Kirk Douglas appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson - pt. 2 - 10/24/1973

Kirk Douglas shows Johnny how he hid his leg for his new movie, Scalawag. Air date: 10/24/1973.

Video Script:

well now that you're out of your costume better put that back at people at home below bonanza now you don't have to you actually you've gone you're very athletic I know you keep in shape and you work out and you did gymnastics for a long time and you keep in shape but still that has to be very awkward because you actually well knee and the part of the leg into that know what it is you have to be flexible yeah you know you really Frances you stand up if you can do I want to see that you can do this much you can do it you can't do I can't do we have to just take it and then yeah see it's not only up here it's putting it there haha who do use a curtain I can get it up there now I never doubted that for a moment [Applause] stand-up comedy steve Rossi's but you it's also you know i found that i have been doing that for almost about seven eight months when i tried it today right i found that i wasn't in shape because when we were shooting scalawag i could just do it five six minutes at a time my shoes are so bad you don't feel that the shoe is going oh I hope it said I think that the premiers tonight and you're holding it for the Big Brothers gallery to benefit the big brothers tonight at the Beverly Theatre and I think that they're a great charity that is the organization is a lot where they take on a child another adult it's so it's difficult because it's very time-consuming they deal on a one-to-one basis it's like a father in a way exactly right and in the picture the reason they they wanted to use scalawag for that is we have that relationship between mark lesson myself so it suited their purposes and I hope they do well because it's yeah it's a good charity what's the very first motion picture wherever in the strange love Martha Ivers strange love and Martha and that had to be almost 30 years ago oh gosh don't exaggerate that was about 25 years or 25 well a man said in the strength of a Martha Ivers I remember I never had cufflinks is the first time in my life that I wore cufflinks and I had to borrow someone's coverage because I had to be kind of mature and rather a rich guy and remember it was the first never worn can never laugh things were you pretty broke at that time when you made that picture yeah that's why I made it I was going to be a big star on the stage I was going to do a play and it didn't raise get the money for it so they couldn't get it up so I came back and you're doing it again you're doing it again give you a look and you go just like have you have you ever made a picture you didn't really want to make oh good you made it because yeah I made I made a I made one picture for nothing I did a picture I had a I had a picture year contract at Warner Brothers and I wanted to get out of it the only reason I took is the only contract I've had and I did the young man with a horn which I like because I lost my lip in that one then I wanted to get out of the contract they said you can't get out Kirk it's a good contract no option I said though I'll get off because I'll do the next picture for nothing so I didn't pick you for anything and it wasn't and that's about what it was worth it wasn't a very good picture I thought picture called big trees and I did it for nothing to get out of the contract and I've been and I've always worked independently I've had my own little company and I like to try things I could do kooky things like play characters on one leg or one eye or one here bow the days are gone where the studio had all those people in our contract now everybody's kind of doing things on their own as you say yeah everybody does you every impressionist does Kirk Douglas which is flattering of course because you can only do people who are well-known Gorshin now does almost a frightening impression of you well I think Orson does me better than I do I mean he really know he really I think that I've often thought that sometimes like when I was a personal appearance to her for the big brothers to promote scalawag I think I could send Frank Gorshin out you do a better job yeah I think it's uncanny i I'm fascinated by it because I've tried sometimes I look at it you know and I kind of go along with it I can beat him you know I could I could beat him and you know [Laughter] [Applause] allows this impression I've ever heard in my life with you I tell you by me I said this on the show on night but I'm such a fan ears of Jimmy Cagney you know who is retired now and I met him some months ago and I was really somewhat in awe because he he doesn't does not appear in public much and Jack webbot had a few people out of this he said would you like to meet Jimmy thank you message of course I think a lot of actors would like to spend a little time with Cagney and I walked up and he was very nice and he sat there he said you know when I can stay up he said I can't you sure you know you're very good I turn him I says not bad as is Annie's a little more a little more you dirty rat but you know you you happen to mention someone that is my Island I remember a few years ago my son Peter was much younger than and he was watching television and tears were coming down his cheeks I said what's the matter he said dad who's Jimmy Cagney now he had never seen him and I said why he said he's terrific and what thrilled me was because Jimmy Cagney happens to be one of my idols I think he's one of the Giants of motion pictures was that my son had never heard of him never seen him and he was watching and he knew that this was something special because I think that that's there are few people that I think of that I have a kind of a feeling of all and you've named one Jimmy Cagney do you people feel that way he's really kind of his own person and uh he doesn't go for all the the trappings now that go with it and he's quite content to retire and and I've mentioned this on the air before but he got up at webs one night and Jack Webb is a great audio nut you know he's got all the equipment and the the tape machines and he put on the soundtrack of the West Point story and Jimmy got up and started to dance and it was a strangest thing because you know he did George M cohan and he's a good hoofer and he got up and he I think he's 70 or 71 now and he started to move and it was like a guy doing Cagney you know he was good at anything he was making it making the moves and I said not not bad but it it wasn't like it was really doing oh they had a TV show where they asked me if I would call in telephone in and they hadn't someone doing imitations on a phone backstage they had three people on and I talked on the phone and the the three people were supposed to say is that Kirk Douglas was that someone doing an imitation and when I went on the phone two people said no probably right the other feller was probably doing a better imitation that's because people get a certain sound in your mind and because Frank takes it and embellishes a little bit it makes you a little bit bigger than life I told this story some years ago I had a call once around here on the coast no I was staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel I got a call in the upper said it's Jack Benny so naturally I take the call voice gets on it is Johnny I know you're just out here you know for a couple of weeks and if somebody you know falls out on this show I'd be you know happy to come in now I think it's rich little so help me I don't know why cuz you seen him rich Little's I had seen rich little in the lobby a couple of days before and I said it's a put-on and now I I cool him i really cool him nice of gee that's swell Jack I don't think we'll have anybody drop out but it's awfully nice now he gets apologetic because I've heard his feelings he said no I mean you know you don't have to have me on but I mean if somebody falls out I'll come in you know and I said thank you very much I did it and I hung up the phone very abruptly now dissolve coming to the office Freddie de cordobas as a deserving fine call you there Irving find it called Freddie de Cordova Irving as Jack's manager has been for years and he says his Johnny mad at Jack now can you imagine Jack at that time was 77 years old and I grew up but you know revering Jack Benny answered what do you mean and then it hit me it was Jack Benny on the phone it was not rich little and you don't know how dumb I felt realizing I'd said thank you I'll call your kid and hung up the phone isn't that awful and then Jack and then we talked about later on the show he thought I was actually being that abrupt with him but you know this whole process of not only imitations but kidding are stars I think is you know that's indigenous only to America for example movie personalities of stage personality don't have that sense of humor about themselves out of this country I think it's only here where you can kid someone and they and they take it but you find it they don't do that in France I mean Francis star is a very serious thing or you know in any in any field but here we it's it's a I think it's an American quality that I think is terrific to be able to laugh at yourself yeah I never thought of that before let me take a quick break here and we will come right back after this word from General Foods