Friday, Jan. 28, 2005 | 5:48 a.m.
WEEKEND EDITION
January 29 - 30, 2005
Monti Rock III owes a bit of gratitude to Johnny Carson.
It was an appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" in the early '60s that launched Rock's showbiz career.
Carson was so intrigued by Rock's first appearance on his show, in which Rock sang, "I've Got a Woman," that the flamboyant hairstylist from New York was asked to come back.
Over the years, Rock estimates he made 80 appearances on "The Tonight Show." However, the precise number of Rock's appearances is in question; NBC does not have a full list of all "Tonight Show" guest appearances during Carson's 30-year run as host. Published reports have put the number of Rock appearances between 70 and 85.
Rock's final guest shot on the show was in 1986, six years before Carson retired from "The Tonight Show" and quietly retreated to a normal private life.
Since Carson's death from emphysema on Jan. 23, Rock has been in demand by the media. Numerous papers and radio shows have called the Las Vegas magazine columnist to get his take on the late-night host.
For the Las Vegas Sun, it was an excuse to chat with Rock as well.
Funny, erratic, full of limitless energy and always carrying a stuffed cat, the 66-year-old Las Vegas gadabout had much to say about Carson, starting from the moment he answered his cell phone.
Las Vegas Sun: Monti?
Monti Rock: Yes?
Sun: It's Kirk Baird from the Las Vegas Sun.
MR: Kirk, it's the great Monti Rock. I've been having a strange ... it's been a crying day, but I'm over the crying now. I'm back to Monti.
Sun: Really?
MR: Yeah, it's like losing a family member in a way. It's like losing a mentor, if that makes sense. A guy who thought you were funny.
Sun: Take me back to the beginning. How did you first get on "The Tonight Show"?
MR: He found me. I had a lot of press in New York. I was a jet set hairdresser -- a rebel with a comb -- and I was a character.
I wanted to be in show business and I was in a little club in a weird show. I had long, long hair and I had it in a bun. They came in ... and said, "Do you want to come on the show?"
I had a big, black band there called Carl and the Commanders. And I came on and sang "I've Got a Woman," and I looked like a woman. And America didn't know whether they should turn the TV set off. That was the beginning of my career.
Sun: What were your initial impressions of Johnny Carson?
MR: I thought he was a nice guy. My opinion of him never changed. He was the best straight man I ever met in my life. I didn't know I was funny. I'm not a comedian. I'm not a singer. I was a hairdresser. And to be on "The Tonight Show," it changed my life.
For 10 years I did talk shows, I did bad movies, a lot of scandal, was a male model, had a modeling agency and smoked a lot of dope, became an alcoholic and it was all on television. It was like a soap opera, baby. And he liked that. Every time I would come on, it was like, "I failed in this show, but I'm in a new show." Or, "I'm in a bad movie. I'm in a Western." He said, "How did you get a Western?" I said, "I don't know, but I can ride a horse." (Laughs) He would break up.
The one thing I remind you of is this: Every time I would fail he would bring me back.
I was co-headlining at Caesars Palace ... and I got fired. I was told to leave town in 24 hours ... So I left and three months later Johnny Carson called my home. He said, "Look, I know you've been fired ... " I said, "No, I can't go on your show. I'm embarrassed." And Carson brought me back and saved my career. That's the kind of guy Carson was.
Sun: With all of your failures, though, why did he keep having you back on his show?
MR: I think what it was, was that he had empathy. I don't know why. Agents would drop me and he didn't care. I once tried to commit suicide a long time ago and I took the phones out of the house. They had somebody walk up four flights of stairs in my brownstone and they brought me on the show.
But what to do with me was the problem. So Johnny would kind of help with the songs and they gave me some direction.
One day in 1970, I told Johnny and his staff that I was quitting show business. They had a big band, they had Paul Anka, they had speeches and I sang "My Way." I was brilliant. And four months later my beauty shop went bankrupt and he brought me back. It was great.
Sun: What was Carson like when the cameras were off?
MR: Very private. I may see him at a party here and there or a club in New York. I wasn't part of his inner circle. But when he saw you and he came to your dressing room, he was very kind.
Sun: What would he say?
MR: "You better be funny." (Laughs)
Sun: Would he talk to you after the show?
MR: Never. Never. Never. But Shirley Wood, the talent coodinator, would call me. I got suspended a few times (from the show) because I was late or I didn't want to sing a song.
Sun: How did that happen?
MR: I just had a problem. Television wasn't doing it for me and I was drinking too much. I was an alcoholic -- I'm sober now -- but I drank just out of desperation.
Sun: Did an assistant call you and tell you, "We don't want you on the show for a while"?
MR: Yeah. Then they would bring me back and they would forgive me and I was good for four months and then I would go off again. I'm incorrigible.
Sun: When was the last time you appeared on "The Tonight Show"?
MR: (In) 1986. I quit again. When I quit each time, it's because I couldn't hack it anymore. I had become repetitious. I had become not funny. I knew that I had run out of Monti, I ran out of anecdotes. I ran out of stories and I ran out of costumes. I had enough money to go away and be a civilian for a while.
I moved to Florida and became a host in a restaurant and sang bad torch songs. My longevity, though, is still because I have the credibility of the 18 years that I was on the Carson show. I wasn't a comic, I wasn't a singer.
Sun: So without Carson you wouldn't have these other career choices?
MR: What career? Because you're on "The Tonight Show," a guy puts you in his film because he wants you to plug the (expletive) movie. I'm not stupid. "Get him, give him a small part. He'll be on 'The Tonight Show.' "
People say they were with MGM. I say, "I was with Johnny Carson and NBC." That's my analogy of it.
Sun: You appeared many times on other talk shows: "Merv Griffin," "Joey Bishop," "The Mike Douglas Show." How did the other hosts compare to Carson?
MR: No way. No way. No way. The best straight man in the business. Johnny made it fun for me. He never judged me. There's no one like him and there will never be anyone like him in the world.
I was a personality that no other person would have made me a headline star or character like the Carson show. It would never happen again because people don't take that kind of risk.
Sun: What do you think about the late-night talk shows on now?
MR: (David) Letterman is brilliant. I want to be on his show. He is as close to Johnny as anybody. That's the only one I see.
Sun: Did you agree with Carson wanting to retire from the show after 30 years?
MR: I loved the way he left. It was a great time. He quit on time and he never went back. He knew it was time to go.
Sun: Were you surprised that he didn't do anything else after "The Tonight Show"?
MR: No, I'm not surprised. I'm more surprised about how I felt after he died. I haven't cried in a while. It's a great loss for us. It's like when Kennedy died. There's something about him. He came into our homes, he made us laugh. He gave us the best time. He was television.
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