Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - 26. Frankie Avalon

Episode Date: November 24, 2014

Former teen idol Frankie Avalon broke into show business as a child prodigy and was soon receiving 12,000 pieces of fan mail per week and working alongside Hollywood greats Jack Benny, Jackie Gleason, Lucille Ball, Groucho Marx and John Wayne. Frankie joined Gilbert and Frank for a look back at his humble beginnings in South Philly, his years as a teen heartthrob and his decades-long friendship with onscreen love interest Annette Funicello. Plus: The Duke makes Laurence Harvey cry! Buster Keaton meets Houdini! "Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine"! Dueling Draculas! And Cesar Romero and Arnold Stang hit a strip joint! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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and enter promo code Gilbert149 to get your $1.49.com today. Go Daddy! It's go time! time. Hi, I'm Gilbert Gottfried with my co-host Frank Santopadre, and this is Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast. Today, a legendary singer and actor who's worked with Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Groucho Marx, Jackie Gleason, John Wayne, Lucille Ball, and Jack Benny,

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Zero plus from a company that already swears by zero. Zero. Beautiful accounting software. Our guest today went from trumpet player to a teen idol selling millions of records to sharing the big screen with Groucho Marx, Bob Hope, and John Wayne, not to mention Boris Karloff, Ernie Koufax, and Buster Keaton. Please welcome to the show the original teen idol, Frankie Avalon. Thank you.

Why are you yelling? But a good yell, though. Well, thank you very much. It's really nice to be with you and Frank and kind of talk about things that have been part of my life, I guess. Now, we have something in common, both being teen idols. But how did it happen for you? Actually, it happened, I was with a band. I was a trumpet player.

I started as a trumpet player. And I was with a band called Rocco and His Saints. And I played trumpet. And we used to play this one place in Jersey, right outside of philadelphia called murray's inn and uh people kind of would come up to the stage and say hey frankie can you play this say frankie can you play that and frankie can you sing this frankie can you sing that and finally rocco who was the leader of the band said to me you know you got to start singing i said hey

you paid me as a trumpet player that's what i do he said i'll give you an extra five bucks i said i'll do it. And that's how I really started. And of course, a new record company came along, Chancellor Records, and they came in to see one of our shows there. We used to do five sets a night. We went down to Atlantic City and we started playing these little clubs. They came in and they signed our band and we recorded. The The first record we did was called Cupid Shot an Arrow, which I did the vocal on. And the other side was called Jiving with the Saints. And it came out and nothing really happened with it except that they put me out there. He bought me a $12 suit and they put me out there.

And I started to go around the country doing these record hops and things. And the kids started to say, how can we write to you? What's your fan club? How this? And all of a sudden, my manager at the time, Bob Marcucci, said, I think you got something these kids like. And that started it. And how did the big break come with Jackie Gleason? That happened.

I was about 11 years old. I went to see a movie called Young Man with the Horn And I just fell in love with the sound of the trumpet And I guess I related to the young boy Who really grew up to be the best trumpet player in the world And I related to that And I came out of the movie I was there all day

You know, my mom used to pack a lunch Yeah, Kirk Douglas And pack a lunch And I would stay there And I watched the movie all day And I mom used to pack a lunch. Yeah, Kirk Douglas. And pack a lunch, and I would stay there, and I watched the movie all day. And I came home, and I said to my dad, I said, Dad, can you buy me a trumpet? He said, you want to play trumpet? Because he loved music, my father. I said, yeah. And he went to a pawn shop.

He got me a horn, and I took the horn into my bedroom, and I didn't come out until I played my first song. That started it. bedroom and I didn't come out until I played my first song. That started it. And but the way you met Gleason, Jackie. Oh, yeah. Well, what happened was Al Martino, who is from the neighborhood of South Philadelphia, was a big star at this time. Johnny Fontaine and the Godfather. Exactly. Yeah. He had this one song called Here in My Heart, which was number one around the world. And in the neighborhood, they were giving him a party for his success, you know, and there was crowds all around, you know, these row homes and little streets in South Philadelphia there. the door a guy opened the door and i said uh could i play my trumpet for al martino they said who are you i said my name is frank avaloni i live around the corner he said come on in and

the party was really happening i took out the horn i started to play and it's like an old movie you know everybody kind of stopped and i played very well for a little kid and uh al martino uh said to the guys who his house he was at said who was was this kid? He said, I don't know. He said, his name is Avalone. He lives around the neighborhood. He said, let's call his mother and father, see if we could take him to New York. I think this kid can play. So they did.

My mom and dad agreed, and they took me into New York. And I went to a big agency at the time called GAC, General Artists Corporation. And Jack Sobel was the agent, and I took out the horn, and I played for him. He said, I got an idea. This kid plays good. We handle Jackie Gleason. He's got a penthouse at the Sheridan Hotel. We'll go and take him, and he'll play for Jackie.

Loves the trumpet, Jackie. So I go in there, and the writers are there, and this. And Gleason wasn't there. Well, it was a penthouse. I didn't know where he was. But I took out my horn, and I started to play. In the corner of my eye, I see Gleason come't there. Well, it was a penthouse. I didn't know where he was. But I took out my horn and I started to play. In the corner of my eye, I see Gleason come out of the room. I finished the song and he yells down, write a show.

I want him on in two weeks. And that was it. So what was Gleason like to work with? He was phenomenal. First of all, his mind, he knew everybody's lines and everything. He was a genius, really. And he was a wonderful guy, very quiet, really a quiet kind of a guy. I worked with him not only that time as a young boy playing trumpet,

but I also did his show later on in his life, in my life, out of Florida. Oh, the Miami Beach show. The Miami Beach show, yeah. And, of course, I would – and we had just finished doing a picture together, and I spent a lot of time with him. And I had a – the picture was called Skidoo. And I'll tell you – Gilbert and I are well familiar with it.

It's come up before on the podcast. Is that right? Oh, sure. Frank and I are big fans Okay Alright Well now Otto Preminger directed it

And you know I had heard a lot of stories About Otto Preminger as a director Being really tough You know And I didn't know exactly What to expect

But the first day of shooting For me I had no dialogue And it was where I was supposed to drive this car And Arnold Stang was in the scene. And as I hit my mark and all this, all of a sudden I hear Preminger that everybody talked about saying, What are you doing?

You're not an actor! To Arnold Stang, to John Philip Law, and all this other stuff. So now comes the second, third day of shooting, and we're up in San Francisco. And I've got a scene with Cesar Romero, Jackie Gleason, Carol Channing. And I've got a couple of lines, and Gleason says to me something, and he smacks me across the face. And Preminger said, go over and practice the slap. So I go with Gleason. And Jackie says, Pally.

He says, Vaudeville, just when I touch your face, just go. Go. I said, okay, Jackie, that's fine. Now it comes to the scene. And Preminger says, run him into action. All of a sudden, he smacked me across the face. Are you kidding? Gleason did.

Yeah. Wow. My ears were ringing. Finally, after about four or five takes, they had to stop makeup because I had fingerprints all over my face, Jackie. Vaudeville, I said, Jackie. Oh, yeah. Now, we finished the picture, and I'm doing Jackie's show down in Miami. And I go into his dressing room. He says, have you seen the picture? I said, yeah jackie's show down in miami and i go into his dressing room he says

have you seen the picture i said yeah he hadn't seen it yet yeah he said what do you think i said jackie it's embarrassing he said really he said oh my god i listened to premature i went with him everything he wanted me to do i said he said will i be embarrassed to go to the opening the premiere i said yeah i really was that honest with him. Because the picture, I thought... Horrible. It's one of the great bad movies of all time. It's got a tremendous cult following.

Yeah, I know. We had Leon Shamroy, who was the lighting director. He did all Marilyn Monroe pictures. We had the best. The cast, as you know... Sure. Everybody's in it. Frank Clark, Cesar Romero and Frank Gorshin. And he just, let's face it, he had no sense of humor. Well, he wasn't known for directing comedies.

No, no. And I should throw in the John Philip Law quick bit of information. For people who don't remember John Philip Law, very, very handsome leading man. And he was offered two movies at the same time. One was Skidoo, and the other was Midnight Cowboy. Wow. Yeah. What a choice, huh?

Yeah. And I guess he felt, hey, Jackie Gleason and Groucho Marx. And how about Otto Preminger? These guys' credits were incredible. Sure. The funny thing is he wouldn't even see me for the role. You played a mobster son. You played Angie.

But he wouldn't see me. And my agent, who is still my agent, every film I've ever done, he made the deal for me. It was Jack Gilardi. And he said, I got an idea. And I said, what do you mean? He said, well, he doesn't want to see you because he says, I don't want this beach boy in my picture. He said, I'm going to say it's Frank Avalone. So I said, Jack, you can't do that.

He said, listen to me. So we go to Paramount Studios. I go to big office, big desk, and Otto Preminger is sitting behind the desk there. And I walk in, and Preminger says to me, What are you bringing me, this beach boy? So I sat down, and in no longer than 10 minutes, he said, Okay, you got the part. I'll talk to your agent. And that was it.

Now, you worked there. One of the many times you worked with him. Because just last night I was watching a clip of you on You Bet Your Life singing I Can't Give You Anything But Love with Groucho. Oh, yeah. Tell us about Groucho Marx. Well, he was, you know, as later on in years, because I did a lot of the game shows at those times, and a lot of, you know, guys would do these game shows. And Groucho did a lot of them, too, you know. Not only You Bet Your Life, you know, guest appearances. And I always kind of said, you know, he's a dirty old man.

I mean, he looked at everything that was out there, you know, look at their legs, look at this, you know. And he always had remarks, of course, you know, and all crummy, dirty. Oh, dirty. What you did, you bet your life. I mean, and he comes back into your life all these years later in Skidoo. That had to be strange. Absolutely. I mean, all through the years, the guys that I've worked with one time or another, it amazes me. and when i think back and all those things that i've done

i say wow i was with the best i was with guys that and you know i i really became a student of of of the art of trying to act and watch these guys and how they work the camera and all this other stuff i'd sit on my chair there and just watch all these guys and how they did it because they were pros, all 100 percent pro. And before we turn the mics on, I remember I was basically saying, you know, shut up, Frankie. You save all this for the show. And tell us about Sinatra. Ah, Frank Sinatraatra my absolute idol and of course everybody else's too but he was he was incredible he uh you know i got to hang with him which was really kind of neat and stayed his house you know and amazing about him um is that if when i would stay at his

house you know he had these casitas, they were called, and little houses. And he would call one would be My Way, the other one was- Was this the Palm Springs place? Yeah, Palm Springs. I would stay there. And you had access to 24-hour whatever you wanted. I don't care if you wanted a car or this or anything that you wanted, you got.

And you wouldn't see Sinatra. Frank would only come out about 5.30 at night and we'd have dinner or go someplace and have dinner. But all day, you'd stay by his pool or go play golf or whatever it is. And he just wouldn't see you until he wanted to see you. And many times, I stayed up with him where he was drinking, and you had to stay, and you'd try to sneak out. Where are you going? And you listened to his stories and all this other stuff. was quite well what an artist though i mean he was just brilliant you know you you were telling how he used to learn his songs yeah uh jimmy darren james darren we're from the same neighborhood in south philadelphia

and we're very good friends and he's really close to the Sinatra family. And I said to him, Jimmy, Sinatra, how did he learn songs? I said, because, you know, we're both musicians, so we could read music. And he said, well, they would play him songs, and he would say, I want to do that one. And then they would give him the lyrics. And he would take the lyrics alone for two weeks and just read it like a book. And after the two weeks of really learning what that song was all about and the concept of the writer and the lyrics, then he would get involved with getting a piano player

and starting to learn the music end of it. And you – oh, I remember a story that hearing Boris Karloff taught Frank Sinatra. He said, you sing with your voice. You have to learn to act with your voice. And Boris Karloff used to give Frank Sinatra acting lessons. Really? Yeah. I never heard that.

Yeah, his daughter told us that. Wow. Sarah Karloff. Karloff. I worked with Karloff too. Yeah, was daughter told us that Wow Sarah Karloff Karloff I worked with Karloff too Yeah, was it Muscle Beach Party? One of the beach movies One of the beach things, yeah

He was in a couple of them, I think Oh, was he? I don't know They all run together for you, don't they? All the same Did you get to know Karloff at all? No, no I mean, I talk with him a bit

But, you know, we were so busy We did those pictures in 15 days no. I mean, I talk with them a bit, but, you know, we were so busy. We did those pictures in 15 days. So, I mean, I was learning. I was playing dual roles, this, that, and other. And, you know, I just kind of had a conversation, small conversation. Let's go back to South Philly for a minute. We'll get to the beach movies. I'm not sure where that sound suddenly came from.

I think that's Karloff. It might be. So many people came out of South Philly. Where are you from? Particularly singers. Eddie Fisher, Mario Lanza, Bobby Rydell, who we were talking about before we turned the mics on. Chubby Checker. Right.

What do you attribute that to? Buddy Greco. Buddy Greco, Al Martino. Yeah. You know, I don't know. I think, you know, when you're from a neighborhood, you know, all different kinds of ethnic groups, you know, music, whether it be Jewish, Italian, black, whatever it may be, everybody sang, everybody liked music. And I think it was just the run of the time, I guess. Now, just recently, your co-star, Ned Funicillo, passed away. And could you tell us some memories?

I heard, unlike so many movie teams who hate each other off-camera, you two actually loved each other. Well, you know, when I first met Annette, before we even started doing films together, we were doing a show for Dick Clark at the Hollywood Bowl. And she was about 15. I was older than Annette.

And I thought she was awfully cute. And I asked if I could give her a call and maybe take her on a date or something. And she gave me her number, and I called. And, of course, I had to go to the house and meet the mom and dad. And I took her to have a slice of pizza, and that was our first meeting. And then later on in years, they cast me to do Frankie in the first Beach Party. And I said, who's playing Dee Dee? What was the character's name?

They said Annette Fonichello. I said, oh, great. And the first scene we did together, I said to the director, Bill Asher, I said, you know, this is really going to be a lot of fun. And it was. And we had the best time. We made about seven, eight pictures together a lot of television together and we never had an argument never a disagreement it was just a wonderful friendship and it's a shame that she she had this disease that was so debilitating and it

was terrible life for her really and it's it's funny like disney always had a habit of finding these cute girls who would later on become objects of lust to any boy out there yeah like miley cyrus and selena gomez and all and it's like she uh i don't think she was trying to be a sex symbol. Never, never. But everyone noticed she was developing. Yes. In each movie. Quickly. And largely. She was a great looking gal and never played on it.

You know, she had that it, you know, that was it. And when did you, you said, I think you first noticed something was wrong during Back to the Beach, which was a takeoff on your movies. Yeah, well, first of all, she had gotten very thin for that role, you know. Most women always want to look, you know, lighter pounds wise because of the screen. It puts some extra weight on you. But she was very thin. This is around 87 now, back to the beach. 87, yeah. And she did very well.

She's very good in that picture. And we had finished shooting, but we had to do a lot of promo stuff. So we would go and do some things in front of the camera, promoting our film and the cue cards. And she couldn't see and couldn't see. And finally, she was stumbling around when we were shooting on the beach. And I said, you know, we don't have our sand legs anymore, you know, whatever it was. And finally, she went and got went to an optometrist for her eyes. And and they really that's when she was diagnosed with MS.

And then we went on the road, and her husband said to me, he said, he used to call me little buddy. He'd say, hey, little buddy, can I meet you a little earlier? Because we were rehearsing, putting our show together for the road theaters. And I said, sure. So I got there about a hour earlier than our call time to rehearse and he sat down he said i want to tell you something i want you to be very quiet about this i don't want you to say anything not even to her but she has a disease

ms and i went what and that was it you guys are a great team such great chemistry and such energy and she was saying before she was she was a very vibrant performer very lively yeah yeah terrific gal and also it was what's so funny about that movie back to the beach is it's you and annette like poking fun at yourself right yeah you sort of They sort of took the Brady Bunch movie approach where they did a parody of the beach movies. Right, yeah, yeah. I love when you're using the kid's head as a battery. Right, right. Funny scene.

And everybody turned up in that. I mean, Don Adams is in it and Bob Denver and Alan Hale and Pee Wee. Oh, Pee Wee loved our original films. Yeah. And when we had asked him to do it, because he was very hot at the time with the Playhouse. Sure. And he came on, and we just loved him. He's a wonderful guy, talented guy.

And it was a great scene in there. Another great scene is with Stevie Ray Vaughan. Oh, yeah. And Dick Dale. Oh, sure. What a combination. What a great scene. The song's great. You can find the video on YouTube, and it And Dick Dale. Oh, sure. What a combination. What a great scene. The song's great.

You can find the video on YouTube, and it's worth watching. And once again, I have to ask you about another performer, because you worked with all of them, and that's the great Jack Benny. Oh, Benny was wonderful. I did my first meeting with him and working with him was the Jack Benny Show. And meeting with him and working with him was the Jack Benny show. And it was a nice, cute little show about me recording. And he's never been to a recording session. And he comes in and he does all these things in the studio.

But after that, he said, Frankie, I want you to work with me in Las Vegas. I want you to open for me, which I did. And I loved working with him because he would give me such advice. Like we would do a sketch. He would say to me, Frankie, now, why is it that all singers are Italian? And I'd say, that's right, Mr. Benny. And I'd say, you know, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Al Martino. And he said, well, you know, we have a lot of Jewish singers, too. So I'd say, okay.

And he'd say, well, like Tony Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. So now he would say to me, now wait until I come back to you to read your next line. Okay? So he would say, no, I would say Sammy Davis Jr., and he would do his little take and come back. And then he'd say to me, funny his uncle wasn't. He was great to work with, too. And, you know, all that frugal stuff about him, you know,

being a cheap guy and all this. At the end of the performance, he gave me a pair of cufflinks that were beautiful sapphires and very generous man. And I heard everyone said Benny was like the nicest person. Just terrific. Just terrific. Yeah, he was beloved. Yeah.

And, you know, not as opposite Lucy. Lucy, when you would go in to read for, I did a few Lucy shows, you'd go around with the writers and whoever's in the cast and so forth, and pencils are all over the place, and you make changes, and she would make changes constantly. Benny would just sit there and say, that's good, that's good, that's good. He'd accept it because he trusted the writers, you know. I heard Benny was also, like, brilliant as far as he would hear a joke,

he would get a tremendous laugh, and he'd say, that's a really great joke, but it just doesn't fit in with the show. It could be, yeah. Yeah. You know, a lot of performers are like that. It's good, but it's not for me. It's not what I represent. You've got to be careful. I mean, if you do have

a path and a way for your career, and you believe it, you've got to stick with it. You just don't go off because there's some off-color humor that you're going to do that. I learned a long, long time ago, a cheap joke is not worth it.

Do something worth it. Well, then I would have no career once and forever. It's true. One writer that I worked with, and I loved him, his name was Bobby O'Brien, and he wrote for Lucy and a lot of other people too. And he would say to me don't do cheap jokes say something that maybe isn't a belly laugh or a laugh but let them take you home let them talk about you and what you said around the table in the morning you know

and so lucy was a bit of a general on the set huh controlling every everything every every detail she'd say come on come upstage a little more. Frankie, play to this camera here. Do that. I mean, she knew everything. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Of course, she learned it from Desi. Of course.

And she loved Desi to the day they both went, you know. And he invented the multiple camera format. Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, we were talking to Robert Osborne from Turner Classic Movies. And, well, I mean, everyone knows, like, Desi Arnaz was like this unsung genius. Everything we know about TV, he invented. And he said that after they divorced, after he was cheating on her and everything she still remained in love in love i mean um lucy i really got to know her and um as an example i would talk to her you know we

would come back from a plane trip or something on the on the flight and she would talk about desi and tell me how brilliant he was. An example, with Desilu Studios, she told me that in his broken English, on the floor, had plans of where cameras were going to go and this, and she was thrilled to just tell me about all this other stuff. And she really did love him all the time. That love never left.

I was doing a show in Vegas, and Lucy came in to see me. And I was doing a – I tried to do something a little bit different, a little dramatic thing in my show. And Lucy came back after the show, and she said, take that number out. I said, which number, Lucy? She said, the one about the kids. I said, but Lucy, I'm trying to establish something that's a little more dramatic for me. She said, I don't want to hear that song, and neither does the audience. I said, why?

She said, well, listen to what you're saying. It was a song that Sonny and Cher did called You Better Sit Down, Kids. I'll tell you why, kids. Your mother and I, kids, don't see eye to eye, kids. It's about a divorce. Yeah. She said to me, you know how many people are out there that are going through that? She said, take it out.

And she was right. Interesting. Yeah. Now I got to ask you about another hero of mine, Peter Lorre. Oh, I love Peter. He constantly would say to me, I love Italians. Of course, he loved wine. He was a big wine drinker.

And Walter Pidgeon. Oh, yeah, on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Yeah, right. Sure. We'll get to that, too. Okay. Yeah. I just want to get to all the movies, but let's just go back a second and talk about how you go from teen idol to movies.

I mean, you make Dee Dee Dinah as the first hit. Right, right. And first of all, is it true that you held your nose while you were recording that? Well, I sang through my nose. Okay. I sang through my nose. Okay. I was going. Okay. That's the way I did it.

Right. Because to me, it was a very staccato arrangement. And, you know, everybody's, you know, kind of learning their parts and all this other stuff. And after a while, I'm singing. Then after a few rehearsals. And the producer said, what are you doing? I said, said I don't know it sounds very staccato so do it like that I said what he said yeah it's a gimmick sound let's do it there's a song you didn't like no I did yeah yeah and of course they put it out and it was

my first hit right and then how did you how did we get to Venus which which changed everything the Venus happened because, again, in the neighborhood, there was a knock on the door, and I was in South Philly, and I opened the door, and the guy introduced himself. He said, my name is Ed Marshall. I'm a songwriter.

Can I play a song for you? I said, yeah, come on in. I had a piano, and he sat down at the piano, and he played, dee-da-da-dee-da, dee-da-da-da-da-da-da-dee-da, and he starts singing this, Venus, goddess of love that you are, and I went, play that again, please. He plays it again. And he starts singing this Venus Goddess of Love That You Are.

And I went, play that again, please. He plays it again. I called the record company right there, and I said, I got a song. You've got to hear this song. I'm going to bring him over, too, because the record company was out of Philly. And I said to him, have you played this song for anybody else? He said, yeah. I just come from Al Martino's house.

I said, well, what did Al think of it? He said he liked it, but he think it would be a good song for an album. Interesting. So I took it, and three days later, I came into the city, Bell Sound Studios. I did seven takes on it. I waited until 4 o'clock in the morning with the acetate so I could take it back to Philly. I played it constantly. I just thought the song was the best song I've ever had offered to me.

Was it just that you fell in love with the song musically or you sensed a hit or both? Both. Both. Yeah. I just loved the song. I thought the melody was wonderful. The message was just great. And when we were going, Pete DeAnzis wrote the arrangement. And, of course, Bob Marcucci was my manager.

We were driving into New York. He was driving Bob, and Pete was in the back with the guitar and, you know, learning the song and more feel to it, this, that, whatever. And he said, wait till you hear the arrangement. I said, Pete, what do you mean wait till I hear the arrangement? I said, you haven't heard it. He said, yeah till you hear the arrangement. I said, Pete, but what do you mean wait till I hear the arrangement? I said, you haven't heard it. He said, yeah, I wrote it. I said, but you haven't heard it yet. He said, I got it in my head.

That's great. Yeah. And we went into the studio, and it was just magic. And how many records did Venus sell? A lot. Oh, I wish I got paid for as many as this. Yeah. And that's the teen idol thing.

Basically, Hap starts to happen at that point. No, before that. Before that. Before Venus. Yeah. As a matter of fact, I'll never forget calling Dick Clark on the show live, the American Bandstand, and he said, Frankie, you got anything new coming out? I said, I've got a song coming out, Dick, and I think it's – I love this song and

I hope that the kids like it too. And he said, what's the name of it? I said, it's called Venus. And now, what was happening with that movie, The Idol Maker? Yeah. Well, that's based on Bob Marcucci. Yeah, right. Ray Sharkey and Peter Gallagher.

Yeah, and critically acclaimed movie. It's a good movie. Yes, very good movie. Taylor Hackford. What happened in that, you know, Fabian had come to me and said we ought to sue because they really took our lives without any saying yes to, you know, or any kind of a deal, you know. The Tommy D character is based on you and the Peter Gallagher character. Right, it's Fabian. Right.

And I said, you know, Fab, I can't do it. This guy made my life. How can I do that? Not really knowing that if I sued, it really wouldn't be Bob Marcucci. It would have been Transamerica or the studio. But for some reason, I said, I can't do it. He made my whole life. And I didn't.

Fab wound up suing and got some money out of it, but I didn't. Nothing in the movie is – I've heard you say you distance yourself from the way the characters portrayed. The things didn't really happen that way. No, no. They made me a pill-popping kind of a guy, and I wasn't. I was a working trumpet player. Right. And do you remember the song from the movie?

I don't. I haven't seen it in years. Baby, baby, I just want to take you where I'm going. Really? Peter Gallagher sings that. Oh, that was the Fabian character. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Interesting guy, though, Bob Marcucci. Oh, yeah. And he was the idol maker. He really was. I mean, he took, when he found me and started, and had belief, you know, why, I don't know. But he had belief. And I was dating a little gal in the neighborhood there. And she was in junior high school. And she said, you know, there's a kid in our school here that girls just go crazy for.

And I said, what's his name? She said, Fabian. I said, Fabian. All of a sudden, all I know is that Bob Marcucci found him in the neighborhood. His father had a heart attack. Oh, and there's an ambulance parked on the street? Yes. It's a strange story.

Yeah. And Fabian is standing outside waiting for the ambulance or whatever. And Bob Marcucci sees this good-looking kid. Because he was a combination of Elvis and Ricky Nelson, you know, good-looking boy. And Bob signed him and started it. He made – No musical background whatsoever. No, no.

Just a kid sitting on a stoop. Right, right. On a street. But you know what? Just a kid sitting on a stoop. Right, right. On a street. But you know what? He faved all through his career, and even to this day because we do a show called Golden Boys,

and it's Bobby Rydell and Fabian and myself, three guys from the neighborhood. And he's still as popular as ever. He had a quality that people just love. He says, you know, I'm not the greatest singer, but, you know, he does a great job on stage. They love him. They stand when he finishes his set on the show. He had a big career. Yeah, yeah.

So Why was a hit, and Venus was a hit, and D.D. Diner was a hit, and you're getting mail, lots of mail. 12,000 pieces like a week or something like that, yeah. Right. But you know what's interesting about the song Why? Uh-huh. That's the last number one song that ended the decade of the 50s. It was December 31st. It was number one.

Interesting. 1959. So with the 12,000 pieces of fan mail a week, the studios come calling. That's what happened. Warner Brothers says, hey, this kid, he's got a following. Let's get him in with a major star. And he'll bring in some young people. It had something to do with the fact that Elvis was doing movies at that point?

Probably. Yeah. Probably. And I went in and I did my first picture called Guns of the Timberland with Alan Land. That's great. Yeah. Jeannie Crane, Gilbert Rowland. And, you know, it started my whole – and it was the first movie that was written and produced by Aaron Spelling.

Interesting. It was a young producer who hadn't done anything to that point. Now, jumping up ahead, how did you get that part in Grease? You know, that's really something. First of all, I had seen Grease here on Broadway. I did a promotion. I was playing the Copacabana, which was like the spot to play. And they had asked me to do this promotional thing, a marketing thing, a tie-in. And I went to the theater, wherever the theater was playing at. And I met the cast at the time. And I watched the play. And years went by, three, four, five years, whatever. And I was playing golf at Lakeside Country Club. And I come off the first nine. I went in to get some cold drink. And my manager was there. And he says,

I got the script Paramount wants you for this picture I said what is it He said it's called Grease I said what role He said Teen Angel I said forget it And I went and I played the back I come back in

And he's still there He says they will not accept no. They said, at least would you please come in and talk with them? I said, all right. So I go to Paramount, and we're sitting around the table with Alan Carr, the producer, and Stigwood, and the director, Randall Kleiser. And he says to me, why don't you want to do this? I said, listen, fellas, I love the show. It was great.

But, you know, the character of Teen Angel is an extension of Elvis. And I'm not that. I've got a style that I sing. And in the play, you know, he's all in black and long sideburns. They said, we'll change it. We want you for this role. So they changed it. And I got by a piano

and I did my rendition of the song they put it all in white I'm all in white and all this other stuff six days rehearsal on the sound stage and two days of shooting a five minute song so they really took time with it

and you know I didn't think anything of it I did four takes on it and you were concerned that they were going to make you And I didn't think anything of it. I did four takes on it. And you were concerned that they were going to make you look like a joke. Oh, very much so. I said, look, I don't want to be treated and they previewed the screening in Hawaii, believe it or not. The writer, I can't remember her name, but she's a very big writer, wrote the article and review of the picture and said, when Frankie Avalon comes on the screen, there's a yell. When Frankie Avalon leaves the screen, there's a yell. When Frankie Avalon leaves the screen, there's an applause.

Well, it's a great, funny little song. And you have to sing it straight in a way, but you also have to play the comedy. Oh, right. Which you do. I mean, you're singing songs about a hooker. Your only customer is a hooker. Right, right, right. I'm going to the big malt shop in the sky.

But you find the laughs. I mean, it had to be sung by somebody that could do comedy. Well, you know what's amazing about that? Even today, I mean, I'll meet someone who's 12, 13 years old. You know, they know that picture. That picture goes on forever. It's amazing. I have met people that have said to me, I've seen that picture.

They count 63 times, 28 times. And if it's on television, if you are serving the channels and you see Grease, you'll stay with it. Oh, my wife's obsessed with it. You don't get off it. It's an amazing thing. And now when I'm being directed by Randall Kleiser, second day of shooting, he comes to me and says,

Frank, do you remember me at all? And I said, from what? He said, the beach pictures. I said, no. He said, I was one of the extras. Oh, wow. He was an extra in our beach pictures. Interesting.

Directed the Blue Lagoon, too, and a couple other popular movies. And you worked with another great comedian, Milton Berle. Oh, another genius. I mean, just terrific. He knew everything. From the music to the cue cards to the sketches, he was just brilliant. And he would call me at times and say, let's go to the motion picture home. He was really an advocate of doing shows.

And you'd go in there and I would see Larry Fine of the Three Stooges, you know, who had a stroke. And, you know, and I would, you know, do in those days I was not only playing the trumpet, but I was doing a lot of impressions. I would do. What impressions did you do? Oh, I did all of them. And I ended up doing. We can't let you get away with this. get away with it the one that i would do and i learned uh step for step the cagney dance and yankee doodle dandy and my whole bit was the fact that uh it would play Hollywood and and my piano

player would start playing and he would say uh and i would say but you know actors have to make auditions and to get the part and he would say okay and i would step back and he would say, and I would say, but, you know, actors have to make auditions to get the part. And he would say, okay. And I would step back and he would say, Mr. Wayne, Mr. John Wayne. And I would do the walk and I'd say, well, what do you want, kid? He'd say, are you ready to do your part? Well, you're damn right I am. And I would do Wayne.

I would do this one, that one. And at the end I would do, I'm a little jangy. And then I learned how to do the dance. And I would finish Wayne. I would do this one, that one. And at the end, I would do, I'm a yankajoodle, Janji. And then I learned how to do the dance. And I would finish the dance. And it was, all right, I'm a yankajoodle guy. So I would do that. I got to twist your arm. And what were some more of the voices?

Who would I do? These were mostly visual things. I would do Dracula. Oh, great. Welcome. I can play the part. You know, Gilbert does a little Dracula himself. Dude, let me hear it.

Okay. Got to drink some water. Look at dueling vampires here. Listen to them, children of the night. What music they make. I can't believe we're doing... Don't be afraid.

Sometimes in our dreams, the mind plays strange tricks. I love it. I love it. A spider spinning its web on every play. Pray the blood is the life, Mr. Renfield. Mr. Renfield. Spelled backwards,

what was it? Yeah. Was Dracula? No. No, Dracula was Alucard. Oh, that's it. And son of Dracula. Wasn't that John Carradine?

Lon Chaney Jr. Oh, Lon Chaney Jr. Yeah. That was a great picture. I can't believe And son of Dracula. Wasn't that John Carradine? Lon Chaney Jr. Oh, Lon Chaney Jr. Yeah. That's a great picture. I can't believe that me and Frankie Avalon are doing impressions. Yeah, dueling. But the best one I do, nobody does it.

And I do this for Rydell, which he falls off his chair. Edwin. Oh, great. falls off his chair. Edwin. Oh, great. Perfect fool. There he goes. My son, Kenan. Well, I'll tell you this. He's really a good actor, you know. Edwin.

And I can't believe I stumbled on a Dracula line, so I have to do it again. Listen. Oh, a spider spinning its web for an unwary fly. The blood is the life, Mr. Enfield. That's great. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And remember when he would come down the steps.

Oh, brilliant. Yeah, and he walked down, and the girl was always screaming, someone's been in my room. Don't be afraid. Sometimes in our dreams, the mind plays. You need the sedative, he would say. Oh, yes, yes. You need the sedative.

You mentioned John Wayne. Go ahead, Gil. Oh, did you ever work with Lugosi? No. No, he was gone by then, yeah. You were talking about John Wayne before. Yeah. And so, again, you do the teen idol thing.

That's exploding. The studios want you. You do the Alan Ladd picture. And now, the Alamo. Yeah. The Alamo, he had called Warner Brothers, and he wanted to see some of the dailies

that I was doing with the Alan Ladd. He directed that picture too, Charlie. Produced it, directed it. And he liked what I did and thought that,

you know, I was, I was about, so he made that picture in 59, so I was like 19, but I was playing like 14, you know.

And he put me in the picture and had a great friendship with him it was really amazing is that my wife sister was married to his son Michael who produced a lot of his film interesting so I really got to know the family you know and of course working with the duke he was tough boy he was i mean if you weren't in didn't know your lines or whatever i mean he he had lawrence harvey in tears uh the only guy he didn't fool with was richard widmark you know because rid widmark was such a pro you know they were good to you i heard you say just terrific yeah what was richard

widmark like you know what He was a very quiet man. He really only hung out with me and the two guys that I brought with me. Because, you know, I never wanted to leave the neighborhood. I felt very comfortable with Huckle Buck, which was a guy that I loved. And a guy by the name of Eddie Cadamo worked in the bakery shop and Sonny Troy was my guitar player and we're South Philly kids we're doing a picture in Brackettville, Texas

in the middle of nowhere and we would go to the commissary they built the whole Alamo replica of the Alamo and we would come back and we'd say, watch that snake just to kind of tease one another until one time we're coming back and Sonny Choi said,

watch that snake. I swear my mother, when he said that there was a snake, you know, that you knew that he wasn't fibbing then. Now, another person I have to get to from all your beach movies was Eric Von Zipper played by Harvey Lembeckvey lembeck yeah yeah now what do

you can you tell us about yeah well i first met uh harvey i worked with harvey in a picture that i did over at columbia called sailor crooked ship with ernie kovacs and robert wagner yeah we have to ask you about ernie kovacs too yeah and he was in the picture and then finally when we started to our first speech party picture um you know he had been around and as a comedy actor as a serious ass style like 17 but what was interesting about him was he created that character it wasn't written like that he took all of those kids that were the rats, Von Zipper and his rats, and while we'd be shooting some scene, whatever, he'd be in the other part of a sound stage or whatever, putting all those things together, all those, you stupids, give him the finger and all this. He did all that himself. So he created that character, which became very important in all of our pictures.

He was a great guy. up our pictures. He was a great guy. I'll never forget, we were shooting some of the pictures and he would come in and he was also an acting teacher. Comedy. And he would come in and he'd say, Jesus, I got this kid that is just the funniest. What a talent. What a talent. What a talent. Kept raving about him. Finally it wound up to be Ritter. Oh, John Ritter. He said, this kid does

pratfalls, this, these funny faces that he just raved about him. Of course, you know, John Ritter became a major, major actor. Yeah, I did two movies. Yeah, both from Charlie. Television, John Ritter, you know, with the Three's Company and

all that stuff. comedian uh that i have to ask you about is don rickles oh i love don you know don was so thrilled to get into the movies he did one picture uh was called um uh the one with the clark gable oh run silent run deep yeah with Clark Gable. Oh, Run Silent, Run Deep. Run Silent, Run Deep, yeah. And he tells a great story about, you know, he had one line, and Gable turns to him and says, I'm going to tell you. And Rickles was supposed to say something. He went like this.

But Rickles, you know, geez, I loved working with him. And his mother, I just loved his mother. She used to make me the best sandwiches, chicken liver sandwiches. You know, he'd bring them on the set. And we had a lot of good times together. Rickles' mother would prepare lunch for him and you? Yeah, yeah, in a brown bag, you know.

And, you know, every, I mean, for 12 to 14 hours a day, there were nothing but laughs. I mean, he never stopped, you know, and he was just on all the time. There were a lot of great comics in those pictures, in the beach pictures. And I heard Rickles was very close to his mother. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. And, you know, he would do an impression of his mother. You know, she adored him and he loved her. And it was great. I'd go to he lived in an apartment at the time. I'd take him in and he says, I'm the Jew.

In the clubhouse, he would yell all over the place. Funny guy. Jesse White, Buddy Hackett, Maury Amster, Dan Paul, Lynn, Harvey Landbeck, we talked about, and Buster Keaton. I mean, there were so many great comics in the Beach movies. We'd sit around the set with Buster Keaton, Mike. Can you imagine it he would tell his stories how he started his own studio sure you know he he thought up all of the gags the things the comedy routines and wrote everything and how he lost everything

and was really broke you know and doing our our pictures and loved to do movies, you know, and wanted to do his own little pratfalls and off the chairs and things, you know. Wasn't that how he got the nickname Buster? Because as a child actor, he was. From Houdini. That's right. Yeah. Is that right? up when he was a little kid and throw him on stage, smash him against the wall, swing him around.

And Harry Houdini said to them, you ought to nickname this kid Buster. That's funny. Well, it fit perfectly, didn't it? This is in the latter years. I mean, he was doing the candid camera shows then. And yeah, I mean, he was the biggest star in the world. he was doing the candid camera shows then he was the biggest star in the world he was like Chaplin

and he was no young man when he was doing the movies with you you know I think I figured it out he must have been about 65 and he was doing pratfalls oh yeah yeah he wanted to do his own stuff

You know And everybody Anything that he did The crew And the cast Would watch him And applaud That's nice

Yeah That's nice to hear The appreciation of this talent You know And there was another young talent In some of the In a couple of the beach pictures Little Stevie Wonder

Oh gee In meeting Stevie Wonder. Oh, gee. In meeting Stevie Wonder, he was rehearsing and kind of doing some takes on the song he did. He was Little Stevie Wonder. So finally, we're on a break and we're sitting down. He said, can I touch your face? He says to me. I said sure Steve.

Because that's the only way you could feel what I look like. And I stayed there and he looked at me but he put his hands all over my face felt my nose, my eyes and everything which is kind of really interesting. I always wondered about that.

Because in movies there's always the dramatic touching moment where someone says, can I touch your face? And I always thought, do blind people really do that? Yeah, he did to me. Wow. Yeah. I was watching some of Muscle Beach Party with Stevie. You know, Buddy Hackett's the spoiled rich kid. And he's on the phone.

He's trying to buy Sicily. Oh, yeah. And he has that great line. He says, all right, buy half. Let Hackett's the spoiled rich kid, and he's on the phone. He's trying to buy Sicily. Oh, yeah. And he has that great line. He says, all right, buy half. Let Sinatra have the other half. And I'm watching this, and I'm thinking it's not every movie that has Buddy Hackett, Stevie Wonder, and a Bond girl. A Bond girl? Luciana Pellucci.

Oh, Luciana Pellucci. Yeah, yeah. Beautiful gal. Pellucci from Thunderball. We're doing a scene on the beach, and it's a night scene. I'd come in from night surfing, you know. Those days you'd smoke in the scene or something, you know. And all of a sudden, and I'm kind of wandering away from Annette at this point, you know.

And we get to talking, and she really has the hots for Frankie, you know. And we get to the last part of the scene is where we embrace. And I see I got a wetsuit on, you know, a big yellow wetsuit. And I take her in my arms and I'm kissing her and kissing her, you know. And I'm waiting for the director, Bill Asher, to cut. Okay, that's a print or whatever. And we're kissing and kissing and kissing and kissing and kissing. Finally, after I don't know how long it was, I looked.

The crew, everybody left the set. You were telling us there were quickies. I mean, you made these films in 15 days. 15 days. Each one of them. Yeah. American International Pictures. Yeah.

And what else do you remember about Buddy Hackett? Well, I felt as though Buddy Hackett and Don Rickles were really in competition with one another on this set. We tried to be funnier. And they were both very funny guys. But they got along well. And Buddy was a little nuts We've had other guests tell us that Oh yeah, oh yeah

I mean, I remember one thing You know, I'd come into work I was doing a picture too At the same time I was doing a picture called Sergeant Deadhead And I was commuting from Las Vegas I was playing at the Sands

I was under contract at the Sands at the time. And Sammy Davis said to me, you're doing a picture and doing this? He said, I got the answer for you. He said, here's what you do. Because I would fly in after a day's shoot, you know, and be on stage by 8.15, opening for, because I was the singer, for like Alan King

or somebody like that. And I couldn't get on another flight until six in the morning so by the time the second show was done 12 31 o'clock i couldn't sleep enough so sammy said to me here's what you do you call you get an ambulance he said and after your second show get in the ambulance it'll be air conditioned you get on the cot there and you tell the drivers six to seven hours and you sleep you get to the studio you, and you tell the driver six to seven hours, and you sleep. You get to the studio, you shower, and you do your day's work. And it worked for me. It was really a great suggestion Sammy gave me, you know. Now, Gilbert owns a strange item in his house. He has

a life mask of Vincent Price. So we have to ask you about Vincent Price. Yeah, I have life masks of Vincent Price, Bela Lugosi, and Lon Chaney Jr. Wow, what a trio, huh? And you worked with Vincent Price on Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine? Yeah. What a gentleman. What a gentleman. And again, a pro.

And, you know, a connoisseur of wines, paintings, and a brilliant man. Just sit down and listen to him tell stories or talk. It was just a thrill for me. He was very nice. Very brilliant man. Just sit down and listen to him tell stories or talk. It was just a thrill for me. He was very nice. Very nice man. Does it ever occur to you you're on the set of these movies and I'm here with Vincent Price and Dr. Goldfoot in the bikini machine. You're thinking, I'm a trumpet player. I'm a serious musician.

How did I get here? I don't know. I just went along with everything. It just amazes me. You know, Gilbert, you get in front of audiences. You play in front of 50,000, 75,000 people, a million people, a hundred million people. And you just don't think of it. Yeah, you're scared.

You're shaking. But you ain't showing it. That's what we do. One day you're in South Philly playing the trumpet and then suddenly you're fighting a sea monster with Walter Pidgeon and Peter Lorre. Right. Not only that, getting on a horse. The only horse I got on was at the end of the street for a dime. You went up and down. Did you take acting lessons when the movie career started?

Yeah, I really did. I came to New York here. You threw yourself into it. A fellow by the name of Winn Handman. He was a very good teacher. As a matter of fact, he taught Red Buttons and a lot of the big guys. And then when I went out to Hollywood and started doing a lot of pictures, I studied at Columbia. So, yeah.

And I heard Vincent Price didn't like Dr. Goldfoot. Is that right? Yeah. I don't know. Oh, see, now I'm letting you in on... Yeah, yeah. I wonder why. I mean, he had a lot of fun doing it. We were up in San Francisco doing it. It was a cute little pitch.

I loved working with Fred Clark. Wow, he's terrific. Another funny guy. And you also, because you mentioned it before, I kind of wonder if you worked with him too, Edwin Sun. Keenan. You worked with Keenan? Keenan.

We did, I think, Bikini Beach, or one of them, where he played the old guy. What do these kidsenan? Keenan. We did, I think, Bikini Beach or one of them, you know, where he played the old guy. What do these kids know? What are they doing? Oh, yeah. You know, that kind of stuff. He was always a fun actor. Oh, yeah.

Very good actor. Like him in The Great Race with Tony Curtis. Oh, yeah. Oh, yes. Jack Lemmon. You know, you see some of those old black and white pictures that he was in. He was a real good actor. A very serious actor.

pictures that he was in as a real good actor, a very serious actor. And about, since you mentioned Ernie Kovacs, and Gilbert and I know very little about Ernie Kovacs, we haven't had anybody on the show talk about Ernie Kovacs. Well, I don't think too many people really know about Ernie Kovacs, including myself. I mean, I've worked with him, and of course you do scenes with him and all this other stuff. I played his nephew in the picture. But, you know, he was quite the gambler um and if he wasn't on the set doing scenes he was in his dressing room playing gin with some

heavy players they they were playing betting some big mervyn leroy the director these guys you know and he was we'd have to wait for him to you know finish a game or something to get out of his dressing room. I just got a flashback. What's that? There was a TV movie about Ernie Koufax starring Jeff Goldblum. And what's her name from? Cloris Leachman as his mother. Really?

Yes. I didn't know Cloris Leachman played his mother. I remember Jeff Goldblum playing Ernie Kovacs. And he passed away soon after you made that picture.

What happened was this. I was out promoting for Columbia Sailor Crooked Ship was the name of the film. And while I was out there doing television, doing radio,

promoting the picture, I'd gotten the word that he was in a car accident and died on sunset boulevard in the rain he was driving his rolls royce and lost control hit a tree or pole and was killed yeah yeah great talent great talent he was he was one of those that's always credited for realizing stuff is on film and you can do tricks. You can do things that you can't do in vaudeville.

Yeah, well, he was an innovator. I mean, you know, a lot of the stuff that's developed through the years, you know, he did things, you know, silly things, but they were brilliant things. Dripping water things and music to come. I mean, you know. The Nairobi Trio. Yeah, yeah. He was brilliant. Because other performers were just doing film stage shows.

Right. And he took advantage. Yeah, yeah. He was big in television. He was another Philadelphian. He was from Philly. Started at one of the local television stations and then developed and went on to big networks. And you worked with Bob Hope.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Loved working with Bob Hope. Did a picture called... I'll Take Sweden. I'll Take Sweden, yeah, yeah, yeah. That was the theme song. I'll Take Sweden, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'll take Sweden home, sweet home. Yeah. But he was a great guy. And when we did that picture, what really was neat about him that I think about, first day of shooting, you know, everybody's uptight. I don't care who you are or what you are. But, you know, you're in the makeup room and you're getting made up. And I was getting made up. I was getting made up and Hope walked in and next chair over, he's getting made up. He talks to everybody. He tells a joke

this and that. He looks over to me and then he says, I'm really nervous today. The first day, I get so nervous. He was trying to relax me and who else. He wasn't nervous. me and who else. But he wasn't nervous. He was Bob Hope. And every shot that we did at the opening day of day's work, he would get in front of the crew and tell at least two to three jokes and then start shooting. Oh, wow.

Now, I have to get to this because I get to this on just about every one of my podcasts. You worked with Cesar Romero. Yeah. Okay. A few times. Watch it, Frankie. Okay. Here's the story I heard about Cesar Romero, legendary song and dance man and Latin lover,

that in person he was gay. And to quote Jerry Seinfeld, not that there's anything wrong with that. But I heard the story that I heard was that he would gather like these young boy toys around him and he pulled down his pants and underwear and have them all fling orange wedges at his ass. I wish you could see Frankie Avalon's face, folks. Now, I wish we were on video tape.

He asked Adam West the same question. The only argument I've gotten, some people say it was tangerine wedges. You know what? I've never heard that honestly I mean I worked with him I did Sergeant Deadhead I did

I don't know how many pictures with him three or four skidoo but you know I had heard that he was gay I never saw anything anything at all never saw any young toys around nothing like that as a matter of fact, we went to a strip joint one time with Arnold

Stang and Cesar Amaro. You buried the lead, Frank. A strip joint with Cesar Amaro and Arnold Stang. But is it true that half of the budget of that movie went to buying citrus fruit? Makes sense.

Yes! Tell us a little bit about your part in Casino and working with Scorsese and De Niro. What happened was this. It was a weekend. It was like a Friday or Saturday and I was at home with my wife and kids and the

phone rings and my wife comes over to me. She said, it's for you. It's a Bobby De Niro. She didn't know. She figures it's a guy from South Philly. So I get on the phone. He says, Frankie, we're doing this picture and you were the first guest

on Lefty's show and Marty likes to be right on target with the reality of it. He said, would you come in and do that scene that you did? Because we have the tape of it when you first did it. I said, when do you want me to do it? He said, how's Monday? I said, I'm off.

So I flew in and I sat with Marty Scorsese and I looked at the film. And word for word, I did exactly what I did on the show. So Ace Rothstein was based on. Yeah, right. And De Niro, very much into his character. I mean, when we were shooting all day, it took us about 12 hours. And Pesci and I have been friends for a long time. And Pesci was waiting for me so we can get some meatballs at Joe Pig's place.

So as I'm working with De Niro, he's very much into camera. He says, Frankie, there's cameras all over. Marty's got cameras up there, this, that, whatever. So he's filming us from all angles. I said, okay. So all he wanted to talk to me about was, how's Annette Funicello? And Bobby said, yeah, she's great. You know,

cut. Is she still married? All he wanted to know was Annette. He must have been a fan of hers. He must have been. Or just a fan of the Mouseketeers. Probably, yeah. Can you do an imitation of either

Martin Scorsese or Robert Denton? No, I can't. Can you do an imitation of either Martin Scorsese or Robert De Niro? No, I can't. Can you? No. Sometimes I do Martin Scorsese. The man does Cagney and Lugosi. Isn't that enough for you? Yes.

And can Ed Wynn. Ed Wynn, yeah. Frankie, have you written a memoir? You've got to write a memoir. You've got to write a book. So many stories. Oh, God. I could go on forever.

Ever. Has it occurred to you? Have you thought about it? At times, God. I could go on forever. Ever. Has it occurred to you? Have you thought about it? At times, yeah. There's so many different aspects of, thank God, a long-lasting career. We talk about movies. Sure. But I think even people would be fascinated by the Idolmaker stuff and that whole –

All that stuff. And I think you're mentioned, if I'm pronouncing it correctly, that you're mentioned in the Wu-Tang Clan. You got it. Yes. Wow. Wu-Tang Clan. What's that? It's a hip-hop rap group that mentions you in one of their lyrics. Oh, really?

Yes. I mean, that shows how you're still relevant. Well, good. Today, you are Yes. I mean, that shows how you're still relevant. Well, good. Well, that's very nice. I mean, you know, I'm a guy that I don't watch much television. I go to a movie now and then or whatever. You did American Idol a couple years ago. Yeah, yeah, that was fun. But, you know, we'll go out, my wife and I will be out and there'll be somebody and she'll say to me, you know who that is?

I said, no, I don't. She said, that's a big star. I said, I don't know. I'm sorry. And they'll come over to me. Hi, Frankie. How are you? I'm a fan or this or that, whatever.

It's really nice. But I don't know a lot of the people today. It's been a journey, though, Frank, huh? Sure has, yeah. From crashing a party at Al Martino's house to working with Keaton and Lucy and John Wayne and Groucho and Keaton, and I said Buster Keaton. And Bing Crosby. And Crosby. I mean, do you pinch yourself? Oh, God, yeah. I mean, just in awe of these people, you know, the work with Bing Crosby. Wow, what a thrill that was.

He, you want to talk about a master. We had been, he had a television show, and I was with Vicky Carr. We were playing Young Marrieds. And after one of the takes that we did, one of the producers came over and said, Bing, you know, we've got to do this PS Spot public service announcement there. And they had the cue cards, you know, and he said, okay, let me see it. And they put up the cue cards on the side of the camera, and he went, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Okay, take them away. Hi, Bing Crosby here. Well, now, I want to tell you this. And he started to do word for word. I'm saying, look it. So I said, Bing, you looked at it once, and you just did the whole thing. He said, well, well, when you get to be doing as long as I am, you'll do the same thing. Not really.

Wow. And he does Bing, too. And he does Bing, too. And there's one other actor I had to bring up who's known primarily. Another actor who's known primarily as Jerry Seinfeld's Uncle Leo. And that's this actor, Len Lesser. I don't know if you remember him at all. Oh, I think he was in a couple of the beach pictures.

You know what? I do remember him. He's a neat guy. I think he was in a couple of the beach pictures. You know what? I do remember him. He was a neat guy. I think Kelly's Hero is a Clint Eastwood picture. He's pretty prominent in that picture. Yeah, but he was in a picture we did called Fireball 500. That's right. I played Dave Owens, the fireball, whatever it was.

And he, yeah, he was in that picture, yeah. I remember him. You know who was another wild guy actor? Timothy Carey. Oh, sure. Oh, yes, yes. Oh, I'll tell you. From The Wild One. And the one with Kirk Douglas, the World War I movie.

Oh, Paths of Glory. Paths of Glory. Boy, you know your pictures, don't you, Frank? Well, I research the gags. Wow. Convicts 4 with Ben Gazzara. That's right. He was in.

But what was the one where the roach was – wasn't that where he was in a jail cell and he smacked the roach? Yeah, I'm trying to think of which one that was. Yeah, very odd-looking. Very odd-looking. Strange guy. Yeah. Strange guy. And we were doing one scene in one of the beach things, and he played South Dakota Slim.

Minnesota fat, South Dakota Slim. Minnesota Fat, South Dakota Slim. Come on, boobie. And we were doing this one scene, and Bill Asher, our director, all he had to do was open the door, and everybody would go down this little chute. But he went, he jumped up, boobie, cut. Bill would say, Tim, we don't need all that. Just open the door. The gag is to fall down there. But he will, okay, and action. He wouldn't, he had to let him go.

And it really made the scene, I think, you know, because he stuck to his guns there. Yeah, and Brando used him again in One-Eyed Jacks, the one picture he directed. Good actor. He would come in and tell us strange stories about his wife having a baby, and he delivered the baby and bit off the umbilical cord. I mean, it was strange. Really? Well, this has been Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast

with my co-host Frank Santopadre. And I'm Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast with my co-host, Frank Santopadre. And I'm Gilbert Gottfried thanking my fellow, Teen Idol. Frank, is there anything you want to plug before we run off? No, let me see. What am I? No, I'm with the Golden Boys, Dick Fox's Golden Boys. And, you know, it's Bobby Rydell and Fabian and myself. And we do about 15, 20 concerts a year.

And I'm still out there myself. I still do that. I've got a book coming out, not about my memoirs or any of that. But it's a cookbook because I love to cook. And it's for St. Martin's Publications. So that will be out pretty soon. Oh, and you told me that former teen idol Bobby Rydell does an imitation of me?

He loves you, does lines, jokes, and everything, and he's perfect. You've got to have him on the show. I have to. Just to do that. I've got to hear Bobby Rydell, Duke Gilbert. I'll tell you, one of the most talented guys, funny guys.

I mean, he does it all. I just love Bobby Rydell. He's a real dear friend. It's been great, Frank. Thanks for doing this. It's been great. He's still handsome. Still. And versatile. And versatile. And a guy

who can challenge me to a Lugosi imitation. And he confirmed the Cesar Romero story. Yes. He was there. Frankie Avalon was there when Cesar Romero had

orange wedges flung at his ass. He was there, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you, thank you, Frankie Avalon. Thank you, thank you, Frank Kian for having me here at Enjoyed It. Thanks, buddy. If you like listening to comedy, try watching it on the internet. The folks behind the Sideshow Network have launched a new YouTube channel called Wait For It. It's got interviews with comedians like Reggie Watts, Todd Glass, Liza Schleichinger.

Schleichinger, I've been friends with her for 10 years. One of the funniest people out there, and I still have a hard time with the last name, Liza. Our very own Owen Benjamin, that's me, takes you on a musical journey down internet rabbit holes and much more. You don't have to wait any longer. Just go to youtube.com slash wait for it comedy.

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