flexible. It's always, I have nine boys and seven grandsons. To me, it's always make sure you're in control.

You don't have to be tough. And I'm not a tough guy. Believe me, I'm not. But no, you killed three people. That's self-defense. I my children. I'm not. What would you what would you do if somebody wait a minute do if somebody threatened your children, if you have any?

What would you do? I think my children would be in a lot of trouble. Well, at least you're honest. The guy could come to me and say, hey, look, we'll kill you unless you want to blow me. And I go, all right. Just get me the knee pads. Now, this third guy. I can't talk about that.

You can't? Well, thank you for only talking about the two guys you killed, who you're able to talk about. I can talk about the third guy, but it was so early on in life. Save something for the second half. I was a kid. You were a kid, and you killed someone when you were a kid? When I was having my milk money stolen from me and being bullied in the school, you not being a tough guy killed a guy.

You should have went to school with me. You had your back. Now, how many children do you have? I have 11. Nine boys and two girls. So you don't believe in birth control obviously but what's control that's i believe in births i love children i love people you know now now but this i heard never cost you a dime

having all these kids who told you that you said all of these you that? You said all of these, I heard you said that all of these women that you knocked up were rich. Oh yeah, I didn't go anybody broke, but I had a 119 foot boat. You know how many houses I gave up? My last house was 10,000 square feet. I didn't give money, I gave properties.

Oh, so you really, there's no way you could get away. I don't care about nothing. The last house I left, I left 12 Briones hanging in my jewelry. I never went back. I don't argue. I hate arguing. To me, it's like crazy. We will return to Gilbert Gottfried's amazing, colossal podcast.

But first, a word from our sponsor. You went out. You dated... Oh, I want to hear this bullshit. You talking about Dionne Warwick? Yep. She's a dyke. I was like, dude, are you crazy?

Oh. So you didn't go out with her? I managed her off for about 15 years. Okay. And we're very close friends. She's a very nice lady. And we really shouldn't be talking about her, but no. You never nailed her.

What's nailing me? You're fucking her. No, no, no. Never nailed her. What's nailing me? That don't mean nothing. You're fucking her. No, no, no. Never fucked her. I don't talk about women that, you know, people say I was with Marilyn Monroe. I'm not going to talk about fucking her, no. That's all I want to know about. Did you fuck Marilyn Monroe?

I can't talk about it. I don't care about your career or anything. I don't have a career. Did you fuck? If I did, it's gone now. I feel like Senator Joe McCarthy. I know. I feel like have a career. If I did, it's gone now. I feel like Senator Joe McCarthy. I know. I feel like I'm my stepfather, Frank Costello.

Yes. Sir, will you answer my question? Did you or did you not fuck Marilyn Monroe? You know what? I should with you saying that, we should go to Godfather 2. I should get your brother from Italy sitting next to me.

And you will withdraw that question. And I want an apology. Let me try to restore some semblance of order here. Now, what about Liza Minnelli? Did you fuck Liza Minnelli, sir? Liza Minnelli and I, we used to party, man. Liza and I fell in love with the same girl. Oh, okay.

Is that weird? Here we go. Here we go. Emelita Esquival. I'll never forget it, man. So both you and Liza were in love with the same, did you fuck her together? Yes. You did?

Of course. So you, Liza, and this other girl all had a threesome? I'll tell you a better story than that. I can't imagine. Is there a better story than that? Oh, yeah. Liza and I destroyed Dionne Warwick's house. How did you and Liza Minnelli and some girl,

you were also, the two of you were fucking destroy Liza at Dionne Waller's house? It's funny because Liza and Dionne both worked at the Riviera Hotel. And Joe Torres owned it. He was out of Detroit. Every hotel was controlled by a family. With that said, Liza is staying in the house that Dion bought, was renting to the hotels for the stars to stay in. And it was all, I mean, flock and foil wallpaper. Shag rugs.

So we decided to have a fettuccine contest. Liza and I, she thought she cooked better than I cook. And the supermarkets, fortunately, they're open 24 hours a day. So we go get grocery carts. We can't see what our ingredients are. And we invite a bunch of people over. Now, there was a show called The Bare Touch of Vegas.

Don't ask me how I know all this shit. In the lounge at the Stardust and this girl, Emelita Esquivel. Emelita, if you're anywhere in the world,

I live in New York now. She used to come out of the ceiling on a silk rope in a cobra body skin. And I'm with Liza, and we both looked at each other. We said, we got to have her. Oh, my God.

You had to see. Forget the Kardashians' ass. This ass. Forget this. And we did. We partied for many weeks. So you and Liza Minnelli were both nailing this girl. Well, half the cast of Doctor Who.

And you knew Judy Garland, too. Oh, I love Judy. Tell us a little bit about that. You know what's so funny? Judy Garland was dating. How do you get all this shit? Judy Garland was. We do a lot of research.

Judy Garland was dating one of do you get all this shit? Judy Garland was. We do a lot of research. Judy Garland was dating one of my best friends, Jimmy Mack, who was a male model. And we used to go all the time to the apartment later on. It was like 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning. We'd leave jillies like whenever. And this one particular night, she just closed somewhere and she had all these roses and she was always stoned out of her mind. So we go there and we're all in the kitchen.

The son's coming up and she's in the kitchen cooking and she cut all the heads of the roses off and is mixing them in eggs, making a frittata with roses. The only reason I'm bringing it up, it's strange that we're just talking about her daughter.

And we're sitting down, and we're eating. It's all smoke and grass and what they're doing. And we eat this frittata. It was phenomenal. With roses? Roses, yeah. They are edible. They are? Sure. Okay. But you ready for this? Yes. Who comes out of the bedroom

is Liza and Joey, the original kids. That's how long I knew Liza. Joey Luft. Wow. Yeah. That was before Lorna. Right. But I've been on the streets of New York since the 50s.

Is that insane? And what city were you in when you were fucking Marilyn Monroe? That's a sad thing because, you know, Marilyn, I had to go to continuation school. It's so crazy.

And I wasn't 16 yet. So, you know, I'm not going to go to some plumbing school or something. I wouldn't get my hands dirty. So they sent me, they gave me what vocational school I can go to once a week. So I was always on, you know, Broadway anyway. And I always remembered Wilford Academy up on top of Lindy's on 52nd Street.

So I said, I'll go to the beauty school. So I paid the teachers off. I wasn't going to that school. I, I'll go to the beauty school. So I paid the teachers off. I wasn't going to that school. So I had the book downstairs. I worked with, you know, my guy who took me under his arm when I was 12 was Frank Costello. So he had everything. I was at the Star Club. I was at 21.

I was everywhere. Tootshaws. Tootshaws. If you saw the documentary Toots, did you go into that yet? Not yet. Okay, but Tootshaw, I mean, I brought him the three million,

the rebuilt from the Teamsters. I was like 17. So, I mean, it's a lot of shit. But anyway, I have to now. They're checking me out. So, these two faggots. Remember Kenneth? Kenneth and Mark Sinclair.

Kenneth, Jackie O built them a salon. He's a hairdresser to the stars. Yeah. And for Jackie O. So they gave me a job as a shampoo boy because I have to do 100 hours to get my license, and then I'd be 16, I'm out of there, and see you later.

The third head of hair I washed was Marilyn Monroe's. Now, I can imagine a kid 15 and a half years old. Oh, wait, stay close to the mic. 15 and a half years old Oh wait, stay close to the mic 15 and a half years old I'm looking at Marla Monroe And I didn't even know how long I was just staring at her Because she finally said Is there somebody in the room

Because at Lily Dashay's on 56th and Park You had a stand starched And they'd call you And they'd give you the card, nobody's name was on it And they'd tell you what rinse they wanted And this and that They'd give you all card. Nobody's name was on it. And they tell you what rinse they want and this and that. And they give you all the procedures for three days training. You have to get the water, touch their

wrist, all this bullshit. But I'm looking at Marilyn Monroe. The biggest sex symbol of all time. Amazing. This is the 50s, Johnny? Late 50s? Yeah. And that's when she was in the prime. No kidding. Yeah. So then, you know, and I'm looking at Marilyn Yeah. And that's when she was in the prime. No kidding. Yeah. So then, you know, and I'm looking at Marilyn Monroe.

I get an erection you cannot pass. Now I got to wash this lady's hair. And not only that, I got to towel dry her hair, wrap her, and walk her to the chair with these two fags waiting. Not even for her, but for my erection. I'm saying, well, how am I going to get away with this? It's insane. So then she started requesting me. I would imagine.

And then I went to the Waldorf one Saturday to wash her hair. Because they were hiding her out from Joe DiMaggio at that time. And I went there on a Saturday. I left on Monday. You figure it out. Wow. Now, what was that like to be there and know you're having sex with Marilyn Monroe?

Well, I mean, I can't lie. I came the first two seconds. Marilyn Monroe. lie. I came the first two seconds. Small of a draw. Yes! The sad thing, I was with her the last three days before she died. Up in Calneva. I knew that what Sam Giancana was doing,

and Sinatra got involved in it, which he had to because they were going to kill him. Sinatra was the go-between between the president and... Yeah, between Kennedy. Yeah. And how John Kennedy got elected was the deal he made with Costello. And the deal was, we'll get you all the votes. And Joe Sr. said, Kennedy, not Colombo, said that what we'll give you, we'll invade Cuba and give you the casinos back. And we all know that didn't happen. And then the biggest mistake John made was make Bobby attorney general. And he hated his whole father's presence and all that bullshit.

And he went after everybody that put his brother in office. And they got together and said, that's when Joe had the stroke. So they were going to try to do the same thing they did to Jimmy Hoffa. So when they brought Jimmy Hoffa to Chicago, they set him up and they got all the pictures of him cross-dressing and all that. And that's why until his deathbed,

he said there was no mafia. So they were going to do again with, and Sinatra lured them there. And Joe Kennedy showed up and so did Bobby. John didn't show. And at that time, Joe was in a wheelchair already.

And we're all around the pool. And what they did to Marilyn, I'll never forget Sam for that, and Gene Conner. I mean, they strung this girl out so bad. And she was screwed up to begin with. But they were trying to get John and Bobby one more time with her and film it, and that would bury.

It never happened. Three days later, she was with Bobby. I registered this in the United States Congolinary Congress in a book that I wrote because I have all the documents that nobody else can do. It'll prove I have it. Three days later, she was dead because she was going public

because John fucked with her, Bobby did, and she wasn't going to let it happen. And you put this in a book. Oh, it's in a book. And that's why when they wanted to exhume the body and all of that, it's all bullshit

because they used oxygen to kill her, first of all, and it wasn't the drugs and all the bullshit in the room. It was nothing. We all have, I forget the technical name of it, in our groin, an opium, one of the largest arteries. And all you have to do is put air bubbles in it,

and you'll die. So you exhume the body, she died of oxygen. So she was going to go public about fucking both Kennedys. After the Madison Square Garden birthday. Oh, wow. Were you at that? Yeah, Jackie went crazy because she wasn't there. And when Marilyn got up there and said,

happy birthday, present me, Jackie went fucking nuts. Because she already had meetings with Joe Sr. And when Marilyn got up there and said, happy birthday, President, that was it. Jackie went fucking nuts. But she already had meetings with Joe Sr. that she was going to leave him prior to the re-election. There would never be a Catholic president being re-elected if he got a divorce from his wife. I wish you could see the look on Gilbert's face. Yeah, yeah. Listeners. I wish we were videotaping this one.

Yes, this one, I don't know where to go. You've already got two murders that you can talk about. One you're not talking about. And fucking Marilyn Monroe. You've already got two murders that you can talk about, one you're not talking about, and fucking Marilyn Monroe. Other than that... I don't know how to do this, but let's go back to the Godfather. Fuck the Godfather. Fuck the Godfather. This guy's life is weirder and more violent than anything in the Godfather 1, 2, or 3.

You know, that's what happens, unfortunately. It's all good, though. Now, do you have any stories about Brando? I love Brando. Brando was the best, man. I got a great story about Brando because it was the first rehearsal. It was up at Patsy's Restaurant on the 119th. And it was brilliant that Francis said that.

And again, I've never been on a set or anything. I don't know protocol. And they said, you know, we're going to have a co-reading. The whole cast will be there. We'll all get to know each other. So I thought they were going to turn the air conditioning on. I don't know what the hell they're talking about. So we get there, and everybody's there. And I'm so impressed, not with the young kids,

but with Sterling Hayden and Richard Conti and John Morley and then Marlon Brando. And I always dress the way I dress. I never go out without a suit on. And these guys are coming with combat boots, and they needed baths. They looked so dead. They were unknowns.

Nobody knew who Pacino was. No, but Sterling Hayden was living on a barge in Paris, registered as an artist so they couldn't extradite him for tax evasion. I mean, this stuff was wild. And you forget that the cast of The Godfather, it's like now you look at it and go, ooh, Al Pacino and James Caan. They were nobodies. Nobody.

James Caan just got a lot of recognition from- Brian Song? Brian Song. But Pacino did one movie, Panic in Needle Park, that impressed Francis. Francis, that's how that deal, that's a deal. When they moved him from the gang that couldn't shoot straight and gave carmine carini that plot moved sunny uh james kahn to sunny and pacino got michael

that's how that happened and then robert de niro wound up playing al pacino's part in the gang that couldn't shoot straight. I know. So crazy. And, of course, De Niro auditioned for those roles. I know. All of them. Famous. Yeah. Yeah.

But what happened was, so now the first day I meet Brando. I mean, I love Brando on the waterfront, everything he did. So we all get up and say, hi, I'm Al Pacino. I'm playing Michael. And it goes around the table. We're all paired off as the family. So they come to me, and I say, you know, hi, I'm Johnny Russo. I'm playing Michael. And it goes around the table. We're all paired off as the family. So they come to me and I say, you know, I am Johnny Russo. I'm playing Carlo.

So we do. And we were told just to read. Don't do anything. I don't know how many actors are here or out in the audience. That's all you do in these table readings. And Francis had the idea we'll have all this food on the table. And he asked the Italians to exaggerate their mannerisms. So like James Conner, who's Jewish, Marlon Brando's Polish,

to see and pick up the things, all their actions. So we get the first break. Now everybody wanted to talk to Brando. I don't give a shit about Brando, nobody. I go, I went to the back room, there was a zigg Ed game that was always there and everybody knew me. I went to see everybody in the neighborhood. So Brando calls me over and everybody that wanted to talk to him, he didn't pay attention. But the moral of the story is why he did. So he calls me over and he says, you're playing Carlo. I said, yeah.

He says, you're a big TV actor. I said, no. He says, you have a big movie coming out. I said, no. He said, who'd you study with? I said, study what? He said, well, you're not on Broadway. I know everybody on Broadway.

I said, no, I'm not on Broadway. You're right. I'm on Broadway, but not in a play, you mean? So he calls Francis over, Francis Ford Coppola. He says, Francis, he says, this guy's playing Carlo. And Francis,

you know, I was a gift. He couldn't say anything about it. He says, yeah, I know. I said, Francis, do me a favor. He said, what? I said, let me talk Francis, do me a favor. He said, what? I said, let me talk to him. Because I could see where this guy was going. He was getting, you know. And I, you know the club.

I know Patsy's like, we used to go up there at four or five o'clock in the morning and get pizza. And I thought Tony Solero was joining. So I said to him, I said, come here a minute. I said, let me tell you something. And I didn let me tell you something and I didn't want anybody here and I don't again I didn't know protocol

I dismissed the director everybody's looking who the hell is this guy and then I put my arm around Brandon because I wanted to guide him where I wanted to go you can't touch him he's like God

so I take him out of earshot of everybody else and I turn to him and I said let me just tell you something I know who you are you fucked this of everybody else, and I turn to him, and I say, let me just tell you something. I know who you are. You fucked this up for me. You hear what I'm telling you? I'm going to suck on your fucking heart.

You hear me? Don't bust my fucking balls, man. This is my shot. I already told everybody I was playing this part. He steps back, and he says, you could do this part. That was great. He thought I was fucking acting. I was ready to knock him out.

You could do this part. That was great. He thought I was fucking acting. I was ready to knock him out. And we became the closest friends. And every day he would drive with me. The next thing, why he came to talk to me, the only reason he came to talk to me,

he didn't give a fuck about the movie. He says, whose car is that outside? I said, what car? He said, car. You came up in that outside? I said, what car? He said, car, you came up in that Bentley. I said, yeah. He says, because they all came up in Ford Station wagons, whatever the studio sent them. I said, that's my car.

He says, is that your driver? He says, yeah, because I had a Chinese chick drive me. So they used to drop me off at the Park Lane Hotel, and he was staying at the Elazay Hotel because he didn't want to be around us. And I never saw my driver until the next morning they came and picked me up. Every morning we'd go to Staten Island,

where the mall was the first 10 days we were on the wedding scene. And you'd have a little bottle of Cavasier, a little coffee, and he'd go to make it with Dick Smith for like three or four hours. And he screwed my driver for the whole movie. Now there's some great Godfather trivia. So he was into all those different ethnic exotic women.

Oh, I love it. He was the best. He was the best. We did The Freshman together, too. You know that. Oh. Michael LaBelle, Andrew Bergen. We did three films together.

I got very involved in films from that point on. I figured this is easy business. But most people don't realize, and this is Oscar week, and I just did an interview with somebody. I was in 45 movies that won 10 Oscars. Wow. Who else could say that? I'm not even an actor.

Now, I heard, was Brando also giving you pointers on acting? Yeah, no. I've had two teachers in my life in the business. Marlon Brando was my acting teacher, and my singing teacher was Frank Sinatra. Wow. And you were fucking Marilyn Monroe. my acting teacher, and my singing teacher was Frank Sinatra. Wow. And you were fucking Marilyn Monroe. Oh, yeah, and a couple of them.

This is like three. This is a trifecta. So Brando would get together with you and go? No, he wanted to know, because, I mean, obviously, they were really vested in this movie. Brando needed it as a resurrection for his career. And he worked with me on the whole closing scene.

I think the only scene, other than the physical scenes, was the closing scene with Pacino and I, who's an amazing actor. And obviously, I knew I was going to die. And Brando said to me, he said, how are you going to make this believable when you're 36 feet by 18 feet on the screen it's a close-up on you people are going to know you're bullshit and he started to teach me about it because I watched him even when he set up his office

he said put a fish tank here get me the. Because even though he was in control of this family, he wanted those subtleties where he's stroking his cat, he's feeding his fish. He says, when he hands you the airline ticket, he said, I want you to look down. Even though you know these guys are killers and you believe he's not going to make his sister a widow, look down and make sure there's a ticket.

These little subtleties, like they're going to waste $29 on an airline ticket. They don't give a shit. But all of that worked, man. And get a drink. When they give you the drink, don't drink it. Let Pacino put it up to your mouth. They're trying to calm you down

before you tell them who really approached you. They already knew it was either Barzini or Tattaglia. But, you know, that's the guy. So, acting lessons from Marlon Brando. Are you ready for this? Yes. The day we're shooting the scene, he was already released from the film.

So now he shows up. And everybody's going crazy because they thought on the call sheet somebody screwed up. And he only came up to see that I did it right. Wow. That's a great story. And he was there going, I'll teach you acting if you let me fuck that Chinese driver. That's already been done. Just give me that fucking Chinese girl,

and I'll teach you how to act. I didn't ask him to. He wanted to. That is amazing. It is amazing. Acting lessons from Brando. Isn't that amazing? Now, what about, now, James, there's that famous great scene where James Caan beats you up.

It's all full of shit. James Caan is tough. Are you fucking nuts? He's an asshole. James Caan. He thinks he's Sonny Cotillon, this guy. Yeah. And don't forget, this is my first film, so I don't know.

He chips my elbow, breaks my two ribs. I think, wow, this is a tough business. Did you rehearse that scene a lot? Hello. And block it? Really a lot. You had to. And then you got hurt anyway.

And then he ad-libbed that little bat. He wanted that bat. Right. The thing he throws at you when he gets out of the car. It gets me right in the freaking head. Right. I wanted to stop the you when he gets out of the car. It's me running the freaking ad. Right. I wanted to stop the scene, but I figured this is my first one. Let me make it go. Jimmy, Jimmy, I don't...

I mean, Jimmy, why not be nice? I'm the nicest guy in the fucking world. Leave me alone. Look, believe me, I would never be disrespectful to you. Just in a couple of... In the first two minutes of talking to you. Did he ad-lib biting your hand on the railing as well?

No, a lot of that. A lot of that. He did a great study, and a lot of it was written in the book. But, Jimmy, you're supposed to pull punches. but Jimmy, you know, you're supposed to pull punches, and which still pisses me off is the fact that they had cameras on, they had it covered every way. That one punch that he misses me, I react to.

Why did they leave that in the film? Yeah, it's always a strange shot. I know. But that aside, it looks like you're getting the hell beat out of you. Oh, no, and he did. Yeah. I mean, he did. So you hated James Gunn? I didn't hate him.

There was no reason to do what he did after I found out later. Because when I'm crawling out to the hydrant, that's when he dropkicks me. He lifts me up in the air. We choreographed that three days. You're supposed to touch me. I'll react to it. But he lifted me up, man. It was like my, you know, his fuck yous.

He was really pissed that I got that part. Because he studied. He went to dancing lessons. He's from Queens. Jimmy, you know. That explains a lot, John. I never went to any school, you know. Not even undergraded.

And what was it like working with Pacino? I love Pacino. Today. Al, we did Any Given Sunday. It was a big movie. Oh, wow. It was a big movie. That was one of the big return on that one.

No, I mean, it's crazy from a guy from Mulberry Street with no training how I did all these movies. I'm about to do a major movie. What are you doing now? I'm about to do the Whitey Bulger story. Good for you. Oh, my God. With Johnny Depp. That's great.

Congratulations. That was the one. Originally, The Departed is based loosely on Whitey Bulger. The Nicholson character is loosely based on Whitey Bulger. Yeah, he did. But they're taking it to another level. And I heard the real Whitey Bulger makes Nicholson look like a sweetheart. Like a puppy.

Yeah. Like DeMayo. He had a butcher shop with no meat. Who are you playing in the film, John? I can't tell you that. Well, don't push him on it, whatever you do. I have no intention of pushing him on it. You know what?

Here's what I'll do. If you're still on the air, I'll come back. We're shooting this summer in Boston. That would be wonderful. Well, that's the classic line, if you're still on the air. I know show business too well. Yes, believe me. I'm not going to disagree with anything he says, Gil.

No, no, no. I'm not arguing. What? Oh, whoa. Well, we have to... I thought one of my ex-wives walked in the room. We got to let our sound guys get to another gig. Oh, yeah, okay, please.

Thank you both for inviting me. Oh, thank you. I'm speechless. Yeah, believe me. I'm speechless. I'm scared. I'm fascinated. I'm everything. I'm a. I'm fascinated. I'm everything.

I'm a little turned on, quite frankly. I'll give you my number. Don't ever be afraid again. Yeah. As a matter of fact, I have an erection stronger than the one you had from Marilyn Monroe. Just hearing you talk. Godfather fans, this was a treat. Thank you, John.

Thank you. Appreciate it. So, we were talking to, we are still talking to Johnny Russo. And we're wrapping up now. This was, and we have to have you back for more. It'll be my pleasure. Yeah. Well, I thank God it's your pleasure, because I don't want to piss you off.

And thank you, Johnny Russo, Carlo in the Godfather. And I'm Gilbert Gottfried. And my cohost is Frank Santo Padre. And this has been the amazing colossal podcast. Thank you again, John. Thank you.