megram - Index

megram - 55JunGTA - Index

I never met him! I also dubbed for
Peter Sellers in the same movie,
because he was gone by then, too.
Ray: You were a frequent guest on
the Johnny Carson show and eventually
became a regular replacement host
for him when he was away.
Rich: I replaced Johnny Carson many
times on the Tonight Show, and I used
to get so deeply into the Carson
impressions that when I finished
doing the show I would find myself
going to the dressing room and writing
out an alimony cheque. I do
Carson and Carnak in my Las Vegas
show, and, after all these years, whenever
I do Johnny it still gets a great
reaction.The last time I saw him was
about two years before he passed
away in Malibu, California. I was having
dinner one night, and he came
over to the table and said (Carson
voice) “Rich are you still doing me?” I
said,“Of course,” and he said, “You’re
kidding. You mean they remember
me?” I said, “Johnny, they will always
remember you.” He was a very insecure
guy. He had a lot of demons. He
was the best television host that ever
lived, and a great guy. I still admire his
mannerisms and the way he could
make every situation funny.
Ray: You got a lot of publicity recently
when you were the star of the U.S.
President’s 2007 Washington Press
Club annual dinner.
Rich: That was last summer, and the
show was an anticlimax,because it was
a tough audience. Oh, my gosh, they
were tough. I threw out a lot of material
I had prepared.A lot of people didn’t
listen.It was a social event and many of
them couldn’t care less about what was
going on.They don’t even know you’re
there! The good news was the great
press I got, and the reaction of George
W. and his wife — they just loved the
show. After the show, my wife Marie
and I were chatting with the President.
Marie has a special funny handshake
and she gave it to the President and he
went right along with it! You know,
with all his problems,he was so charming.He
has a great sense of humour and
he was so friendly. He was so darned
nice to me that I couldn’t say anything
bad about him! You have to be respectful,
no matter what your political
beliefs are. But Ronald Reagan was the
same way, except that he was really
liked by most people (Reagan voice)
President Reagan once said to me,
“Rich, you do me better than I do. I
was thinking the other day that you
should become our next president,
and talk in my voice!” I said,“First of
all, Mr. President, I don’t want it, and
secondly, I can’t. I’m Canadian.”And he
said, “I can fix that.” His wife Nancy
was really very nice. I once played
Santa Claus at the White House
Christmas party. I got dressed as Santa
and although I knew them very well,
she didn’t know it was me. She said,
“Who’s playing Santa this year?” She
took my beard, which was attached by
an elastic string, and pulled it down
about a foot and let it go,and darn near
took my nose off! I met President
Nixon a couple of times, and did my
impression of him in front of him once
at San Clemente. I suddenly realized
that he didn’t know who I was doing! I
knew Gerald Ford very well, and performed
in front of him many times. I
was participating in a benefit one time
in Palm Springs, and I was doing my
Gerald Ford. Of course, he was famous
for tripping down the stairs all the
time,but by sheer accident I tripped on
the stage, banged into the podium,
broke the podium,fell off the stage and
landed in Gerald Ford’s lap! I’m sitting
in the President’s lap still holding onto
the mike, so I held it up to him and he
said,“Whoops!” Frank Sinatra went ballistic.
Frank was pounding the floor,
screaming with laughter.He laughed so
hard I thought he was going to pass
away! Frank and I became good friends
after that. He really loved someone
with a good sense of humour.
June 2008 • 12 • Fifty-Five Plus Magazine
I’ve performed for Jimmy Carter
and several other presidents, but
Reagan was the president I knew best,
and I spent a lot of time with him. I
met President Clinton in Las Vegas.
Here in Canada, I performed in front
of Pierre Trudeau in Labrador back in
the early 1970s. (Trudeau voice) I
was on stage with Mr.Trudeau at the
Sinatra concert here in Ottawa, and
he kept asking me if I had any secret
information about Frank!
Ray: Once in a while, you’re asked to
be serious.You were recently the featured
guest of host George
Stephanopolous on the ABC network
show This Week.
Rich: With a name like that,he should
be hosting a cooking show! But we
did reminisce about my experiences
with various presidents, and we talked
about my appearance at the
President’s 2007 White House dinner.
They ran clips of several of the
encounters I’ve had with some of
them, especially with my good friend
Ronald Reagan. I remembered the first
time I actually met President Reagan at
the White House. I was invited to tea,
and I was supposed to be there at
noon. I got hung up in traffic and I
couldn’t believe I was late for this.As I
approached the Lincoln Room, I could
see the President out in front of the
room talking to reporters. He looked
up and said
“Rich,thank the Lord you’re here.”
I said,“I’m sorry I’m late.”
“No problem,”he said.“You do me
better than I do, so would you finish
this damn press conference? I’m going
for a sandwich.”
I said,“Excuse me?”
He said,“You finish the press conference.
All I ask is that you don’t get
us into a war.”
And then he disappeared!
Ray: I guess you could never have
dreamed how far your talent would
take you.