Speaker 1: You got me? You what? Yeah, you're there? Hold on,
Speaker 1: don't okay, okay, okay, okay, I'm here. I'm here lately
Speaker 1: I'm trying all my pants and all my pants are
Speaker 1: long on me, and I could you have gotten shorter?
Speaker 1: I had to get short of My pants are all
Speaker 1: along and I'm not investing in new pants. I'm just
Speaker 1: pulling them up. I listen, I'm gonna be ninety two.
Speaker 1: Doesn't pay to me to invest in a good pair
Speaker 1: of pants. How many years you think i'll bear them? It? Listen?
Speaker 1: And if you live in New York City, to take
Speaker 1: a pair of pants and to be shortened that they
Speaker 1: got lining, you could buy a new pair. Not worth
Speaker 1: That's very true. Bring them to me, read, I'll shorten
Speaker 1: them for you. Rita, are you excited? We're going to
Speaker 1: be speaking to Connie Stevens, who was one of my
Speaker 1: favorite actresses when I was younger. Oh my goodness, and
Speaker 1: granddaughter Skyler. This is our granddaughter with ex husband Eddie Fisher.
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness. Also one of our favorite when we
Speaker 1: were growing up. Connie Stevens. I could see her in
Speaker 1: front of me. Now she was and probably still lives
Speaker 1: a beautiful blond woman. She was gorgeous and she could sing.
Speaker 1: You know what, they don't have the beautiful musicals and
Speaker 1: love stories that they had in the day of Connie Stevens.
Speaker 1: I could hardly think of a starve today in that category.
Speaker 1: Can you know we gotta hear it's Connie Stevens exactly.
Speaker 1: Rina Scorchy is the funniest thing ever. You guys have
Speaker 1: to look up. Connie Stevens is Scorchy, the hottest cop
Speaker 1: on the force. She plays like a spy. She's like
Speaker 1: but she had nobody move a musself. Me and my
Speaker 1: cousins used to do that like all the time to
Speaker 1: each other. And you know the reproduction song from Greece
Speaker 1: to reproduction. Oh god, she was the teacher, the hot teacher. Okay,
Speaker 1: are you ready? I've been ready, I'm born ready. Connie
Speaker 1: Stevens is my grandmother. I call her Nana. She's eighty
Speaker 1: three years old and she lives in Los Angeles. I
Speaker 1: call her Sky, my precious gym and my best girl,
Speaker 1: my best girl. I've been here in that my whole life,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, sure that's front of the other grandchildren.
Speaker 1: You might know her from Scorchy Love Boat or being
Speaker 1: the hot teacher from Greece too. You're just so cool. No,
Speaker 1: I like her charm. She's always laughing, and she's steadfast
Speaker 1: and in charge. She's a leo, so I think lion,
Speaker 1: I think strong, and she's sparkly, sparkly. It wasn't like, oh,
Speaker 1: there's nothing else to do, let's go to Nana's house.
Speaker 1: As is like, no, that is the thing to do.
Speaker 1: She's like, here for a good time, not a long time, yes,
Speaker 1: just as long as you live life fully to the
Speaker 1: very very inch of it. There's definitely a difference between
Speaker 1: having like a famous nana versus a regular grandma. I mean,
Speaker 1: here's someone who has the most expertise and has been
Speaker 1: in the industry a long time. I mean after my
Speaker 1: dance shows, you know, you come out the stage door,
Speaker 1: people are giving flowers and you're talking to your family
Speaker 1: and there's a whole crowd of people, and then I
Speaker 1: would go, all right, it's time to go get nana's notes.
Speaker 1: Go get Nana's notes. Get your arm? How was it?
Speaker 1: And you'd be like, you know, you could extend your
Speaker 1: arm a little bit more than that one part couldn't help,
Speaker 1: But couldn't help that made me better though. You know,
Speaker 1: no one else's grandparents is going to be like, this
Speaker 1: is what you need to do tomorrow night to make
Speaker 1: it better. Every performance, Nana's there with flowers, with flowers
Speaker 1: and those very nice. Not only a grandmother and a
Speaker 1: grandchild of relationship, it's a professional relationship. She goes to
Speaker 1: all her performances and then gives a critique on it,
Speaker 1: just like we do. You think a critique on their relationship.
Speaker 1: That's our thing. We give critiques. That's our talent with
Speaker 1: critical critics, you know. But this was interesting. It's just
Speaker 1: sort of on a little different level. You can see
Speaker 1: she respects her grandmother all the way. And you can
Speaker 1: hear Connie Stevens love for that child too. Oh absolutely,
Speaker 1: you can absolutely hear. You don't have to be famous.
Speaker 1: That love that a grandmother has is just magical. Okay,
Speaker 1: wed To, The producers have handed me the part titles,
Speaker 1: and here's the first one, Part one, Grandma's Cocoon. What
Speaker 1: was the song something, Lend me your comb Cookie, lend
Speaker 1: me your combed. It was so stupid, cook sweetheart, I
Speaker 1: bought a house with that. It was like number one
Speaker 1: for years. So cool. What made you want to go
Speaker 1: into show business. Well, I was lonely as a little girl.
Speaker 1: My brother went in the army, my dad was on
Speaker 1: the road, my grandma passed away. So I used to
Speaker 1: go to the movies all the time for twenty one since,
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, that's great, and I just grew up
Speaker 1: with the idea that I was going to do that. Ah.
Speaker 1: After I became popular, I went back to Brooklyn and
Speaker 1: I was so excited to talk to everybody on the block.
Speaker 1: And there was this lady. Your name was Mazie. Did
Speaker 1: I ever tell you this, I don't think. So. We
Speaker 1: had stoops and Mazie. She'd sweep the stoop every day,
Speaker 1: and if you went near her talk to her, which
Speaker 1: we did, we teased her. She tried to hit you
Speaker 1: with the broom. She said, get out of here, you
Speaker 1: damn kid, Get out of here. Said we'd laugh and
Speaker 1: run away. So I go home my pictures playing at
Speaker 1: Radio City Musical, and I see her across. She's an old,
Speaker 1: old woman, and I go quietly over there and I said, Mazie,
Speaker 1: do you remember me? And she looked at me and said,
Speaker 1: get out of here, you damn kid, Get out. That's
Speaker 1: so funny. Nothing changed, and that's the way life is. Really.
Speaker 1: That's Brooklyn too, Yeah it is. I wish I could
Speaker 1: time travel and go back and see you when you
Speaker 1: were in Brooklyn. I wish you could. I lived in
Speaker 1: the Italian section and on the next side was the
Speaker 1: Jewish section, so my grandma spoke Yiddish and the lady
Speaker 1: next door spoke a little Italian, so they both spoke
Speaker 1: each other's languages. Yeah, that's very cute. What was your
Speaker 1: relationship like with your parents and your grandparents, because I
Speaker 1: know you had an interesting kind of dynamic. I was
Speaker 1: a daddy's girl and he was a musician, and he
Speaker 1: went on the road. So I was awarded by court
Speaker 1: to my grandparents, my Italian grandparents. Consequently, I spoke only
Speaker 1: Italian to allow us five. My dad, of course, came
Speaker 1: home off the road many times, and his beautiful packard
Speaker 1: convertible with his cashmere coat, that's where you got it from.
Speaker 1: When he came home, all the windows would go up,
Speaker 1: and the ladies in the neighborhood would say, your father's home,
Speaker 1: Your father's home, teddy, teddy, And he'd weighed, he just sparkled,
Speaker 1: you know, he just had it. I almost want to say,
Speaker 1: he's like the Godfather. He was funny, he was talented.
Speaker 1: I loved my family very much. I never knew that
Speaker 1: we were poor till I was about thirty. Right, I
Speaker 1: was in a cocoon. I feel like you've provided that
Speaker 1: for at least your grandkids. And I got it from
Speaker 1: my grandmother. Yeah, so it's been passed down for sure.
Speaker 1: I feel like I was in such a little cocoon
Speaker 1: and I felt very safe growing up. Well, that's the
Speaker 1: way you're supposed to feel. That's what we want for you.
Speaker 1: You're growing up to be self sufficient so that somebody
Speaker 1: can't come along and bust your bubble. And you're compassionate,
Speaker 1: which is my favorite attribute. Very sweet relationship. And she
Speaker 1: talks about the Brooklyn One side of this street was Jewish,
Speaker 1: one side of the street was it Tagian. Absolutely, that's
Speaker 1: the way Brooklyn was. That's how I grew up as well,
Speaker 1: exactly how I grew exactly. And I think it's still
Speaker 1: like that. There's a connection between Italian and Jewish grandmothers
Speaker 1: from families I alway Jewish and Italian. You can intermingle them.
Speaker 1: You'd never know the difference. From Italian people were your
Speaker 1: best friends and they felt the same way about Jewish.
Speaker 1: They knew were always there for each other exactly. You
Speaker 1: know what. I used to go to my grandmother's have
Speaker 1: and there was a woman, of course, is what she
Speaker 1: was talking about. I used to stand by my grandmother's
Speaker 1: window and watching yet yet a on the street. Everybody
Speaker 1: hang it up. She think the same thing. She was
Speaker 1: always cleaning up the street we had, Mrs Sweeney. It
Speaker 1: was the same thing. There was always somebody. There's always
Speaker 1: somebody and saying, get out of your kids. I'm telling
Speaker 1: you you lived in a neighborhood. It wasn't just your building.
Speaker 1: Most of your shopping wasn't a footstore. A butcher. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: I remember there was a butcher that used to say
Speaker 1: to my mother, Mrs Binstein, I got for you a
Speaker 1: piece flesh. You'll die from eating it. Listen, times have changed.
Speaker 1: She's still good with her grandkids, and she's giving that
Speaker 1: sense of security and the what should I say, the
Speaker 1: cocoonness a grandchild too. Right. Oh, that's a good word. Right,
Speaker 1: It's a word I made up, but it's not in
Speaker 1: the dipitionary. Really still the words that I use. Okay, reader,
Speaker 1: Next up we have part two the last contract player
Speaker 1: were already So when you were young, the big Hollywood
Speaker 1: studios used to have contract players. They basically were on
Speaker 1: contract to perform just for those studios. Right, yeah, I
Speaker 1: know you were like one of the last ones. I
Speaker 1: was the last one, the very last one. I have
Speaker 1: a picture on the wall inside of all the contract players,
Speaker 1: as you know, Natalie Wood and Carol Linley in the
Speaker 1: dining room. Yes you saw, yeah, I've seen it. So
Speaker 1: that meant that you couldn't go work at any other studios.
Speaker 1: You had to do well, not without permission, right right, right?
Speaker 1: How did you first get to Hollywood? What was the
Speaker 1: big break? Well? I sang with three boys and we
Speaker 1: had a group called the Foremost. We sang four part
Speaker 1: harmony that was very intricate at the time. Then the
Speaker 1: boys went on to become the Letterman. I went to
Speaker 1: high school with them, and they're still popular today. I
Speaker 1: should have stayed with them. I got discovered from that
Speaker 1: group by Jerry Lewis. He made me laugh so hard,
Speaker 1: he always did. It was embarrassing. I was laughing so hard.
Speaker 1: So I went to meet Jerry Lewis and he said,
Speaker 1: she's got a funny bone. She's got the part, and
Speaker 1: Warner Brothers bought my contract and they put me in
Speaker 1: a series Hawaiian I, which became maybe number two in
Speaker 1: the world with Bonanza. The other big shure you did
Speaker 1: was love Boat right, love Boat I was the most
Speaker 1: frequent guest. I should be rich, but I'm not. They
Speaker 1: didn't give me any residuals. Warner Brothers so cheap. So
Speaker 1: I asked for permission to do a film and they said, no,
Speaker 1: your contract isn't up for another fifty thou dollars or
Speaker 1: some crazy thing. And I said, keep the money, let
Speaker 1: me go. That's what I did. Crazy Girl gave away
Speaker 1: my money. Guests who had their dressing rooms right above me,
Speaker 1: Sammy Davis, Joey Bishop, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, the rat Pack.
Speaker 1: They were the most popular people in the all of
Speaker 1: show business at the time. One day I'm walking by
Speaker 1: and they're all laughing and stuff, and they said, I
Speaker 1: think she is I said, she's what they said, shorter
Speaker 1: than Sammy Davis. So we had a contest and they
Speaker 1: measured me and I was shorter thant Sammy, so I won.
Speaker 1: I took the brunt of it. All the time, were
Speaker 1: they loud yes, until they went to work. What did
Speaker 1: you do in your breaks? Played basketball? Oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: because we had a lot of time together, so in
Speaker 1: between we would get our shots together. That's cool. It
Speaker 1: was fun. She was a star, absolutely a big star.
Speaker 1: And I can't imagine that she's shorter than Sammy Davis.
Speaker 1: She must be my height. I love her that. I
Speaker 1: love her and basketball. I could never play basketball. I
Speaker 1: just was a little bit bigger than the ball. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't know how she played. I gotta meet her.
Speaker 1: We have to arrange for us to meet her. She's sweets,
Speaker 1: she's really sweet, and she's very humble. Um kind of
Speaker 1: you know, she's not afterwards. She was a big I
Speaker 1: love Bote. I used to love that. I remember, I
Speaker 1: do love boat. Yeah no, no, no, no. It was
Speaker 1: really a nice program. I don't know if you got
Speaker 1: the feeling that it was a little bit not anger. Regret, regret,
Speaker 1: a little regret exactly. They did take advantage of her, yes,
Speaker 1: but I think that they took advantage of everybody in
Speaker 1: those days. They did. The Water Brothers had that reputation
Speaker 1: to start with. They were not easy to deal with it.
Speaker 1: I don't know that any of the studios were particularly
Speaker 1: kind to their players. That's true. That's true. Listen, everybody
Speaker 1: has regrets. I should have, I should have, I could have.
Speaker 1: That's the way life is. The movie stars handed well
Speaker 1: as the public. I guess we all have nothing major
Speaker 1: that I could think of, and if I did certain
Speaker 1: things and I could, I'm not telling me. Well, we
Speaker 1: have to take a little break now so you can
Speaker 1: find out how to buy a new mattress, or get
Speaker 1: a new website, or or the stamps. Very exciting stuff.
Speaker 1: So hang in there, folks. Okay, guys, we're back Cookie
Speaker 1: Cookie letting me. I don't remember the tune, but I
Speaker 1: remember the words. What have they say? Don't give up
Speaker 1: your day job? That's right, that's right, okay rider. Next up,
Speaker 1: we have part three, sixteen Reasons Why I Love You.
Speaker 1: Your most famous song, though, was sixteen res Why I
Speaker 1: Love You? Why they comb you here? See, you don't
Speaker 1: think of things like that anymore. We used to think
Speaker 1: of you the way you comb your hair, the way
Speaker 1: your tie whatever. Now they go to first base immediately
Speaker 1: you stay off first base. I wanted to ask you
Speaker 1: how you met Eddie, how you met my grandfather, because
Speaker 1: I don't think I ever heard the full story. Well,
Speaker 1: I was in trouble. I was confused. I was coming
Speaker 1: out of a divorce with Jim Stacy. I didn't know
Speaker 1: what I was gonna do. I was going to go
Speaker 1: to Broadway or stay and do another television show. And
Speaker 1: I took a job and I played the Plaza Hotel
Speaker 1: in New York and he had just finished there, so
Speaker 1: he came to see my show. And he was really
Speaker 1: kind and sweet, and he was the kind of guy.
Speaker 1: I'd say, I love the New York pretzels on the street.
Speaker 1: So he said, can I get you anything? I said,
Speaker 1: he didn't get me a pretzel, and he came back
Speaker 1: with ten of them. Oh my gosh, I like that.
Speaker 1: And he could say he could just open up his
Speaker 1: mouth and just say five o'clock in the morning. I
Speaker 1: have often. He was kind. He would give you the
Speaker 1: shirt office back if you liked it. And he was fun.
Speaker 1: He was a fun guy. His problem with the drugs,
Speaker 1: otherwise I'd probably still be with him. Yeah. Mom always
Speaker 1: said he was very charming, like everybody was charmed by him.
Speaker 1: He was. He was just the golden boy, you know,
Speaker 1: he really was. I didn't really know him. That's right,
Speaker 1: you didn't. He would have made you laugh. He was
Speaker 1: good at that. Yeah, he was a little strange character.
Speaker 1: What do you mean by strange? You know, he was
Speaker 1: from another era and he was from the old country
Speaker 1: and he acted like it. And I was a shick sah,
Speaker 1: that's a non Jewish girl. And he say, Eddie, what
Speaker 1: are you doing with another shick sah? Well, there is
Speaker 1: like kind of a special club of Eddie Fisher's wife. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: never mind, you gotta lay it on me. What's the
Speaker 1: dating advice? Dating advice? I go with you. I gotta
Speaker 1: see what he looks like, check his pockets, Nana's approval. Yeah, no,
Speaker 1: I think you can pick the n ice guy. We've
Speaker 1: trained you. Well, Well, can we talk about Elvis? Little Bill?
Speaker 1: Elvis was the best kisser. Oh la la la to
Speaker 1: hear that. He was the sweetest. He was a lot
Speaker 1: of fun and we were friends till he died. I
Speaker 1: think she's holding back, and though he is, it doesn't
Speaker 1: stop at a kiss. But so on, you don't know,
Speaker 1: I don't know, nobody knows. You know, there used to
Speaker 1: be rumors about her and Elvis, So whatever it is,
Speaker 1: it wasn't you know what I don't care about what's
Speaker 1: doing in anybody else's bed. I really don't. No listen,
Speaker 1: what's good for them. It's good for them, that's all. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: How long was Connie married to Eddie? Long enough to
Speaker 1: give her two daughters and grandchildren. Eddie Fisher in his
Speaker 1: day was a big deal. He had songs like, oh
Speaker 1: my Papa, Oh my Papa, Oh my Papa. I really
Speaker 1: was a very big Eddie Fisher fan. Everybody was. I
Speaker 1: had an autography picture of him that hung on my mirror.
Speaker 1: He had a beautiful voice, he really did. And he
Speaker 1: had curly hair especially. I hate to say that, I
Speaker 1: don't want if he were Jewish, he was like you know,
Speaker 1: that was a big thing. That was a big thing.
Speaker 1: That was a big deal for the Jews. I mean,
Speaker 1: how many they were, all Italians, Victor Moone, Frankie Valley
Speaker 1: all then, not one was a Jew. He was the
Speaker 1: only Jew, Oh my Papapa, to medful, Oh my Papa.
Speaker 1: He was so good, Oh my Papa was like a
Speaker 1: Jewish love song. Reata. Do you remember that? When he
Speaker 1: was married to Debbie Reynolds and they were like the
Speaker 1: hottest couple in Hollywood, Alright, they had two children and everything,
Speaker 1: one of which was Carrie Fisher Harry Fisher, right right,
Speaker 1: And then all of a sudden he divorced Debbie Reynolds
Speaker 1: and he married Elizabeth Taylor. Oh my goodness. Mike Todd
Speaker 1: was married to Elizabeth Taylor, and Eddie Fishing was his
Speaker 1: best friend. When Mike Todd died, he tried to console
Speaker 1: Elizabeth Taylor, and that consoling became, I mean to get
Speaker 1: Elizabeth Taylor to marry you. It was not a big deal.
Speaker 1: She only had eight or nine my right, absolutely right.
Speaker 1: And after Elizabeth Taylor left him for Richard Burton, Eddie
Speaker 1: went from Elizabeth Taylor to Conne But she said he
Speaker 1: had a problem of drugs. That's a big problem in
Speaker 1: a relationship. Sweet and kind is nice, but that's that's
Speaker 1: a big thing. Yeah, And you know what, it was
Speaker 1: a marriage that didn't work out. But look what she
Speaker 1: got from it, exactly. She had wonderful children and grandchildren.
Speaker 1: So that's where heart is at this point. Alright, time
Speaker 1: for another ad break. What should we do this time? Ellen?
Speaker 1: You know what, maybe we should better her us And
Speaker 1: on a horse. I'm lucky reading, I am very very lucky.
Speaker 1: The first time I ever went to a horse race.
Speaker 1: I bet on a horse, Barnie's boy. I made a
Speaker 1: killing my close to a thousand dollars. Peter said, whatever
Speaker 1: made your bet on Bonnie's boy? I said, your father
Speaker 1: is Bonnie and your Bonnie's boy. So all that was
Speaker 1: so killed. That's as good as reason to bet on
Speaker 1: a horse as any Okay, we're back, reader. How much
Speaker 1: did you put on that head break? Oh? My goodness,
Speaker 1: that's it. You know, I went to a a on
Speaker 1: a bet on horses anymore, I was the only one
Speaker 1: that famous the a a with a gambling problem. Reading,
Speaker 1: you needed to see a psychiatrist for that. It's for nothing,
Speaker 1: and so conscious quants you a lot of money. And
Speaker 1: I'm back on the headphones, ready to start the rest
Speaker 1: of the podcast. Okay, reader, let's see what happens. It's
Speaker 1: really like an enticing novel. Part four. Singing for the
Speaker 1: Troops with Bob Hope. Oh, Bob Hope was the entertainer
Speaker 1: of that era, and he used to gather together the
Speaker 1: top entertainers and bring them to where the troops were
Speaker 1: and put on a big show. And it was such
Speaker 1: a shot in the arm for these people who are
Speaker 1: battle weary it was a wonderful thing for the boys,
Speaker 1: and I guess Connie Stevens was one of them that volunteered.
Speaker 1: We're about to find out. I'm like fascinated that you
Speaker 1: were there, not just alive, but present for so many
Speaker 1: crazy world events that I can only read about. But
Speaker 1: let's talk about this. Were are you dating Neil Armstrong?
Speaker 1: I don't know if that's the word. Of course. I
Speaker 1: went on the road with Neil and that was really something.
Speaker 1: You went on tour with Neil Armstrong? Well, I was
Speaker 1: in Vietnam. Oh so this was a part of the U.
Speaker 1: S O tour. Yeah, so Neil Armstrong went with you
Speaker 1: for that to like entertain the troops. Right after he
Speaker 1: landed on the moon. He went with us. So that
Speaker 1: was an interesting part of my life. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: Neil and I met in Vietnam and continued our relationship.
Speaker 1: We got a long, really great So it's kind of
Speaker 1: a big deal that he performed with Bob Hope. Oh,
Speaker 1: I went all over the world with Bob. You're my
Speaker 1: kind of girl. You've got everything, talent, beauty and me.
Speaker 1: I was in Vietnam many times, Bob, and you're my
Speaker 1: kind of guy. Well, when you've got it, you've got it.
Speaker 1: I was in Vietnam and the mood of the country
Speaker 1: was not happy, and everybody wanted the soldiers to come home,
Speaker 1: and there was a lot of unrest. So I went
Speaker 1: out and sang, and I noticed that the whole country
Speaker 1: was acting differently. As a matter of fact, they caught
Speaker 1: some Viet com two young guys, and I ran over
Speaker 1: there and they couldn't have been more than fifteen years old.
Speaker 1: And I said, what are you doing? What they're fifteen
Speaker 1: years old? What are you doing? You know, I said,
Speaker 1: their babies, And of course they shut me up. That
Speaker 1: was the first time I spoke up, and I wanted
Speaker 1: us to get out of there, and I could see
Speaker 1: what was happening politically, but they told me not to
Speaker 1: attend any more press conferences. And then we came home
Speaker 1: and I had a different opinion than when I went.
Speaker 1: And you know, Uncle ralphin my own brother was there,
Speaker 1: My nineteen year old brother was on clean up. Clean
Speaker 1: up was the soldiers that went into a village and
Speaker 1: cleaned up the mess. Whether they had to kill people
Speaker 1: or get rid of the huts. It was not a
Speaker 1: nice job, and a lot of Vietnamese people got hurt
Speaker 1: in that, and Uncle Ralph did that. He was nineteen,
Speaker 1: and he was so upset, and just because I had
Speaker 1: stepped foot over there, he felt like he could talk
Speaker 1: to me about it. And he called me and say,
Speaker 1: I can't do this. I can't do this anymore. You know,
Speaker 1: sometimes things happen and you don't believe they're real. I've
Speaker 1: had a lot of those. Did you feel like you
Speaker 1: got more into politics and into activism and stuff like that? After? Definitely?
Speaker 1: I wanted him to come home, and I wanted all
Speaker 1: those boys in that area, and especially cleanups to come home.
Speaker 1: They didn't need to do that, and nobody, no government
Speaker 1: should ask them to do that. Yeah, how about you
Speaker 1: with your activism, You're amazing. I have it on tape,
Speaker 1: you know, you speaking to the audience giving your speech
Speaker 1: about black lives matter, and quietly and uniquely outspoken. That's
Speaker 1: what you are. I like that. I don't like screaming
Speaker 1: and yelling. I don't like screaming and yelling either. I
Speaker 1: think you don't have to. You lead by example, and
Speaker 1: you lead with your heart and soul, and you make
Speaker 1: it known who you are, and that's the best you
Speaker 1: can hope for with people. Very impressive. You see all
Speaker 1: these things that affect at her. It does change a
Speaker 1: person's outlook on life. Absolutely, don't you kind of get
Speaker 1: like when she said, what was your relationship with Neil Armstrong?
Speaker 1: There's a lot of things left on said doesn't matter,
Speaker 1: it's her own business what she wants to tell. But
Speaker 1: there's some depth to the woman. Yes, she's not just
Speaker 1: another pretty face exactly. These women in that era were
Speaker 1: portrayed as dumb blondes. But she's got a depth to her. Yes,
Speaker 1: and she saw a lot about Vietnam and it's a
Speaker 1: war that that was an unpopular war, very unpopular war.
Speaker 1: I think the only good thing that came out of
Speaker 1: that war was mash Okay reader. Next up, it's time
Speaker 1: for the last part of the show, Part five. There's
Speaker 1: no business like so business. That's cute, Allen, We're ready.
Speaker 1: I tried really hard not to go into film and TV.
Speaker 1: There are some really really big shoes to fill, and
Speaker 1: it's like it's a lot of pressure. So I majored
Speaker 1: in political science my first year of college. I was like,
Speaker 1: I'm going to go into politics, but then the pandemic
Speaker 1: hit and I was writing a lot, and we were
Speaker 1: watching movies and I was like, who my kidding, Like,
Speaker 1: this is what I'm supposed to be doing. I don't
Speaker 1: know why I'm fighting against it. Like it was like,
Speaker 1: if you can't beat him, join them. Kind of feeling
Speaker 1: a little bit because I was like, it's big shoes
Speaker 1: to fill, but like I'm just gonna walk alongside them
Speaker 1: anyways and we'll see what happens. But yeah, I would
Speaker 1: love to work in film and TV forever. I wanted
Speaker 1: to ask you what your number one advice is for
Speaker 1: young women going into the industry. Be careful, do you train,
Speaker 1: pick the best, put your money in the bank, always
Speaker 1: have some extra cash, keep good people around you, stay
Speaker 1: close to the family that love you, and work really hard.
Speaker 1: I heard a story, and you can confirm or deny
Speaker 1: that You're managers told you to turn down Breakfast at Tiffany's.
Speaker 1: Turned down Breakfast to Tiffany's, turned down the Lenny Bruce story.
Speaker 1: She won an Academy Awards, turned down a few others
Speaker 1: that were pretty important, but something was happening at the time,
Speaker 1: like headlining in Las Vegas, and I loved it. It's
Speaker 1: not bad working with Tina Turner and yeah, so do
Speaker 1: you think things would be just like completely different if
Speaker 1: you didn't turn down things like that? Yeah? You know,
Speaker 1: I was up for the Diane Keaton role in The Godfather.
Speaker 1: Blas said, I'd love to have her in the role.
Speaker 1: She's perfect, but she's too popular right now, and everybody
Speaker 1: would go, oh, that's Connie Stevens in that role, and
Speaker 1: he's right, it would have been wrong. But I would
Speaker 1: love to have done that role. I'm perfect for it.
Speaker 1: I didn't know that. That's crazy. We're gonna do something together.
Speaker 1: To remember that psychic party we went to. Every room
Speaker 1: of the house had like at least five little tables
Speaker 1: set up, crystals, palm reading, tarot cards. That's right. I
Speaker 1: remember going to this one lady. She was in her
Speaker 1: own private room, so I was like, she must be good, right.
Speaker 1: She was like, is your grandmother here with you? And
Speaker 1: I was like, as a matter of fact, she is.
Speaker 1: And she was like, I just see that you guys
Speaker 1: are gonna do something together, like writing or a movie
Speaker 1: or something. And I was like, sold, I'm sold. We're
Speaker 1: doing something together, absolutely, baby, do anything with you. We like,
Speaker 1: weirdly work really well together. Yeah, let's do it. Let's
Speaker 1: do it. Thank you, by sweetheart, Thank you. I love you,
Speaker 1: love you, love you, love you so much. Yeah, call
Speaker 1: me later. I'm gonna call you right after this. Okay,
Speaker 1: bye bye, very nice, very nice, lovely relationship to lovely,
Speaker 1: very sweet relationship. She wound up Connie in a nice place,
Speaker 1: surrounded by love, by loving children and grandchildren. And if
Speaker 1: that's the way that you wind up, that's the best. Exactly.
Speaker 1: It's a crazy life being in show business. Yes, but
Speaker 1: we're to look at us. We're so normal and where
Speaker 1: did show business? We show business because we're on this
Speaker 1: fabulous podcast. That's right, But listen, I'll pay, it's not
Speaker 1: their pay. Why Not Call Your Grandmother is a production
Speaker 1: of I Heart podcast Network and Superb Entertainment. Our lead
Speaker 1: producers are Shina Ozaki and Nora cb. Executive producers are
Speaker 1: Narrow Poster, Nikki Eatore, and Anna Stump. Our managing producer
Speaker 1: is Lindsay Hoffman. Mastering by Bahed Fraser. A theme song
Speaker 1: is by Anna Stump and Hamilton's Lighthouser. Listen to Call
Speaker 1: Your Grandmother on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts, and don't forget leave
Speaker 1: us a glowing five star review. You want, pick on
Speaker 1: a couple of old ladies and give us less than
Speaker 1: five stars, would you. We're not getting any younger, but
Speaker 1: leave us ere we you and we might get more famous. M.