Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - GGACP Classic: Marion Ross

Episode Date: March 6, 2025

GGACP's celebration of Women's History Month continues with this repost of a 2018 interview with Mrs. C herself, Emmy-nominated actress Marion Ross. In this episode, Marion recalls her early days as a studio contract player, her struggles to find her footing in Hollywood, her curious methods of getting into character and her working relationships with Claudette Colbert, Noel Coward, Kirk Douglas and Charlton Heston. Also, Marion crushes on Clark Gable, confides in Cary Grant, sets sail with Tony Curtis and pays a call on Bogie and Bacall. PLUS: Marlene Dietrich eats lunch! Jose Ferrer makes his move! Ginger Rogers robs the cradle! And Marion remembers colleagues Tom Bosley, Pat Morita and Garry Marshall!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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So here's another Gilbert and Franks. Here's another Gilbert and Franks. Here's another Gilbert and Franks! Colossal Classic Hi, this is Gilbert Gottfried and this is Gilbert Gottfried's amazing colossal podcast. I'm here once again with my co-host, Frank Santopadre, and we're recording at Nutmeg with our engineer Frank Ferdorosa. Our guest this week is a five-time Emmy nominee and much-admired TV and film actress who's been working steadily since the mid-1950s and she isn't ready to stop yet. Movies include Operation Petticoat, Some Came Running, Teacher's Pet, Airport, Grand Theft Auto, Colossus the Forbent Project, Music Within, and The Evening Star which she earned her Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actress. You've also seen her in dozens of popular television shows including Life

with Father, Route 66, The Outer Limits, The Love Boat, Brooklyn Bridge, The Drew Carey Show, King of the Hill, That 70's Show, The New Adventures of Old Christine and Gilmore Girls. But she'll forever be known as the wise and supporting matriarch. Supportive. Ha ha ha! Supportive! Best supporting matriarch... Supportive! Ha ha ha! Supportive! Best supporting matriarch! Ha ha ha!

Marion Cunningham on Gary Marshall's iconic series Happy Days. In a career spanning seven decades, she shared the big and small screen with Ginger Rogers, Tony Curtis, Lauren Bacall, Noel Coward, Frank Sinatra, James Caron, Bernie Cappell, and of course our pals Donnie Moose and Henry Winkler. Her new memoir is called My Days, Happy and Otherwise. And we couldn't be happier that she decided to slip to the studio and speak with us. Please welcome to the podcast a talented versatile performer and a woman who once gave Clark Gable a love note written on an Easter egg Mrs. C herself Marion Ross, I have never been introduced so gloriously. Fabulous. Fabulous.

Of course, now I have nothing to say. You've done a lot, Marion. Well, thank you, darling. I have, but because I am now, I am, I forget, I'm 89. Isn't that that? Isn't that something? Bless your heart, bless your heart. Isn't that something? My goodness.

And pretty well, pretty fit. So any day now, it could be over, but I'm not. You look great to us. We should tell our listeners that we're looking at you. This is obviously an audio only podcast, but we have a Skype hookup with LA and you look wonderful to us. Oh, thank you, darling. Thank you. We're looking at Mrs. C.

Mrs. C. Yeah. Eee! Well, I tell you it was an extraordinary time because when I meet children who are now in their 50s, there's total recognition, everything is fine. Then there's another bunch that say, no, they don't connect. And then when they find out that I am SpongeBob SquarePants' grandma's voice, oh, they start to shake,

they show me their funny looking underwear, and they're just all really great Do you find that kids that that because the show is always on somewhere Yes, do you find that that that kids are watching it young kids? No, they watch sponge they watch sponge bad, but not but they don't know you from happy days and not they really don't know And happy days was shown all over the world really don't know. And Happy Days was shown all over the world. Yeah, and still is. You know where it was really a big hit was Italy. Italy, they loved it because of the Fonz. Arthur Fonzarelli. And the Fonz is very famous there and I've been there several times to be honored and it's really adorable. You will find a

little old man handling all the suitcases and stuff by a pier in Venice. And I hear him humming to himself, don't don't don't don't happy days. I want don't don't don't happy days. Didn't say a word to me, but I thought, well, very, it's cute. You know, we were watching, we have so many questions that we can ask you, Marian,

about happy days, but I was showing Gilbert and his wife, Dara, the wonderful bloopers of you, of Henry. That was, we spent most of our time making the bloopers, you know that? Yeah. Yeah. Because it was children at play. We got the show done, but most of the time we spent playing with, you know, making up stuff. Yeah, there's a great clip, it's online, on YouTube, of Henry chasing, you spray him

with whipped cream in the kitchen, then he chases you across the set, spraying you with whipped cream, but what really stood out for us is a great little bit that the two of you worked out where you and Tom Bosley and Ron Howard and Aaron Moran, you're all on a scene in the living room and you're acting out the scene, but you're taking moments to make out with the Fonz. The Fonz is helping me on with my coat and they would reach around and kiss me on the mouth, then they would help me with my coat a little more and then kiss me again. And Tom, now we have live audience out there,

Tom would just freeze, you know, I can see him getting so mad, getting so mad at me. So, oh, so we have a wonderful, you know, footage of that, you know, until the audience got really nervous and then we had to stop. Oh really? They would get uncomfortable? Yeah, they did. They froze. There's also a clip of you coming down the stairs from Fonzie's apartment.

Fastening your dress. Putting yourself back together as it were. Oh, I tell you, it was children at play. It really was. And you know, we also had a softball team. Yes. And we played, I mean, a very serious softball team. Yes. We played, I mean a very serious softball team. I had uniform, I had my own bat and my shoes and my mitt and I played rover and we played softball in front of the media guys in ball fields all over the United States and then one time we went over to Germany and played for the US infantry in Germany

on this space up in Gebelsstadt or something. And it was fantastic because here we would meet these troops. We have all this battle makeup on. They were all lined up to do maneuvers. Here comes the whole cast of Happy Days in our red baseball suits down the thing and these boys are not supposed to break rank at all and here we come. We've had wonderful experiences and then we went to Okinawa and we played softball in Okinawa with the U.S. Marines.

Unbelievable. Wow. Unbelievable. Yeah and and we'll talk more about happy days later but whenever someone's worked with Gary Marshall I always want them to do their Gary Marshall imitation. Yes I had what Gary would do he would send me flowers if I did something good in playing ball, you know, and I had a collection of these cards, I should have brought one. You were wonderful, you hit great, he says. And coming around the base with your red hair flying, you were great, you know. So I had a collection of these because he would send me a big bouquet of flowers and a lovely

card. So it was, how many people? And I was 50, 55 years old. I would say to my neighbors, oh, I'm sorry, I can't go to lunch. I have to go to baseball practice. He pays you such a nice compliment in the book, Mary, because Gilbert and I talk about how Hector Elizondo turns up in every Gary Marshall movie. Yeah.

Yeah. I always thought it was because he was a good luck charm. Yeah, that's what I thought. But he said that he needed somebody sane and somebody calm and somebody reasonable and rational on every set that he could go to with his problems. And so that's why Hector Elizondo, and he said you were that on Happy Days. I was. You were his Hector Elizondo.

I was like the mother, you know, and Tom Bosley was feisty little guy, you know, so he's a little more feisty but I was a calming influence because what mothers are. But boy, we had an awful lot of fun. And by adding baseball to that, it brought us together, kept us together. We would travel together on the buses. Well, like when we went up to play San Francisco before the San Francisco game, we all went to a restaurant

and Henry pretended that this was a mafia place. So he comes out of the men's room and machine gun all of us down and other guests who were there just had to kind of put up with it. We played and nobody would start any one of these dinners until the whole company was there. They'd wait. They'd wait. They'd wait for you. That's nice. Come on. You're late.

We're waiting for you. It's nice to like your coworkers, isn't it, if you're going to work with them for that longer period of time? Well, we did become a family. I can remember sitting backstage one time, and we've got to wait about 10 minutes before we really start, but they've assembled us all. They were sitting. So we're telling stories, and Tom is saying, you know, but they've assembled us all, they were sitting. So we're telling stories and Tom is saying,

you know, he's saying, you know, your mother, something. And I said, Tom, I'm not their mother. By that time, we had completely forgotten. You had to remind him. I wasn't, yes. We'll come back to Happy Days like Gilbert said, but I was telling Gilbert and Dara about your days as a contract player,

which is fascinating. It's a fascinating part of the book. I mean, we could go way back to Minnesota and we will too do that in a bit, but the day's on the lot. Explain to us what a contract player of people who don't know what that was was back then they would have a young talent department and they would sign up young people that they thought they were Going to be commerce and you got paid

$150 a week. Well, I had been making $30 a week at Bullocks filing pieces of paper filing sales slips So now got $150 a week, and I remember that my agent, it's a long story, but anyway, now he's taking me, now he said, now we will try Paramount, we're going to Paramount, and apparently I said to him, as we went through the big DeMille gate,

well, this will be just as good. I had a clue that you couldn't do this. But you were 20, you were 24, do I have that right Marion? No, but I was 22 when I first went there because I was a college graduate. Right, right, right. And what's interesting to me is that I was very connected to the Globe Theatre in San Diego. So Craig Noel called the Pasadena Playhouse and got me into a play called Journey to Jerusalem by Maxwell Anderson and I played the Virgin Mary, which was perfect for me. So, yeah.

And the boy Jesus, the 12-year-old boy Jesus, was played by Sylvie Drake, who became the drama critic in the LA Times. Wow. So, we go back, you know, all those 70 years and the end, my agent sent a talent scout out to see the play and I think they both went to the same temple. I think somebody owed somebody a favor. So the next thing I know, I'm coming into the studio to audition for a contract at Paramount. Oh, that's how you got the screen test.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a fascinating journey. And when I did the screen test, one of the grips, and I'd worked so hard on the screen test, came up to me with his greasy little hand and he shook my hand and he said, you should thank your mother.

Wow. Now to me, that rings that is profound. I was so different from all those other girls you know. I don't know. And because we jump all over the place, before you came to LA and when you were a little girl when did you first get the acting bug? When I was about 13, 14, I would go in the library, loving the movies of course, and read, first I would read Who's Who of Famous People. It's a big book, Who's Who of Famous People, and they're born and blah blah blah, and then they're famous. And you think, well, what happened?

What happened in there? So I remember reading Noel Coward's autobiography, Present Indicative was the name of it. So he was like nine when he was starting and I'm like 13 and you know, I'm not getting anywhere. So what I love is that take me back, take me to 25 years old, now I am at CBS in Blythe Spirit with Sir Noah Coward and I'm playing Edith the Cockney Maid with Claudette Colbert, Lauren Bacall, Mildred Natwick.

And isn't that something? It's mind-blowing. It shows you determination. Yeah. Well, it's also reminds me of the Shirley Temple story in the book too. Tell Gilbert that because that's another one of those stories where it kind of comes full circle. So I'm doing the Hollywood, we're doing the Rose Bowl Parade, all the TV moms. And the grand marshal of the parade that year was Shirley Temple. And apparently she'd done it several times before. So I thought Shirley Temple, well, I was so wanted to meet her and so I, we were all in this big mansion waiting for the parade to start and early, early in the morning and I go up to her and I've got my arms spread out because I wanted to hug her, you know, and she said, don't mess me up.

I step back now like I'm practically crying because I thought, so, oh, so that's all in the book. Isn't that fun? Well, to be shut down by Shirley Temple. Well, I know. And then, and then, by Shirley Temple. Well, I know. And then, and then I, so before the morning was over, the next hour was over, my press agent, Dale Olson, was over there talking to Shirley Temple, and Shirley Temple said, is that that mother from Happy Days? I think, I mean, my God, she knew who I was. Is that that mother? And Dale said yes, and she started to sing,

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

You know? And by God, the key opened the lock and we had that Charlie Shirley Temple doll for years and years. Yeah, I love the part in the book where you say, well, you actually get to meet her and you flash back to your father and you thought what he must have, what he would have thought. For me to finally get to meet Shirley Temple?

Well, I felt the same way. I was just turned to jelly. Yeah, it's kind of the magic of show business. And it's like the Noel Coward story because these are mythical people to you as a child. And you know, when the whole big live TV show was over, Noel Coward said, a million would you like to come to a little sit down supper at Lauren Bacall's house, Humphrey Bogart's house.

So I don't know if I'll OK. And by that time, Noah Coward was having a fight with Claudette, so she didn't come to the party. And Lauren McCall couldn't come to the party because Bogie was very sick. So I got to sit with Clifton Webb, Noah Coward, me, and Mildred Natwick. And Porter would say to Clifton, tell that wonderful story about when you and the Lunts were doing such and such. I thought I died and went to heaven. Yeah.

So did you spend any time with Bogart? Not very little, but when I came in he was playing with his children in the entry room and saying I'm so glad I don't have to read today because we were gonna all read the script at their house. Yeah. And like he would have been nervous to do that, but he was just busy playing with his children. Were you still, were you having those moments like, I can't believe I'm this kid from Minnesota that used to look these people up in the library and I'm ringing the doorbell

and Humphrey Bogart's answering the door? I did, but I got a chair. First of all, the butler said, what do you want to drink? And I said, like I knew, I said, scotch and water, you know. Once I got the lay of the land, I thought, even though I played the maid, you know, I got a little chair and sat right down at Noel Coward's knee so that I could eye to eye with him when we read the script. You know, I couldn't believe it. You like Lauren Bacall, but you didn't care so much for Claudette Colbert, fair to say? You really read the book.

You really read the part. I look for the dirt, Marion. You really read the book. You did. I look for the dirt, Marion. I look for the dirt. I know. I have no dirt in my life. There was a little, a little bit.

Very little. But Lauren McCall was a real babe, and she was thrilled to be working with Noel Coward. And she still was a young enough actress. She was only about two or three years older than I was at the time, married to Bogie and had two little kids even. So my God, it's amazing. So Claudette had known Noel Coward for years and years and years and years.

So what Claudette would do is we would just get rehearsing well. And of course, he wrote it, he knew it. It would come tripping out of him so fast. And she would carry a few pages, you know, and a scarf and drop either the scarf or one of the pages and also have, just interrupt all the time, and also have questions to ask. So just as we got flowing,

that would be one of those interruptions. So that finally, it just took a week, a week of this, you're doing a live television show. So everybody is so cooperative and professional. And so till Noel Card finally said, Claudette, shut your fucking face. So you'll have to bleep that. You'll have to bleep that the language is we allow that language on the show Marian so from then on I stayed away from her as much as I could

and all she said was shut my fucking face shut my fucking face Was it shocking to hear that coming out of no coward It was all I know is that was war with them from then on that was war and What was the Clark Gable love note? Oh? What was the Clark Gable love note? Oh, you guys have really read the book. I was in Teacher's Pet with Doris Day.

Oh yeah, we know that movie well. I don't know how you do, but George Seaton was a friend of mine somehow through the business, and so I got cast as that and it was Easter time so I got colored an egg and wrote on there MR loves CG. It's sad I was probably 25 26 years old my god pretty but he was just such a giant just a a giant talent. So I, and then I was afraid to give it to him. So I gave it, he had an assistant called Alabama. Alabama was this great guy that fronted him, you know? So I would give it to Alabama to give the egg to Clark Gable.

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

You worked with William Holden and you respected him as an actor, but you didn't get a movie star vibe the way you did from Gable. No, isn't that interesting? Yeah. No, it's like it's interesting to see who has sex appeal and who doesn't. He's got sex appeal, I guess, but not for me so much. Interesting. Don't go away, we'll be right back after a word from our sponsor. I'm going away.

Stop it you! Gilbert and Frank, we can't live without you. And now back to the show. Gilbert and I are fascinated by the studio, the Contract contract player days can we go back to that? Yes. Because I was now you would show up for work every day you'd get your hair and makeup it was Edith head dressing you? Yes. What was she like? Another legend. Absolutely and she would say you know one of your shoulders a little low okay I mean you have to perfect. So they put a little pad in the shoulder. And then she would say, now your legs, okay, here with the legs,

I try to wear the highest heels you could possibly stand because that will make your legs look better, okay? And so most of us girls did in those days. Who was in the golden circle? Tell Gilbert, because this is interesting too days. Who was in the Golden Circle? Tell Gilbert, because this is interesting too. Barbara Rush was in the Golden Circle. Who's still with us. Uh-huh.

Yeah. And lots of them have passed on through. Carolyn Jones. Carolyn Jones was. Yeah. And also a little girl named Katherine Grandstaff. And she came up from Texas and she was so interesting. She was a little beauty queen or something. And, but she, when she talked to you,

she would stand so close, so close to you. And she was like, wait. A close talker. Well, how unusual. Anyway, she ended up, guess who? She ended up snapping up Bing Crosby. She became Bing Crosby's young wife. You remember the last wife?

Catherine Crosby. But she was a starlet. And that was Catherine Grandstaff. So Catherine Crosby. So they're paying you $150 a week. You show up for work every day. Your 8th head is dressing you and you're getting your hair done, but you're basically in the system, you're on the lot, you're part of show business, and yet you're feeling inadequate.

You're feeling like you don't belong. You have no function. You have nothing to do. You have no function. You can have lunch. Try to think of something interesting to say at lunch. Here's Marlene Dietrich comes swooshing into the lunch room. And here's James Mason over there. And here's C.B. DeMille around the corner in this little alcove. I mean, this was a really wonderful dining room. And it wasn't just for the Hoy Ploy, it was for the really big stars. And we were there. We had our own circle, the golden circle table right in the middle of the room.

And our pictures were up on the wall with all the other big stars. Wow. But you started to feel like you didn't fit. Well, and there's that Audrey Hepburn story too in the book where you saw her under the hairdryer and you compared yourself to her because you were similar ages. Exactly. We were just about the same age and under the hairdryer next to me, there's just two of us up there, this girl stands up and up and up and up. Because she was very tall and gracious, charming. You want to die.

She was so wonderful. And I went right out and bought two candy bars and ate them right away. But a lot of people also had the opposite view with the studio system of like, oh my God, I can't believe I'm employed by a studio every single day. It's very unusual. I don't know that they do that anymore. They would sign up a bunch of young talent. Apparently that was not very much money, so hoping that one of us had hit and become a star. But the I was the only picture I was in was called forever female with Ginger Rogers William Holden Paul Douglas Jesse White Jesse White that's a name we respond to on this show Marion I know

how about James Gleason he's in that and Jimmy Gleason? He's in that. And Jimmy Gleason. All these people. We love him. So it was thrilling to be in this. And the director, Irving Rapper, I am playing, they went to New York and got a girl who was about my age but from New York. And that was Pat Crowley. And they got Pat Crowley to do the lead. I got to play her friend. I get to be the friend. So, so the director would say to me, he thought I looked like Greer Garson. So he said, Miss Garson, what do you think about that? You know, what we were doing. Well, I'm a college graduate, you know, so I would have opinions, you know, about the script.

Nobody else interjected with opinions. Next day the Irving Rabbit would say, and Miss Garson, what do you think about that? So I would have some more. It took a little while. I'm slow. I'm so slow to get to realize that he was making fun of me, you know. But he respected you because you spoke out. Well, yes. And could you remember anything about Jimmy Gleason and Jesse White? Well, they just were awfully funny, awfully funny and wonderful. Yeah. And Jesse White? Well, they just were awfully funny, awfully funny and wonderful. Yeah, and

Jesse White was very easy to talk to and very much fun. They were fun. It was, it was a, I must say that was Hollywood the way you want, want to see Hollywood and most of the scenes that I was in mostly was shooting it. We made, we made Sardis. We designed Sardis restaurant in New York. So I was in mostly was shooting. We made Sardi's. We designed Sardi's restaurant in New York. So I was in that big scene. And it was wonderful to watch Ginger Rogers too because she was dating a very handsome young man, probably 20 years younger than she was.

So that was all kind of fun to see that whole business going on, you know? It's interesting to read in the book, Mary, in which people, which stars kind of gave you the cold shoulder. Like you said Deborah Carr just straight out ignored you. Yeah, she had nothing. Well, she didn't have any reason to.

Because when I was going to be in this picture, once again it was George Seaton, I forgot the name of the movie, the Proud and the Profane. Proud and the Profane, yeah. And so we're going to go on location all the way and I flew all by myself with Mr. Sempflindorfer, the grounds, the tree man, he moved trees around, Mr. Sempflindorfer, the grounds, the tree man, he moved trees around. Mr. Sempflindorfer and I through took four days to get all the way to like Miami and then we got another plane to fly to the Virgin Islands.

So by the time we got there, it was like two or three in the morning. And when I got off the plane, the press agent from Paramount who was there, pretty drunk he was, pretty drunk, and he thought I was Deborah Carr. So I'm so polite and well brought up that by the, he gave me a big orchid in a cellophane box and a big hat, a big sombrero, and by the time I could get, I didn't want to embarrass him, but by the time I could get anything out, I am hooshed into a big limousine and I'm on my way to the Carribee Hilton hotel. And I'm thinking, there was nobody but me in the, so I thoughtilton Hotel and I'm thinking, there was nobody but me in the, so I thought,

well, I should tell somebody, I should really speak to somebody about this. But the next thing I know, we're at the beautiful hotel, they take me upstairs to this huge suite and open electronically, the curtains open up, the sea is all lit up down below with rocks all lit up. It was fantastic. And then the phone rings.

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

Yes, he's in another hotel, so I got the hell out of there. Fast, fast. Because I didn't want to be running into her in the hall. That's a fun story. You know, I never met anybody who knew George Seaton, who's one of my favorite directors. He made Miracle on 34th Street. What a lovely man. Wonderful man. And put his own money into that movie too, which is an interesting story. What was your experience of Thelma Ritter

since you worked with her several times and she's somebody who comes up on the show? Oh, yes. I didn't have any dealings with her, but what a heck of an actress. No story to tell. Mm-hmm. And you worked on Operation Petticoat

with Tony Curtis and Cary Grant. What was that like? And Blake Edwards. It was extraordinary. And so we went all the way to Key West, Florida. And one afternoon, Tony was arranging a party and I got invited to this party and he has a whole big yacht, huge big yacht and he comes out on the deck and he's got his captain's hat on, he is really living it up and okay so we all go, a bunch of us,

not everybody, not everybody, but we were all US, we were Navy nurses, so there weren't so many of us, so we all went on this trip. When we get out into the Caribbean, it was so choppy and so awful, even though we've all waved gaily to the crowd on the dock out there in the ocean, we all got seasick just like almost immediately. And there was a huge banquet just go to waste. So we spent the night on the ship. The next morning we all woke up and everybody played poker and it was great.

And Janet Leigh was there too. And it was, I really felt kind of strange and out of it, not too hep. I never felt very hep in the midst of all these things. And then one, I was working on this picture and I didn't have my period, so I think, I'm thinking, I think I could be, I think maybe I'm pregnant, you know? And I thought, they said, now you're going to have to go down in this submarine. I thought, I don't think, I don't think I should go down in that submarine because maybe, you know, when it happened, anything happened to the, that I'm pregnant.

So one morning I'm sitting up on the top of the conning tower of this submarine, parked by the pier, the edge, and Tony, or Coney, Cary Grant was down there, and he came up and sat down beside me, and I said, I don't think I should go down in the submarine because I'm going to have a baby. Oh he said you are, you

are. He started to cry and this was before he ever had a child and now he has Jennifer, his daughter Jennifer. So I've had these wonderful experiences. You made Cary Grant cry. Wow. I did. That's a cool thing. You know, I have to ask you, Marion, all these credits, and this is interesting because a lot of these

are uncredited roles. You're in Lust for Life with Kirk Douglas. You're in Around the World in 80 Days with David Niven. Do you remember these experiences? And did you interact with these people much or as a bit player were you kind of? With Kirk Douglas, I was a nun at the very end of the movie when he goes to Arl. I remember the scene.

And I'm in full nun's outfit and it's all pressed against your ears and when you have that full habit on, you're like if you're in a tunnel and you can hear your own voice inside and Vincenti Menelli would talk to me and he'd talk to me so close and he would like mesmerize me and get and then put me into the scene and it was wonderful. I was like, I was this nun. It was wonderful. So later I thought I could see in the trades that Kirk Douglas was gonna make a movie called Lizzie with Eleanor Parker. So I thought, well, I'll write him a letter and say, I would like to meet you out of my habit. Well, I got a phone call right away.

I was so shy when I was there that he had nothing to say to me, I had nothing to say to him. So it was like, oh, so sad, but he gave me a part in the picture anyway. No, he gave me a part. You're also in a movie called The Secret of the Incas with Charlton Heston. Do any of these ring a bell? Yes. Yes. a movie called The Secret of the Incas with Charlton Heston? Do any of these ring a bell? Yes, yes, because, oh, Charlton Heston, so I somehow either I had a very small part, it was not important, but somehow I got to be kissed by Charlton Heston and it was, it's been burned onto my lips ever since.

Oh, that's great. Isn't that something? That's a great story. What about Walter Brennan? You made a movie called God is My Partner. Oh, I did. What a complicated, wonderful old man he was. Wonderful.

Yeah, I played a lawyer. Yeah, terrific actor. Walter Brennan. It was fabulous. And tightwad, he had every penny ever made. Really? Yeah. Isnific actor. Walter Brennan. That's fabulous. And tightwad had every penny ever made. Really? Yeah. That sounds familiar.

Yeah. And what part, which episode of The Outer Limits? Do you have a memory of that? You did so much television. I do because I was, Richard Nye, who used to be married to Grier Garson, very briefly, was in it. And he played a man who had gills, actual gills on his neck. So he was a sort of aquatic throwback of some kind.

So it was weird. And McDonald's Carrie was in it. Oh sure, McDonald's, Carrie. Good shows. Yeah, good shows. Do you remember making the big circus with Victor Mature and Red Buttons? I don't think I was in that. Oh, okay. Cross that out. Okay. My information is bad. How about some came running with Frank Andino and Shirley McLeaine who you would go on to work with so memorably? Yes, well, see, I'd already worked for Vincent DiMinelli on Lust for Life.

So now, once again, they needed a nun. So now I'm a nun again. So you specialized in playing nuns. And mothers. So I go in and the one scene, Dean Martin is sitting up in the, in the hospital with his cowboy hat on or something. And, uh, I'm, he's teaching the nun how to play poker. So he's teaching me to play poker. Well, then Frank Sinatra comes in. He's not even in the, and he comes in the scene and he said to Dean Martin,

oh great, I've never met a nun before, this is great. So I was so flustered by them that I just got out of there fast. Gilbert brings up about her limits. You did so much television, so much great television. I mean, Zane Grey Theater and Thriller, Karloff Show. Oh, geez. The fugitive. I think Ed Platt was in that Outer Limits episode, by the way. Route 66, Rawhide, the detectives, Felony Squad, the Untouchables. Anything stand out? All of them. All of them are good.

All of them are good. Yeah, because a lot of them were and I was a character actress and they were all very good character roles Very good character roles and you go on location, you know, so do you remember? Very serious. I was a very serious actress until happy days came along, you know, I never did comedy before Well, I should also say that you would, in the book, your goal was the theater, your goal was the legitimate stage, and there's one line in the book where you say, I didn't even want to do movies, let alone television. No, no, I wanted to go to do the theater in New York and on Broadway, and I did go with José Ferrer. Yeah, in 1958 you made it to Broadway.

Ah, now that brings up a story. We will return to Gilbert Gottfried's amazing colossal podcast after this. So, any stories about Jose Ferrer? I was crazy about him, but you had to keep moving. You had to move fast. Fast hands, huh? Especially backstage in the dark, you know, so... So it was nip and tuck.

If he ever did catch me, sometimes he'd say, listen, do you think your husband could play tennis on the weekend? I would think, god but I thought he was swell I did terrific actor oh my god yeah and a presence a great presence in the room you know wonderful you came back to Broadway if I have this right 30 years later to do arsenic and old lace because this was 58 that you did the play with Jose Ferrer. I did. I did with Gene Stapleton. Yes.

We've talked about that show. I think Abe Vagoda was in that cast. Abe! Abe, wasn't it? Yeah. Abe, I love Abe. Yeah. It was, and we were on a national tour.

That's something I had never ever done ever How not only I'd never been on Broadway, but to be on a national tour You know you'd go and you spend a month in each big city Gilbert guess who was it guess who else was in that cast Oh who Bill Hickey Wow He was in New York, and that's what Abe Vigoda replaced him. Oh, okay But who was on it was Larry Storch Larry Storch Was Einstein he was in the Peter Lewis my great pal. In fact, I just talked to him last week Oh your friends with Larry. Yes

He just had a birthday I know know it. He's just wonderful. He was one of the first people we talked to on this show, Marion, back in 2014. Yeah, we adore him. And I think it was Larry Storch who was friends with Tony Curtis. He's in Operation Petticoat. Yeah. And Larry Storch advised Tony Curtis out of being a good friend that he shouldn't try to pursue an acting career. Oh, oh God. Isn't he the best guy? We had the best fun together, honest to God. Yeah. Yeah. Gilbert spoke at Abe's service. Did you? Yeah.

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

websites announcing that you died. Oh, maybe? Yes! Oh, are they dated? Right now we're talking to the late Marion Wrox. Oh, God! Well, why? Why did I die?

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

He may have entered it. He was probably in the previous. Before or after. Yeah. Yeah. No, we had Gary Sandy. Oh, Gary Sandy. He went on the road with us.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But just to work with Storch and Abe. And Gene and I became so close. Gene Stapleton. Gene Stapleton. Oh. We're big fans. Gene became a great, great close. Gene Stapleton. Gene Stapleton. Oh. We're big fans. He became a great, great pal.

We're big fans. Yeah. Well, I've had, I have had a wonderful life and the fact that I'm, I am really retired now in case there are any casting people, you know, with any big ideas because sometimes I can't, I'll have to say to somebody. What is that line? What is that? Well, I see on your IMDB page. You've got you've got productions. There's there's something on there for 2017 and 2018 Well, I went off to do a play in my I go to Kansas City all the time to Overland Park

To do plays at the new theater for my friends, Richard Carruthers and Dennis Hennessy. So I was in a play with them and I said, you know children, I'm tired and I don't want to die this way. So I want to quit the play. No, no, no, they said, we'll make it easier. We'll make it easier for you. But I quit it.

I quit it because, you know, we kind of know. And it's so interesting is I don't care one bit. I can watch all my contemporaries doing these things and I think, oh, good for you. Good for you. Did you see the movie, if you're not in the Obede Breakfast, did you see Carl Reiner's movie? No I didn't. It's all about nonagenarians, it's all about people in their 90s like Carl and Mel Brooks and Norman Lear who was still going strong. Yeah, but you know, we're not quick. We're not quick.

The stuff is in there, but sometimes I have to find it. And if there's a timer going on, I can maybe, you know. Can we throw a couple other wild cards at you while we got you? Sure. Do you remember making a TV movie with Phil Silvers and Jack Benny? Yes, I do.

The slowest gun in the West. I do because I was playing, it was a rough set. It was all guys, it was a rough set. I'm this fair maiden and this is a live show, this is big comics. So I just had to hang on And so they were funny in real life. Oh, very funny. And, you know, setting each other up all the time. Very competitive. Very competitive. All right. What do you want, Blake? I'll show you what I want, Sheriff.

I want her. I told you! I want her. Roger! Well, Sheriff? Well, Sheriff? Gentlemen, remove your hats. You have just witnessed the most beautiful demonstration of true love you'll ever see. True love? Elsie Mae, Mr. Blakey had came in here with so much love in his heart for you,

he was willing to face certain death, my guns, just to prove it. I'm engaged to you. You're a lucky girl, Elsie Mae. I thought you loved me. I do, but compared to him, I got a step aside. You're gonna let him get away with it? Why, the easiest thing to do would be to gun him down. But I'd rather step aside

than be known as the man who snuffed out this great love. What, Obispo, you're gonna regret this to your dying day. Come on. Wait a minute. Don't you speak to me again. You worked with so many people. I mean, and your TV work in the 50s and 60s alone, you work with Robert Vaughan, Ray Milan, Clint Eastwood, Lee Marvin, Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lahr. Yes, right. And I think, I don't have a program from that or a script. I think little Ron Howard was in that also.

11th Hour. Wow. Yes, Ron Howard, you're very young Ron Howard. Yes. And you worked with Clint Eastwood. Yes, on Rawhide. And you know, I wasn't, he was so, he was so tough on the director.

Wow. Interesting. I never quite got over that. As I think the director could have been gay a little bit. I don't know, you know, he just, and I thought, I don't like to see that. I don't like to see that. That's interesting.

Isn't it? Did you know William Shaller, too? He was another, an actor who was in... Some came running with you. Yes, and he was a lovely man. Yeah. Lovely, lovely man. President of the Screen Actors Guild.

Well, and he was a reviewer for the LA Times. That's right. That's right. We were very close to having him here. Yeah, we almost had him on the podcast. No, he's a lovely man. But tell Gilbert this, because it's so interesting too, is how airport, how you took, because that was a turning point in your life.

You took a small non-speaking part in airport that your friends advised you not to take and it led to something very significant. Well, I was getting divorced. Nobody had a job. And I could see that George Seaton was doing airport and I'd worked with George Seaton on something. Proud and the profane. Proud and the profane. Yeah. So I went to see him and I said, I'm getting a divorce and I would like a job. He said, you want a part or a long part?

I said, a long part. A long part. So they were casting people to be on the airplane and they didn't want to use extras, they wanted real actors because we would have to improvise a catastrophe on the airplane and everything. And I had a characterization written out but no lines and I was paid below minimum. below minimum. And I said, thank you, I will, I will. And it went on for, it went on for five weeks. We had to come every day to be, if they called for Rose something on the airplane, that was yours. And I was spent every day talking to every actor there, who needed a job pretty bad for some reason. So we would spend the days talking to each other and unloading our griefs. And Sandra Gould was there just because she's, you know,

she's just having a good time. Sandra Gould was Mrs. Kravitz on Bewitched, Hilbert. Remember her? And she didn't need the job, but she's such a fun person. So I got to know her really well. So one time she invites me for dinner and then she also invites Millie Gussie, who is a casting woman. So Millie Gussie and me and Sandra Gould and we have dinner and Millie says, you know, you would be really good for this part in this little pilot we're doing. It's a very simple part. You'd be good for that. So she put me up for it.

And it was happy days. And my lines were, oh, Howard, you're not eating. Oh, Richie, you know, wear your sweater. It was this kind of thing. But had you not taken that role, that non-speaking role that was humbling? I thought there is a lesson there. I had to step back. Step back, my friends said, what's the matter with you? Why are you stepping back like that? Step back so that I could step forward, right? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The pilot was called New Family in Town,

and it did not star Tom Bosley, it was you and Harold Gould. Right, and it was done on Love American style. Right, right. And they said, it was just, it was just turning into the 70s, and they said, you know, the 60s are kind of a hot item now. They're going to give you $1,000 as a hold, and we may get back to this. We may get back to this pilot.

So I went down to the Globe Theater. You went back to San Diego, because you didn't think anything was going to come of it. No, so I did Summer and Smoke, because my good friends at the Globe Theatre, Craig said, anytime you come home, anytime you want to, you come home. This is your home. So I called him up and said, well, I see you're doing Summer and Smoke.

I could do that. And he said, years later, he said, everybody there looked at one another and thought, I am, Marion is the least, the person in the world that you would want to play this southern, you know, Alma Weinmiller, Tennessee Williams southern woman. So I went down, Craig did the part for me. He would, no, no, he would say, he would show me what to do. He would show me how to move. He hand held me through that thing.

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

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

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

So, oh, ba dum, ba dum, ba dum, my heart would go ba dum ba dum ba dum. I would just read, I would kill myself and read these parts. And their heads would flash around and they would say, wow, wow. So they began to write better and better for me and my part got better and better all the time. You know the whole history of Happy Days is so interesting too how they passed we talked about this with Henry. Oh yeah. They passed on the original pilot ABC did New Family in Town but then American Graffiti happened and Ron was seen in the pilot George Lucas saw Ron in the New Family in Town pilot cast him in American

Graffiti. American Graffiti became a sensation, was nominated for Best Picture, and ABC went, what was that thing? And then they renamed it, and then it turned up, repurposed as that Love American Style installment, Love and the Happy Days. Yeah. That's the story. Yeah. And the rest is history. You get a kick out of a Jewish guy from New York playing an Italian, an Italian, an Italian tough guy. Gilbert gets a kick out of that.

You know when I did Brooklyn Bridge, here I am playing a Jewish immigrant mother in Brooklyn Bridge. You probably never saw Brooklyn Bridge. Did you ever see it? Oh yeah, we were good on that show sure I was I was a fan of Gary David Goldberg Yeah, I loved I loved being on that

But how did you you how did you you you said you started eating at Cantor's deli to immerse yourself in Jewish things? If I ran into anybody any Jewish people I just oh I just ate them up, you know? You were worried that your Minnesota roots were going to show through and you weren't going to be credible. Well, I just was so fascinated. And I said to one lady, oh, I wish I were Jewish. She staggered back. She said she was Jewish.

She said, I've never heard anybody say that. I would be remiss, since we're talking about other TV roles, Marion, my wife is a Gilmore Girls' Watcher. And you play such a wonderful villain on that show, the original Laura Lai. If I may say, you play a very convincing shrew. Even that was interesting. The script came, I forget the... but it was on a Saturday I thought, no, I want to on a Saturday and I said, is this Amy, what's her name? Oh, Amy Sherman Palladino.

Sherman Palladino. I said, is she there? Could I talk to her? So she said, God, no. I said, listen, I want to try that part. I bet I could do that part. I said, I have to go and do something else for a couple of days, but I could be back. I don't know why I was so assertive. But, you know, take control of your own life. Isn't that something? So she said, okay, I'll send somebody over to bring a wig and we'll do some wardrobes. She sent a person over Sunday, and even that person said, oh, you're much too young. So then, so anyway, I was playing this, I was playing the mother of- Edward Herman.

Ed Herman's mother. I loved that part. She was so rude. Yes, she plays this mean-spirited kind of shrew on Gilmore Girls. She's very good at it. I love being rude. After all those years of being the ideal mother, it must have been such a treat to be this a total bitch.

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

I have a set. Okay. So you have to come over to my house, you know, or we could go to one of those places and remake some of them. You know, it's probably against the law. He was a brilliant guy, Gary David Goldberg. Was he? Yes.

And this, and I would say to him, I said, I really caught your grandmother, didn't I? Was it his mother? And he said, no. He said, oh no, she was much, much tougher than you. I mean, that's Gilbert's actual life experience. You were a Jewish guy from Brooklyn growing up right around the same time that Gary did. So that's a series I think you would relate to. I got a couple of questions quick, Marion, from our fans.

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

Wonderful. It wants to know, do you have any memories of those legendary ladies? I do. Mary Wicks, she would drive me different places. Probably picked me up and drove me. And she's quite a character. Absolutely. Here's one other one from Tom. Tom Burbine says, did Marion know Robin Williams would become a star when she first worked with him in my favorite Orkin Happy Days episode? Yes. Yes.

It was extraordinary. You know, they wrote in this part and all of a sudden people are coming out of offices, coming down on the soundstage. And it was like, even I could see Ron and Henry dig in their heels, just hang on as tight as they could. Robin, you couldn't keep up with him. You couldn't keep up with him. So you knew, you knew that this guy was, was destined for, he was dazzling.

Yeah. What? Go ahead, ahead Gil you said you didn't unless this is wrong too that you didn't get along with Tom Bossley at first I didn't he was rude to me oh he didn't like me and he was disappointed that I got the part. He must have wanted somebody else. So, it was hard on me. So I write about it in the book because. Yeah, you do, you write a lot about it. I've hardly ever been in a place where somebody didn't like me and it took me years to understand.

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

but that's a dark period for me because you don't ever want to say anything about something. And I could see that he was he was not nice to me but he was he was a great guy and I thought what is this how can that guy and I could see the other guys liked him a lot I thought wow this is uncomfortable situation to be in because I can see that he is a good guy. Isn't it a credit to your acting ability that nobody could ever see that? Nobody that watched the show would ever for a minute.

I am bedazzled when I watch it, I think. How unbelievable. And there was a clip from an interview where Tom Bosley points you out as one of his favorite actresses that he's worked. Yeah, I saw the same clip. Oh, well, yeah. No, and I cannot say what a wonderful man he was.

Then he married after his wife died and he'd been through such a tough period, such a tough period. He fell in love with Patti Carr and she's a beautiful, darling girl. And as a family, we all enveloped her and brought her into our family. So it was good. I love that you brought your son to the set, and he got to be in that episode, the Jump the Shark episode. Right.

That's fun. That's a classic episode. Yeah, that's classic. No, we all brought our kids to be in the show, you know Before before we let you go last go. I just remembered because they there was that famous photo of the cast of happy days and Amongst them's John Lennon. Oh John Lennon came to the set. Oh, I know it and Oh, John Lennon came to the set. Oh, I know it.

And those other English guys, oh, I can't think of their name. Like the Beatles guys, you know, well, that's John Lennon. Yeah. What? I don't know. But it was always wonderful because we had wonderful people dropping in to see us all the time. What was the last thing we want to ask you?

What were Al Molinaro and Pat Morita like? Well, in the script, we just say, Al does his thing. Just cut him loose, cut him loose, and the same thing with Pat Morita. They would just have a situation and then just leave them alone for a while. And they would just vamp and make up stuff and we all just worked around it. He stayed with Gary because Gary had him on The Odd Couple all those years. Yes, absolutely. Yeah.

Lovely man. So smart. Such a good businessman and such. Oh God he was we all had such a good time Pat would go on some of our baseball trips with us Pat Merida L L not so much L not so much Pat Merida was a stand-up comic. Oh, I remember that. Yeah. Yeah The hip as well as well as an Academy Award winner, Pat Morita. Pat Morita?

Didn't he win the Academy Award? Did he? For Karate Kid? Well, look it up. Oh, I think he was nominated. Well, that's good enough for me. Yeah. I love, lastly, I love what you said about Gary too,

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

He took the same line, he turned it inside out. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Got all the beats in there. You know, he had a wonderful comedic sense. Magic touch. Yep, magic touch. I'm sorry we never got him on this show. That was a real loss. And he was Italian, so another reason for me to love him.

Yes, he was Italian. And everyone thought he was a Jew. Everybody thought he was Jewish. Oh my. So, Barry, we had- And everyone thought he was everybody thought he was Jewish My so Barry had I've had such a good time I've had such a good time with you boys we're gonna plug your book Okay, Gilbert's gonna give the big plug. We hope we get to see you when you're in New York. I Hope I haven't told all of the book away. No, there's plenty in there. I've got six cards here I didn't even get to. Well is it too late to do the cards? No well I don't want to give away everything else in the book. One last thing a fan named Scott Stite writes in and he says I don't have any questions I just have

a loving thank you to Mrs. C for being America's favorite mom. Oh oh I thank you so much. You make my day, darling. Thank you. Well, the book is My Days, Happy and Otherwise by Marion Ross. It's very sweet, Marion. I have to say, too, just the part of how as a kid you wrote in your diary, that you called it your secret wish, that I was telling Gilbert and Dara, that you didn't want to share with anybody, you were too shy to share it, your secret wish to become an actress. And you kept that diary so many years. Yes.

And you refer back to the diary when you're writing the book, which is astounding. I know. And what a happy journey. Yes, I'm very grateful for it, yeah. Well, you're a treasure. Thank you for coming. Yeah. Well, you're a treasure. Thank you for coming. Thank you.

Thank you. This has been Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast with my co-host, Frank Santopadre. And if I had any great achievement today, it was hearing Marion Ross say fuck on this is the and now you have to watch Gilbert's movie right

I will I'll look at it maybe tonight huh you promise thank you Marion this was a wonderful treat for us thanks to Harlan too thanks You promise? Thank you Marion, this was a wonderful treat for us. Thanks to Harlan too. Thanks to Harlan Ball for setting this up. Thank you. We appreciate it Harlan. These happy days are yours and mine. Happy days. Gilbert Gottfried's amazing Colossal Podcast is produced by Dara Gottfried and Frank Santapadre. With audio production by Frank Verderosa. Web and social media is handled by Mike McPadden,

Greg Kare, and John Bradley Seals. Special audio contributions by John Beach. Special thanks to Paul Rayburn, John Murray, John Fotiatis, and Nutmeg Creative. Especially Sam Giovancho and Daniel Farrell for their assistance. Music