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CNN Larry King Live
Larry King Interviews Jerry Lewis
Aired December 24, 2005 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Larry King here, wishing you happy holidays and welcoming you to the beginning of what we're calling a King-Sized Christmas. For the rest of the weekend, we're bringing you some of ourbest shows of the year. You'll see my interviews with former President Bush and Barbara Bush, Jerry Seinfeld, the Trumps, Billy Graham and Roseanne Barr and much, much more.
So on this night before Christmas, we bring you what? You expected Santa Claus. How about Jerry Lewis. We hope you enjoy it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Tonight, Jerry Lewis sharing intimate, emotional memories of his legendary friend and partner Dean Martinfrom their fateful meeting and their rocket ride to super stardom to their 20-year breakup and their unforgettable makeup inside the triumphs and tragedies of what he calls a love story, the one and only Jerry Lewis on the one and only Dean Martin and more next on LARRY KING LIVE.
Oh, we're going to have fun tonight. A terrific book is out. When first it came out people thought, well, what was this going to be some (INAUDIBLE) or something. It got incredible reviews. It's a major "New York Times" best seller. It's called "Dean and Me, A Love Story," written by Jerry Lewis, along with James Kaplan. Jerry was proud enough to present me with the large print edition, which I think, I think is a put down but I'll let it go.
JERRY LEWIS: No, it's not. I enjoy reading the larger print.
KING: It's easier for us older.
LEWIS: Yes, elderly.
KING: Why finally now the Dean book?
LEWIS: Well, Dean passed away on Christmas Day '95.
KING: That's ten years.
LEWIS: And that night -- that night I sat down and I just started to write recollections and I titled it "Memories" and it helped me get through the grieving process. I didn't know it would because I sat down not thinking about the why of it but that I just felt kind of drawn to the typewriter. I was writing on a Selectric at the time.
But I wrote two or three pages that night and I asked Sam, my wife, Samantha, don't get any ideas, I asked her to look at these three pages or so and she said "It's such a wonderful, personal peek into what you guys had. Why don't you write it all?"
KING: And that took ten years?
LEWIS: The better part of ten years, yes.
KING: Why?
LEWIS: Well, because I wrote for a while, then I wanted to put it away and -- and...
KING: You were ill.
LEWIS: I was never really -- I was never really targeting a book, Larry. I was -- I was targeting all the recollections for myself really. And, when you see the other material that's not in the book you'll understand what I mean by I was doing it for me. The next book, which will be out when this is paperback, the second book's title is "All the stuff I couldn't get in the first book." That's the title.
KING: Now you were apart -- this is the surprising thing, you were only together ten years?
LEWIS: Ten years to the night. We teamed up July 25, 1946 and we finished it all July 25, 1956 at the Copa. The last show was at 2:00 a.m.
KING: But it seemed like forever.
LEWIS: Well, of course.
KING: You were an American institution the two of you.
LEWIS: Pretty much, yes.
KING: Why do you think that we think it was longer?
LEWIS: Well, I think we...
KING: Martin and Lewis was ham and eggs.
LEWIS: Yes. I think, we all thought it was longer because when you have something good, you know, you save the best for last and we were the best at the beginning and people chose to hang onto it for as long as they could.
And, the mail we got when we decided to end it was incredible, maybe 800,000 or 900,000 pieces of mail, I mean really boring into us something awful. "How dare you? What right do you have to break this up? What do we do on Sunday night? Where do we take our kids? What movies do we" -- it was just incredible.
When I realized from that how much we meant to the country because we were just after the war and people were watching something that was absolutely mischievous and silly and wonderfully dumb but hysterically funny.
KING: I will always remember the Capitol Theater in New York.
LEWIS: Yes.
KING: You were there with Tex Beneke and the Orchestra.
LEWIS: Right.
KING: I went with my friend Herbie.
LEWIS: Remember the movie that was on the show with us then?
KING: No.
LEWIS: "Naked City."
KING: "Naked City."
LEWIS: Yes.
KING: That's right, black and white.
LEWIS: Yes.
KING: Anyway when you came out, "I want to thank Tex Beneke."
LEWIS: Tex Beneke, yes.
KING: And we fell down. That was the funniest night ever. We're going to throughout the night tonight as we salute this book, "Dean and Me, A Love Story," we'll be showing you clips in and out of each segment and in the middle of a segment like this from the movie "Partners."
(Video Clip of Lewis and Martin singing "Partners")
LEWIS: Notice how much shorter I appear? I was the same height as dean.
KING: Now that looks funny. Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin were the same size.
LEWIS: Six feet exactly.
KING: Did you play smaller?
LEWIS: I always crouched, yes.
KING: Because?
LEWIS: Because if you're playing the underdog you have to look it. You can't -- you can't go toe-to-toe with somebody that's beating on you and have you look as strong or as vital as (INAUDIBLE).
KING: You were also a handsome man and you had to play not handsome right in order for it to work? No, you were a -- I mean let's not kid, you were a handsome man and you played against that.
LEWIS: Why didn't you ever call? I played against, of course. He -- well, you know, the title, the first thing that I had ever written for us the title of which was "Sex and Slapstick," and you have to, when you have that in your mind and you're creating images I saw this wonderful image of this Adonis and a monkey and that was it literally, a handsome man and a monkey. And, I had to play to that concept because it would give him tremendous latitude. KING: But we also never realized how funny he was.
LEWIS: Oh, God.
KING: Dean Martin was hysterical.
LEWIS: He was brilliant because it was in his bones and he didn't know that and by the time we were together four years I had finally convinced him that his natural sense of rhythm and his natural sense of humor in general was so spectacular and so wonderful because he himself didn't understand how he knew when to draw me in.
He didn't understand how he knew when to back me off or when to play it quiet or when to come in. It was all because it was very, very instinctive on his part and that's why I write in the book that he was the most underrated performer ever in our business.
KING: You also say, very honestly, he'd have been a success alone, you wouldn't.
LEWIS: That's exactly what I believe. I was a dumb act. I mouthed to recordings. How long do you think -- what kind of a life expectancy is for that act?
KING: Let me get a break. We'll come back. The book is "Dean and Me," terrific read, on the "New York Times" best seller list and another coming after that and that's good news too.
And, as we go to break, more clips of the incredible Martin and Lewis.
(VIDEO CLIP OF MARTIN AND LEWIS)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(VIDEO CLIP OF MARTIN AND LEWIS)
KING: You were also having a good time. Why, you don't have to listen to that...
LEWIS: We had a wonderful time, Larry.
KING: Why did it work? I mean we had a lot of great acts.
LEWIS: Yes.
KING: We had... LEWIS: Abbott and Costello.
KING: Abbott and Costello, very funny.
LEWIS: You can go as far back as Wheeler and Woolsey. That goes back a long time. And, Smith & Dale and you go to Olsen & Johnson and you go to...
KING: But you were going to do (INAUDIBLE). LEWIS: Right, the joy of Laurel and Hardy. Now Laurel and Hardy were the only ones that weren't affected by the curse. I called it the curse when two men were letter carriers, when two men were milkmen, when two men were furniture movers.
Dean and I were the first two act ever that were totally opposite of one another and the work ethic that we applied ourselves to was completely different than the other. That was part of the secret.
The second part of it was that most of the teams that I mentioned really didn't have a very good time doing what they did. We had such fun. We couldn't wait for the next show. Now at the bottom of that you got to remember that there's something almost like an aphrodisiac to watch two men love one another and have no shame of that.
Remember in 1946 there weren't that many closets coming open and we didn't have any fear of misinterpretation but how can you fear it? He was my hero. He was ten years my senior. I looked at him like he was Mickey Mantel for crying out loud. And, I needed that brother. I needed that friend. I needed that force to take me and move me and allow my comedy to play against this marvelous force.
KING: But the legend is that you were the designer of the act. You were the writer of the jokes. You were the let's do this, let's do that.
LEWIS: Because I came from being born in a trunk. Dean came from gambling in Steubenville. He would be a -- he worked in a foundry, worked as a barber with his dad on a couple of weekends. He shot crap. He was a dealer. And, he knew nothing about theatrics whatever. The only thing he said to me that he knew about was that the seats faced the stage. That was his Encyclopedia Britannica on show business.
KING: And he could sing.
LEWIS: Huh?
KING: And he could sing.
LEWIS: Oh, give me a break.
KING: So you designed the act then?
LEWIS: But...
KING: By nature. LEWIS: But he gave me all of the fodder necessary. He gave me what to take on old shtick I had from burlesque and rework it for the two of us and it was impeccable and no one ever knew, it had never been done before because we had this spin on it, the spin on his rooting for me, the spin of my rooting for him.
I have footage where I can show you close-ups of him watching, looking awestruck at some insane thing that I did one night at the Copa. I can show the reverse of my looking at him and rooting for what he was doing to fly. When you have two people working that closely and rooting for one another and hoping they score because everything in our forefront of our thinking was the act. That was the most important thing.
KING: We're going to show you another scene. Here's Dean in one of his more famous tunes "That's Amore," watch.
(DEAN MARTIN SINGING "THAT'S AMORE")
KING: How did you come up with that voice?
LEWIS: My voice?
KING: No, that -- that stretched voice.
LEWIS: When I get excited it's still there.
KING: Hello.
LEWIS: But it's not quite as...
KING: That's not your voice.
LEWIS: ...quite as juvenile as it was. I found that the excitable was very, very fun to watch and listen to. And, remember that the excitable, which would take the voice up there, diminished all other sounds around.
I do that today in a restaurant. It gets very quiet. If I want the waiter, I'll just go "say uh" and he's there, you know. There's something about it that is commanding and, of course, he was always in this wonderful low register, so we had even that balance working so well.
And, an awful lot of the stuff that I was able to write was stuff that I saw him and I do one night and we went on a tangent with one particular bit and then I sat and really worked it and it became one of the most important bits we did in the act. It all came from watching us doing a routine show.
And he, of course, would come to me with this marvelous notion and ask me how we'd work it and I would tell him we can replace that other bit and do that there and start the song, go in for about eight, 12 bars and then I'll interrupt it and I'm now the busboy and I'm really screwing up his whole performance.
And, we would work together on things. I would get the idea for a wonderful physical bit where Dean would really get an audience off balance by doing his first number and then saying to them that he felt so good performing, particularly at the Copa, where every performer would come out there and recognize that it's a stardom throw right into the galaxies and that he had no nerves about it that he was so happy that he had this freedom to just go out and perform and, wham, he's gone. I mean at the Copa, if you're not standing up, you're not seen and he would take this fall of nervousness that was worth 1,000 laughs.
KING: The book is "Dean and Me." When we come back we'll talk about the break-up and why with Jerry Lewis. Don't go away.
(VIDEO CLIP OF MARTIN AND LEWIS)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(VIDEO CLIP OF MARTIN AND LEWIS)
KING: He was going to be a ventriloquist there, right?
LEWIS: Yes.
KING: And you were the dummy.
LEWIS: Yes, of course, and it was hysterical.
KING: And you can drop the earpiece now until we return.
LEWIS: I was just hoping I could hear you.
KING: OK. Anyway, the book is "Dean and Me."
LEWIS: All right.
KING: What was that?
LEWIS: I don't know if you've ever been to (INAUDIBLE) the restaurant in Beverly Hills. I don't usually have dessert.
KING: Are you crazy?
LEWIS: When you taste these cookies you'll never have anything like it. Take one. They're the best. Have you ever had any (INAUDIBLE).
KING: Are you losing your mind?
LEWIS: What are you talking about?
KING: Are you losing your mind?
LEWIS: But I love you. I brought them so you would enjoy them also. They're wonderful. How's that?
KING: Yes, they're good but...
LEWIS: I love it but I just don't want all those calories. What a silly man. I'll take care of it.
KING: King and Lewis, we open in Davenport a week from Thursday, all right. Why did you break up? What happened? What happened?
LEWIS: What happened was outside factions. You know we have a strange thing in our human condition. We have some people that feed on other people's success but they don't feed on it because of the obvious reasons. They feed on it because they would love to divide it and there are people like that I've always called the dividers.
And, Dean got enough of that "You don't need him," and Dean got enough "You're good enough without him," as I did too. Some of that poison drips in there after a while and then when something happens or if there is a trauma of any kind that poison drips in a little heavier. And, to this day I can only tell you that had we been left alone we probably would have gone another couple of years but no more.
KING: Because?
LEWIS: Because we had reached the pinnacle and we couldn't top ourselves.
KING: Who broke it?
LEWIS: I did.
KING: You said it's over.
LEWIS: I said it's over, absolutely. When we had the big powwow with Paramount and NBC and Capital and all the concert date people Dean said to all of them, "I can go out and do a show with him tonight because I know the numbers we're talking about and I'm just smarter than he is when it comes to that. He is too emotionally involved. He can't -- he cannot face me and bring to what we had or revive it. He can't do that. Ask him."
KING: He said that in front of you?
LEWIS: Lew Wasserman (ph) turned to me and said "If he can do it" and I said "He's wonderful at that. His whole upbringing has just been brought into play." No, I know what made it for us. I know how we earned $200 million and I know how you got papers on your desk now that represents another $200 million. That came from love and when you take that out of the equation you'll have Abbott and Costello, sorry, not me. I won't do that.
KING: What was the last show like?
LEWIS: It was very professional. It was very funny.
KING: The audience knew you were breaking up?
LEWIS: Oh, God, yes.
KING: Already knew you were breaking up. LEWIS: Oh, yes, they knew. There wasn't a regular person in that audience. It started with Jimmy Cagney and Edward G. Robinson and you name it, Joan Crawford, all of the biggest stars I've ever seen in one nightclub in my life and they knew it was happening.
And, we finished the show doing "Partners," the number that we did in the film, "You and I will be the greatest partners, buddies and pals." When that happened the whole room, it was like the Johnstown Flood. Everybody broke down. They stood up and cheered us and I guess they were hoping for a reprieve or some kind.
KING: But no.
LEWIS: And then I had to do the wrap up and the closing speech to them about "We love that you loved us and we have to do our own thing now and thanks for ten great years." And then he went up to his suite. I went up to mine and I pick up the phone and I called him and I said, "Paul, I don't know about you but I had a great ten years."
KING: You called him Paul?
LEWIS: Always Paul, yes, always. I said "I had a great ten years and I want you to know how much I love you." He says, "I love you back, pal" and that was it.
KING: Here's a scene, Martin and Lewis at their height, turn on the waterworks. Watch.
(VIDEO CLIP OF MARTIN AND LEWIS)
LEWIS: I loved that.
KING: How could you not break up on stage?
LEWIS: We did all the time.
KING: How much was ad lib?
LEWIS: I would say 50/50. We had 50 percent of what we called the foundation. We could always go back to that if we got in trouble.
KING: How many movies did you do?
LEWIS: Sixteen together.
KING: We'll take a break and when we come back we'll go to your phone calls and we'll talk about an incredible reunion too, lots ahead, a terrific book "Dean and Me, A Love Story," Jerry Lewis. We'll be right back.
(VIDEO CLIP OF MARTIN AND LEWIS)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN MARTIN, DECEASED PERFORMER: Introduce my song.
LEWIS: Go ahead, get off the stage.
MARTIN: Introduce my song.
LEWIS: Get off the stage. I don't want to argue with you.
MARTIN: If you don't introduce it, I'll be right back, remember that. LEWIS: Don't threaten me. You can go off the stage. Big man, this is a big man, you know. No, you know, he has a big, long nose. Chop it off, now he's walking around with the big...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Did you go -- I'm told that in the last years of Dean's life, he'd sit in a little Italian restaurant on Little Santa Monica Boulevard by himself.
LEWIS: He was totally alone.
KING: Death of his son?
LEWIS: Of course, because the day it happened, I told Sam, I said, honey, he died today.
KING: His son was a fighter pilot and went right into a mountain.
LEWIS: Yes. And the death of Dino was the end of his life as we knew it. It took him almost four years to get it over with. But I talked to him. And whenever I would get into the subject of him, he would call me preacher. And I would pontificate. And I'd say, you don't have the right to end your life, Paul. Don't you understand? There's an awful lot of people that are very selfish about your life. We'd like you to be a part of it.
KING: Did you go see him in that restaurant?
LEWIS: Oh, sure.
KING: Was Paul his given name?
LEWIS: Paul -- yes, that was his real name, Paul.
KING: Columbia, South Carolina, for Jerry Lewis. Hello.
CALLER: Hello Mr. Lewis, it's an honor to talk to you and God bless you for all you do.
LEWIS: Thank you, ma'am.
CALLER: My question is, what was the first thing that went through your mind when Mr. Sinatra reunited you and Mr. Martin on the telethon? And if it had not been for Mr. Sinatra, do you think you would have reunited on your own? KING: I'll tell you what, before he answers, glad you asked that. We have a clip of that. One of the most clips in television history. This is "The Jerry Lewis Telethon." Frank Sinatra is the guest. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANK SINATRA, DECEASED PERFORMER: I have a friend who loves what you do every year and who just wanted to come out. Would you send my friend out, please. Where is he? Will you send him out here? Come out here.
LEWIS (voice-over): I was the only one that did not know. My whole staff, everybody knew.
SINATRA: All right, all right, break it up. Break it up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Frank. And you said, are you working?
LEWIS: Yes, I said, so how you been?
KING: What did you think when that curtain opened?
LEWIS: When he walked out?
KING: You said everyone knew but you, right?
LEWIS: Everybody in my staff, the crew, the production people, everyone knew but me.
KING: You had not seen each other or been together for how many years?
LEWIS: Twenty years. He walked out, and all I thought was dear God, give me something to say. And all through his walk to me, I only moved absolutely in reflexes. My arms went around him, as his did mine.
But I'm thinking and thinking, when we pulled away right after Frank said: break it up, break it up. I looked at him and said, so how you been? And it got a hell of a laugh. Was it funny? I don't know. I think it was relief. And then of course, before we wrapped it up, I said to him, you working? And of course, the laugh again was one of joy and relief.
And from that point on, we had continued our conversation, we talked. His birthday came up about five years later. And I surprised him on stage at the Bally. I brought out this humongous cake with Jack Daniels all over the cake, bottles of Daniels.
And he whispered in my ear, right on that stage when he put his arms around me and thanked me. He said: I sure miss you, pal. I said, I miss you, too. And those were very special moments for me, because it was so unlike him to be sensitive outwardly. He was the most sensitive and most compassionate man I've ever known, but not openly.
KING: Did you ever think that anyone proposed to do some sort of reunion? A television reunion, "Martin and Lewis?"
LEWIS: No, we would never hear of it.
KING: Why not?
LEWIS: It was wrong.
KING: In today's age they'd booked it for the reality show.
LEWIS: Of course, I know that. But we felt that, as I said earlier, we reached the epitome. And why fool with it? Let the memories of what we did stay whole. And the reunion is dangerous.
KING: Did you like what Frank did that night?
LEWIS: Yes, I loved it. I loved it. He was always my hero. Frank and I went back more than 50 years together. And he would always do things like that. He always came out of the man for other people, which a lot of people didn't know about.
When I do lectures around the country, I work very closely with the "Get Motivated" seminars, and I will tell the people, I'll run the clip and I'll tell them what Frank did. And I also tell them that he was the most maligned man in show business. And they only printed what he said to the newspaperwoman in Australia, but they never said what she said. And that was part of his history.
So I had to let them know that he called me one day because a fireman was killed in Rockford, Illinois. He said: meet me at the airport, bring your tux. I brought my tux. I met him. We flew four and a half hours. We did a show for two and a half hours. We raised about $275,000 for the family of four children. And that was Frank.
KING: He brought the band from Chicago.
LEWIS: He brought the band from Chicago, paid out of his own pocket. And he did that all the time. There was no telling how many times he did it with Dean and then with me. If Dean wasn't available, he called me, or vice versa. But he was the most giving, most loving man. And I'm still fighting the press about it. I won't let them say anything negative.
KING: We'll take a break. When we come back with Jerry Lewis, we'll ask about the night that Dean died. And we'll also be showing a lot more clips, too. The book is "Dean and Me." You must read it. Don't go away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTIN: You know, it seems like we haven't seen each other for 20 years.
LEWIS: Well, you know, there was all those rumors about our breaking up, then when I started the show and you weren't here, I believed it.
SINATRA: Can I show you guys to your room? If you'd like, the lights are out upstairs, so follow me.
MARTIN: Oh, he drinks a lot, this kid.
LEWIS: So, you working? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: That's funny. You know, Martin Lewis first worked in a suit only, but when you read this book, there's a great picture in here of the first time they were ever in a tux together. You worked in suits, right?
LEWIS: We worked in street suits. And when I proposed to Dean that I thought that, because of what we were doing, I thought we really should work in tuxes. And he said: well, you're going to have to explain that to me theatrically.
I said, well, you can go to the Bowery any time of the day or night and you'll see the suits we're wearing laying in the gutter. You're never going to see a tux down there. There's something hysterically wonderful about somebody being mistreated and/or falling and coming up with the dust from the stage on what they know is a $3,000 tux.
And he said: I hear you. And that was it.
KING: You always wore a tux after that.
LEWIS: He never, ever worked out of a tux, ever again. Anything I told him that was for the best interests of the act, he heard me. Never an argument, ever.
KING: Were you a hit from the get-go?
LEWIS: Yes, immediately.
KING: First placed you worked?
LEWIS: The 500 Club.
KING: Atlantic City?
LEWIS: Yes. The first show we both did...
KING: ... no one knew who you were, right? Martin Lewis, who was the top of open, who was the top of the bill?
LEWIS: Jane Manners (ph) was this very sexy broad who had a chest that hit the wall when she walked out. And that was her act. But Dean, after my begging Skinny to bring him in...
KING: ... Skinny owned the place.
LEWIS: Yes. And I don't know where they learn to talk this way. I think they go to Berlitz, I'm not sure. But he said: I don't want another singer. I said, please, bring him in.
He not only sings, but we do funny stuff together. Uh-huh. He heard that. OK, so we do the first show, he does three songs, I do my record act and now we're in our dressing room, which is a nail. And we're sitting there and Skinny comes back. What happened to the funny stuff? I said, well, you know, we were going to -- you were going to what? You've got a show to do in an hour and a half. If I don't see the funny stuff, you're both out of here, with cement sandals. And he leaves.
And Dean said: what the hell did you tell him? I said, please bear with me. I got you a job and I got you as my friend, and I was alone, I didn't know what to do. So I took a pastrami bag and ripped it in half and used a makeup pencil to write, one, the shtick I remember so well from burlesque. Two, and I would tell him what I'm talking about. And three. He never missed a beat. And we did two hours and 20 minutes, the second show to 11 people.
KING: Here's Martin and Lewis and their rendition of "Singin' in the Rain."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEWIS: I don't know how, I don't when, but some day I'll get even with you. Boy, you'll be -- I tried to help you. I'll leave you now, boy, you singer. But I'll get even with you.
MARTIN: I'm singin' in the rain, I'm just singin' in the rain. What a glorious feeling I'm happy again. I'm singin' in the rain. Singin' the rain, singin' in the rain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Los Angeles, hello.
CALLER: Hi, good evening.
KING: Hi.
CALLER: Jerry, what a treasure you are. What a treasure you are.
LEWIS: Well, that's very nice.
KING: What's the question, dear?
CALLER: I have a quick comment and a question. First of all, you have raised an amazing daughter. I had the pleasure of meeting your wife and your daughter and, boy, that speaks volumes for what kind of father you are.
LEWIS: Well, thank you.
KING: She's a great girl. LEWIS: That's the best present I've had all year.
KING: What's the question?
CALLER: My question is, there are things about people that we love and not like so much.
LEWIS: Right.
CALLER: What were those two qualities about Dean that kind of drove you nuts?
LEWIS: Nothing.
KING: Nothing drove you nuts?
LEWIS: There was never anything that he did that I didn't accept as a joy and happiness. His mere talking to me was -- I was awe struck. That's the kind of love I had for him.
KING: Before we take a break, let's take a break and check in with Anderson Cooper who will host "ANDERSON COOPER 360" at the top of the hour.
LEWIS: Is he still on?
KING: Yes, he's on. Why?
LEWIS: All right, go ahead.
KING: Ask him what he's doing tonight.
LEWIS: Yes, what are you doing tonight, Anderson.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, lady. Sorry, I've always wanted to do that.
LEWIS: Now you know why we get the big bucks, Anderson.
COOPER: Thanks very much, guys. Tonight we're going to be taking a hard look at the president's speech today, and talk to the man in the middle of the storm, Representative John Murtha. He's the one who touched off the current debate when he called for troop withdrawals from Iraq. We'll see what he thinks of the president's speech. And we'll see if what the president said about Iraqi troops squares with the reality on the ground.
We're also looking to the Church of Scientology. Tom Cruise again lashing out against anti-depressants saying thanks to him, nearly half a million kids have stopped taking psychiatric drugs. Tonight, we investigate the Church of Scientology and their battle with psychiatry. That's at 10:00, Larry.
KING: Thanks Anderson, and we'll be watching. What do you make of that?
LEWIS: What do I make of what?
KING: Anti-depressants. Do you ever use them?
LEWIS: Oh, I've used them, sure. It's an important drug for a lot of people who have no way of beating a disease that's becoming -- it's an insidious disease that's becoming epidemic proportions with people.
KING: Other than that you have no opinion.
LEWIS: No, other than that, I have nothing to say about it, except Tom Cruise could be taller.
KING: We'll take a break and we'll be right back, I think.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEWIS: Wait a minute. He's my partner. And he's got a special arrangement for this song and I'm the only one who knows how it goes. I'll take that.
MARTIN: What are you going to do?
LEWIS: I'm going to lead the band.
MARTIN: You know anything about leading a band?
LEWIS: Do I know anything about leading the band? I just took the stick from him. I'm going to lead the band for you, now, and you have the nerve to ask me, do I know anything about it?
MARTIN: Well, do you?
LEWIS: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEWIS: They're taking the money, but they're not giving me the dice.
(CROSS TALK)
MARTIN: You make snake eyes and we'll change the name of this place.
LEWIS: (Blows on dice.)
MARTIN: Don't drown them. Just make snake eyes.
LEWIS: I seen them do that in the movies.
MARTIN: Make snake eyes -- 30 to 1. CROUPIER: Snake eyes.
LEWIS: What happened? Hey. Oh, oh.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KING: Just a word about the clips you've seen and will continue to see tonight. The scenes we've shown are from films that are all available on DVD from Paramount Home Video. Many of the vintage Martin and Lewis TV clips you've seen are also available on DVD. There's a whole new DVD package out featuring Jerry Lewis films.
And another thing: Jerry Lewis has a CD out, "Phony Phone Calls," from 1959 to '72. These were not on the air?
LEWIS: No, uh-uh.
KING: You did them in your dressing room.
LEWIS: In my dressing room.
KING: To who?
LEWIS: I would dial a number and take good care of business. When you hear it --
KING: You mean, you just call people.
LEWIS: Yes.
KING: Real people.
LEWIS: Yes, I called a drugstore and put them in shock. They couldn't get any orders going through. I had one phone here, talking to them on another phone and I'm doing different voices. It is all here.
KING: Why did do you this?
LEWIS: It was fun and mischief. That's why.
KING: Toronto. Hello. The book is "Dean & Me." Hello.
CALLER: Hello, Mr. Lewis.
KING: Yes.
CALLER: It is an honor and a great privilege to speak to. You.
LEWIS: Well, thank you.
CALLER: I have to say, you look fantastic. You look so healthy.
LEWIS: Well, I feel very healthy, thank you. I lost 78 pounds.
CALLER: God bless you.
LEWIS: Thank you, ma'am.
CALLER: Mr. Lewis, I would like to know if you ever see or hear from Mr. Dean Martin's family? Do you ever keep in touch with them?
LEWIS: Oh, yes, I speak to Jeannie all the time.
KING: His ex-wife.
LEWIS: And she's an incredible lady. It is always so good to check and see how she's doing. She's doing beautifully. She's a wonderful woman. And I get so much pleasure -- I get these wonderful -- it's not a spiritual thrill, but it's pretty close. When I need to confer with my heart and my emotions, which happens all the time, I'll call Jeannie and we'll talk about the old days. And it's a wonderful thing. And, of course, Dina Martin, Dean's daughter. And her husband, John.
KING: She's been on the show. Remember that show? You were on.
LEWIS: It's wonderful keeping up with those people. Thank god for those people.
KING: Here's more Martin and Lewis. Some shtick and singing. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEWIS: (Singing)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEWIS: We had a victory din they're night. We finished the number together.
KING: For ten years, there never was a bigger act in show business. And you won't read a better book than "Dean & Me." And we'll be back with more moments with Jer, right after this. Don't go away.
LEWIS: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTIN: What do you think you're cooking around here?
LEWIS: Beans.
MARTIN: Shut up. You've been getting away with murder and it's got to stop, you understand? Shut up. Just because we were friends before and used to work together, I've been covering up for you. That's got to stop, too. You understand? Shut up.
Now, get your pack and everything that goes with it. I want to see you down front in exactly five minutes. Understand? Shut up. You're going to go on a long, long journey and you may not be back this way. You understand? Shut up. LEWIS: Get your pack and everything that goes with it and be downstairs in five minutes. You understand? Shut up!
(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEWIS & MARTIN: (Singing.)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Wow. I'll never forget Martin and Lewis. Jerry, we only have limited time.
LEWIS: I want you to know about the box set that's coming out in the spring. All of the Martin and Lewis films in one box set.
KING: I also want to encourage the audience, please watch Saturday night. We do a show about St. Jude's Hospital in Memphis -- one of the most incredible institutions in the world. Marlo Thomas is on, we have some kids on. Never sent a bill. Danny Thomas' dream came true.
LEWIS: What good work they do.
KING: The night Dean died.
LEWIS: Yes.
KING: How did you hear about it? We have two minutes.
LEWIS: I lost a limb. Not anything you would see. But psychologically I felt like I lost either a leg or an arm.
KING: How did you hear it?
LEWIS: I was in Denver doing "Damn Yankees." And I got the call about 11:00 in the morning. He had passed away during the night. And there's no way -- it's inexplicable. There's no way to explain it. I've lost my dad, I lost my mom. I lost my grandma, who was the heart and soul of my life. And nothing, nothing compared to this loss. And I can only tell you I grieve to this day. And I love the book, that I can see his face and, if you notice, the book has a very beautiful lettering that's embossed. Even on the edge, it's embossed. Because he was entitled to that. It's his book, really. And I love him. And I miss him.
KING: You didn't go to the funeral, right?
LEWIS: No.
KING: Couldn't take it?
LEWIS: No way. Uh-uh. You know. I went to the memorial service, which was tough enough. KING: Thanks for a wonderful hour, Jer.
LEWIS: Thank you, Larry. It's always good to be with you and your wonderful crew. I love them, especially this little SS trooper here.
KING: Kelsie (ph), yeah.
Jerry Lewis -- the book, "Dean & Me: A Love Story."
Tomorrow night, Leeza Gibbons will be here, lots to talk about, including Alzheimer's Disease, something that has directly affected her family.
LEWIS: Leeza Gibbons, she's crazy about me. Every time she's around, she --
KING: She got divorced just to be near you.
LEWIS: Oh, my god! Wait till I tell Sam!
KING: How's she going to handle this?
LEWIS: I don't know with a dog (ph) -- eat a cookie!
KING: Not again.
LEWIS: Okay.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: ANDERSON COOPER 360 -- A.C., my man -- is next.
I got to get the cookies off the desk, Anderson.
Have a good time, Anderson. Carry on! You follow this!
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