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American Morning

Interview with Curtis Sharp

Aired December 11, 2002 - 09:49   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, he was armed with a dollar and a dream, and don't you know it worked. Curtis Sharp hit the jackpot 20 years ago and became a very rich, very high-profile celebrity in the city of New York, all across the country. He hit the lottery for $5.6 million and should have been set for life.
He showed up to claim the prize with his wife on one arm and his girlfriend on the other and became a hero to a whole bunch of folks, including the people I was working with at a local news room here in New York City all those 20 years ago.

The public had a lot of fun with his victory in the lottery, but this month, the party is over. He gets his last check for $178,000, and the state has settled its account with Curtis Sharp, who is now a Baptist minister, and joins us this morning from Nashville, Tennessee -- you were our hero. Good morning. Nice to have you with us.

CURTIS SHARP, 1982 LOTTERY WINNER: Good morning. Can I call you Jack?

CAFFERTY: Please. Absolutely.

SHARP: OK, Jack, and you can call me Curtis.

CAFFERTY: There we go. What are you going to do with the last check?

SHARP: Pay bills, Jack.

CAFFERTY: You are not supposed to have any bills. You are supposed to be a multimillionaire.

SHARP: Well, you know, money was made to spend, you know?

CAFFERTY: And you showed us how to do it, I remember.

SHARP: That is right, that is right. Sure.

CAFFERTY: Any regrets, looking back now that the party has wound down?

SHARP: No, none whatsoever.

CAFFERTY: Tell me how you spent the dough, $5.6 million. A lot of money, what did you do with it?

SHARP: Well, now, you are forgetting the tax people. CAFFERTY: Well, they get theirs, right?

SHARP: Yes, right. So you are not left with $5 million.

CAFFERTY: OK. Well, what did you do with the rest of it?

SHARP: Well, I spent it, just like you said.

CAFFERTY: On what?

SHARP: On everything. Everything I could spend it on. I gave a lot of it away, and spent a lot of it.

CAFFERTY: No regrets at all now that you are -- now that you are a little older and looking at retirement and stuff that all this money is gone?

SHARP: No. Well, I've been retired since 1990, and I'm more richer now than I was when I won the lottery, because I got Christ in my life now.

CAFFERTY: Were you surprised at how quickly you became such a big, big celebrity? A lot of people win the lottery, they come forward, claim their prize, and then fade back into wherever their life is, never to be heard from again. You became -- you were a star, Curtis. There is no other way to describe it. You were a star.

SHARP: Yes, well, I enjoyed it while it lasted. I really did.

CAFFERTY: If I hit the lottery today, give me some advice.

SHARP: Well, if you was to hit the lottery, first thing I would tell you is take you about three weeks off. Take you about three weeks off. Go somewhere and just cool out and just -- and try to figure out what you are going to do with all this money.

CAFFERTY: Should I take my wife and my girlfriend with me while I take the three weeks off?

SHARP: Well, no. What you do -- now, you take your wife, forget about your girlfriend now. A lot of people didn't understand at the time when I won the lottery, me and my wife were separated, but I wanted her to share in the lottery because she was the mother of my children.

CAFFERTY: That's a noble thing, and they didn't have any problem, one being with the other, your girlfriend and your wife going to that thing together? I mean, they got along alright?

SHARP: Now, when you got that kind of money at that time...

CAFFERTY: Amazing how that works, Curtis. Suddenly there are no problems.

SHARP: That's right. No problems.

CAFFERTY: Everything is smooth.

SHARP: Yes.

CAFFERTY: How did you get from being lottery winner and a high- profile New York celebrity to a Baptist minister leading a low-profile life down there in Tennessee. What happened?

SHARP: Well, you know, you never know what God has in store for you. I always been a religious person, but I didn't serve the Lord like I should. And so, God sent me down here. People asked, how did you get to Tennessee? I always tell them a woman, because that is what I came down here behind a woman, and when I got down here, and I got into the church, first I had bought me a tavern, and that didn't work out. I wound up giving that away. And so wasn't nothing working for me. So I said, well, I'm going to serve the Lord. And that's what I did, and I am glad I did.

CAFFERTY: That's fair enough. Well, I thank you for spending a few minutes with us this morning. Like I said, you were our hero. I was with a bunch of young guys in that news room across the street at Rockefeller Center all those years ago, and we just thought you were the cat's meow when you showed up to claim that prize. Thank you for the laughs and the fun, and good luck to you.

SHARP: Well, I thank New York, and I thank all of you all for thinking of me.

CAFFERTY: All right, sir. The Reverend Curtis Sharp from Nashville, Tennessee.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired December 11, 2002 - 09:49   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, he was armed with a dollar and a dream, and don't you know it worked. Curtis Sharp hit the jackpot 20 years ago and became a very rich, very high-profile celebrity in the city of New York, all across the country. He hit the lottery for $5.6 million and should have been set for life.
He showed up to claim the prize with his wife on one arm and his girlfriend on the other and became a hero to a whole bunch of folks, including the people I was working with at a local news room here in New York City all those 20 years ago.

The public had a lot of fun with his victory in the lottery, but this month, the party is over. He gets his last check for $178,000, and the state has settled its account with Curtis Sharp, who is now a Baptist minister, and joins us this morning from Nashville, Tennessee -- you were our hero. Good morning. Nice to have you with us.

CURTIS SHARP, 1982 LOTTERY WINNER: Good morning. Can I call you Jack?

CAFFERTY: Please. Absolutely.

SHARP: OK, Jack, and you can call me Curtis.

CAFFERTY: There we go. What are you going to do with the last check?

SHARP: Pay bills, Jack.

CAFFERTY: You are not supposed to have any bills. You are supposed to be a multimillionaire.

SHARP: Well, you know, money was made to spend, you know?

CAFFERTY: And you showed us how to do it, I remember.

SHARP: That is right, that is right. Sure.

CAFFERTY: Any regrets, looking back now that the party has wound down?

SHARP: No, none whatsoever.

CAFFERTY: Tell me how you spent the dough, $5.6 million. A lot of money, what did you do with it?

SHARP: Well, now, you are forgetting the tax people. CAFFERTY: Well, they get theirs, right?

SHARP: Yes, right. So you are not left with $5 million.

CAFFERTY: OK. Well, what did you do with the rest of it?

SHARP: Well, I spent it, just like you said.

CAFFERTY: On what?

SHARP: On everything. Everything I could spend it on. I gave a lot of it away, and spent a lot of it.

CAFFERTY: No regrets at all now that you are -- now that you are a little older and looking at retirement and stuff that all this money is gone?

SHARP: No. Well, I've been retired since 1990, and I'm more richer now than I was when I won the lottery, because I got Christ in my life now.

CAFFERTY: Were you surprised at how quickly you became such a big, big celebrity? A lot of people win the lottery, they come forward, claim their prize, and then fade back into wherever their life is, never to be heard from again. You became -- you were a star, Curtis. There is no other way to describe it. You were a star.

SHARP: Yes, well, I enjoyed it while it lasted. I really did.

CAFFERTY: If I hit the lottery today, give me some advice.

SHARP: Well, if you was to hit the lottery, first thing I would tell you is take you about three weeks off. Take you about three weeks off. Go somewhere and just cool out and just -- and try to figure out what you are going to do with all this money.

CAFFERTY: Should I take my wife and my girlfriend with me while I take the three weeks off?

SHARP: Well, no. What you do -- now, you take your wife, forget about your girlfriend now. A lot of people didn't understand at the time when I won the lottery, me and my wife were separated, but I wanted her to share in the lottery because she was the mother of my children.

CAFFERTY: That's a noble thing, and they didn't have any problem, one being with the other, your girlfriend and your wife going to that thing together? I mean, they got along alright?

SHARP: Now, when you got that kind of money at that time...

CAFFERTY: Amazing how that works, Curtis. Suddenly there are no problems.

SHARP: That's right. No problems.

CAFFERTY: Everything is smooth.

SHARP: Yes.

CAFFERTY: How did you get from being lottery winner and a high- profile New York celebrity to a Baptist minister leading a low-profile life down there in Tennessee. What happened?

SHARP: Well, you know, you never know what God has in store for you. I always been a religious person, but I didn't serve the Lord like I should. And so, God sent me down here. People asked, how did you get to Tennessee? I always tell them a woman, because that is what I came down here behind a woman, and when I got down here, and I got into the church, first I had bought me a tavern, and that didn't work out. I wound up giving that away. And so wasn't nothing working for me. So I said, well, I'm going to serve the Lord. And that's what I did, and I am glad I did.

CAFFERTY: That's fair enough. Well, I thank you for spending a few minutes with us this morning. Like I said, you were our hero. I was with a bunch of young guys in that news room across the street at Rockefeller Center all those years ago, and we just thought you were the cat's meow when you showed up to claim that prize. Thank you for the laughs and the fun, and good luck to you.

SHARP: Well, I thank New York, and I thank all of you all for thinking of me.

CAFFERTY: All right, sir. The Reverend Curtis Sharp from Nashville, Tennessee.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com