megram - Index

megram - 55JunOttawa - Index

in that same Richard Todd suite and
the manager said that two kids were
waiting to interview me. History
repeats itself! I love to stay in that
room. It makes me feel like a little kid
again!
Ray: You had quite a run with the
Ottawa Little Theatre back then.
Rich: I had a swell time performing
on that stage. It was quite an experience
performing with so many talented
actors in over 40 productions. I
learned a lot about the profession. It
was about that time that I recorded
my first comedy album My Fellow
Canadians. Obviously, that album featured
many of the hot politicians of
that era — John Diefenbaker, Lester
Pearson, Robert Stanfield — and it
actually became a bestseller.
Ray: Actually, it became the best selling
comedy album in Canadian history!
You’ve appeared onstage and on
television all over the world, and you
returned to Ottawa for a special
appearance last September.
Rich: Last fall, I was here for the
opening of the Super Ex on the same
stage where Sinatra and I did the
fundraiser show 25 years ago. They
finally asked me back. When you’re
hot you’re hot! I had fun doing the
Super Ex. I did 50 impressions, including
a medley of 32 singers, among
them Jimmy Rogers, Dean Martin,
Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, Tom
Jones, Harry Belafonte, Willy Nelson
and Johnny Cash.
One of my most wonderful memories
was an evening at the National
Arts Centre. It was my birthday and
Mel Torme showed up onstage with a
big birthday cake. Mel did a great
show,and it was such an honour to be
working with him. He was responsible
for getting me a kick-start in the
business. He arranged to get me an
appearance on the Judy Garland
Show. Mel was a great movie buff, and
such a good friend.We had a great rapport,and
it was terrific to have him on
the show. (Breaks into Mel Torme
voice — “Chestnuts roasting on an
open fire.”)
I had an interesting experience
involving David Niven. I did his voice
for two of his last films —The Trail of
the Pink Panther and The Return of
the Pink Panther. What a great honour
to do those films. Blake Edwards,
Julie Andrews’ husband, directed and
produced those films, and he called
me on the phone and asked,“Do you
do David Niven?”I said “No, not really.
Why?” Blake said, “He’s losing his
voice and we’ve had him in the studio
trying to fix it by re-recording him,
and it’s worse than it was when we
shot it. His voice is gone. I can’t make
June 2008 • 11 • Fifty-Five Plus Magazine
out anything he says! We’ve shot this
movie with Capucine and Robert
Wagner and we just let David say his
lines but we can’t understand anything
he’s saying.” I felt really bad for
him, so I went to the studio to record
his lines, and the hard part was when
I was trying to put my voice into his
lips. It took hours to do it. (Switches
to David Niven voice) After I did my
David Niven role, I asked Blake
Edwards to go and tell David I’d be
very happy to go to Spain and follow
him around during the day for day-today
conversation, so he could talk to
people. I’d be very honoured to do
that. I got a lovely card from him saying,
“Rich, you saved my life. You
made the picture work for me, and
I’ll always be indebted to you”… but