Dean Martin’s Stingers and Zingers

A new release by Star Vista Entertainment – “The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts: Stingers & Zingers”

Amazon.com

There are plenty of stingers and zingers in this eight disk collection. “Dean and pals skewer the celebrity roastees and deflect barbs from notables which include: Frank Sinatra, Michael Landon, Wilt Chamberlain, Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, Carroll O’Connor, Hubert Humphrey, Valerie Harper, Joe Namath, Dan Haggerty, Redd Foxx and many others. You’ll also get bonus comedy sketches, and over 10 exclusive interviews with Ed Asner, Carol Burnett, Tony Danza and other roast participants and fans.

The former Dean Martin Golddiggers recall some hilarious moments with these television legends while taping the Dean Martin Comedy Hour and the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts .

Excerpts from the book, Beyond Our Wildest Dreams

Deborah Pratt

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Deborah Pratt, Golddigger 1973-1974:

“Sometimes the Roasts were very funny and sometimes they were just acerbic. Don Rickles—if he was on he could be hysterical. If he was off he was just mean. Dean was always gracious but he just walked through it, I think.”

Don Rickles had several moniker’s – “Mr. Warmth” & “Master of Malice” were two of them.

 

 

Don Rickles

Don Rickles, Dean Martin Roast: “This is one of the great all time thrills I’ve ever had. This is a bigger thrill than watching Pat Boone autograph hockey pucks during the Ice Follies…Orson Welles, ladies and gentlemen, has been a great star for so many years. This man was married to a great many women in his life. They’re all flat now.”

 

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Linda Eichberg

Linda Alberici Eichberg, (Dean Martin Golddigger 1973 – 1989) “Foster Brooks was another one who always had us in stitches. Sometimes we could hardly breathe we were laughing so hard from his drunk routine.

Foster Brooks -YouTube.com

After we taped our musical numbers with Dean, part of our job was to sit in the audience while they shot the Dean Martin Roasts, at least the segments that were filmed on Stage 4 at NBC. They also made a deal to film some portions of the Roasts at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. We did them back to back, we shot the variety show segments in the afternoon and the Roasts later that night. It was a pretty long day but the Roasts section was hardly work and it gave us time to unwind. Waiting around in between takes I had some pleasant conversations with Howard Cosell. He was pretty cool. I was too shy to talk to most people but I felt safe and at ease with him.

Greg Garrison liked to have sports stars on the show every now and again. On one show they roasted Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain. We were shooting the breeze after the show with Audrey Meadows, Ken Berry, and George Kennedy when Wilt strode over toward us. Wow, he cast a large shadow. Even in my highest heels I wasn’t as high as his chest. Wilt had a sensational personality but I had to strain my neck to have an eye to eye conversation with him. A couple of the girls kept in touch with him and a few months later Wilt took some of us to a club in Beverly Hills. He picked us up in his white station wagon. When we got in we couldn’t believe what we saw. There wasn’t a front driver’s seat. Wilt drove from the back seat! The inside of the car was completely gutted and remodeled to fit his gigantic frame.”

Foster Brooks, Dean Martin Comedy Roasts: “The last time I was next to Dean somebody stepped on my tongue”! 

Maria Lauren

Maria (Alberici) Lauren, (Dean Martin Golddigger 1973 – 1991): “The Dean Martin Roasts were great entertainment, it was a big party loaded with laughs and we were invited! To think, we were getting paid to sit in the audience to enjoy this banquet of talent, a buffet of comedy. The jokes and kidding around was a delight.

Zsa Zsa Gabor

I ran into into Zsa Zsa Gabor a couple of times, once in the ladies’ room when we were out to dinner in Beverly Hills. She was lovely to talk to but I almost had to pinch myself. Here I was nonchalantly applying my make-up with the queen of glamor, Zsa Zsa Gabor! I was with the most famous “gold digger’’ of them all, a major part of the Beverly Hills elite.”

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Dean Martin, Dean Martin Roast of Zsa Zsa Gabor: “Well, tonight we salute Zsa Zsa, the most famous of the Gabor sisters. You all know the Gabor sisters, the original Golddiggers? Doesn’t Zsa Zsa look great? It’s a wonder she’s still alive with all the blood tests she’s taken for marriage licenses.”

Patti Gribow

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Patti (Pivarnik) Gribow, Golddigger 1973-1985:

“We were able to see everyone from Lucy to Michael Landon to President Reagan—you name it, the list goes on and on and on.”

Michael Landon

“The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts: Stingers & Zingers” delivers the laughs with help from some of the biggest names in entertainment.

Order your collection today!

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© Copyright, all rights reserved – Beyond Our Wildest Dreams

NBC and The Tonight Show ‘Gold’

Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Johnny Carson and Frank Sinatra

We taped Dean Martin’s TV Show at NBC in Studio 4, right next to the famed “Tonight Show”. You never knew who you were going to run in to during a taping or rehearsal. There was always a cavalcade of stars passing through, a Hollywood ‘Who’s Who’. It was 1974 and “The Tonight Show” and “The Dean Martin Comedy Hour” were the ‘kings’ of the television variety shows.

Excerpt from the book, BEYOND OUR WILDEST DREAMS

“Linda (Alberici) Eichberg, Dean Martin Golddigger: We started meeting some other stars and realized they were not like their TV identities. I would come across Johnny Carson in the hallways of NBC a lot and make small talk; he’d ask us who was on Dean’s show that week. He was not as tall as I thought he was going to be but he was every bit as charming as he was on television. In general the celebrities we met were smaller in stature than they appeared on TV.”

“Deborah Pratt, Golddigger 1973-1974: We saw Johnny Carson at NBC and I thought, ‘Oh my God, my whole life I’ve wanted to be on The Tonight Show.’ I got up and as soon as I got up everybody joined me. We walked over to him and I said, ‘Excuse me Mr. Carson, we’re the Golddiggers and we want to be on your show.’ He sucked in his gut and kind of puffed up his chest and went, ‘Yes, of course, we’ll take care of that.’ Whoever his secretary was at his side said, ‘All right, we’ll handle that, when are you going to be in Vegas, and blah, blah, blah.’ They put it all together for us and the night we were on the show Joey Bishop was hosting… I was mad because he wasn’t Johnny Carson.”

“Maria (Alberici) Lauren, Dean Martin Golddigger: We did ‘Shake Your Tambourine’ and we all got to say something. Here we are two sisters from Newtown Square, Pennsylvania doing The Tonight Show! I didn’t care if Johnny Carson wasn’t the host that night. Joey Bishop was from our hometown area, so that was cool; plus he was a member of Dean’s fabled Rat Pack.”

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The Rat Pack: Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Joey Bishop and Dean Martin

Johnny Carson also took the stage as a member of the Rat Pack. This famous live performance in St. Louis later became a TV special. Johnny even sings a little. Frank, Dean, Sammy and Johnny are having a ball in this clip from the show. The four of them together are classic!

In the early 1980’s…

We, the Alberici Sisters had a leave-of-absence from The Golddiggers for a few years and had the opportunity of be the opening act for a popular up and coming comedian named Jay Leno. We performed at a convention in Chicago together. He made an impression on us. We liked the refreshing ‘down home’ style of his show. He was the nicest guy.

We appreciated the many years Jay Leno hosted “The Tonight Show.” There were a lot of laughs and superb guests. It was sad to see Jay leave the show but we are enjoying Jimmy Fallon. He’s a tremendous talent!

Good luck Jimmy; thanks for keeping variety shows alive!

 

© Copyright, Beyond Our Wildest Dreams. All rights reserved.

 

“Pretty Little Liars” – Pretty Little Friends

From the Editors of Us magazine, Collectors Edition of “Pretty Little Liars” on ABC Family, being displayed until October 10, 2013.

PRETTY LITTLE LIARS stars: Troian Bellisario, Lucy Hale, Shay Mitchell and Ashley Benson.

“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!” was the statement used in Us Magazine to describe actress, Troian Bellisario of “Pretty Little Liars.” and her mom, actress and award winning writer, Deborah Pratt.

Watching Troian Bellisario grow into an accomplished actress has been a life long journey for us. Her mom is one of our Golddigger ‘gal pals’ from the “Dean Martin Show” and our families continue our friendship today.

From bottom left to right, clockwise: Linda Alberici Eichberg, Colleen Kincaid-Jackson, Robin Hoctor-Horneff, Deborah Pratt, Maria Lauren, Lee Nolting, Susan Buckner & Patti Gribow.

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Like her mom, Troian is a stunningly beautiful and talented woman. She is highly acclaimed for her role as Spencer Hastings in the TV series, “Pretty Little Liars.”

We have shared many celebrations with Deborah and our ‘Golddigger sisters’.

Maria & Linda sharing good times with Deborah Pratt and Patti Gribow.

After our Golddigger years there were weddings, New Years and many birthday celebrations throughout the years. Likewise our children have shared many memories and momentous events together.

Troian Bellisario with Maria’s daughter, Marianna Riccio and Patti’s daughter, Gina Gribow at Marianna’s First Holy Communion.

Linda’s daughter, Lindsay Eichberg, with Troian at a birthday luncheon.

 

Troian gives Lindsay a ride at her first birthday party. 

When Troian was only three years old, she already had begun her career acting in the movie “Last Rites”.

A part of show business royalty, Troian’s father, Donald Bellisario created and produced many hit television series including “JAG”.

 

Teenagers, Marianna and Troian

Troian and Marianna took their first swimming lessons together before they could even walk.

While in college, Troian and Marianna continued to share their love for the performing arts and starred in their individual alma-mater’s theater productions.

We have wonderful memories of childhood fun with Troian and our daughters Marianna and Lindsay. Isn’t that what life is all about… enduring friendships and lasting memories. 

Beauty inside and out…

Our daughters are now the same age we were when we performed and toured together as the Dean Martin Golddiggers with the stars of television and Vegas during the groovy 70’s.

BEYOND OUR WILDEST DREAMS, book excerpts:

Maria: “Our times in The Golddiggers gave us a lifetime of experiences. All of us girls were very different but very alike in many ways. We had a deep sense of caring for each other and professionalism.” (p. 317)

Deborah: “We were backstage in Dean’s suite one night when the Rat Pack walked in. I’m sitting between Danny Thomas and Sammy Davis Jr. and Danny Thomas looked at me and said, ‘Well, you’re the highest yellow black woman I’ve ever seen in my life,’ and Sammy hit him! It was really funny, and I turned around and said, ‘It’s nice to meet you too.'” (p. 124 – 125)

Linda: “Several of the girls in the group were Christians, all of us were brought up with strong family values. We continually had to wrestle with the values we grew up with verses the standards of Hollywood and the rest of the world.” (p. 136)

– Registered Copyright, Beyond Our Wildest Dreams 

The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters

Dean Martin and Jonathan Winters as Maude Frickert
Photo credit – YouTube.com

Last month our friend from television, Jonathan Winters, passed away. We had the good fortune to work along side him for several years on the Dean Martin Comedy Hour, The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters and several Dean Martin TV specials. He was the master of improvisation and had a great influence on other comedians. Robin Williams was one those comedians who looked up to Jonathan. In a New York Times article, Robin called him, “a madman but angelic.” We think that is a perfect description. Jonathan’s death was a great loss to the world of entertainment. To remember him, we would like to share some memories of Jonathan from our book.

Dean Martin’s Christmas in California – Photo courtesy of Robyn Whatley, one of Dean’s Golddiggers. Robyn is center next to Jonathan with her arms wrapped around Linda Lavin. With Patti Gribow, Mireille Mathieu & Crystal Gayle (far right)

Excerpts from BEYOND OUR WILDEST DREAMS

 “Linda: Our first TV show taping was The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters, a variety show which featured a spot where the comedian would rummage through his ‘attic,’ pick up some random object and do a whole monologue on it. We were on for something like eight shows, we shot two a day.”

Deborah Pratt

“Deborah Pratt, Golddigger 1973-1974:
Jonathan Winters’ mind was just so explosive, he was in his own world. My favorite
part was to come and watch the ending where he would take nothing and make it into fifty things just with the sound effects he did with his mouth while his hands were doing mime.”

 

Linda (Alberici) Eichberg

“Linda: There was not much interaction with Jonathan Winters on the set but our trailers were side by side so I would talk to him outside the soundstage. I had pleasant conversations with him, he was very approachable, very mellow and warm when he wasn’t on stage.

One day when I was talking with Jonathan he invited me into his trailer. If it had been someone else I would have had second thoughts but not with Jonathan. In spite of his zany TV characters he was pretty normal, super nice and very intelligent. We talked about our mutual November birthdays and The Twilight Zone episode he did. I was a big fan of Twilight Zone.
Jonathan was an incredibly talented, funny guy. He invented lots of crazy characters, I adored his old lady character Maude Frickert. Every time he became her, everyone was hysterical with laughter. As Maude he stole every scene he was in. The other guest stars didn’t have a chance except to go with the flow and let whatever happened happen. That’s what was so great about his show, the improvisation and spontaneity.”

Maria (Alberici) Lauren

 

“Maria: Jonathan Winters as Maude Frickert was also a guest on The Dean Martin Comedy Hour. Dean would try to hold his own as Maude flirted shamelessly, his reactions were priceless. One smirk would say it all. Dean was the perfect straight man—although his TV persona could not walk a straight line.”

Dean Martin, Jonathan Winters and the Golddiggers from Dean Martin’s Christmas in California special.

A favorite Jonathan Winters TV clip is on the YouTube link below, narrated by producer, Greg Garrison. It’s too funny!

 

Our television debut as two of “The Golddiggers” was on The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters show. This YouTube contains a clip of our performance on his show along with a Larry King interview and recent highlights of our entertaining in “Showstoppers.”

Copyright – Beyond Our Wildest Dreams