Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - 201. Marion Ross

Episode Date: April 2, 2018

Gilbert and Frank welcome "Mrs. C" herself, Emmy-nominated actress Marion Ross, who recalls her early days as a studio contract player, her struggles to find her footing in Hollywood, her curious methods of getting into character and her working relationships with Claudette Colbert, Noel Coward, Kirk Douglas and Charlton Heston. Also, Marion crushes on Clark Gable, confides in Cary Grant, sets sail with Tony Curtis and pays a call on Bogie and Bacall. PLUS: Marlene Dietrich eats lunch! Jose Ferrer makes his move! Ginger Rogers robs the cradle! And Marion remembers colleagues Tom Bosley, Pat Morita and Garry Marshall!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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or at participating Circle K stores. Hi, this is Ed Begley Jr. and you're listening to Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast. Hi, this is Gilbert Gottfried, and this is Gilbert Gottfried's amazing, colossal podcast.

I'm here once again with my co-host, Frank Santopadre, and we're recording at Nutmeg with our engineer, Frank Furtarosa. Our guest this week is a five-time Emmy nominee and much-admired TV and film actress who's been working steadily since the mid-1950s. And she isn't ready to stop yet. Operation Petticoat, Some Came Running, Teacher's Pet, Airport, Grand Theft Auto, Colossus the Forbidden Project, Music Within, and The Evening Star, which she earned her Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress. You've also seen her in dozens of popular television shows, including Life With Father, Route 66, The Outer Limits, The Love Boat, Brooklyn Bridge, The Drew Carey Show, King of the Hill, That 70s Show, The New Adventures of Old Christine, and Gilmore Girls. But she'll forever be known as the wise and supporting matriarch.

Supportive. And supportive. Best supporting matriarch. Marion Cunningham on Gary Marshall's iconic series, Happy Days. She shared the big and small screen with Ginger Rogers, Tony Curtis, Lauren Bacall, Noel Coward, Frank Sinatra, Bernie Capel, and of course our pals Donnie Most and Henry Winkler. Her new memoir is called My Days, Happy and Otherwise, and we couldn't be happier that she decided to schlep to the studio and speak with us. Please welcome to the podcast a talented, versatile performer and a woman who once gave Clark Gable a love note written on an Easter egg. Mrs. C herself, Marian Ross.

I have never been introduced so gloriously. Fabulous. Fabulous. Fabulous. Of course, now I have nothing to say. You've done a lot, Marion. Well, thank you, darling. I have, but because I am now, I am, I forget, I'm 89. Isn't that something?

Bless your heart. Bless your heart. Isn't that something? Bless your heart. Isn't that something? My goodness. And pretty well, pretty fit. So any day now, it could be over. You look great to us. We should tell our listeners that we're looking at you.

This is obviously an audio-only podcast, but we have a Skype hookup with LA, and you look wonderful to us. Oh, thank you, darling. Thank you. We're looking at Mrs. C. Mrs. C? Yeah.

E! Well, I tell you, it was an extraordinary time, because when I meet children who are now in their 50s, you know, there's total recognition. Everything is fine. Then there's another bunch that say uh no they they don't connect and then when they find out that i am spongebob squarepants grandma oh yeah voice oh oh they start to shake they show me their funny looking underwear you know and they're just all really great do you find that that kids, because the show is always on somewhere.

Do you find that kids are watching it, young kids? No, they watch SpongeBob. They watch SpongeBob, but they don't know you from Happy Days. No, they really don't. And Happy Days was shown all over the world. Yeah, and still is. You know where it was really a big hit was Italy. Italy. They loved it

because of the Fonz. Arthur Fonzarelli. And the Fonz is very famous there and I've been there several times to be honored and it's really adorable. You'll find a little old man handling all the suitcases and something by

a pier in Venice and he is, I hear him humming to himself. Dun, dun, dun, dun, happy days. Dun, dun, dun, dun, happy days. Didn't say a word to me, but I thought, well, it's cute. You know, we were watching. We have so many questions that we can ask you, Marion, about happy days. But I was showing Gilbert and his wife, Dara, the wonderful bloopers of you, of Henry. That was, we spent most of our time making the bloopers.

You know that. Yeah, yeah. Because it was children at play. We got the show done, but most of the time was spent playing with, you know, making up stuff. Yeah, there's a great clip. It's online on YouTube of Henry chasing.

You spray him with whipped cream in the kitchen, then he chases you across the set spraying you with whipped cream. But what really stood out for us is a great little bit that the two of you worked out where you and Tom Bosley and Ron Howard and Aaron Moran, you're all in a scene in the living room, and you're acting out the scene. But do you remember this? You're taking moments to make out with the fonts the fonts is helping me on with my coat and just and then and they would reach around and kiss me on the mouth then it

would help me with my coat a little more and then kiss me again and tom now we have live audience out there tom would just freeze you know i can, I could see him getting so mad, getting so mad at me. So, oh, so we have a wonderful, you know, footage of that, you know, until the audience got really nervous, and then we had to stop. Oh, really? They would get uncomfortable? Yeah, they did. They froze.

There's also a clip of you coming down the stairs from Fonzie's apartment. Fastening your dress. Putting yourself back together, as it were. Oh, I tell you, it was children at play. It really was. And, you know, we also had a softball team. Yes. And we played, I mean, a very serious softball team.

I had a uniform. I had my own bat and my shoes and my mitt. And I played rover. And we played softball in front of the media guys in ball fields all over the United States. And then one time we went over to Germany and played for the. infantry in Germany on this base up in Gebelstadt or something. And it was fantastic because here we would meet these troops. We have all this battle makeup on. They were all lined up to do maneuvers. Here comes the whole cast of Happy Days in our red baseball suits down the thing.

And these boys are not supposed to break rank at all. And here we come. We've had wonderful experiences. And then we went to Okinawa and we played softball in Okinawa with the U.S. Marines. Wow. Unbelievable. Yeah. And we'll talk more about happy days later.

Yeah. And we'll talk more about happy days later. But whenever someone's collection of these cards. I should have brought one. You were wonderful. You hit great, he says. You hit great. And coming around the base with your red hair flying, you were great, you know. So I had a collection of these because he would send me a big bouquet of flowers

and a lovely card. So it was, how many people, and I was 50, 55 years old. I would say to my neighbors, oh, I'm sorry, I can't go to lunch. I have to go to baseball practice. He pays you such a nice compliment in the book, Mary, because, you know, Gilbert and I talk about how Hector Elizondo turns up in every Gary Marshall movie. Yeah, yeah. and i always thought it was because he was a good luck charm yeah some kind of talent but he said that he needed somebody sane and somebody calm and

somebody reasonable and rational on every set that he could go to with his problems and so that's why hector elizondo and he said you were that on happy Days. I was. You were his Hector Elizondo. I was like the mother, you know. And Tom Bosley was feisty, little guy, you know. So he's a little more feisty. But I was a calming influence because that's what mothers are. But, boy, we had an awful lot of fun. And by adding baseball to that, it brought us together, kept us together.

We would travel together on the buses. Well, like when we went up to play San Francisco before the San Francisco game, we all went to a restaurant. And Henry pretended that this was a mafia place. So he comes out of the men's room and, you know, machine gun all of us down and other guests who were there just had to kind of put up with it.

But we played and nobody would start any one of these dinners until the whole company was there. They'd wait. They'd wait for you. That's nice. Come on, you're late. We're waiting for you.

It's nice to like your coworkers, isn't it, if you're going to work for them for that, work with them for that longer period of time. Well, we did become a family. I can remember sitting backstage one time, and we've got to wait about ten minutes before we really start, but they've assembled us all. So we're telling stories

and Tom is saying, you know, he's saying, you know, your mother, something. mother something and i said tom i'm not their mother you know by that time we could completely forgotten you had to remind them i wasn't yes we'll come back to happy days like gilbert said but i was telling uh i was telling gilbert and dara about your days as a contract player uh which which is fascinating it's a fascinating part of the book. I mean, we could go, we could go way back to Minnesota and we will,

and we will to do that in a bit, but the, the, the days on the lot. Explain to us what a contract player, but people who don't know what that was back then. They would have a young talent department and they would sign up young people that they thought they were going to be comers and you got paid 150 a week well i had been making

30 a week at bullocks filing pieces of paper filing sales slips so now i $150 a week. And I remember that my agent, it's a long story, but anyway, he's now, he's taking me. Now he said, now we will try Paramount. We're going to Paramount. And apparently I said to him, as we went through the big DeMille gate, well, this will be just as good. I hadn't a clue that you couldn't do this. You were 24? Do I have that right, Marion, when you got the contract?

I was 22 when I first went there because I was a college graduate. And what's interesting to me is that I was very connected to the Globe Theater in San Diego. So Craig Noel called up the Pasadena Playhouse and

got me into a play called Journey to Jerusalem by Maxwell Anderson. And I played the Virgin Mary, which was perfect for me. And the boy Jesus, the 12-year-old boy Jesus, was played by Sylvie Drake, who became the drama critic in the L.A. Times. Wow.

So we go back, you know, all those 70 years. And my agent sent a talent scout out to see the play. And I think they both went to the same temple. I think somebody owed somebody a favor. So the next thing I know, I'm coming into the studio to audition for a contract at Paramount. Oh, that's how you got the screen test. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a fascinating journey. And when I did the screen test, one of the grips, and I'd worked so hard on the screen test, came up to me with his greasy little hand and he shook my hand and he said, you should thank your mother. Wow. Now, to me, that rings that is profound. I was so different from all those other girls, you know? I don't know. And, of course, we jump all over the place. Before you came to L.A., and when you were a little girl,

when did you first get the acting bug? When I was about 13, 14, I would go in the library, plus loving the movies, of course, and read, at first I would read Who's Who of Famous People. It's a big book, Who's Who of Famous People. And they're born and blah, blah, blah, and then they're famous. And you think, well, what happened in there? So I remember reading Noel Coward's autobiography,

Present Indicative was the name of it. So he was like nine when he was starting, and I'm like 13, and I'm not getting anywhere. So what I love is that take me back, take me to 25 years old. Now I am at CBS in blithe spirit with Sir Noel Coward and I'm playing Edith the Cockney Maid with Claudette Colbert, Lauren Bacall, Mildred Natwick. And isn't that something?

It's mind-blowing. It shows you determination. Yeah. Well, it also reminds me of the Shirley Temple story in the book, too. Tell Gilbert that. Because that's another one of those stories where it kind of comes full circle. So I'm doing the Hollywood, we're doing the Rose Bowl parade, all the TV moms. I'm doing the Hollywood, we're doing the Rose Bowl Parade, all the TV moms.

And the grand marshal of the parade that year was Shirley Temple. And apparently she'd done it several times before. So I thought, Shirley Temple, well, I so wanted to meet her. And so we were all in this big mansion waiting for the parade to start early, early in the morning. And I go up to her and I've got my arms spread out because I wanted to hug her. And she said, don't mess me up. Mess me up. I stepped back now like I'm practically crying because I thought, so that's all in the book. Isn't that fun?

Well, to be shut down by Shirley Temple. Well, I know. And then so before the morning was over, the next hour was over. My press agent, Dale Olson, was over there talking to Shirley Temple. And Shirley Temple said, is that that mother from Happy Days? I mean, my God, she knew who I was. Is that that mother? And Dale said yes. And she started to sing, dun, dun, dun, dun, Happy Days.

And he said, don't you do that or I'll start to sing the good ship lollipop. What I was referring to, Marion, specifically was in the book that you had a Shirley Temple doll as a kid that you loved. We did. We did. My sister had a bad case of the flu and my father, don't know how old i was i'm very very young four maybe my father went to the drugstore and they had a contest and the contest was for a 22 inch shirley temple doll oh in her beautiful dress and her curls and everything and you had to buy a key and you could open a lock and you could win this doll. My father bought one jar of Vicks Vapor Rub.

By God, the key opened the lock and we had that Shirley Temple doll for years and years. Yeah, I love the part in the book where you say you actually get to meet her. And you flash back to your father and you thought what what what he what he must have what he would have thought for me to finally get to meet shirley temple and i felt the same way i was just turned to jelly yeah it's kind of the magic of show business yeah and it's it's like the noel coward story because these are these are mythical people to you as a child. And you know, when the whole big live TV show was over, Noah Coward said, a million would you like to come to a little sit-down supper

at Lauren Bacall's house, Humphrey Bogart's house. So I don't know, okay. And by that time, Noah Coward was having a fight with Claudette, so she didn't come to the party. And Lauren Bacall couldn't come to the party because Bogey was very sick. So I got to sit with Clifton Webb, Noel Coward, me, and Mildred Natwick.

And Porter would say to Clifton, tell that wonderful story about when you and the Lunts were doing such and such. I thought I died and went to heaven. Yeah. So did you spend any time with Bogart? Not very little. But when I came in, he was playing with his children in the entry room and saying, I'm so glad I don't have to read today. Because we were going to all read the script at their house.

Yeah. And like he would have been nervous to do that. But he was just busy playing with his children. Were you still, were you having those moments like, I can't believe I'm this kid from Minnesota that used to look these people up in the library and I'm ringing the doorbell and Humphrey Bogart's answering the door? I did, but I got a chair. First of all, the butler said, what do you want to drink? You know? And I said, like I knew, I said, scotch and water.

You know, it's like a... I got, once I got the lay of the land, I thought, even though I played the maid, you know, I got a little chair and sat right down at Noel Coward's knee so that I could eye to eye with him when we read the script. You know, I couldn't believe it.

And that's something. You like Lauren Bacall, but you didn't care so much for Claudette Colbert. Fair to say? You really read the book. You really read the book. I look for the dirt, Marion.

I look for the dirt. I know. I have no dirt in my life. There was a little. A little bit. Very little. Yeah. But Lauren Bacall was a real babe, and she was thrilled to be working with Noel Coward,

and she still was a young enough actress. She's only about two or three years older than I was at the time, married to Bogie, and had two little kids even. So my God, it's amazing. So Claudette had known Noel Coward for years and years and years and years. So what Claudette would do is we would just get rehearsing well. And of course he wrote it, he knew it. It would come tripping out of him so fast.

And she would carry a few pages, you know, and a scarf and drop either the scarf or one of the pages and also have just to interrupt all the time and also have questions to ask. So just as we got flowing, that would be one of those interruptions. So that finally, it just took a week, a week of this. You're doing a live television show. So everybody is so cooperative and professional.

And so till no card finally said, oh, that shot to a fucking face. So you'll have to bleep that. No, we bleep that. The language is... We allow that language on the show, Marion. Yeah. So from then on, I stayed away from her as much as I could.

And all she said was, shut my fucking face. Shut my fucking face. Was it shocking to hear that coming out of Noel Coward? All I know is it was war with them from then on. It was war. And what

was the Clark Gable love note? Oh, you guys have really read the book. I was in Teacher's Pet with Doris Day oh yeah we know that movie well I don't know how you do

but George Seaton was a friend of mine somehow through the business and so I got cast as that and it was Easter time so I colored an egg and wrote on there MR loves CG.

It's sad. I was probably 25, 26 years old. My God. But he was just such a giant, just a giant talent. And then I was afraid to give it to him. So I gave it. He had an assistant called alabam alabam there's this great guy that fronted him you know so i would give it to alabam to give

the egg to clark cable oh so then he's he made a little circle like he got the egg and, you know, right on, liked it. Oh, he gave you the approval. Yeah, but I have a wonderful picture with him, you know. That's nice. I found it interesting. It'll be in the book. It'll be in the book, yeah. I found it interesting that William Holden did nothing for you.

You worked with William Holden, and you respected him as an actor, but you didn't get a movie star vibe the way you did from Gable. No, isn't that interesting? Yeah. No, it's like it's interesting movie star vibe the way you did from Gable. No, isn't that interesting? Yeah. No, it's like, it's interesting to see who has sex appeal and who doesn't. God. Sex appeal, I guess, but not for me so much. Interesting.

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going for a run or just running late do what life throws your way and smell like you didn't find secret at your nearest walmart or shoppers drug mart today if they hear you they want you or Shoppers Drug Mart today. Shh. If they hear you, they want you. Run. A Quiet Place, day one, June 28th. Get tickets now. Gilbert and Frank, we can't live without you. da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da Now back to the show. Gilbert and I are fascinated by the studio, the contract player days.

Can we go back to that? Yes. Now, you would show up for work every day. You'd get your hair and makeup. Was Edith Head dressing you? Yes. What was she like? Another legend.

Absolutely. And she would say, you know, one of your shoulders is a little low. Okay. I mean, you have to be perfect. So they put a little pad in the shoulder. And then then she would say, now, your legs. OK, here with the legs. I try to wear the highest heels you could possibly stand because that will make your legs look better. OK. And so most of us girls did in those days. Who was in the Golden Circle?

Tell Gilbert, because this is interesting too. Barbara Rush was in the Golden Circle. Who's still with us. Uh-huh. Yeah. And lots of them have passed on through. Carolyn Jones. Carolyn Jones was.

Yeah. And also a little girl named Catherine Grandstaff. And she came up from Texas and she was so interesting. She was a little beauty queen or something. And but she when she talked to you, she would stand so close, so close to you. A close talker well how unusual anyway she ended up guess who she ended up snapping up uh uh bing crosby she became bing crosby's young wife you remember the last one oh my god catherine crosby right but she was a starlet she started out that was catherine grandstaff so catherine crosby So they're paying you $150 a week. You show up for work every day. Edith Head is dressing you when you're getting your hair done,

but you're basically in the system. You're on the lot. You're part of show business, and yet you're feeling inadequate. You're feeling like you don't belong. You have no function. You have nothing to do no you have no function you you have nothing to do you have no function you can have lunch try to think of something interesting to say at lunch you know here's Marlene Dietrich comes swooshing into the into the lunchroom you know and here's James Mason over there and here's C.B. DeMille around the corner in this little alcove i mean this was a

really wonderful dining room and it wasn't just for the hoi polloi it was for the really big stars and we were there we had our own circles uh the golden circle table right in the middle of the room and our pictures were up on the wall with all all the other big stars wow but but you you started to feel like you didn't fit like well and there's that audrey hepburn story too in the book where you saw her under the hair dryer and you compared yourself to her because you were similar ages exactly we were just about the same age and under the the hairdryer next to me, there's just two of us up there, this girl stands up and up and up and up.

Because she was very tall and gracious, charming. You want to die. She was so wonderful. And I went right out and bought two candy bars and ate them right away. But a lot of people also had the opposite view with the studio system of like, oh my God, I can't believe I'm employed by a studio every single day it's very unusual it's it's i don't know that they do that anymore they would sign up a bunch of young talent apparently that was not very much money so uh hoping that one of us had hit and become a star but but the first i was the only picture i was in

was called forever female with ginger rogers william holden paul douglas uh jesse jesse white jesse white that's a name we respond to on this show marion i know jesse white how about james gle? He's in that. And Jimmy Gleason. We love him. So it was thrilling to be in this. And the director, Irving Rapper, I am playing. They went to New York and got a girl who was about my age but from New York.

And that was Pat Crowley. And they got Pat Crowley to do the lead. I got to play her friend. I get to be the friend. So the director would say to me, he thought I looked like Greer Garson. So he'd say, Miss Garson, what do you think

about that? You know, what we were doing. Well, I'm a college graduate, you know, so I would have opinions, you know, so I would have opinions, you know, about the script. Nobody else interjected with opinions.

Next day, the Irving rapid would say, and Ms. Garson, what do you think about that? So I would have some more opinions. It took a little while. I'm slow. I'm so slow to realize that he was making fun of me. But he respected you because you spoke out.

Well, yes. And can you remember anything about Jimmy Gleeson and Jesse White? Well, they just were awfully funny. Awfully funny and wonderful. And Jesse White was very easy to talk to and very much fun. They were fun. It was, I must

say, that was Hollywood the way you want to see Hollywood. And most of the scenes that I was in mostly was shooting we made Sardi's we we designed Sardi's restaurant in New York so I was in that big scene and uh it just was and it was wonderful to watch Ginger Rogers too because she was dating a very handsome young man, probably 20 years younger than she was. So that was all kind of fun

to see that whole business going on, you know? It's interesting to read in the book, Mary, in which people, which stars kind of gave you the cold shoulder. Like you said, Deborah Carr just straight out ignored you. Yeah, she had nothing. Well, she didn't have any reason to. Because when I, I was going to be in this picture once again it was george seaton i forgot the name of the movie the proud and the

profound the profane yeah and so we're going to go on location all the way and i flew all by myself with mr semphal and the grounds, the tree man. He moved trees around, Mr. Sempflendorfer, and I threw, took for days to get all the way to, like, Miami. And then we got another plane to fly to the Virgin Islands. So by the time we got there, it was like 2 or 3 in the morning. there, it was like two or three in the morning. And when I got off the plane, the press agent from Paramount who was there, pretty drunk he was, pretty drunk. And he thought I was Deborah Carr. So I'm so polite and well brought up that he gave me a big orchid in a cellophane box and a big hat, a big sombrero.

And by the time I could get, I didn't want to embarrass him, but by the time I could get anything out, I am hooshed into a big limousine and I'm on my way to the Carribe Hilton Hotel. And I'm thinking, there was nobody but me in the, so I thought, well, I should tell somebody. I should really speak to somebody about this. But the next thing I know, we're at the beautiful hotel. They take me upstairs to this huge suite and open electronically. The curtains open up. The sea is all lit up down below with rocks all lit up. It was fantastic. And then the phone rings.

The phone rings. It's terrible. Terrible. It's been a terrible mistake. So they said, but you can stay here. I said, no. I said, where's Mr. Stempelter for staying? I'd rather stay where he's staying.

Yes, he's in another hotel. So I got the hell out of there fast, fast, because I didn't want to be running into her in the hall. That's a fun story. You know, I never met anybody who knew George Seaton, who's one of my favorite directors. He made Miracle on 34th Street. What a lovely man.

Wonderful man. And put his own money into that movie too, which is an interesting story. What was your experience with Thelma Ritter since you worked with her several times?

And she's somebody who comes up on the show. Oh, yes. I didn't have any dealings with her, but what a heck of an actress. Heck, sorry. No, I have no story to tell.

Mm-hmm. And you worked on Operation Petticoat with Tony Curtis and Cary Grant. What was that like? And Blake Edwards. I know. It was extraordinary. And so we went all the way to Key West, Florida.

And one afternoon, Tony was arranging a party, and I got invited to this party. And he has a whole big yacht, huge big yacht, and he comes out on the deck, and he's got his captain's hat on and his full uniform. He is really living it up. And, okay, so we all go, a bunch of us, not everybody, not everybody, but we were all U.S.

We were Navy nurses, so there weren't so many of us. So we all went on this trip. When we get out into the Caribbean, it was so choppy and so awful, even though we've all waved gaily to the crowd on the dock out there in the ocean, we all got seasick just like almost immediately. And there was a huge banquet just go to waste. So we spent the night on the ship. The next morning, we all woke up and everybody played poker and it was great. And Janet Leigh was there too, and I really felt kind of strange and out of it, not too hep. I never felt very hep in the midst of all these things.

And then I was working on this picture, and I didn't have my period, so I'm thinking, I think I could be, I think maybe I'm pregnant, you know. And I thought, they said, now you're going to have to go down in this submarine. I thought, I don't think, I don't think I should go down in that submarine because maybe, you know, when it happened, anything happened to anything happened that I'm pregnant. So one morning I'm sitting up on the top of the conning tower of this submarine parked by the pier, the edge, and Coney, Cary Grant was down there,

and he came up and sat down beside me, and I said, I don't think I should go down in the submarine because I'm going to have a baby. Oh, he said, you are, you are. He started to cry. And this was before he ever had a child. And now he has Jennifer, his daughter Jennifer. So I've had these wonderful experiences.

You made Cary Grant cry. Wow. I did. That's a cool thing. You know, I have to ask you, Marion, all these credits, and this is interesting because a lot of these are uncredited roles. You're in Lust for Life with Kirk Douglas. Yeah.

You're in Around the World in 80 Days with David Niven. Do you remember these experiences and did you interact with these people much or as a as a bit player were you kind of with with kirk douglas i i was a nun at the very end of the movie when he goes to arl i remember the scene and i'm in full nuns outfit and it's all pressed against your ears. And when you have that full habit on, you're like if you're in a tunnel, and you can hear your own voice inside. And Vincente Minelli would talk to me, and he talked to me so close,

and he would, like, mesmerize me and then put me into the scene. And it was wonderful. I was like, I was scene, and it was wonderful. I was like, I was this nun. It was wonderful. So later, I thought I could see in the trades that Kirk Douglas was going to make a movie called Lizzie with Eleanor Parker. So I thought, well, I'll write him a letter and say, I would like to meet you out of my habit. Well, I got a phone call right away. I got a phone call right away.

I was so shy while I was there that he had nothing to say to me. I had nothing to say to him. So it was like. Hilarious. So sad, but he gave me a part in the picture anyway. No, he gave me a part. You're also in a movie called The Secret of the Incas with Charlton Heston. Do any of these ring a bell?

Yes, yes, because Charlton Heston. So I somehow either I had a very small part. It was not important. But somehow I got to be kissed by Charlton Heston. And it's been burned onto my lips ever since. Oh, that's great. Isn't that something? That's a great story. And it's been burned onto my lips ever since. Oh, that's great. Isn't that something? That's a great story. What about Walter Brennan?

You made a movie called God is My Partner. Oh, I did. What a complicated, wonderful old man he was. Wonderful. Yeah. I played a lawyer. Yeah. Terrific actor.

Walter Brennan. And tightwad. He had every penny ever made. Really? Yeah. I played a lawyer. Yeah. Terrific actor. Walter Brennan. That's fabulous. And tightwad, he had every penny ever made. Really? Yeah. Isn't that interesting? That sounds familiar. Yeah. Yeah.

And what part, which episode of The Outer Limits? Do you have a memory of that? You did so much television. I do, because I was, Richard Nye, who used to be married to Greer Garson, very briefly, was in it.

And he played a man who had gills, actual gills on his neck. So he was a sort of a aquatic throwback of some kind. So it was weird. And McDonald's Carrie was in it. Oh, sure. McDonald's Carrie. People put shows. Yeah, good shows.

Do you remember making the big circus with Victor Mature and Red Buttons? I don't think I was in that. Oh, okay. Cross that out. Okay. My information is bad. How about Some Came Running with Frank and Dino

and Shirley MacLaine, who you would go on to work with so memorably? Yes. Well. Evening Star. See, I'd already worked for Vincent DiMinelli on Lust for Life. So now, once again, they needed a nun. So now I'm a nun again. So you specialized in playing nuns.

And mothers. So I go in, and the one scene, Dean Martin is sitting up in the hospital with his cowboy hat on or something, and he's teaching the nun how to play poker. So he's teaching me to play poker. Then Frank Sinatra comes in. He's not even in the scene.

And he comes in the scene and he said to Dean Martin, oh, great. I've never met a nun before. This is great. I was so flustered by them that I just got out of there fast. Gilbert brings up Outer Limits. You did so much television, so much great television. I mean, Zane Grey Theater and Thriller, Karloff Show. Oh,

geez. The Fugitive. Yeah, did them all. I think Ed Platt was in that Outer Limits episode, by the way. Route 66, Rawhide, The Detectives, Felony Squad, The Untouchables. Anything stand out? All of them. All of them are good.

All of them are good. All of them are good. Yeah. Because a lot of them were, and I was a character actress, and they were all very good character roles. Very good character roles. And you go on location, you know. So. Do you remember? Go ahead.

Very serious. I was a very serious actress until Happy Days came along, you know. I never did comedy before. Well, I should also say that you would, in the book, your goal was the theater. Your goal was the legitimate stage. And there's one line in the book where you say, I didn't even want to do movies, let alone television. No, no. I wanted to go to do the theater in New York on Broadway.

And I did go with Jose Ferrer. Yeah, in 1958, you made it to Broadway. Ah, now that brings up a story. We will return to Gilbert Gottfried's amazing, colossal podcast after this. Navigating adulting isn't always easy. You're not just working, you're working late. And dinner dates are all, what's your five-year plan? And you're thinking, paying off the bill for this fancy pants meal probably.

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adventure at OttawaTourism.ca So, any stories about Jose Ferrer? I was crazy about him, but you had to keep moving you had to move fast especially fast hands huh especially backstage in the dark you know so so it was nip and tug if he ever did catch me sometimes he said listen do you think your husband could play tennis on the weekend? I would think, oh, God.

But I thought he was swell. I did. Terrific actor. Oh, my God. Yeah. And a presence, a great presence in the room. You know? Wonderful. And you came back to Broadway, if I have this right, 30 years later to do Arsenic and Old Lace?

Because this was 58 that you did the play with Jose Ferrer. I did. I did with Gene Stapleton. Yes. We've talked about that show. I think Abe Vigoda was in that cast. Abe!

Abe was in it. Abe. I love Abe. Yeah. It was, it was, and we were on a national tour. Yes.

That's something I had never, ever done. Ever. How, not something I had never, ever done. Ever. Not only I'd never been on Broadway, but to be on a national tour, you know, you'd go and you'd spend a month in each big city. Gilbert, guess who else was in that cast? Oh, who? Bill Hickey.

Wow. He was in New York, and that's when Abe Vigoda replaced him. Oh, okay. But who was on it? it was Larry Storch. Larry Storch. And he became my best friend. Larry Storch was Einstein. He was in the Peter Lawrence.

My great pal. In fact, I just talked to him last week. Oh, you're friends with Larry. Yes, he lives in New York. Yeah, we had him on the podcast. He just had a birthday. I know it. He's just wonderful.

He was one of the first people we talked to on this show, Marion, back in 2014. Yeah, we adore him. And I think it was Larry Storch who was friends with Tony Curtis. He's in Operation Petticoat. Yeah. And Larry Storch advised Tony Curtis, out of being a good friend, that he shouldn't try to pursue an acting career. Oh, God.

Isn't he the best guy? We had the best fun together, honest to God. Yeah. Yeah. Gilbert spoke at Abe's service. Did you? Yeah. He eulogized in a funny God. Yeah. Yeah. Gilbert spoke at Abe's service. Did you? Yeah, he eulogized in a funny way. Yeah, his daughter wanted me to speak,

and I just kept doing jokes about how old he was and everything. And they—I was a big hit at the funeral. Well, you remember the joke about Abe, Marion, was that he had died before so many times. And this is funny. This is something you may have in common with Abe. I was looking you up on the internet, and there were a bunch, as you always find on the internet,

so there were a bunch of websites announcing that you died. Oh, me? Yes. Oh. Are they dated? Right now we're talking to the late Marion Ross. Oh, God. God.

Well, was I? Why? Why did I die? I don't know, but on the internet, every couple of weeks, there's someone who's alive and well who they announce as being like Eddie Murphy died a couple of years ago. You're in good company, Marion. Good. Was our pal Tony Roberts in that production too? No. Arsenic and Old Lace?

No. No. And he may have entered it. He was probably in the previous. Before or after. Yeah. Yeah. No, we had Gary Sandy.

Oh, Gary Sandy. He went on the road with us. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But just to work with Storch and Abe. And Gene and I became so close. Gene Stapleton. Gene Stapleton. Oh.

We're big fans. He became a great, great pal. We're big fans. She became a great, great pal. We're big fans. Yeah. Well, I've had, I have had a wonderful life and the fact that I'm, I am really retired now

in case there are any casting people, you know, with any big ideas because sometimes I can't, I'll have to say to somebody, what is that line? What is that? What do I say? I see on your IMDb page, you've got, you've got productions. There's, there's something on there for 2017 and 2018. Well, I, I went off to do a play in, I, I, I go to Kansas city all the time, to Overland Park, to do plays at the new theater for my friends Richard Carruthers

and Dennis Hennessy. So I was in a play with them, and I said, you know, children, I'm tired, and I don't want to die this way, so I want to quit the play. No, no, no. They said, we'll make it easier for you but I quit it. I quit it because

you know we kind of know and it's so interesting is I don't care one bit. I can watch all my contemporaries doing these things and I think oh good for you. Good for you.

Did you see the movie, if you're not in the old biddy breakfast, did you see Carl Reiner's movie? No, I didn't. It's all about nonagenarians. It's all about people in their 90s like Carl and Mel Brooks and Norman Lear who are still going strong. Yeah. But, you know, we're not quick.

We're not quick. The stuff is in there, but sometimes I have to find it. And if there's a timer going on, I can't. Maybe, you know. Can we throw a couple other wild cards at you while we got you? Sure. Do you remember making a TV movie

with Phil Silvers and Jack Benny? Yes, I do. The slowest gun in the West. I do because I was playing. It was a rough set. It was all guys. It was a rough set. I'm this fair maiden.

And this is a live show. It's big comics. So I just had to hang on. So they were funny in real life. Oh, very funny. And so they were funny in real life. Oh, very funny. And, you know, setting each other up all the time. Very competitive. Very competitive.

All right. What do you want, Blake? I'll show you what I want, Sheriff. I want her. I want her. Well, Sheriff? I want her. Victor! Well, Sheriff? Well, Sheriff? Gentlemen, remove your hats.

You have just witnessed the most beautiful demonstration of true love you'll ever see. True love? demonstration of true love you'll ever see true love elsie may mr blake here came in here with so much love in his heart for you he was willing to face certain death my guns just to prove it i'm engaged to you you're a lucky girl elsie may i thought you loved me i do but compared to him I do, but compared to him, I gotta step aside. You're gonna let him get away with it? Why, the easiest thing to do would be to gun him down. But I'd rather step aside than be known as the man who snuffed out this great love.

What abyssal you're gonna regret this to your dying day? Come on. Wait a minute. Don't you speak to me again. you worked with so many people i mean and your tv work in the 50s and 60s alone you work with robert vaughn ray milan clint eastwood lee marvin barbara stanwick Lee Marvin, Barbara Stanwyck, Bert Lahr. Yes, right. And I think, I don't have a program from that or a script. I think little Ron Howard was in that also. Eleventh Hour. Wow. Yes, Ron Howard. You're very young, Ron Howard.

Yes. Yeah. And you worked with Clint Eastwood. Yes, on Rawhide. Eastwood. Yes, on Rawhide. And you know, I wasn't, he was so,

he was so tough on the director. Wow. Interesting. I never quite, I never quite got over that. I think the director could have been gay a little bit. I don't know. You know, he just, and I thought, I don't like to see that. I don't like to see that.

I don't like to see that. That's interesting. Isn't it? Did you know William Shaller, too? He was another an actor who was in Some Came Running with you. Yes. And he was a lovely man. Yeah.

Lovely, lovely man. President of the Screen Actors Guild. Well, and he was a reviewer for the L.A. Times. That's right. That's right. We were very close to having him here. Yeah. We almost had him on

the podcast uh no he's a lovely man but tell gilbert this because it's so interesting too is how airport how you took because that was a turning point in your life you took a non a small non-speaking part in airport that your friends advised you not to take, and it led to something very significant. Well, I was getting divorced. Nobody had a job. And I could see that George Seton was doing airport, and I'd worked with George Seton on something. Proud and the Profane.

Proud and the Profane. Yeah. uh operate something proud and the profane and the proud and the profane yeah so i went to see him and i said i'm getting a divorce and i would like a job uh he said you wanted a part or a long part i said a long part a long part so they were casting people to be on the airplane, and they didn't want to use extras. They wanted real actors because we would have to improvise, you know, a catastrophe on the airplane and everything. And I had a characterization written out but no lines, and I was paid below minimum. And I said, thank you, I will, it went on for it went on for five weeks we had to

come every day to be if they called for row something on the airplane that was yours and I spent every day talking to every actor there would needed a job pretty bad for some reason. So we would spend the days talking to each other and unloading our griefs. And Sandra Gould was there just because she's just having a good time. Sandra Gould was Mrs. Kravitz on Bewitched, Gilbert. Remember her? And she didn't need the job, but she's such a fun person. So I got to know her really well. So one time she invites me for dinner

and then she also invites Millie Gussie who is a casting woman so Millie Gussie and me and Sandra Gould and we have dinner and Millie says you know you would be really good for this part in this little pilot we're doing uh it's a very simple part you could you'd be good for that so she she put me up for it and uh it was happy days and my my lines were oh howard you're not eating oh richie you know wear your sweater it was it was this kind of thing. But had you not taken that role, that non-speaking role that was humbling. I thought there is a lesson there. I had to step back. Step back.

My friends said, what's the matter with you? Why are you stepping back like that? Step back so that I could step forward. Right? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The pilot was called New Family in Town. And it did not star Tom Bosley.

It was you and Harold Gould. Right. And it was done on Love American style. Right. And they said, it was just, it was just turning

into the 70s. And they said, you know, the 60s are kind of a hot item now. I'm going to give you $1,000 as a hold, and we may get back to this. We may get back to this pilot. So I went down to the Globe Theater.

You went back to San Diego because you didn't think anything was going to come of it. No, so I did Summer in Smoke because my good friends at the Globe Theater, Craig said, anytime you come home, anytime you want to, you come home. This is your home. So I called him up and said, well, I see you're doing Summer and Smoke. I could do that. later he said everybody there looked at one another and thought I am Marion is the least the person in the world that you would want to play this southern you know Elma Weinmiller Tennessee Williams southern woman so I went down Craig did the part for me. He would, no, no, he would say, he would show me what to do. He would show me how to move.

He handheld me through that thing. And at the end, near the end of the, well, we had just barely opened. We just barely opened. And I got great reviews. Why shouldn't I? I did whatever Craig told me to do. You know, he did it. And then somebody came and they said,

oh, I see in the paper that that Happy Days pilot sold. I said, where? Show me, show me. My agent said, get out of that play, you know. And I had, Barbara Best was my press agent. I had a press agent. And she said, you can do that play and this part in the pilot. You can do both of these things at the same time.

Don't worry about it. You do them both. So for a little while, I did both because my lines were so simple on Happy Days. I did both because my lines were so simple on Happy Days. And it was only as the years went on, what would happen? Like on the Monday morning, we would read the script. You know, the whole cast is there and all the parts were all there. We would read the script.

They'd say, Marion, read all those girls and read all those other character parts. Read all those parts. So, oh, my heart would go, I would just read, I would kill myself and read these parts. And their heads would flash around and they would say, wow, wow. So they began to write better and better for me. And my part got better and better all the time. You know, the whole history of Happy Days is so interesting, too, how they passed. We talked about this with Henry.

They passed on the original pilot ABC did, New Family in Town. But then American Graffiti happened. And Ron was seen in the pilot. George Lucas saw Ron in the New Family in Town pilot, cast him in American Graffiti.

American Graffiti became a sensation, was nominated for Best Picture, and ABC went, what was that thing? Oh. And then they renamed it, and then it turned up repurposed as that Love American style installment,

Love and the Happy Days. That's the story. Yeah. Yeah. And the rest is history. You get a kick out of a Jewish guy from New York playing an Italian tough guy. Gilbert gets a kick out of that.

You know, when I did Brooklyn Bridge, here I am playing a Jewish immigrant mother in Brooklyn Bridge. You probably never saw Brooklyn Bridge. Did you ever see it? Oh, yeah, we were good on that show. Sure. I was. I was a see it? Oh, yeah. We were good on that show. Sure. I was.

I was a fan of Gary David Goldberg. Yeah. I loved being on that. But how did you... You said you started eating at Kander's Deli to immerse yourself in Jewish things? If I ran into any Jewish people, I just ate them up, you know? You were worried that your Minnesota roots were going to show through and you weren't going to be credible? Well, I just was so fascinated.

And I said to one lady, oh, I wish I were Jewish. She staggered back. She said she was Jewish. She said, I've never heard anybody say that. I would be remiss, since we're talking about other TV roles, Marion, my wife is a Gilmore Girls watcher. And you play such a wonderful

villain on that show. The original Lorelei. If I may say, you play a very convincing shrew. Even that was interesting. It was like the script came. I forget what, but it was on a Saturday.

I thought, no, I want to play this part. I want to play this part. And this was for an older part than me even. So I called up the studio on a Saturday and I said, is this Amy, what's her name? Oh, Amy Sherman-Palladino. Sherman-Palladino. I said, is she there? Could I talk to her?

So she said, no. I said, listen, I want to try that part. I bet I could do that part. I said, I have to go and do something else for a couple days, but I could be back. I don't know why I was so assertive, but take control of your own life. Isn't that something? So she said, okay, I'll send somebody over to bring a wig,

and we'll do some wardrobes. So she sent a person over on Sunday, and even that person said, said oh you're much too young so then so anyway i was playing this old i was playing the the mother of edward herman ed ed herman's mother i i loved that part she was so rude, she plays this mean-spirited kind of shrew on Gilmore Girls, and she's very good at it. I love being rude. After all those years of being the ideal mother, it must have been such a treat to be this total bitch. It was.

It was. But I learned it on Brooklyn Bridge because those Jewish women were tough. Were tough. Yeah, Brooklyn Bridge is available. It's available on DVD. I would urge our listeners to find Brooklyn Bridge. I don't think it is available. It's not?

I don't think so. Really? It's very good. I have a set. Okay. So you don't have to come over to my house, you know, or we could go to one of those places and remake some of them. You know, it's probably against the law.

He was a brilliant guy, Gary David Goldberg. Was he? Yes. And I would say to him, I said, I really caught your grandmother, didn't I? Was it his mother? And he said, no. He said, oh no, she was much, much tougher than you.

I mean, that's Gilbert's actual life experience. You were a Jewish guy from Brooklyn growing up right around the same time that Gary did. So that's a series I think you would relate to. I got a couple of questions quick, Marion, from our fans. For you.

A little segment we call Grill the Guest. And Stephen Craig says, Marion worked with some of my favorite character actresses, including Kathleen Freeman and Mary Wicks. Oh, I did work with Mary Wicks and Kathleen Freeman. These were live television shows. Gertrude Berg show. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Wonderful. It wants to know, do you have any memories of those legendary ladies? I do. Mary Wicks, she would drive me different places and probably pick me up and drove me. And she's quite a character. Absolutely. Here's one other one from Tom.

Tom Burbine says, did Marian know Robin Williams would become a star when she first worked with him in My Favorite Orkin? Are you happy to hear his episode? Yes. Yes. It was extraordinary. You know, they wrote in this part, and all of a sudden, people are coming out of offices, coming down on the soundstage. And it was like, even I could see Ron and Henry dig in their heels, just hang on as tight as they could,

because Robin, you couldn't keep up with him. You couldn't keep up with him. So you knew that this guy was destined for... He was dazzling. Yeah. Go ahead, Gil. And you said you didn't, unless this is wrong too, that you didn't get along with Tom Bosley at first.

I didn't. He was rude to me. He didn't like me, and he was disappointed that I got the part. He must have wanted somebody else. So it was hard on me. disappointed that I got the part. He must have wanted somebody else. So, it was hard on me. So I write about it in the book. Yeah, you do. You write a lot about it. I've hardly ever been in a place where somebody didn't like me. And it took me years to understand.

So what I did, I got needlepoint, and I tried to stay. I couldn't sit backstage with everybody telling jokes because he'd get me. Get me all the time. But gradually, you realized that he was going through a hardship. Now, then I found out his wife was dying of most complicated brain cancer, you know, brain tumors.

So that, that explained it, you know. But that's a dark period for me because you don't ever want to say anything about something. And I could see that he was not nice to me, but he was a great guy. And I thought, what is this? How can that guy, and I could see the other guys liked him a lot. I thought, wow, this is an uncomfortable situation to be in because I can see that he is a good guy.

Isn't it a credit to your acting ability that nobody could ever see that? Nobody that watched the show would ever for a minute i'm bedazzled when i watch it i think how unbelievable and there was believable there was a clip from an interview with tom bosley points you out as as one of his favorite actresses that he's worked with. Yeah, I saw the same clip. Oh, well, yeah. No, and I cannot say what a wonderful man he was. Then he married after his wife died, and he'd been through such a tough period, such a tough period.

He fell in love with Patti Carr, and she's a beautiful darling girl and as a family we all enveloped her and brought her into our family so it was good i love that you brought your son to the set and he got to be in that episode the jump the shark episode right that's fun that's the one who ran down the beach yeah that's classic no we all brought our kids to be in the show, you know. Before we let you go last. Oh, wait. I just remembered because there was that famous photo of the cast of Happy Days. And amongst them is John Lennon.

Oh, John Lennon came to the set. Oh, I know it. And those other English guys. Oh oh i can't think of their name the like the beatles guys you know well that's john lennon yeah what i don't know but uh it was always wonderful because we had wonderful people dropping in to see us all the time what what was what was uh the last thing we want to ask you? What were Al Molinaro and Pat Morita like? In the script, we just say, Al does his thing.

Just cut him loose. Cut him loose. And the same thing with Pat Morita. they would just have a situation and then just and then just leave him alone for a while and they would just vamp and make up stuff and we all just worked around it he stayed with gary because gary had him on the odd couple all those years yes absolutely yeah love lovely man so. Such a good businessman. And such, oh, God, he was. We all had such a good time. Pat would go on some of our baseball trips with us.

Pat Morita. Al, not so much. Al, not so much. Pat Morita was a stand-up comic. Oh, I remember that. Yeah. Yeah. The hip-nip, he calls it.

As well as an Academy Award winner, Pat Morita. Pat Morita? Didn't he win the Academy Award? Did he? For Karate Kid? Oh, I think he was nominated. Well, that's good enough for me. Yeah.

I love, lastly, I love what you said about Gary, too, just in summing up, Marion, that you said he was somebody who made people's dreams come true. Oh, he was. And one time he came to my dressing room and he said, that line isn't working for you with it. No, that line isn't working for you. I'll fix it. And me, I'm trying to think, what can I do?

He took the same line. He turned it inside out. Got all the beats in there. Trying to think, what can I do? He took the same line. He turned it inside out. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Got all the beats in there. You know? He had a wonderful comedic sense. Magic touch. Yep.

Magic touch. I'm sorry we never got him on this show. That was a real loss. And he was Italian. So another reason for me to love him. Yes, he was Italian. And everyone thought he was Jewish. Everybody thought he was Jewish.

Oh, my. So, Mary. I've had such a good time. I've had such a good time with you boys. We're going to plug your book. Okay. Gilbert's going to give the big plug. We hope we get to see you when you're in New York. I hope I haven't told all of the book away. No, there's

plenty in there. I've got six cards here I didn't even get to. Well, is it too late to do the cards? No, well, I don't want to give away everything else in the book. One last thing, a fan named Scott Stite writes in and he says, I don't have any questions. I just have a loving thank you to Mrs. C for being America's favorite mom. Oh, oh, I thank you so much. You make my day, darling. Thank you. Well, the book is My Days, Happy and Otherwise by Marion Ross. It's very sweet, Marion.

I have to say, too, just the part of how, as a kid, you wrote in your diary. You called it your secret wish. I was telling Gilbert and Dara that you didn't want to share with anybody. You were too shy to share it, your secret wish that you did. I was telling Gilbert and Dara that you didn't want to share with anybody. You were too shy to share it. Your secret wish to become an actress. And you kept that diary so many years. Yes. And you refer back to the diary when you're writing the book, which is astounding.

I know. And what a happy journey. Yes. I'm very grateful for it. Yeah. Well, you're a treasure. Thank you for coming. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Oh, this has been Gilbert Gottfried's amazing colossal podcast with my co-host Frank Santo Padre. And if I had

any great achievement today, it was hearing Marion Ross say fuck on. This is C. And now you have to watch Gilbert's movie, right?

I will. I'll look at it maybe tonight. You promise? Thank you, Marion. This was a wonderful treat for us Thanks to Harlan too Thanks to Harlan Ball for setting this up We appreciate it Harlan Okay, bye bye Happy and free These happy days are yours and mine

These happy days are yours and mine Happy days Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast is produced by Dara Gottfried and Frank Santapadre with audio production by Frank Furtarosa Web and social media is handled by Mike McPadden, Greg Pair, and

John Bradley-Seals. Special audio contributions by John Beach. Special thanks to Paul Rayburn, John Murray, John Fodiatis, and Nutmeg Creative. Especially Sam Giovanko and Daniel Farrell for their assistance. Thank you.