 Ladies and gentlemen, you're about to watch part two of our interview with Gianni Russo. If you watched part one, I'm sure you were fascinated. And as Rob and I have been getting to know this man, and we plan to go visit him in New York City, I said this at the end of part one, and I'm going to say it again. We have fact-checked many of the things that he has said about himself. Those are the things that we wanted to know. Things that he has done, people that he's known over the course of his life. We fact-checked those, and those proved to be accurate. In terms of the assassinations that he's discussed, and some of the things about money going to the Vatican and so on and so forth, those are things that he believes, things that he believes from talking to people and going through those experiences himself. We want to tell you that if you have doubts about it, you're welcome to have those doubts. We are not about to say to Gianni Russo, oh, come on, no way did that happen. That's not how we operate here. We're TV journalists. We ask the questions, and you folks can believe what you hear. So we hope that you'll enjoy this part two interview with Gianni Russo. Rob, what do you think? You know him pretty well by now. Yeah, I know him very well. And he, just stay tuned for the next hour. You're going to enjoy Gianni and his stories. And also I would encourage you to buy his books. The latest one is The Six Family. It's a fiction, non-fiction type book. And obviously his first book, which was a New York Times bestseller, The Hollywood Godfather. So please enjoy what you're about to see. It'll be fascinating. Thank you. Gianni, where do you go from here? You've had a life that reads like a history book, a movie. No question. But I've been blessed. I mean, I'm not navigating this. I would sit here and be lying if I have a plot where I'll be in two years from now. Well, you're doing a show. You're doing a show on Monday. You're doing a show. It's a podcast. Yeah. But I mean, as far as when opportunities come, if I can make money without it, why would I take it? But you're going to sing. You're going to get up on stage in front of a couple hundred people and sing for Sinatra in a couple days. Oh, yeah. I do that. Well, I do that while I'm here. And then next month, I mean Charlotte, North Carolina. Yeah. But Gianni, can we agree when Bobby Rydell was performing at the age of 79 and Sinatra at the age of 80, Avalon is still performing. Oh, they all are. Yeah. All of them. Italian. And you're still performing in age 80 and people are going to pay a bunch of money to see you. That's incredible to still be singing. It is. I think it's a compliment. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. You know what it is? For people and what I do do, I will stand. You'll be in my audience Monday night. Right. Yeah. I will stay and thank everybody. Take selfies with them. Yeah. I'm not that guy. Oh, no. Don't bother me. I'm going to my dressing room. Yeah. I think the world of entertainment today should learn a lesson, too, about being a little humble and thanking people. Yeah. Like the two guys we mentioned earlier, Puccino and De Niro, they wear disguises and hide. I said, why don't you become a monk and go up in the hills? Yeah. These people, you need them. Absolutely. And now they're realizing they do need them. Of course. As we, you and I, about the same age, as we get older, we recognize that's why I've enjoyed my culture. But I have always recognized that. That's funny. Well, Gianni, it's obvious to me because the presence you have, I believe greatness rubs off. And I believe that when you meet people and you engage with them, as you have, and we named all those names, there wasn't one you didn't know, and I thought the pope was going to be a joke. It just says a lot for you, but you're here in Maine. You're going to go to a wedding at a very beautiful beach, the best beach in Maine Crescent Beach. And you're with Julia. We just want to thank you so much for coming on the show. I can't wait to see you on Monday. I don't know how much time I have. De Niro, I need a time check when you're well. Rob's next question. Yeah, go ahead. He says continue to continue. So you've done the Six Family. We've got another book planned with Patrick. Tell us a little bit about it. What does that story go? Well, the Six Family is based on a true story. Right. It was things we've experienced with John Gotti trying to create a Six Family because the five families in New York wouldn't go along with everything he was doing. And then he took one of my closest friends. He shot Tommy Bellotti. Paul Castle, I didn't care for either. So I didn't care about him, but they killed him. But Bellotti. He burned a spark. Tommy Bellotti was my best man in my first wedding. I know the Bellotti family for many years. But John did a lot of crazy things. He never liked me. I didn't care about him anyway. But to me, as much as I was around that life, I didn't want to be in that life. I saw it. I didn't trust him, to be honest with you. Yeah. Well, and of course, John Alight was on the show. And John Alight testified and was involved with that family also, as we recall. Yes, yeah. But your relationship with Gotti, you talk a little bit about it, was difficult, challenging? Did he try? Well, you know, I was going to the neighborhood. Right. He'd come from Howard Beach. He was a hijacker. JFK was his big area. And he took that over from Tommy Ryan. I mean, I know his whole life. And O'Neill, Delacroco, was the underboss of the Gambino family until he died. And O'Neill was his rabbi. That's who he turned into. So you can't just become a part of the Gambino family. So he got to sponsor you. And most of these kids got sponsored because they were bringing in envelopes. Were you asked to join the mafia? They wouldn't even ask me. Why? So much respect for Costello, my uncles, and that. And even Costello told me early on. And I was enamored with it, I got to tell you. Sure. Because they wear the best clothes. Oh, yeah. They drive the best cars. Nobody goes to work. So thank God that Costello gave me a look on the inside. Because I'd be sitting in the club sometimes. And these guys would come in with an envelope. And then they'd turn around and say, whack that guy. Jesus. That's really unbelievable. The guy just gave you $25,000. They're telling whack him? Wow. But one of the things, Gianni, that we asked this of John A. Light when he was on the show, that the theme of every movie from Goodfellas is, eventually, if you become a made man, you're probably going to be killed. I mean, I just, it's like, yeah, you want to go to Vietnam? Yeah, I want to be a forward observer. And I mean, the short life of a mafia guy was, I mean, they were being killed right and left. Or served their life in prison. Yeah, but the thing, you know, if you're going to get involved at any club, read the bylaws. Good point. To become a made man, when you're sworn in, you give up your family. They become your family. That's right. That's right. And they say it, if we ask you to kill your family, you'll do it. Yeah. Who's going to do that? You're going to be nice. That's why I'm saying, Gianni, go join. I mean, I don't want to become a Cub Scout. No. Or forget about that club. So was the attraction, the money, the power, the women, what would be the attraction of a guy wanting to do that? A guy who had nothing? Yeah, right. I mean, John guy didn't have nothing. He had brawn. He already did some time. And he felt this is going to elevate him where he is. And it did. Yeah. But he died the worst death in the world. Most people don't know how the guy died. I mean, he was spitting at the gods while he was in the hole in Denver. He was seven stories down. He was a prisoner in the world. And he got an abscess. They wouldn't give him any pain medicine. They wouldn't do nothing. Turned into cancer. And he died. Died like a rat. Yeah. Yeah, so John A. like travels around the world telling young people, this is what you're looking forward to. Yeah. I managed to get through it. You certainly did. I mean, you came all that cream on the top of that coffee with all your success. Well, you've never served any time. You even come close to it. Yeah. I never had handcuffs on. Yeah. Yeah. No, I was smart enough. Right. To lawyer up early on. My first lawyer was Cindy Cushack. You know him? You were seven years old when you lawyer up. No, no. I was actually 14. Whatever it was. Because I'm sure Costello might have must have helped you with it. Oh, that's who did it. That's right. No, I flew to Chicago when I was starting to go out to campaign for John F. Kennedy. And he said, give this envelope. You're going to meet a guy. They picked me up out here, brought me to the bomb house. And I meet Cindy Cushack. Cushack, I don't know if he read his book. It's an amazing book. But he was. No, I have not. No, but he was the Mr. Fixer. That was his nickname. Oh, you don't know Cushack at all? No. Oh, my God. This guy's a legend. He was Wasserman's attorney. Steve Wynne's attorney. OK, yes. Now this guy is G. H. Now I know the level you're talking. No, so now I bring an envelope. He opens it. I give him the envelope. He opens it. And he said, do you know what's in it? I said, no. It was $10,000. I knew it was money. I would do that. And he takes out a retainer letter. He says, you sign here. I sign here. And he took the money. He said, now we could talk freely. Now we're client privilege. Even if they were wired it, they couldn't use it. Yeah. That's how Costello protected me all my life. When I was a courier carrying all that money from Vegas into the Vatican, I was the licensed courier, Lloyd's London. They stopped me sometimes. And I said, hold on. I'm a courier. You can't touch this. Would you have like an ID card or something? They gave me, yeah. They paid me a, I mean, they say $600,000. I don't know the number. What was the Vatican doing with that kind of money? They were laundering it for the casino. OK. Jesus. I mean, that's incredible. It's fantastic. And to me, I'm not done anything with it. I like it. Yeah, right. I'd go on and I'll tell you on Monday night, get off the plane. I didn't even sometimes get off the plane. Yeah. They'd come to walk the bags down. The brothers and priests would take it and go. Gianni, getting back to your performances, are you singing like nightclubs in New York still? You were doing that. Right now, no, most of the nightclubs, the night business in New York is terrible. Oh, so it's not, you know. I was at Fine Science for 10 years. Yeah. I mean, I played every club. I've been doing this for 40 years as a nightclub actor. 40? 40. I want to run, go play hide and seek. I want to go and bounce the moon just like a toy balloon. You and I went just like a couple of tops, running around the meadow, picking up all those forget-me-nots. You make me feel so young. You make me feel there were songs to be sung, bells to be rung, and a wonderful fling to be flung. And even when I'm old and gray, I want to feel the way I do today. Cause you make me feel so. I just want to feel so. Talk about your singing, because Sinatra taught you how to sing. What would he do to work with you and teach you how to sing? Well, he used to come to State Street, my supper club in Vegas. In Vegas, yeah. And I used to get up and sing just because of my club. Right. And then he came in a couple of times. He said, you know, when you get serious with this, I think I could help you. Yeah. So time went on, and I called Dorothy. I said, Dorothy, the old man said that was his secretary. Oh. I said, the old man said, when I'm serious about singing, he'll help me. So she called me back. She said, OK. He'll be home Tuesday to Friday of this week. Come. Bring a bathing suit. I said, Dorothy, I don't want to swim. I want to sing. He said, bring a bathing suit. I said, OK. So I get to the house. Harry opens the door, and he looks, where's your bathing suit? I said, what's with the bathing suit? I want to sing. He's going in the back, go to the cabana. Everything's clean. With a bathing suit on, he'll be right out. And I seen Sinatra in his white silk robe, a coffee cup, and a cigarette. At 2 o'clock, he gets up at 2 o'clock. He don't get up any time before that. Comes out, he's getting the pool. I said, Frank, what's with the swim suit? He's getting the pool. And this is going to be an awareness that your audience is not going to believe. He learned how to breathe from Tommy Dawsey. He was in the Dawsey band. Right. As a band singer. That's right. And you could never understand it. When does this guy breathe? Tommy Dawsey taught him what he taught me. But he taught him in St. George's Pool in New York and submerged him. I got in the pool, and he said, hold your breath. And he timed me. He said, no, no. Go in again. Take a deeper breath. And to lower diaphragm. None of us usually lower diaphragm. The brain gives you more air. This is an instrument. When you could talk and do this, you're doing it the right way. And he showed me that. And then by two days, three days, I'm singing sustaining notes. Then he taught me some things. That was it. Amazing. Because that's what they talk about. When they talk about Sinatra, they say this man was able to carry the long note without taking a breath. And he was this big. Yes. They talk about that, that he would sing and that ordinary men would take a breath. That's what he's still doing. And that's why people were so impressed by that. And you learned how to do it? I learned that with him and the phrasing. It gives me the opportunity, even as an actor, it's all about your delivery. Yes. When I first listened to your CD several years ago, folks, I said this in the first interview. I did call Gianni, my niece gave me your CD. I called the number. You answer the phone we talked for 20 minutes. I remember as I listened to it. How many years ago was that? Well, about four or five, just before the COVID hit, because you said, why don't you come down in New York and see me? And I said, I plan to do that, then COVID hit. But I remember, for example, summer wind and some of the songs that you did, how much you sounded. I mean, it's very hard to imitate them and people try to do it. Oh, yeah. But you, so you're different, but you're very, very similar. And that's because of, you think because of this breath thing? Oh, definitely. Yeah. Definitely. The phrasing and all that. And he told me something too. Go in the mirror. Yeah. And don't sing the lyric. Talk to yourself and make yourself believe what you're saying. Interesting. You see, Bobby Riedel, my friend before he passed away, he did an album where he is a crooning, Sinatra, Bing Crosby. Oh, he's a great son. I know Bobby well. And of course, he was the youngest to appear at the Copa Gabbana with Sinatra sitting there. Oh, yeah. And Riedel loved to sing Sinatra. And one night he did Summer Wind and he said, Derry, did you tape it? I said, I sure did. And it was, it reminded me very much of Frank. Right. And so you do pretty much his best of songs when you do the act? No. No, I do, I do too, because I'm taking it chronologically when I met him. Yeah. So I met him. I got a transistor radio in my hospital room and I turned it on. He was doing six shows a day at the New York Paramount already. Yes. 1949. Yeah. Right, that's when the wind would go on knots. Yeah. His hit, 1949, you make me feel so young. Yeah. Right. So I do that in my show. After Monday night, you're gonna see the clips of Sinatra with the Bobby Socks. I bought it all. Yeah. And then I do his hit. Then I leave that alone, keep going. And as we start hanging out together at the Sands Hotel with the Rat Pack, I got Dean, Sammy, all them on stage. But at that time I do Dean's theme song. I do Sammy Davis' theme song. Nice. And then I go with Sinatra with Elvis, 1961. Yeah. When they do the TV special. The TV special. In Miami, I'm not mistaken. I say, and I know what you're thinking, is he gonna do an Elvis tune? And I am. I do an Elvis tune. It's not till the end of the show, when he asked me, he's, when I die, I want you to dedicate a song to Eva Gardner. And this song I want you to do. I've never do a show without doing this tune that he taught me. And I've never done it without getting a standing ovation at the end of that tune. No kidding. I mean, it's, I mean, there's tune. Well, you'll see Monday night. Yeah. His love for Eva was, I mean, he was heartbroken when that, what was that like? Cause you were, you were close to both of them. I babysat him a lot. I mean, he, she wasn't, you know, she was a player. And she told him, you know, you do what you do. And she's the biggest star that he would ever be. Even at that time. And he couldn't control her. Right. See, Frank needs to control you. When he married me, a pharaoh, he moved down my block. He did. It was the worst thing in the world. They have a fight to come over my house. I said, get, you don't go over there with that little kid. We didn't even know why he married me. I never understood that connection. Nobody did. Yeah. She was like a little kid. And then she, that's where he tried to control her. Yeah. He wanted to quit that show. She wouldn't. Exactly. That's right. Rosemary's baby, very upset about it. She's not going forward. And nobody knew what she was doing. It was like the boy. Yeah. She did, you know, looked different. A funny story, a very close friend of mine, Al Malnick, who's still my mentor. We met Al at Lee's funeral, remember in Boston. Yes. Oh, my God, yeah. Well, Malnick is still a very close friend of mine. Yep. And Myolaski calls me up. And he says, Johnny. Frank is on that Alvin's bar mitzvah. I said, he's supposed to be. He said, well, if you're supposed to be, I wouldn't be calling you. So now I got to go upstairs. Frank's in a hotel. Yeah. I found blow. I knock on a door, and the security guard said, Johnny, he's not coming. I said, he's got to come. And I hear breathing near the door. And, you know, there was only so many crazy things up there. And I had, you know, I got Myolaski, and you ain't telling me what I can do and not do. Right. And Al Malnick's right across on Indian Creek, waiting for bar mitzvah, 100 people, and so not supposed to be there. So I said, listen, I'm coming in. And nobody's saying anything. So I backed up a while. And I hit the double door. I said, double tell door, I said, spread out. She was hanging on to the door. She went flying into the middle of the floor. She weighed about 10 pounds. Sinatra comes out. I said, what the hell's going on? I said, Frank, what are you doing? I said, why aren't you at Alvin's house? And he looks at her. She told him it was cold off. I said, how do you call up a bar mitzvah? He said, I'll be right out. Got dressed and brought him over. But this is one of the things that I'm going to do. With the beginning of them ending. Because then that's when they all broke up. But there's certain people that if you're going to say you're going to be there, even Sinatra, how to show. How to show. Well, I'm sure you knew that whole crew. Well, Lee would tell us stories about Al Melnick. He really took care of Lee in his later years. He really did. And Al paid for that, the funeral and the tour around Boston Harbor and Al came up. And we, I had. Oh, Al liked, I liked. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. But a pretty impressive guy. Yes. And Rob and I were, you know, invited to go to that. And I was very honored and I met that man. He was sort of Meyer's replacement. Yes. What's the connection there between him and, can you talk about it? Oh, yeah. I mean, it's, when Meyer was stepping down and he exiled himself in Israel for a while and came back, the rumor is that Al took over. Right. I don't know if it's true. He denies it. But, oh, yeah. I mean, well, Al graduated St. Louis Law School. His first client was the teamstice. Jimmy Hoffa. Oh, my God. Oh, that's right. So what else do you need to know? You don't need to know. I didn't say anything. It's funny history. No. But he's such a friend. Other than the godfather, Gianni, what was another one of your favorite movies that you did? I know you did The Freshman, right? Well, The Freshman was a fun movie to do. That was fun, wasn't it? And I was able to repay Marlon Brando back. Yeah. Because he didn't want to do the movie. And he hated Paramount because he had a cap of a million dollars. Oh, we did. I didn't know that. They really did a number on him because they knew he needed the film to come back, and he came back big. So I convinced one of brothers. I can get them to do the part. And this was one of the movies that Michael LaBella and Andrew Bergman and I produced. We produced that. We produced Chances Are with Robert Downey. Robert Downey Jr. Yes, right. And the other kid. I didn't even like the kid, but he was in it. And I forgot the woman. And then I did Scripties with Demi Moore. So yes, yes, right. So that was the three films we did. I got him $15 million. Wow. To do that part. No kidding. Wow. And he said, I said, now my debt's paid to you. Is that how you did this? But thank you. Wow. But no. And he reprised the role of the Godfather. It looked just like the Godfather. Well, that's what he put on some weight. See, but the union, they couldn't say it. So even when the kid was about to say, no, don't call him that. So we got away without even saying the Godfather. Right. We put him in makeup. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that was great. But it's a fun movie. If anybody hasn't seen that movie. Oh, no, it's, yeah. Robert Downey Jr. and Bruno Kirby. Yeah. Bruno Kirby died so young, a good actor. Yeah. And how about Coppola? Did you enjoy working with him, Francis Ford, Coppola? You know, I've been asked that question a couple of times. Coppola was just like us. Yeah. He was a young director, his first big movie. Yeah. And he didn't know whether he was going to be there tomorrow. They kept threatening him. Right. Because he fought for, and if he didn't get Pachino, he was going to do it. Yeah. That's why the 11th hour they gave him went to him. But we never knew the movie was going to come out. When you were doing it, did you realize how good it was going to be? I really didn't care, because I was making so much money. I did it for my ego. The book was already in its third print. Just being in the movie, I'd go places and they knew I was in it. I didn't care if they did it or not. It was just some fun. I mentioned Jimmy Khan, because when you did our first interview, you said, because people have asked you this, every time they meet you, he was kicking a crap out of you and beating you with a trash can. And what you said was you were actually injured. You actually got hurt. He wasn't told what it was. Again, most of the actors were very generous with me. Like, Brando, Richard Conte, Skilling Hayden. The new guys, the new guys, the fact that I had not studied. No experience. They didn't know how I got this part. And it was a pivotal role. Yes, of course. I mean, if this guy didn't undermine the family, the story falls apart. Yeah, I mean, no, you're one of the main actors. So I didn't know whether they just didn't like me, because maybe I was going to destroy the movie. And I really didn't care. I was making so much money at that time. Again, I was there for my ego. I wasn't trying to prove my being an actor. But then when I saw the opportunities, I said, this is easy. We sat there, won three Oscars. So you choose not to have a stuntman get the crap kicked out of him. I mean, it was you. No, but we choreographed it. I never did a movie before, so I don't know. So we're from the steps to pulling up. We had, these are all camera setups, because they were adjusting the lenses. So we did this for like 10 hours. Now the next day we commit was supposed to shoot it. Well, from the first shot, as soon as he gets out of the car, he throws a bat at me. That wasn't even a take. And he must have been practicing all night. He bounced right off my head the first shot. So I fell behind the car. Next time you watch it, I fall behind the car and they yell, caught. And I got a gash in my head. And it's my first movie. So they come over. You're okay? Yeah, yeah. If you want to continue, it's of course, I ain't gonna say I'm doing this. So we continue. Now we go into the garbage bales. Right. Now, understand, these are not plastic garbage bales. These are the old steel ones. And we choreographed that. And he was supposed to simulate banging me. And I'm not even getting these touching me. He broke my elbow and chipped it. Now I'm saying, wait a minute, I gotta crawl out here and get kicked and go on a hydrant. Well, I made a decision. I'm never gonna fight scene again in my life. I'll do love scenes. That's where I'm going. I'm not a fighter. He dropped kicks me and he rolls me over and broke two ribs. Yes, that's why you both ribs. And I'm saying, and he's laughing, but he deliberately did this. He says it even in interviews. Tried to hurt you. And in fact, the the offeror that you mentioned earlier, Right. The director tells him, teach this guy a lesson. So that put them in a major lawsuit. And you being a lawyer, how they agreed to settle with me is defamation per se. Defamation is very hard to prove. That's right. Defamation per se, you put me in a crime. That's right, correct. So you can't defend it. Cause in that movie, they said I beat her up. And I hit her. There's a scene she's got a black and blue on. Taishai, and she said, Gianni gave me this beaten. Where'd you get the black guy? Oh, she did. She said Gianni Russo did it. Not call her the character they owned. They don't know my name. Well, I have to say, and I said this earlier, we didn't know what we're gonna get to know you, but the scenes with her also, when she's running around pulling the plates off the phone, Oh, all that stuff is so dramatic. It's so done well, it's really done well. The wedding scene, how long did it take to film that thing? We shot it for a week because for a week, they want to establish the whole cast in there. They were all there. So they were all those great, that to me was, that was a party. I bet. And then you had a lot of the real authentic mafia. Yeah, they all wanted to be there. And they wanted them there. So it was just smart. Interesting. I mean, that was them. And Al Martino, what was he like? Well, Al Martino was a humble guy too, because he wanted that part. And he had a lot of problems with Sonata, and afterwards. Yeah. Oh, really? As you did. Well, I did it for a minute. I didn't put up with his stuff. He called me up, he didn't want me in the movie. But I used his whole dialogue against him. Because when he called me, David, they called me, he said, the old man wants to talk to you. So I get on a phone, he says, you're a friend of mine, right, Johnny? I said, of course. He says, if I asked you to do a favor, would you do it? I said, whatever you want, Frank. He said, I don't want you to do the movie The Godfather. I said, no problem, he called me off guard. I won't do it. I hung up. Then I said to myself, am I crazy? So I waited in there and I called him back. I said, Frank, you're a friend of mine, right? He said, of course. I said, if I asked you to do a favor, would you do it? Anything you want? Right. I said, okay. Did you have done it? He hung up on me. Ha ha ha ha. Get out of here. But why didn't he want you to do it? I found this out because of Ava. Mario Puzo, why you hated Mario Puzo? Because Mario Puzo wrote the Johnny Fontane character obviously with Sinatra. Right, sure. But the mob didn't get him the part. Ava Gardner got him the part. And the way she got him the part really upset him. The part from He Had a Returnity. Yes, yeah. She got him the part of He Had a Returnity, not the mob. But in the movie, it said that he went to the mob, he was in the office, I got this part. That's when he said smack, I'm like, I got a man. The story is, and I know it, I heard it from her. That's why she went and did what she did. She broke up with him, they wanted nothing to do with him. His agent at William Morris was George Woods. George Woods had an apartment on 72nd Street in East End. His neighbor, thank God his neighbor was home. She smelled gas, come from George's apartment. She called him at William Morris. She said, the Supers gotta get into your apartment when we smell gas. So when they went in, Sinatra was half in the oven. And he inhaled so much gas, he damaged his vocal cords. That's why he couldn't sing for years. That's right, he was out of commission for a while. And that was the end of his career, everybody predicted. He's walking through New York and nobody recognized him. I was, we look like a basket case. Yes. She went and slept with old man Cohen. Old man Cohen wanted to have a lot. Everybody wanted Ava Carter. But Ava went to his wife. She was friends with them. She said, before I do this, I want you to know why I'm doing it. She said, what are you doing? Acapulco was the big destination for California. You go for long weekends. Right. She said, I'm gonna go with your husband to Acapulco and let him have his way with me. She said, what? Why are you doing this? She said, well, I destroyed Sinatra's career. And he said, if I did this, he'd give him the part. That's what got Sinatra so crazy. Nobody knows this story. Oh, wow. And she went and spent three days. And when she came back, she went to say to the wife and said, and the wife said, how could you be with me? He smells. Yeah. The wife ain't screwing him, Ava Gardner's screwing him. What a story. I think Sinatra, in his biographies that I've seen, doesn't he acknowledge that? Doesn't he say that the mafia, I think he says the mafia had nothing to do with me getting my part. Oh, he says it. He said that many times. I know that, but they exploited in a movie called The Godfather. Right, exactly. He asked anybody in The Godfather who got him the part. They said, the mom. Right, and the whole thing with the make and offer, he can't refuse in the contract. Well, I think that because when I watched Sinatra say that and he vehemently denied it, it was him saying, no, no, that's all wrong. That's not what happened. And I forget whether he admitted it was Ava Gardner. No, he didn't. Yeah, and of course, they didn't know he was going to get the Academy Award for supporting actor and all that sort of stuff. But he was using the dregs of New York City and people didn't even want to talk to him on the street. I mean, he loved her so much. Went to hell on a handbasket. Oh, yeah. I flew to Mexico with him one night. She was doing the tour. Did you ever meet the bullfighter? Yeah, of course. I was there. Did I meet him? The bullfighter? Wait a minute. Not only did I meet him. Ava Gardner's boyfriend. He made me Sinatra. We went to Balos Jewelers. I remember on Arthur Garvey Drive during the day and he bought a diamond cuff. After his show, we fly to Mexico. We get there and he walks into the hotel and he says, give me a keys to Ava's room and I can see their look. They're like, wait a minute, they know who he was. And I said, Frank, I'll wait down here. No, come up with me. I said, I don't want to go upstairs. But I can only imagine. This is like four or five o'clock in the morning. So he has to key opens the door. Now, I'm seeing not one set of man's clothes. Two men's sets of clothes. Her clothes. He goes into the bedroom. I didn't go into the bedroom. And she's doing these two guys. He throws the bracelet on the bed. He cried all the way home to Mexico, like a little kid. Oh, God. Gianni, I swear to God, we're ending one of the most incredible stories I've ever seen. We're ending? Yeah, we'll wrap it up and I can't thank you enough. The only thing that I can say is we do want to, I would love to visit you. Number two, we'd like to have you back on. You're a fascinating person. I can't thank you enough. I want you to enjoy your weekend and man, I can't wait to see you on Monday. Well, look at the weekend. I mean, I came for a wedding. I mean, we're making a show out of it. Yeah. Gianni, you are a presence. You are a legend unto yourself. Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to be back. And we've got another star coming on, B.B. Buell, who is the mother of Liv Tyler. And she's a rock and roll icon. And a lot of fun. And thank you for watching us on the Runlet and Baldachi Report. Thank you. Thank you, Gianni. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Hey, hey. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you so much. Oh, please. Gianni will be here in Portland, Maine. February 24th at the Portland Elks Lodge. Doors and dinner at 6 p.m., show at 7.30.