Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - GGACP Classic: Dominic Chianese

Episode Date: October 12, 2023

GGACP celebrates October's Italian-American Heritage Month by presenting this ENCORE of a 2016 interview with Johnny Ola and Corrado "Junior" Soprano himself, actor and musician Dominic Chianese. In this episode, Dominic joins Gilbert and Frank to talk about his early career struggles, his love of music, his days as a folk club emcee and working with legends Lee Strasberg, Sophia Loren, Sidney Lumet, and lifelong friend Al Pacino. Also, Dominic gets a break from George C. Scott, a card from Burt Reynolds, a plum role from David Chase and a backstage visit from Paul Newman. PLUS: Sam Jaffe! The genius of Yip Harburg! Dominic does Dickens! Gilbert does Durante! And Dominic remembers his friend James Gandolfini! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Here's another Gilbert and Franks. Colossal classic. Hi, I'm Gilbert Gottfried. This is Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast, and I'm here with my co-host Frank Santopadre at Nutmeg Post with Frank Verderosa. Our guest this week is an accomplished musician, singer, and a celebrated stage and screen actor who's appeared in films such as All the President's Men, Dog Day Afternoon, and Justice for All, Unfaithful, Night Falls on Manhattan,

and as Hyman Roth's right-hand man, Johnny Ola in the classic Godfather Part 2. TV shows include Damages, Blue Bloods, Boardwalk Empire, The Good Wife, and he'll forever be known to audiences for his Emmy-nominated role as the senator, manipulative, and often hilarious Uncle Junior on the iconic HBO series The Sopranos. Please welcome the pride of Archer Avenue right here in the Bronx, our friend, the multi-talented Dominic Chianese. Oh, he got it. I got it. I'm telling you, like, people don't realize up to three seconds before I got on the mic,

I was asking you, what's your last name again? You did it. Yeah, very good. You forgot it. I love it. I forget it myself sometimes. He's uncomfortable. He's surrounded by Italian stomach.

Berderosa, Santo Padre. He's got to go Arthur Avenue. Yeah. See, I wanted to make this show more Jew-y. Well, there's a lot of Italian expressions that are like Yiddish. Oh, yeah. Now, for people out there in the audience not familiar, if you're a Godfather fanatic like we are, in Godfather 2, other two there's a scene where Johnny Ola takes Michael and Fredo Corleone to like basically a live sex show in Cuba and there's a guy playing there named who they called Superman right and

and at that point there's one point where uh John Casals goes Johnny Johnny Ola knows these places like he knows the back of his hand. Right. And that's how Michael realizes Fredo was in on the plan to assassinate him. Right. And so that's just one of those great scenes. That wasn't me, Superman. That wasn't there. No, that was me.

Yeah, but Johnny Ola's not in the scene. He's not? No. They refer to Johnny Ola. They refer. They refer to Johnny Ola. Johnny Ola shows him the place. Yeah.

Yeah. I think Johnny Ola turns Fredo onto that place. Of course. Yeah. Right. And he says, oh, man, Roth would never be caught dead in a place like this. And that's what Michael over here is. Yeah.

Yeah. Oh, that was a great show. I call everything a show, you know, but a great film. And if anyone wants a letter of recommendation for Dominic's acting, Al Pacino has used you in at least four of his movies. Yes, Al introduced me to, because I knew Al from the stage work, and he introduced me to Sidney Lumet. And Sidney took one look at me when I was,

let's see, 1975. I was 44 years old. Well, I was right after The Godfather. I met Sidney after The Godfather. I got that wrong. But Al introduced me to Sidney, and then I did some movies with Sidney that Al was in, like Injustice for All. Norman Jewison did that. And then—

Dog Day Afternoon. Let me put it this way. Al introduced me to Sidney because then he did do Dog Day Afternoon, right? And he saw me as a father with that great line, you know, I rob a bank when they got a sucker for a mother. That's a great line. They don't write good lines like that too much today. Yes, they do, actually, yeah.

But he, so he, Al was a great force in my life, a great, great, he was like my godfather to me, that young man. And he's younger than me, you know, much younger. And speaking of Pacino, tell us about when you were cast in The Godfather. You tell a story, and there's an interesting story you have on your website about the scene. Oh, yeah. How Coppola kind of made you anxious on purpose? Yeah, he got me very nervous because he knew that I was a stage actor.

I had never done any films. I had a walk-on once with a line in the dark in a movie shot in Boston. And I recognized my voice, but you don't see me. So I never really did any acting on films. And he saw me. I think he knew that I was going to try and nail it as an actor. And, of course, I didn't know about the camera that doesn't lie and all that stuff. So I probably went there with the intention of acting.

And he nailed me right from the beginning. He said, Dominic, change this, change that. He got me very nervous. Because you had memorized everything you came in with. Of course. I was ready to be whoever. Ready to really be like Errol Flynn doing an Einstein. It didn't work.

So he threw you off. He saw it right away. He threw you off intentionally. Oh, definitely. I didn't know that, though. And the third time he threw me off, the third time, and I really started getting nervous. Al got up out of his seat and ran over to the back. And I remember going through my mind, oh, this is the end of my movie career.

Just one shot and that's it. And Al came back and he said, and I said, Al, I'm sorry. He keeps changing. I'm sorry. Al put his hand on my, I'm not sure. I said, Dominic, Dominic, it's not you. And then I got it. Then I realized, well, he was manipulating me.

So then Arthur, my Bronx came out of me, and I said, that son of a bitch. I didn't say that. To myself, I said it. So I saw the communion kid coming over his shoulder with it with the bow and i went like this and he goes that's too much dominic i said i was testing him see if he was watching me then i realized wow this is great you don't act in front of the camera even just moving your eyebrows and making that gesture like a millimeter of an inch interesting so they kind of tricked you.

He got me to the point where I was there in the studio. I wasn't acting. I was really being Dominic playing Johnny Ola. You know what I'm saying? That's a good device because that's what movie actors have to do. They have to be so relaxed. They have to be so sure of their inside technique. So confident that they can just beat themselves.

I think, I don't know if Jack Lemon said, I don't know if it was Billy Wilder or something, and he kept saying, okay, no, no, no, no. Cut, do less, and then do less, and then do less, and then do less. That's exactly what it is.

And then Jack Lemmon got angry and he said, he goes, if I do any less, I won't be acting at all. And Billy Wyler goes, oh, thank God. Very good, yes. Lee Strasberg said the same thing. No acting, right? No acting. No.

Tell us about Lee Strasberg said the same thing. No acting, right? No acting. Tell us about Lee Strasberg. Lee was like a grandfather. We were sitting in the car one day, and we were on the set in California. No, I'm sorry, on the set in Santo Domingo. And he's driving the car, and I was sitting next to him. This is the kind of guy he was. And my wife and his wife were in the back seat

with all the little kids. I had my little boy, Alex was two, and his two adorable sons too. He's a nice kid. They're all two years old. So I'm sitting next to him and he's driving the car.

You know, he plays Hyman Roth and I'm Johnny Ola. So he's driving the car. And one of the kids, I'm hungry, mommy. I'm hungry, I'm hungry. So I turn Roth and I'm Johnny Ola. So he's driving the car and one of the kids, I'm hungry, mommy, I'm hungry, I'm hungry.

So I turn around, I'm Dominic and I'm making a joke with my family. And Lee looks at me like, you're Johnny Ola, you know, as if to say,

you're Johnny, you're not Dominic. I said, this guy's so serious. He's very serious. And then we go to this big feast. We go to this big feast, you know, because I had a baby born down there. We go to this big feast where all these wonderful Dominican people are giving us food and they're talking about it and everything like that.

And Mr. Coppola is saying, Dominic, sing him an Italian song. I said, I don't feel like it, Carmo. I ate too much lasagna. He said, sing something. I said, all right. I do a guitar romana, but I do it half-assed because I was so full. So we walk out, and he taps me on the shoulder. I said, Lee, you could have done that better.

I wanted to choke. I loved the guy. I loved the guy. He was a great man. He was always teaching. Of course. What are some of the things Lee Strasberg taught you? He taught me about the voice.

You can tell by the voice. Because he took me to his apartment one day. He showed me a lot of singers. He knew I liked to sing. He just showed me that you can, the voice tells the truth. You know, Willie Nelson's great thing about music, three chords and the truth. You know what I'm saying? Well, I like that.

I heard that. It's great. It's about the truth. And the voice shows that, and that's true. And that's why Coppola was, you know, manipulating me with love there, you know. Did he watch you for the first Godfather movie and you were doing a play

he could have oh yeah I think he did yeah he told me that he did but I was in Boston and I didn't have any money I had to borrow money to get to Boston I wasn't

they weren't going to send a limo right of course here's a question I had you're out of business right one thing I wanted to ask about Johnny Ola and you

I saw you I saw an interview with you and you were talking about how many takes it took for Michael's bodyguard to choke you yeah with the hanger

with the hanger with the clothes if you look real close that hanger slipped too if you look real close at the thing the hanger slipped away because it was

it was a wooden hanger and and he had me run it now Francis in the script said he dies like a snake so he wanted my head he dies like a snake. So he wanted my head to go like a snake.

I said, you're crazy. I can't do that, you know. He was never happy with it. But he did it 11 times, and I had a sore neck for about a week. Because the guy was short, too. He was considerably shorter than you. A little shorter. Not too much. A little shorter.

But he had big hands. God bless him. He was a sculptor. He was a teacher of sculpting. Yeah, a Hungarian sculptor. Yeah, he used to strangle the – he was in the underground in Hungary and Italy. He would strangle the enemy. Really?

Oh, wait a sec. Amerigo Toth. Is that his name? Toth. T-O-T. Amerigo Toth. He was in the underground. He told me the story.

Fascinating. He would strangle Nazis? Yeah. This is better than everything I'm talking about acting. He's such a scary looking guy. Yeah, but he was really a swarm of individuals. So he would choke Nazis with his bare hands. I have small hands.

My grandfather was a stonemason. He had big hands. But this guy's hands were even bigger than my grandfather's. So he knew what he was doing. Yeah, he was in the underground. He told me about that. I didn't ask him to me about that. I didn't ask him to do too much. We didn't talk that much.

But when he did, we got together a few times because Al got sick, you know. And then we went to visit him in the hospital. Al had a touch of emphysema for about a week. Held up the movie. That's why my baby was born. My wife was pregnant at the time. A lot of wonderful stories about

that. But Marigo was in the underground in Italy and Hungary. I assumed he was Italian all these years watching the film. And I did a little research. He was a Roman, I think. A sculptor. He died about 10 years ago, I think. He was a lovely man. Now, here's a weird thing I found out that I must say I was very disappointed.

You were not born in Italy. No, I'm born here in the Bronx. My father was born in the Bronx. My mother was born in Brooklyn. My grandfather came from Napoli. Yeah. That's because I sing Italian like a real Napolitan. You understand it, but you don't speak it.

I understand the lyrics when I'm singing it. Okay. Yeah. Te vego, te sendo, te so. You know, all that stuff i understand that's not really done right and my grandfather was very close to him and neapolitan was my first language as a baby because that's all i would hear they'd be screaming at each other you know you're in a car watching you know so like me your parents are first generation americans but they talked italian they spoke italian with their with their parents so i remember italian and uh and as a child in school i knew the difference between first-generation Americans. Yeah, but they talked Italian. They spoke Italian with their parents. So I remember Italian

and as a child in school, I knew the difference between calm breezes blowing and sul mare lucica. You know, I had a good year for music. Gilbert wasn't listening, but I want to repeat the story that I was telling Dominic out by the kitchen. Oh, I never listen when you talk.

Of course you don't. Dominic was in a play early in his career called That's a very close bond here. He was in a play early in his career called Love, L-U-V, right? Yes, or Shishgal. Written by the great playwright. That was a Jack Lemmon. Made into a movie with Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk. The play is hilarious, and I played the funny guy.

I forget his name. I'm trying to remember. Murray Shishgal wrote the play, and Dominic and I were talking. Murray Shiskell was a grocery boy as a kid in my grandfather's grocery in Brooklyn he's still around Murray we should get him on and talk about Tootsie

and some of the stuff he wrote no my grandfather's gone but Murray's around he and Dustin Hoffman have a company together I loved that role it was made for me at the time I did it I think I was like 37 years old. I was out of high school 20 years. But I really loved that role.

And we did it in a dinner theater. People were laughing so hard. It was a funny, funny role. Oh, and tell us the story about how you first got into show business. Yeah, my first professional job, right. Yes. My father was a bricklayer. He was a bricklayer foreman.

And we were leaving Arthur Avenue one morning and we're heading toward New Jersey. But it was a bus full with bricklayers. And I saw an ad in the paper that said, singers wanted 351 East 74th Street, Yarnhoos Church, for Gilbert and Sullivan. And I had just come from Champlain College where I had done an understudy as a chorus boy for one of the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. So that struck me.

I said, gee, maybe I'll get off the bus. And Mike, my cousin Mike, said, where are you going? I said, I'm going to go talk to my father, who was a foreman, sitting in front of the bus, you know, like a foreman does. And with his arms crossed, and I said, and it took guts because I had to ask my father, whom I knew didn't want me to be a bricklayer, but I did it anyway because I love my father. I wanted to be a bricklayer for him, just to please him and to prove that I could do it, whatever. I had an attitude as a kid. Who doesn't, right? When you're Italian, we have big attitudes. So I said to my father, I said, Pop, can I get off the bus?

He looked at me like I had asked him, you know, like the bus is going to blow up or something. He said, What? What for? I said, For an audition. What's that? I said, For singing singing and there was a pause of about five seconds

for singing okay if I said for acting I wouldn't be here now but I said for singing and he knew that I loved to sing he would always force me to sing as a child

they would practice come on sing Dickie Dickie that was my name come on Dickie sing singie. That was my nickname. Come on, Dickie, sing, sing, sing. So I was singing all my life. And he liked to croon himself, his brother, because there was days of the big bands and all croonings, you know. And he's singing.

All right, go ahead. He figured maybe I'll come back the next day. I never went back to Brickland because I walked into Yarnhoo's church and Dorothy Redlet walks over to me. She was a very tall, imperious-looking woman who spoke very beautiful. She says to me, young man, have you ever done Gilbert and Sullivan before? And I said, yeah, yeah. I understood the Duke of Positoro up in Champlain College.

She says, you mean the Duke of Positoro? And I said, yeah, that's what I just said. So she starts laughing. She said, do you know any Gilbert and Sullivan songs? I said, yeah, that's what I just said. So she starts laughing. She said, do you know any Gilbert and Sullivan songs? I said, well, she says, would you like to sing some? I said, yeah. So she sent me down to see Ru Knapp, who's way down by the stage. And Ru says, where are they going to sing?

I said, you know that old Devil Moon? So you remember what you auditioned with? Oh, sure. So I said, I looked at you, and I did the whole thing. Suddenly, something in your eyes. I don't know who I was imitating. I was trying to be a singer. And she comes walking down the aisle, and I'll never forget, she looks at me, and she says, you're a diamond in the rough. That's what she said. That's great. She's a diamond in the rough, and she said, come back tomorrow. And I came back, and I got in the chorus.

I was 20 years old, and I loved it. And I loved it. So when your father let you off the bus, was it kind of like, eh, he's being an idiot, let him do it and get it out of his system? Yeah, no, he knew that I loved to sing. Yeah. And he knew that if he said, first of all, he didn't want me to be a bricklayer. Yeah.

Because I could lay brick in a line, but I wasn't meant to be a bricklayer. He knew I didn't have that kind of mind. I'm not a mechanic. He was an expert mechanic. He had guides on bricklaying, all the beautiful bricks you see in New York. That was his trade. He was built that way. And he knew I wasn't.

He was built that way. He was a mechanic. And he knew that. So I think it was like, let him go. Maybe, you know. But he didn't think I was going to get a job. But I got $110 a week on that job. And did you run?

Didn't you come home? And I was a lot of money in 1952. I'll bet. Didn't you run home and show him the money and show him the check? No, I went home. And my mother had to come down and sign because I wasn't 21 yet. Oh, I see. So she got me. And the next thing you know, I was on the And my mother had to come down and sign because I wasn't 21 yet. Oh, I see. So she got me.

And the next thing you know, I was on the road with these guys. Wow. And then the story goes on from there. But if you'd said acting and not singing. Well, I wasn't an actor then. I was really a singer who liked to act. I was really a singer. I wanted to go into show business.

I wanted to go into radio, actually. I always wanted to be into radio. I always liked the idea of being in a studio. And Pop loved me. And when I think about the story about he spent like 80 bucks one time to get me when I was 16, bring me downstairs. And the whole thing didn't work out. And I felt bad, you know. But he was, you know, because my mother was, you know, I could do anything. My mother thought I I felt bad, you know. But he was, you know, because my mother was,

you know, I could do anything. My mother thought I was a prince, you know. And that's what got me in trouble. Because when you're the first child, I was the first child, Frank. First child Gilbert. The first grandson, both sides of the family. I could do no wrong. I also heard you say Italian. Most Italian boys are looking for their mothers. Oh, yeah. Which I find was an interesting comment. Because we got so many mothers, aunts, cousins. Oh, kiss me.

I had so many kisses when I was a kid. I thought I was Prince Charming. I had an Aunt Rose like you, too. Huh? I had an Aunt Rose like you. Yeah, I had an Aunt Rose. I mean, you could do no harm. I mean, if I shot the Pope, my mother said he deserved it.

That's a great line. God forbid. Gil, did you ever go to your parents and tell them what you wanted to do? Jewish mothers are the same.

They're the same. Yeah. They love you. He's got a point. I think they, I'm sure they probably thought it was absolute insanity. Like, I'm sure in their thought it was absolute insanity. Like, I'm sure in their minds, and it, you know, it's funny.

We wanted to be performers. When I think about it now. Well, he got on stage at 15. Yeah, when I think about it now, and your mind becomes more realistic as you get older. Sure. And I think that's insane, thinking you're going to make it in show business. That's right, yeah.

So I'm sure my parents probably thought me saying I'm going to be in show business was like saying I'm going to buy a lottery ticket and I'll win a billion dollars. Exactly. That's a very good analogy. Oh, and we touched upon Sidney Lumet. Tell us some of your... I mean, a great director.

Wonderful director. We talk about him on this show all the time. Yeah. Sidney had a quiet sense of humor. And he was a man of – actors loved him. And he loved us too. He loved all the actors. And he always used the stage.

Every time we did a movie, he would put chalk on us. And we'd go down to the Lithuanian Hall down the Lower East Side, and we would act it out like a stage drama. So when he got in front of that camera, he knew exactly what you had to do. But he was also very warm, and I have a wonderful story about him because Al introduced me to him, and he took one look at me, and he said, okay, I'm going to use you, Dominic. So I don't know what it was for, but it was for Dog Day Afternoon. Al introduced me to him, and he took one look at me, and he said, okay, I'm going to use you, Dominic.

I don't know what it was for, but it was for Dog Day Afternoon. This is my second movie. I remember I overslept. I think Alex, my son, was playing with the clock. The kid loves mechanics. To make a long story short, I'm half-d dressed, going in a cab, going down to Brooklyn. And I said, I'm going to get fired. And the only person on the set was Sidney.

And he's waiting for me by the station wagon. He says, you must have felt like shit when you woke up late this morning. So right away, he put me at ease. That's great. Just him and I. He said, it's all right. They're still working on the lights. And of course, he gave me that one line. I put my whole one line into that. And then he said, say it right here. And the line is, why rob a bank when you got a sucker for a mother? I would have

done any, I would have jumped off of you. I would have done stunts for him. He's that kind of a guy. He didn't, you know, he didn't say where would I have, he just made me laugh, you know. And you turn up in a couple of Lumet pictures in Q&A. of a guy. He didn't say where the heck, he just made me laugh. And you turn up in a couple of Lumet pictures in Q&A. Oh, and then Q&A called me. He wanted me for Prince of the Cities or something too. He was thinking about it. Gilbert loves that one. Oh, yeah. Terrific film.

And then you played the judge in Night Falls on Manhattan. Right. He always liked me and he always believed in me. Sidney always looked at the actor in the eye and the actor would have to talk to Sidney. That's the way he auditioned you. He looked right in the eye like I'm looking at you now. And he would say, say the lines, talk to me, talk to me. Okay. You know, we could tell. You look at his films too. And we talked about this on the show. New York is always a character. The rare. The rare cases where he was making something like Murder on the Orient Express.

Yeah, he was always, like, called the New York director. I would say so, probably, yeah, because he knew all the actors in New York, you know. But also he knew the city. He knew how to film the city. Oh, yeah. So he was so—very talented man. I don't understand all the technical aspects but he was – when I saw him later on, he would cast you with your face, with the outside. But he understood while you were auditioning if you were really into the character. He would listen to the voice.

It's the voice thing again. And what advice did he give you on acting? Any hints? Oh, never. He just made you do it over and over again. You know, he said, let's do it. Let's do it. No, once he cast you, he never gave advice.

That's a sign. I don't want to be facetious here, but that's a sign of a great director. They don't have to give you advice. I mean, they did their job and they have the patience enough to watch. You know, he knows you're going to give something. enough to watch. He knows you're going to give something. He would only shoot a scene once or maybe twice because

you were so well directed. We went through the process, the physical process of the acting. All the blocking was already done on the stage, on the floor. So when you went in front of that camera, you knew what the scene was about. And that's preparation, as you would call it. Such a body of work. You look at his films today.

Yes. Every From 12 Angry Men, which I think was his first feature. That's one of the greatest movies ever. Look what he did with that. Everything. Look at the way he cast it, the way he caught the expressions on the camera. And the great performances where I was watching The Verdict recently. So Sidney's a great actor too, Frank. He would have been a great actor. I'm sure. Wasn't he an actor? He was an actor.

He was a boy actor. Oh, he was in – wasn't it the East Side Kids, one of those movies where he's a little boy who dies in a fire? That sounds familiar. Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah. And I think in one of those films, there's a dramatic scene where you see a little boy's face superimposed over a burning building, and it's Sidney Lumet. No kidding. And he worked in early television, too. I think he was one of those, like, Frankenheimer and those guys.

He was working in live TV. Let me see if I got the chronology of this, Dominic. So you go and you're doing the Gilbert and Sullivan thing. You did a tour of Gilbert and Sullivan. Yeah, that's my first show business. But do I have this right? You went back into Bricklaying for a while before you – Yeah, because college was – a lot of us New York boys from the Bronx and Manhattan, we were sent to State College up in Champlain.

We didn't have to pay any kind of tuition or anything. It was instituted by Governor Dewey of New York. But then he took it away from us. And plain and simple, I got pissed off because I loved being up there. I mean, going to college like that, you know, a kid from the Bronx going up and seeing the sky for the first time in their life and the stars. And then I was a big man on campus because I loved being up there. I mean, going to college like that, you know, a kid from the Bronx going up to see the sky for the first time in your life and the stars, and then I was a big man on campus

because I could sing, and they had me on with these other eight guys doing acapella songs. I'm casting all these things, and then you take the college away. I wanted to go on Barry Gray's show, but I didn't know how to do it. Wow.

I wanted to go on Barry Gray. And I actually got online one time, and there was like 40,000 people. I said, I can't do it. But I was so mad. I'm not an activist type. But I wanted to go and say, why is he taking the college away from us? That was such a beautiful college. And he did.

Because the Korean War was starting. They needed the place to build barracks for the soldiers. In fact, they had to build more barracks. And guess who the foreman was when they built the more barracks? My father. Oh, wow. Like five years later. Wow, wow.

So you talk about, you know, how life goes and like that. But luckily, you know, like I said before, you just keep going on. And I was meant to do – I was meant to be an actor. So you went back to the bricklaying for a while. Oh, yeah. And then you started auditioning again. Yeah. Do I have that right?

Oh, yeah. Then I started doing – well, then I started trying to please my folks. Then I met a girl. I married her and it didn't last. I kept doing that constantly. Women were my drug. Not the sex, the women. Interesting.

You know what I'm saying? Oh, yeah. This leads me to my other question. When you were a singer in college, did you have a lot of girls throwing themselves at you? No, no. I was not that kind of a kid. First of all, there were no boys. There were no girls.

I went to college upstate. There were all boys. Oh, okay. But I always liked women. But I was off women at the time because a girl from the Bronx broke my heart when I was 18. And I stayed away for about two years at least. Two years? I didn't have a date.

I remember all the guys saying, come on, I'll take you out on a date. And I took a girl, an Indian girl, to the Bronx on New Year's Eve. And all the guys hated me because she was dark-skinned. They were looking at me like they were going to kill me. But Thelma was a gorgeous-looking, half-Cherokee Indian woman. Dark-skinned, though.

Alva, her sister was my friend up in Cali. So we made a double date. I think it was the first time I dated in a year and a half or something like that. So you got over it. Then I was a, yeah, yeah. But women were always someplace I could go, you know, the Italian thing, you know. They're going to love you.

They're going to make life a little easier. Right, right. And distraction. I always said I'm an Italian. I'm an American of Italian distraction. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha ha ha ha ha ha! million delicious instant prizes and a grand prize of $25,000. Play at games.circlek.com or at participating Circle K stores. Well, what happened? So then you wound up doing Oliver on Broadway.

Yeah, that's a lot later. That's a lot later. I'm trying to. That's not too much later. Let's see. The Italian one. I went to the Italian. Then I married my Jewish wife.

Yeah, that's right. That's right. So then you find yourself, the bricklaying is behind you, and now you're on Broadway. Oh, now I'm on Broadway. You know why I got on that show? The reason I got on it, it's the Oliver show it was. Yeah. I went to the first audition, and it was down from me into one other actor.

You know what that's like. Yeah. I just wanted to get into the chorus, just get into the show. But this was for The Undertaker. And the other actor got it. And I remember sitting on 44th Street and actually crying, really felt depressed, sitting on the curb. You can't do that now.

You get trampled. But 44th Street in those days, you know, it was like it was the quietest little street. And I was sitting there feeling so, so terrible. And I went home and I remember I said, but the year later, the wonderful stage manager, God bless him, he called me back. And he said, Dominic, I'll put you in, at least you can be in a chorus. You can understudy it again to take. I said, great, that's great.

I just want you to imagine being on Broadway. But the real reason I got in the show, too, is that I had a substitute teacher's license. And there's 11 kids in the show. So they really hired me, I think, because I like to take the kids and read them dramatic stories, you know. That's funny. Now, you got a big break early on from the great George C. Scott. Yeah, George is the one because we worked in a bank together. George and I had worked in a bank in the late 50s, 1957, 58.

And George was, we worked on night shift, midnight to eight in the morning at the Hanover Trust Bank Company. So George, you know, we'd play poker at nights and stuff like that. And he was a sweetheart guy, a nice guy, great guy, tough guy. He made sure that we could smoke. He threatened, one time he threatened the supervisor. He said, you don't let these actors smoke.

And the guy said, you can't smoke. Hey, you can't smoke. The checks are going to get dirty or something. I don't know what the hell he said. And George said, well, I'm not going to knock your teeth out. Wow. The next day, we were all smoking. And George was that kind of a guy.

But he remembered me when I married Merle. When I married Merle, she said, you've got to use your influence, she says to me. She says, why don't you go and ask him for a job? I didn't want to do that. Italians don't do that in the Bronx. We don't. You've got to use your influence, she says to me. She says, why don't you go and ask him for a job? I didn't want to do that. Italians don't do that in the Bronx. We don't. We don't. You got to come to us, right?

Frankie understands. We don't do that. I wish that were true of me, Dominic. Well, that's my nature. I got it. Yeah. But Meryl says, go and ask him. So she was doing what Colleen do her.

So I'll never forget it. When I went backstage and she opened the door, this woman, what a face. God bless her. She said, what do you want? I said, can I talk to George for a minute? As soon as I walked in, Dominic, he said, sit down. What do you want? What can I do for you?

He got me on the show. East side, west side. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't have any lines, but I played an important part. I came in with the groceries, you know. Now, when you played Fagin, do you remember the accent you did or anything like that? Fagin, I copied Robin Ramsey. Yeah. I copied him because he had an Australian accent, which I thought was probably great for the part.

Yeah. He did. He was a great Fagin. In fact, Robin just called me two days ago. I haven't seen him in 50 years. And I found out where he lives in Australia. Some people went to Australia and he just sent me an email. We're going to get together. Isn't that great? That's great. Yeah. Can you do some of Fagin?

I know you probably don't remember the title. A man's got a heart, hasn't he? Joking apart, hasn't he? And though I'd be the first one to say that I wasn't a saint, I'm finding it hard to be really as black as they paint. I'm reviewing the situation. Can a fellow be a villain all his life?

All the trials and tribulation. I better settle down. Get myself a wife. Et cetera, et cetera. That's great. Wow. It's a great song. Wow. Does Ron Moody play that in the movie? Ron Moody did.

He just passed away. Yeah. Right. Yeah. It's a wonderful role. But Robin was a 27-year-old Fagan. He was wonderful. Now he's about 78, 77.

So we're going to get together. Imagine that after all these years. Wouldn't it be nice? It is great. Yeah. So George C. Scott helps get you on television. He got'd walked all these years. Wouldn't it be nice? It is great. Yeah. So George C. Scott helps get you on television. He got me on that television thing, and he got me my first

set card, I guess. And your first movie, if I have this right, was Fuzz? Yeah, Fuzz. And Jack Weston. Jack Weston. I had the line, can you spare a dime? But it was in the dark in Boston.

You couldn't even see me. I didn't even, I forgot I was on it. One day I turned the television and I hear a voice. See, that sounds familiar, that voice. And it was me asking him

for a quarter or something. Then I realized how important the voice is in movies. I didn't realize that at the time. And you were telling us that you had worked on

Injustice for All with Al Pacino. Yes. And playing an uncharacteristically evil person was John Forsythe, known for Bachelor Father. Yes, John, yes. And he was like an evil character there. Yes, he was wonderful as a judge. You hated him. You knew he was a hypocrite. I just Yes, he was wonderful as a judge. You hated him. You were a judge, yeah. You hated him, yeah. You knew he was a hypocrite. I just watched it last night.

Did you? Yeah. You get that great line, I'm not leaving the scene of an accident, I'm in it. What is the line? I'm not leaving the scene of an accident, you're on the phone with Pacino. Oh, that's right.

I'm in it. Yeah, that's right. When you crash your car. Oh, yeah, the movie opens with that. Jewison was such a great director. Yeah, yeah. Norman was a great director yeah oh yeah and oh and and john forsyth for people not familiar with his on-camera work would know him as charlie

the voice of charlie in charlie's angels right well dynasty series and the movie and the movie right yeah yeah and oh yeah that's right and and Dynasty. But what was John Forsythe like? He was a gentleman, a really kind of a guy that sort of like becomes your friend immediately. He's that kind of a guy. And after the movie, he actually took me to the public theater in a limo. And he said, where are you going after the show, after the movie? So I said, well, I think I got an audition at the at the Pap Theater and I think they're going to use me in Peter Parnell's play. And he said,

no problem. He said, come with me. And he took me all the way from Boston, wherever we did. No, we came from Savannah on the plane and from the airport he drove me right to the... He was that kind of a guy. And he said, good luck, Dominic. And he's that kind of a guy.

And I think he was also... A generous. And I think he was also a- A generous person. I think he was also a baseball announcer. John Forsythe? Yeah, I didn't know that. Jack Warden's also good in that film. Oh, Jack Warden's great. Speaking of a Lumet actor.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, Jack was fun. Tell us about Jack Warden. We both love Jack. Jack, I love Jack. He was, you know, I was just like an extra on the show, so I didn't really get a chance to really talk to him, you know. Not that he wouldn't have talked to me.

I just felt I knew my place. I knew I wasn't going to talk to him. But he was very nice, easy to work with. Gilbert worked with him, too. And I got a card from this guy, Burt Reynolds. I didn't even know who Burt Reynolds was. Fuzz. Yeah.

I said, who's Burt Reynolds? Is he a relative? Reynolds doesn't sign a title. But it was Burt Reynolds. And then I realized he's an actor, you know, because I hadn't done that many films. Why did he send you a card? To thank you?

It was a, welcome to the show. It was a card, it was some kind of a card, like glad to know you or something like that. But they were sent out by an agent or something. It wasn't a letter. And Raquel Welch was in it. But I didn't hang around with them because I just had that one line.

I was in there looking at the suit that, what's his name, the actor that was in it, the main actor who was in The King and I. that was in it the main actor who was in The King and I he was in Fuzz Yul Brynner? yeah Yul Brynner's in Fuzz?

yes oh wow that's good he played the guy all the kids he played the bum that's good stuff yeah Yul Brynner

so I was in there and I saw this I said Yul Brynner where's this? wow I saw 14 and a half neck he was a small guy he wasn't a big guy.

I always figured he was a giant. Oh, I heard Yul Brynner. I guess it was Magnificent Seven he was in with Steve McQueen. Yeah. And that Yul Brynner would stand on a mound of dirt. Yeah, because he wasn't that tall. And that Steve McQueen angrily would kick the dirt out from him, and so it

keeps getting shorter in the scene. I'm sure he's a great actor. I read his book on acting. He had a book about how he appreciated it. He believed in a psychological gesture or something like that. Well, he was a great actor. Can we ask you about some of the other early roles?

Well, how did Raquel Welch look? I'm sorry? How did Raquel Welch look up close? Raquel Welch, she was gorgeous. She was a very sexy woman. She was a very good-looking woman. We'd like to get her for the show. For this show?

For this show. She's on our want list. She was having a lot of great stories, I'm sure. What do you remember about being in all the president's men? You played one of the Watergate burgers. I had a lot of fun, but I was going through a really rough period that time. I was on my third wife by that time, and it was rough. It was really rough.

I went through a lot of anxiety, And I developed some kind of condition where I was getting anxious. And they took me to the hospital. They took me to a doctor and a director. When I was lying on the bed, he said, and he sent somebody over,

he said, can't you come and do the last thing I need? I felt like saying, go F yourself, but I didn't. And he sent somebody over and said, can't you come and do the last, I need, I need. I felt like saying, go F yourself, but I didn't. What about Fort Apache, the Bronx? Any memories? I had a small part. I played a grandfather who made wine in a cellar.

Right. I remember. I didn't meet Paul Newman at the time. I wish I had. I met him later on doing a show and my teeth fell out. He came backstage and he said, Dominic, that was a nice comic bit you had there. My teeth actually flew out. My lower play flew out.

It was teetering on the edge of a table, you know. And who comes in, Paul Newman at the end, he says, Dominic, that was a very good bit. But that was my time with Paul Newman. You know, it was funny when you said in All the President's Men that you were going through a tough period. Yeah, very tough. When you're in a movie and you watch it, what the scenes mean to you is, oh, God, I remember I was really depressed that day you see i was thin i was very very i was going through a very heavy thing with marriage very heavy and thanks god the beautiful guy like uh f mary abraham took care of me he come f mary he was came he brought my clothes to the hospital and he knew i was going through some stuff. That's a nice story. Did you have dealings with Dustin Hoffman or Robert Redford?

Redford, I sat there just staring at him. I was sitting next to him, and he didn't look at me like he was getting in character. And I was wondering, why isn't he not looking at me? I was sitting there, and somebody sort of wanted to glance at him. But I realized these guys are film actors. They're getting in the zone. I was a there, and somebody sort of wanted to glance at me. But I realized, these guys are film actors. They're getting in the zone. I was a stage actor, and I'm a friendly person. You were also in an O.J. Simpson movie called Firepower.

Yeah, well, that was a great story. This is a great story. I've got to tell you this story right from the beginning. If I were a stand-up, I would tell this. But the point is, I don't like to diss anybody, so I'm just going to say the director. Okay. He's the villain in the piece, all right? This guy would yell at everybody.

He's a famous director. He yelled at all the people in the gambling casino with O.J. Simpson, Sophia Loren, and I was playing. I had no lines. I just had a big 57 Magnum gun, a white jacket, and I was the bodyguard to the— Billy Barty. Billy Barty. Yeah. That's it.

That's it, you know. So, and we go to Curaçao. And, of course, I couldn't eat any of the food. I don't even like eggplant parmesan. In Curaçao, they had spice. I'm telling you, you eat some of that, you burn up from the feet up right to your hair stands on end. That's how spiced the food is down there. So I didn't eat anything either.

So I'm on the set now, and I'm watching the director scream at everybody. He's screaming at all the people, all the extras and everything. That's how he got his thing done, you know? So now I'm in a room now with me, the midget, and Sophia Lillian. And the director now, right? And there's a photographer just like Darren is right here with a picture. Just like Darren is right here. Sophia Loren and the director now, right? And there's a photographer just like Darren is right here with a picture. Yep, just like Darren is right here. Darren is in front of a – he's sitting in front of a – he's crouched down below a desk that the director can't see him because the desk is over here and he's underneath.

So I see him there and he says, action. And I didn't know much about the full movie business. So I didn't move because I figured if I moved, he's going to be in a thing. I didn't know much about the food movie business. So I didn't move because I figured if I moved, he's going to be in a thing. I didn't know the difference. And he says to me, go ahead, action. And then he starts yelling at me and screaming at me. And if I were in the Bronx, I would have probably told him where to go,

but I was in Curacao. And Sophia Loren's in the room, and and so between Sophia Lorenz and the midget who the hell is he gonna yell at he's gonna yell at he's gonna yell at Dominic and and because Sophia was there and I idolized the woman you know and she's also Neapolitan by the way oh interesting uh uh you know I tried to get to talk to her. I had to go to the maid and I talked to the maid, but I never got to talk to her. But she kept looking at me when we came home. She kept like, as if to say, you know, I understand what you, but she understood that he was looking at me and she understood that my Italian was rising up and I didn't say anything.

And she was so sweet to me. She was so nice. I think he's gone, this director. You can talk openly about him. Yeah, I didn't say anything. And she was so sweet to me. She was so nice. I think he's gone, this director. You can talk openly about him. Yeah, I don't want to mention his name. Yeah, okay. I mean, some people, you got to do what you got to do. But I don't like when people yell at other people.

I don't like that. Do you know Gilbert lost a part to Billy Barty? Yes. No kidding. Oh, come on. Yeah. I went up and auditioned for this. Billy was like half your size.

You bet. Maybe a third. I don't know the actual name, the clinical name for a person that's small. I think they just call them little persons now. Little persons, yeah. But he was a nice guy, by the way. Yeah. Lots of people we've had to work with him.

He was a nice guy, by the way. Yeah. Lots of people we've had to work with him. Yeah, I auditioned for that horrible Mel Brooks film, Life Stinks. I didn't see it. Yeah, I don't think anyone did. And I auditioned for it, and everyone was saying, oh, you're great, you're great. Right. And then I found out Billy Barty got the part.

Hey, a picture's weigh a thousand words. But they were both, yeah. That's a good story. You didn't meet O.J., huh? Not really, no. I didn't meet O.J. Thank God you didn't get him angry. That movie has some cast. Yeah, no, I didn't meet him.

I met Colburn. I didn't meet O.J., I don't think. But then, was that the movie we didn't get paid for? I'm trying to think. I did a movie. Oh, no, that wasn't the movie. No. Fingers, fingers.

Oh, you worked for the great James Toback. Oh, that was Jimmy's? Yeah. Is that the reason I didn't get paid? Probably one of the reasons. Who knows why? Yeah, you did two pictures for him. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. Then, when I was at Elaine's one night, Elaine, she called him over and she got me. He talked me into doing another movie. He's a very talented guy. He's a legendary eccentric. Very talented guy. James Doback. But I didn't make much money with him.

Okay. Let me put it that way. And you worked with Harvey Keitel on that. Keitel was a piano player. Yeah, I like that movie. And Harvey was great. We had a nice scene together. And Tony Suico was in there. I think

Tony had a fight with another gangster or something. And it's a nice... When I look back on that, it gives a warm feeling. Now that you mention Tony Sirico and we have a perfect segue, we have to ask you about... Tony? We have to ask you about the Sopranos. Oh, Tony was...

Tony was Tony. I mean, he was always... One time he told me, he said, you know, I'm funnier than you. And I held my tongue because I felt like saying looks on everything. But I didn't say it. There's nobody like Tony. Tony's the best. So tell us about how David Chase and The Sopranos came into your life. Well, when I went to the audition, I remember reading the audition material, and I'm saying, this guy's either nuts,

or he's one of the comic geniuses of all time, or he's writing Greek tragedy. Because I'm talking to my sister-in-law, and I'm saying, we're going to bump off your son. I said, what guy would tell a mother that he's going to kill his son? What guy? This guy's crazy.

So I just played it for the real reality, and he started laughing. I remember he gave a real laugh. You know, one of these laughs. That's a real laugh. It isn't one of those producer TV film, Hollywood laughs. Oh, you're so funny. Get rid of that guy. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah. This was a real laugh. Get rid of that guy. Right know what I'm saying? Yeah. This was a real laugh. Get rid of that guy. Right? It was a real laugh. Well, it's that kind of laugh, the phony laugh, that you hear during a read-through on a TV show. Exactly. It hits the joke where it's like, honey, I'm home, and it's ah, ah, ah, ah.

That is very good. I worked on a terrible sitcom, and the showrunner asked me to go down and fake laugh. That's a tough job. Yeah, tough job. This is something I think Gilbert will find interesting about you and the character of Uncle Junior. I saw you say that you would go at home, you would read the dialogue almost as if you were a stand-up comic performing in a club. Well, no, when I was shaving, yeah, I'd look in the mirror and I would go, at home, you would read the dialogue almost as if you were a stand-up comic performing in a club. Well, no, when I was shaving, yeah, I'd look in the mirror and I would say, that's only to get the lines in there, just to get the rhythm. Because some of those lines were tough.

They were long jokes, you know. You have to get the right rhythm. And I wanted to get the right inflection. So I would say it like, and I would say it, and then, of would keep a dead you know dead pan you'd have to to get the rhythm some of those lines like if you really want to that's a long one so you would say it in a cadence of kind of a Henny Youngman I would say it or I would never use I would never use I would just yeah you may be right yeah could have been using a Henny Youngman thing or something or Jack Leonard was one of my favorites because I sincerely hope when you find yourself, you'll be severely disappointed.

That kind of thing. Oh, yes. That's the kind of stuff he did. We talk about him all the time. Uncle Junior is a comic. Very funny character. He doesn't realize he's funny, but he's very funny. Very funny character.

When he says, he says, when I go shit in your hat, you know, they all cracked up. And Jimmy used to crack up all the time, too. I watched a clip today, too, when the FBI guy brings you in and he says, I want Malanga. And you say, I want to fuck Angie Dickinson. Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I want to fuck Angie Dickinson. Who gets lucky first?

Now, Owen, tell us about. That's the Bronx. I know, I know. Tell us about James Gandolfini. Well, Jimmy, besides being a great actor, was the kind of a guy you have to love him because he was a generous, generous, unselfish human being who really, really appreciated whatever you did. He loved everybody. He was like a father to all of us, this young guy. He was 35 years old.

And he wanted everybody to be appreciated. And he kept saying, let's be thankful we have this. And he was right. In a funny kind of way, he was very spiritual, Jimmy, and very real. And I loved him very much. You had worked with him on the Lumet picture, but did you guys really? I had worked with Jimmy,

but I saw him in it. He was there at the reading, and I saw him, and I said, this guy's a very talented man, and I hardly talked to him, but he was great in that role. You believed him.

What an actor. And his face, when we did Sip Crown, I did most of my work with Jimmy and, you know, Steve Schripper and Nancy Marsan. And Jimmy always had everything right there in his face. You knew exactly what you were saying. I really felt close to him. That last scene with you and with Uncle Junior and Tony is a heartbreaking scene to watch. Yeah.

When I finally saw it, I started crying. And even more heartbreaking now in light of his loss. He's gone. I can't talk about him. I cry. Tell me just – this is funny. Tell Gilbert and I about the importance of the glasses to that character because you said it was an essential problem. Very important, Frank, because I realized after a while it became a mask. glasses to that character because you said it was an essential problem because the uh i realized

after a while it became a mask it became my uh i couldn't i couldn't act i couldn't act uncle junior without him so i so i thought it was a brilliant touch uh if you look at the first scene when i went nancy in the car i don't have any glasses and and it didn't look like uncle junior you know you know but once you have glasses, it made the eyes big, and it made everybody else look distorted to me, and it really gave me a mask. That's why I could really show the inside of her. It was a wonderful touch.

And the actress, I forget her last name. Nancy Marchand? Yeah, Nancy Marchand. Tell us about her. Nancy and I would sit at the readings every Thursday or something. We'd sit next to each other, and we were like brother and sister. We were so immediately, because we're both stage actors, you know, we complete trust.

We never had to discuss anything. And Nancy had a look. You know, all she had to do was look. I remember I was sitting in the car. You know when the shoot's over and you're going home? There's always some guy who wants to talk to all the people who are regulars on the show. And this guy comes over and he says, hey, remember the neighborhood, Dominic, the pizzeria? I said, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And then he walked out of the car and I said to Nancy, I know him from the Bronx. She gave me a look like, well, you take him. We both could go jump in the lake. He's interrupting my thought. You're in a car and they don't know enough that you're trying to do something. And blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know what I'm talking about. And Nancy gave me a look.

I said, wow, that's really – she can really look. And she looked at Jimmy. She's an absolutely great actress. Yeah, I remember her from Lou Grant. Yeah, great actress. She did some great work. And wasn't she in – maybe it was the original one with Rod Steiger of Marty. I think she played the homely girl.

You mean the one – not Rod Steiger. Before Borgnine, Steiger did it. Oh, I didn't know that. Steiger did it for live television. For live TV. Oh, I didn't know that. It could have been Nancy, yeah. We'll look that up.

Our crack research team is looking it up as we speak. And we have to ask Uncle Junior, you know, how you felt about the controversial ending to the series. about the controversial ending to the series? Well, I always just, because David admitted to us that he knew the ending before he started writing. He knew he was going to end it that way. So me, as an actor, I always felt the playwright or the writer

can do anything he wants. I never really judged him on that, even though I was surprised at myself at the ending. You were surprised by the blackout. You didn't see that coming. Yeah, because I knew the ending, of course, but we didn't know the blackout was going to be that long or something. Everybody thought, I thought too, that the television went wrong. Did your Aunt Rose ever get over the fact that you were cursing?

Aunt Rose, it was... You that you were cursing? Aunt Rosie was... You're never cursed as a child. You're never cursed. You're never cursed. That's funny. My sister got mad at me because when I fell in the bathtub, I used the C word.

She called me up the next day. She really got pissed off. You don't want to listen to this show, Dominic. No. Now, I actually, it was Danny Aiello we had on this show. Yeah. And he said the problem he always had with watching Italians in movies is the amount of cursing. And he said, like, he would never, his family wouldn't curse in front of him.

That was the only time I went to David. I said, David, I went to the writers, Mitchell and Burgess and Miss Green. And I said, you know, he wouldn't curse in front of Olivia. And they said, well, he's very, very angry. So they had to win. They won. But so I had to, you know, in my mind, because they don't curse. In front of a woman, you would never curse at that

age. In those days, you never have cursed. That's just not done. It's, you know, it's skivoo as you would do that. Skivoo. Right? Remember that word? That's a good Joy Behar word. She likes to use that word.

Skivoo. Yeah. That's a real Joy Behar word. She likes to use that word. She likes to use that word. Skibots. Skibots. That's a real, like, dirty. Carbone. Sure. You're not a human being. You have no respect.

As long as we're talking about Italians and influencers, you're a big fan of Jimmy Durante. I love Jimmy Durante. When we went on the red carpet one Christmas, no, it was election time, I think 2002 or something. Who do you want to vote for president? I said, Jimmy Durante. They didn't like that answer. But I said, Jimmy Durante. I wasn't going to tell them.

None of your business who I'm going to vote for. So instead I said, Jimmy Durante. He's my man. I would have voted for Jimmy because he had a big heart. He was great. Can you sing like Jimmy Durante? A little bit. I can imitate him just a little bit.

Let's see. You gotta start off each day with a song. Even when things go wrong, you gotta start off at what I just said. That's great. He's great. Tell Dominic the Jimmy Durante story. A friend of mine said, like, in Jimmy's later years, Jimmy Durante, he became a recluse. And he gave up.

He wouldn't talk to people. He wouldn't leave his house. And so my friend found out where he lived and went to his house and knocked on the door. And he hears from behind the door, who is it? And my friend goes, I'd like to speak to Jimmy Durante. And Jimmy and the voice behind the door goes, he ain't here. I love that story.

That's a great story. Isn't that the best? Oh, That's a great story. Isn't that the best? That's a great story. Since we're going through all the hits of Dominic Chianese here, let's talk about your first love music. Well, it is my first love. You see, Pop didn't want me to play the violin. He did not want you to play the violin. He did not want you to play the violin.

Why not? Well, I never knew why. I think it's because if I had the violin, the kids would have beat the shit out of me. He laughs, but it's true. That is funny. You go up in the Bronx. You're playing Ringolivio. You're jumping on Johnny Ride the Pony with guys twice your size.

My Uncle Joe lined up all the kids one time. It was my Uncle Joe, my father's kid brother. He lined them all up. I couldn't have been more than eight and a half, nine maybe. He says, can you beat him up? I say, I don't know Uncle Joe. He says, can you beat him up? And then he comes to Victor Dragati,

who was built like Frank. He says, Not me, Frank. I read it here. You hear me, Frankie? He was a big kid. He was a big kid. And I said,

I don't know. He says, well, in the morning, you're going to have to fight him tomorrow morning. You meet in the backyard, and I'm trying to remember the name of the people. Next to the garage, there was a garage, there was a barbershop, there was the candy store. Down the cellar, that next house across the street from my house, I had to go and fight Victor Dragati.

Now, I showed up next morning and Victor's there with his brother. And we put the fists up and I weighed about 107 pounds. This kid weighed like 150. So we start fighting, and he stops immediately. The brother stops the fight immediately. And it took me like 30 years later. I figured, why the hell did my Uncle Joe do that? He just wanted to see if I was going to show up.

Wow. That's it. And then I realized it. So then I put it together. I said, that's why my father didn't want me to play the violin. Because if I had a violin, they would have beat me up. You were a sissy boy if you played a violin. This is the Bronx, 1937.

So my father loved me, you know. But I never forgot. That's great. But you always sang. I mean, you didn't pick up the guitar until around 1962. The guitar was 35. Because Mike Porco, God bless him, he gave me a job as an MC. And I needed that job because I went through my third divorce by that time. And I needed some kind of new family, a new place to get accepted, certified.

I must have been very insecure. But I never went to a psychiatrist, except one time. One time, one day, Michael Moriarty said, Dominic, maybe you should see him. He gave me a name of some guy. And she made me take my shoes off. And he said, you got issues.

I never went back. Never went back. Never went back. Never went back. So this is, then I'm doing a show. Then I'm doing a show with Pacino called Chinese Coffee, right? And in the show, this is the only time I ever saw Al break up.

In the show, Pacino says to me, because we're doing this, like I'm a mentor to him in the show. He said, did you ever go to a psychiatrist? I said, once. He said, how go to a psychiatrist? I said, once. He said, how long did you go? I said, once. And Al gave a look like he knew my life.

He was a very, if it weren't for Al, I would have never made it. He was always there for me. He always knew what I was going through. That's nice to hear. And he would distract and try to get me some kind of work. He did something, you know. He's a good guy. With Pacino, you hear these stories,

same kind of stories you hear about Dustin Hoffman, who you also worked with. I never knew Dustin. I wish I had. That both of them could be, like, very difficult or very crazy when they're working. Al is very focused. He's not difficult.

He's focused. When we started working on China, we only worked like four hours a day because the intense of the work. He would drink a little sip of coffee and then he would have a little more coffee. We worked for four hours intense because he's very, very focused and very serious. I remember doing a show with him. Every night, you'd hear the clink of the spoon at the same moment. He's a real artist. And then you would think that he would just be improvising.

No, he knows the process. He's one of my favorite actors, and he can do anything. Yeah. He did that great comedy in Dick Tracy. Oh, he's funny. He can be broad. He's very funny. favorite actors and he can do anything. Yeah. He did that great comedy in Dick Tracy. Oh, he's funny. He can be broad. Very funny. He can be very funny, Al. So let's talk about Folk City and a great New York landmark and this job that you got

at a difficult time in your life. You were an MC at this famous New York folk house. Yeah. When I broke up with Merle and I was probably, I was living with – probably had a girlfriend. And so I went to Mike and I said, can I be an emcee? And he said, I never heard of you.

He was from Calabria. He had a big accent. And Mike said to me, he said, you want to – he said, I never heard of Italian focus singer before. So I said, Mike, I never heard of Italian and focus singer before. So I said, well, I said, Mark, I said, you know, I can sing in Italian. He said, yeah. I said, yeah. I said, I'm an actor.

He said, oh, okay. Well, how much do you want? I said, $100 a week. He said, I'll give you $90. All right. And every night I would go there and I'd meet all these wonderful people like Sonny Terry, Bronnie McGee, Arlo Guthrie. Was Jose Feliciano there? Jose Feliciano.

That's a great story too with Jose. And I met all these guys and I would get there. And I survived on that for a while, a couple of years actually. Meanwhile, all I wanted to do was go across the street and play Don Quixote. Because at the end, the playhouse was across the street. Wow. And the stagehands would come in. You know, Jimmy Lynch would come in and say, you look just like Richard Cunningham's making up to look like you.

So I always thought I could play Don Quixote. And I never got a chance. One day. Maybe yet. So you were an Italian folky, basically. Well, not really. I wasn't a folk, but I liked to play. I liked the guitar, but I loved Shenandoah songs, like the folk songs.

And he gave me the job because I sang Chitarra Romana, and I sang in Italian. He said, oh, that's nice. That's nice. But I knew how to be an emcee. I knew how to talk to an audience and get them to. And now, ladies and gentlemen, the wonderful Sonny Terry and Bronnie McGee. And I would talk to them down in the cellar because Mike had a cellar where everybody would meet and I would get to know the people. And Jose Feliciano, one time his wife said to me, she says, I have to take off tomorrow.

Could you take him to the – could you take Jose out? I said, I'd be happy to. And Jose being blind, of course. And I took him to the place called The Scene on 46th Street, which since then burned down. But I took him there and Tiny Tim was there that night playing and I went with Jose. And then the producer come over and they took us to their apartment and they were passing these funny cigarettes around. And Jose said, make sure that they don't record me cigarettes around and uh and jose said make sure that they don't make sure that they don't record me dominic okay i said sure jose but they gave me his funny cigarette and went up in the air scared the living hell out of me and i fell asleep i woke

up six o'clock the next morning and myself and jose what i took him to the car and i never saw him again after that. That was it. Who else was at Folk City in those days? I mean, I think Dylan did his first professional gig in 65. Dylan had already been famous. Right, he would have been. But Dave Bromberg was there, Sonny Terry Browning McGee,

John Lee Hook. And when I used to introduce him, boy, he would sit down and just get into that groove groove you know so I learned a lot I learned a lot about performing from these people because it was a very

intimate place and it forced you to be real you know so I learned a lot about performing I also learned that I had an attitude there

one night I I had sung I had sung Brother Can You Spare a Diamond I got tremendous applause and I was trying to get more money out of Mike you know and I had sung Brother Can You Spare a Diamond. I got tremendous applause. And I was trying to get more money out of Mike. You know?

And I had the wrong attitude. I didn't go back. And I regret that the rest of my life. They were clamoring for me to come back to the stage and I was pissed off. Big mistake. Ego is a bad thing. Yeah. What kind of things did you sing?

I sang Brother Can You Spare a Diamond. is a bad thing. Yeah. What kind of things did you sing? I sang Brother, Can You Spend the Time? And I did one thing. Then I'd do a little comedy, like I'd say, I can't forget the night I met you. That's all I'm thinking of. You may call

it madness, but I call it love. And everybody would crack up, you know. I love that. I enjoyed being upset. People are listening, so they didn't see. That was like a Jerry Lewis. He made a Jerry Lewis face.

Yeah, because it was a crooner. I would get him in a romantic mood and make him laugh. I had to earn that $100 a week. Yeah. And then I got the guitar, and little by little I played things. And then my mother came down with my father. My mother kept saying, there's that girl. She's looking at you.

There was a girl there, you know. And we went to Jersey one night, and I was in bed with her, and I hear a knockdown. I said, and she said, she gets up. She says, don't move. She said, and she said, she gets up, she says, don't move. I said, what's wrong? She said,

she said, it's my boyfriend. She said, don't move. She said, he's got a gun. So I'm sitting in the, I said,

this son of a, so, I left finally and then she came to folks here and she said, I ought to throw acid in your face. Son of a, so I left finally. And then she came to folks here and she said, I ought to throw acid in your face. Marron. This is the woman, my mother,

see my mother knew this woman was walking. Wow. Good story, huh? Don't move. I'm glad you got the hell out of there. Don't move. I was waiting. I was looking. Then she came back and said, he's gone. That was a sigh of there. Don't move. I was waiting. Then she came back and said, he's gone.

That was a sigh of relief. You never know who you're going to pick up. Bad attitude. Can I put you on the spot and ask you to sing a little bit of Brother Can You Spare a Dime? Sure, yeah. Should I use the guitar?

Yeah, why not? Now, this is a wonderful song. You know who wrote the words to this was Yip Harburg. Oh, Yip Harburg. Yeah. Over the Rainbow. Over the Rainbow. Yeah.

Yeah. Once I built a railroad I made it run I made it race against time Once I built a railroad Now it's done Brother, can you spare a dime? Once I built a tower To the sun

Brick and rivet and lime Once I built a tower Now it's done Brother, can you spare a dime? Once in khaki suits, gee, we look swell Full of that Yankee doodle-dum Half a million boots Went slogging through hell

I was a kid with a drum Say don't you remember They called me Al It was Al all the time Say don't you remember They called me Al. It was Al all the time. Say, don't you remember? I'm your pal. Brother, can you spare a dime? Fantastic. Fantastic!

That was a treat. Yeah, Paul Berg wrote those lyrics. Thank you, Tommy. That was one of the great songs to come out of the Depression. Exactly. Wonderful. Yeah. And I remember the Depression back in the 30s. My sister and I would put little, you know, back in the 30s. My sister and I would put little nickels and pennies in the paper and throw it down the fire escape

because there'd always be somebody down in the buildings in the Bronx, you know. There were trumpeters and guys with accordions trying to earn a living, you know. They didn't beg. They just sang. They tried to make that. That nickel brought them, you know, got them a cup of coffee at least, probably a sandwich in those days. So I remember the depression. Tell us about your CDs, Dominic. You have two CDs, one called Hits and Ungrateful Heart. Yeah. Mike, my friend of ours, Vinnie Pastore, said,

Dominic, we were doing Soprano. He said, my friend Mike's making a movie. He said, do me a favor. Do me a favor. Let's go do it. So the movie was called Hell's Kitchen. It's not Hell's Kitchen, but the river up on the East River there on the Hellgate Bridge.

And he said, we're going River there on the Hellgate Bridge. And we had a, he said, we're going to go to the Nashville Film Festival. I said, gee, Nashville Film Festival, wow. I heard of Cannes and I heard of all, I never heard of a Nashville Film Festival. So we go down to Nashville and while I was there, Vinnie, Frankie Vincent and I went to the BMI event and I get bored at those things.

But there was a guy with a guitar and a girl with a drum. And I said, Frankie, let's ask him if we could borrow this thing. This is how I happened to make a recording. So, and I sang a country song. I sang, it's a wonderful, it's a real country, real like a honky tonk guy about a guy it's a real country real like a honky tonk guy

about a guy who's drunk and and I found out I get a call in New York when I went back to New York I get a call from this guy Dub Cornett and Dub says

was that you singing Uncle Junior I said yeah he said would you like to make a record so I go down to Nashville and we made a record the hits we did the whole thing in one day Frankie

one day a little bit. And those musicians down there were great. And then even after that, Dub's wife was working for the Grand Ole Opry, and I had a chance to go on the Opry, and they sang an Italian song. Frankie, I'm telling you, when I left that stage, I was crying. Oh, yeah.

They really appreciated it. I sang an Italian song my grandfather taught me. Stade Virginia me. Stade Virginia me. And I told him what the words meant. And these people were so nice. So I want to go back. It was touching to read about that, how you got so emotional being on stage at the Grand Ole Opry.

Little Jimmy Dickinson, he welcomed me to the stage. Welcome, Dominique. Welcome to the big and all. I said, thank you, James. So when he came to New York about 10 years later, he was at Carnegie Hall. I said to one of the guys, I said, you know me? He said, yeah, you're Dr. Jr. I said, could you let me backstage, please?

I wanted to go and welcome him. So I said, welcome to New York, Jimmy. He didn't remember me at all. But it was a great moment. He had his diamond jackets and everything. I think he just passed away, too. He just passed away a couple of years ago. What a lovely man.

Yeah, great talent. He made me feel at home. And Charlie Pride was there that night. And Mickey Katz, not Katz, Mickey, what's his name? Mickey's last name. I'm trying to think of his name. He's a wonderful guy, Mickey Raphael. Mickey was playing, he plays for Willie Nelson, you know.

And he was saying, you had a black guy, he had a Jew and Italian at that one night. That's kind of nice, you know. You're making me think of the old Lone Star Cafe. Yeah, it was an ethnic night that night. I want to go back, I want to go back, because the old Lone Star Cafe. Yeah. It was an ethnic night that night. Yeah. I want to go back. I want to go back because the people down there are great. You want to go back to the Opry.

Yes. These people are great. So the other night I ran into Billy Paul Jones. Yeah, Billy Paul Jones. You can tell that name. He's from Nashville. And he got me a ticket into to go and see the Carnegie Hall, Ricky Skeggs, Ry Cooder, the White Sisters, all these great, you know. So I think I'm going to go back.

Great. I think I'm going to go back because I wrote a song. Do you want to hear the song? Yes. Yes. By all means. I'm here. Okay.

Frankie, get this song. It's a great song I wrote. It's called Late Bloomer. Some people are late learners, candles on both ends burners, never really see the morning sunrise. Time's a way of teaching, life's a way of preaching, brings a share of wisdom to the wise guys. Take time to smell the flowers Don't worry about the hours you're spending Or what the time will cost We all know time is money

But let me tell you, Sonny When that sun goes down The time is lost Better to be a late bloomer in the rose garden Than never to have bloomed at all. Now I wake up singing when I hear those church bells ringing. Calling me to kneel right down and pray. Good Lord, I'm only human.

I hope that I'll be blooming. Thank you for the sunshine every day. Everybody. Better to be a late bloomer in the rose garden than never to have bloomed at all. Oh, it's better to be a late bloomer in the rose garden. Never, never, never, never, never to have bloomed at all. Fantastic. So I want to go down and sing that in Nashville.

That's wonderful. Thanks for the opportunity to do that on the radio yet. And speaking of being a late bloomer. I am a late bloomer, yeah. Yeah, and you got the part of your lifetime at 68. 68 years old, yeah. And now just to share before we run off, share with Gilbert about your eyes i found this i found this fun and profound you said uh i don't want to steal steal the thunder but it was something about a famous

actor from gunga din from gunga din yeah or dr kildare sam jaffe oh they said i was i look like sam jaffe no you said if i have this quote have this quote correct, you said you wanted to be the next Sam Jaffe. Oh, yes, that's right. Yeah, because there used to be phone calls in New York. You know, we used to have operators. They'd take messages for you. I forget the name of the great ones. You know, back in the 60s.

And one of them, I remember I walked in one day and said look he's a young Sam Jaffe you know then I looked at him and I said yeah Sam Jaffe that's a great actor I want to be that kind of a character actor is that what you mean yeah oh yeah he was one of my idols but I also loved Paul Muni and I loved you know I was always involved

with great actors Evergy Robinson Giacchini all these guys you know Claude Rains he was one of my favorites we just talked about him I was involved with great actors, Everett G. Robinson, Giacchini, all these guys. You know, Claude Rains, he was one of my favorites. We just talked about him. Yeah. The guys that were quiet, that could be quietly villain. I loved that kind of stuff.

But I never thought I'd be a movie actor, to be honest with you. I mean, it wasn't. Maybe subconsciously, I thought, but never consciously aware that I'd be in a movie. I just loved the stage. I'm basically an entertainer. That's what I put on my IRS form. I'm an entertainer. I heard a Sam Jaffe story.

Sam Jaffe. Yeah, where a friend of mine's father was in a restaurant, and he was at the urinal, and next to him was Sam Jaffe. And so he wanted to talk to him, but he knew he couldn't. So he walked away. And then later on that evening, he went up to him before Sam Jaffe and he said, I just want to tell you, Mr. Jaffe, I'm a big fan of yours. And he said, thank you. And thank you for waiting oh god that's beautiful oh so great that's great okay so i guess i'm out of cards i think we covered the uh the career of Dominic Chianese. Well, first, go ahead.

Now, you have a charity. Yeah. Oh, yes. Joy Through Art Charity. I only wish the room were big enough on Sundays for the whole United States of America to come into the room and see what happens. We put all the wheelchairs against the wall, and I create a theatrical space that way. And in that magic circle, like I said, I'm an entertainer.

I get everybody to have a good time. And we spent for two hours. And retirement homes. We sing to each other. And my charities and my, if I may say, my legacy is going to be, I want to teach. My father, and it was right,

I am a teacher. He always wanted me to be a teacher. And I did teach. We didn't talk about my teaching experience. But I was a teacher for a while. And I loved teaching. I want to teach. It's sort of like the tumblers of the Catskill days, the guys that made everybody have a good time. I have a talent for that. I can get everybody to have a good time because you loosen everybody up. You know their names. I'm good at names. And everybody has a good time. And so we have people, I'll leave it off with telling you about Annie, the little

Irish lady with space between her teeth. And she's cute. She says, and she has Alzheimer's, 100% Alzheimer's. I said, Annie, what do you like to sing? She said, would you sing when Irish eyes are smiling? So I hit the D chord. And she has I said, Annie, what do you like to sing? She said, would you sing When Irish Eyes Are Smiling? So I hit the D chord.

And she has a great ear, and she keeps moving her fingers, you know, like this. There's a tear in your eye. And she says every word perfectly. When Irish Eyes Are Smiling. And she does it, and she has complete Alzheimer's. And of course, during the course of the afternoon, she'll ask again. She would just sing. She forgot that she had done it. And she does it so well.

And she moves her fingers like in perfect timing for the whole two hours. And about a year ago, we've been together now about seven years, every Sunday, I said, Andy, you must have been a wonderful pianist. She says, oh no, I was a typist.

Fantastic. That's what the charity is all about. Joy Through Art. Joy Through Art Foundation. 1441 Broadway. Yeah. And you won the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for your charity work

that was a real honor and I was the last one to speak you know they put me up last and you know what I did I sang God bless them I sang America the Beautiful because everybody was talking for so long I went up there and I said my grandfather

his spirit came and said, just sing. You know? And I sang. And everybody stood up. And it was a wonderful day. Then another grandpa came from Naples in 1904. He was 22 years old, right? And do you have anything else to plug?

Yeah. Anything else coming up, Dominic? I'm going to just pray that I get down to Nashville and sing my new song. Okay. I want to write songs now and I'm starting to write

things now for my fellow friars. I want to write comedy. I want to write skits. You know, because I've always felt that. You know what writing is like. You know how tough it is.

But I feel I have a talent there. My daughter Rebecca is a great writer. It goes through the genes. Weren't you working on a musical about your life with your daughter? Yeah, she's starting to do that. I think she's finishing fine. But you can't push that kind of process. It may take years, you know.

It's already been a year and a half. But I do love the stage for its value. We went to see Lulu at the Met last night. It was a great show. Completely different kind of show. You know? It's people, that's when people get together

and we realize that we're all human. And that's why I love. So I can't thank you enough, Gilbert. Thank you for having me on your show. Frank, thank you so much. Of course. I really appreciate it, guys.

We've been entertained within an inch of our lives. Yeah. I love it. I enjoyed this. As I wrap the show up, I'm going to ask you one more thing. Sure.

After I'm through, I want you to sing the saddest, most sentimental Italian song you could think of. Okay, I can do that. Okay. He loves the Italian songs, Dominic. I'm Gilbert Gottfried.

This has been Gilbert Gottfried's amazing, colossal podcast with my co-host, Frank Santopadre. Once again, we're at Nutmeg Studios. Thank you, Frank. With Frank Ferdarosa. And we have been talking to both Uncle Junior and more importantly,

Johnny Ola. And let me see if I don't fuck up your name here. Dominic Chianzani. Dominic. I said it? Not even here. Dominic Chianzani. Dominic. I said it.

Not even close. Dominic. Dominic. Key. Key. Take us to Chaz Parmateri's new restaurant. Chaz Parmateri. Was Chaz Parmateri here?

I love it. That's beautiful, Gilbert. But Dominic what? Chianese. Chianese. You were close. Dominic Chianese. You were close. Dominic Chianese. You were close.

I knew I would fuck it up. No, you were very close, like a trolley car with a 747 airplane. Thanks, Dominic. Now, I want a totally unselfconsciously sentimental, tear-jerking Italian number. Well, that would be Grandpa's song. It would be Sant'Ologio Lundana. Yes.

That's a beautiful song. Okay. Want to do it now? Yes. Sure, take us out. Oh, yes, that's right. Grandpa would sit by the window in the Bronx, smoking those wonderful DiNoboli cigars,

which is such an ironic name, isn't it? The song is about Neapolitans coming to the New World in 1904. They're coming to make a living and build a family. And as they're leaving Naples, they become, they realize that they're going to a new world and they never come back home again. SING IN ITALIAN La luna in mezzo al mare non può che n'abba le va a vedere. S'andalo giù lontano a te,

quando amma l'ingonio. Se gira il mondo, se va a cer va cerca fortuna, ma quando es ponte luna, l'onda inable non sa posta. Santa Lucia, you have only one wish, but the further you are, the more beautiful you seem. singing in Italian Lontana De Quando amalengoni Se Gira Monas Se Va

Cerca Fortuna Ma Quando Sponda Luna Lontana In Able Ma quando es ponta luna, l'onda nenable non s'aposta. Santa Lucia, l'onda nade, When I'm a lingoneer Fantastic.

Thank you. Now I'd like to say your name again, but I'm afraid I'll fuck it up. Can you just say your name? You got to say it right. You know what? Because Charlie Rapp once said to me, Dominic, would you like to be a singer at the Catskills?

I was 21 years old. I said, yes, Mr. Rapp. And he said, would you change your name? And I couldn't do it. Dominic, do you know the words? I don't know why it's making me think of this. That's because you could sing so sentimentally. Do you know the words to I don't know why it's making me think of this. That's because you could sing so sentimentally. Do you know the words to My Yiddish Amama?

I know a couple of words. Oh, can I hear some of that? I would love to. No, I don't know it in Yiddish, though. I've got to learn it. No, in English. I don't know. My Neresha Mama How much I long to see you now

My Neresha Mama Da-da-da-dee-da-da-da-da Mr. Mazer used to teach me How to add numbers on the paperback Mr. Brenner, he gave me My first egg cream Mrs. Freeman, she gave me My first egg cream. Mrs. Freeman, she gave me a three-quarter violin in the Bronx. Thank you, buddy. Well, you made me cry in two different languages