Q & A BRECK WALL

Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2005 | 7:56 a.m.

At least two things have had major effects on the life of the 71-year-old entertainer -- the revue that debuted at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas in 1959 and his friendship with Jack Ruby.

In front of a national television audience Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald on Nov. 24, 1963, two days after Oswald was arrested in connection with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Wall brought "Bottoms Up" to Las Vegas in 1964, where it ran almost continuously for 30 years at various venues. Its last home was at the Flamingo Las Vegas -- the show closed in October 2004.

Wall says he has spent the past year revamping the production and hopes to reopen sometime in January, with the same principal players at a Strip location.

"I've been talking to various hotels for an afternoon slot," Wall said. "Meanwhile, we're working on a lot of new numbers -- we're only keeping three from the old show."

While the show's future may be uncertain, there is at least one sure thing in Wall's life: Every year around this time he gets calls from national and international media asking about his relationship with Ruby.

"I think I'm the only person still living who knew Jack well," Wall said.

Today marks the 42nd year since Wall visited Ruby in a Dallas jail and talked about the events that shocked the world.

How did you come to befriend Jack Ruby?

"Bottoms Up" was at the Adolphus. I'm a creature of habit -- every day at the same time (co-producer) Joe Peterson and I ate lunch at the Copper Cow, near the hotel. Jack owned a topless club (the Carousel) just down the street and he also ate there.

Eventually, we met, and he just kept sitting with us every day. I liked him because he was such a character. He was a real Chicago thug.

What were you doing when Kennedy was assassinated?

It happened the day after my birthday. We were at the Adolphus, the most elegant hotel in Dallas at the time. Being a fan of the Kennedys, Joe and I climbed out on the second-floor marquee and sat watching the motorcade pass on the street below.

When the open Lincoln passed beneath us, Jackie (Kennedy) patted the president on the knee and pointed up at us on the marquee. He waved at us.

When the parade passed, we went back inside, up to the 16th floor, and it was being reported on TV that Kennedy had been shot. It happened that quick.

Oswald was arrested and two days later he was shot by Ruby. Where we you when you heard about that?

Because of the assassination our show went dark until after the president's funeral. I went to Galveston to stay with some friends.

While I was there Jack called me, raising hell. He was upset because one of his competitors in the topless-club business refused to close in honor of Kennedy. Jack wanted me to call the guy up and convince him he should close for a few days, or he wanted me to shut him down permanently. I was with a performers' union at the time, but I told him I couldn't do that.

Later on that day I wanted to watch Oswald being transferred from the city jail to the county jail -- and like everyone else I saw Oswald shot. I swear, it wasn't 30 seconds later that my phone rang and a reporter from the London Times was calling wanting to know about my friendship with Jack.

Then The New York Times called, and the L.A. Times. Every major news outlet had my name.

Why did Ruby kill Oswald?

It was an impulse. There was no plot. Jack always had large sums of money on him and so he always carried a gun in a holster under his left shoulder.

He happened to be walking past the jail house when the transfer was being made -- I believe he was in the neighborhood because he was going to Western Union to wire some money to a stripper.

He went down into the basement to watch what was happening -- all of the police knew him because of his club, and so he didn't have any problem getting close.

When did you next see Ruby?

It was about a week later. I was watching the Army-Navy game, which had been postponed from the previous week because of the assassination. I received a call from (Dallas County Sheriff Bill) Decker. He said "Breck, we have a problem. Jack is really depressed, and we're trying to get information out of him. We would like you to come to the jail to visit with him."

They came and got me and drove me to the jail -- I had to lay down in the back seat so no one would see us driving into the garage.

Was Ruby being kept in a special room?

He was in a bullet-proof tank -- no bars, just steel walls. There was a little slot you could see through and a little speaker.

The first thing I said was, "Jack, what on earth did you do?"

He said, "I'm a hero."

I said, "No you're not. Why did you do it?"

He was very ecstatic, hyper -- but he was always hyper. He could lose his temper in a split second.

He thought he had done the right thing by killing the man who killed the president.

How long did you spend with him?

About 20 minutes. He kept saying over and over, "I shot the man who shot the president. I'm a hero."

He turned around and showed me tons of telegrams taped to his cell wall.

Was that the last time you saw him in person?

Yes. Four years later I received a call from an attorney who told me that Jack was dying of cancer and he wanted to see me. The attorney said I could go to the prison hospital the following Monday or Tuesday. I had some things to do, so I chose Tuesday -- he died on Monday.

A huge story in the Dallas Morning News said the last person Ruby talked about before dying was Breck Wall.

Jerry Fink can be reached at 259-4058 or at jerry@lasvegassun.com.