Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - GGACP Rewind: Episode #9: Joe Franklin

Episode Date: February 2, 2026

One of Gilbert and Frank's favorite interviews was this 2014 sitdown with a legend of local broadcasting, the one and only Joe Franklin. In this episode, the boys dropped in on Joe’s infamously cluttered (an understatement!) Manhattan office to nosh on (very old) chicken salad, dodge falling stacks of collectibles and ask the “King of Nostalgia” about his memories of Charlie Chaplin, Woody Allen, Buster Keaton, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and John Lennon, to name but a few. PLUS: The Ramones! Remembering the Toastmaster General! Joe interviews Boris Karloff (and Bela Lugosi?)! And the greatest entertainer of all time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or the gambling of someone close to you, please go to conicsonterio.ca. God knows how many years ago this was that when I'd be watching TV late at night, after a certain hour when everybody else was asleep, a show would come on called a Joe Franklin show. And he was a very peculiar guy with a love of Hollywood and show business. And he's someone you find out has interviewed Marilyn Monroe, Jane Mansfield, Bing Crosby, Bill Cosby, Eddie Cantor, Barbara Streisand. He's written 23 books about Old Hollywood. He's been called the King of Nostalgia.

So, we had to get him on this show because he's interviewed everyone. I think on one of his shows he had both James Dean and Al Pacino. He's had the weirdest combinations of major stars, some of them while they were still working as waiters. So, ladies and gentlemen, Joe Franklin. This is the amazing colossal podcast. I'm Gilbert Gottfried. My co-host is Frank Santopatra. Hey, Gilbert.

And we're here. Hey, stop talking when I'm trying to do a show here. Now, we're here with the former host of a great show that all of us remember, Joe Franklin's Memory Lane. And so we're here, of course, with Joe Franklin in the theater community in Times Square. I got to tell you last night I was hosting, you know, I did a lot of special events, speaking engagements. I was at a nursing home, and I saw a man in the front row.

sleeping. So I said to his wife, it says, what's this all about? She says, my husband is sleeping. I said, well, do me a favor. Wake him up. She said, no, you put him in sleep. You wake him up. I didn't mean to come on. So this happened last night. It was on my mind right now, you know. But I'm very honored to be with my friend Gilbert Godfrey. I go

way back in admiring Gilbert and Frank it's my pressure. My pleasure to meet you and it's a lot of fun we're going to have here today, right? Now, where did we meet? We made originally, I think, you were doing a TV pilot once. I took in a restaurant, I think it was, and I was one

of your guests, and then later on I did a TV special on Channel 9, and it was my 40th anniversary in TV, and you and I did a scene in my catacombs, in my office building in the basement, and funny scene in the elevator, and we've got great, great memories, and it's

nice to reminisce. Now, where in your new office, how you were able to... For those of you who have never seen, Joe Franklin's office, if you've ever imagined the absolute worst, most frightening episode of hoarders, you know, where like someone's got sleeps on a mountain of rats and old newspapers and rotted food. And that place, the most scariest episode of hoarders, looks like Martha Stewart.

Well, I got you. There's no rats or episode bugs. It's pretty spotless. Ratch would be scared to go on your house. You're not kidding, but it's an accumulation of, you know what happens? People move to Florida and their fans of mine, so instead of selling their stuff to the Salvation Army

or a junkyard somewhere, their old phonograph record, the old 78s, or their old motion picture lobby cards or the song sheets or the photographs with Jack Benny and Bob Hope and Eddie Ketter, they give it to me. So I never learned how to say no, it piles up, and after a while it becomes beyond

beyond category. And I know the order of most of the disorder in my office, and it's pretty neat office. I've been photographed by some of the top magazines all over the way. I don't even want to be photographs anymore because people see those pictures. They come and they bother me in my office, you know, so I tell them

don't come here anymore. The office is now off property, off the point where I want anymore with visitors. But it's, I appreciate the plug. I'm glad you like the decor of my office. It's frightening. It's early. Early Day Salvation Army, right?

It's true you have 50,000 movies stills, Joe, 170,000 magazines, and 200,000 pieces of sheet music. Maybe more. Maybe that's an item that came out in Daily News a little while ago. I guess I've got maybe a million of everything by now. It's uncountable, uncategor. You can't organize a collection like that, but it's mine, and I'll live with it until my last day on Earth.

I'm enjoying it. Good. Because Frank and I kept looking up at the shelves going, if one thing slips over a quarter of an inch, we're both dead. Well, I lost about nine people so far at this show. I love that he offered you an egg salad sandwich too as soon as they walked into the room. Yes. Could I have the last half? But I did invent the talk show.

I was telling somebody the other day. I was a protege of a man. I remember named Martin Block on the Make-Billy Ballroom, anybody? And I was his record picker. You got me my own little radio show. And I get a call one day from Channel 7, Channel 7. I was on Channel 7 for the first 13 years. And he said, Joe, if we give you an hour a day, what kind of a show might you do?

See, TV was only on the other end from 5 o'clock until Cermanette. There was no daytime TV. They said, Joe, we're considering lighting you up on the days. If we gave you an hour of day, what kind of a show might you do? I said, I do a show. People talking, nose to nose, eyeball, eyeball, just talking. He said, Joe, you're right of your mind. You can't do a talk show on television.

You've got to give a vision. You've got to give a sales about. baggy pants, pratfall, is burlesque, he can't do it. So I said, well, rock and roll was coming in.

I said, what I do is you have kids dancing in the records? They enjoy you nuts again. Who's going to watch kids dance to records? Who comes along? Dick Clark becomes a

multi-billionaire. And I defied them. I did what I think was the first pure, organic from the bones, TV talk show. And I did it for 43 years. 13 years on Channel 7,

about 30 years on Channel 9. And my singer was Barbara Streisand. And I've had, I mean, I don't want to, I had Ronald Reagan five times. I had Richard Nixon twice at Charlie Chaplin and Bill and Spragley, twice at Frank Sinatra,

twice at Carrie Grant, I'd John Wayne, I'd everybody except Greta Garbo. I had everybody, everybody that ever lived. I had a half a million guests, and it's staggering. I still can't believe. I watched my old videos when I was young and handsome, and I say, boy, I never looked that good. You know, it's funny because this show,

the amazing colossal podcast. It's about mostly honoring old Hollywood and showbiz and everything. So you've definitely had an influence. I've written 23 books, most of them about old Hollywood. My last book sold 75,000 copies. And they're all in my house. Someone will be in your office, too. My last book is now its third printing.

The first two paintings were blarred. Now, what was Charlie Chaplin like to talk? Well, Chaplin told me something. He told me many, many. He told me, most of all, he told me about people who spend hours analyzing his films with a microscope. They spent half a lifetime analyzing all the implications, all the Freudian shadings and all the, you know, just to make a simplistic. Every time he kicks the fat man in the behind, he's supposed to be knocking the establishment, you know, you know what I'm saying. But he swore to me.

He had nothing in mind ever except to make people left. They're analyzing and they're scrutinizing what wasn't there in the first place. So basically, all he had was to make people laugh and they analyzed those movies year after year and it's so phony, so fake, because there's nothing to analyze, you know? So he was in a wheelchair. He was called back after being sort of an exile for a long time.

And he was a great man, Charlie Chaplin, as was Ronald Reagan, as was everybody. Bill Cosby is one of the night. Bill Cosby always comes back. Many stars don't come back. You know, I gave the first exposure ever to, I guess, to Gilbert Godfrey, He came back.

Most people are sorry you did that. That's right. They resent the fact. They don't want to be reminded you the days when they were broke. The ones who'll come back include Al Pacino and Bill Cosby and Connie Francis. You interviewed Charlie Chaplin and Al Pacino. Many, at least four times each. Yeah.

I mean, how many people can say that? Not many, not many. And Buster Keaton and Julia Roberts. But Julie Roberts was my ankelaid for a while. Buster Keaton was one of my dearest friends. And I've had many, many, I gave the first exposure to Eddie Murphy to Billy Crystal. Billy Crystal impersonated me for two years on Saturday night line. First time I saw Billy Crystal as me, you know what I said?

I said, Billy, one of us is lousy. Now, this was obviously pre-Pretty woman, Julia Roberts. That's right. She was 18 years old. I said to it, Julia, you're going to make it someday because your eyes, your lips, your nose, your mouth, the nose. They all match. She blushed, but she, as you say, pre-Pretty woman.

She did quite well. And what was Al Pacino talking about it? Al was on the same panel with a young man named James Dean. Wow. Who became a late lamented Hollywood superstar. If he had lived, he would have been another Marlon Brando, I'm sure. So Al Pacino and James Dean were on the... On one panel.

One panel. One time I had Boris Karloff, Peter Lorry, and Vincent Price on one panel. Oh, man. I specialized in that. And even though I had all the superstars, you'd be amazed. People not mainly, but many, many times wish that I would have more of the old timers that are fading out. They come on my show for the last glow in the spotlight. You know what I'm saying?

They figure after they do a Joe Franklin show, they're going to go back into total obscurity. So I had the super. I was known as, I had what they call an eclectic mix. I would have Ronald Reagan on with the dancing dentist. I'd have Margaret Mead on with the man to whistles to his nose. You know what I'm saying? Now, this was something always weird about your show. Right, right.

That used to fascinate me. You'd have them all sitting around. They would be like a dentist there and a house painter and a lounge singer. And you try to get them into a conversation together. and you'd be saying stuff like, well, well, Ted here's the singer,

and so if this singer wanted to get his house painted, I guess he'd go to you. And if the painter broke his tooth, then you, a dentist, would fix it. And it was a very...

I was the ultimate, I was the quintessential clearinghouse in that sense. I brought many, many people together. Many times if I was a little bit tired, I would let somebody else... I just walk off the set

and let someone else do my show for 15 minutes, you know, and I came back, And then you also, when you'd have a singer on the show, it wasn't like the Tonight Show where they'd come out, grab the mic and sing. They'd stay on panel, sit, look uncomfortable,

and their record would be played. And it worked, it worked. People don't realize you're held on TV by the ratings. And I held by ratings for 43 years. It's like in a supermarket. If the certain supersods don't sell, it gets kicked out into the street, into the mud.

So I didn't get kicked out for 43 years. But as I'm, I retired, did I say retired or retarded? I retired. 51 and 93, right? Joe Franklin's show.

That's right. That's 51. You're right. Long, long, long time. Long time. And it's a question now that I've got people left to me to bring it back,

to bring it back the way it was. The original Joe Franklin TV show, I mean, which I don't want to, I don't think I got the energy of this time. I'm going to do that five times a week anymore, but I'll, I'm on Bloomberg

radio every day, you know, this week. I'm interviewing Neil Sedaka, Olivia Newton John, and Paul Anker and Cindy Lauper, I get Shirley Jones, I get good guys, I want to have Mr. Godfrey on there one day soon, but it's he's a tough cat, Joe.

Yeah, yeah. He wants too much money, too much money, right? Now, I'm still fascinated by the Al Pacino and James Dean. But I remember, too, when these singers, when their record would play, they'd, like, kind of bounce their head uncomfortably. They wouldn't mouth the words. And then the other guests would kind of, like, uncomfortably lean over to them,

and you could see their mouth out, oh, this is good. It was kind of non-professional, but it worked. Many people copied my style. So I created that style of having the singer sit there and smile The wireless record was playing and worked out fine. Which stars were you like most bulldover by meeting? I would say Bing Crosby. I love Bing.

I always thought Bing as being what you might call, that's a great question. I would say, I thought of Bing as being mechanically reproduced. I thought of Bing on radio, on records, on TV, on movies. But when he walked toward me, flesh and blood, Bing Crosby, I think I melted. I did my best. And you know something ironic, Bing, the most romantic balladeer in history

He was not that romantic in his private life. He would tell the song, and he was telling the song, don't put the word, I love you twice in one song. I don't want to say I love you twice in one song. He'd grab you out with the boys hunting and shooting. But that day, he was normally very cranky, very moody, but that day with me, he was so, could have been an old-time boy,

but I think maybe he was showing off to his young wife, Catherine Grant, she was on the panel with him. Remember Kathy Grant? Sure. So, but I've had them all. My policy was kind of open. I had certain guests, I didn't have to book.

They were welcome to walk in. anytime they wanted. So Bing Crosby was the one or one of the people that you went, oh my God, I'm talking to Bing Crosby. I would say the one, the one. Yeah. I was, you can tell by looking at me, I was so in awe. I couldn't even talk sometimes, you know, but I love Bing Crosby. Now, Bing Crosby, his second marriage was supposed to be like they say an improvement on the first one. Well, the first one was Dixie Lee, who I think drank a little bit. And the second one was Catherine Grant, who he really loved to get four kids

with each wife, and I think that his memory will endure. You know, Ben Crosby was number one at the box office for about four years in a row, and he made going my way, and Bell's of St. Mary's in all those, and one of my other favorites was Mickey Rooney was 93, and Sir Lawrence Olivier told me on my

show that Mickey Rooney is the greatest actor that ever lives. Olivia said that. I remember seeing the human comedy with Mickey Rooney, the telegram boy and as bring to a child gratual mother, her son was killed in the war. That scene is one of the old time.

Well, Sammy Davis Jr. In an interview, they called him the greatest entertainer of all times. I'll go along with that. I'll go along with that as well, right? Sammy Davis said he thinks the greatest entertainer of all time was Mickey Rooney. Isn't that

nice? Is that nice? Yeah. Sammy was great. I'd Sammy on my show many times. One time, I had Georgie Jess, Oh my God, yes. What was Georgie say if he was here right now? What was George you say? Well, hello, Mama. Mama, this is Georgie.

From the Monday every week. Yes, yeah. Hey, did you get that paradise, I'm sure? What, you ate the parrot, but that parrot spoke ten languages. Oh, he should have said something. Why did he say something? And Mama, how's your eyesight doing? What, you have spots behind it?

before your eyes well why didn't you put your glasses on oh now you see the spot's clear that's funny he was so great you got him down pat one time one time Jessel arrived late

during my live show these were live days before tape and Professor Erwin Corey said Joe I bet the Georgia's at the hospital now awaiting the birth of his next wife who was famous famous for marrying young women you know one time jessler was on with Cardinal Spellman, remember Cardinals?

So, Jessel, Jessel says us to quote the Bible. So Carlisdell says, George, I didn't realize you were such as keen, avid, ardent student of the Bible. So he says, Joe, Jess, you said, well, I'll tell you one thing, he said, when I was a young man, Your Highness, Your Highness, and Vaudeville, going from city to city, in between gigs, I was sitting in my hotel room at night, and I would study the Gideon Bible until the Hooker got there. I've got a million to those. Oh, tell us, you told a funny Groucho Mark story.

Well, we're on the air. We've got to be careful. Oh, yeah. Yeah, no, not on this show. It's not radio. It's just for the Internet. You can tell it. And if it's me hosting, no one's listening.

No, they're listening. No, they're a show. He was a dear friend of mine. He was just the best, as was Eddie Cantor. Now, you mentioned the world's greatest entertainers. I would say Al Jolson was the greatest of all time. He was the first man to make a talking singing picture. Now, wasn't Georgie Jessel offered the jazz singer before Al Jolson?

You know your history. George Jekyllissel played the jazz singer on Broadway for three years, three sold-out years. And when Warner Brothers decided to try sound movies, they offered the part to George Jessel. And Jekyll said, I want $10,000 in cash. Now, you know what? One of our brothers did not have $10,000 in cash. So they called Jolson to take it on a risk, on a stock base. If the picture made money, he'd make money.

Jocel. So Jolson made $14 million, because he took the chance. And Jestl said, well, I make a mistake. I make a big one. Speaking of Jolson, Joe, I've been doing a little research about you. You said, did you really follow Al Jolson around New York when you were a kid? I think I've introduced him on some of the stages with a fellow named William B. Maybe William B. Williams.

Sure, make you leave ballroom. That's the guy. I introduced him on about 9 to 10, Lose. theater stages when he was plugging a movie called Joltson sings again. With Larry Parks. Exactly, and Barbara Hale was... And the greatest

part about that movie is when Larry Parks as Joltson meets Larry Parks as Larry Parks. Great sequence. Great. And the voice track, for those that are a little bit young, the voice track was sung by

Al Joltson himself. Larry Parks did the pantomime. I mean, but He did his own dialogue, of course, his own voice, but I'd come to singing. It was Larry. It was Jolson's voice all the way. They say the most thrilling, most electrifying voice in the whole history of show business. I'll go along with that. Tell us about those days about following Jolson around New York.

You sold jokes to Eddie Cantor when you were a teenager. Yeah, I sold jokes to Eddie. Eddie was my eyelid. He was the apostle of PEP. He was the medicine, he was the medication that we needed during the Depression days, early 1930s. People didn't have a dime. They were lined up on street corners.

selling apples. He was the brightness, the ray of sunshine that people needed, and he was I guess he was my favorite. My first Broadway show in my life was called Banjo Eyes with Eddie Cantor. I used to wait outside the stage he'd go and get his autograph, and later on I wound up writing his radio

show, and I wrote the radio shows for Kate Smith, a show called Kate Smith's things, which I used to go to a house, you would teach me how to sing God Loves America, and I've, I chose the records for Paul Whiteman, Show with the records on the radio for Tommy Dorsey for Duke Allent. I was known as the number one record picker of all time,

and I got my own show, and that was fun. Martin Block told me, he got me my own show. He said, Joe, don't compete with me. How can anybody compete with Martin Block? He was the king of the highest ratings in the history of radio. So it was not to compete with him. I'd go to an old junk shop, and I'd buy five old records for five cents. Eddie Cantor and Harry Richmond, George McCohan, George E Gessel,

play him on the radio and say, Here's a record worth $500. I'd just pick up those crazy... And I go back to the store the next day, put down five pennies, take five records, the deal was saying, hey, come here, kid. I said, what do you mean? I'm not...

He said, come here, I... I don't know. I was a radio list and I say, these records are worth $500. So I inadvertently created the rare record market by making those stupid claims on the radio. I've got a lot of memories like that.

Do you remember Georgie Jessel's biggest hit? Mine of his eyes. One bright and shining... That taught me wrong, plum right, I found in my mother's eyes. He got it down, then there came to the rest of the station. He would say, and if I were hung from the highest tree, I know his tears would come up to me, my mother's. And if I would drown in the deepest sea,

and those tears would come down to me, my mother's. So the world may call your failure, and the stakes may grind you small, but in the eyes of your mother, you're as big and as great as them all. He was so poignant, so electric. Georgie Jessel. Well, you just gave me a chill there with that one. I love Georgia Jesse.

Let me ask you about some of the other guests, famous guests on the Franklin show. What about the Ramones? They loved me. They would sit home all night and watch me. I think they were on, not with, but they were on the same day. I taped them as I taped the Jay Giles Band.

Sure, sure. I've seen them on your show. Jay Giles Band were in town for one day, and David Letterman offered him $75,000 to go on his show that one day, and they came on. my show for nothing. He said, Joe, we watch you. I have you right on the road. We love you. We think you're real. They had two

gold, two platinum records at that time. One was called Freeze Frame. One was called Centerfold. Center. You're a centerfold. You're great. And they gave you one of those records. They gave me one of the platinum records on my show. It's a big record. Yeah, right. And they did the whole routine live with Martin Payne coming out

from the ceiling. I just forgot there's Martin Payne on my jacket from 35, 40 years ago. And Frank and I were just talking. He says you've had some interesting women. Well, I wrote a book with Marilyn Monroe. I wrote a famous book with Marilyn. I didn't do any hinky-dinky-dinky any hanky.

Hinky-dinky-dinky. Hinky-dinky is even better. We met on a radio show called Luncheon at Sardis. I was sitting there between Marilyn Monroe and Molly Peacott. Remember the name Molly Pee? Oh, my God, yes. And I got friendly with Marilyn. We spent two weeks writing her book, which sold at Warrant.

one time for $10,000 because the publisher died the same week when it came out, so not that many copies got into the public's hands. And now you can buy a copy, you know, $500 or $1,000 if the spine is pretty good. But I was very close with Jane Mansfield. Again,

no hinky-dinky, but I would like that. Your website says dalliances. Yeah, not sure. They made that up. Okay. What about Veronica Lake? She was my anchor lady. She was dead broke. I gave her $100 every time she was on my show. She used to You know, in 1944,

Veronica Lake was the highest salary lady in movies. You got 10,000 a week in 1914. It was like, I guess, a half a million today. But through improper management and husbands who took advantage, she wound up penniless. She lived at the hotel Martha Washington as a waitress in that hotel, by the way.

And the time she's on my show, I gave her $100, and she was still very attracted and very glamorous. She died the age of 53. It's very sad ending for Veronica Lake. one time I heard on the radio Al Jones and said, I'm coming to New York, I'm going to be living at the hotel Martha Washington.

So, you know what I did? I waited out for another Martha Washington for a whole week and this is what I found out. I found it's a lady's hotel. He just said that as a joke. I was waiting for her. He never showed up.

It was just like an inside joke, but I didn't know it was an inside joke. I got great memories like that. Now, Veronica Lake was known for her hair. The peekaboo hair do, right? Yeah, it hit half of her face. That's right. Later on, the government kind of banned it because the women were getting it caught in the machinery when they were doing their defense work. I think of Sullivan's Travels when I think of Veronica Lake.

That's the one, many pictures like that, right? So they put an end to that haircut, to Veronica Lake, which every woman wanted because she was a sex symbol. I think of those movies she made with Alan Ladd, like... Was she in this gun for hire? This gun for hire, the glass key, you know your stuff. She was a beautiful lady in her headday. And they would get their hair caught in machinaries? That's right.

That's the reason that the government bandit. They said, no more hair do is like that for anybody. That was big headline news in those days. Big news. We will return to Gilbert Gottfried's amazing colossal podcast. But first, a word from our sponsor. With Amex Platinum, you have access to over 1,400 airport lounges worldwide. So your experience before takeoff is a take-off.

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Well, I had so many that committed suicide after taping my show. Remember you, you know, I'm a gig young. Oh, yes. We were talking about him, reason. Taped the show with me, committed suicide the next day. Remember a comedian named Jackie Cannon?

He had a famous Jackie Cannon's joke room. He committed to me. He was very famous. I had a few like that, but most of them were, I was known as a great clearinghouse. People would meet on my show. They'd wind up either having dates or getting married or...

I have to tell you my fiancé's mother was on your show. What's her name? I imagine you remember. Carol Sturban, she's a craft and decorating author. She was on your show in the 80s. She had a book? She did indeed. What was that both of?

Several books. Oh, I'd have to look that up. I'll have to check with her. Maybe I'll find the old... What's your name again? Carol Sturbanes. Maybe I'll find the old video someday. I'll give it to her as a souvenir.

That would be fantastic. A lot of 28,000 shows don't save about 500 videos. Wow. They would tape over it. to save money, you know what I'm saying? So I think Johnny Carson has the same problem that would tape over his old shows to save money. I think Carson's first show is not available for that reason. That's right.

The first one with Groucho. Oh, I wish I had that. I was invited. Remember when Tiny Tim was married on Johnny Carson's show? I was invited to that wedding. Miss Vicki. Miss Vickie, I couldn't go. You know why? I couldn't find a formal shopping bag.

We were going to ask you about Tiny Tim. He was a dear, dear friend. We was sitting in the back of limousine on the way to different events, and we'd sing the old songs together. I miss Tiny Tim. He was probably the most recognizable man that ever lived. You walk in the streets with Tiny Tim. They'd climb aboard and just be near him.

They would block the sidewalks to see Tiny Tim. He was a big star once on Laughan. I think he made $50,000 a week, and he was very wealthy, but his manager ran away with all the money. Oh, so that's another story. Those things happen to show business, right? I remember watching that, watching laughing as a kid.

That's right. And Dick Martin was standing there with Tiny Tim, and Tiny Tim is singing tiptoe through the tulips. Right. And Dick Martin is staring at him incredulously. And then after that, forget it. He was all over the place on the radio on TV. Gigantic. Rowan and Martin, right?

Yes. Sure. No, that's what happens. Now, Jerry Lewis has been on your show. How's any? Jerry was a very dear friend of mine. One day I said, Jerry, how's Dean Martin?

He says, no wonder they called you a nostalgic kid. He took a swing at me, right? Unlike you. Later on, we made up. I was on 10 o'clock in the morning, and sometimes they don't want to get up that early in the morning,

but the movie studios said, you want to sell tickets for your movies? You got to make the rounds of the talk show. So very belligerently, very, you know, unhappily, they made the rounds. Rosemary Clooney one day, I said, you know, Ms. Clooney? I said, I saw Jose Farrell

last night in Man of La Mancha. She says, you know, we're not married anymore, Charlie. I said, first of all, my name isn't Charlie. I just wanted to point out that I didn't know your ex-hubbed was such a good singer. She gets up, she goes, goodbye, Charlie, walks off the set. Just walks over. Later on, he came out, she was going through a nervous break. She wrote a famous book about her nervous breakdown at that period, so she apologized to me later on. She said, I was very nervous that day. I accepted her apology, Rose Mary Clooney, but you got to live with these people and enjoy them. And the main thing I always say is get the book plug out of the way.

Get the, plug the book fast. Otherwise, they're going to get nervous. He's not going to plug the book. So if you plug the book fast or the movie, they'll be more in detail. They'll forget they're on TV and they'll give you a good interview. And I never, I never rehearsed an agreement. I never, you know, nowadays you watch a TV show. So he says, how do you feel?

It says, and it's not just going to teleprone. Fine, you know, those days. But when I did it, having dinner in a restaurant, you know, rehearsing, your dialogue before they didn't. You just have your dialogue. I did the same thing. I did not read the books. I just came on the air and spoke to them and ad-libbed it.

It worked. It clicked for all those years. You can't knock that, right? Chick-Kilbert, right? No, I watched it all the time. So did I. Yeah, that was so much fun when that came on. It was a way of life, and I tried to speak in clear, distinct English.

I had a cab driver. I have at least one cab driver a month who does not want to take my money. They say, Joe, I learned English watching you on TV. That's nice. I want to be my guest. I always make him take the money. Well, once I gave him a nickel tip, because he thought I was Jackie Mason. You go around saying Jackie Mason is very cheap.

That's what I figure out. But I get Merv Griffin once in a while, but nine out of ten I get Joe Franklin. Speaking of English as a second language, tell us about Salvador Dali appearing on the show. He just liked me, liked me. One time we had lunch together in the Hotel Desartis after my show, Salvador Dali and me and two others. And the check came to check for about four people for a beautiful lunch was $9.

So I said to the waitress, I said, how about instead of me paying the $9, I get Mr. Dali to sign his autograph on the back of this check. He said, I'll go talk to the boss. He came out and said, the boss okay's it. So he signed it, and I met a man about a year ago

who sold that check on eBay for about maybe $15,000. It was that autograph on Salvador Dali. That's a fond member. memory of things. I had John Lennon on three. Every time I had John Lennon on once,

we'd have Yoko on three times. He wanted to show Yoko that she could exist. That was the deal, huh? That was the deal. Three yocos for one John. Exactly. John Lennon sent me many, many thank you letters, which was like a dope I sold to Charles Hamilton,

the autograph man. I wish I still had those letters, but I've got nice memories of knowing John Lennon. He was the best. What was John Lennon like to talk to? The most ordinary, non-actory, just just so real like anybody anybody in the street just a nice nice guy I miss it very much what about the Jackson five well one of the cutest kids of all time was Michael Jackson at the

age of five when he was on with the Jackson family he was adorable Adam on several times when he's five years old and he was so electric so dignified handsome kind of a sad ending but he was a beautiful guest had many beautiful I had so many beautiful guests. So many famous actresses, at Merner Loy, at Veronica Lake, Hedy Lamar,

Ginger Rogers, and Fred Astaire's there once. Who was his favorite dancing partner? And he danced with everybody. Nobody says to me, Gene Kelly. Didn't want to offend any of the ladies. But I got all those great memories.

I'm not going to quit until I get it right. Still enjoying it. Now, there were a few people who, used to like just autograph stuff. I mean, like a check. Like I heard it happen with Jimmy Stewart and people like that

where they would write a check and no one would ever cash the check. That's true. People do that with my checks. Yeah. And I collect all checks as part of my memorabilia archives. I got checks by Rudy Valley. It was my very best friend of all time. Rudy Valley.

Remember the vagabond lover Rudy Valley? What a great man he was? He wanted to play the role of patent so badly wrote a famous letter Darrell Lazzana, you wanted to play Patton. But I think George Scott got the part, right? Yeah, and ran with it. He did very well, yeah.

But I've got autographed checks from... I remember Rudy Valley playing a Batman villain on the old Adam West Batman series in the 60s. It was my first time I ever saw Rudy Valley. That's right. I was autographed checks. Wait, was he the crooner? He played Lord Fogg.

He played a Brit with a monocle. and he could dispense knockout gas. I can't believe I'm saying that. Knockout gas from a Mirsham pipe. Rudy Valley, in his heyday, a gentleman, was more famous than any three people you can think of today. Combined, he was the number one singer in the entire history of the world. One day, you picked up the phone in his house in California.

He heard his wife, Fay Webb, saying, you know, I'm going to poison Rudy tonight. That made the headlines. That made front pages all over the world for months and months and months, and he got rid of his wife, of course. But he was the best. He was a little on the frugal side, right? But that was Rudy Valley.

Famous, wasn't he on your show over 90 times? Maybe 110 times. And Otto Preminger, too, over 90 times. Eddie Fisher. I remember Eddie Fisher? Sure. Eddie Fisher is the only man in history that sold 22 records in a row that each one sold a million. There wasn't one out of those 22 in a row, didn't sell a million at least.

Shows you how famous leading people forgot Eddie Fisher by now. And Eddie Fischer's a sad case, because he was so popular. Sad ending, right? Yeah. And then he was like forgotten about, oh, he was, well, tell us about the whole love triangle. He was married to everybody. It was married to Connie Stevens, Debbie Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor, many, many more wives. I think he had eight wives.

At the end was an Oriental woman who died and left him many, many millions of dollars at the end. So you did okay, but who left, who to marry who? I think he was married to Debbie Reynolds, who was America's sweetheart. He certainly was, right. He couldn't hurt her. And then he started having an affair with Elizabeth Taylor. That's right. And that made him, America hated him.

Yeah, they kind of resented that. You're right. And then Elizabeth Taylor started having an affair with Richard Burton. She was married to Richard Burton twice. You know that, right? She made the movie that sort of bankrupt 20th Century Fox. Oh, Cleopatra. Yeah, Petra.

Right. And Hello Dolly with Barbara Streisand and sort of bankrupted the company the second time, right? But the movie musicals are kind of a passe. I don't see many movies. Today you see very strange kind of movies. I miss the old ones. They had long scenes.

People sitting nose to nose talking over a breakfast table or something. But you don't get that anymore. It's a little slimy today, right? But you can't knock what pays the rent, right? Well, there's like that long street in L.A. that used to, like of hotels and businesses now, that all used to belong to 20th century Fox. And I think after Cleopatra, they had to sell a lot of it.

Right, right. There were certain stars that owned much property. Fred McMurray, remember the name? Fredson. Oh, yeah, yeah. Double indemnity. He owned one-third of Beverly Hills. Gene Autry, remember he was the Cowboys? Oh, yeah. He was, he owned everything. Gene Orchie owned airports and schools and radio stuff. About half of Orange County, Gene Autry.

Oh, my God, but I love Gene Autry singing, by the way. And then, um... Bob Hope was very, very wealthy. I love Bob Hope. I miss Bob Hope. I'm seeing the Academy Award. I miss Johnny Carson. I'm seeing the Academy Awards, you know. A little different today. How'd you like a lady the other night, Ellen DeGeneres?

Did you watch any of the Academy Awards? The Academy Awards put me to sleep pretty quick. What did you think of it? Half and half, half, half and half. John Travolta mixed up on a certain name. Oh, yes. And Dean Mansell's name, yeah. It was embarrassing, huh?

Yeah. That one will be in his obituary now. Tell us, going back to the Joe Franklin Show, talk a little bit about Martin Paint and Hoffman's beverages, which became so identified with this. When I started with Martin Paint as a sponsor, they had one store. Then when they went off my show, they had 400 stores. So you built that brand.

I built them up. Oh, my God, did I build them up? They went out of business when, who was some of the other chains that got so big? I forget the name, what's big today? Whatever is, they had many, many great years thanks to Joe Franklin. And I had Nabisco shredded wheat for all. There was one time I had on my desk 28 products on TV. You don't see live products on TV.

on desks anymore. I had 28 light products, castroconvertible, and Imperial Margarine, Bertolt yellow, all on one desk. Wasn't it also New, New, New Co. Margarine? Two Margarine. One, no, go to, and Imperial Margarine, I defied the laws of gravity. So you had two margarins competing with each other on your show? I go back to days when you advertise cigarettes on TV. One time I said, nine out of ten doctors who tried camels went back to women.

And I was taken off the air by the census for two weeks off the air. One time I said, my sponsor was Stop and Shop. I said, Stop and Shop. I was merging with A&P. They're going to call it now Stop and P. You get it was taken off the air for it. So, you know, but I pioneered a lot of Howard Stern material. Howard will tell you that.

Howard used to follow me in the streets. Joe, frankly, would follow me in the streets. I think that a little of me rubbed off on him, you know. I was one of the first bad boys on TV, but I, I did it with a sweet, kind, innocent, lovable, kissable baby face, and I got away with it. People would say, I'd make a strong point, an acid point, that only a certain Mike Wallace or somebody

Alan Burke could make it. Did Joe Franklin really say that? He couldn't have said that. He looks too nice to have said that. I did say it, but I got away with it by being so young and innocent looking and lovable, you know? I don't think of Joe Franklin as a bad boy. Do you, Gilbert?

What do you remember about making Ghostbusters? because Harold Ramos passed recently. Oh, Harold Ramos was a dear friend of mine. I'm in the pivotal scene where they, I say, have you seen it? I was Fresley lately? It was a classic line, and I still get residuals on that.

You do. It's amazing. I got one, I check your name about for nine cents. I've got you beat. I have a check on my wall for a penny. A penny, right? What movie?

What movie was that? That one was. Because mom and dad saved the world. Now, what's it cost them to mail that letter? Yes. Yeah, the paper it's printed on. That's amazing. Was John Lovitz in that one?

Yes. John Lovitz. Jeffrey Jones. Sure, Jeffrey Jones for Beetlejuice. Oh, what's her name? I think that woman who was in Young Frankenstein. Terry Gar? Terry Gar.

Yeah. And Kathy Ireland. And you got one cent. One cent. one cent That amazing What about Broadway Danny Rose

Joe you're in that one too Woody Allen I mean Woody Allen is The genes of all In fact When you make a Woody Allen movie As far as I know There's no script

He just tells you go out there And he gives you the rough idea What you're going to say And I said it And that was a classic I'm in a movie You call 29th Street With Frank Langela

As that's his name And And it was the big fellow I can't think right now But anyway I'm in a lot of movies I've made movies movies with Buster Crab

Buster Crabb The projection is the name I love it Now Buster Crab Can you say what he actually got rich for?

He was a swimmer And he was Flash Gordon And Buck Rogers Yeah and Buck Rogers Now but what was the thing He got really made his money off of Selling swimming pools or No he

I think he It was like he found this like rubber and he got someone to sew it into a t-shirt and these were like basically girdles for men. Nothing wrong with that. Yeah, and he would... I could use one, I can use one.

And he would sell it on late-night TV, and I heard he made more from that than any movie he was saying. I made an infomercial, remember name Nolan Ryan? Of course. Great sportsmen. Well, yeah, Hall of Fame pitcher. I went out to Texas to make an infomercial with Nolan Ryan, and he's a Christian scientist. And he also likes it. He owns everything. He owns everything you know. He said, Joe, mention anything you want, but don't mention money.

You know, you didn't want to mention money. So during the interview, I said, these are the days, Nolan, when baseball starts making a gigantic salary. He says, what do you mean? I was the first guy to make a million dollars. We got there through a devious route, you might say, right? I love those infomercials. now what was boris carloff like meeting the exact opposite of a horror actor horror play was kind and gentle and low he made a lot of children's albums

or you know regular albums to tell the stories for kids and he was he just became the victim of I think you got the part once when Lon Cheney got sick and they gave the parts that Boris Karloff whatever it was but he was one time I had Boris Karloff on the same panel with Bella Lagozy and Peter Lorry

on one panel wow And who walks in? Vincent Price the same day, sucking an ice cream cone, wearing short pants. I forgot that day. Now, what was Bailogosi like?

He was a little scary, a little scary. A little scary. Love to see those episodes on DVD. I wish they were available. I got great, every band leader on, Glenn Miller, Sammy Kay, and Harry James and Benny Goodman.

I had them all on. People always ask me, what's my advice for being a talk show host? I says, don't leave your wallet in the dressing room. Don't bump into the furniture. Lie on the backing resume. It tells us a little lies in the backing resume to make yourself more important. I think talk shows are here to stay. If you read the paper, every day is a new talk show announced, right?

Every single day. And they come and go. They come overnight, right? But they, it's here to stay. I invented a talk show. I'm very proud about that. There was a special. that A&E plays now and then called,

It's Only Talk, and it shows me on there. It's how I invented the talk show, which is something I'm a little bit proud of, you know. It's, I'm part of the culture. You are. When you say you watch them, you sit and watch them sometimes. What are you watching them? Are you watching them on VHS? I only watch my own show.

Yeah, that's what I mean. But what format do you have them? Probably VHS, yeah. You've never actually transferred any of them over to the... Very few, very, very few. I'm kind of non-technable. If I gave you a list of things I've never done in my life, you'd cry. I don't know.

I never had a driver's license. I mean, I drove when I was a kid. You and me both. Really? I never had a driver's license. I never went to a beach. I never had my feet in the sand per se. You know what I'm saying?

I never went to a horse race. I never played cards. About 20 things like that. I've never done. I was on TV three times a day and radio all night. Never had time to do anything. And now, Lagosi, I heard, couldn't speak English. I had a lot of trouble

with English. You're right, you're right. Well, that was part of an era when sound came in and many of the big, big stars were foreigners who could not speak English. And a man with a good... Remember name of it all? Conrad Nagel. Know the name.

Conrad Nagel had a great... He once told me he made five movies at one time going from set to set with the words on a blackboard. You read the words... Now you never know what the plot was. And every movie came out great. That's what you call being a professional, right?

Redmond off the Blackboard, five boys at one time. Everyone came out just the way it was meant to be presented to the public. So, but those were the... And I think with Lagosie's lack of knowledge in English, gave him that strange delivery that he always had. Let me hear a little bit about Lagosie. Welcome, Joe. It's a pleasure being on your show.

You may kiss my ring. That's what you say. He was great. Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make. And how was he buried in his? In his cape.

That's right. In his Dracula cape. That's the way. Now what about Peter Lorry? Same thing. Very, very scary. I used to go around town with Claude Rains. Remember the name of Claude Rains?

Of course. Very poor vision. I used to help him cross the streets. The invisible man. Great, great star. I think of him and Mr. Smith goes to Washington as Jimmy Stewart's mentor. That's right. Senator Payne.

That's the guy. And he was the Crooked French General in Casablanca. Sure. Sure. Let's not forget the variety shows. Ed Sullivan and Walter Winters Hollywood was a place where they shoot

pictures instead of actors. He was great. And Ed Sullivan, of course, it was the national Sunday Night Habit. Everybody was on that show. Alan King and Buddy Hackett. They're all gone now. And the Beatles, of course. So many people tried to emulate the Ed Sullivan format.

It just didn't work. Rosie O'Donnell and Larry King and Dick Clark and maybe 10 more. They all tried to have a one-hour variety show. It just didn't click without Ed Sullivan. It also, now when they tried variety, it looks like a parody of variety. You're right. Like they're looking down on it.

very non-inspired. You're right. Very amateurish. But TV is here to say. It's certainly changed the world. When I was young, somebody said to me, Joe, someday they're going to show red when they do a commercial for Campbell's Tomatoes. You're out of your mind. You're out of your mind. I say, how can you go see?

You're never going to see red for tomatoes. Look what happened now, right? Today without technical, there'd be no TV. So it's, who knows what's to come, right? Now, were there people you hate? famous people you hated I don't think so a couple of were little jealous to me

but I listen I forgive them I forget them and it's a way of life the nice ones more than compensated for that right yeah was there anybody you wanted to get was there a dream guest only Greta Garbo

Greta Garbo she wouldn't come on she wouldn't go anywhere she was I think she made a movie in early 40s called Two-Faced Woman She went to see that I've made enough faces and she quit.

Why she was she living in Sutton Place? I was sitting with her in an apartment. I was very close with Greta Gava. We used to meet in Greta Gava a film retrospectives, and we'd meet in the streets, and I had lunch with her at a restaurant, a store called Nutrition Center.

She would go in health food stores, and she left her shoes there one day, which I took home with her, I saw it on eBay many years ago. You do know about eBay. Yeah, yeah. But most of the stuff I'm so emotionally attached, I want to sell my things. I want to keep them and go down with them someday.

Gilbert and I were sitting in that office. There's got to be a small fortune in that room if you can manage it. If you can inventory everything. I enjoy it. I enjoy it. We were considering robbing the place. There's a lot of stuff in there. I'll give you a key coming.

Any midnight you want, it's all yours. Like any one album out of the piles of a trillion, and I think you could retire on. Some of them are rare. I got albums that stuff of $2, $3,000, $5,000. I got an album, the film score of, oh, the famous C drama. It's, I guess, a rare ones. The old 70s, the old 33s are rare in many cases.

Oh, Kane Mutiny Court-Marshal. That soundtrack is very rare. Is that the name of the movie, Kain Mutiny Court-Much? with the Bogart. Right, right, right. And Fred McMurray. Right, famous, yeah. And, um...

Van Johnson? Van Johnson. Yeah, he was great. What movie was that? Oh, that movie was fabulous. Oh, and Jose Ferre. I love Van Johnson. You know, he used to wear red socks a lot of times.

Van Johnson was a good friend of mine, yeah. It was hard of hearing. A lot of stars are hard of hearing nowadays. Pat Cooper doesn't hear the way used to do it. No. But he's a funny guy. He yells, he screams, right? He's on our list.

of people to interview. You're going to interview with somebody again? He'd be a sensational guest. I love Pat Cooper. And so does this program heard all over the world? No, is that the way it wears? Absolutely. It's heard in Gilbert's house.

That's right. Now, this is funny, because we were talking about all the different talk shows. And I make jokes about your show a lot, but your show outlasted. Everybody. Everybody. there were 550 talk show hosts came and went during my tenure. 550 talk show host came in with us a lot of people.

It's stunning. It's got to mean something, right? It's got to mean something. Even Dick Cavett. He was on your show. Several times. Yeah, right? I mean, I love Dick.

I was on a show one night. You know what happened on the same show? Somebody died. The editor of Prevention magazine. Oh, yes. What was the name? I forgot the name. Rodeale.

Rodale, right, right. He died right after me or before me. Of course, I died on TV every night for all those years. I died myself every night, right? But I invented a lot of things. I invented dirty, stupid dog tricks or pet tricks, so you want to go, whatever. There was a article in New York Magazine. I invented what so many talk shows are doing nowadays, so you can't knock it. I was never able to go super duper national, but I had the chance that people that was a little. Amy Joe, why don't you take your show out of the category and go, I didn't want to go national. I wanted to keep it local the way it was, and it did quite well. And I was the first show to be on cable. I think it was a company called Eastern Microwave.

There was no such thing that's cable. There was a company in Jersey called Eastern Micro, all of a sudden I started to get mail from Alaska, from Italy, from Puerto Rico. So I was stunned to get that mail from far away because I was seen in New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, but to get the, so I did, I was. The V-first made on cable TV. Cable TV, and I was always bigger than broadcast TV, bigger than terrestrial TV. So it's just another thing I'm quite proud of. Now, what about Jack Benny?

My all-time favorite. I mean, with Eddie Canada, Jack Benny was known for being frugal. He got that way, because his first sponsor was Canada Dry Ginger Ale, and the gimmick was he would go around collecting the cans and get for five cents back on every can. That was made him famous. The singers were Donald Novice and Kenny Baker. and oh, he had good singers in his heyday.

I love Jack Benny. He died quite young. He had stomach cancer. But I love Jack Benny. George Burns, of course. George Burns was a dear friend. He would talk to George on the phone. He would say, oh, oh, he came in person.

He light up like an electric fan. He came out on the state. He saved his energy at the time when he performed, you know? Now, you know Sid Caesar also. Very different. I'd hold his hand once. We were showing her Sid Caesar. documentary. He was very nervous.

He had terrible. He had scoliosis of the back was nothing terrible pain. But he was a great, great entertainer. Great star with Imogene Colcom. I mean, Imogen Cochran. Oh, yeah. Show of shows.

Howard Morris. Yes. I think his writers included Woody Allen, right? Oh, Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks. Mel Perkins. Yes. Neil Simon. Neil Simon. Whoa.

Larry Gilbert. What a cast. What a crew of writers, huh? So it's not much more I can say, except I've enjoyed this. I hope you're going to invite me back. Oh, well, we definitely will. What do you think of the idea of having Joe wrap the show, the way he used to wrap the old Joe Franklin?

Yes, yes. That's a great idea. Guys and gentlemen, do me favor. Don't ever leave me, please. I'll get insecure. Don't leave me. Don't ever leave you. I'll be back tomorrow with more of the same. Until then, I'll make a toast. I'll say it's nice to be important,

or it's more important, but it's more important to be nice, or may you live as long as you want, or may you live as Al Jolson said on one New Year's Eve, I said, Al, what's your toast? He says, here's to our wives and sweethearts. May they never meet? Joe Franklin, ladies and gentlemen, I can't top that. Please invite me back.

We will. I enjoyed this. Thank you.