You never know where your big break is coming from.
Burt Reynolds is a great raconteur on talk shows. When he first left Florida
to try
a show business career, he was an apprentice at the Hyde Park Theater in
upstate
New York. Apprentices are not supposed to hobnob with the stars, but Burt
didn't know
that. "I wouldn't have cared anyway," he says. He promptly introduced himself
to the
leading lady, a luscious blonde who turned out to be Joanne Woodward. She was
dating another young actor at the time, Paul Newman, but, as Burt says, "Hey,
he was
out of town."
Joanne was very nice to Burt and introduced him to someone who became his
agent. She also convinced a director at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York
to hire Burt for the lead in Tea and Sympathy, although another actor had
already been
cast and had to be paid off. Burt's reviews were great. One reported, "He
stole the
scenes, he got the laughs, and a new star is on the horizon."
Fast-forward to Hollywood. Burt had made ten films when director John Bormann
cast him in Deliverance. Burt asked Bormann, "Which of my films impressed you
so
you gave me this terrific part?"
"None of them," said Bormann. "I saw you guest-host on the Tonight Show, and
I
liked the way you were able to control five guests. The guy in Deliverance
has to
control three people in a stressful situation." Which leads us to the next
point:
At that time, Johnny Carson was the king of late-night television. If you
appeared on the Tonight Show and Johnny laughed, America laughed. If Johnny loved you,
America loved you. Before Burt went on Johnny's show for the first time, he
studied
Johnny Carson intensely, figuring out all the ways he could set him up. Burt
developed
a character for the talk-show Burt Reynolds -- a super cocky, wisecracking,
devil-may-care womanizer -- and Johnny absolutely loved him. Burt's TV persona
was not the kind of guy you would want to live with, but it made great
television.
Their routines would go something like this. Johnny would ask, "What are you
going
to do after the show?" and Burt would say, "Oh, walk up and down Broadway and
try
to get recognized." Then he'd wink at the camera as if to say, "I'm having a
good time,
and being rich and famous ain't bad either."
Burt had strict instructions not to talk to Johnny during commercials, so he
was
chatting with Ed McMahon when Johnny suddenly leaned over and asked, "How
would you like to guest-host while I'm on vacation?" No actor had ever been
invited
to guest-host before, only comedians.
For Burt's first Tonight Show, the staff asked what guests he'd like to
interview. "Book
my ex-wife, Judy Carne," he said. Everyone was astonished, even Judy Carne.
They hadn't spoken in six years. She called him the night before the show and
asked,
"Why do you want to book me?" They still had unresolved marital issues and a
lot of
animosity.
But Burt Reynolds knew what my pal, copy-writing genius David Garfinkel, is
always
telling me: "People love conflict. They love to see people fighting whom,
deep down,
share affection and attraction." (Another speaker and I make use of this
principal
with our co-seminars called "The Odd Couple Seminars," describing them as "contentious,
conflicting, controversial -- see them agree and disagree on subjects that
mean the
most to you.")
So Judy Carne came on the show, sat down and said, "Hmm, you look good." Burt
said, "I hate to tell you, but so do you." She asked, "What have you been
doing?"
"Oh, hanging around street corners trying to sell Burt-and-Judy towels," he
quipped. "They are tough to get rid of." She admitted that she and her current
husband were
having problems. Burt said, "Well, I've grown up since we were married." The
audience
clearly was hoping they'd kiss and make up and get back together. Superb
theater.
You never know where your big break is coming from. That means you have to do
everything well. Early in the career of TV host Joan Lunden, Barbara Walters
told her, "Take every crumb they throw you and handle them magnificently."
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