Larry King, Jackie Gleason, Frank Sinatra Story
By Trey Rusk
Frank Sinatra (L) and Jackie Gleason
When I was a young patrol officer, I was assigned
graveyards for my first year. Subsequently, I would ride around
listening to the AM radio. I listened to Larry King. This is a story I
read today that Larry King told as his career on radio was winding
down. I still watch Jackie Gleason and listen to Frank Sinatra on
YouTube. What Frank said about the media during the interview is truer
today than when he said it. Enjoy!
"In
early 1965, Larry King was at a party at Jackie Gleason's house when
Gleason asked his guests, “What in your profession is impossible? What
will never happen?”
Larry
King: “We had a doctor there and he said, ‘They will never make blood
in a laboratory. They will never manufacture blood that you can
transfuse into someone. That will never happen.’ Then he went to another
guy, and then he came to me. I said, ‘I do my television show and I
write my column, but I do a three-hour radio show every night, from nine
to twelve, a very popular local radio show. Sinatra is opening at the
Eden Roc. Frank Sinatra to do my radio show for three hours.’ Now, this
is 1965 and there is no bigger person in the world than Frank Sinatra in
1965. Capitol, Reprise, the whole thing; he is opening at the Eden Roc
with Joe E. Lewis. Jackie asked, ‘What night is he dark?’ I said,
‘Monday.’ And Jackie said, ‘You got him next Monday.’
So
I said, ‘Jackie, can I go on the air tonight and say that next Monday
I'll be having Frank Sinatra on my show?’ ‘Go ahead.’ So I go back on
the air, I say, ‘Frank Sinatra next Monday night.’ Now the station calls
me in. They asked, ‘Are you sure?’ I said, ‘Jackie says so.’ I told the
story. Now it's Friday, and they're taking full-page ads in the Miami
Herald announcing this, but they're also saying they've left messages at
the Eden Roc, and nobody's returning their calls.
Anyway,
it's now Monday night. Nobody went home. The secretaries all stayed. It
was on at nine o'clock. At about two minutes to nine, this limo pulls
up, and out comes Sinatra. We had little stairs to walk on. It was a
very beautiful radio station. He walks up the stairs and everybody's
standing there, and he goes, ‘Who's Larry King?’ I go, ‘Me.’ He says,
‘Okay, let's go.’
I
never was nervous on the air except my first day and that day. We sit
down, and - my truism in life was, ‘Never lie to your audience, and it
ain't brain surgery, so go to the moment.’ So all I said was, ‘Why are
you here?’ I didn't go through ‘my friend Frank Sinatra’ and a lot of
baloney. He said, ‘Five or six years ago, I was singing at Ben Maksik's
Town and Country in Brooklyn, and I had laryngitis, it was closing
night, and I called Jackie. I said, “Jackie, could you come over and do a
show?” And Jackie came over and did an hour. I walked him out to his
car, and I leaned in, and I said, “I owe you one.” Now in Miami, I get a
message to call Jackie, and I call Jackie, and all he says is, “This is
the one.”’
It
turned into a wonderful interview. There was a PR guy who came along
with him, who said, ‘I don't know how you got this, but do not mention
the kidnapping, because he doesn't want to talk about that, and he'll
walk off.’ But what happened was, the interview went so well that in the
course of it, all I said was, ‘The thing between you and the press -
have you been bum-rapped or is it overblown?’ And he said, ‘It's
probably overblown, but I've been bum-rapped, too. Take the kidnapping.’
And he went through the whole thing. He hated the press, and he hated
tabloids. He gave me a great quote. He said, ‘These people live off the
real or imagined fortunes or misfortunes of those with much greater
talent than them.’”
It
was the first of several Sinatra interviews King would conduct over the
next quarter century. They became friends and King would be the one to
conduct Sinatra’s final major interview in 1988.
Larry
King: “As a kid, I'd stand at the New York Paramount and wait in line
to see him. I think he was the greatest singer of my time.” "
1 comment:
I have a couple of friends. I'm talking about people that I trust with my life and have done so. I have stories involving them that I will never tell. I can contact them anytime and they will drop whatever they are doing to respond. We don't visit much but we know we can count on each other. Similar to this story if one of them tells me, "I owe you." They mean it.
Post a Comment