Video: Steve Guttenberg Is Getting Ready to Tell His Story in TALES OF THE GUTTENBERG BIBLE

Hi, I'm Ritchie Rich, and I'm talking to the fabulous Steve Gutenberg

He's unbelievable. He's got a show called Tales from the Gutenberg Bible

It's fantastic. It's going to be at the Bay Street Theater out at the end of the island in Sag Harbor in August

but he'll be at the George Street Playhouse in May for a whole month

So please come here. He's wonderful. He's terrific. And when I see him, I'm going to be so angry

He did an imitation of me. This is not how I talk. Anyway, I want to thank you very much

I just had an eye operation. I just want to tell you that. Thank you. First of all, I am thrilled to be sitting with you, Steve

Welcome back to New York. Thanks, Chris. Thanks so much. You are about to return to the stage with your brand new comedy

How excited are you? I am. I'm really thrilled. At the very beginning, I had a ton of anxiety

But now that we've been rehearsing and it's really coming together, I think it's a very

funny, sensitive show, starting out when I'm 17 years old, and my parents let me go out

to Hollywood on my own, which is pretty incredible. I stayed with my parents, family friend, and the story chronicles the adventures I've had

as an actor for about my first 10 years. Okay, so you were brought up on..

Borough Park, Brooklyn, Flushing Queens, and then Massapee, Long Island. Okay, so tell me about that conversation you had with your parents of saying, I want to go

to Hollywood. Well, when I was 13 years old, I took the regents exam. I was a 65, average 65 student

in algebra. My parents said, if you get 100 on the regents, so I studied my ass off, and I got

100 of the regents. And they sent me out at 14, and I stayed with his family friend of ours, Michael

Bell, who was a brilliant voiceover artist. He did butter parquet, butter, parquet. So he had a big

mansion out there, and I just loved living out there with him two weeks. back and I said, you know, I think I want to be an actor. So I joined this great group called

the Teen Repertory Theater in Long Island. Marilyn Rosen was the artistic director, and Mrs. Rosen

took a liking to me and saw that I really wanted to be an actor, and I had some talent

She nurtured it. Then I started taking classes here in the city, and then when I was 17

three days after graduating high school, my parents let me go out to California to high. To

Hollywood for two weeks, see if I become a movie star. And those two weeks became one year

And I did a bunch of TV movies, some commercials. And my first year, at the end of it, I was really lonely

I didn't have any friends. And young actors can be very competitive. I didn't make any friends out there

So I quit and went back to Albany State, and I started to study just liberal arts and

sciences. And then I got a call from my agent at the time to go do boys from Brazil with

Lawrence Olivier, Greg Peck, and James Mason. I didn't want to leave school. I didn't want to be

an actor anymore. It was just too, an extreme life for me. But I went down, had a meeting

I got enamored again, and then I was off to the races. Okay. You just mentioned three of the biggest

stars in the world, and you were like, I don't know if I want to do this. Yeah, you know, being an actor

is a very unstable life. And it's a very unstable for everyone around you

You're not home at 6 o'clock every night. And your moods can change with how you're doing in your career

And it's very public. Everyone knows how you're doing. So I wasn't really sure if I wanted that kind of life

It's been my chosen occupation for the last 47 years. And there are days when I don't want to do it

And then there are days when I think it's just the greatest job ever. Like, what I'm doing this with you right now

Yeah, totally. But it's, you know, it's a, it's, you see it, you see on lots of people, lots of actors, musicians, artists

It's a challenge to be an artist. Yeah. Well, I'm sure that's one of the stories in your new comedy, right

Yeah. Well, let's talk about it's tales from the Gutenberg Bible. Yeah

So how did you come about to write it? Well, what happened was, I wrote, um

story about my first 10 years in Hollywood. It was a book called the Gutenberg Bible

And my dad, well, about eight years ago, this terrific producer named Julian Schlossberg

who became my friend. We did, he actually had a radio show 30 years ago. And he mentioned

me from the boys from Brazil. And my mom called in and said, that's my son. So Julie and I became

friendly. And then when I did a play for him called Relatively Speaking, directed by John Tuturo

we became much closer. And I would go out to his house in Catona and have lunch with him

And at one point he read my book and he said, you know, I think this is a play

It was about eight years ago. So Julian said, why don't you start writing it? And he was so good to me

And such a good friend. And I wrote the play. And at one point

it was sort of ready and there was a bunch of places we could have brought it

but he brought it to the George Street Theater, and David St. who was the artistic director, out in New Brunswick

And they said, we'd like to do this. But my dad has been very sick for the last five years

He passed in July. But they were maybe ready to do it

but I wasn't going to leave my dad's bedside. My dad passed in July

And then about November or something like that, Julian said, maybe you want to do it now

And I said, okay. So it's very funny. It's sensitive. It's a story of a 17-year-old coming out to California, it's a Hollywood

It's very much like Candide or Alison Wonderland or Tom Jones. You know, it's a story of a newbie in a world of all these interesting characters

these exotic characters, and how he deals with it. And it's funny, and it's a meaningful show

My parents are in it, my family, friends. movie stars, actors, directors, producers

Bob Evans or Tom Selleck or, you know, really terrific people are in it

And I had a great time. Alan Carr, the village people, just people from my diner

Paul Reiser, these wonderful people who I've been lucky enough to get to know

And some of them I've been able to call friends. Yeah. So it's like 90 characters

90 characters, four actors, and one Steve Gutenberg, and we're doing it

Okay, talk about working with your director, David St. David St. is a really talented guy, very low-key

No drama. He has a wonderful way in the rehearsal room, keeps everybody calm and cool

He has a steady hand on the tiller, knows where he's going, has done only about 1,000 plays

So he's very, very well-versed in theatre. He's, you know, of course, he's got all his degrees

and he been the artistic director of George Street for 25 years So I very very lucky to have him as a director And it just going to be terrific So let just talk about what you enjoyed the most about being back

putting something live together, because we haven't had that in a few years. We were locked down with everything and no one knew what was going to come back

So just being back in a room again with actors and a director and finding your way through this

what you've enjoyed the most. Well, the first thing, the cast is Arnie Burton and Corrine Montreban and Dan

and Dominguez, and they're all so talented, and I'm so lucky that they've joined this ride

and we're lucky enough that they decided to join this ride. And it's been just wonderful to experience the rehearsal

The rehearsal is just so terrific. My first draft of the play was 300 pages

and we whittled it down to 68 pages. That's like that big 300, right

That's amazing. Yeah, it's really, really. really fun. I'm sorry, your question was..

What have you enjoyed the most about being back in a rehearsal room again and working with actors and just working on your craft

My brain is busy. For the last five years, I've really been concentrated on my dad who's

been ill. And when you're, I'm sure people understand this, when you're with someone who's

very ill every day, it has an effect on you. I also wrote a book about caregiving

and I'm hopefully finish it by September. You know, being a caregiver is very difficult

on people. It really, it's a very weighty responsibility that you want to do. But being with

someone you love who's not well really hurts. And it's a very singular preoccupation. It's

you know, it's like being a film director or you never see other film directors. Actors work

with other actors. Directors don't work with other directors. Caregivers don't work with other

caregivers. It's just you and the patient. So it was me and my sister

and my dad and my mom and it was tough. So now I feel just terrific about being creative

and dealing with people who are positive and energetic like yourself. So it's just a great experience

Was it cathartic for you with everything you've been through to sort of write this down and put this out there

and celebrate all these wonderful people in your life? Yeah, I wrote it sitting next to my dad when he was on dialysis

So I just sat there and I showed him the pages and he would read them and said, this is good or this stinks

Well, this is not me. You're down, like, this is not me. I didn't say that

And it's been terrific to be creative, and it's a risk. When you go on stage, it's risky

So I'm excited, and it's enlivening and invigorating and creative and thrilling

And something happens in your chemistry when you're creating and you're working

Everything looks better. The food tastes better. The music sounds better. Your relationships at home are better

Everything's better when you're creative. Yeah. You have this incredible fan base

You know that, right? Not really. There are so many people who love all of your films

love your energy, everything that you do. That's nice. I hope so. Yeah. You have such an incredible career

I want to mention some of the highlights. And just tell me what comes to mind a fun story or a great memory

And I'm sure some of these are in the show anyway. You talked about relatively speaking

relatively speaking that was the last time you were on broadway yeah Woody Allen and

John Tuturo and Marklin Baker and Carolyn Aaron and every day Carolyn

Aaron would when Woody would come to the theater she would say the author is in

the house I would go like oh my god I would be so nervous I had a great time and

everybody in the play was wonderful and just being at the Brooke at's

Atkinson's theater Brooks Atkinson yeah Brooks Atkinson theater who was a great

film critic that That's why I'm not getting his name. He was a theater critic, so I got his name wrong

And I love doing that play, and it was just a thrill, thrill every day

Yeah. All right, working with Woody Allen, like you said, the author is in the building

I mean, you think of the scope of the stuff that Woody has done for us. You're like, oh, my God, Woody's in the building

Yeah. You have to do the play for him now. Yeah, and Woody was just wonderful to work for

And he had a kind heart. He was very generous to me

and I really like Woody a lot. I look forward to seeing him

Hopefully when the play gets up, I'll be able to get to see him. Yeah. Well, of course, the Brooks-Akinson has now been renamed for Lena Horn Theater

It's beautiful. You've got to walk by there. You've got to look at your old marquee where you were or whatever else

Lena Horn. Oh, I've always been in love with Lena Horn. Who hasn't

Oh, she's just her talent and her bravery. And she broke down so many barriers for all of us

And I'm thrilled to be, you know, being Jewish, you know, you know what it's like to have some uphill battles

So, and Lena Horn just, just one of the greatest, greatest characters and one of the greatest people and talented artists ever

Yeah. You made your Broadway debut in Prelude to a Kiss. Yeah, I did

How magical was that? They only happened once Broadway debuts. What do you remember about that opening night or that whole time

I remember Craig Lucas coming backstage and he was such a good guy

Yeah. And so supportive of me. And I loved doing that show

It was a wonderful show. Yeah. Do you remember that night? Do you remember that

I remember opening night distinctly that the rest of the cast were already set

They've been doing it for a year. I think I took over from Tim Hutton. Yeah. And I came on

And my first couple of minutes, I was a little jittery. And then I got into it

And I just love. I loved my time on that show. What do you love the most about doing live theater

What's really great is you can work on your project every night and get it better

And you can never stop working on it. You always want to get better every day

And you want to work with people who are wonderful and talented and have great creativity and kindness and an open heart

And the idea, great part of theater, is that you can, get a rhythm with the audience and have a relationship with the audience

And it's very much fulfilling to know that you're working on your craft and that you get the

chance to hone moments and find moments that you didn't know yesterday

It's a wonderful experience I find as an actor to make myself

more vulnerable and give myself the opportunity to improve my talent. George Street is a beautiful theater

Yeah. Because you start teching soon, don't you? Yeah. But you've been out to the theater

Yeah. Isn't it beautiful? Beautiful theater. And I'm so glad that they've put that money into New Brunswick

Yeah. And theater is important in every town because it takes you away and it gives you as an audience

It's an experience that you can't get in film. You know, the great part of film is if you do something magical, it's captured forever

The bad part is that you only have a few chances to get it right and then it done Whereas in theater you know every night you get to be better Yeah You have eight shows or whatever You have a double show coming up or on double double show days I got one You doing it tonight Yeah it also a it an athletic performance You know you have to keep yourself

in great shape. Well, I want to talk about some of your movie highlights. Some incredible films you've done. Let's talk about cocoon. The cocoon series

Look at the actors you were at Jessica Tandy, Yume Crone, I mean, Wilford Brimley. I mean

Look at Dona Michi, Gwen Verdon, all these incredible people. And Maureen Stapleton was my neighbor

We had condos next to each other, and I spent a lot of time with Maureen. And she was one of these people who was so alive all the time

the way she would react to you. And she was, every inch of her was alive

And it was like almost sometimes, like she had no skin. She was just so sensitive to anything

I would come up and I go, hey, Maureen, I'm going to get coffee. Oh, what kind of coffee? Coffee? I go, we're going to get, what do you want in? Milk? No, half and half. No, maybe. Maybe I'll get skin milk. I don't know

I go, you just tell me what you want. And I go, I'll get what you want to? Okay, what's your one? I don't know

She was the best. Well, they were all great. Yeah. Is there a favorite memory of doing the cocoon films

Oh yeah, I loved hanging out with Brian Danny He, you know, he was a very big guy

And Brian was very, very generous to me. And we had some funny experiences together

And he was very well read. And he was very big. And, you know, we'd have arm wrestles all the time

And, you know, maybe once I got him halfway. You know, he's a big guy

Yeah. But, I mean, you must have learned so much from those incredible, not only stage actors

film actors, stage actors, the combination. of having them all in that movie with you

Yeah, I learned take your time. Take your time. And I learned something else that everybody counts

whether it's the music, whether it's the sound man whose hobby is physics

or the wardrobe designer who's a world-class archer. The crew are not grunts

Yeah. And I learned that. And I actually put that in my play. I love that

But take your time. Take your time. Take your time. even on a film when it's so fast

Take your time. But take your time. Okay, Police Academy films. I used to watch this all the time with my nephews who I visually can watch them just howling through these movies

Oh, I had a great time. We were laughing day and night, day and night

One of the things, though, that really impressed me about Police Academy, as well as the, you know, the broad humor, was that it had a diversity

a theme of diversity I hadn't seen in a broad comedy. And Bubba Smith and Michael Winslow and Marianne Ramsey

had characters that addressed the racial inequality and the tension that permeated society

It's very, very proud of that. And Bubba Smith and I, he was the Yoda

and we became very good friends. And his generosity was far larger than his physical stature

and we became just great friends. Any craziness happened on that Saturday

Oh, all day and night. You know, I mean, I can't say, you know, Bubba and I, I mean, there were things that went on

and I just said, Bubba, we got to go home and he'd say, you're like, Goob, we're staying out

I go, oh, man, Bubba, what am I doing here? He goes, you're with me

Don't worry about it. Settle down. You know, we went to some crazy places

And then I went to his house all the time at Baldwin Hills. And Michael Winslow, you know, Michael Winslow is a brilliant mimic

and he would make noises and people would not, you know, your shoes are squeaking

or make noises or something. And actually, he came over to our house last year

and my wife made spaghetti and meatballs. And while he was eating, he was making noises

And my wife said, you know, we've got rats. And I would say, rats, what do you mean rats

And Michael would go like, and she would say, there's rats in the ceiling

And I go, no, there's no rats in this. I don't know

Where's that coming from? I go, Michael, I go, my wife thinks there's rats in the house

He's going, sorry about that. So she makes a good spaghetti meatballs

All right. And Marian Ramsey was such a good friend of mine. She passed away

We were good buddies. And she was on Broadway. Oh, a lot of shows. Dream girls, I think

Oh, yeah. I saw her in a lot of stuff on Broadway. She had a Tony, right? Tony nomination

Tony nomination. Tony nomination. Tony nomination. And, oh, gee, and my, I became good pals with

my palin, Kim Ketrell, who was such a wonderful lady, talented actress, wonderful

wonderful actress, talented actress, and such a good lady. And the director is Jerry Parris, who is a very, very funny guy, and Paul Moslansky

great producer, and Hugh Wilson, great director, so I've had great time on Police Academy

Yeah, and then there's three men in a baby. Oh man, I fell in love with Tom Selleck and Ted Dancing

We were just good buddies, and I still adore those guys. And Leonard Nimoy, our director, who was wonderful to me

And we just had a ball on that show. That show was a really, from day one, we had a great time

A lot of laughter on that set, too, I got right? Oh, my God, just laughter night and day, and Ted is such a funny guy

And Tom has an incredible sense of humor. Makes really great faces

If you ever meet him, tell him to make his monkey face. It's unbelievable. and such a good man

And I love Tom's parents. He lost both his parents, but they're really wonderful people

I love hanging out with them and his whole family and his wonderful wife, Jilly

And Tom is one of the nicest men you would ever meet. And I hope that Tom, Ted and I get to work together again

And maybe one day we'll do a play together or something. They're both just great guys

And Ted is such a generous fellow and such a wonderful, wonderful man

And we lost Leonard. I spent a lot of time with Leonard

I really enjoyed his company. Great stage actor. Leonard on Equis. That's right, yeah

I saw him in Equis and he's a great acting teacher. Yeah. And a great photographer and artist, a poet, terrific guy

And, you know, he made a great deal for, I'm so glad he made a lot of money on the Star Trek movies

Because in the first Star Trek, the television show, he was not paid for his merchandising

So when they did the movies, they had to pay him a lot of money, which I was. very glad about. That's great. You had famous babies in that movie, didn't you, three men and a baby

Yeah, we had two terrific kids who were only babies when we first met them. And Tom had a great

idea. He said, let's put money away for their college education. So now there must be 35 years

old. But when they were 20, the money accrued so they could go to college on the money that we

put aside for the two girls. And it was Tom's idea. Wow, what a great thing

Yeah. Because I know that Elton John and them did that during Billy Elliott. But I've never heard that being done for a..

Did he? For a film? Yeah, for all the Billy Elliot's. There was money put aside for all these kids to sort of, yeah

That's really good. It was the Billy Elliott Fund. Diner, another incredible

I mean, look at the movies you made. Barry Levinson. He changed my life

Yeah. And to work with him was such a wonderful experience. And then you got Mickey Rourke and Kevin Bacon and Paul Reiser and Timmy Daly

Danny Stern Ellen Bark and you know you go on and on and on you know just everybody was just so wonderful to work with And so we were all competitive And you know when you get seven hungry young actors all vying for camera time with friendly razors

you either have a mess or an all-star team. And Barry asked us to do the scenes as written and then let us play

And a lot of good stuff came from that. You know, the one rule in improvisation is yes

And yes is we're flying all over the set. That's interesting. You're right

you were all about the same age and everything else. Starting out, sitting at these tables together

It's like, where's the camera? And then we were friends. Barry was very smart

He got this one trailer. We had little holes to live in. Then we had a trailer that we'd all hang out in together and get to know each other

And we went out to dinner and became fast friends. Very smart. I just saw Tim Daly the other day

He's such a wonderful guy. And Danny Stern and Paul Reiser, we were at Danny's house about a year ago

And then we had a reunion with Kevin and Timmy. And Danny, no, not Danny, wasn't there

Paul and myself. And we had a reunion about a year ago

or not last November. That's great. Okay, now one of my favorite movies of yours

it may not be one of yours, but many people love this movie. Can't Stop the Music

Oh, my gosh, the Village People, Alan Carr, Nancy Walker directing. Yes

And the great Bill Butler, who just passed away at 101, who did Jaws and all these great movies

a cinematographer. He was a cinematographer. And I had a great time on that

I was 20 years old. I was roller skating down Broadway. You are

I got to work with Caitlin Jenner, who was Bruce Jenner. And Valerie Parine

Okay. And it was just a great time. Let's talk about working Valerie Prine

One of my all-time favorite people. I know she's not well now. I know, you know, there's GoFundMe's for her and everything else

What are my all-time favorite people? What was it like working with Valerie Parine? Valerie was so good to me, so generous to me

Also, she was such a stupid. and this looking person, you know, carved out of marble

And she was so gorgeous that I, you know, my eyes popped out of my head

And she was very generous to me, very kind, and I really, and she let me ask her a million

questions about Dustin Hoffman and Lenny. So she was very good to me

I love her very much. That was such a love song to New York City

That movie was really, really great. I mean, anybody could watch Can't Stop the Music and be like, I'm moving to New York City tomorrow. Yeah

All the people in it were wonderful and the way they photographed it

And it really was like a love letter to New York City. And June Havoc played your mom

And June Havoc, oh my God. Yeah, right. Baby June. Yeah, totally. The real baby June

The real baby June. Oh, they would say to her, you're baby June. I can't believe you're baby June. You're the real thing

And she lived in this beautiful farm in Connecticut. And so sweet to me and just a lovely lady

Do you ever watch the movie again? Do you ever watch Can't Stop the Music? I haven't seen it in years, but every once in a while

I run into Felipe or the... Some of the village people, Alex and David Hoto and great people

Randy, his nephew I've seen once in a while, and Randy's a great guy

No, Marilynne Sokol, Barbara Rush. Oh, Marilynne Sokol. Yeah, who's got a lot of time with you too

Oh, Marilynne Sokol was so good to me. Yeah

that movie had opened six months earlier, it would have been a monster hit. But Disco had died during the editing of that movie, but it's a really good movie

So anybody watching out there can't stop the music. Yeah, we had a brilliant editor too, so it was just great

So finally, what are you looking forward to the most with getting ready to open your show at George Street Playhouse

Looking forward to enjoying every moment. I'm looking forward to not being nervous and enjoying and know that everybody in the audience wants me to do well

everybody wants to see a good show. I'm looking forward to my wife is coming tomorrow

I haven't seen her in a while. She's coming out, so thank God. I'm looking forward to my life

I'm looking forward to becoming a better person every day. I'm looking forward to working with great people

I'm looking forward to liking myself more every day and knowing what's important in life

And what's great about this play is I get to be with my family every night on stage

I get to be with my dad who passed away, and Arnie Burton plays my dad

And I get to look in my dad's eyes every night. And I get to hug my dad through Arnie

And it's a wonderful, selfish, terrific experience. And every night I get to relive this life I've had

and see all these nice people that I've known who've helped me and all the crazy characters

And I get to be innocent again. and I'm looking forward to living every moment, being a better person every day

That is great. One quick thing that I wanted to talk about, you do a lot for philanthropy, you do a lot for charity

what that means to you personally. Yeah, you know, it's a funny story. I opened up this place called Guten House for foster children who are emancipated

Enacitated means at 18. Sometimes the people that they live with, their foster parents, don't have enough to keep them

because the state of the federal government will not support them. So they have to go out on their own

A lot of these kids find themselves on the street. So years ago, I was able to build Gutenhouse

which has two apartments, four bedrooms, and girls who are emancipated get to live there

So anyway, about I wanted to have lunch with them every month

So I'd go every month, and we'd go out to lunch, and I'd talk to the girls. They either had to have a job, be sober, or be in school

That's the three rules. So we'd go out to lunch once a month. So one day I showed up to the house

and a girl who I didn't notice, but they're always new people, came to the screen door

She had a baby. I said, hi, I'm here to have dinner, lunch with all the girls. She goes, come in, I want to talk to you

I said, what's going on? I said, where are the girls? They said, well, they're not here. I go, we're all going to lunch

She said, that's what I want to talk to you about. They don't want to go lunch with you anymore. I go, why

She goes, they think you're boring. You ask the same questions every time

How's school? How's your job? Staying sober, everything okay. They don't want to hear those questions anymore

They don't want to have lunch with you anymore. I was furious. This is Gutenhouse

You know when I've learned something anymore? I called my Aunt Vera is 94 years old, and she said, you know what

You gave them this gift of the house. It's not your house anymore

It's their house. When you give a gift, it's not yours anymore

So that was my... And I love... And, you know, even here in New York City, I'm always giving out money to the homeless

I have a real connection with homeless people, and it really breaks my heart

to see people living on the street. So I'm always going out with a lot of cash and giving out cash

It's very hard to live on the street. So all I can say is I want to say people

if you see people on the street in New York City, don't pass them by like they're just inanimate objects

Or don't be angry that they're not working or they're taking. It's really hard to be on the street

It's really hard to live that life. So whatever you can give them, food, a few dollars

a dollar, a few cents, or just say hello to them and treat them like people

It's really tough to be on the street. Thank you for doing what you do, my friend

We will see you at George Street. Thank you. April 2050 start, right? Thanks, and thanks for all the great energy

The best. Appreciate it, buddy