Wall: Ruby a curious figure

By Jerry Fink

Thursday, Nov. 20, 2003 | 8:33 a.m.

Breck Wall remembers sitting cross-legged beside his friend Jack Ruby, in front of a stage, staring up at presidential candidate John F. Kennedy at a political rally overflowing with fans.

It was in Dallas, in the summer of 1960.

The handsome, dashing young Democrat from Massachusetts was in the throes of a hot campaign against seasoned Republican Richard Nixon, and Kennedy knew if he was going to win he had to court Southern votes.

"Jack and I went to the convention center to hear him speak, but there weren't any seats left so we were told to go down front and sit on the floor," Wall, who will turn 69 Friday, recalled.

Wall was 28 at the time and had recently begun producing and starring in the revue "Bottoms Up" at Adolphus Hotel on Main Street in downtown Dallas. Wall would bring "Bottoms Up" to Las Vegas in 1964. Currently it is at Flamingo Las Vegas.

Ruby, who was 52, owned the strip club The Carousel, which was down the street from the Adolphus.

One of their common bonds was they both were great admirers of Kennedy.

"We both loved him," Wall said. "We talked about him and Jacqueline all the time. They were such a cute couple. She was stunning, he was handsome. We were just ending the era of Eisenhower and Truman, who were old and ugly.

"Kennedy brought a whole new look to the White House. Everything changed. All of a sudden there was a breath of fresh air."

Three years later, like a Greek tragedy, the idol who towered above Wall onstage would be killed by an assassin in Dallas -- and the ally who was sitting on the floor beside him would be in jail, charged with killing the alleged killer.

Wall is one of several people who were interviewed on tape for "Peter Jennings Reporting: The Kennedy Assassination -- Beyond Conspiracy," an ABC special that will air tonight at 9 on KTNV Channel 13.

Wall was interviewed in Dallas last month by Lynda Bird Johnson-Robb, daughter of Lyndon Johnson.

Days before the 40th anniversary of Kennedy's assassination, Wall discussed the events that have forever linked him to one of the most tragic episodes in American history.

It all began with "Bottoms Up."

"At first it was called 'Shoestring Revue' because we didn't have any money," Wall said.

"Bottoms Up" debuted in the summer of 1959 at the Adolphus, which had a showroom that featured such entertainment as Abbott and Costello, Sophie Tucker and ventriloquist Edgar Bergen during the fall and winter months.

"We were such a huge success that the hotel canceled the fall season of entertainers and we stayed there year-round," Wall said.

Ruby's club was a block or so from the Adolphus. Nearby was a restaurant, the Copper Cow.

"We both ate there all the time and we would meet at the cash register," Wall said. A friendship grew out of the casual encounters.

"He was a character, funny," Wall said. "But he was a hard ball. He didn't really have any class. He just got lucky with his club and made a lot of money.

"He was the closest thing to a hood I ever saw. He was a street thug."

Ruby, a native of Chicago, fancied himself a gangster.

"He dressed like one, always wearing a felt hat, and he talked like one, using Chicago slang," Wall said. "He wanted to be a member of the mob, but he wasn't."

Wall described Ruby as a character out of a Damon Runyon book.

"But with me, he let his hair down and was a nice guy," Wall said.

Wall said he was one of Ruby's few friends.

"Jack was just too much of a bum," Wall said. "But he was great fun. Twice a week we would go to the YMCA and play volleyball and we'd argue and fuss and fight and laugh. He didn't really have any friends."

They dined together frequently. Wall sometimes hung out at the Carousel.

In 1962 Ruby even convinced Wall to bring "Bottoms Up" to the Carousel, but the business relationship only lasted three months before they had a falling out.

"Jack had a temper," Wall said. "That was his No. 1 problem."

In a burst of anger, Ruby hit Wall's former co-producer, Joe Peterson, and knocked him down a flight of stairs. The production then moved back to the Adolphus.

After a few months Ruby and Wall renewed their friendship, which continued without incident until Kennedy's campaign for a second term reached Dallas.

At around noon on Nov. 22, 1963, the presidential motorcade left the airport and began winding through downtown Dallas. It came down Main Street and Wall found a perfect vantage point from which to watch -- the Adolphus Hotel marquee.

An unknown photographer captured a picture of Wall standing on the large sign as the president's limousine passed.

"My image is so small in the picture you can't tell who it is, but I know it's me," Wall said.

The photograph hangs on a wall in the Sixth Floor Museum at the former Texas Book Depository, from where Lee Harvey Oswald is alleged to have fired the shots that killed Kennedy.

"When the limousine passed below us, Jacqueline looked up and waved and then Kennedy turned and waved at us," Wall said.

In the blink of an eye the motorcade had gone four blocks and made a fateful turn onto Elm Street.

"Joe and I ran upstairs at the hotel to put on our coats, intending to drive to the airport to see him off, that's how big a fan I was," Wall said.

As they entered Wall's apartment, there was a talk show on television. People were laughing. Suddenly, the program was interrupted by an announcement by Walter Cronkite.

"He said, 'We have a bulletin, ladies and gentlemen. President Kennedy has been shot.' Then he went off the air and the audience was still laughing."

Wall said less than a minute had passed since the Kennedys had waved at him.

"He was shot six blocks from where we were," Wall said.

The next day, a Saturday, "Bottoms Up" was temporarily closed and Wall went to visit friends in Galveston to get away from the scene of the tragedy.

By the time he arrived, there was a telephone call from Ruby.

"He was upset and angry," Wall said.

The source of his rage was the owner of a rival nightclub, The Colony, that had remained opened after Kennedy was killed, in spite of the fact that most businesses -- including Ruby's -- had been closed to mourn for the late president.

"I was an officer with the American Guild of Variety Artists and he wanted me to use my influence to close the club," Wall said. "I told him there wasn't anything I could do, and he hung up on me."

The next morning, Sunday, Wall was still in Galveston, watching Oswald being transferred from the city jail to the county jail in Dallas. He was among the millions who witnessed a figure wearing a suit and felt hat step out of a crowd and gun down the assassin.

Wall had no idea at the time that it was Ruby.

"I saw the assassination, the back of his head, his hat," Wall said. "But I didn't connect. Jack always carried a gun in a holster under his left shoulder. He carried a lot of money on him and he ran a club. It was common knowledge that he always carried a gun. He didn't have it as part of a conspiracy."

The basement where the prisoner transfer was taking place was filled with police officers, most of whom knew Ruby.

Reporters from around the world also were in the basement. As soon as the shooting happened, reporters heard police identify the shooter. And the reporters asked who Ruby was associated with.

Wall's name immediately surfaced. Police told reporters Wall and Ruby were close friends and that Wall was performing in "Bottoms Up" at the Adolphus Hotel.

A reporter from the London Times quickly called the hotel and was given the number in Galveston where Wall could be reached.

"It wasn't 30 seconds -- maybe a minute -- from the time the shot was fired till I got my first telephone call from the press -- the London Times called," Wall said. "The reporter said, 'Do you know your best friend just shot Oswald?' "

Wall said he hung up the phone and then broke down and started to cry as more calls from other media came in -- The New York Times, Washington Post.

A week later he returned to Dallas, where he received an urgent call from Sheriff Bill Decker.

"He said, 'We have a problem,' " Wall said. " 'Jack is very depressed. He keeps asking for you. We need more information from him and he's just falling apart. We need you to come in here and tell him some jokes and change his mood.' "

Even though it was only three blocks to the jail, a squad car picked up Wall. He said Ruby's cell was a steel tank with a small window to see through.

"When I got there Jack went ballistic," Wall said. "He started laughing and crying.

"I said, 'Jack, why on earth did you do that?,' and he said, 'Because I'm a hero,' and I said, 'You're not a hero. You shot a man before he was found guilty. A lot of people are angry with you.' "

Ruby told Wall he had a fan club.

"He asked me to be in charge of the club," Wall said. "I told him there wasn't going to be a fan club."

In March 1964 Ruby was convicted and sentenced to death. The verdict was overturned on appeal in the fall of 1966.

On Aug. 5, 1964, Wall testified before the Warren Commission investigating Kennedy's assassination. He gave his testimony at the FBI office in Las Vegas, telling the commission in detail of his friendship with Ruby.

During an investigation by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, Wall was accused of being part of a conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy, an accusation that almost ended Wall's career.

However, the Warren Commission cleared Wall, and Garrison and his conspiracy theory were eventually discredited.

While waiting for a second trial, Ruby died of cancer in January 1967 at Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Days before he died, he asked to see Wall, who was in Las Vegas with "Bottoms Up."

Wall planned to visit his old friend, but Ruby died the day before he arrived.

"There was an article in the Dallas Morning News after he died," Wall said. "It was a feature story, that said the last person Ruby talked about before he died was an entertainer named Breck Wall."