MM
Tell me about Vaudeville. A little bit.

LS
About what?

MM
Well, I'd like to sort of tie it into Lord Buckley. Lord Buckley did a lot of Vaudeville.

LS
Oh.

MM
And what was Vaudeville like?

LS
What was what like?

MM
Vaudeville.

LS
Oh, for me it was magic, magic. Vaudeville - to be able to get out on that stage with Benny Goodman practicing his scales and me doing, [imitates James Cagney] "Hey, you dirty rat. I'm going to give it to you just like you gave it to my brother." [regular voice] You know. And him practicing his scales at The Paramount Theatre. Peggy Lee was the vocalist. Art Lund was the male singer. And who was the ? Louis Jordan. And I'm on the bill with them.

MM
Wow.

LS
So, it was magic. I mean, I quit school. I never finished high school. You know I went to high school for twenty minutes. And when I got the job at The Paramount Theatre, way back, I said to my mother, "I'm through conjugating verbs, mom." [laughs] Yeah, and she went to the high school, andnd she was in tears and she said to the principle, "Don't let him go. Don't let -" And the principle said, "Mrs. Storch, if that's the way he's earning his living and learning what he's going to do in life, it's OK." And I never heard talk like that and I never went back. So, my life was - learning was in Vaudeville. But, I was lucky I was thrown in at that early age.

MM
Well, what, what did Vaudeville due for the people that came to see it?

LS
Pardon me?

MM
I know Vaudeville was entertaining but it was - how did Vaudeville fit into the culture, you know?

LS
Oh, well, it was very important. It was important for the artists. You don't see it around anymore today. And that audience that we had in the '30s and up to the '50s, they were, they were very lucky. They got to see Sinatra, Sammy Davis. Their idols on that stage four times a day. And it was a magic world. And I think some of them realized that, you know, how great it was, you know, the gift of it. Well, at least I did anyway.

MM
Was it a hard life, Vaudeville?

LS
No, I didn't think so. Of course, I was very young, and I didn't mind getting in the back of the bus with the band doing one nighters in Vaudeville. I loved it. Some, some people complained about one nighters in the bus but I thought it was ‘æagic time.

And, of course, again, I was very young. And to hit all of these various cities and - to get to Boston and have Frankie Fontaine, in a nightclub - I was in a nightclub - say to me, "You're going to tell some Irish jokes aren't you?" "Why?" "Well, you're in Boston. Don't you know about?" And Frankie Fontaine, in 1944 - yeah, 19- he wrote out some Irish jokes for me to tell. [uses Irish dialect] Because I could do the Irish dialect. [regular voice] And he said, "If you don't tell Irish jokes in Boston, you're in trouble." [uses Irish dialect] Well, don't you know, I was out there telling, telling stories about Timmy Dafferty and all the boys in Galway don't you know. And Father Graceson - [regular voice] And so, I learned - wasn't that generous of Frankie Fontaine, you know, to pass that information to me? And the people I met, in this profession, unbelievable, you know. And so it's been a magic ride really.

MM
Yeah. And how did you meet Lord Buckley? Was that in Vaudeville?

LS
[imitates Claude Rains] Lord Buckley, I was invited to a party or something and His Lordship was there, you know. And His Lordship could sound more like Claude Rains than Claude Rains, you know. And you - [regular voice] And he opened his act at The Strand Theater - I saw him first there - he'd come out smoking a cigarette [pantomimes Buckley smoking] - great clouds of smoke - and he'd say to the audience [imitating Claude Rains/Lord Buckley], "You're dying for a cigarette, aren't you?" You know [regular voice] and they were [laughs]. But His Lordship got away with murder. And I thought he was very funny and that's how I first saw him and met him.

MM
Now, how did you meet him? Did you go backstage or you were on the same bill?

LS
You know, I can't remember the actual "Hello, how are you? I'm Lord Buckley" "And I'm Larry Storch." But then I remember things that happening at his house. He lived on 70th Street between West End Avenue and Broadway. Yes. And he was fearless. He - I remember he had a beautiful wife, Elizabeth. And she had been a ballet dancer. And she was exotic. And I paid her once ten dollars for a ballet lesson. And His Lordship sat there, in a chair, with a glass of wine, watching me try to do Fouetté in ballet. She called it "Ballet For Life." And, at the end of an hour, he said, "Elizabeth, give Larry back his ten dollars, He'll never make it, you know."

And then he was fearless too. He - he threw a party one night for all of the - for a lot of the performers in the Barnum and Bailey Circus, which was downtown. And over they came: the bearded lady, the fat man, the strong man. And he had a guitar player and a piano man there. And, at eleven o'clock - and there was snow piled that high. At eleven o'clock that night [uses annoyed old person voice] voices came from upstairs, from the back, "Quiet down there! We're people, we're trying to work hard and we need our sleep and your -" [regular voice] And Buckley, dressed in, in shorts, captain's hat and, what do they call that? [uses Claude Rains voice] A little tie, Bermuda shorts, you know. And he'll, never, "Not while there's breath in my body. We won the war I shall holler as loud as I want! And have a good time. Wish you could join us." [regular voice] And, sure enough, twelve, or a little, you know, fifteen minutes later there's a knock on the door. And Buckley, "We're the police open up please." And in they came. They said, "Listen fellows." And Buckley had a glass of wine in each hand. And he closed the door. He slammed the door and he said, "We'll quiet down but you're not leaving until we show our appreciation for what you've done for us." And the fellow said, "Now -" "You're not getting out." Well, one of the cops said, "Listen, I just think -" And they both took a sip of champagne and we all parted on great, great terms. But I never saw that - I never thought I would see that happen, you know. And we were making a racket. But Lord Buckley was the only one who would ever think of a thing like that you can be sure of that.

LS
And then I took him up to Grossinger's, that great Jewish - it was our answer - the Catskill's answer to Las Vegas, Grossinger's. And he - I drove him up in a convertible. Elizabeth dressed as a Chinese grandeur, you know. And Buckley in his tuxedo ready to get out on the stage. And, in those days, I'm talking 1947, the audiences were still - a lot of the people where from eastern Europe, Poland, Russia. And so [uses eastern European dialect] and so the accent was very strong with those people, you understand what I'm saying? [regular voice] So Buckley came out onstage at Grossinger's and he said, "Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen. May I say this, before we lose ourselves in fun. That - " And from the front row you could hear, [uses eastern European dialect] "Oy! English!" [regular voice] You know - a lot of his stuff was going to sail right over their heads. But when I heard that "Oy, English." And so, he had a very difficult time that night at Grossinger's. And we got into the car to drive home, Buckley seething. He said, "I went down the toilet didn't I? Don't spare my feelings, Lord Storch. Down the toilet." And so we passed a bar called the "Never Sink Inn." "Stop the car, Lord Storch! Let's see the action here. Who would name a place -" And he said, "Elizabeth, you ahead of me. Tell them I'm going to make a speech." She said, "Of course, Richard. About what?" "Communism in China. Chao En Lai and Mao Tse Tung and the Villains. Tell them that. I'll be in." And she said - she walked in, I followed her, she said, "Quiet all of you, Lord Richard is here, Lord Buckley, and he's going to - he has something to say to you all." And these guys are apple pickers [uses hick dialect] You understand what I'm talking about? These guys are all farm boys up there. [regular voice] And Lord Richard came in and he said - he made a speech about Communism in China. [uses hick dialect] These guys, "I don't know a damn thing your talking about." [regular voice] And Buckley said, "You idiot! Why don't you? It's because you -" [regular voice] This guy says, [uses hick dialect] "I may be an idiot and my wife too but your ain't going to tell us." [regular voice] And they came after us slowly. And Buckley said, "They can smell fear, Lord Storch, back out slowly." And I couldn't believe it a ??? And we backed - and don't you know they came running after us, you know, and parked the car and we made a getaway. But imagine that. We could've - but with Lord Buckley you could never be sure where the night was going to end. [laughs] You know, I look back at all of that stuff, how did I get into it? And wasn't I lucky I was part of it, you know?

But, Buckley was a character nobody like him. [uses Claude Rains voice] And he could speak to you in this dialect and [uses black dialect] the next minute, Jim, he could come on, he could come on like Louis Armstrong, you know, what I'm talking about. [Larry scats] [regular voice] And he was amazing that way. He could switch from one character to another.

MM
You went up to Grossinger's. Did you get him the job there?

LS
Oh, no, he was booked.

MM
He was booked.

LS
He'd already been booked, yes. But, he prevailed upon me to drive him up in a convertible. And - which I did.

MM
Now, when - after the gig, which I guess didn't go so good at Grossinger's, yeah. Was he sort of underlying angry? Was that why you guys stopped?

LS
Oh, yeah. Yeah, there was no, there was no doubt that he was seething. "Down the toilet, ay, Lord Storch? Don't spare my feelings, Lord Storch!", you know. So, yes he was angry.

MM
Did you see him in different moods?

LS
Yes, well, for the most part, you know, he could be up, eyes sparkling and all that sort of thing, you know. Yes, he - when - yes, I'd seen him in good moods certainly. But I'd seen him in, from one end of the spectrum to the other. So, but his company was always exhilarating. You never knew what was going to happen. On his wedding night, at the Astor Hotel - does anybody remember the Astor Hotel? It was right next to The Paramount Theater. The Paramount Theater? On 40 - what is it - 43rd, no, 44th and Broadway. On his wedding night, the story goes, it was after, after Pearl Harbor and early 1941 and there was some - it was his wedding night. And in the lobby there were two Marines with medals on them. And it was quite late but Buckley couldn't contain himself and he yelled out, "You are two of the biggest bleep bleeps I've ever seen in my life." And they said, "What did you say?" "You heard me loud and clear. You're two of the biggest bleeps bleeps I've ever seen." Well, the pummeled him. They - and they beat him up. So, I said to him, "Why did do that, Richard? Didn't you know that was dangerous? I mean, let alone unpatriotic. But didn't you think it was dangerous to call two Marines what you called them?" And he said, "I wanted to see the looks on their faces." [laughs] And he was willing to go through all that just to touch - to see what the reaction of these two Marines would be. So, you see, Lord Buckley - he walked a very fine line.

MM
It seems almost like you can't separate the entertainer from the offstage person.

LS
It would seem so, yes. And it's true in Lord Buckley's case. Lord Buckley was really Lord Buckley on and off the stage. You could take him right from the stage and put him on the street and some of the same - some of his act would carry over into the street. And, so, yes, Buckley was a - right from the street to the stage and back again into private life. He was marvelous that way.

MM
Was he kind of an anomaly in show business at all?

LS
He was one of a kind is that what you mean? Oh, yeah. Nobody before like him or after. They said Lenny - they talked about Lenny Bruce and some of the other fellows but, no, nobody was like Buckley, not before or after that I've seen.

MM
Do you have any sense of - I mean, did you ever have a sense that you were talking to the real guy or was it always this - or -

LS
Oh, yes, but he was mostly like that in - that I've known him. He was well spoken. And he would seem to be very well educated.

MM
He actually wasn't. He - we think that maybe he went through the eighth grade, maybe through high school. But he wasn't - is that kind of an amazing thing?

LS
Oh, all the more credit to him. Just - not to really have gone to school, you know, no education at all. And to come out thinking like that. I suppose there are other people like that but it always stops me in my tracks. I like that. Very attractive.

MM
Could you again describe him coming onstage and the whole thing with the cigarette?

LS
Well, he would stand there at the curtain. "Here he is Lord Buckley." And he'd stand at the curtain and he'd pose for two or three seconds [inhales like he is smoking] a big puff of that cigarette, you know. And he'd walk on the stage blowing smoke out. But he could pose there with - six feet three, he is a very tall man. Six three, six four and he'd pose there for a second and then stroll to the microphone, blowing that smoke all over - clouds of it. And then off with his line, you know, "You're dying for a cigarette, aren't you?" And off he'd go.

MM
And then what act would follow that when he would do - what acts did you see?

LS
What acts did I - ? Well, it could have been any of the big bands in those days.

MM
No, I'm sorry. What did he do?

LS
Oh, he would - oh, he would - he was fearless. He'd walk into the audience saying, "I want you up onstage. And you. You'll do very well. Up on stage, all of you. Come on now, don't dally. Here we go. Up." And he'd get them up like that. [uses commanding voice] "You! You will work out wonderfully. On stage." And he'd get all these [uses hick dialect] people up onstage. You know, they was glad to be there but they was a little scared. [regular voice] And then he would change his voice. He would put them in front and do a ventriloquist act with all of them, you know. And dialects ranging from, from black to southern - anything that he wanted. And it was hysterical stuff.

MM
What was it about him - I mean, you said it was pretty unique: nobody before him, nobody after him.

LS
Well, he had a kingdom. If you were involved - say, you would be Lord Storch, so he had a kingdom and he would - if he was angry with you he'd say, "You are out of the kingdom." And that was terrible. "You are out of the kingdom." Or "Welcome to the kingdom." You know that sort of thing. And it was funny, I mean, every, every Vaudevillian, everybody who hung around with him knew that - knew what the kingdom was, you know. So, it was very funny really. He was Camelot before Camelot, you know. [laughs]

MM
How about this notion of - did he ever mention, did he ever call it "The Royal Court"? when you were there?

LS
Yeah, he called it - yes, it was The Royal Court, certainly. Yes.

MM
Princes, princesses -

LS
Yes, you know, Lady, Lady - his wife was Lady Buckley.

MM
Now what about her? Tell me what you remember about her.

LS
She was a blonde lady. Very elegant and very beautiful. And into ballet. She really - and she was a good ballet teacher too. She tried her best with me but it didn't take unfortunately.

MM
How about her personality?

LS
Who's? Her personality? Well, you know, when Lord Buckley was around there was very little room for anybody else's personality to expand. So, it was mainly Lord Buckley in a room with people. And he - he wasn't "His Lordship" for nothing. So, he was the king.

MM
Did you ever have the feeling of what, what motivated him, what was his - ?

LS
No, I never - it was exuberance - he had - he could go on for hours on a tick with - the energy that he expended was enormous. And I could never get over that. He could keep going. And he was funny all the time when he wanted to be, you know.

MM
Did you ever see him in a dark mood?

LS
Oh, yes. I - he wanted to borrow some money and I don't think - I don't think I was able to come up with enough of it. And he, "Lord Storch, you stand - you're skating thin ice, Lord Storch. You know I need this desperately! And you don't come up enough. And you know ???" That sort of thing. But, but he always threw the kingdom in, 'Lord Storch, you're skating on thin ice."

MM
How about - Lord Buckley very early in his act incorporated black dialect, yeah?

LS
What dialect?

MM
Well, he would incorporate black dialect, jazz dialect.

LS
Oh, yeah. And he could go right from, right from that and [uses black dialect] they called it going into the Nazareth. [regular voice] He did something Jesus of Nazareth. And [black dialect] he'd talk about Jesus of Nazareth - he could talk in Louie Armstrong voice. [regular voice] And going right from a sermon, that you might hear in church, [black dialect] right down to, "Wait a minute, ?? we're talking now, you understand what I'm talking about?" [regular voice] And he could go from one to the other [snaps his fingers] like that. Which was captivating, you know. Audiences were knocked out by that.

MM
Why do you think he used the black accent?

LS
Because he did it so well and, coming from him, it was the last thing in the world you'd expect after he's been preaching in that very high class Claude Rains [black dialect] to come suddenly on down to the street. You understand, you know what I'm talking about?" And he could do all that jive. You understand what I - ? [regular voice] So, that was, that was an eye opener.

MM
It was also unusual for a white performer to be doing black dialect.

LS
Yes, I'd never seen that on the stage before, you know. A white performer doing a black dialect onstage. [Irish dialect] We did Irish and all that, you know. [regular voice] But nobody would dare venture into that territory. Not in those days.

RM
Did he take any heat for that, I mean?

LS
No, no.

RM
It was cool.

LS
Yeah. Nobody would dare give His Lordship heat about something as funny as that.

MM
Do you think it had any social significance, his act?

LS
No, not really, except that - just some old timers, like myself, who remember him. But, no, I don't think - there was no television in those days and so it was strictly you and me in a small room. So, it didn't carry any further than, than the room or a theater.

MM
Can you see that - did you think he had any influence on the comedians that came after him?

LS
They may have admired, admired him but nobody could do the sort of thing that Buckley did.

MM
Now, one person told me that they felt like he kind of almost invented - when he started doing those jazz dialect stories, like "The Nazz" and "Jonah and The Whale" that he kind of - they felt that he invented this almost - it was almost like you were watching a little film. Because he could switch characters, he could switch scenes - does that ring true?

LS
Oh, yes, yes he did. He was a quick change artist with dialects, he was.

MM
And that was unusual?

LS
Oh, yeah. Usually - we used to say, "And now, ladies and gentlemen, here comes Jimmy Cagney. [imitates Jimmy Cagney] 'You dirty rats, I'm going, you know' [regular voice] But, we first make a, 'And here he is now -' But, Buckley was bang, bang, bing, bing, bing, you know, from one to the other. Eye opener. You had to pay attention to His Lordship.

MM
There was another thing some people have said was that sometimes he would whip through things really almost too fast.

LS
That's possible, yes.

MM
Yeah, yeah. And, did - you saw him do his hip material? "The Nazz"?

LS
Yes, yes.

MM
What was your impression of that?

LS
Oh, it was hysterical stuff. I mean - and sometimes it was - it got ahead of the audience. I mean, older audiences ala Grossinger's [black dialect] Talking about, you know, Louie Armstrong to a [regular voice] people who were - back in those days, back in '47. Excuse me, did I say "'47"? Yes, yeah, it was -

WS
Is that about the time he switched over and started doing the black dialect?

LS
Oh, no, he was doing that all the time. He was able to do that as far back as I knew him.

MM
Some people have said that, that he actually - it was after the war that he would do this stuff onstage. Before the war he usually told those stories in the dressing room. When do you think you met him, do you remember?

LS
I must have met him in '46, '46, yes. When - after the war. In '46, about then. And that's when I met him.

WS
He did USO tours during the war.

LS
He did?

WS
I think that's what they say.

MM
Yeah.

LS
Oh, no, I didn't know anything about that. Did he serve in the Army or the Navy?

MM
[laughs] I don't think so. He was born in 1906 so he would have been, when the war - well, they were taking people in their 30s and 40s weren't they?

LS
Oh, no, he would have been much too old for the - I think.

MM
Now, Larry, in your opinion, and I don't mean this in a derogative sense, but was, was he sane?

LS
[laughs] Yes, I think so. I think he was, yeah. But that's a very good question, "Was he sane?". I think His Lordship was, yes. Well, he - I mean, he made sense when he wanted to make sense, you know. So, he could, he could tow the mark when, when he had too. But he was lucky to have Elizabeth around with him, I can tell you. "Richard!" And then she could, you know - it was one of those things, "Go to your room, Richard, you know, behave!" You know, she was the only, she was - he listened to her.

MM
People have also said that he had a tremendous ability to make people feel welcome and warm and -

LS
Oh, yes, yes, really he did. I mean, there was a big - I mean, when those two police officers walked in, you know, and he slammed the door in back of them, "Now, gentlemen, don't argue. We appreciate all you've done." So, yes, he could make you feel welcome.

MM
Hey, Larry, could I ask you to actually tell that whole circus story again?

LS
Which one?

MM
The one about, you know, making too much noise with the circus people. Because I think we can do it better with the microphone on your tie now. You just set the scene and -

LS
What do you call the band around the - ascot?

WS
Bolo tie?

RM
Cravat?

MM
Cravat

LS
Cravat, yeah, cravat. Well, a scarf or something and a captain's hat. Well, do you want about the?

MM
Yeah.

RM
Start at the beginning.

MM
Yeah, let's do that.

LS
Well, His Lordship was fearless. He - I remember he threw a party for all of the people who worked in the circus. Barnum and Bailey's down here - Madison Square Garden. And everybody arrived after the, after the show and there was whiskey going and he even had - there was the fat lady and the bearded lady and the clowns, a couple of clowns, and they all showed up in his apartment down here. Lovely big room between Riverside Drive and Broadway. And we were making a lot of noise, I suppose and the whisky was flowing pretty freely. And about ten thirty, or so, from upstairs people where yelling down. [uses old person's voice] "Quiet down there, we're working people and we need our sleep! And ha-ha-ha-ha, bearded rabble - we'll call the cops!" [uses Claude Rains voice] And Lord Buckley rushed out into the snow, in Bermuda shorts, captain's hat saying, "We'll never quiet down. We won the war and we shall do whatever we please while there's breath in my body!" [regular voice] And off he went. Well, fifteen minutes later, ten minutes later, a knock on the door, "Open up please. We're the police." Buckley, two glasses of champagne, behind the door, "Open the door, Elizabeth." Elizabeth opens the door and Buckley kicked the door shut and the cops were trapped. They were locked into the party. And Buckley said, "Ah, gentlemen, we've been expecting you. We appreciate all you've done and all you're doing for the city. And you're not leaving until you've had a sip of champagne to show our gratitude." Well, the cops picked - they knew they were up against a screwball who would, you know, who wasn't going to take no for an answer. So they, "Alright, just a sip." And they took a sip apiece. And they said, "Fine, fine." And he shook hands and we all applauded the cops for showing up. But, but, Buckley he never quieted down. He never quieted down. And so, you never knew what was going to happened with Lord Buckley, you know. I mean, that was a sample that scared me. [laughs] But, I loved being with him.

MM
Was he inspirational at all to you?

LS
No, no, I didn't take inspiration from him. My - I wish there was something I could say that I took from him, borrowed from him, you know, in his act. But, no, there was nothing that could - I would liked to have, yeah.

MM
I don't - because, I agree with you, I don't know anybody - I mean, there are comedians, these days, who have the kind of energy that he had. Like Robin Williams I think.

LS
Oh, yeah. Jim Carey, Robin Williams, you're quite right. It was a different sort of energy that he - he could just keep going and never stop, you know. And it wasn't a schoolboy [makes goofy sounds] kind of thing. No, it was controlled energy but he could keep going.

MM
How about his stage presence?

LS
Oh, my god, he was loaded with that. I mean, if anything else - if everything else failed there was his presence onstage. I mean, he'd stand there smoking a cigarette and have a look at you for five or six, you know, or whatever it was he did. But, he was very fast with dialogue. He, he could make up - it was like foam. He could - it would come out. Anyway, he was all, all talk and all chatter. But good chatter, very funny stuff.

MM
We talked with Robin Williams and he said, he kind of reminded him of almost of a Noel Coward character.

LS
Robin Williams said that about him?

MM
About Lord Buckley.

LS
Yes, yes. Yeah, there was a lot of that in him too.

RM
Did he ever discuss his persona with you?

LS
No.

RM
About how he derived it or -

LS
No, no, no, never.

MM
Did you know him towards the end of his life as well?

LS
No, no, I never did. Finally after a number of years I went my way and he, you know, I went to the west coast to live. And I think His Lordship stayed here in New York. I'm not sure. But, his son came backstage. I met his son one time. I think his name - I'm not sure what his name was. But, I did meet his son.

MM
He has two sons. Richard Buckley, Jr.

LS
That's the one I met.

MM
There's another one Fred Buckley.

LS
Richard is the one I met.

MM
When would that have been, do you remember?

LS
Oh, no, no, I can't remember. But, I was working a theater or something or some club and I invited him. And he came to see the show. I can't remember where it was. But I did meet him.

MM
What's the most lasting thing that you remember about him?

LS
His nerve. His nerve. That astounded me, you know. To see him ??? - or to see him say to two - or to hear about some of his capers, you know. That caper in the Astor Hotel with the Marines, you know [laughs] you have to be crazy to or mad to do a thing like that. And metals they had, you know. They'd been in every battle in Guadalcanal.

MM
I almost get the impression that if he hadn't been an entertainer that he might have been a criminal or something.

LS
He might have been a great con man, yes. Yeah, that's true.

MM
We have a, we have an episode of him on "You Bet Your Life."

LS
Oh, really.

MM
And Groucho looks at him and says, "You look like a very wealthy and successful confidence man."

LS
Is that right? [laughs] Oh, that's funny.

MM
Does that ring true?

LS
Sure, yes.

MM
Well, now, he borrowed money from you?

LS
Oh, I didn't - he didn't borrow it. I gave it, you know. He said he would pay it back but nobody really expected - in those days it was, you know, we were really scrambling sometimes. And so I didn't expect His Lordship, you know, to, "Lord Storch, I owe you such and such. And here it is back again, you know." It was forgotten when they - I had money.

MM
I think Irwin Corey also said, he said Buckley wanted - asked him for five hundred dollars once for an overcoat. And he gave it to him and then - yeah, he said the same thing - you just - you didn't even think about it again.

LS
He was better - His Lordship was better at raising money. When he got the money he'd, he'd spend it on things that I don't suppose you - five hundred dollars for an overcoat? Now, come on, you know. I mean, there are ways to save, you know, enough to go all the way. So, His Lordship wasn't really very good at handling money I would say. But, he was great at raising the money. If he was broke he could - everybody would come through for His Lordship, you know.

RM
Do you remember hearing about his passing?

LS
Yes, I did.

RM
How was that for you?

LS
Well, I was on the west coast when, when I was told that His Lordship has passed. And it was a sad moment for me because I knew it was the end of an era. There goes that phrase again but it was - he was an era. And it was the end of an era when His Lordship passed. And I was sorry to see him go really.

MM
When you heard he died did you, did you think back on your times together?

LS
Oh, yeah, yeah. You couldn't help it but think about the parties that he threw. And being thrown out of the kingdom. And then if you've done something that you liked, "You're back in the kingdom again, Lord Storch, you're troubles are over. I'm looking after everything, Lord Storch. I'm in the driver's seat, you know that, you know." And that sort of madness would make your day. So, I am very grateful that I knew His Lordship Lord Buckley.

MM
[to Roger Mexico] Do you want to ask your favorite question, Roger?

RM
How did Lord Buckley most touch your heart? ???

LS
Well, I tell you. Buckley never really touched your heart. He inspired you in a way. That's almost the same thing. But, His Lordship could be inspirational. He did some dialects that I thought were really wonderful that I took myself, you know. [uses Claude Rains voice] It was a Claude Rains sort of thing, you know. [regular voice] but coming from Buckley, "Ah, that's the way it's done, you know." So, I took - and then, of course, his, his impression of a black [Louie Armstrong voice] well, you know, Louie Armstrong, you know, coming like that, you know. I did that onstage Louie. [regular voice] I got it from him, more than Louie. That's the way it's done. They way Louie should sound, you know. [Louie Armstrong voice] Jet, zot! [regular voice] So, yes, he touched me that way.

RM
Why is it, that you think, that Buckley never crossed over into television? Being such a great character man. Would that have ever translated into a series or -

LS
I have a feeling that Lord Buckley was such a - you might not be able to control Lord Buckley where television is such a controlled [imitates a TV producer] "Alright, boys -" [regular voice] And Lord Buckley wasn't controllable for television. But, there were a lot of artists like that in those days who television would have stopped them in their tracks. They would never have - he didn't have the discipline is what I mean for television. That's the word, "the discipline." But he would have been, he would have been some character I can tell you. They would have been talking about him for a long time.

MM
He only lived to be 54.

LS
Is that all?

MM
Yeah, yeah, he died when he was 54 in 1960. You can imagine what would have happened - say he had the discipline - I mean, or, you know, he had stuck around another ten or twenty years. What do you think might have happened to him?

LS
He might have been - if he had - he could have been successful in a TV show, yes, I think he could have. Certainly there are a lot of character actors running around and have been running around on TV. And he would have fit in as a good character actor I think. I don't know if you could have written a whole show about Lord Buckley. You might have. You could have, yes. And he would have been a ratchety old, a mean old grandfather or something. I'm trying to be in the casting business now. I don't know what he would have done. But he would have been successful I think.

WS
Did you ever see him in his role in "We're Not Married"?

LS
No.

WS
That Marilyn Monroe movie. Yeah, he's got about a five minute part in that movie.

LS
Really?

WS
He plays a - the station manager, I believe, at a radio station.

LS
Oh, I would like to have seen that.

WS
It's around.

MM
He's in a scene with Fred Allen and Ginger Rogers. And - but he, he - it looks like they told him not to be himself. He doesn't, he has no life in him.

LS
Fred Allen [imitates Fred Allen] was my favorite comedian. I don't think Fred Allen would have had any patience with His Lordship. I - Fred Allen was my favorite radio comedian. [regular voice] I loved him.

RM
Larry, you worked in Burlesque as an MC.

LS
Yes.

RM
Can you talk just a little bit about that world? And what it was like to be alive and functioning in that world.

LS
Well, I got a job up in Albany called "Wally's Gay '90s" in Albany. And when I got up there - and I had booked myself as "The Rembrandt of Impressions." Because I was able to do [imitates James Mason] today it would be James Mason, you know. But way back then it was Ronald Coleman, you know, Ronald Coleman. And John Barrymore was [imitates John Barrymore] I'm Frank Walden, you know. [regular voice] And this is rough, tough joint I'm talking about. Wally had striptease dancers. And I would come out in between acts and I'd say, "Here he comes now Ronald Coleman, you know." And these guys would say, "Hey, the girls! Never mind Ronald Coleman." And I was "The Rembrandt of Impressions" and after about three nights the - his name I think was Wally Green. I'm not sure. Jake Green or something like that. But the owner said, "Hey, Larry, come here. My customers don't know who the bleep ah, Rembrandt is. You're fired." And he fired me after about two or three nights. Because who's Ronald Coleman and who's this, you know. These guys wanted to see, "Here she is, Zora, you know - Zorita and her Pythons." You know. That sort of thing "The Atomic Blonde. Here she is now. Dixie -" You know, there's girls wearing a band aid for a, you know, a costume. And here I am "Rembrandt" so, I got fired ??? But that didn't bother me.

MM
Lord Buckley evidently did some Burlesque too. Can you see him -

LS
Well, Burlesque, I tell you - again, Frankie Fontaine - I worked a Burlesque house in Boston. It was the Crawford House. And it was - Leticia was the star of our show. And she was a striptease dancer - they were all - and here was Frankie Fontaine giving me Irish stories, you know, to survive in Boston. So, it was a wonderful life, I thought. I thought it was magic, you know. I was only eighteen or nineteen. So I thought it was magic and it was.

MM
You were too young to - you didn't participate in the Walkathons. I think they were gone by the time you a teenager.

LS
The what?

MM
The Walkathons.

LS
No.

MM
Yeah. Buckley was an MC at the Walkathons.

LS
Oh. Did I hear somewhere that at the Walkathons he swung for a rope and he would drop eggs. I'm not sure if it was Buckley or Red Skelton. I don't want, you know, I don't want a law suit on my hands now. I'm not sure which of the two of those guys did that.

MM
It was Buckley.

LS
Was it?

MM
Yeah.

LS
And he would drop raw eggs on the contestants down below, you know. Keep things moving His Lordship did. Now, when you ask me, "Was he crazy? Yeah, I mean, only a crazy guy would swing from a rope dropping raw eggs on the contestants. I wish I'd thought of that. [laughs]

RM
Do you ever think we'll see Lord Buckley's type again?

LS
No. You may, you may. But that era won't ever come back again, I don't think. Four shows a day or nightclubs. And the kids today, they don't know - the young people they don't know what they missed to be able to see Sinatra or Nat Cole or any of the great comics of the - Jack Benny, Bob Hope, you know, four times - they'll never see that again.

MM
Would you put Lord Buckley in that great category?

LS
No. No. No. He didn't have the patience or the - it wasn't - his comedy wasn't the sort that engulfed - that swept over the country like a Jack Benny or a Bob Hope, that sort of thing, you know. But, no, he didn't - he would have appealed to a select few.

MM
Roger?

RM
I just wonder - if Lord Buckley came into the room - pranced into the room. What would you say to him?

LS
[uses Claude Rains voice] Don't get up. It's only me, Lord Buckley. I just want to wish you all the very best from you know who. Eh? Let he goes. Off you go!

RM
Yes, yes, yes.

MM
Do you have any more questions, Walt?

WS
Just - one of things that appears on his records in a lot of his routines is this idea of love, you know. Loving everybody, love your neighbor, you know, preaching a message of love. Did you see that in any of his - your interactions with him?

LS
Lies. All lies! No, I think, yes, Buckley had it in him to be, to be a lovable guy, you know. I do suppose he had his tender moments, you know. Elizabeth and the kids. He must have had tender moments, he has two kids doesn't he? And daughter? I mean there must be some tenderness somewhere.

WS
We've always speculated that if he'd lasted to the '60s if this love and flower power and all that - that he would have suddenly had a revival and been popular during the late '60s, mid '60s.

LS
Well, he might have changed. I hope not. I hope Lord Buckley is the same up in heaven as he is down here.

MM
I have one last question. It's kind of related to what Roger said, which is - if you did - if Lord Buckley did appear to you again. What would you say to him?

LS
Oh, Your Lordship, I want to thank you for all the exciting moments, the exciting times that we spent together, you know. Hair raising times is a better word for it than "exciting times". The hair raising times I spent with Lord Buckley is what I would remember. And his performances too. He was dynamite onstage, I must say. Although Grossinger's, don't, don't, don't even think about that. But for the most part His Lordship was dynamite onstage. You'd never stop talking about him.

MM
He probably would like that too, yeah.

LS
I hope so. [talking to Buckley] Hey, Richard, Your Lordship.