Ed Begley Jr. To the Temple of Tranquility .And Step On it! A Memoir

Ed Begley

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 Taking a walk I once made a huge mistake of trying to out drinking Harry Nelson I did not try that a second time And one day we were drinking in New York at a place called The Robot Room we were having lunch and so he said at some point you want to join me for dinner with some

Ed Begley

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 friends and I went sure, and he picks me up in a taxi We go to the Dakota So Buzz I’m thinking no When he said dinner with friends, he couldn’t possibly mean Then the door opens and there’s John Lennon

Announcer:

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 Welcome to another edition of Taking a walk with Buzz Knight today A returning fan favorite Buzz Knight’s guest has appeared in 350 projects between his television and movie career.

Announcer:

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 He’s earned six consecutive prime time Emmy Award nominations and a Golden Globe. He hosted his own reality TV show and he’s been an environmental activist since 1970.

Announcer:

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 Ed Begley Junior is here to discuss his new book to the Temple of Tranquility and step on its Ed has a candid discussion about his demons his love of music and life Here’s Ed Begley Junior on taking a walk with Buzz Knight

Buzz Knight:

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 Ed It’s tremendous to be with you sir Not as good as our delightful walk that we had in person last year You were so gracious to my friend Ruth and I

Ed Begley

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 oh gosh that’s right It’s coming back A flood of memories I they had something on the list Johnny Rock in Minneapolis And now I know I’m talking to my pal Buzz This is so great to talk to you What a treat this is It’s an it’s we had a great walk along the L A river there Thank you Buzz

Buzz Knight:

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 Oh, you’re the best Congratulations on your book to the Temple of tranquility and step on it I want to ask you was writing the book uh Therapeutic for You And are you and your lovely wife Still speaking after that process.

Ed Begley

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 we are somehow still speaking after many processes we’ve been through Not the least of which is our reality show the fact that our marriage survived that is a miracle, but I love her a lot and most importantly we have a lot of laughs You know that you’re around us both but this book.

Ed Begley

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 uh she’s loving it now She’s finally just now not reading it because she doesn’t like to read out of a book She’s listening to the audio version now for the first time and I finished the book a year ago and I was trying to get her to read it but finally she’s listening to it which I’ll take that’s fine by me And um yeah it’s only made us closer this whole process She’s happy to have me get out of the house and do a book tour So it works in every possible way Buzz

Buzz Knight:

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 You know your transparency in the book is not surprising to me You discuss personal struggles uh with alcohol you reveal your fight with Parkinson’s Um have some been surprised by your openness.

Ed Begley

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 Yes, many people that I’ve even known for 2030 years didn’t know that part of my life that ended back in 1979 which is a good many years ago Gosh that’s 43 years ago 40 almost 44.

Ed Begley

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 when I quit drinking for this last time back in 1979 You know I drank the quarterback every day from 1971 through 1978 and tried it again one last day in 1979 and it just stopped working buzz

Ed Begley

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 And that’s a challenge for people who have an addictive personality that addictive gene even when it’s not working you still do it, you’re addicted to something, and you can see it’s destroying your life and your family that you persist, So I finally got well there’s a saying

Ed Begley

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 I can’t but we can there are groups that help people like that and I found one of them and in a group you can finally really get some support to do what you must do which is to end on a daily basis Not forever You never say I’m never going to drink again I’m never going to take pills again You say I’m not going to take pills or drink today and you can get through today That’s a one bite at a time kind of meal you can eventually get through And that’s what I did and it’s been working since 1979

Buzz Knight:

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 Yeah, that line in the book where you say my consumption my consumption was such that it was a growing concern for John Belushi That’s quite a statement.

Ed Begley

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 My dear friend John was my salvation on more than one occasion saved me from a mad amount of drinking He and Judy were concerned about me They pulled me out of the bar in Durango Mexico where I was really drinking them out of alcohol That was extremely unhealthy and uh you know.

Ed Begley

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 he was a great talent a great comedian I remember from for that and try not to

Ed Begley

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 spent too much emphasis on other things other parts of his life but he did indeed save me a great friend And Judy is my dear friend to this day I love her too and his brother is fantastic You.

Buzz Knight:

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 know you talk about your time as a standup comic What was your what was your act.

Ed Begley

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 like I was one of those pro comics buzz You know I wanted to me didn’t know it at the time, but I think I was trying to make my life as difficult as possible First of all just to carry around to ship around you know to different cities all those props.

Ed Begley

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 a big rig and roll and finally I had tape playback audio tape playback, and I had a slide projector with different slides I project up on the screen behind me.

Ed Begley

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 and hired my dear friend Tony Amala to join me on the road with that You know I just uh.

Ed Begley

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 I don’t I I’d much rather just tell jokes if I ever did it again but I couldn’t possibly do what these great comics are doing today It’s just amazing the kind of uh humor that’s out there and the talent that is out there doing it today they are such good comics I’m sure you see a lot of them yourself on Netflix or somewhere else It’s amazing the work they’re doing

Buzz Knight:

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 and you were on the bill with some uh pretty cool uh music acts when you were doing your stand up right.

Ed Begley

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 yet The Troubadour opened for Dave Mason Uh I opened for Can Heed I opened for Neil Sedaka

  Don McLean uh all kinds of wonderful people on the road And at Nassau Coliseum I opened for John Sebastian Poco Lain the Messina I played the bottom line opening for David Bromberg uh Max Kansas City opening forum.

lots of acts uh Manhattan transfer and others I just love being on the road and doing stand up and it’s good as an actor who wants to do comedy to learn you know what come what’s making people laugh throughout the country That’s a very important lesson So it was not time wasted doing stand-up It helped inform me as a as an actor

Buzz Knight:

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 Never with the Eagles though Uh on a bill Huh

Ed Begley

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 Never I am good friends to this day with Don Henley I was good friends with a great Glenn Frey for many years and Joe Walsh is a dear friend of mine I’m just blessed to know these terrific people and Timothy Schmidt

Ed Begley

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 wonderful musicians’ wonderful friends’ great artists and keep in mind Don also saved Walden Woods from being developed So another reason to love the great Don Henley not just his great singing and songwriting but he saved Walden Woods from having you know like a commercial structure on it.

Buzz Knight:

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 And let’s give a shout out to the great folks over there Kathy Anderson and her whole crew at the Walden Woods project They’re the best.

Ed Begley

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 Absolutely The Thre Institute the Walden Woods project is doing great stuff to this day preserving the greatest collection the largest collection the best collection of Throws writings and other works Uh It’s very impressive what they’ve done and they continue to protect land in that vital area which for me was like firing up a foundry in the Sistine chapel to put a development like that

Ed Begley

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 in a place like that It was the wrong message to send in and Don with a few friends was able to stop it So thank you Kathy Anderson for keeping it going to this day.

Buzz Knight:

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 Describe your relationship with Tom Waits, which I was fascinated by.

Ed Begley

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 He and I met.

Ed Begley

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 had just done a club in Brynmor called the Main Point And he uh he was coming into the main point to do his wonderful act and I heard his music and just fell in love with his artistry and him as a person So we uh we had AAA good many great years together just hanging out and being friends And he was there the important night uh that I met my first wife Ingrid He was talking to her and Ingrid and Tom had a connection So

Ed Begley

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 became a connection for me and I wound up uh dating her and then getting married just a few months after starting to date her We were wed and had two wonderful Children who are now 46 and 45 years old So Tom was instrumental in that another reason to love Tom Wait not to mention his wonderful recent work he’s been doing with his wife Kathleen and

Buzz Knight:

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 you are still in touch with

Ed Begley

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 him

Ed Begley

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 I am I spoke to him I sent him a copy of the book hoping he’d like it because I do talk about our time together and he seemed to love it We talked on the phone at length and he and Kathleen really liked it So that’s the highest praise I could get that Tom and Kathleen would like this book And uh the way I speak about their artistry they seem to ok it and I agree

Buzz Knight:

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 with you that the hardest Saturday Night is one of the greatest songs ever

Ed Begley

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 It is that it’s a great song. The whole album is fantastic and as many other albums get behind the mule and bad as me just uh, he’s an amazing performer amazing writer Everything about him is just one of the greats of all time.

Buzz Knight:

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 And then you uh you talk about your time with the uh wonderful and notorious Harry Nilsson

Ed Begley

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 Oh, we had some fun together. He had a thirst like me. We liked our gargle, and we certainly would hang out at a lot of different pubs you know in New York in L A wherever we could.

Ed Begley

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 you know find a time to get together you know away from our work We’d certainly take the time to go and uh explore different establishments around LA I don’t know how we lived through it I once made a huge mistake of trying to out drinking Harry Nilsson I did not try that a second time

Buzz Knight:

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 and he was really the entry point to your ultimate uh meeting with John Lennon, wasn’t he?

Ed Begley

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 No question One day we were drinking in New York at a place called the Robata Room We were having lunch and having some Japanese food and beers And so he said at some point you want to join me for dinner with some friends And I went sure And he picks me up in a taxi We go to the Dakota

Ed Begley

00:10:37.729 – 00:10:59.179

 so buzz I’m thinking no When he said dinner with friends he couldn’t possibly mean Then the door opens and there’s John Lennon Come in come in Yoko Look who’s this lad I know this lad here John Lennon is acting like he knows me After about five minutes I realize why he goes Oh Yoko for God’s sake It’s Marie Hoffman Maddy Hoffman It’s the deaf mute Steve

Ed Begley

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 He’s they’re like fans of the show Mary Hartman Mary Hartman from the seventies that Norman Lear show with Louise laughter and he’s acting like a fan boy to me You know what’s Louise laughter like and tell me about Mary Kay place and what have you And I’m trying to keep my face from crystallizing and you know falling to the floor talking to John Lennon Yoko Ono and they had no help there They were just she made a macrobiotic meal with no

Ed Begley

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 distance What have you They just lived a very simple life there in New York It was not you know some mansion not that the Dakota is uh some cheap apartment You know it’s a beautiful uh extraordinary building, but they were very simple wonderful.

Ed Begley

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 people that could not have been nicer I was very lucky to know them and I

Buzz Knight:

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 love how you describe your relationship with CASS Elliot how she was really this uh entry point into some great experiences too wasn’t she?

Ed Begley

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 She was she did a similar thing to what Harry did to me She said oh I’m going to go hear some friends play downtown We get downtown It’s the music center Big Ben there downtown L A And who’s playing is Joni Mitchell with the opening act being someone I had never heard of Nobody had ever heard of Uh for the most part was that Jackson Brown and he was brilliant of course And Joni always brilliant And I we’re still friends to this day at Jackson and I and whenever I see Joni

Ed Begley

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 you know I know her a bit too and just love her And that’s the kind of thing Kath Ellie would introduce me to oh we’re going to have dinner with friends up at their house like John Lennon you know she says the same thing And so I’m brought up to dinner with some friends and the friends are Jack Nicholson you know and Michelle Phillips So it was just incredible knowing that wonderful lady and I know her family to this day

Buzz Knight:

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 and you talk about your friendship with the uh Monty Python crew I must ask you did you ever uh do the ministry of silly walks while you were spending time together with the boys.

Ed Begley

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 I hadn’t the nerve to do that to John Cleese That was his wonderful bit, But I know Eric Idle as well and I see Eric often and uh Tanya and Eric Idle are dear friends of mine John Cleese we did a show together became very good friends.

Ed Begley

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 Monty Python is one of the great comic experiences of my youth and remains so to this day just amazing work And uh I love seeing the films and you know the TV show and the different films that they’ve done the comedy albums that they’ve done extraordinary stuff hands up you know holds up to this day

Buzz Knight:

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 and I know there is going to be a uh next Spinal Tap coming out Do you have any part of this Possibly.

Ed Begley

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 I signed an ND A so I can’t talk about it But I’m hoping that even people who passed away in the Spinal Tap saga might be thought of or remembered in some way That’s all I’m going to say I’m hoping that different people will be remembered from the great story This is Spinal Tap and there are many drummers and other performers

Buzz Knight:

00:14:03.14 – 00:14:10.15

 Oh, I love it Well I want to close with a couple of um comments and quotes here and get your reaction first.

Buzz Knight:

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 I love the uh Alan Watts quote where he says drink deep from the well of friendship and cherish this moment Now can you talk about that.

Ed Begley

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 Yeah, that believe it or not I have the nerve to kind of mix that in with Alan Watts quote That’s something that I actually have said And uh and mean you know my friendship with Eric Idle you know and with uh Dave Merkin and Beverly D’Angelo and Bruce Wagner and all these wonderful people writers

Ed Begley

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 and friends who have done such great work We get together and remember our dear writer and friend Carrie Fisher and we are able still to gather and drink deep from the well of friendship And it’s one of the things that sustains me to this day I’m so lucky to have friends like that talented people like that that inspired me to write the book and to continue to work as an actor I’m just blessed I won the lottery I didn’t even buy a ticket buzz

Buzz Knight:

00:15:04.809 – 00:15:24.02

 And then the last quote there uh out of the book focus on your breath and no nothing else Let everything else slip away Uh Right now and then where we all visualize a better world, and we strive to uh make it that way Um That’s so beautiful.

Ed Begley

00:15:24.609 – 00:15:45.969

 Bless you for saying that buzz I find solace in those words and in those feelings And I think that’s what we’re supposed to do once we who have been fortunate enough to do some of the kinds of things that we’ve just spoken about I think once you’re settled in life and know that you’ve covered those important matters we need to help others and that that’s what we’re here for I believe

Buzz Knight:

00:15:46.63 – 00:15:59.219

 I’m so grateful for the opportunity to meet up with you again and uh I can’t thank you enough Congrats on the book end and uh I wish you and your lovely wife and your family Well.

Ed Begley

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 I want to see you next time you come to L A Let’s take a walk again Buzz You got a deal.

Buzz Knight:

00:16:03.729 – 00:16:04.34

 My friend

Announcer:

00:16:05.2 – 00:16:15.289

 Thanks for listening to this episode of taking a walk. Please share this with your friends and find taking a walk on the iHeart radio app and wherever you get your podcasts.

Buzz Knight is an established media executive with a long history of content creation and multi-platform distribution.

After a successful career as a Radio Executive, he formed Buzz Knight Media which focuses on strategic guidance and the development of new original content.