Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - Ruta Lee

Episode Date: May 24, 2021

Actress, game show hostess and philanthropist Ruta Lee shares stories from her eight decades in Hollywood and her new memoir "Consider Your Ass Kissed" and reminisces about partying with the Rat Pack, dating Shecky Greene, working for directors Stanley Donen and Billy Wilder and forging friendships with Debbie Reynolds, Darren McGavin, Fred Astaire and (yes) Cesar Romero. Also, Liz Taylor orders the chili, Gilbert frames a one-cent check, Lucy tosses Uncle Miltie's salad and Ruta remembers her dear friend Alex Trebek. PLUS: James Garner! Billy Barty! "Man with a Camera"! "The Wackiest Ship in the Army"! Dick Gautier ties the knot! And Ruta sings the praises of Jerry Lewis, Joey Bishop AND Jack Carter!(??) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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New episode Sundays. Watch free on CBC Gem. Hi, this is Gilbert Gottfried, and this is Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast with my co-host, Frank Santopadre. Our guest this week is an author, producer, game show hostess, a humanitarian, an activist, and a popular and versatile actress who's been a fixture on both the big and small screen for decades. You know her work and her familiar face for motion pictures like Witness for the Prosecution, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Bullet for a Bad Man, Funny Face, Marjorie Morningstar, The Rat Pack Vehicle, Sergeants 3, and Funny Bones. Her appearances on classic television shows are too numerous to mention, but what the hell? to mention, but what the hell?

Dragnet, Gunsmoke, Maverick, Bonanza, The Fugitive, Perry Mason, The Andy Griffith Show, The Wild Wild West, The Lucy Show, Hogan's Heroes, Mannix, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Mork and Mindy and Roseanne, and of course, a memorable episode of The Twilight Zone, A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain. In a very long and successful career that began way back when her mother entered her in a local talent shows at the tender age of three, she's gone on to work with and befriend a who's who of Hollywood royalty, including Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, Burns and Allen, Dean Martin, Milton Berle, Audrey Hepburn, Clint Eastwood, Fred Astaire, Sammy Davis Jr., Jerry Lewis, Gene Kelly, Billy Wilder, Mickey Rooney, Marlena Dietrich, and her best pal, Debbie Reynolds, and yes, even Cesar Romero, to just name a few. Her brand new memoir, and it's a doozy, is called Consider Your Ass Kissed.

A candid and funny look at her astonishing nine decades in the entertainment business. Frank and I are thrilled to welcome to the show the former candy girl at Grauman's Chinese Theater, as well as the one-time Shirley Temple of Lithuania. And the woman who says she loved billy barty but thought hervey villages was a real putz the legendary rudolph i am having such a good time i thought this would be a great testimonial to me for my obituary, except you'll send me to my grave laughing, Gilbert, so what the hell. We'll all have a good time at my funeral. Welcome, Ruta.

Now, let's start off with uh the uh the last thing said because i once lost the part in a movie to billy bardy i was supposed to be uh mel brooks was doing this movie life stinks andinks. And I read for it, and they said, oh, Gilbert, you're great. We really want you. And at the last minute, they said, oh, they're not going with you. They decided on Billy Barty.

He's so close to you. Was it Mel Brooks' movie, Ruta? To be exact. To be exact. Well, I had the great joy of working with Billy Barty on many things. As you know, I headed up for years along with Debbie Reynolds, the Thalians, and we did big, huge extravaganza fundraising events every year. And Billy Barty came to work with us many, many times. every year. And Billy Barty came to work with us many, many times. I also had the privilege of being so totally overruled, and I'm so glad I was, when I was doing Irma LaDeuce. And the storyteller has never been played by a little person. And I thought, this is going to make too much of a

cartoon out of it. We can't do that. The play is funny enough, you know, without that, he got cast over my original objections. And I am so grateful the comedic little person that he was. I adored him. Absolutely adored him. And Gilbert, you're so right about Villachés. He thought... Putz is too nice of a word for him. Schmuck is a better word and and he he thought he was god's gift to women i'm sure it had to do with the fact that he only came up to a certain area I'm not sure.

But I've got to tell you, I just couldn't understand how anybody could become a star saying, Deplane, boss, deplane. That's about the only thing he did right as far as I'm concerned. Now look. Getting right into it. I don't ever like to speak ill of anybody as far as that goes. But I just felt like he deserved anybody saying anything ill about him because he really was. Didn't he get married to a couple of very big girls, as I recall?

I believe he did. I believe he did. I don't think the fact that he had a hit series had anything to do with that. Ruda, would you like to hear Gilbert's dead-on Herve impression? Yes, I would yes I would I would okay uh years ago when when uh Fantasy Island was on the air the number one show was Magnum and that was like you know billions of people were tuning into Magnum and uh you know and the star was Tom Selleck, who was the most handsome guy in the world. And they said Irv Villages used to get loose his temper about that and go, I should be making all the money that Tom Selleck was making. And I should be getting even more pussy

than Tom Zellick. Bruda is applauding. Bravo, bravo, bravo. He couldn't understand why Tom Selleck got more pussy than he did now let me ask you did you ever do that for Tom

no I should oh you must have him guessed and do that for him he will pee his pants he will just love that have to make that happen, Gil. Oh, my Lord, Gil. Oh, speaking of

peeing in your pants, Frank and I were talking about how you appeared on, and we both watched it, you appeared on The Lucy Show with Milton Berle. Oh, Lord, yes. I truly did

pee my pants on that one. I mean, that's done, as you know, in front of a live audience for camera system, which taught me a great deal. Lucy was wonderful. And, of course, I knew Milton Milton and I knew Ruth, his wife,

and of course, Lucy was a friend. And when in that particular sequence, Lucy in the kitchen is preparing lunch and she hears myself and Milton doing a scene from a movie that he wants to do. We're rehearsing. And of course, it has to do with a foolish wife and that we're having an affair and blah, blah, blah. And Lucy, of course, as she always does, makes a mistake and assumes that we are having a relationship. And in the process of preparing lunch, she brings it in and it's a great big huge chopped salad with a lot of thousand island dressing on it and she plops it on milton's head now to see milton burl in a full suit and tie with salad dressing running down his glasses. And he uses his fingers as window washers and wipes them clean.

And then, of course, there's so much heeing and hawing, the audience is screaming. And I finally said, well, thank God I'm wearing a white dress because otherwise you'd seen a big fat stain. How did you like Milton, Ruta, personally? I loved him. I knew he was tough, tough, tough. And he didn't like anybody standing on one of his lines or cutting him off or doing

whatever. And he would get kind of wild and crazy. But but I adored him. And why did I love him so much? Because he exactly like Lucy would come and perform and appear at whatever I asked him to do. Now, how many people can you say about that in the world? You know, I love that, that generous, generous people. Of course, look, let's face it, boys. I think actors are the most generous people in the world. Actors, performers, singers, entertainers of any sort, musicians. Ah, musicians belong to a union. They get paid. If we can work in this business and make a living in it and enjoy the fruits of working with people that make us laugh, that make us sing, that make our hearts be filled with joy, that is a blessing that has to be given back in some way.

So either pay it forward or pay it back, and don't be stingy about it. Just do it to the best of your ability for those who can't do it for themselves. And I have to drag this interview into the mud again. Oh, thank God. That's such a happy place. Oh, thank God. That's such a happy place. And anyone who has heard me on the podcast knows my favorite topic about Milton Berle. Do you know where this is headed? I surely do. Scott, you figure it out, Gilbert.

I surely do. He, you figure it out, Gilbert. I surely do. He had a grand reputation. But if you want to read a little bit of something about it in my book, I think Frank Sinatra could put him to shame. Wow. Okay, so. I'm not going to say another word. You have to get my book and read about the book. It's in the book. Have you ever seen Milton Berles?

No, I never have. But I sure have heard a lot of commentary on it. And I've known two of his wives. I didn't know the first one, but I think they both just smiled and nodded. Let's put it that way. One of our guests saw it, and he called it an anaconda. I think we've had about six or seven guests on this show. Pearl would love showing it to people. Seven people at the same time in different rooms, Gilbert. Ruta, tell us where the wonderful title of your book came from.

Oh, my goodness. Well, you know, very honestly, it's an expression that I have used for many, many, many years. it's an expression that I have used for many, many, many years. And I am so grateful to people who have turned a television set on because I was going to be on or that came to buy a theater ticket because I was appearing or bought a movie ticket because I was in a movie. And more than all of that, the people that have been good to me and my charity, the Thalians, which is Hollywood for Mental Health, and people have donated a dollar. They've donated $500,000. What can I do to these people but say, thank you from the bottom of my heart,

but above all, I want each and every one of you to please consider your ass kissed. Right. That's an expression that we have certainly used in show business for years, sometimes with a bright sort of negative connotation, but in most cases, it's a sweet gesture. Of course.

A very sweet gesture. And I mean it gratefully from the bottom of my heart when I say it. And my very good friend, whom you I'm sure know, George Panacchio, who is the red carpet man, as we saw in the Academy Awards and everything else here in Hollywood, heard me use that expression many times at our Thalian events. And he pulled me aside one day and he said, Roots, if you ever write a book, that should be the title of your book. Well, it sure has caught the fancy of people across the United States. And I'm very, very grateful for that piece of advice from George. And I thank you for noticing and asking the question. Thank you. So the book, the book is not only a memoir, it's a thank you.

It is a thank you. It's a thank you to millions of people, you know, and I've been so very, very blessed. I've always felt, very honestly, that I don't make fans in this world. I make friends. And I feel that the reason I was able to make friends, I owe a debt of gratitude to the talk shows and the game shows because those are the shows that introduced me across America, across the part of the world, because we're, we're, we're shown everywhere. Uh, the character of Ruta Lee and you either liked her or not, uh, rather than, you know, some doped up, uh, junkie somewhere, some, uh, alcoholic, uh, hookie somewhere, some alcoholic hooker somewhere, some Miss Goody Two-Shoes in a beautiful estate somewhere. I played all kinds of people with all kinds of parts.

And so people got to know Ruta as Ruta on the talk and the game shows. And now that you've loosened up a little, can you please tell us how you saw Frank Sinatra's dick? Please. I would never call it a dick.

I would never call it a dick. I would only call it a handsome sign of masculinity. Yes, that was the word you used in the book, his masculinity. All right. Very tactful. So let me tell you, Gilbert, you are not going to oodle me into this. You've got to get the book, people, and read it. I'm exposing no more than that. Since you talk about so many people that you've liked over the years and friends,

and Gilbert and I got a kick out of this because, as I said, we've done almost 370 of these shows. And we have had a hard time finding anyone to say a nice word until you came along about Joey Bishop and about Jack Carter. And you like them both. Yes, I did. I know that Joey was very, very tough on my good friend, Regis Philbin. And he got fired from that show and was doing a show that I happened to work on for about two years, I think, which was a two and a half hour live talk show every day here in Los Angeles. And so I heard some stories about how unattractive a person Joey could be.

On the other hand, when we were working together, he was nothing but wonderful. And maybe he was in his element being part of the rat pack, you know, being with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin and Sammy Davis and Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford. He was entertaining with the guys and he was a most entertaining human being and very, very sweet with me. Not that I had a hell of a lot to do with him, but he was very nice with me. Jack Carter, on the other hand, was one of my best friends. Oh, that's nice to hear. And I think that he was probably his own worst enemy because he made life difficult for the people that hired him and fired him and people that he

had to work with. And yet I could ask Jack to do anything and he would come along and go for the ride. And he might grumble and piss and moan a lot about things. But on the other hand, he was probably one of the most generous human beings I've ever known. And I was with him the night he died. Just a few hours before he passed on to meet his maker, I was at the home and got to say my loving goodbyes to him in kind of a very soft, easy way. So I'm grateful that he added, did not subtract from my life. Very few people have subtracted, very few. And so... Until you met Gilbert.

Are you kidding? Gilbert is my new best friend. Anybody that asks about a schvanz on the air, it can't be all bad. Oh, Rudy. on the air. It can't be all bad. But this is amazing to hear because everybody we have spoken to has hated both Joey Bishop and Jack Carter. And this is nice to hear. Yeah, it is. It's refreshing. The other side of something. Yeah, there have to be two sides to everything. But I know. I know how difficult Jack could be. And I love to tell the story of how I was at a big event at the car museum here in Los Angeles. My friends, the Petersons, donated it to the best part of the city,

and it's the Automotive Museum. And every year they had a big event, until COVID came along, that would raise funds for the museum. And one of them was Comedy and Cars. They always had great titles. And they had every young, fabulous comic in this world. Gilbert, I can't remember all their names, but really, the hot new comics were invited to come and perform at this big event at the museum. And they saved Jack until last. until last. Now he was mostly in a wheelchair at this point, but God bless Dr. Pirro, who happens to be my doctor as well and was his. He was in the house and he brought Jack up to the podium, helped him up the stairs and helped him to the podium where he could stand. And he sort of put his hands so that he was steady. Now, mind you, we had laughed our asses off up to this point. Now, let me tell you, Jack

Carter came forward. He did 20 of the funniest minutes anybody has ever done on the face of this earth. Wiped all those young comics, those hot shots, right off the face of the map, and you walked away saying, that's how an old pro does it. And boy, do I miss the old pros. I have to tell you that my heart bleeds that we don't have very many of them left. You know, of them left. You know, we, we just lost my, my darling, um, Crosby, Norm Crosby, not long ago. I went to his funeral and, uh, and we still have, God love him, Shecky Green. He's still full of piss and vinegar. And, uh, Shecky's a big fan of Gilbert's, Ruta. Oh, I'm so glad. And I'm so glad. And Shecky.

He's not. He's not. Oh, I'd love to hear what he had to say. I was on stage at some event and he was there and he was supposed to be on next right after me. And then he wasn't. They got someone else. And I heard that he got, he started screaming about my set.

I've never heard language like that in my life. And he says, I was in the Navy. We didn't say words like that. He says, I was in the Navy. We didn't say words like that. Well, I hope. He threatened to punch out. Freddie Roman.

Freddie Roman. Really? Yes. And what's the other guy? Stewie Stone. Stewie Stone. He threatened to punch them out. Well, if he catches this broadcast, I guess I'm the one that's going to get punched out. Did you go on a couple of dates with Shecky, Ruda?

I did. I did. So let me tell you the funny story, which I got in the book, which is in the book, is that I was guesting on The Dating Game. Remember The Dating Game? Sure, of course. Used to be great fun. is that I was guesting on the dating game. Remember the dating game? Sure, of course. It used to be a great fun. They would have a celebrity of some kind and three kind of yo-yos, as I put it,

that are hidden, and the celebrity would get to pick one of them to go on a date that there was either a chaperone on or you didn't bother. You just took your fee for being there and you let it go at that. And the chaperone could take, I mean, the person could take his own date. Well, I got very smart-ass answers from one of the guys that were behind a screen. And I thought, oh, he's slightly full of himself.

And the other two give kind of normal, nice, mundane, boring, but safe answers. And so I didn't pick Mr. Shecky Green. I picked one of the other guys to go on the date with. And you know where the date was? To Nepal. Nepal in the Himalayan mountains. To a place called Tiger Tops. First class all the way. And I thought, if I don't go on this trip, I'm a total idiot. But anyway, a little bit after the show, I went out with Shecky a couple of times. And I liked him a lot.

And more than him, I liked his parents they were wonderful sweet people and he took me to meet them what do you suppose that meant that's interesting it meant if I played my cards right I could have been Mrs. Shecky Green Mrs. Shecky yeah wouldn't that have been something and I think I think what all of our audience is asking now, did you see Shecky Greenstick? No, I did not. Gilbert. Gilbert, you don't understand. I'm a Miss Goody Two Shoes.

I'm a very old-fashioned Catholic girl. I'm a very old-fashioned Catholic girl. So I've seen very, very few men's accoutrements. She's too classy for you, Gilbert. We will return to Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal podcast after this. And you can honestly say you worked with Martin and Lewis, but just not at the same time. Right. Dean Martin and I worked with on Sargent 3. Martin and I worked with on Sargent 3. And Jerry, in spite of the fact that I'd known him for 50 years,

never made a pass at me. So I cannot describe any of his accoutrement. You like Jerry. You got to work with Jerry on Funny Bones. I love Jerry. And you guys clicked. I love Jerry. We clicked years before. I did a couple of special kind of things for him where he needed aid and something he was doing that was charitable.

And I came to help out and whatever. So I've known him for years. And, you know, he always had all kinds of new electronic things and things around him. And one day I commented, in fact, I write about this in the book. He had a gramophone. You know what that is? Nobody that's listening to you knows what a gramophone is. A record player, you know, that played all three speeds of vinyl. And I commented on how wonderful it was because it was such a small, unique package. And the next day, one was delivered to my house, you know, and I used it forever and ever and ever. But we did Funny Bones together, which frankly should have been a big cult hit because it was a remarkable film with Leslie

Caron and of course Jerry Lewis and I thought Oliver Platt, yourself Oliver Reed, right Yes, very good cast Wonderful film, but there was a great change happening at the studio at Disney

The head was leaving and it had been his favorite And the new head did not think it was a big favorite So as I put in my book, his favorite was Pocahontas Which went up in smoke signs And our film got kind of pushed aside In spite of four and five star reviews that it got in screenings.

So I was thrilled to death that we would work together and we were on location in England, in Blackpool and in London and then in Vegas. So it was quite a wonderful experience for me. and then in Vegas. So it was quite a wonderful experience for me. And to be able to work with my darling Jerry Lewis was really marvelous. And I admire him for everything that he did for so many years with his telethons and raising the kind of money that they did to help more people. Certainly. So Gilbert, it took us 365 shows to find someone who liked Joey Bishop, Jack Carter, and Jerry Lewis. And that person is Ruta Lee. You're a good soul, Ruta. Do you want me to tell you something rude about Sister Teresa or what?

It's very interesting to read in the book, Ruta, too, how you and the Rat Pack, first of all, the story, I won't go into too many details, we'll let people buy the book, but the story of how Frank discovered you for Sargent's Three or decided that you had to be in Sargent's Three,

but also the way they kind of protected you and took you under their wing a little bit, that Sammy used to walk you home at the end of the shooting day, and they came up with a nickname for you. They called you, what was it, Loudy? Loudy, because he said, that was Dean Martin. First of all, Frank was the chairman. Dean was Drunky. Sammy was Smokey. And I was loudy. And why was I loudy? Dean said, God didn't give Ruta tits.

He gave her a set of speakers. That's a good line. And you were friends with a bold people, Charles Bronson. Yes, yes, yes. Charlie Bronson is of Lithuanian descent, as am I. So that sort of, excuse me, formed a beginning for our relationship when I guessed it on Man with a Camera, I think was his first series. I mean, people have forgotten that he did several series before he became a super international star. And I'm so happy that I got to know him right from the beginning. And he and his wife, Jill Ireland, supported the Thalians year after year. And I have nothing but loving and kind things to say about this lovely man.

Yeah, we talk about him on the show a lot. We also talk about another friend of yours on the show a lot, and that was the late Darren McGavin. Gilbert and I are big fans. Gilbert and I are big fans. Well, as you will all hear and see and read in the book, I owe the ownership of my house in Palm Springs to Darren McGavin, who was, of course, the, what did he play? Oh, Mike Hammer, originally. Mike Hammer, thank you. I was forgetting too many titles in my head.

He and his wife had gone down to Palm Springs and really got anxious to buy a weekend home. And right across the street from the very, very popular all-star visited weekend. What's it called? The tennis club there, the Racquet Club, was a place called the Racquet Club, a development across the street. And a lot of stars were buying cutesy pie little weekend homes, getaway homes. And so they made a deposit on one for themselves and in the process, without asking, made a deposit on one for me. And then they called me and I thought, oh, my God. I mean, he's the star of a series.

These are all big stars out there that are buying these little houses. I don't have that kind of money. You know how much that house cost? $19,500. $19,000. And $500, exactly. Wow. A three-bedroom, two-bath house. Now, no pool, no nothing. You've got a fence, you've got two trees, and that's it. A garage and a driveway into the garage and cement work, but that's it. The rest you all had to do. And it's one of the best things that I ever did. I bought that house not thinking about how the hell I was ever going to pay for it, But thank God I came from parents who understood what ownership of property meant, you know, better you own it and rent it or do what you want to with it,

but you own it. And they said, listen, you run into trouble. We give you help money. Don't worry. Don't worry. Bye. So I don't worry. I buy. And it's one of the best moves I ever made. So Darren McGavin did you a big solid? He sure did. He sure did. What an underrated actor. He could really do a lot of things.

I remember him as Big Chicken. No, you're thinking of Gavin McLeod, Gil. Gavin McLeod. Yes, I get them confused, too. Gavin McLeod and Darren McGavin. Darren McGavin, yes. Yes. Darren McGavin, my memory of him, I was at the Friars Club,

and he was there in a bathrobe, and he asked me if I could work the remote control. He couldn't figure that out. And I couldn't figure it out either. And I always felt bad about that. That I couldn't help Darren McEvan. Where were you when this happened? At the Friars Club. Oh, I thought he was in the bathroom again, and I thought, oh, boy. Now, also, you were friends with two of the greatest dance men of all time,

Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. Yes. Wow. Of course, I became a very good friend of Fred Astaire's daughter, Ava. And Ava now lives in Palm Springs, but I went to see her when she lived in Ireland. And Fred was so very, very sweet. And I keep thinking, he was so sweet with me, he would say, I'll come to dinner if Ruta's coming when Ava asked him. And I should have played my cards right there. I could have been Mrs. Fred Astaire. And just think of all the royalties I could get now.

Did he write little notes to you? Give you little pieces of advice on notes? He did. You know, we became very good friends when we were shooting the movie. Funny face. And, yeah, when I say very good friends, I mean he was a big star and I was a newbie, you know. But he was very, very nice with me. And so was Audrey Hepburn and I was a newbie, you know, but he was very, very nice with me. And so was Audrey Hepburn.

She was adorable. Anyway, he would watch me on the different shows coming up, you know, that I would guest star on and so on and so forth. And he would send me a little note saying, don't wear that color on camera. It is not the most flattering or do that kind of thing again. That was really good and like a big idiot schmuck i didn't save those wonderful notes that were that would have meant a fortune to me now in in just memories if never mind financially but how wonderful of him to have

taken the time but you know when you're young and stupid, you think life will always be this way. It'll always go on. You don't realize that you are making memories that you should keep forever and ever. So I'm glad that I can still have my memories. I have not yet gone into dementia and I thank God for everything. Well, talk about those old days too, Ruta. I saw you in an interview with Ileana Douglas, our friend Ileana Douglas, and you were talking about, you're a person after my heart and Gilbert's because you were talking about the old automat at Horn and Hardin. You were talking about those old days for New York actors. You were also talking about what Hollywood was like when you first came to Los Angeles,

I assume in the late 40s, how it wasn't crowded and it was unspoiled. Yeah, I was still a little girl when we arrived. I was 11 years old, let's say. And when I grew up in Montreal, Canada, where I was doing my growing up, you had to be 16 years old to go to a movie. Children were not allowed in the theater. They would make exceptions for something like Bambi or whatever, so long as the parents went with you, like Bambi or whatever, so long as the parents went with you. Because there had been a terrible fire, a conflagration where children were killed, trampled in the fire of people getting out. So therefore, nobody was allowed in the theater anymore. So I never saw any movies.

So when we came to California, I was enthralled with up to the movies and go see these fabulous movies. And I fell in love with all the stars. And of course, I assumed I was going to be, you know, picked up by some producer or some big star maker by just walking up and down. Discovered like Lana Turner and Schwab's. Exactly. Exactly what I thought that's going to happen to everybody, you know, and, and, uh, like I write in the book, thank God they were gentler times and nobody discovered me, but nobody killed me either. You know, Nobody grabbed me and threw me in a car. And Frank and I were talking about how the actors who had zero money,

how they would make food for themselves. Oh, yes, I remember hearing those stories, Gilbert, at Horn and Hardart especially, which was a place for those of you who are too young to have ever experienced it or even seen it at a movie. There were rows and rows and rows, probably about six, seven feet high, of windows and little glass cages. And behind the glass windows were pieces of pie or sandwiches or meatloaf or whatever the case may be. And you put in coins or you paid for it and you opened and you took it out. Now, they had things like bottles of ketchup and containers of cream or milk or whatnot for the coffee on the side, salt and pepper, crackers to go with the soup you bought.

So starving actors would come into Horn and Hardot, pick up a paper cup, dump in a bunch of ketchup, fill it with hot water that was for coffee or tea, put in salt and pepper, crack in a bunch of crackers that you've got, free crackers, and they made soup for themselves. And I've heard of countless people that survived on these meals. And I just think, why hasn't that been done in a movie yet? That's kind of special. Well, we both remember the automat, right, Gil?

Yeah, I remember. It was one on 42nd Street on the east side here. Yeah, when I was a little kid, I would go with my parents. That was like eating out, the automat. And I still to this day remember they had like a lion's head, a metal lion's head that you got hot chocolate out of. Oh. Good memories. When I went to LA, Ruta, so many of the great places were gone. I mean, Chasen's was gone and I didn't, I got there in the 90s and the Brown Derby was gone. I mean, it must have been a wonderful, it must have been a wonderful time. You were there for the 90s, and the Brown Derby was gone. I mean, it must have been a wonderful time.

You were there for the heyday. Stop and think that, yes, you're right, I wasn't there for the heyday, that Liz Taylor would have chili from Chasen's delivered to her in Acapulco or Puerto Vallarta or wherever she was. I found that fascinating, and everybody loved the bartender there because he made the best martinis in those wonderful big glasses. Oh, oh, how lovely. I miss all that.

Yeah, I bet. In your book, you mentioned working on the wackiest ship in the army. Jack Warden. Yes. What a funny guy. What did you think of that movie? I adored working on it.

I write about this in Consider Your Ass Kissed about, to me, one of the funniest things, and this is another time I peed my pants, twice in show business that I can think of. I was doing a scene, and it was the last shot of the day and our director had three cameras set up, one up on a hillside to get an overview of the wackiest ship and the rowboat that we had to row out to the wackiest ship in, that we had to row out to the wackiest ship in.

A closer one on the beach seeing us running to the boat, piling in, and a close-up of us getting in the boat, right? And all cameras are going to roll at the same time. And the director is getting panicky because he's losing light. The sun is going down. It's the last shot of the day. And he roars like C.B. DeMille. Cameras all going at the same time. We run to the boat.

We get in. And Gary starts rowing the boat. And nobody notices that there's a big hole in the boat. And the boat starts to sink halfway to the wackiest ship. We are now up to our asses in water. Thank God that's where I was peeing. And laughing so hard. And the director, so help me God, Dick Serafian, said,

Ah, shit, I quit. I remember that name Dixie Raphael So he actually did quit I think he quit I don't think he ever did another one But oh my god We laughed so hard And Warden of course

Knows how to compound a felony And make it even funnier And nothing could be funnier Than the entire cast in their wardrobe sinking in the water we love go ahead gil you know i was saying that we we've spoken about jack warden a few times on this show because we love the old great uh character actors And you work with so many. You work, you, O'Brien, and Pat O'Brien, and Ben Gazzara, and Ross Martin, and Dick Godier, who we loved. I mean, these were all people you got to work with and befriend. Dick Godier was married to Barbara Stewart, who was my best girlfriend.

Here in my house in Laurel Canyon. How about that? And I always said, if I fail in show business, I can always do weddings at my house. I'm very good at that. We would have loved to have Dick on this show, and an accomplished artist, too. A very, very fine artist, yes.

Yeah. And you worked with Werner Klemperer. Yes. He's known as Hogan. She worked with him on the big screen and the small screen. I did. I did. We did the first movie that was called Operation Eichmann.

And he played Eichmann, and I played, and he played it brilliantly. I mean, he's a seriously good actor. And I played his mistress. And amazingly enough, with the full German accent, everything, I'm fairly good with accents. And then, of course, we would revisit on Hogan's Heroes. And what fun it always was to be with him. And by the way, that first movie that I did, Eichmann, was the first movie which got residuals when played on television. Oh, that's interesting.

All those previous movies never got residuals. SAG worked something out. I heard of so many most of those shows like the people on um on gilligan's island never made a penny off that and it's still playing to this day i wonder why did they do buyouts or something maybe there i I've heard a lot of stories. A lot of shows in the 60s, they got paid once or twice, and that was it. We were supposed to get paid

for 13 views, I believe it was. You know, it decreased. So help me God, I've gotten pennies, I've gotten residuals for like 40 cents, but the stamp was 45 cents to mail it to me. Gilbert and I still get those too. I have a check that I framed for a penny.

And I put it in a frame with a fortune that I got from a Chinese restaurant that said, your talent will be recognized and suitably rewarded. We will return to Gilbert Gottfried's amazing, colossal podcast. But first, a word from our sponsor. Rudy, you talk about yourself doing accents, and Gilbert and I were talking about this today. I found one of those Hogan's Heroes episodes. You're playing a character named Olga. Olga. Olga.

Russian. You played a lot of Russians. You played a lot of Swedes. You played a lot of Germans. And what we get a kick out of is in those days, going through your IMDb page, in those days you could turn up on a show of Germans. And what we get a kick out of is in those days, going through your IMDb page, in those days, you could turn up on a show six times. You were on 77 Sunset Strip as six different characters. Isn't that fun? It was like going to school because I got to play so many

different people with so many wonderful people. Oh, God, they were the good days at Warner Brothers. Oh, such fun and such beautiful young people, all of whom I kind of grew up with, you know. And one of the mistakes I made was not going under contract when I should have. And why? Because the numbers ruled. I was getting more money guest starring practically every other week on something than I would be if I were under contract. But that's one of those mistakes that one makes when they're young and stupid. It happens. It happens. Yeah, because it's like on the Honeymooners, they had on and I always forget his name. We were talking about George Petrie, George Petrie. George Petrie. Yeah.

He would play like a bank robber or the head of the bus company. They'd use the same guy over and over again on the same 39 episodes. Yeah. Well, it was like a stock company. You know, use the guy you've got. I've got a great question here for you, Rudolf. It's merely a comment from a listener. He's Gregory Ward. He says, I love Ruda Lee, and I want her to know that in a span of several weeks during the pandemic,

I was watching a lot of television, and I saw her on Rawhide, Gunsmoke, Batmasterson, Maverick, and Perry Mason. That's damned impressive. Oh, boy. Four Westerns and a modern. Oh, that's wonderful. You did a lot of Westerns. I love the Westerns. I surely did.

I did, and I love doing them. The only thing that I didn't like was that you had to get up before dawn because you had to be on the set at the crack of dawn, six o'clock, you know, for makeup, and usually had to get up at four in order to be at the studio at five, in order to be at the studio at five in order to be at the location at six but oh boy I am so grateful to the Wranglers and the Cowboys the real Cowboys oh I sounded like a jet just came through our house excuse excuse me, who taught me so much. The Wranglers taught me

to respect everybody and everything in our business because you never know when you are going to be in a different position than you're in. And they taught me a great deal about horses, how to get on and off a horse, because I'm little and horses are always big. And they also taught me a great deal about guns, handling them and how to care for them and how to respect them and how to respect people who have them. You said in your book that on one of your auditions when you were really, really young, your mother came along with you and first she stopped off at the church. Right, Gil. And I went in and auditioned and my mother was on her knees lighting candles and I was in auditioning for Michael Kidd and Stan Donan for Seven Brides, my very first movie job. And I did a little ballet

because I thought I was a dancer in those days. And I did a little jazz and I was what, 16, I guess. And finally, Stanley Donan, or I guess it was Michael said, can you do a little something folksy? Boy, can I do something folksy? A good Lithuanian polka is exactly what I did. Now I don't show, I don't know whether it was my polka that got the job or my mother's lighting candles and praying across the street or a combination of both, but I got probably one of the most delicious gifts I ever got in my life. And that was to be in seven brides for seven brothers, my first movie job and one always to be remembered. Think of the generations of people that have seen seven brides in cinema.

Many generate, you know, that we had to shoot that in two processes, once in cinema scope and once for widescreen because cinema scope, In CinemaScope. You know that we had to shoot that in two processes. Once in CinemaScope and once for widescreen. Because CinemaScope wasn't in all the theaters yet. And then they cut the budget. Yeah.

Yeah, we got the short end of the stick, but that's okay. Look at the hit we came up with. And here's one I've been sitting on the whole time. Uh-oh. But here's a very popular story about Cesar Romero. Brace yourself, Ruda. Okay. Okay.

He used to gather together a bunch of young gentlemen, and he would pull down his pants and underwear and they would fling orange wedges at his ass this is a crazy hollywood rumor that gilbert came up with ruda i think gilbert made it up never mind came up with it you knew caesar romero personally. Very well. Yes. He was a friend for many years. He's been in my home countless times. We've done dinner together. We've appeared places together. And in fact, he was the handsome man that walked me down the aisle when I was a Deb Star, which introduced the stars of tomorrow that the makeup artists had. And I can't see it. I'm sorry. Anyway, he was absolutely the most wonderful friend I could possibly hope to have.

wonderful friend I could possibly hope to have. Now, there has been countless talk about his involvement with Thai power, but I wasn't there. I don't guarantee anything, but maybe that was just another rumor as far as anything goes. So you never saw any citrus fruit? So you never saw any citrus fruit? No Either on his posterior Or off it I didn't When he got up from your couch There was never an orange

You're a bad boy And Gilbert you've got to go to confession in the morning. We're talking about Donan, Bruda. Talk about another iconic director that hired you, that cast you, and that's the great Billy Wilder. Oh, my God. Witness for the prosecution, one of my favorites. Oh, what a director. What a man.

What a mind. What a fabulous sense of humor. Everything about him to me was phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal. And actually, he didn't cast me. Arthur Hornblow Jr. cast me. Oh, that's right. He saw you in Mocombo. Right.

Right. And he saw something in me as I was watching my beloved Frank Sinatra, whom I'd never met, but with my mouth hanging open. Because Frank Sinatra, let's face it, for anybody listening, Frank Sinatra, let's face it, for anybody listening, was the most mesmerizing, unbelievably phenomenal guy. And as a performer on live stage, oh, excuse me, I've got the hiccups. Anyway, he had me come in to meet Billy Wilder. Billy put me on film and uh you know different angles and just to get a look at me and from what I gather Marlena Dietrich uh took a look and said nicked not this one she's blonde like me no no no no no and I immediately became a brunette. But Billy was a fabulous man to work for, and I really just worshipped at his shrine.

Good picture. And you just mentioned Frank Sinatra now. Do you have any stories you could tell us about Frank Sinatra? He's being a wiseass, Ruda. You want to refer to his apparatus again? Yes, yes. About Frank Sinatra. He's being a wiseass, Ruda. You want to refer to his apparatus again? Yes, yes. I do have to talk about one of the wild stories in the book. What is that story about?

He went to surprise Ava Gardner on set. He went to Africa Ava Gardner on set. He went to Africa to surprise her, and she was totally nonplussed when he got there. He really took you into his confidence about how wounded he still was and that torch he carried. He did. I would often go up to his house for dinner, which is just, you know, maybe three miles away from where I live. And it would just be the two of us. And he'd have dinner made and he would talk and talk and talk. A blessing, such a delight, and such an incredible memory to think that I sat with the fabulous Frank Sinatra

and didn't see the chairman of the board, Bravura, but got to see and hear the stories of his unrequited love for Ava Gardner, and how I think he carried that torch for many, many years. That's fascinating. That he took the time and trusted me enough to share these stories was really quite amazing to me. It's also amazing that a man with that much power, who was a kingmaker, that was his Achilles heel, was his love for this woman.

But Frank, remember at the time that the other Frank we're talking about was not in his kingmaking or breaking mode. Right. He was slipping terribly. Right. Before From Here to Eternity. Right. It was way before From Here to Eternity. Right. It was way before From Here to Eternity. And he literally borrowed money from the saloon keeper that he played in the club for in Montreal to be able to fly to Africa where she was shooting Mogambo. It's so sad, but sweet.

Yeah, it is. And Sinatra was one of those people that could be your friend and then like turn on you. Oh, yeah. His patience level ran from A to B with very few stops in between. I mean, he would fire away very quickly. But in most cases, when I was with and around him, and Lord knows I was a lot, both in Los Angeles, in Las Vegas, in Kanab, Utah, in Palm Springs, wherever. He was very, very gracious with fans that came to see him, but he would get very irritated if he was trying to put a drink to his mouth and someone took his hand and put his glass or put his hand

with his glass down on the table and said, Frank, Frank, Frank, I want you to meet so-and-so. Or if he was trying to eat a plate of pasta and someone literally took the hand with the fork and it laid it down on the on the plate, he'd get rather pissed at that sort of thing. Didn't like that at all. Didn't like the being touched. But you can't blame him, you know? He's here, he's having dinner. And did he turn... A lot of people touching him.

He turned on you at one point. Well, he did, because I don't really know why. I never got an absolute explanation of why. But I write in detail about it. He got distressed that there was a kind of a catty remark being made in the press because he didn't show up for where he was supposed to be to present the award to Sammy Davis when he was our honoree. And Frank had promised to come and sing and present the award to Sammy. And he was going to be my date. And I thought, boy, I hit the trifecta. And he did not come. He had his reasons that were not available to anybody at the time,

because it had to do with the vice president and attacks that were being launched, etc., etc. Anyway, he didn't speak to me or answer any of my questions or letters asking why he was so angry at me, what did I do. And then a year went by, I think, and we ran into each other somewhere, and he opened his arms to me as if nothing had ever transpired and said, hey, Laudy, my baby, how are you? Come here, you know, and took me into his arms and gave me a kiss, and we never, ever rehashed, nor did I want to. I was just glad enough to be in that loving aura of Frank Sinatra because he truly did have a loving aura about him, and so do his kids.

So I was so happy to have the kids as my friends. I was so happy to have the first Nancy as my friend. I want to ask you a couple of names that you talk about in the book, Ruta. Can we just fire a few names at you and you could give us maybe five words on each one of them? But sure, like almost like a word association. Mickey Rooney. almost like a word association, Mickey Rooney. Oh, very, very gifted, very, very talented, and met a demise that really he shouldn't have had.

He died without experiencing all the love that people had for him at his funeral. Oh, that's a shame. It's like, it's funny because one time a reporter asked Sammy Davis Jr., they said, how do you feel being the greatest performer in the world? And Sammy Davis said, I'm not. Mickey Rooney is. He's right. How about that?

He's right. As much as I love Sammy and think he's one of the best gifts God gave us, Mickey Rooney had so much talent, but he was difficult. He was a little bit like Jack Carter in that he could cut his own throat. Here's a couple other names quickly. James Garner. Oh, what an adorable, adorable guy. And I loved him. I loved working with him. I loved being around him and wish he hadn't died so young. We have never heard a disparaging word about that man. He seemed beloved. I've never heard a disparaging word about that man. He seemed beloved.

I think so. I think so. Also, in your book, you said one time on a movie, you were sitting in the director's chair. And so, oh, you know this story already? I do. I do. I had been invited to use it. It was at Warner Brothers and it may have been on a 77 Sunset Strip set. I can't remember now. But I deal with guardian angels. I think we all have to learn to hear them when they are whispering to us and do whatever they tell us.

Because I was sitting in a chair at Warner Brothers and I was very happy sitting in the chair, a high director's chair, and I could see what was going on. And suddenly I felt like I had to move. And I don't know why, because I had nowhere to go. I was still watching a scene. And as I got up and moved about three feet away, a big spotlight, a Klieg light, fell from the catwalk up above and smashed the chair that I was sitting in to smithereens. And I said, oops, one has to recognize those voices. When they tell you to do something, do it. How about that? Here's another name, your bestie, Debbie Reynolds. Oh, my God. You're talking about Saint Debbie.

She was, without a doubt, the most generous, loving human being I've ever known. She, as she got older and wiser, she tried to save her energy and not expend as much as she used to when she was younger so sometimes people thought oh she's quiet and reticent no she was just saving her energy but she taught me a great deal and she taught me something that everybody in this world should recognize if you're in the process of paying it forward or paying it back and that is you can ask anybody anywhere anytime for anything as long as it isn't for yourself if it's for charity you can ask for the world. And it's what she did and it's what she taught me to do. And what a great talent.

I mean, she could sing, she could dance, she could do comedy. And one person I had the pleasure of working with and that you worked with was John Ritter. Uh-huh. He went to the same high school I went to, Hollywood High. Hollywood High. Uh-huh. I got out of Catholic school. I was raised in Catholic schools all of my life. And the only reason I got out of Catholic school is because I lived up in Laurel Canyon and there was a bus, a school bus that Hollywood High had, whereas Immaculate Heart didn't have a school bus. So I would ride on that school bus every day with Ricky and David Nelson. Oh, yeah. And yes. And John Ritter went to Hollywood High as well. What a darling, darling guy.

Sweetheart of a guy. Adorable, friendly, open. What else can I say? Just the neatest. And died way too young. Yes, that's a tragedy. Another beloved guy. You know, I found this interesting.

By the way, Ruta, did you ever meet Groucho in your travels? Never. Interesting. Never. I met Zeppo. Zeppo tried to pick me up one time. Okay. We'll settle for that.

The least important Marx brother tried to pick you up. To pick me up. Zeppo Marx. And Zeppo was the one that Barbara Marx was married to, who later became Mrs. The last Mrs. Frank Sinatra. There you go.

See what a small world we live in, my darlings. It really is. And you worked with George Reeves, the original Superman. Yes. I think it was probably the first job I ever had. And I almost got kicked out of, I wasn't even in the union, because I didn't get a union card for that. I got a union card on George Burns and Gracie Allen's show.

But I wanted to rehearse the jitterbug that I was supposed to do with a guy, an actor whose name I've forgotten now. And as I went to plug in the gramophone, as I called them, into the wall, a union guy smacked my hand and said, don't you do that, little lady. That's some other guy's job, not yours. And I went, oh, I almost got kicked off the set.

But George Reeves did not come to my rescue in his Superman outfit. Another performer who came to a bad end, sadly. Oh, yes. You know, a little life perspective, Ruta, you wound up being an usherette and selling candy in Grauman's Chinese. When you got fired, you later, years later, got a star on the Walk of Fame, right? Yes. Right outside. Did your mom, who was a little bit of a stage mom, as you say, did she live to see a lot of your success? When you say little bit of a stage mom, it was less than little. She was the least thing

resembling a showbiz mom. But she put you out there. She put you in those talent shows. She got me out there. And amazingly enough, she did the only thing she knew how. But she didn't know show business. She didn't know the theater. She didn't know that that was the likely next step for me. But she got me to Hollywood, you know, God love her. And I've got to tell you that, yes, she lived to see a great deal of my success. That's nice. I'm so grateful for that. So did my dad. And my dad, who was always, oh, she don't work. She don't like she's never going to be good. You know, he was one of those. He was critical. Always grumbled.

However, he also would go down to the gun club, you know, where he liked to hang out and do bullets and things with all the guys and speak very highly of me. Or he'd go down to the gas station where he had the car repaired, and he'd tell them all about his daughter, Ruta, doing this and that. And the guys would always say to me, do you know how nicely your dad spoke of you? I found that hard to believe, you know. So he got to enjoy it, and above all, my mother really got to enjoy it. I'm glad because it was clear that when the teacher said to your mother, this girl is special, there's something about her, you have to put her on a stage or get her music lessons or whatever the case may be.

So her faith was rewarded and justified. Her faith was rewarded and the speech that that teacher made, that preschool teacher, changed our lives forever. I'll bet. And wherever she is, I hope she's telling God what to do about kids who have a little bit of something special going. That's nice. Hopefully, God has her ear. We want to plug the book again, Ruta. Consider Your Ass Kissed.

I just had my final question, as I was alluding to before. Do you have pinch-me moments all these years later? You were watching those women on those movie screens in Grauman's Chinese, and you got to work with everybody in Hollywood. I did. And I got to be— You think about that little three-year-old or four-year-old on that stage for the first time?

I think, you know, there's a wonderful picture of me holding my first prize winnings in a little costume that my mother made for me. And I think of what a smart-ass little kid I must have been. and I think of what a smart-ass little kid I must have been. My mother said that I never met a stranger, and I'm still that way. I don't meet a stranger. My husband, Webb, God rest his soul,

always said, Ruta always made an elevator ride pleasant for everyone. She introduced everyone onto the elevator. God forbid they shouldn't have a good ride. So I think I was that way from a child. And so I've enjoyed every single second of my life in show business. And my life outside of show business has been pretty good too.

And in the last minute, before we get out of here, tell us a few things about your late friend, Alex Trebek. Oh, wow. My friend and neighbor, he was close by. I was with Alex, I think, five days before he died. And he looked great. And interestingly enough, what he told me was that while he's a great believer in a power far beyond ourselves, a maker of sorts, call him what you will, he never was taken by a formal religion, but he acknowledged happily that if it hadn't been for the prayers and good thoughts that were sent his way by millions of his friends and fans, that he never would have made it as long as he did. And I just hope that everybody knows and recognizes that. I think I put that in the book. If I didn't, I'm going to do a postscript and write it in every time I sign.

I think you did. You guys were a good team. Good. We were. We were great, great fun together. And he had the wildest sense of humor, which, of course, is what has made life wonderful for me. I've laughed my way through everything. Well, I hope we've been politically incorrect enough for you here, Rudy.

Tonight. Which reminds me, I heard you once saw Frank Sinatra's dick. The book! Would you have a story about that, Ruda? I'm going to rescue you, Ruda. It's in the book. It's in

the book. The book is Consider Your Ass Pissed. Where can people get the book. It's in the book. The book is Consider Your Ass Pissed. Where can people get the book? People can get the book on Amazon.com. They can get it at Barnes & Noble. They can go to their local bookstore. In Hollywood, they can get it at Larry Edmonds. Oh, I love Larry Edmonds.

Fabulous. Yes, they can get it at Fabulous, just Fabulous in Palm Springs, where I'm going to have a signing on the 30th. If anybody's there, be there. That's my birthday. Come celebrate with me. Will you sign a copy for Gilbert and for me if we send it? You bet your sweet darling ass, which I want you to consider kissed. which I want you to consider kissed. I can die now. I've had my ass kissed by Runa Lee.

We want to thank Judy Diamond. We want to thank Harlan Bull for their hard work and for making this possible, and Gino Salamone. I refuse to thank Gilbert. But, Runa, I've been watching you on TV for a very, very long time. You've entertained us for decades, and I'm so glad we got to meet you and make you a part of this. Thank you. My privilege, and I thank you, gentlemen, very, very much. And this has been Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast with my co-host, Frank Santopadre.

And our guest was the terrific Ruta Lee. Ruta, when you get over the shyness, I think you're going to be okay in this business. Thank you for doing this. Thank you. © BF-WATCH TV 2021