Noshing With Shecky Greene – December 8, 2022

Shecky Greene is an American comedian and actor, best known for his stand-up performances. Born on April 8, 1926, in Chicago, Illinois, he became a prominent figure in the comedy scene during the 1950s through the 1970s. Greene was especially popular in Las Vegas, where he was known for his improvisational and often unpredictable comedic style.

Shecky Greene is best known for his stand-up comedy, particularly in Las Vegas, where he was a headlining act for many years. He is recognized for his sharp wit, quick improvisation, and his ability to engage with audiences in a lively and spontaneous manner. Greene also made numerous television appearances on shows like “The Ed Sullivan Show,” “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” and various talk shows, further solidifying his reputation as a top comedian of his time.

As of the most recent information, Shecky Greene resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. He has lived in Las Vegas for many years, reflecting his long-standing connection with the city’s entertainment scene.

No, Shecky Greene passed away on December 31, 2023, at the age of 97. He was a legendary comedian known for his long career, particularly in Las Vegas, and he remained a respected figure in the entertainment industry until his passing.

Yes, Shecky Greene was married twice. His first marriage was to Nalani Kele, which lasted from 1972 until their divorce in 1982. Later, he married Marie Musso in 1985, and they were together until his passing on December 31, 2023, at the age of 97.

Read The Full Transcript Shecky Greene Podcast Epsiode Full Transcript
Ira Sternberg: Welcome to Ira’s Everything Bagel, where I talk with intriguing people about everything: their passions, pursuits, and points of view. My guest today is legendary comedian Shecky Greene. We recently had a conversation in his home in Las Vegas, and in this segment, Shecky, who is 97, talks about working in the Borscht Belt and why it gave him the freedom to perform. He discusses the cultural difference in comedy, when he knew he hit it big, and so much more. Here’s Shecky.
Shecky Greene: I worked at the Borscht Belt.
Ira: Did you enjoy working there?
Shecky: Yes. Yeah, I really did.
Ira: What was so unique about that element, that venue, for a comedian?
Shecky: The other element was that I felt free. We didn’t have that much Jewish culture at home, but it gave me the freedom to be that if I wanted to do something that the audience would be familiar with, you know, like kugel. You say to the people, “My mother made kugel,” but if you tell a Gentile audience, “kugel,” they don’t know. Two guys are waiting in a dressing room with a gun and a frying pan. First, I’ll make the kugel. Then, if it’s terrible, they’ll kill you. But there was something up there, and those people were very good. Everybody thought I was from New York. Nobody—there’s not one New Yorker that didn’t think I was from New York.
Ira: Just because of the association with the Catskills?
Shecky: Yeah, everybody thought I came from there.
Ira: When did you know you hit it big? Was it in Las Vegas, or Florida, or Chicago, when you realized you had hit it big?
Shecky: Ira, I worked a place called The Shapery. I didn’t have any right to work The Shapery, a big club in Chicago with big stars like Frankie Laine. I was so good, he quit.
Ira: But he was a singer, though, Shecky. He wasn’t a comedian. Why would he quit if you were good?
Shecky: No, no, no. He didn’t quit. We drew 12 people. He left me with 12, and out of the 12, six left.
Ira: Wow.
Shecky: No, so that was it. In Chicago, that’s when I knew I first started to make it big. Then I had the Copacabana, which was in New York, and I bombed very badly.
Ira: But when did you know that you made it big, that you were really a star?
Shecky: When I got… let’s see, a tremendous salary. But that salary is based on the fact that you were attracting people, so that clearly made you big.
Shecky: Well, about that time, I started to make movies—a couple of movies—and I was a headliner here in Vegas. You know, I was drinking in those days, and I’d drive down the Strip and be so proud. “Appearing tonight: Shecky Greene” on the marquee. Then, the next day after me getting drunk, it was, “Appearing tonight: 479623,” which was my police number.
Ira: Yeah, you had a somewhat interesting reputation during those years.
Shecky: And then the funny thing is, it followed me. The cops were always after me. There’s a wonderful story about me saving two old shows. I made the Tropicana; they were closed, didn’t know what to do. I opened up a little lounge, and that took off. Then that started to get hot around Las Vegas. Then I went back to the Riviera. They gave me points at the Tropicana—I got five points, which I never got. They rented a car for me, from five percent of the hotel to a rented car. And there was a guy from the rental agency sitting next to me all the time. They wouldn’t trust me driving alone.
Ira: But despite the drinking and the other behavior, such as gambling, you still performed over all those years. So you clearly had some sort of—whether it’s willpower or discipline—that allowed you to go up on stage and perform.
Shecky: Yeah, because that was my job. But I didn’t drink when I went to work. People used to think I worked drunk. I never worked drunk. I was not a drinker. Jewish people don’t drink, you know? Jews never sat at a bar. Jews would never come and go sit at a bar with people and drink. We would drink maybe at a party or at the house or something like that. But later on in this town, I started to go out, and that was the trouble with me. Every young guy that I got after that, I trained them not to drink. And I haven’t had a drink in over 50 years.
Ira: That’s amazing.
Shecky: And I miss it. I don’t want to tell you. I’d rather have my numbers up in my name.
Ira: Well, you could make a whole routine out of that.
Shecky: You could, absolutely.
Ira: Is there anybody that you can even—I thought about this before coming to see you today. I was trying to think of who any other comedian that I’m aware of that I could compare you to in some way, but I really can’t because you’re so unique. From your point of view, who would be your favorite comedian and why?
Shecky: Living or dead?
Ira: Either way.
Shecky: You know what? I do what a lot of people have done in show business. There are a lot of people that do impressions, which I did.
Ira: Well, it’s not just impressions though. You’re doing all kinds of storytelling, and it’s a certain way you go about it that’s unique, which is why you went from ten dollars to a thousand dollars because of what you did. So from that perspective, if you look at other comedians over the years, who would you consider your favorite?
Shecky: I don’t know. That really is tough because there are so many guys that I think had the same thing I had—the Jewish experience. When you’re Irish, you have that Irish feeling. I had that Jewish feeling. And the funny thing about it is that’s the kind of people we were getting in Las Vegas. We were getting the New Yorkers, the Chicagoans, and they were no longer wearing boots and riding horses, but it was…
Ira: But you were also getting a Catskills crowd at that point in Las Vegas too.
Shecky: Oh, you’re getting the New York crowd. Even L.A. people were coming up to see me. But we had—you know, I was here so long I changed with the town. We were a very small town. Our big room sat 250 people. Haircuts used to call me and say, “Hey, Shecky, I just want to say something. Audience today: you had 237 people. You were almost seven more than me.”
Ira: (Laughs)
Shecky: But everybody knew everybody. I opened the store—I don’t recognize anybody.
Ira: I know, you didn’t recognize me, but I still came in.
Shecky: Well, it’s because you were wearing a skull cap.
Ira: Exactly.
Shecky: I think you’re a printer.
Ira: Could be. But I’m going to tell you something. This town—I, this is a terrible thing for me to say because the town has been so good to me, but I really don’t like the town anymore. It’s too crowded. There are so many different things today, but Las Vegas has been good to you, and you’ve left occasionally and come back. I know you were in Palm Desert for a while for several years, and then you came back again, right?
Shecky: Oh, you mean Palm Springs?
Ira: Palm Springs, I take it back.
Shecky: Yeah, and then when I came back, not that I was in show business anymore, but the South Point opened. Mike Gaughan, who is a very good friend of mine, said, “If Shecky’s available, bring him in.” So I went back to work there. The first show he saw—I don’t know whether he liked it or not because he got up in the middle and left. And I said, “Wait a minute, this is so bad, I’ll go with you.”
Ira: (Laughs) But it’s a town you grew up in.
Shecky: I really grew up in this town. My career and my life—I grew up in this town. I knew all the people who had the money, who got the money, who had the ability to buy property, to become one of the mavens of this town.
Ira: You didn’t take advantage, did you?
Shecky: I was with a guy, Harvey Silbert, who became that. He was the lawyer of the Riviera and one of the owners, and I was with him. If I stayed doing what he did, I would have been one of the owners.
Ira: But the bottom line is you did what you enjoyed.
Shecky: Funny, that’s the word. I didn’t enjoy it.
Ira: You didn’t enjoy it?
Shecky: Yeah, I never really enjoyed it. I loved the recognition of people knowing my name and coming up to me, but I never really wholeheartedly said, “This is what I want to do. I want to get up on stage, I want to be a comedian.” Then there’s Sammy Davis: “Maybe I’m right, maybe I’m wrong…”
Ira: Well, let’s go back to that for a second. I was always under the impression that you had a passion for performing. But what you’re saying now is that you enjoyed the recognition, but you didn’t necessarily have the passion for it.
Shecky: I enjoyed getting laughter. I enjoyed being the center of a crowd.
Ira: Center of attention.
Shecky: Yeah, I enjoyed that. But that ended, you know? Then you have to make peace with yourself. But then you go home, and your mother says, “Fix your bed.” And I say, “Ma, could you give me a laugh?”
Ira: (Laughs) She had a good sense of humor.
Shecky: I want to end it on a very optimistic question: your favorite Las Vegas experience.
Ira: I’m going to tell you a story you probably don’t know, and many people will not know unless I write a book. I was in my apartment or my hotel, and the police came and knocked down the door. They went to arrest me, and they said, “What did you do to that lady?” And I said, “What lady is that?” Now, I had a girl with me in the other room. I was single at that time, going with a French girl from the Tropicana, and she was in the other room. They said, “Talk about last night. What did you do last night?” I said, “I didn’t do anything last night.” There was a lady that came off a plane; she was in a comatose state. She was dressed as a nun, and there was a letter that said, “The only voice that can get me out of this is Shecky Greene.”
Ira: First I’m hearing it.
Shecky: The guy went to put cuffs on me. “What are you doing? Well, you did this to this woman.” I said, “I didn’t do anything to anyone.” They showed me a picture. The lady’s in a downtown hotel, Las Vegas spelled backwards. I said, “Well, you can’t just arrest me.” They took me to Southern Memorial Hospital. I saw the woman—she was out of it. A couple of days later, the doctor thought I did it, a psychiatrist thought I did it, everyone thought I did it.
Ira: Wow.
Shecky: So that’s one of the great stories, because I could have been in jail the rest of my life. Then the girl I was with, Regine, really let them have it. She said, “We were together.” So one cop started to believe me. I went down the next day—they were taking her to Sparks, Nevada, to the insane asylum. I thought I did it; I was so scared. So anyway, I started working with the woman. I came back the next day—they were taking her away to the hospital. I said, “What are you going to do with me?” They said, “We haven’t figured it out yet.” I said, “Let me talk to her.” I grabbed her, and I said, “Do you know Shecky Greene?” First time she talked, she said, “Yes.” I said, “Do you love Shecky Greene?” She said, “Yes.” I said, “Do you want to kiss Shecky Greene?” She said, “Yes.” So I kissed her, and I stopped them from doing what they were going to do with the woman.
Ira: Wow.
Shecky: After that, they found she had a sister in Albuquerque. I called her sister, and they found her car in Idaho or one of the I states. And that was the end of that for me. Till this day, I don’t know; nobody ever got in touch with me.
Ira: Well, you’re still here, so clearly everything worked out.
Shecky: Yeah, it worked out. But they always thought, “You know, go get the Jew.” And I said, “They don’t mean me. The guy with the hat, the rabbi.”
Ira: Before I let you go, what’s the best thing that has happened to you in your life? Soon to be 97.
Shecky: Marrying my wife, Marie. I’m not saying this because she’s around—I don’t even think she’s around. I was lost. Everything was wrong, this and that, and I couldn’t get a good feeling. But she does everything—she cooks, she sews. Matter of fact, she’s not even a wife; she’s my maid.
Ira: (Laughs) I won’t let her hear you say that.
Shecky: But if you’re in trouble, get yourself a great wife. And if she cooks Italian, come to my house.
Ira: My guest has been legendary comedian Shecky Greene. Shecky, thanks for being on the show.
Shecky: My pleasure. Thank you very much for asking me.
Ira: Join us every Thursday for a new “smear” on Ira’s Everything Bagel.