Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - 49. Lee Meriwether & Julie Newmar

Episode Date: May 7, 2015

In a rare two-part episode, Gilbert and Frank are joined by not one, but TWO of the actresses to play Catwoman during the run of the classic 1966 "Batman" series, Lee Meriwether and Julie Newmar. First, Lee looks back on her reign as Miss America, impersonates Ed Wynn and threatens (promises?) to discipline Gilbert. Next up, Julie reminisces about working with everyone from Michael Rennie to Chad & Jeremy and favors us with her favorite Catwoman catchphrase. Also, Julie feuds with Jim Belushi, Lee hops a flight with J. Fred Muggs and Buddy Ebsen runs afoul of Shirley Temple. PLUS: "The Eddie Cantor Story"! The return of Billy Barty! Gilbert channels Sydney Greenstreet! And the strange mystery of Cesar Romero and the orange wedges! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Thanks for your support, Dave. Go to patreon.com slash Gilbert Gottfried and support the podcast for the love of all that is holy. Hi, this is gilbert godfrey this is gilbert godfrey's amazing colossal podcast i'm here with my co-host frank santopadre and you know a little while ago we interviewed adam west who was the original TV Batman and our favorite Batman. And we figured, what about Catwoman? And so we decided to interview two Catwomen. Two for the price of one. Two sexy Catwomen. Julie Newmar and Lee Merriweather, who, to our way of thinking,

are still the two hottest, sexiest cat women. There's been other cat women, but to them we say, fuck you, Eartha Kitt. Fuck you, Michelle Pfeiffer. Fuck you, Anne Hathaway. And especially, fuck you, Halle Berry. Now, we have nothing against any of you personally. You're all very attractive. Anne Hathaway and Halle Berry, I would especially like to fuck. But we're saying fuck you that we like these cat women better. So we say fuck you, Anne Hathaway, Halle Berry, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Eartha Kitt,

all of whom we'd like to fuck, but we're not saying we'd like to fuck you here. We'd like to fuck you in a cheap hotel room by the airport, or any place for that matter. But we're choosing as our favorite sexiest cat women, Leigh Merriweather and Julie Newmar. So let me say, in conclusion, fuck you, Eartha Kitt. Fuck you, Michelle Pfeiffer. Fuck you, Anne Hathaway. And especially, fuck you, Halle Berry. And we'd like to fuck you, but we're just saying fuck

you. We like these other cat women better. Thank you. Today's episode is being sponsored by Dash Lane. Dash Lane is a password manager that has already helped over 2 million users online. You know the way it is. If you're like me, you have too many passwords. You always forget which password you use on which site. You spend too much time clicking on the reset password. And what's even worse is when you're on the go. No way you can remember all those passwords.

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That's right, free. Gilbert listeners, that's me and you, Gilbert listeners, can download Dashlane for free if you go to Dashlane.com slash Gilbert right now. So go to Dashlane.com slash Gilbert and never forget another password. That's Dashlane.com slash Gilbert. D-A-S-H-L-A-N-E dot com slash Gilbert. That name Gilbert sounds familiar. Hi, I'm Gilbert Gottfried, and this is Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast. I'm here with my co-host Frank Santopadre, and we're here at the Chilla Theater Expo, and our guest this week is an actress and former model who's been working for, Star Trek, Mission Impossible, Murder, She Wrote,

Space Coast, Coast to Coast, and Desperate Housewives. But she's perhaps best known as secretary on the long-running drama Barnaby Jones. And as Catwoman in the 1966 Batman movie, she's worked with Jack Benny, John Wayne, Phil Silvers, Rock Hudson, and Andy Griffith and even J. Fred Muggs and Namu the Killer Whale. Please welcome to the show Miss America of 1955, the beautiful and talented Lee Merriweather. Good grief. Welcome, Lee. Did I really do all that? I believe you did. Are you sure?

It kind of sounds like an obituary. It does. Thanks. Thanks, sweetheart. Thank you very much. I really do appreciate all that. Oh, and I'm not getting paid for this, am I? Oh, well.

Oh, well. Should we have said actress, former beauty queen? To be more accurate. Whichever, yes. And actually, Miss America, well, we don't count ourselves as beauty queens. It's sort of a misnomer, really. Interesting. Because you're never judged on beauty, per se.

Because you're never judged on beauty per se. It's more of your ability to handle yourself in difficult situations like being interviewed and bombarded with questions. And handling in the best possible ladylike way that you can. And, oh, you know, if you're able to answer questions on the spur of the moment with people looking at you from all over the world knowing that, and there are about, like, what, was it 50,000 people in the convention hall alone? Wow. That kind of situation. So I guess when you, after Miss America, that's when you started getting into acting? Yes, actually during the year.

I was so fortunate because Philco was then a scholarship sponsor of the pageant. And they had the Philco Television Playhouse. And as I was, my monologue was an Irish mother of 70 lamenting the loss of her last son to the sea. They knew I could handle a certain amount of... Do you remember any of that? Oh. Maybe.

It isn't that I haven't prayed for you, Barclay. It isn't that I haven't said prayers in the dark night so you wouldn't know what I'd be saying. But it's a great rest I'll have now, and long sleeping in the dark nights after salmon. If it's only a bit of wet flour we don't have to eat, or maybe a fish that would be stinking. Wow.

Incredible. That's part of it. I don't know where that came from. You know, what your mind will store. An Irish author, right? Wasn't it? John Millington Singe. Yes.

Great stuff. And then, so what was the first acting you did after that? Well, the two shows on the Philco Television Playhouse, one with Mary Astor playing my mother. And that was very exciting. Oh, Mary Astor. From the Maltese Falcon. Maltese Falcon. Yes, exactly.

Yeah, sure. We talk about her. And what a lovely, charming woman she was. And the other one was the Miss America story. And it was a story about a Miss America who runs away from the pageant. And on that show was the first airing of the song, There She Is, Miss America. Really? Written by, anybody know?

I want to say Burke Parks, but I'd be wrong. No, he didn't write it. He sang it. He sang it. He sang it a lot. But the first one to sing it on the show was a man who, a singer known for singing, had a little white strip of hair right here. Oh, boy. Good? Close? Oh, boy. Good?

Close? Oh, heavens. Handsome. Handsome man. And a good actor. Not Rudy Valli. No. Later.

Later. Much later. Think about 50s. 50s. In the 50s. Frankie Lane? No. I'm just grasping at straws here.

Okay. Initials. J.D. J.D. J.D.? Well, it wasn't James Darin. James Darin is here this weekend. Jimmy Durante. No?

I would love that. I would love if that were true. We're stumped, Lee. Okay. Johnny Desmond. Oh, Johnny Desmond. Yes. Wow.

Johnny Desmond was the first one to sing There She Is. Did not know that. Miss America. And it was written by Bernie Wayne. And he's famous for not only that, but Blue Velvet. Oh, sure. And Housemaid.

No, no, wait a minute. Oh, dear. It was the coffee. Chock full of nuts is the heavenly coffee. Yes, he wrote that. That's great. We have never had this kind of trivia on this show. I just remembered another piece of Hollywood trivia because you said Mary Astor.

There was a big scandalous trial because Mary Astor's maid, I think she fired her or something, and she got a hold of Mary Astor's diary. Oh, good heavens. News to me. Supposed to be some wild stuff. A little bit of hanky-panky going on?

Yeah. That she wrote about? Yeah. She was best known for the Maltese Falcon, yeah. That she wrote about? Yeah. Ooh. So that became... She was best known for The Maltese Falcon, probably. Yes. And Gilbert does a little bit of Peter Lorre for that movie, don't you, Gil? Oh.

Is it favorly? Yeah. Oh. It's you who bundled it. You and your stupid attempt to buy it. Kevin found out how valuable it was. What do you think? Fabulous. Oh, that's

wonderful. Right on the money. That's heaven. That's heaven. I love that. I sure hope they don't hang you by that sweet neck of yours, precious. But if they do, I'll always remember you. Really

good. I don't know. Maybe I just haven't seen you enough on television to see all of this. He's a mimic. Oh, I've never seen this. That's how great you are. You should see as Johnny Desmond. Oh, and I enjoy talking to a man who likes to talk.

I just close. I just close the mouth, man. I usually watch the role movies. That's great. You are a character, sir. Good. Sidney Greenstreet. Yes.

Who else does Sidney Greenstreet? She got it. I hope. I hope. I hope. I thought, oh, Lord, as I said it, maybe it was Charles Lawton. Give me the chrono. Oh, he's off again. He's off again.

One of the lines that I love, one of my favorite lines that I think could have been the advertisement for that movie is he goes, could have been the advertisement for that movie, is he goes, Wilma, you are always like a son to me. But if you lose a son, it's possible to have another. But there's only one Maltese falcon. Oh, that's great. That's great.

He was talking to Alicia Cooke. Yes. Now give me the chronology of this. Oh, I'm sorry. We have a guest. Did you go to the... No wonder your show was... I heard that your show is very, very popular. It is. No wonder. That's so good. We told you we had Adam on the show.

Did you get a word in edgewise? Adam's great. We did. It was over the telly. But he paid Gilbert a tremendous compliment. Oh, I love him. He said, I would have made a great penguin.

Oh, yes, you would have. Of course you would have. You would have. Oh, yes, absolutely. It's never too late, Gilbert. Hey, listen, they might be looking for a voice, I've heard, because I heard that they're doing a cartoon. That's right. Yes, Adam and Bert are going to do a cartoon.

Yeah, that's what I'm so worried about because I haven't heard anything, so I guess probably Julie's first in line. Oh, well. I did the first movie. That's true. She was the first one on movie. That's true. She was the first one on television. It's okay. Can I go suck my thumb now?

Now, you work with Jack Benny. Yes. We both love Jack Benny. Oh, yes. I did two of his shows. Oh, tell us about Benny. It was such a treat. Oh, what a dear man. The one thing that I love to tell, actually I haven't told many people at all,

but my mother came to see the show, Tape One, because she was a big fan of Jack Benny for years and radio and all that. And so I brought her. And he came and said, would you like to come to my dressing room? And I said, well, I have my mother here. And she said, bring her, bring her. So I said, well, I think they want me to do some makeup. I said, oh, come whenever you can.

So I did. I finished and brought my mother. And he was sitting there in his robe, bathrobe. And my mother just, I mean, she, well,

I don't know what she expected but I think she expected him in a suit and tie somehow, you know. And she went, oh, well,

I, I, I, and started to head for the door. I said, mommy, it's, no, this is Jack Benny, and this is my mother, Ethel Merriweather.

And so she sat down, and we talked. He was so dear, so dear with her. And considering her more than paying attention to me. It was really very nice and very polite of him and all. And I just thought that, well, he just went up in my estimation. Well, he's always known for being a very generous performer. Oh, yes. Yes, and he was fun to work with, fun to work with. And it was a cute script.

We had a good time. And the second one was as fun. Do you remember any of the sketches you did with him? It was, I know I had to come in into, it said Principal Benny. So it was his school room. I mean, it was his office. I'm laughing already. And I walk over to the phone. The phone is ringing.

And I said, oh darn, what was it? He was a famous spy. No, no. I mean, way back in the early American history. Benedict Arnold?

Benedict Arnold High School. That's what I answered. Benedict Arnold High School. It was something like that. I'm pretty sure that was it. Fortunate to work with somebody so generous and so welcoming at that early stage. Yes, and to watch him work, watch him and rehearse. Did you learn from watching him?

I learned from everyone. You should have seen me. I was mentored magnificently on a set of Batman because I had masters working. And just I watched them. I just was a master class in acting. Burgess working on just this thick

kind of thing where he's in the submarine. This was like the second day of shooting. And he's like this. And he has this... He's looking through a periscope. And he's like this. And he has this... He's looking through a periscope. Periscope.

Oh, yes. I'm sorry. That's right. Like I'm on television. We're not visuals. You can tell that I'm working a periscope here. You're talking to a nerd who's seen the movie a hundred times. Oh, that helps.

Anyway. But his long cigarette holder and the cigarette at the end. And he's going, run silent, run deep, and do it again. Run silent, run deep. Okay. Okay. And I'm watching this, and I'm the intense, and I mean, just working on just this minutia of work. But it's one of the biggest laughs in the movie is he does work it so that the cigarette holder and the cigarette go run silent, run deep, and it drops. That's great.

And it was just heaven. He seemed like a cross between a penguin and President Roosevelt. A little bit. Well, he would do this thing and do it in the series whenever somebody said something that was deflating to him. Oh, yeah, it would drop. The cigarette lighter would just droop and he would do this thing and do it in the series whenever somebody said something that was deflating to him. Oh, yeah, would drop. The cigarette lighter would just droop and he would go. Yeah. Yes.

Yeah. He played the stick of that character. And Frank Gorshin would be, he worked physically. His whole body was his character. And I watched him. And Cesar Romero, same thing. He had the two little sparkly things that go and give people shots. Oh, the joy buzzer.

Yes. And he was working like this. And I was like, I was trying, trying, which would be better this way so that they don't see him coming. And he's trying all different things. It was fantastic. Three legends. Three legendary actors. And I was at school.

I was at school. And I would be remiss to all my listeners if I didn't repeat the Cesar Romero story. Lee, be careful of this one. Oh, okay. All right, go ahead. According to rumor. We can always cut it out. Yeah.

According to rumor. What? According to rumor. La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la. Go ahead. Cesar Romero was gay. What? Yes.

Oh, come on. Please, don't interrupt my story. Cesar Romero was gay. And what he was into was he would hire a group of young boys. Well, I mean legal age boys, I think. You're making this up. No, no. And this is what I heard.

And then he would drop his pants and instruct these guys to throw orange wedges at his ass. And this was... Oh, he's making this. He's making it up.

No, this is what I heard and damn it, I swear to it. What you heard? Yes. Okay, well, then I don't have to believe it. I don't have to believe it at all. He asked Adam the same question, and he asked Julie the same question, and Frankie Avalon, who worked with Cesar Romero, he asked him the same question.

Did you ever see them delivering cartons of oranges? No. No, no, no, I did not. Good grief. Oh, my gosh. Did you ever see guys leave his dressing room and go, where's there a sink? My hands are covered with citrus acid.

Good heavens. You're so bad. Moving past it. How can you really move past that? Poor Lee has agreed to do this, not knowing what she was getting herself into. Let's just talk quickly since you brought up Catwoman. Let's talk about how you got the part. Julie Newmar was doing a movie.

She was doing a film. I think McKenna's Gold. Is that right? It could have been? It could be. Could have been. Could have been around the same time. Right. I really didn't know why she was.

I knew that she had been cast in something, and I think that's what my agent told me, and that they were auditioning actresses for the role. And I said, oh, oh, I'll never get it. He said, will you just go and audition? And so I did. I walked into this room, and I swear to you, the room was filled with beautiful women, zoftic, gorgeous. They just opened it up.

It was a big cattle call. It was twice as large as this room, twice as large. And this is a big room. Once again. Big room. I know. Yeah, you say twice as large. I know. We could be in a closet right now.

We're in a small ballroom. I'm rather proud of myself. I thought of that before he said that. That's right. I was going to say. Good for you. Good for you. I'm pretty good.

Okay. Every once in a while, every once in a while, I come up with things. But anyway, I thought, well, how in the world are they going to even remember anyone? Right. So I thought, what can I do? I was reading the script and I was looking. Well, luckily, I have had cats all my life and I love them and I know what they do. So a lot of it has got to be my movement and the whole thing.

But I thought, to stand out, how do you, you know, I'm not particularly well built. I never think of myself as being good-looking. That's when you grow up with, you know, from a gawky kid. Sure. And you're made fun of at school. And then when you're a teenager and you say, oh, no, she's too flat-chested, blah, blah, blah, and all that. You know, you grow up that way and you think, I'm not pretty at all. So that never entered my mind. But anyway,

I thought, and when I walked in, they all looked up and they ushered me into the room and I said, this is, and one of them said, no, this is Lee Merriweather. Hello. It's nice to meet you. Pleasure. Thank you. I talked in this voice. And I just talked like this and answered a couple of questions.

What have you been doing? And blah, blah, blah. And I did, and I did, and I did. And then one, they said, well, would you read for us, please? So, and then I started my voice. I brought my voice down to, you know. And now, of course, from being raucous here in this studio, my voice is a little harried. But anyway, I brought it down to a level that made sense. And played, and they wanted me to try a Russian accent.

Because you were Miss Kitka also, right? And so I tried that scene. And, oh, I did a lot of kneading of my knees, you know, like a cat would. Like a cat would. That's interesting. And I licked my hand. That's hilarious. And like this, and rubbed my face, and and did that and did all sorts of cat maneuvers.

And then they said, well, thank you. Thank you very much. And as I walked out, I heard and I thought it might have been the director. Leslie Martinson. Yes, Les Martinson. Bless his heart. And I think it was him, but I'm not sure who it was. Leslie Martinson. Back and forth and back and forth. Well, I went home the next day. I got a call, come in, and they wanted to see me again. And I didn't have to read.

They just told me that I had the job and that I would be going into wardrobe. It just doesn't happen like that. It really doesn't happen like that. But it does. At least this once anyway. And didn't you have to go back and loop cat sounds? Oh, yes. Oh, that was hysterical. At that time, I had never really done any looping. But I knew what it was because I had seen movies where it took place in a movie theater or, I mean, you know, movie studio.

And they were doing, making their own language up there, whatever. Okay. So I get the paper in front of me. And it's meow. Meow, meow, meow. Meow, meow. Spelled out. M and drawn out.

M onto the side of the page. Meow, meow, meow, all the way to the end. And I said, does anybody know where this comes? Right, right. In the film. And they'll say, we'll show you a film, Clip Lee. I said, oh, thank heavens. I had no idea how it would fit.

I mean, that's one thing to read it and to do it okay is a meow, but it should match whatever I was doing. And so it was the riding on the penguins' umbrellas and heading to Kitka's apartment. Right. You're sliding down those wires. Yes. Right. And with this wonderful music behind us. But it was a series of...

Luckily, having been raised in Phoenix, Arizona, we had a back fence and there were cats in the neighborhood. And my mother told me one day, she said, oh, they're mating again. And I didn't know what that meant at the time. It wasn't until years later I said, oh! Her gentle way of, you know. But I didn't ever put it together. But anyway, those were the sounds that I made. Do those sounds one more time.

He's a naughty boy. He really is. He really is. He is a naughty boy. I should have warned you. Why didn't you? I had no idea. I thought, yes, comedian, he'll be very, very funny. He'll be very, very witty,

but he is a naughty boy. And I may have to spank you. Well, that definitely... You're up for that. I'm into that. Oh, that Yeah I'm into that Oh lord I usually pay extra for that Oh lordy

Oh Lee you're such a sport I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that And thank god we're in a hotel Tsk tsk tsk We jumped ahead to Batman But tell us No I want to talk about how she's going to spank me later. The hell with Batman.

Tell us about working with the chimp on the Today Show, which is fascinating. And we've talked about it before we turn the mics on, that as of 2012, J. Fred Muggs, the famous chimp, is still living. He's still with us. Yes. Yes. The first time that I really saw what he was really like and that it was amazing. We took a flight to, I think it was Oklahoma. It was some Western thing that we were all covering.

Oklahoma. It was some Western thing that we were all covering. Everybody was in the plane, Frank Blair, Jack Luskuli, Dave, and J. Fred Muggs and myself. And I sat in front of J. Fred, and he's at the window in the back, the seat behind me. And so I was in this aisle seat, and so I could see him through the crack in the seat. And I'm watching him. And the plane takes off. He's looking out the window. He's just sitting there in his little suit. He really is.

And he's looking out the window. And they put the seatbelt on him, and he's looking out the window. And then we take off, and then he's looking out the window some more, looking out. And then the plane banks, and the sun comes into the window. And he looks up, and he squints. He reaches up, and he pulls the shade down, I swear to you. Wow. Pulled the shade down.

They didn't tell him. They didn't show him. He didn't show him. He hadn't seen every, I hadn't because I was seated on the aisle, you know, and so I was able to watch all of this. And I thought, oh, he's amazing. I mean, that's really real. It's just, woo. We've never had a guest who's flown with a chimp. This is a first. We like to brag about it. Okay, well, you can. I've heard chimps are really vicious animals.

Well, the only time that he ever did anything to me, and it was my fault. It was my fault. It was in San Francisco, and we were covering the... Oh, dear. I think it was the Republican Convention. And they wanted me to take a picture with J. Fred Muggs, but outside and on the balustrade.

And there was a flag, a lamppost. And they had him all dressed up in a tuxedo. And for a while he had a bottle of champagne. And that was the picture that one of them took. Now, I had put on a cloche hat, so my hair was covered. I was wearing gloves and a new suit. The wardrobe had given me a new suit. And I didn't say anything.

Stupid, stupidly stupid. But I didn't. I just watched and watched. I didn't say anything. Stupid. Stupidly stupid. But I didn't. I just watched and watched. I didn't smile. I was just watching what they were doing. And then they said, come on over. We want to take a picture. Now, they didn't say Lee.

They just said, come on over. So I walked over, didn't say anything. I put my hand out. He grabbed my hand and bit me. Well, I was a stranger. And coming at him. Sure, sure, sure. And I went, Muggs, Muggs, it's me. And he pulled his mouth away and looked at me and went, oh, this moan. Oh, and reached out his hand. I said, it's all right. It's okay.

It's okay. And then he put his arms around me. Wow. That was really something. That was just amazing. Yeah. Goosebumps. Goosebumps time.

Yeah. Gilbert and I met in a similar way. He put his hand out to shake my hand. I bit him. You bit him. Oh, well, I can see you doing it. This is a paid advertisement from BetterHelp. As a podcast listener, you've heard from us before. Today, let's hear what members have told us. One member said, I would recommend my therapist Thank you. That's BetterHelp.com. With Golden Globe and Emmy wins, the show starring Jeremy Allen White, Iowa Debris, and Maddie Matheson is ready to heat up screens once again. All new episodes of FX's The Bear are streaming June 27, only on Disney+. What do we want to ask you about? There's so much.

There's so many shows. Dr. Kildare and Leave it to Beaver and Route 66. And a favorite of Gilbert's and mine, I'm Dickens, he's Fenster. Oh, yes. And Dragnet. That was a fun show. And this I loved. On Dr. Kildare, you played five different nurses. That's right.

Nurse Johnson, Nurse Adams, Nurse Harper, Nurse Tynes, and Nurse Springer. Why couldn't you play one nurse? Well, because that would be a running character. Oh. Yeah. I mean, I that would be a running character. Oh. Yeah. I mean, I figured it out finally. Oh, interesting. Oh, they hire you for one show, and that's it.

And then the pay scale goes here. But if you're a running character, of course, the pay scale goes up. And, you know, that's so I've. Sneaky. Oh, very. And, Lee, would you be willing to dress up in a nurse's outfit for me? For you? Yes.

Really? Do you think I'm going to dress up in a nurse's uniform for you? You're sweet, darling. I adore you. I really do. I do just about anything, but some, somehow, yes. And I, I've heard about your wife being very indulgent and I understand wives do this and I, I, you know, I, I, I know she's beautiful and all that, but no, I know. I just, I'm – I'm thinking about it. I'm thinking.

I'm thinking. I'm thinking. I don't know where I'd get one, so probably not. And you worked with Dean Martin. Oh, yes. There's a great picture of the two of you on your website. I loved it. And I didn't know what it was from. It's from the show.

From the Dean Martin show. Oh, the one with the gold diggers. Yes, the gold diggers were guests. It was not one done in the studio. We did it out at working. His ranch. And I did a dance routine. And Blazing Sun, and I'm dancing in pants and a shirt and the other thing. Oh, dear.

But we did sing a, you wouldn't really call it a duet. It was the two of us together singing children's songs. And it was just charming. But it was like we were in love and singing these children's songs. A-tisket, a-tasket, you know, all of that. It was just very sweet, very gentle. And I just fell in love with Dean Martin. And I heard that with Dean Martin, he wouldn't come in to rehearse.

They would just call him when they were filming the show. Supposedly he hated rehearsing. I don't know if that's... I think he was one of those spontaneous performers. Didn't want to leave it. Leave it on the dressing room floor or the rehearsal hall. Yeah, I had the feeling that repeating something was not in his ilk. He really loved the immediacy.

And that's a stand-up comedian's forte. That's the nightclub singer. Jimmy Darin, same thing. I mean, he's on. James Darin, who's here this weekend, we should say. Yes, yes. James Darin, who's here this weekend, we should say. Yes, yes. And I've seen that instantaneous.

Something happens to them. Rehearsal, well, like Ed Wynn. I had the good fortune to work with Ed Wynn on a show, a very small role. I had a tiny role. But I watched him work. And he rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed, but never with anyone around. I mean, I had to hide behind a wall.

And I could see him working. And somebody would come in and walk them, a crew member doing something and he'd stop, wait till they're gone and start up again. Never showing what he was going to do or what he was working on. But he built a couple of wonderful kind of moments

and I was able to, I was just, I literally, he couldn't see me. And I was just watching him up to the side. And I'm going to put you on the spot again. Can you do an Ed Wynn imitation? Oh, no fair. Oh, just try. Do you know how many years ago this was?

Deborah, why don't you do your Ed Wynn for Lee? It's not even that good. Oh, well, no. Oh, goodness gracious. Oh, that is good. Oh, I couldn't. Oh, really? As I'm going, oh,, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, who And we've talked about Buddy on the show. We've talked about the Wizard of Oz. Yes. And that terrible story of how he had that reaction to the makeup.

You worked with him for eight years. Seven and a half. Seven and a half. Yes, seven and a half years. And you were friends, of course. Oh, absolutely. I love that man. I miss him a lot.

We used to talk on the phone when we weren't working. And just a dear, sweet soul. I've been so lucky with the people that I've worked with. I really, really have, except for today. Well, everyone's luck runs out eventually. Sorry, I couldn't help it. I don't do that. I don't think those things, and all of a sudden I thought, oh, yes.

Oh, that was funny. Thank you. Buddy Epson almost died during the making of Wizard of Oz. Yes, very close. Because they like spray painted him. Well, no, it was a salve that had aluminum something. It was aluminum dust in the makeup. Dust in the makeup.

Right. And he ingested it. After switching roles with Bulger. Yeah, I think so. Because he was originally the Scarecrow, and they switched parts. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah.

And I think it was, I think he was, how long was he in the hospital? I remember him telling me this story, but I thought it was just so awful. I just blanked out. Well, if what I read was to be believed, I mean, MGM didn't even believe he was sick. They ordered him back to the set. Yeah. That's what I read was to be believed, I mean, MGM didn't even believe he was sick. They ordered him back to the set. Yeah. That's what I read about him. Yeah.

He had a great career, and he did so much. Oh, he did. You know? He was a dear, dear man. Just, oh, do you know he wrote thank you notes to everybody who was on his show? Are you serious? That's great. Yeah.

Wow. Isn't that something? And a show that ran for eight seasons and several hundred episodes is a lot of thank you notes. A lot of thank you notes. Oh, yeah. I'd see him in his dressing room

and he'd be writing out notes, you know, thanking them for their performance. Yeah. He was 95 when he passed. He had such a wonderful long run. And I remember him dancing, you know,

you can go back and see him dancing with Shirley Temple. He had just a great career. Oh, he told me a story about that that was so wild. He said that Shirley would work and watch. She would watch a Meglin Kitty learn the dance steps from the choreographer. And she would sit and watch. And she would say, the choreographer would say, you want to try it, Shirley? And she said, is it set yet? And the choreographer said, well, we've got, you know, we have to change some heights on this.

You're going to be dancing on pilings and barrel heads and the wharf. We're changing around a little bit. When it's set, and she'd leave. Come back and sit there and watch. Is it set yet? Yes, it's set. Son of a gun, he was there for that because he had heard that this is what she was doing,

and he wanted to watch her and see what she was doing. And she watched, and then she got up. Now, she's watching them from the front, and you figure the dancers are facing her. It's hard to describe on radio, but the dancers are facing her. So that I know when I've had to learn a dance, I've had to be behind the dancers who are performing so that I can learn which way is right. She was able in her mind to somehow see it and switch it. And that's what amazed Buddy about it.

And so she got up and walked around and stood there and they started the music and she did the whole dance. And they said, oh, this is wonderful. Now Buddy is nervous about the dance because he's got to pick her up, put her on a barrel head, got to move her down the rickety rocks and the wharf. And all of a sudden, two guys in suits comes up. Now, this is Buddy telling me this story. So two guys came up, and then he put his finger to his nose and pushed it aside like the gangster look. And, hey, you, hey, over here.

So Buddy went over, and they were dressed in suits, so he thought maybe we're, you know, somebody from higher up in the MGM or whatever, or 20th century or wherever it was. from higher up in the MGM or whatever, or 20th century or wherever it was. And the guy said, you. Yes, sir. But he said, you drop her.

You're dead. Incredible. That's incredible. Shirley Temple had muscle. That's like a Frank Sinatra story. I said, buddy, buddy. Hilarious. What did you? He said, I didn't drop her.

I said, well, of course you didn't because she's still alive now. Wow. Wow. Incredible. Shirley Temple. Yeah. I'll never look at her the same way again. Especially in Captain January. Yeah.

And what do you remember about John Wayne? Oh, John Wayne was just amazing. I found out years later that what he claimed to be a broken rib from falling off a bar stool, which he told us that's how he broke his rib, was actually part of the operation on his lung, which we didn't know anything about when we were down in Durango. Making a film called The Undefeated. Yes, yeah. One of the best memories that I have about The Undefeated

is John Wayne and Rock Hudson together. And they came to a party at the house where I was staying with Mary McCargo Moses, who was playing Rock's sister, or widowed sister-in-law, I think, or something like that. But anyway, and I was playing Rock's wife. But they were all at the party, and we just had such a great time. I danced with Rock almost all the night long. He loved to dance. He loved improvised dance, you know, just go and you don't have to hold on.

You just, you know, we had such a good time. And Duke and his buddies were in the kitchen and they were playing cards. So the place dwindled out finally. Everybody from the company went home. All that was left was, and helping to clean up, was Rock and John Wayne. I couldn't. He said, you can call me Duke. I said, I just can't. Please forgive me. I just can't, Mr. Wayne. I just couldn't. I couldn't do it. So anyway, I said, Mr. Wayne. And so they finished some of the cleaning up. And I said, you fellas go.

Mary and I can finish up. I looked around. Mary is not here, not anywhere. But I said, go, go, go, go, go, out the door. And I watched them. And if I had only had any kind of a camera or anything the best, John Wayne stumbled just a touch and Rock caught him and held him. And then he had his arm around John Wayne and they walked all the way down this dirt road

and then turned left to where the motel was was and i just thought oh camera oh my life for a camera to take that picture but i have it here in my head you know just as such a a wonderful moment you have pinch me moments too where you know you were entered into a into a beauty pageant and here you are a couple years later. You're working with Jack Benny. You're working with John Wayne. He's telling you to call him Duke. Do you ever have those moments where you say,

I can't imagine? How did I get here? I am so lucky. Yeah. I mean, luck has so much to do with it. Of course. Sure. And the great Phil Silvers.

Oh, yes. Yes, I did. Oh, he was dear. He was very funny. I mean, he could just look at you and you'd laugh. You know, he had that something. You have it. You have that talent.

You have that gift. He goes, you can do something and people will laugh. That's a nice compliment. Yes, it is. And I mean it. You know, you're gifted. And Phil Silvers was gifted as well. He made everything easy on the set.

And Kay Medford was on that. That was the first time I worked with Kay. Oh, remember Kay Medford from the Dean Martin show? Yeah. She was funny. Yeah. And Kay played my aunt.

Or was it my mother? Oh, Lord. In the movie I made with Andy Griffith. Angel in My Pocket. I love that movie. It's a good movie. It's a sweet movie. I got to do my whistle. Not many people know that I whistle.

Okay. Okay. Okay. What I have to do is I have to go across the room. Oh, no, I'll just turn away from the microphone because it's not pretty. Wow. Thank you. I wish we were on film. That was incredible. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. I wish we were on film. That was incredible.

Thank you very much. Thank you, thank you. Wow. Even better than the Ed Wynn. We should wrap Lee and her daughter have to get to dinner. Oh, thank you. But gosh. That's as good an excuse as any.

Julia, just before you go, can you tell us what movie you went to see with Burgess Meredith? Oh, Viva Maria Maria. What in the heck is that? It was the only thing playing. We were on location in Santa Barbara. And I thought, well, there were no TVs in the rooms. We were in a motel someplace. Buzz Meredith, they used to call him.

No, I never did. You never called him Buzz. No, Burgess. Only Burgess. Or Mr. Meredith. And I came down and I said, I don't even have anything to read. And just to sit in my bed. So I went down, and Burgess was looking at the paper,

and I said, there isn't a movie theater anywhere around, do you? And the woman behind the desk said, oh, yes, within walking distance. Within walking distance, there's our movie theater. And I said, Burgess, you want to go to the movies? She says, oh, yes. Yes, let's go. Let's go. Let's go now.

I said, well, we don't know what's playing. She said, doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. Okay, so we hot-footed it down to the, and it was about, oh, maybe a 10-minute walk or thereabouts. And it was a foreign film festival. Isn't that funny? And there's Viva Maria Maria.

So we walked in. There's no one there. There's no one there. There's a kid who's taking the tickets. He's making popcorn. And he opens the door to let us in. And we pay. Burgess took me to the movies. He paid for it.

I said, Burgess. No, no, no, no. I pay. Okay. All right. So we sit there. And we've got popcorn. And we're watching the beginning of Maria Maria.

Catwoman and the Penguin go to the movies. And he puts his feet up on the seat in front of us. And the guy, the kid, came down with a flashlight. And flashlight, like this. Uh-uh, no, no, no feet on. And he put his feet down. Doesn't he know who we are? Oh, that's great.

I said, oh, Burgess. And he said, well, come on. And so he put his feet back up again. It was hysterical. Gilbert loves, we talk about Of Mice and Men. Oh, yes. What a brilliant performance that was. It's a funny thing.

People think, oh, the penguin in Rocky is really what they know him from. But he had this great, he directed a great picture called The Man on the Eiffel Tower. Oh, that's, yes, yes. Oh, my gosh, I forgot about that. He was a director, too. He just had all kinds of talent. And Gilbert and I talk about him all the time. Such a good man.

Penguin and the Wolfman together. That's right. Oh. I never even thought it that way. Yes, of course. Penguin and the Wolfman, which was Lon Chaney. And you're the only person to ever play Catwoman and Lily Munster. That's a yes.

Well, I guess I did. That's true. With the Munsters today with John Shuck, who we also love. Oh, John is dear. We had such fun with that series. And because we filmed that in front of a live audience. Ta-da! A little different than anybody else.

Sure, sure, sure. You really had to be there every second. There's so much you've done. There's so much we could cover. God, we didn't talk about Star Trek. I'll come back again. We'll do another one. We want to ask you about Victor Buono next time.

Oh, don't. Huh? Don't. Okay, we want to ask you about Victor Buono next time. Oh, don't. Huh? Don't. Okay, we won't ask you about Victor Buono. Oh, no, it's all right. Victor, oh, he was so sweet. Well, he's gone.

Yeah, he was. I was telling Gil, Gil and I were talking about him once, and he used to come on The Tonight Show and read original poetry. Do you remember this?

Oh, yes. Victor Buono? Yeah. He was funny. Yes. I mean, he was funny likeo? He was funny. I mean, he was funny like stand-up comedy funny. He could be. He could very well be. Well, to play King Tut the way he did, he had to have had comedic talents oozing out of every pore. He would come on the Carson Show. They would set up a lectern for him, and he'd come out, and he would read. And I

remember one line was a little kid teasing him, saying, there's the fat man from Batman. He would write his own. They were sort of Ogden Nash kind of poems, but crazy. Very clever. I remember him doing an entire poem about eating on cruise ships. Yeah, yeah. And he said something like,

He was brilliant. And the rocking seas and salty air and butter, butter everywhere. We'll ask you next time. I was on that ship once. Oh, yeah? Oh, I really was. I mean, in the middle of the Mediterranean, my mother and I,

she was taking me to Greece. She was going to see Greece and we were going to get there. And so all of a sudden, oh, wow, the whole thing. I mean, literally tables going like this. I've been on cruise ships. Like that. Oh, I thought, well, I guess, well, at least I'm with my mother.

We'll go down together. It was a little like this interview, wasn't it? That's the way I feel. I'm with my daughter here in this room, and we'll go down together. We don't want you to miss dinner. Well, I'm Gilbert Gottfried, and this is Gilbert Gottfried's amazing colossal part.

Oh, is that who you are? Oh, my gosh. I really thought I was, I thought he was somebody else. I really thought I was, I thought he was somebody else. I really did. Oh, my gosh. Most people think it's Alec Guinness when they talk. Perfect.

You couldn't have picked a better one. Oh, heavens. Very good. And I would like to continue this interview, but Catwoman herself, Lee Merriweather, promised to spank me. We haven't recorded. She said she'd spank me. And we're in a hotel. And I know an opportunity.

I don't want the gift horse in the mouth. Oh, Gilbert. Come and follow me. We're going to have a lot of fun tonight. We're going to have a lot of fun tonight. That's hilarious. Lee, we'll do it again and we'll ask you more stuff. Talk about Lee Strasberg and not Victor Buono and all kinds of things. Oh, and she did clarify that she swore she walked into the dressing room when Cesar Romero.

Oh, cut that out. You're so bad. Oh, I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen. I really apologize. I apologize every week. I know you were expecting something classical when you tuned in, but it's been fun. Thank you for doing it. We had a blast. I did too.

You silly Billy. He's a silly man. Hi, this is Gilbert Godfrey and this is Gilbert Godfrey's Amazing Colossal Podcast with my co-host Frank Santopadre. Our guest today is a dancer, choreographer, author, and Tony-winning actress who appeared in classic musicals like The Bandwagon and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. for Seven Brothers and hit TV shows like Star Trek, Bewitched, Love American Style, and Route 66, and The Twilight Zone.

But she's best known for her iconic portrayal of Catwoman on the 1960s Batman series. the 1960s Batman series. And for my money, the only Catwoman, the very sexy Ms. Julie Newmar. Well, hello. What can I say after that? How are you, Gilbert? That's some introduction.

Now, before we start to anything else on your career, can I just hear you say your famous word on Batman, perfect. Perfect. I love it. I don't know how I do that. I was just around his ankles or something. Isn't that what you're supposed to do? I think it's a vibration more than anything. Was a great little catchphrase for you.

You know that every guy right now is breaking into a sweat. Oh, my goodness. It's not that hot in New York, is it? Oh my. Julie, didn't you say that, I saw you say somewhere that men come up to you and tell you all the time

that you were their first crush or their first turn on? Yes, they do do that. They do that and it's becoming a book. Oh really? I skipped a few steps there. Yes, they come up and they tell me that and of course I would look surprised and then I would say,

well, how old were you? And the answer was four, three, four, five. I love that. That's so nice. But you'll see. So at four and five they were already getting turned on. Well, that crush is a little bit better. Or maybe it's an eye opening or it's a self-awareness. I won't get too methodical about this. I just remember you in the cat suit and what I was thinking.

Well, I won't ask what you were thinking. What were you feeling? Let's go out and play. Let's roam the neighborhood. Let's get in trouble. Now, your mother, and this would explain where you got your legs from, your famous legs. Your mother was in the Ziegfeld Follies. She was.

In 1919, she was in the Ziegfeld Follies, and Eddie Cantor said that my mother had the most beautiful legs in the Follies. Now, your mother, well, you said that Eddie Cantor said she had the greatest legs, and now it's funny that years later, you would be in the Eddie Cantor story. Oh, I think that was a walkthrough or a fake through or how did anyone even notice? It's almost embarrassing to have that on my biography. But it's true. I think I was there.

Isn't the one with Eddie Cantor makes an appearance, but he's not Eddie Cantor? Well, no, Eddie Cantor is a very weird movie that they used to show a lot on TV when I was a kid. And Keith Brazell, famous entertainer at the time, played Eddie Cantor. And at the very end of the movie, when the movie ends, the real Eddie Cantor is watching the Eddie Cantor story with his wife. And he goes, I never felt better in my life. And he puts his coat on and walks out. He was very, yeah, his wife asked him, how are you feeling, Eddie? And he never felt better in my life. Just because he's watching the Eddie Cantor story. Without heels, how tall are you?

Oh, you would ask. You know, I think. I never measured myself, but I think I'm 5'11". Wow. That's why they put you in the back. You worked with Joe Bessa. Yeah, the comic, right? Yeah, the three-street. You worked with Joe Bessa. Yeah. The comic, right? Yeah.

The little guy, right? Yes. He was in The Rookie with you. Right. Tell me more about him. He's long gone. Every time I tell the two people laugh, I just don't get it. You're funny.

Well, tell me. Well, it's... Learn me. Actually, if you have nothing to say about it... Is he there in the studio? I remember him as being one of the three stooges. Yeah, Joe's long gone now. And he played Stinky with Avid and Costello.

Yeah, he did a lot of stuff. Oh, the greats. Boy, we were so lucky when we worked with all those great comics. You start out as a dancer, and you're on Broadway in Little Abner, and it's a non-speaking part, and suddenly you're getting comedy roles all over the place. Well, a great piece of luck was Marriage Go Round. I was 24 years old, and I have a starring part,

and off it took was my speaking career. Really, in truth, really in truth, my real career was a dancer. That's what I loved most doing. But acting always makes you, your popularity is more widespread. More people notice you. So I'm much more remembered for the acting roles than dancing. much more remembered for the acting roles than dancing. Now, getting to your most famous part,

and how did you get the role on Batman? Oh, that I can only guess at. They have to make quick decisions in television. They called me up. I was in New York on a Friday, and my brother was there visiting from Harvard with some of his friends, and I get this phone call, and I say to my brother,

gee, somebody in Hollywood wants me to play, to do something or other role on Batman, and his eyes light up, he almost leaps off the couch, he says, Batman, that's our favorite show at Harvard, we all stop and watch that show. And I said, well, I don't know, should I, he said, he practically pushed

me out the door, and anyway, I got on the plane, weekend, and they gave me the script on Monday, and Tuesday we were fitting and Wednesday we were shooting. It just all happened in a blur. Everything. Television happens. It's funny. On this podcast

we just interviewed Adam West. Oh. And No, go ahead. Tell us a little. Wonderful. It was a great episode. No, no. It Tell us a little. Isn't he wonderful? Wonderful. Go ahead. You tell me. It was a great episode. No, no.

It's your job to tell me. Well, I loved working with him. He was perfect in that part. And yes, and so was Burt Ward. I mean, when they came to casting the Batman show, oh, my goodness, It really roared. And the show was brilliantly produced.

Frank and I were just talking about that Adam West used to say that you gave him some rumbling Stirrings. Certain stirrings below his utility belt. Yes. He dined out on that line for a long time.

I know. That just one of his favorite lines yes it because it was written by these great writers stanley ralph ross oh i wish you could interview him he's not among us now but anyway that's why his show was so good because of Now, I heard you talk once that Batman would get in a lot of trouble with the censors. Well, yeah, I saw you in an interview. You said that Batman would get in trouble with the censors. interview you said that batman would get in trouble with the censors and a lot of times the writers would sneak dirty words on the air in yiddish in yiddish exactly clever yes yes or here's another way to do it if you say the word fast enough it kind of slides over their heads. Funny. Did they give you any indication,

Bill Dozier, the producer, Julie, of how the series was supposed to go? I mean, you did an early episode in 66. You were in the first season. Did they say, play it camp, play it straight? Did they let you do what you wanted to do? Oh, you had to play it straight. If you didn't play it straight, you'd just muck up the gears.

You had to because it's so over the top. So that means the straighter, the even more straight that you play it, the funnier it is. If you play it funny, then it takes it off key or it doesn't work. The timing isn't right. It has to emotionally hit a certain part, a certain reality point. You have to say, oh, yes, that's true, corny, or exaggerated as it is. But there's a certain art in playing high comedy. Now, do you remember the other villains on this show?

No, because I didn't work with them. Well, you worked with Michael Rennie when he played the Sandman, the actor from The Day the Earth Stood Still. Oh, yes, you're right about that, yes. Yes, he had a very big, heavy, called Leggetteiate raccoon coat. That's right. Which I think he complained about rather a lot.

He was the Sandman. Yes. Yes, he was someone who put people to sleep. I never quite understood his character, but you guys had some fun chemistry. Yes. And you also worked with Leslie Gore, the pop singer. Well, she was the niece of the assistant director. Oh, she was Howie Horowitz's niece. Right, exactly. And a star on her own in those days

and became an even bigger star in writing her music and recording and all that. Yes. It's funny because you were, I remember even as a kid, thinking that you were a villainess and you were scary in a way, but you always found the comic beats. You always found the comedy moments. Well, when you have henchmen written into the script that have an IQ of about 99 and they mess up everything that Catwoman wants to get done,

you know it has to be a lot of fun to do and to play. And, yeah, I just have total glee and happiness from remembering this show. One of your henchmen was Jock Mahoney, who was I think Sally Field's father-in-law or stepfather. Oh. Something like that. I'll have to do a little bit more research on it. Oh.

He didn't tell me about it. And you did an episode with Chad and Jeremy, speaking of singers. Yes, and they're touring now these days. They're still around. I saw them. Mm-hmm. Now, I think Chad and Jeremy are the ones who a lot of people think Mike Myers got his Austin Powers look. Interesting.

Well, they turned up in a Dick Van Dyke episode, too. Oh, yes. Chad and Jeremy. Where they're kind of like the Beatles. Yes. And they have to hide out at the Petri House. Yes, on the Batman episode, Catwoman steals their voices, which you must remember, Julie. Oh, yes, of course. Yes. Yes. She did a good job. Yes. And they were, which you must remember, Julie. Oh, yes, of course. Yes.

Yes. She did a good job. And they were always killing you off on that show. They would always... So many Catwoman episodes ended with your death. Oh, it's impossible. Yes, I just fell into a pit with all that gold. The first one, you were in a bottomless pit. I know, but cats have nine lives.

So they have to bring me back, right? They did. Six times. I did six one-hour shows. And why did Eartha Kitt replace you? I don't think I ever knew. Were you doing something? Were you doing a film?

You know, I don't recall, but I think it was a good idea to bring a new look on the show. And that was in the third year. And they were half hour. She did a half hour show. I did hour long shows. So it was much more difficult then because when you have to write for so many characters within 22, 26 minutes, it's much trickier, much more difficult. You were on with another guest we've had on the podcast, Barbara Felden on Get Smart. Oh, that's right.

You were the housemaid who turned out to be a spy for Chaos. Did I have a French accent or a Swedish accent? I think you were Swedish again. I was always hired for my accents. And what was it like working with Don Adams?

Divine. Divine. Wonderful. Divine. Wonderful. Comics. Comics are very serious people. Mm-hmm. They are the most serious people.

Mm-hmm. You did a lot of 60s TV, Julie. I did. You did Star Trek. You did The Monkees. We just talked to Mickey Dolenz last week. The Monkees was so much fun. That was probably the most fun I ever had. You played

a girl who each one of the monkeys sees and is immediately hypnotized by. The goddess of the laundromat. Yes, April. April Conquest or something. April Conquest. You said you had kind of a crush on Davy Jones.

Well, who didn't? He was the shortest. He was the dearest and sweetest. He's a foot and a half taller than him. I love that short man. I like short men. I'm pretty short. Gilbert's very short.

Yes. I can tell. Yes. I'm practically Billy Barty. She can tell over the phone. Speaking of funniness, oh, my goodness. You know that Billy Barty used to play on my father's football team at Los Angeles City College. Are you serious?

People don't know Billy Barty was a midget. Now, my father's 6'4", okay, and they're having this big game, you know. So I don't know whether it was during the halftime or what, but they brought Billy Barty in, and he would take the place of my father. My father was a coach, and my father was also a tight end. And he would catch the ball and run around, and the audience was just wildly entertained. So, oh yeah, Billy Barty, we love him.

Well, your father was a player in the old American Football League. Do I have that right? In the AFL? Oh, yes. They didn't bulge so much. You've seen all that. I guess Billy Barty was part of the halftime show. What other famous midgets have you known?

I beg your pardon? I told you I'm not short, man. Did Billy Barty ever make a pass at you? That's his profession. Yes. Oh, he's Mr. Smarty Pants. Did he ever pinch you on the ankle? That's hilarious.

No, no. But unlike Ben Blue, he didn't try to pick me up. Who tried to pick you up? Ben Blue. Oh, Ben Blue, the silent comedian. Yes. In one of the comedy sequences I did with him, he broke two of my ribs. And I didn't laugh for three days.

Wow. Oh, my. Now, I remember when I was a boy in elementary school, another boy snuck in. He smuggled in an issue of his father's Playboy. And it was like a pictorial of you and Zero Mostel. Zero Mostel had his clothes on, of course. Yes.

And I still remember that pictorial well they didn't tell me that they hid a photographer on the set of the film that i was doing in london with zero mostel who's such a genius oh there's so much fun working with zero mostel he never does the same thing twice he's just just a crazy man. And for the first two weeks of shooting this film, which incidentally was called Monsieur Le Coq, how's my French? Monsieur Le Coq, C-O-Q. We spent that in a bathtub. Don't ask me why, but it was in the bathtub.

And the bathtub, oddly enough, was this black marble, but it was painted black marble, and bits of the paint would sort of come off in the water. But all the time, what I mostly remember is this Brit, this fellow, this prop man, coming around with a hose, a tiny hose which he would put into the bath water, and

there was a machine which would blow bubbles. It was to keep the bubbles so that it was sufficiently high to make everything presentable. You can imagine. Yes, can you?

Are you still there? Yeah, Gilbert's just, he's excited. Yes, can you? Are you still there? Yeah, Gilbert's just, he's excited. Yes. So you, see, Chris, a lot of actresses wear like kind of a bathing suit. Oh, no, you can't do that. Well, you can, but I didn't. So you never posed, Julie. These were pictures that were taken without your knowledge.

No, I never posed. Sure, sure, sure. No, no, no, no, no. I just, there were a lot of bubbles. Right. I felt quite presentable until I had to get out of the bathtub. And then, this seemed rather awkward and strange to me. The AD, the assistant director said, gentlemen, would you please kindly turn your backs?

Miss Newmar's going to get out of the bathtub. And they all did. They did? Yeah, well, they all did, of course. Fools. Yeah. Fools. What a bunch of assholes.

Wait a minute. These guys had Julie Newmar naked in front of them, and they turned their backs. Well, they were English. They were told to. No sex, please. They were British. They made my life comfortable.

We had tea at 4 in the morning and 10 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon, no matter what happened. I would have been staring 24 hours. No, you weren't allowed to do that. Turning back to Batman a moment, Julie. Thank you. No, I want to think about her naked more. Now you have to go buy the magazine. It's online, by the way, the picture.

It is. The view of the tub. You have a story about playing on Batman with a very young James Brolin. Oh, what a dear, what a sweetheart. Do you know he married one of the, I think it was the assistant, one of the producer's secretaries, that was his first wife. I didn't know that. He's now married to Barbara Streisand. Of course. Everyone knows that James Brolin is married now to Barbara Streisand. Well, he was in one of the sequences of Catwoman,

and he plays this, well, he's a truck driver, and he's driving this truck, and he is quite attractive and quite fun to work with. But I'm an 80-year-old woman disguised. I'm Catwoman disguised as an 80-year-old woman disguised. I'm Catwoman disguised as an 80-year-old woman. So I put my hand on his knee, you see. Now, I couldn't do that as Julie Newman. I'd have to be this aged woman, see. But things got a little bit warm under the collar.

Oh, he got a little excited. I'm not telling you any more about that. I remember that episode. You're trying to steal a rare violin. Yes, yes, to try to bury I. That's right. Yes. And you're dressed as an old lady.

Yes. And again, there's the producers putting you in a place where you can play comedy. Oh, that's so much fun. It's so much fun being anything other than yourself. By the way, when Adam was on the show with us, he paid Gilbert a wonderful compliment. Really? Yeah, he said, I would have made a great penguin.

Really? Yes. He doesn't have the tummy for it. Well, Gilbert loves Burgess Meredith, so he was flattered by the comparison. Well, and Burgess had to learn to smoke, and he was really upset about that because he even told the producer, you know, it took him months to quit smoking. And he says, if I become a smoker again, I'm going to whatever you, you know. You remember he, just like FDR, like Franklin Delano Roosevelt had the...

Yeah, yeah. Go in the holder. Yeah, yeah. He cooped that in his mouth like, yeah, you like that part, huh? Oh, yes. Talk like the penguin. Go on. Yeah, no, I just thought that was the greatest compliment.

Come on, Gilbert. Yeah. You sounded like that at the top of the show. That's his normal voice. Now, here's someone I don't know if you've ever worked with, and I don't know if I've ever discussed on this show. Another villain on this show was the Joker. Have you ever worked with Cesar Romero?

Cesar, we all loved him. Oh, he was such a good guy to be around. Just a gentleman and funny and dear and warm and kind. And you remember him as a great dancer in his earlier days? Latin lover, sure. And a lover and so outstanding, so great looking. He was everything. Now, I heard a story.

Yeah. I don't know if you can confirm it. It's true. I know what you're going to tell it. Which one? About the mustache. No, no, no. Go ahead.

Tell me the mustache and I'll tell you. Tell me your story first. Be careful, Julie. Watch it. Tell me the mustache and I'll tell you. Tell me your story first. Be careful, Julie. Watch it. Okay. I'm all ears. Okay. Tell the story.

I heard, you know, in real life he was gay. So? And I heard a rumor that he used to gather these boys around him and he would pull down his pants and underwear and have them fling orange wedges at his ass. Orange what? Orange wedges. Wedges.

Were they peeled or unpeeled? That matters. Julie, you're such a good sport. Yeah. Now, if they were unpeeled, I would have objected. Okay, you know the story of the mustache? Well, that he refused to shave the mustache. Let me tell you the story of the mustache.

I heard he got orange juice in his mustache. Well, we told that story. Okay. So he had a mustache, but, you know, it was always covered up with makeup. He would not shave it off. Oh, yeah, that's famous. Okay, it's famous, but why? Because in his early 20s, he had been smitten with or fallen in love with a woman who was about 10 or 12 years older than he.

And he was very taken with her. And this woman evidently felt he was the Latin charmer who had a great deal of it had to do with his mustache. So from that day onward, he never removed it. Interesting. so from that day onward he's never removed it interesting always his his part of his aura part of his uh who he was yeah he made them put the white grease paint over the over the stage yeah well i worked in television maybe my son i don't know have you seen the new dvds that warner brothers has put out we haven't yet have you seen seen them? These are the DVD and the Blu-ray of Batman 66. Sure. I hope they were kind enough to send you a complimentary copy. No, they did not.

Bastards. They were supposed to, and I've not received it. It should be my gift. It should be. Yeah, well, I did one of those after-talks for them. Anyway, the film is just gorgeous because they've been restored for the first time in many many years yes and the color is out of this world and all the it looks incredible better than than when when it was first shown which was on smaller screens so now you can see it on the big screen in all its colors.

It's really gorgeous. You were having a famous feud with a neighbor of yours. I can't remember. Who was that? In Brentwood. Oh, really? Did you know he moved? He finally moved?

Jim Belushi. Oh, Mr. Belushi. From Everybody Out of the World According to Jim. Everybody Loves Jim. Yeah, according to Jim. Is that the name of the show? According to Jim. Well, he changed the title.

Okay. Well, we should set this up for people. You and Jim Belushi were next-door neighbors in Brentwood. Yes, I'm still here. Yes. And there were some conflicts. next-door neighbors in Brentwood. Yes, I'm still here. Mm-hmm. Yes, mm-hmm, yes. And there were some conflicts. Well, Mr. Belushi wanted to build a three-story house

where you can only have your garage. And I brought that to the attention of the authorities and made him rather mad. Yes. Anyways, we had a skirmish. This, that, and the other. Eggs flew over the

couch or whatever it was. Did you egg his house at one point, Julie? Did you egg his house at one point? I might have done so. I mean, listen, that's happened to other people. Performances and such. I don't like his performance. I mean, Catwoman throw eggs at his house.

Must have seemed surreal to him. Oh, dear. Oh, my. But you finally settled it by doing an episode of his sitcom. Settle, settle, settle. You always settle, settle, settle. Good for you. Do not go too far.

Good for you. Do not go too far. Good for you. She had fun. We have been talking to the more sexy than ever, Julie Newmar, Catwoman herself, who to this day still gives Frank and myself and all our male listeners some stirrings under their utility belts. Curious stirrings, yes, to quote Adam. Yeah, curious stirrings under our utility belts. And most importantly... You just let me get away with it.

Most importantly, Julie Newmar came on my podcast today and confirmed that when she was on the Batman set, she accidentally walked into Cesar Romero's dressing room and saw him standing there with his pants around his ankles and boys throwing orange wedges at his

naked ass. I didn't hurt him. I just thought about his well-being. So you think he was so sophisticated that he needed it peeled first. Sophisticated

and yes, and he laughed. Oh yes, yes. He made everything just a pleasure to do. To perform. He was wonderful. God bless you. Thank you. Julie, you were wonderful. Thanks for doing this for us today. I enjoyed it. It was a treat. Julie Newmar, huh?

Julie Newmar. Thank you. Thanks, Julie. This has been Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast with my co-host, Frank Santopadre, and the woman who confirmed the Cesar Romero story, Julie Newmar. Thanks again, Julie. Thank you, Gilbert. Thank you.

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