My good pal, Jimmie Walker‘s book: DYN-O-MITE, GOOD TIMES, BAD TIMES, OUR TIMES is out Tuesday…
it’s getting nice reviews and lots of media attention, including the Hollywood Reporter, Washington Post and yes, even the Kansas City Star‘s Lisa Gutierrez did a nice piece on the book. However Lisa, who’s covered Stanford’s and me, missed the local angle.
The book is written by KING OF STING co author, Sal Manna. It’s on the back cover of the book. More importantly, there’s an interesting story about Kansas City, Fox 4 and Stanford’s in the book by this legendary comedy icon.
The book is a bible on the 1970’s and on the men and women who worked with Jimmie and to a large extent made comedy on TV what it is today. Stories about his staff include Jay Leno, David Letterman and even the late Freddie Prince.
Believe it or not, Walker started his career on TV with the Tonight Show with Jack Paar.
There’s a story about when Prince was dating Lenny Bruce‘s daughter, Kitty. He took her to her father’s gravesite and had sex with her on her father’s grave. Prince said he could hear Bruce yell out from the grave, "Go man, fuck her!"
Jimmie talks about how he paid Letterman 150 bucks a week as a comedy writer.
And how Letterman had trouble with sex jokes. In fact there is a famous photo in the book of the Walker Team, that includes, Letterman, Jay Leno, Norman Lear, even Bud Freidman.
Fox 4 had Jimmie on as a guest in the 90’s.
Walker was playing Stanford’s in Westport and it was cold and snowy. Jimmie and his young opening act were wearing heavy coats and hoods covering their heads. They went into the wrong door at TV 4 and it put them in a production area that was off limits. A security guard came up behind them and seeing two black men, he grabbed Jimmie and said, "Hey, you guys don’t belong back here, what in the hell are you doing?"
Walker took off his hood and turned around. When the guard saw it was Jimmie Walker he said, "Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was you, Mister Walker."
Later when Jimmie went on air he ambushed the host when asked about racism. Walker said, "You got it right here..right here at Fox 4!"
He then told the story of the guard and what had happened. It all went out live. And the next day Hearne wrote a front page story about it in the Star. The story got picked up in other cities and by Hard Copy. We’ve not been on Fox 4 much since.
Thanks Jim.
The book, which looks like it will be a best seller, came together this way: Jimmy and I are tight, talk often, and email each other almost weekly. He told me a few years back he wanted to write his story. He’d written a proposal, but agents thought it was too light.
I told him about my co
-author Sal Manna and what a great job he had done on King of Sting. We all met in Vegas in 2008 and hung out for nearly a week. Boy, do I remember that week.
We stayed at Hooters, never do that again.
Walker lives there and Jimmie talked me into walking instead of driving to the MGM next door. It was 121 degrees and we almost didn’t make it. Sal and Jimmie hit it off right away, so Sal wrote the book, sold it more than a year ago and it’s coming out next week. Stanford and Sons has been in several books lately besides these two, including Saturday Night Live comic Darrell Hammond‘s new book.
Jimmie will be on the TODAY SHOW Tuesday, Letterman Monday and tons more. Walker’s been named one of America’s Top 25 comedy icons of all time by several groups including People Magazine.
Walker never left the biz after Good Times, doing more than 20 other TV Shows including stints as a regular on Scrubs and often on Everyone Hates Chris. He’s done stand up in Vegas and all over the world. He’s hosted TV awards events and been in several films. His comedy on THE DEAN MARTIN ROASTS play to this day.
And GOOD TIMES was still on Nick at Nite as recently as two years ago, can you believe it?
Walker’s a living comedy legend. Remember, he was the first young black man to have his own hit comedy TV series. Sanford and Son came first, but Redd Foxx was an older guy. Hey, what a great idea for a comedy club name, Sanford and Son. Except my dad’s name is Stanford….wait a minute…STANFORD AND SONS.
Jimmie Walker will return to Stanford and Sons in February.
Ok, let’s see:
It’s Freddie Prinze not Freddie Prince.
It’s Jack Paar, not Jack Parr.
Jack Paar quit doing the Tonight Show in October 1962, when Walker was 15 and hadn’t even started his career as a standup comedian.
It’s Redd Foxx, not Red Fox. They run around in the woods.
Grade: D-, mostly for atrocious spelling.
I’m calling BULLSHIT
How many groups name “America’s Top 25 Comedy Icons of All Time”?
Several? Name 2 more other than People Magazine. And please provide the source from People magazine naming him this.
This is like that thing you made up about Stanford’s being the #2 club in America. Right.
damnit, craig!! I TRY to act like your best friend
…… i
trie to defend the shit
you right on…..here…..
then you toss another turd like this
on the page
my desciples and fan3s make it hard enough
on me the way it is….
people know you and I are as tight as you
…………………..and
jimmy so this shit just reduces my
street cred!
let me start editing this crap four
you. You no Haarley is always write all
the time.
Thats why we are buds, let me help you
out………………. you cant
make me look like this in front of
my reader3s Im the biggest thing on
hear
please stop doing this to you and me both
Glazer’s group
put Jimmy “dynomite!” Walker in the top 25, that’s who. How dare you question a man of such great standing in the local community!
I like Jimmie
This Craig guy and his making up crap is horrible.
Jimmie made 2 guest appearances on “Scrubs”. In a very small role. Craig describes this as: “stints as a regular on Scrubs”.
Also
“Good Times” is on TV Land, not Nick at Nite.
And the channel is called “Nick at Nite”. Not “Nick at Night”.
Can you believe it?
Ewwwww…
“He took her to her father’s gravesite and had sex with her on her father’s grave. Prince said he could hear Bruce yell out from the grave, “Go man, fuck her!”
Prince would rather fuck Bruce on Kitty’s grave.
Jesus…
well fuck me, craig…….
this just gets worse
and worst.
I try………….
so hard to be your
…………………………………….bitch
and this is what
I get
why dont
ewe do what I do and start
blaming…………. everyone else for all this
tell them Hearne gave you the facts
tell them NotSoSmartMan wrote it
……………….just please dont make
me l
ook this bad
Hey, teach…
Check this out on Google when you’re not busy spell checking Craig:
“Then Brenner, Landesberg and Midler, scheduled for the powerhouse “Jack Paar Show”, refused to appear unless Walker was also given a spot. The Paar staff gave in, and were glad they did. Jimmie’s first guest shot was successful beyond anyone’s expectations. Dan Rowan, who had seen the show, immediately flew Jimmie to Los Angeles to guest on a “Laugh In” special. That was followed by a second guest spot on “Jack Paar”, and a contract with CBS to perform each week as the audience warm-up for the sitcom “Carlucci’s Department.”
l luv jimmy dynomite!
he reminds me of my daddy! Skinny/black/and funny. My pappy was funny. He had a big grin.
My daddy loved da white gurls. He was alwaysv trying to pork dem. He is a riot. Well not
a riot. Too bad my schlong isn’t as big as my pappy’s; Its short like me. I have truble finding
it in the shower. In fact it’s so small my own kids laff at me! Aint that funny. I love dynomite!
Hey Hearne…
That was Walker’s appearance on “the Jack Paar Show” — Jack Paar did, in fact, retire from “The Tonight Show” in 1962. Google shouldn’t be used in place of cognitive thinking.
Co-author my ass!
It’s evident by your struggle with the English language and incoherent writing style that you didn’t write two words of your book. If the book jacket were truthful it would have stated, “Written by Sal Manna as imagined and told by Craig Glazer”.
little short fat man / bald man WITH ROTTEN teeth?
You
There’s a big difference between The Jack Paar Show , which aired on NBC primetime from 1962-1965, and The Tonight Show, which Paar hosted from 1957-1962 and continues on the air today (Jay Leno is the current host). Your article still says that. Jimmie Walker’s own WEBSITE says Jack Paar SHOW, not The Tonight Show.
Also I knew all the correct spellings off the top of my head. Otherwise why in Gods name would I even mention it? Because it’s so glaring, that’s why.
Simple factchecking. It’s useful!
Sir Lance-a…
Lot went on in Paar’s career after 1962. Check it, babe. Mind if I call you babe?
Todays Obvious Lesson
The late Christopher Hitchens aside, the readers are usually smarter than the writers.
good luck jimmy
go …hope it works out for you. You have made a comeback after being down. Lots of people
get down and never get back up. You have done it. I’ve seen people who live in the past…who
just can’t get past the has been stage. You jimmy are a good example of never giving up.
Other people give up. Become complacent. And stop reaching for the golden ring.
congrats to jimmy/sal and hope the book makes the new york best seller list. Maybe those
people who give up and surrender can use this guy as a mentor to keep on going when the
going gets tough.
Dynomite!!!!!!
Smart – I just checked the Google Analytics!
You, me, Dude, Chuck, Mike, SD, PB and Expat are driving 98.3% of the positive comments! I know why thats important because I have a huge background in polling, but if you need it explained, I’ll be glad to. That means WE are the ones driving traffic to this site, quite an honor!
We are the wheels that keep this thing turning.
Thank you Google! Google doesn’t lie.
what’s you talkin about?
huh? whats you talkin about? Get real! Dynomite! who said that line?
I remember that Fox 4 incident.
I think the assertion of racism was ridiculous. If ANY two guys that had their faces covered up walked in the wrong door, they would have probably gotten that reaction. Were they supposed to be psychic? Some people want to make everything about race. It is like the boy who cried wolf. You hear it so often that you get desensitized to it.
Mike needs a spoonful of sugar for his
daily dose of “Racism” and white guilt medicine.
I know how ya feel buddy, trying to spit that nasty self-hating pablum down. Here is something current, which will settle, or maybe NOT settle your stomache.
http://www.wnd.com/2012/06/chicagos-unreported-race-war/
Maybe Jimmy was discriminated against in Chicago, cause us white boys are sure as hell given up some pounds of flesh there.
Of course you will never hear about it from….., whats the name of that paper…? Oh yeah, THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE!!!!
Mike, read the article, you are not crazy and the medicine is poisen.
and chuck continues to qoute “fair” and balanced
media….
come on chuck…wnd is hardly a place to get your news from. Pretty one sided and definitely
way out there on the fringe. the chicago tribune has done many many stories on
the subject….but not with kooky craziness and the far out nutty right wing way that wnd
does……
get those fbi stats about black on white crime in 2010. Not as high as the nut cases want
you to think they are. I think it was like 400-500….more people die eating spinach that
that. And please stop qouting that ultra radical far out waste of ink site.
remember…wnd “makes me puke”…..haha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
good luck.
Hearne….
You can call me whatever you wish (you’re going to anyway — it is your website, after all). Yes — a great deal went on in Jack Paar’s life after 1962 — including Jimmy Walker appearing on his Jack Paar Show (in 1967? — sounds right).
Glazer was wrong in his comments about Jimmie Walker appearing on “The Tonight Show” while Paar was host — “Teacher’s Pet” called that one correctly. You attempted to show that “Teacher’s Pet” was wrong by pulling out a quote from Wikipedia (most likely), without realizing it referenced Paar’s later show.
At any rate, the article is incorrect — Walker did not start “…his career on TV with the Tonight Show with Jack Paar”. That is a factual error.
You can’t expect
accuracy on this site can you? Glazer the King Of Sting is the top bull shitter. He thinks he is important and relevant. The real story of this article is Glazer having a picture of a kid with the legs spread. He is now well known for for his exploits with children in the area. How long will this comment stay up. Less time then the picture my guess.
Sandusky of
the Plains, big Bob?
HA HA
Hilarious
Does anyone know if or when
Sherman Hemsley or Abe Vigoda will be coming out with their memoirs?