You got me? You what? Yeah, you're there? Hold on, don't okay, okay, okay, okay, I'm here. I'm here lately I'm trying all my pants and all my pants are long on me, and I could you have gotten shorter? I had to get short of My pants are all along and I'm not investing in new pants. I'm just pulling them up. I listen, I'm gonna be ninety two. Doesn't pay to me to invest in a good pair of pants. How many years you think i'll bear them? It? Listen? And if you live in New York City, to take a pair of pants and to be shortened that they got lining, you could buy a new pair. Not worth That's very true. Bring them to me, read, I'll shorten them for you. Rita, are you excited? We're going to be speaking to Connie Stevens, who was one of my favorite actresses when I was younger. Oh my goodness, and granddaughter Skyler. This is our granddaughter with ex husband Eddie Fisher. Oh my goodness. Also one of our favorite when we were growing up. Connie Stevens. I could see her in front of me. Now she was and probably still lives a beautiful blond woman. She was gorgeous and she could sing. You know what, they don't have the beautiful musicals and love stories that they had in the day of Connie Stevens. I could hardly think of a starve today in that category. Can you know we gotta hear it's Connie Stevens exactly. Rina Scorchy is the funniest thing ever. You guys have to look up. Connie Stevens is Scorchy, the hottest cop on the force. She plays like a spy. She's like but she had nobody move a musself. Me and my cousins used to do that like all the time to each other. And you know the reproduction song from Greece to reproduction. Oh god, she was the teacher, the hot teacher. Okay, are you ready? I've been ready, I'm born ready. Connie Stevens is my grandmother. I call her Nana. She's eighty three years old and she lives in Los Angeles. I call her Sky, my precious gym and my best girl, my best girl. I've been here in that my whole life, and I'm like, sure that's front of the other grandchildren. You might know her from Scorchy Love Boat or being the hot teacher from Greece too. You're just so cool. No, I like her charm. She's always laughing, and she's steadfast and in charge. She's a leo, so I think lion, I think strong, and she's sparkly, sparkly. It wasn't like, oh, there's nothing else to do, let's go to Nana's house. As is like, no, that is the thing to do. She's like, here for a good time, not a long time, yes, just as long as you live life fully to the very very inch of it. There's definitely a difference between having like a famous nana versus a regular grandma. I mean, here's someone who has the most expertise and has been in the industry a long time. I mean after my dance shows, you know, you come out the stage door, people are giving flowers and you're talking to your family and there's a whole crowd of people, and then I would go, all right, it's time to go get nana's notes. Go get Nana's notes. Get your arm? How was it? And you'd be like, you know, you could extend your arm a little bit more than that one part couldn't help, But couldn't help that made me better though. You know, no one else's grandparents is going to be like, this is what you need to do tomorrow night to make it better. Every performance, Nana's there with flowers, with flowers and those very nice. Not only a grandmother and a grandchild of relationship, it's a professional relationship. She goes to all her performances and then gives a critique on it, just like we do. You think a critique on their relationship. That's our thing. We give critiques. That's our talent with critical critics, you know. But this was interesting. It's just sort of on a little different level. You can see she respects her grandmother all the way. And you can hear Connie Stevens love for that child too. Oh absolutely, you can absolutely hear. You don't have to be famous. That love that a grandmother has is just magical. Okay, wed To, The producers have handed me the part titles, and here's the first one, Part one, Grandma's Cocoon. What was the song something, Lend me your comb Cookie, lend me your combed. It was so stupid, cook sweetheart, I bought a house with that. It was like number one for years. So cool. What made you want to go into show business. Well, I was lonely as a little girl. My brother went in the army, my dad was on the road, my grandma passed away. So I used to go to the movies all the time for twenty one since, Oh my gosh, that's great, and I just grew up with the idea that I was going to do that. Ah. After I became popular, I went back to Brooklyn and I was so excited to talk to everybody on the block. And there was this lady. Your name was Mazie. Did I ever tell you this, I don't think. So. We had stoops and Mazie. She'd sweep the stoop every day, and if you went near her talk to her, which we did, we teased her. She tried to hit you with the broom. She said, get out of here, you damn kid, Get out of here. Said we'd laugh and run away. So I go home my pictures playing at Radio City Musical, and I see her across. She's an old, old woman, and I go quietly over there and I said, Mazie, do you remember me? And she looked at me and said, get out of here, you damn kid, Get out. That's so funny. Nothing changed, and that's the way life is. Really. That's Brooklyn too, Yeah it is. I wish I could time travel and go back and see you when you were in Brooklyn. I wish you could. I lived in the Italian section and on the next side was the Jewish section, so my grandma spoke Yiddish and the lady next door spoke a little Italian, so they both spoke each other's languages. Yeah, that's very cute. What was your relationship like with your parents and your grandparents, because I know you had an interesting kind of dynamic. I was a daddy's girl and he was a musician, and he went on the road. So I was awarded by court to my grandparents, my Italian grandparents. Consequently, I spoke only Italian to allow us five. My dad, of course, came home off the road many times, and his beautiful packard convertible with his cashmere coat, that's where you got it from. When he came home, all the windows would go up, and the ladies in the neighborhood would say, your father's home, Your father's home, teddy, teddy, And he'd weighed, he just sparkled, you know, he just had it. I almost want to say, he's like the Godfather. He was funny, he was talented. I loved my family very much. I never knew that we were poor till I was about thirty. Right, I was in a cocoon. I feel like you've provided that for at least your grandkids. And I got it from my grandmother. Yeah, so it's been passed down for sure. I feel like I was in such a little cocoon and I felt very safe growing up. Well, that's the way you're supposed to feel. That's what we want for you. You're growing up to be self sufficient so that somebody can't come along and bust your bubble. And you're compassionate, which is my favorite attribute. Very sweet relationship. And she talks about the Brooklyn One side of this street was Jewish, one side of the street was it Tagian. Absolutely, that's the way Brooklyn was. That's how I grew up as well, exactly how I grew exactly. And I think it's still like that. There's a connection between Italian and Jewish grandmothers from families I alway Jewish and Italian. You can intermingle them. You'd never know the difference. From Italian people were your best friends and they felt the same way about Jewish. They knew were always there for each other exactly. You know what. I used to go to my grandmother's have and there was a woman, of course, is what she was talking about. I used to stand by my grandmother's window and watching yet yet a on the street. Everybody hang it up. She think the same thing. She was always cleaning up the street we had, Mrs Sweeney. It was the same thing. There was always somebody. There's always somebody and saying, get out of your kids. I'm telling you you lived in a neighborhood. It wasn't just your building. Most of your shopping wasn't a footstore. A butcher. Absolutely, I remember there was a butcher that used to say to my mother, Mrs Binstein, I got for you a piece flesh. You'll die from eating it. Listen, times have changed. She's still good with her grandkids, and she's giving that sense of security and the what should I say, the cocoonness a grandchild too. Right. Oh, that's a good word. Right, It's a word I made up, but it's not in the dipitionary. Really still the words that I use. Okay, reader, Next up we have part two the last contract player were already So when you were young, the big Hollywood studios used to have contract players. They basically were on contract to perform just for those studios. Right, yeah, I know you were like one of the last ones. I was the last one, the very last one. I have a picture on the wall inside of all the contract players, as you know, Natalie Wood and Carol Linley in the dining room. Yes you saw, yeah, I've seen it. So that meant that you couldn't go work at any other studios. You had to do well, not without permission, right right, right? How did you first get to Hollywood? What was the big break? Well? I sang with three boys and we had a group called the Foremost. We sang four part harmony that was very intricate at the time. Then the boys went on to become the Letterman. I went to high school with them, and they're still popular today. I should have stayed with them. I got discovered from that group by Jerry Lewis. He made me laugh so hard, he always did. It was embarrassing. I was laughing so hard. So I went to meet Jerry Lewis and he said, she's got a funny bone. She's got the part, and Warner Brothers bought my contract and they put me in a series Hawaiian I, which became maybe number two in the world with Bonanza. The other big shure you did was love Boat right, love Boat I was the most frequent guest. I should be rich, but I'm not. They didn't give me any residuals. Warner Brothers so cheap. So I asked for permission to do a film and they said, no, your contract isn't up for another fifty thou dollars or some crazy thing. And I said, keep the money, let me go. That's what I did. Crazy Girl gave away my money. Guests who had their dressing rooms right above me, Sammy Davis, Joey Bishop, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, the rat Pack. They were the most popular people in the all of show business at the time. One day I'm walking by and they're all laughing and stuff, and they said, I think she is I said, she's what they said, shorter than Sammy Davis. So we had a contest and they measured me and I was shorter thant Sammy, so I won. I took the brunt of it. All the time, were they loud yes, until they went to work. What did you do in your breaks? Played basketball? Oh my gosh, because we had a lot of time together, so in between we would get our shots together. That's cool. It was fun. She was a star, absolutely a big star. And I can't imagine that she's shorter than Sammy Davis. She must be my height. I love her that. I love her and basketball. I could never play basketball. I just was a little bit bigger than the ball. I mean, I don't know how she played. I gotta meet her. We have to arrange for us to meet her. She's sweets, she's really sweet, and she's very humble. Um kind of you know, she's not afterwards. She was a big I love Bote. I used to love that. I remember, I do love boat. Yeah no, no, no, no. It was really a nice program. I don't know if you got the feeling that it was a little bit not anger. Regret, regret, a little regret exactly. They did take advantage of her, yes, but I think that they took advantage of everybody in those days. They did. The Water Brothers had that reputation to start with. They were not easy to deal with it. I don't know that any of the studios were particularly kind to their players. That's true. That's true. Listen, everybody has regrets. I should have, I should have, I could have. That's the way life is. The movie stars handed well as the public. I guess we all have nothing major that I could think of, and if I did certain things and I could, I'm not telling me. Well, we have to take a little break now so you can find out how to buy a new mattress, or get a new website, or or the stamps. Very exciting stuff. So hang in there, folks. Okay, guys, we're back Cookie Cookie letting me. I don't remember the tune, but I remember the words. What have they say? Don't give up your day job? That's right, that's right, okay rider. Next up, we have part three, sixteen Reasons Why I Love You. Your most famous song, though, was sixteen res Why I Love You? Why they comb you here? See, you don't think of things like that anymore. We used to think of you the way you comb your hair, the way your tie whatever. Now they go to first base immediately you stay off first base. I wanted to ask you how you met Eddie, how you met my grandfather, because I don't think I ever heard the full story. Well, I was in trouble. I was confused. I was coming out of a divorce with Jim Stacy. I didn't know what I was gonna do. I was going to go to Broadway or stay and do another television show. And I took a job and I played the Plaza Hotel in New York and he had just finished there, so he came to see my show. And he was really kind and sweet, and he was the kind of guy. I'd say, I love the New York pretzels on the street. So he said, can I get you anything? I said, he didn't get me a pretzel, and he came back with ten of them. Oh my gosh, I like that. And he could say he could just open up his mouth and just say five o'clock in the morning. I have often. He was kind. He would give you the shirt office back if you liked it. And he was fun. He was a fun guy. His problem with the drugs, otherwise I'd probably still be with him. Yeah. Mom always said he was very charming, like everybody was charmed by him. He was. He was just the golden boy, you know, he really was. I didn't really know him. That's right, you didn't. He would have made you laugh. He was good at that. Yeah, he was a little strange character. What do you mean by strange? You know, he was from another era and he was from the old country and he acted like it. And I was a shick sah, that's a non Jewish girl. And he say, Eddie, what are you doing with another shick sah? Well, there is like kind of a special club of Eddie Fisher's wife. Yeah, well, never mind, you gotta lay it on me. What's the dating advice? Dating advice? I go with you. I gotta see what he looks like, check his pockets, Nana's approval. Yeah, no, I think you can pick the n ice guy. We've trained you. Well, Well, can we talk about Elvis? Little Bill? Elvis was the best kisser. Oh la la la to hear that. He was the sweetest. He was a lot of fun and we were friends till he died. I think she's holding back, and though he is, it doesn't stop at a kiss. But so on, you don't know, I don't know, nobody knows. You know, there used to be rumors about her and Elvis, So whatever it is, it wasn't you know what I don't care about what's doing in anybody else's bed. I really don't. No listen, what's good for them. It's good for them, that's all. Absolutely. How long was Connie married to Eddie? Long enough to give her two daughters and grandchildren. Eddie Fisher in his day was a big deal. He had songs like, oh my Papa, Oh my Papa, Oh my Papa. I really was a very big Eddie Fisher fan. Everybody was. I had an autography picture of him that hung on my mirror. He had a beautiful voice, he really did. And he had curly hair especially. I hate to say that, I don't want if he were Jewish, he was like you know, that was a big thing. That was a big thing. That was a big deal for the Jews. I mean, how many they were, all Italians, Victor Moone, Frankie Valley all then, not one was a Jew. He was the only Jew, Oh my Papapa, to medful, Oh my Papa. He was so good, Oh my Papa was like a Jewish love song. Reata. Do you remember that? When he was married to Debbie Reynolds and they were like the hottest couple in Hollywood, Alright, they had two children and everything, one of which was Carrie Fisher Harry Fisher, right right, And then all of a sudden he divorced Debbie Reynolds and he married Elizabeth Taylor. Oh my goodness. Mike Todd was married to Elizabeth Taylor, and Eddie Fishing was his best friend. When Mike Todd died, he tried to console Elizabeth Taylor, and that consoling became, I mean to get Elizabeth Taylor to marry you. It was not a big deal. She only had eight or nine my right, absolutely right. And after Elizabeth Taylor left him for Richard Burton, Eddie went from Elizabeth Taylor to Conne But she said he had a problem of drugs. That's a big problem in a relationship. Sweet and kind is nice, but that's that's a big thing. Yeah, And you know what, it was a marriage that didn't work out. But look what she got from it, exactly. She had wonderful children and grandchildren. So that's where heart is at this point. Alright, time for another ad break. What should we do this time? Ellen? You know what, maybe we should better her us And on a horse. I'm lucky reading, I am very very lucky. The first time I ever went to a horse race. I bet on a horse, Barnie's boy. I made a killing my close to a thousand dollars. Peter said, whatever made your bet on Bonnie's boy? I said, your father is Bonnie and your Bonnie's boy. So all that was so killed. That's as good as reason to bet on a horse as any Okay, we're back, reader. How much did you put on that head break? Oh? My goodness, that's it. You know, I went to a a on a bet on horses anymore, I was the only one that famous the a a with a gambling problem. Reading, you needed to see a psychiatrist for that. It's for nothing, and so conscious quants you a lot of money. And I'm back on the headphones, ready to start the rest of the podcast. Okay, reader, let's see what happens. It's really like an enticing novel. Part four. Singing for the Troops with Bob Hope. Oh, Bob Hope was the entertainer of that era, and he used to gather together the top entertainers and bring them to where the troops were and put on a big show. And it was such a shot in the arm for these people who are battle weary it was a wonderful thing for the boys, and I guess Connie Stevens was one of them that volunteered. We're about to find out. I'm like fascinated that you were there, not just alive, but present for so many crazy world events that I can only read about. But let's talk about this. Were are you dating Neil Armstrong? I don't know if that's the word. Of course. I went on the road with Neil and that was really something. You went on tour with Neil Armstrong? Well, I was in Vietnam. Oh so this was a part of the U. S O tour. Yeah, so Neil Armstrong went with you for that to like entertain the troops. Right after he landed on the moon. He went with us. So that was an interesting part of my life. Oh my gosh. Neil and I met in Vietnam and continued our relationship. We got a long, really great So it's kind of a big deal that he performed with Bob Hope. Oh, I went all over the world with Bob. You're my kind of girl. You've got everything, talent, beauty and me. I was in Vietnam many times, Bob, and you're my kind of guy. Well, when you've got it, you've got it. I was in Vietnam and the mood of the country was not happy, and everybody wanted the soldiers to come home, and there was a lot of unrest. So I went out and sang, and I noticed that the whole country was acting differently. As a matter of fact, they caught some Viet com two young guys, and I ran over there and they couldn't have been more than fifteen years old. And I said, what are you doing? What they're fifteen years old? What are you doing? You know, I said, their babies, And of course they shut me up. That was the first time I spoke up, and I wanted us to get out of there, and I could see what was happening politically, but they told me not to attend any more press conferences. And then we came home and I had a different opinion than when I went. And you know, Uncle ralphin my own brother was there, My nineteen year old brother was on clean up. Clean up was the soldiers that went into a village and cleaned up the mess. Whether they had to kill people or get rid of the huts. It was not a nice job, and a lot of Vietnamese people got hurt in that, and Uncle Ralph did that. He was nineteen, and he was so upset, and just because I had stepped foot over there, he felt like he could talk to me about it. And he called me and say, I can't do this. I can't do this anymore. You know, sometimes things happen and you don't believe they're real. I've had a lot of those. Did you feel like you got more into politics and into activism and stuff like that? After? Definitely? I wanted him to come home, and I wanted all those boys in that area, and especially cleanups to come home. They didn't need to do that, and nobody, no government should ask them to do that. Yeah, how about you with your activism, You're amazing. I have it on tape, you know, you speaking to the audience giving your speech about black lives matter, and quietly and uniquely outspoken. That's what you are. I like that. I don't like screaming and yelling. I don't like screaming and yelling either. I think you don't have to. You lead by example, and you lead with your heart and soul, and you make it known who you are, and that's the best you can hope for with people. Very impressive. You see all these things that affect at her. It does change a person's outlook on life. Absolutely, don't you kind of get like when she said, what was your relationship with Neil Armstrong? There's a lot of things left on said doesn't matter, it's her own business what she wants to tell. But there's some depth to the woman. Yes, she's not just another pretty face exactly. These women in that era were portrayed as dumb blondes. But she's got a depth to her. Yes, and she saw a lot about Vietnam and it's a war that that was an unpopular war, very unpopular war. I think the only good thing that came out of that war was mash Okay reader. Next up, it's time for the last part of the show, Part five. There's no business like so business. That's cute, Allen, We're ready. I tried really hard not to go into film and TV. There are some really really big shoes to fill, and it's like it's a lot of pressure. So I majored in political science my first year of college. I was like, I'm going to go into politics, but then the pandemic hit and I was writing a lot, and we were watching movies and I was like, who my kidding, Like, this is what I'm supposed to be doing. I don't know why I'm fighting against it. Like it was like, if you can't beat him, join them. Kind of feeling a little bit because I was like, it's big shoes to fill, but like I'm just gonna walk alongside them anyways and we'll see what happens. But yeah, I would love to work in film and TV forever. I wanted to ask you what your number one advice is for young women going into the industry. Be careful, do you train, pick the best, put your money in the bank, always have some extra cash, keep good people around you, stay close to the family that love you, and work really hard. I heard a story, and you can confirm or deny that You're managers told you to turn down Breakfast at Tiffany's. Turned down Breakfast to Tiffany's, turned down the Lenny Bruce story. She won an Academy Awards, turned down a few others that were pretty important, but something was happening at the time, like headlining in Las Vegas, and I loved it. It's not bad working with Tina Turner and yeah, so do you think things would be just like completely different if you didn't turn down things like that? Yeah? You know, I was up for the Diane Keaton role in The Godfather. Blas said, I'd love to have her in the role. She's perfect, but she's too popular right now, and everybody would go, oh, that's Connie Stevens in that role, and he's right, it would have been wrong. But I would love to have done that role. I'm perfect for it. I didn't know that. That's crazy. We're gonna do something together. To remember that psychic party we went to. Every room of the house had like at least five little tables set up, crystals, palm reading, tarot cards. That's right. I remember going to this one lady. She was in her own private room, so I was like, she must be good, right. She was like, is your grandmother here with you? And I was like, as a matter of fact, she is. And she was like, I just see that you guys are gonna do something together, like writing or a movie or something. And I was like, sold, I'm sold. We're doing something together, absolutely, baby, do anything with you. We like, weirdly work really well together. Yeah, let's do it. Let's do it. Thank you, by sweetheart, Thank you. I love you, love you, love you, love you so much. Yeah, call me later. I'm gonna call you right after this. Okay, bye bye, very nice, very nice, lovely relationship to lovely, very sweet relationship. She wound up Connie in a nice place, surrounded by love, by loving children and grandchildren. And if that's the way that you wind up, that's the best. Exactly. It's a crazy life being in show business. Yes, but we're to look at us. We're so normal and where did show business? We show business because we're on this fabulous podcast. That's right, But listen, I'll pay, it's not their pay. Why Not Call Your Grandmother is a production of I Heart podcast Network and Superb Entertainment. Our lead producers are Shina Ozaki and Nora cb. Executive producers are Narrow Poster, Nikki Eatore, and Anna Stump. Our managing producer is Lindsay Hoffman. Mastering by Bahed Fraser. A theme song is by Anna Stump and Hamilton's Lighthouser. Listen to Call Your Grandmother on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts, and don't forget leave us a glowing five star review. You want, pick on a couple of old ladies and give us less than five stars, would you. We're not getting any younger, but leave us ere we you and we might get more famous. M.

You got me? You what? Yeah, you're there? Hold on, don't okay, okay, okay, okay, I'm here. I'm here lately I'm trying all my pants and all my pants are long on me, and I could you have gotten shorter? I had to get short of My pants are all along and I'm not investing in new pants. I'm just pulling them up. I listen, I'm gonna be ninety two. Doesn't pay to me to invest in a good pair of pants. How many years you think i'll bear them? It? Listen? And if you live in New York City, to take a pair of pants and to be shortened that they got lining, you could buy a new pair. Not worth That's very true. Bring them to me, read, I'll shorten them for you. Rita, are you excited? We're going to be speaking to Connie Stevens, who was one of my favorite actresses when I was younger. Oh my goodness, and granddaughter Skyler. This is our granddaughter with ex husband Eddie Fisher. Oh my goodness. Also one of our favorite when we were growing up. Connie Stevens. I could see her in front of me. Now she was and probably still lives a beautiful blond woman. She was gorgeous and she could sing. You know what, they don't have the beautiful musicals and love stories that they had in the day of Connie Stevens. I could hardly think of a starve today in that category. Can you know we gotta hear it's Connie Stevens exactly. Rina Scorchy is the funniest thing ever. You guys have to look up. Connie Stevens is Scorchy, the hottest cop on the force. She plays like a spy. She's like but she had nobody move a musself. Me and my cousins used to do that like all the time to each other. And you know the reproduction song from Greece to reproduction. Oh god, she was the teacher, the hot teacher. Okay, are you ready? I've been ready, I'm born ready. Connie Stevens is my grandmother. I call her Nana. She's eighty three years old and she lives in Los Angeles. I call her Sky, my precious gym and my best girl, my best girl. I've been here in that my whole life, and I'm like, sure that's front of the other grandchildren. You might know her from Scorchy Love Boat or being the hot teacher from Greece too. You're just so cool. No, I like her charm. She's always laughing, and she's steadfast and in charge. She's a leo, so I think lion, I think strong, and she's sparkly, sparkly. It wasn't like, oh, there's nothing else to do, let's go to Nana's house. As is like, no, that is the thing to do. She's like, here for a good time, not a long time, yes, just as long as you live life fully to the very very inch of it. There's definitely a difference between having like a famous nana versus a regular grandma. I mean, here's someone who has the most expertise and has been in the industry a long time. I mean after my dance shows, you know, you come out the stage door, people are giving flowers and you're talking to your family and there's a whole crowd of people, and then I would go, all right, it's time to go get nana's notes. Go get Nana's notes. Get your arm? How was it? And you'd be like, you know, you could extend your arm a little bit more than that one part couldn't help, But couldn't help that made me better though. You know, no one else's grandparents is going to be like, this is what you need to do tomorrow night to make it better. Every performance, Nana's there with flowers, with flowers and those very nice. Not only a grandmother and a grandchild of relationship, it's a professional relationship. She goes to all her performances and then gives a critique on it, just like we do. You think a critique on their relationship. That's our thing. We give critiques. That's our talent with critical critics, you know. But this was interesting. It's just sort of on a little different level. You can see she respects her grandmother all the way. And you can hear Connie Stevens love for that child too. Oh absolutely, you can absolutely hear. You don't have to be famous. That love that a grandmother has is just magical. Okay, wed To, The producers have handed me the part titles, and here's the first one, Part one, Grandma's Cocoon. What was the song something, Lend me your comb Cookie, lend me your combed. It was so stupid, cook sweetheart, I bought a house with that. It was like number one for years. So cool. What made you want to go into show business. Well, I was lonely as a little girl. My brother went in the army, my dad was on the road, my grandma passed away. So I used to go to the movies all the time for twenty one since, Oh my gosh, that's great, and I just grew up with the idea that I was going to do that. Ah. After I became popular, I went back to Brooklyn and I was so excited to talk to everybody on the block. And there was this lady. Your name was Mazie. Did I ever tell you this, I don't think. So. We had stoops and Mazie. She'd sweep the stoop every day, and if you went near her talk to her, which we did, we teased her. She tried to hit you with the broom. She said, get out of here, you damn kid, Get out of here. Said we'd laugh and run away. So I go home my pictures playing at Radio City Musical, and I see her across. She's an old, old woman, and I go quietly over there and I said, Mazie, do you remember me? And she looked at me and said, get out of here, you damn kid, Get out. That's so funny. Nothing changed, and that's the way life is. Really. That's Brooklyn too, Yeah it is. I wish I could time travel and go back and see you when you were in Brooklyn. I wish you could. I lived in the Italian section and on the next side was the Jewish section, so my grandma spoke Yiddish and the lady next door spoke a little Italian, so they both spoke each other's languages. Yeah, that's very cute. What was your relationship like with your parents and your grandparents, because I know you had an interesting kind of dynamic. I was a daddy's girl and he was a musician, and he went on the road. So I was awarded by court to my grandparents, my Italian grandparents. Consequently, I spoke only Italian to allow us five. My dad, of course, came home off the road many times, and his beautiful packard convertible with his cashmere coat, that's where you got it from. When he came home, all the windows would go up, and the ladies in the neighborhood would say, your father's home, Your father's home, teddy, teddy, And he'd weighed, he just sparkled, you know, he just had it. I almost want to say, he's like the Godfather. He was funny, he was talented. I loved my family very much. I never knew that we were poor till I was about thirty. Right, I was in a cocoon. I feel like you've provided that for at least your grandkids. And I got it from my grandmother. Yeah, so it's been passed down for sure. I feel like I was in such a little cocoon and I felt very safe growing up. Well, that's the way you're supposed to feel. That's what we want for you. You're growing up to be self sufficient so that somebody can't come along and bust your bubble. And you're compassionate, which is my favorite attribute. Very sweet relationship. And she talks about the Brooklyn One side of this street was Jewish, one side of the street was it Tagian. Absolutely, that's the way Brooklyn was. That's how I grew up as well, exactly how I grew exactly. And I think it's still like that. There's a connection between Italian and Jewish grandmothers from families I alway Jewish and Italian. You can intermingle them. You'd never know the difference. From Italian people were your best friends and they felt the same way about Jewish. They knew were always there for each other exactly. You know what. I used to go to my grandmother's have and there was a woman, of course, is what she was talking about. I used to stand by my grandmother's window and watching yet yet a on the street. Everybody hang it up. She think the same thing. She was always cleaning up the street we had, Mrs Sweeney. It was the same thing. There was always somebody. There's always somebody and saying, get out of your kids. I'm telling you you lived in a neighborhood. It wasn't just your building. Most of your shopping wasn't a footstore. A butcher. Absolutely, I remember there was a butcher that used to say to my mother, Mrs Binstein, I got for you a piece flesh. You'll die from eating it. Listen, times have changed. She's still good with her grandkids, and she's giving that sense of security and the what should I say, the cocoonness a grandchild too. Right. Oh, that's a good word. Right, It's a word I made up, but it's not in the dipitionary. Really still the words that I use. Okay, reader, Next up we have part two the last contract player were already So when you were young, the big Hollywood studios used to have contract players. They basically were on contract to perform just for those studios. Right, yeah, I know you were like one of the last ones. I was the last one, the very last one. I have a picture on the wall inside of all the contract players, as you know, Natalie Wood and Carol Linley in the dining room. Yes you saw, yeah, I've seen it. So that meant that you couldn't go work at any other studios. You had to do well, not without permission, right right, right? How did you first get to Hollywood? What was the big break? Well? I sang with three boys and we had a group called the Foremost. We sang four part harmony that was very intricate at the time. Then the boys went on to become the Letterman. I went to high school with them, and they're still popular today. I should have stayed with them. I got discovered from that group by Jerry Lewis. He made me laugh so hard, he always did. It was embarrassing. I was laughing so hard. So I went to meet Jerry Lewis and he said, she's got a funny bone. She's got the part, and Warner Brothers bought my contract and they put me in a series Hawaiian I, which became maybe number two in the world with Bonanza. The other big shure you did was love Boat right, love Boat I was the most frequent guest. I should be rich, but I'm not. They didn't give me any residuals. Warner Brothers so cheap. So I asked for permission to do a film and they said, no, your contract isn't up for another fifty thou dollars or some crazy thing. And I said, keep the money, let me go. That's what I did. Crazy Girl gave away my money. Guests who had their dressing rooms right above me, Sammy Davis, Joey Bishop, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, the rat Pack. They were the most popular people in the all of show business at the time. One day I'm walking by and they're all laughing and stuff, and they said, I think she is I said, she's what they said, shorter than Sammy Davis. So we had a contest and they measured me and I was shorter thant Sammy, so I won. I took the brunt of it. All the time, were they loud yes, until they went to work. What did you do in your breaks? Played basketball? Oh my gosh, because we had a lot of time together, so in between we would get our shots together. That's cool. It was fun. She was a star, absolutely a big star. And I can't imagine that she's shorter than Sammy Davis. She must be my height. I love her that. I love her and basketball. I could never play basketball. I just was a little bit bigger than the ball. I mean, I don't know how she played. I gotta meet her. We have to arrange for us to meet her. She's sweets, she's really sweet, and she's very humble. Um kind of you know, she's not afterwards. She was a big I love Bote. I used to love that. I remember, I do love boat. Yeah no, no, no, no. It was really a nice program. I don't know if you got the feeling that it was a little bit not anger. Regret, regret, a little regret exactly. They did take advantage of her, yes, but I think that they took advantage of everybody in those days. They did. The Water Brothers had that reputation to start with. They were not easy to deal with it. I don't know that any of the studios were particularly kind to their players. That's true. That's true. Listen, everybody has regrets. I should have, I should have, I could have. That's the way life is. The movie stars handed well as the public. I guess we all have nothing major that I could think of, and if I did certain things and I could, I'm not telling me. Well, we have to take a little break now so you can find out how to buy a new mattress, or get a new website, or or the stamps. Very exciting stuff. So hang in there, folks. Okay, guys, we're back Cookie Cookie letting me. I don't remember the tune, but I remember the words. What have they say? Don't give up your day job? That's right, that's right, okay rider. Next up, we have part three, sixteen Reasons Why I Love You. Your most famous song, though, was sixteen res Why I Love You? Why they comb you here? See, you don't think of things like that anymore. We used to think of you the way you comb your hair, the way your tie whatever. Now they go to first base immediately you stay off first base. I wanted to ask you how you met Eddie, how you met my grandfather, because I don't think I ever heard the full story. Well, I was in trouble. I was confused. I was coming out of a divorce with Jim Stacy. I didn't know what I was gonna do. I was going to go to Broadway or stay and do another television show. And I took a job and I played the Plaza Hotel in New York and he had just finished there, so he came to see my show. And he was really kind and sweet, and he was the kind of guy. I'd say, I love the New York pretzels on the street. So he said, can I get you anything? I said, he didn't get me a pretzel, and he came back with ten of them. Oh my gosh, I like that. And he could say he could just open up his mouth and just say five o'clock in the morning. I have often. He was kind. He would give you the shirt office back if you liked it. And he was fun. He was a fun guy. His problem with the drugs, otherwise I'd probably still be with him. Yeah. Mom always said he was very charming, like everybody was charmed by him. He was. He was just the golden boy, you know, he really was. I didn't really know him. That's right, you didn't. He would have made you laugh. He was good at that. Yeah, he was a little strange character. What do you mean by strange? You know, he was from another era and he was from the old country and he acted like it. And I was a shick sah, that's a non Jewish girl. And he say, Eddie, what are you doing with another shick sah? Well, there is like kind of a special club of Eddie Fisher's wife. Yeah, well, never mind, you gotta lay it on me. What's the dating advice? Dating advice? I go with you. I gotta see what he looks like, check his pockets, Nana's approval. Yeah, no, I think you can pick the n ice guy. We've trained you. Well, Well, can we talk about Elvis? Little Bill? Elvis was the best kisser. Oh la la la to hear that. He was the sweetest. He was a lot of fun and we were friends till he died. I think she's holding back, and though he is, it doesn't stop at a kiss. But so on, you don't know, I don't know, nobody knows. You know, there used to be rumors about her and Elvis, So whatever it is, it wasn't you know what I don't care about what's doing in anybody else's bed. I really don't. No listen, what's good for them. It's good for them, that's all. Absolutely. How long was Connie married to Eddie? Long enough to give her two daughters and grandchildren. Eddie Fisher in his day was a big deal. He had songs like, oh my Papa, Oh my Papa, Oh my Papa. I really was a very big Eddie Fisher fan. Everybody was. I had an autography picture of him that hung on my mirror. He had a beautiful voice, he really did. And he had curly hair especially. I hate to say that, I don't want if he were Jewish, he was like you know, that was a big thing. That was a big thing. That was a big deal for the Jews. I mean, how many they were, all Italians, Victor Moone, Frankie Valley all then, not one was a Jew. He was the only Jew, Oh my Papapa, to medful, Oh my Papa. He was so good, Oh my Papa was like a Jewish love song. Reata. Do you remember that? When he was married to Debbie Reynolds and they were like the hottest couple in Hollywood, Alright, they had two children and everything, one of which was Carrie Fisher Harry Fisher, right right, And then all of a sudden he divorced Debbie Reynolds and he married Elizabeth Taylor. Oh my goodness. Mike Todd was married to Elizabeth Taylor, and Eddie Fishing was his best friend. When Mike Todd died, he tried to console Elizabeth Taylor, and that consoling became, I mean to get Elizabeth Taylor to marry you. It was not a big deal. She only had eight or nine my right, absolutely right. And after Elizabeth Taylor left him for Richard Burton, Eddie went from Elizabeth Taylor to Conne But she said he had a problem of drugs. That's a big problem in a relationship. Sweet and kind is nice, but that's that's a big thing. Yeah, And you know what, it was a marriage that didn't work out. But look what she got from it, exactly. She had wonderful children and grandchildren. So that's where heart is at this point. Alright, time for another ad break. What should we do this time? Ellen? You know what, maybe we should better her us And on a horse. I'm lucky reading, I am very very lucky. The first time I ever went to a horse race. I bet on a horse, Barnie's boy. I made a killing my close to a thousand dollars. Peter said, whatever made your bet on Bonnie's boy? I said, your father is Bonnie and your Bonnie's boy. So all that was so killed. That's as good as reason to bet on a horse as any Okay, we're back, reader. How much did you put on that head break? Oh? My goodness, that's it. You know, I went to a a on a bet on horses anymore, I was the only one that famous the a a with a gambling problem. Reading, you needed to see a psychiatrist for that. It's for nothing, and so conscious quants you a lot of money. And I'm back on the headphones, ready to start the rest of the podcast. Okay, reader, let's see what happens. It's really like an enticing novel. Part four. Singing for the Troops with Bob Hope. Oh, Bob Hope was the entertainer of that era, and he used to gather together the top entertainers and bring them to where the troops were and put on a big show. And it was such a shot in the arm for these people who are battle weary it was a wonderful thing for the boys, and I guess Connie Stevens was one of them that volunteered. We're about to find out. I'm like fascinated that you were there, not just alive, but present for so many crazy world events that I can only read about. But let's talk about this. Were are you dating Neil Armstrong? I don't know if that's the word. Of course. I went on the road with Neil and that was really something. You went on tour with Neil Armstrong? Well, I was in Vietnam. Oh so this was a part of the U. S O tour. Yeah, so Neil Armstrong went with you for that to like entertain the troops. Right after he landed on the moon. He went with us. So that was an interesting part of my life. Oh my gosh. Neil and I met in Vietnam and continued our relationship. We got a long, really great So it's kind of a big deal that he performed with Bob Hope. Oh, I went all over the world with Bob. You're my kind of girl. You've got everything, talent, beauty and me. I was in Vietnam many times, Bob, and you're my kind of guy. Well, when you've got it, you've got it. I was in Vietnam and the mood of the country was not happy, and everybody wanted the soldiers to come home, and there was a lot of unrest. So I went out and sang, and I noticed that the whole country was acting differently. As a matter of fact, they caught some Viet com two young guys, and I ran over there and they couldn't have been more than fifteen years old. And I said, what are you doing? What they're fifteen years old? What are you doing? You know, I said, their babies, And of course they shut me up. That was the first time I spoke up, and I wanted us to get out of there, and I could see what was happening politically, but they told me not to attend any more press conferences. And then we came home and I had a different opinion than when I went. And you know, Uncle ralphin my own brother was there, My nineteen year old brother was on clean up. Clean up was the soldiers that went into a village and cleaned up the mess. Whether they had to kill people or get rid of the huts. It was not a nice job, and a lot of Vietnamese people got hurt in that, and Uncle Ralph did that. He was nineteen, and he was so upset, and just because I had stepped foot over there, he felt like he could talk to me about it. And he called me and say, I can't do this. I can't do this anymore. You know, sometimes things happen and you don't believe they're real. I've had a lot of those. Did you feel like you got more into politics and into activism and stuff like that? After? Definitely? I wanted him to come home, and I wanted all those boys in that area, and especially cleanups to come home. They didn't need to do that, and nobody, no government should ask them to do that. Yeah, how about you with your activism, You're amazing. I have it on tape, you know, you speaking to the audience giving your speech about black lives matter, and quietly and uniquely outspoken. That's what you are. I like that. I don't like screaming and yelling. I don't like screaming and yelling either. I think you don't have to. You lead by example, and you lead with your heart and soul, and you make it known who you are, and that's the best you can hope for with people. Very impressive. You see all these things that affect at her. It does change a person's outlook on life. Absolutely, don't you kind of get like when she said, what was your relationship with Neil Armstrong? There's a lot of things left on said doesn't matter, it's her own business what she wants to tell. But there's some depth to the woman. Yes, she's not just another pretty face exactly. These women in that era were portrayed as dumb blondes. But she's got a depth to her. Yes, and she saw a lot about Vietnam and it's a war that that was an unpopular war, very unpopular war. I think the only good thing that came out of that war was mash Okay reader. Next up, it's time for the last part of the show, Part five. There's no business like so business. That's cute, Allen, We're ready. I tried really hard not to go into film and TV. There are some really really big shoes to fill, and it's like it's a lot of pressure. So I majored in political science my first year of college. I was like, I'm going to go into politics, but then the pandemic hit and I was writing a lot, and we were watching movies and I was like, who my kidding, Like, this is what I'm supposed to be doing. I don't know why I'm fighting against it. Like it was like, if you can't beat him, join them. Kind of feeling a little bit because I was like, it's big shoes to fill, but like I'm just gonna walk alongside them anyways and we'll see what happens. But yeah, I would love to work in film and TV forever. I wanted to ask you what your number one advice is for young women going into the industry. Be careful, do you train, pick the best, put your money in the bank, always have some extra cash, keep good people around you, stay close to the family that love you, and work really hard. I heard a story, and you can confirm or deny that You're managers told you to turn down Breakfast at Tiffany's. Turned down Breakfast to Tiffany's, turned down the Lenny Bruce story. She won an Academy Awards, turned down a few others that were pretty important, but something was happening at the time, like headlining in Las Vegas, and I loved it. It's not bad working with Tina Turner and yeah, so do you think things would be just like completely different if you didn't turn down things like that? Yeah? You know, I was up for the Diane Keaton role in The Godfather. Blas said, I'd love to have her in the role. She's perfect, but she's too popular right now, and everybody would go, oh, that's Connie Stevens in that role, and he's right, it would have been wrong. But I would love to have done that role. I'm perfect for it. I didn't know that. That's crazy. We're gonna do something together. To remember that psychic party we went to. Every room of the house had like at least five little tables set up, crystals, palm reading, tarot cards. That's right. I remember going to this one lady. She was in her own private room, so I was like, she must be good, right. She was like, is your grandmother here with you? And I was like, as a matter of fact, she is. And she was like, I just see that you guys are gonna do something together, like writing or a movie or something. And I was like, sold, I'm sold. We're doing something together, absolutely, baby, do anything with you. We like, weirdly work really well together. Yeah, let's do it. Let's do it. Thank you, by sweetheart, Thank you. I love you, love you, love you, love you so much. Yeah, call me later. I'm gonna call you right after this. Okay, bye bye, very nice, very nice, lovely relationship to lovely, very sweet relationship. She wound up Connie in a nice place, surrounded by love, by loving children and grandchildren. And if that's the way that you wind up, that's the best. Exactly. It's a crazy life being in show business. Yes, but we're to look at us. We're so normal and where did show business? We show business because we're on this fabulous podcast. That's right, But listen, I'll pay, it's not their pay. Why Not Call Your Grandmother is a production of I Heart podcast Network and Superb Entertainment. Our lead producers are Shina Ozaki and Nora cb. Executive producers are Narrow Poster, Nikki Eatore, and Anna Stump. Our managing producer is Lindsay Hoffman. Mastering by Bahed Fraser. A theme song is by Anna Stump and Hamilton's Lighthouser. Listen to Call Your Grandmother on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts, and don't forget leave us a glowing five star review. You want, pick on a couple of old ladies and give us less than five stars, would you. We're not getting any younger, but leave us ere we you and we might get more famous. M.