Leonard Maltin Let Himself Into Sammy Davis Jr.'s Empty House and Waited Until Midnight
Leonard Maltin once walked Red Buttons over to say hello to Paramount's goodwill ambassador AC Lyles at Spago, and Red looked up and asked if he hadn't just been wondering whether AC was still alive. That is the register of this whole conversation, which finds Leonard and his daughter and podcast…
Two moments from this episode
Waiting Up For Sammy Davis
After meeting Sammy Davis Jr. at a charity event, Leonard was invited up to the house afterwards and given a direct phone number. When he arrived, the gate opened and the staff told him to let himself in, so he wandered the living room, den and bar looking at autographed photos until nearly midnight, then left a business card. Months later he ran into Davis again backstage in Las Vegas and got the line he had been waiting for.
“I owe you and your lady a meal. I say, you don't owe me anything.”
Dale Evans Comes To The Bat Mitzvah
On a condolence visit, young Jessie Maltin ended up deep in conversation with Dale Evans beside her recliner, explaining Hebrew school and how her bat mitzvah date had been booked since birth. Evans said she had been to Israel but never to a bar or bat mitzvah, so Jessie invited her, and she came, wheeled down the center aisle.
“I've never been to a bat mitzvah before. She said, I love the Jewish people.”
Names dropped in this episode
69 names come up in this episode, in the order they are mentioned. Tap a timestamp to jump straight to that moment.
Steven Spielberg
3:54Director of Jaws, Close Encounters and 1941 Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Martin Kraft · CC BY-SA 4.0
Katharine Hepburn
4:24American actress whose career as a leading lady on stage and screen spanned six decades Wikipedia ↗
Laurette Taylor
5:21American stage and silent film star who is particularly well known for originating the role of Amanda… Wikipedia ↗
Spencer Tracy
5:52American actor Wikipedia ↗
Gary Hart
6:50American politician, diplomat, and lawyer Wikipedia ↗
George Cukor
7:20American film director and producer Wikipedia ↗
Howard Hughes
8:20American aviator, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor Wikipedia ↗
Stephen Sondheim
8:52American composer and lyricist Wikipedia ↗
Laurence Olivier
9:21Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier was an English actor and director Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Allan warren · CC BY-SA 3.0
Sammy Davis Jr.
9:49American singer, actor, comedian and dancer Wikipedia ↗
Jerry Lewis
10:17American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian Wikipedia ↗
Altovise Davis
13:38American entertainer, best known for being Sammy Davis Jr.'s third wife Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Cecily Wiggins · CC BY 2.0
Danny Kaye
16:08American actor, dancer, singer and comedian Wikipedia ↗
Roddy McDowall
17:08British-born American actor, whose career spanned over 270 screen and stage roles across more than 60… Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Alan Light · CC BY 2.0
Elizabeth Taylor
17:38British and American actress Wikipedia ↗
Sidney Poitier
18:26Bahamian-American actor, film director, activist, and diplomat Wikipedia ↗
Robert Morse
20:22American actor Wikipedia ↗
Lucille Ball
20:22Comedy legend and studio head of Desilu Wikipedia ↗
James Stewart
20:50American actor and military aviator Wikipedia ↗
Jack Benny
21:12American entertainer who evolved from a modest success as a violinist on the vaudeville circuit to one… Wikipedia ↗
Joan Crawford
21:41American actress Wikipedia ↗
David O. Selznick
22:02American film producer, screenwriter and film studio executive who produced Gone with the Wind and… Wikipedia ↗
Milton Berle
22:32American actor and comedian Wikipedia ↗
Danny Thomas
23:02Amos Muzyad Yaqoob Kairouz , known professionally as Danny Thomas, was an American entertainer… Wikipedia ↗
Fayard Nicholas
25:16American choreographer, dancer and actor Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com · CC BY-SA 2.0
Fred Astaire
26:10American dancer, actor, singer, musician, choreographer, and presenter, whose career in stage, film… Wikipedia ↗
Lillian Gish
26:10American actress best known for her work in movies of the silent era Wikipedia ↗
Julie Taymor
27:57American director and writer of theater, opera, and film Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Dick Thomas Johnson · CC BY 2.0
Gloria Stuart
29:00American actress, visual artist and activist Wikipedia ↗
Dale Evans
29:27American actress, singer, and songwriter Wikipedia ↗
Roy Rogers
29:27Roy Rogers , nicknamed the King of the Cowboys, was an American actor, singer, television host, and… Wikipedia ↗
Betty Grable
30:24American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer Wikipedia ↗
June Haver
30:52American film actress, singer and dancer Wikipedia ↗
Gene Autry
31:41Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry , nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer… Wikipedia ↗
Clayton Moore
31:41American actor best known for playing the fictional Western character the Lone Ranger from September… Wikipedia ↗
Iron Eyes Cody
37:33American actor who portrayed Native Americans in Hollywood films, including the role of Chief Iron… Wikipedia ↗
Photo: William S. Murphy, Los Angeles Times · CC BY 4.0
Margaret O'Brien
37:33Angela Maxine O'Brien , known professionally as Margaret O'Brien, is an American actress Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com · CC BY-SA 2.0
A.C. Lyles
37:59American film producer for Paramount Pictures, who is best known for producing a variety of Westerns… Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Rook543 at English Wikipedia. · CC BY 3.0
Red Buttons
38:27American actor and comedian Wikipedia ↗
Nancy Reagan
39:25American actress who was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989 Wikipedia ↗
Ronald Reagan
39:25American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989 Wikipedia ↗
Red Skelton
39:55Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and… Wikipedia ↗
Barbara Walters
41:20American broadcast journalist and television personality Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Lynn Gilbert · CC BY-SA 3.0
Charlie Chaplin
43:50English comic actor, filmmaker, singer, film editor and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent… Wikipedia ↗
Clint Eastwood
44:21Actor-director, Magnum Force co-star Wikipedia ↗
Matt Damon
45:18American actor, film producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia ↗
Photo: PhilipRomano · CC BY-SA 4.0
Morgan Freeman
45:18American actor, producer, and narrator Wikipedia ↗
Edward Everett Horton
47:42Edward Everett Horton, Jr. was an American character actor and comedian Wikipedia ↗
Bill Scott
47:42American voice actor, writer and producer for animated cartoons, primarily associated with Jay Ward… Wikipedia ↗
Photo: GeorgeLouis · CC BY-SA 3.0
Buster Keaton
48:10Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American actor, comedian and filmmaker Wikipedia ↗
Samuel Beckett
48:39Irish playwright, novelist, and poet Wikipedia ↗
James Karen
50:11American character actor of Broadway, film and television Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Chris Owen · CC BY 2.0
Rick Moranis
52:06Canadian comedian and actor, known for roles in several feature films in the 1980s Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Kevin Paul · CC BY 4.0
Robert Altman
American filmmaker Wikipedia ↗
Gene Kelly
American dancer, actor, singer, director and choreographer Wikipedia ↗
Martha Coolidge
American film director and former President of the Directors Guild of America Wikipedia ↗
Photo: RealTVfilms · CC BY-SA 3.0
Victor Mature
American stage, film, and television actor who was a leading man in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s Wikipedia ↗
Hilo Hattie
Hawaiian singer, hula dancer, actress and comedienne of Native Hawaiian ancestry Wikipedia ↗
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian, actor, comic vocalist and game show host who… Wikipedia ↗
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons.
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