Friday, Oct. 1, 2004 | 4:43 a.m.
WEEKEND EDITION
October 2 - 3, 2004
Don't expect a tell-all book from Sandy Hackett about his father, famed comedian Buddy Hackett.
The two enjoyed a healthy father-son relationship. In fact, the younger Hackett considered his father, who died June 30, 2003, his best friend.
Not that growing up a Hackett was easy, especially for the son who wanted to follow in his father's comic legacy.
It's taken three decades, but Hackett, 48, has carved out a niche on the comedy circuit himself.
He performs stand-up regularly at clubs, conventions and across the nation. He's also the writer, co-producer and co-star of "The Tribute to Frank, Sammy, Joey & Dean" variety show, which runs nightly at 7 Saturdays through Thursdays (dark Fridays) at the Star Theatre at Greek Isles.
The Las Vegas Sun recently talked to Hackett about his father, the first time he realized his dad was a celebrity and playing Joey Bishop in a tribute show.
Las Vegas Sun: What was it like growing up the son of Buddy Hackett?
Sandy Hackett: He was an incredible father. Of course, when you're around someone who was famous like that, everybody wants your attention. So he couldn't come to watch me play in Little League and basketball and stuff like that because everybody in the stands would be around him. And if we went places, if he took me to a ballgame, it was constantly, "Hey, can I have your autograph?" So we didn't go out to a lot of public places, but we did a lot of things together as father and son.
He was my best friend, from my teens until he passed.
Sun: It's kind of refreshing to hear about a famous father who had a good relationship with his son.
SH: He was always around and I don't ever remember a time when I felt I needed him that he wasn't there.
He used to fly home from Las Vegas. In the old days there was a midnight show that he used to do and Western Airlines had a flight at 2 o'clock in the morning and they would hold the plane for him so that he could rush home and see his kids in the morning. He'd get a few hours of sleep, he'd get up in the morning, make us breakfast and send us off to school and then get back on the plane and go to work in Las Vegas. He did that sometimes two or three times a week just to make sure he kept in contact with us. He was always in contact by phone. That was just him.
Sun: When did you become aware that your dad was a celebrity?
SH: I was a kid and my mom had dropped us off, myself and my sisters, at the movies to go see "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm." And in that movie he plays a servant to Terry-Thomas who goes to slay a dragon and my dad ends up slaying the dragon and Terry-Thomas beheads him. So we thought, "Dad is dead!" We went home, "They killed dad!" My mom said, "No, no, he's at home on the couch." (Laughs)
It was a little traumatic as a kid to see your father killed in film. (But) it was OK and we learned that that was a movie and that dad was real.
Sun: Did being the son of Buddy Hackett create pressure for you -- "tell us jokes, make us laugh" -- growing up?
SH: That didn't happen until I started getting into the business and people would say, "Oh, well you're not your father." Well, no, I'm 20 years old and trying to break into show business and they're comparing me to one of the most successful comedians of all time and going, "You're not as good as your father." Duh!
SH: Did you ever perform with your dad?
Sun: Oh, for 10 years I toured with him and opened for him. It was the best father-son stuff ever. Working with him onstage was great, but it was the other 22 hours a day when weren't doing the show ...
He had an old Buick Centurion convertible and we had a little apartment in New York that we used as a base. We would fly in there and we would go tour all these outdoor theaters that he had done for years and years and years. And he took me with him. We'd just take off and drive like a couple of friends. Some days we had an hour between jobs and some days we had 10 hours between jobs. We just hung out.
Sun: Do you think having the last name Hackett has helped you or hurt you?
SH: Well, being a Hackett has certainly helped. My father, I believe, was the best ever. So I had the best teacher. And he said a long time ago, it takes 10 years to become a working comic and 20 years to become a great comedian. And about 10 years to the day after I started, I got the first call from someone who called me, I didn't have to call them. From there on it's grown steadily. I've always -- knock on wood -- worked. And I've had my own comedy clubs, and I've produced events and shows and now I'm producing things and still doing what I've always done, just on a larger scale.
Sun: Your dad became a regular Las Vegas performer. What are your favorite memories of the city?
SH: I came back here at 15 years old to work as a lifeguard for a friend of my dad's at the Stardust pool and fell in love with the town and with everything about it. Those years as a lifeguard were spectacular. I would be lifeguarding during the day and I'd meet girls and invite them to go see the show at the Sahara at night because my buddy over there was the stage manager, so I got to go see every great entertainer of the day over and over and over. Jack Benny, my father, Johnny Carson, Don Rickles, Rowan and Martin, Flip Wilson, George Burns, Shecky Greene, Jerry Lewis. It was phenomenal.
Sun: Did you ever see the Rat Pack perform?
SH: Well, I was too young to have seen them perform live. I saw Joey perform many times. Joey was a family friend, he lived down the street, he gave me boxing lessons and taught me to defend myself. Then one time we sparred and he hit me and I said, "That's enough of this." I met Frank a couple of times. My dad and Frank were friends. My dad and Dean were friends. I met Sammy with my father several times. And I saw Dean perform, I saw Sammy perform and I saw Frank perform. I did a lot of research in putting the show together. I have all kinds of footage of these guys performing. Some of it is available to the public. I've got some archival stuff, there's some bootleg stuff out there -- I've got a ton of everything. So I've seen all the stuff.
SH: How did you approach playing Joey?
Sun: Many years ago when they were doing that Rat Pack movie for HBO, my phone rang and it was Joey. He said (imitating Joey Bishop's voice) "Hey, Sid. Look, HBO's doing a movie on the Rat Pack and I think you would be perfect to play me." I said, "Wow, Joey, what an honor, I'd love to. Who do I call? Who do I talk to? What do I do?" He said, "I don't know, nobody contacted me." True story. And nobody did contact him ever. They did the movie without talking to the sole surviving member of the Rat Pack. I pursued it, but they cast Bobby Slayton. And Bobby did a nice job. But that Rat Pack movie wasn't really about the Rat Pack, it was more about Sinatra and Sinatra getting Kennedy elected than the Rat Pack.
I started thinking about what it would be like to play Joey and started working on some stuff. I got a couple of calls from Joey ... and got to study him a little bit and watch him and hang out with him. I saw David Cassidy was putting together a Rat Pack show and approached him about doing Joey and he couldn't have been less interested. So I said, "Well, I'll create my own."
SH: Do you talk to Joey often?
Sun: I talk to him a couple of times a year. I call him on his birthday, which is in February. He's 86 and he's still alive and doing well. He named the show when we were first talking about it. He said, "You're not me. You're not Joey, you're playing Joey." And he talked to me about attitude. He said, "I'm all about attitude." And I got some great lessons from him. He's been a great teacher over the years. And he and my dad were terrific friends. My dad had been on "The Joey Bishop Show" a number of times and on his sitcom a number of times and certainly at his house for all kinds of functions. He was at my bar mitzvah, I've got pictures of him. He's a longtime family friend. I feel honored to do it.
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