>> larry: tonight, the man of a hundred voices, terry fader. he and his friends are headlining in las vegas and now they're here. but don't call then puppets. >> i call this my christmas tree skirt. that's where i keep my christmas presents. >> larry: plus, what you never knew about mickey mantle until now. the tragedy and the truth behind the yankee legend from the woman who wrote the book on baseball's

last boy. all next on "larry king live." tonight a very special edition of "larry king live." terry fader is with us. he's a ventriloquist, impressionist, comedian and singer. he does more than 100 impressions and celebrity voices. a skill which saw him win season two of "america's got talent." and now he brings his hilarious show to the mirage hotel and casino in las vegas. he's with us tonight joined by a few of his favorite co-stars. terry, it's yours. ♪ at last ♪ my love has come along

♪ my lonely days are over ♪ and life is like a song ♪ oh, yeah, yeah ♪ at last ♪ the skies above are blue ♪ my heart is wrapped up in clover ♪ ♪ the night i looked at you emma taylor singing eta james. thank you so much.

>> that was emma taylor. and now i have a guy who claims to be the best elvis impersonator in the world. his name is maynard tompkins. now, maynard, you told me earlier that you are the best elvis impersonator. >> yeah, i -- i -- yes, i am. >> so what elvis songs do you know? >> actually, i don't know any elvis songs at all. i do know a christmas song, though. do you want to hear it? >> yeah, i guess so. >> okay. ♪ i'll have a blue christmas without you ♪ ♪ i'll be so blue just thinking about you ♪ ♪ decorations of red, a green

christmas tree ♪ ♪ won't mean a thing, dear, if you're not here with me ♪ ♪ i'll have see blue snowflakes start coming ♪ ♪ and when those blue memories start calling ♪ ♪ you'll be doing all right with your christmas of white ♪ ♪ but i'll have a blue, blue, blue, blue christmas ♪

>> actually, maynard, that was elvis. >> was it? >> yes. >> i guess i am an impersonator. >> i guess you are. maynard tompkins.

>> larry: we're back with the incredible terry fader. he's here with one of his characters, emma. now, how did emma learn to sing like that? how did you learn to do that? >> a lot of practicing in the shower. yeah, i want to be the next taylor swift. >> the next tarlt swift? >> yeah. >> okay. good luck. >> larry: we'll bring maynard back up in a minute. but how did you-how did you come to do this, you, terry? >> i started, when we were kids, i started when i was 10 years old doing ventriloquism. my parents had a janitorial business. when we were emptying trashes and vacuuming floors and everything like that, i decided it was a good time to practice ventriloquisms. i would sing the popular songs to the radio, but without moving my lips. >> i remember those days. >> you're not even that old. >> then i don't. >> she doesn't. >> larry: do you remember why at 10 you wanted to do voices

without moving lips? >> well -- >> larry: a strange occupation. >> i started doing magic when i was 8. i thought being a magician was kind of cool. but when i was 10, i decided that it was -- ventriloquism was neat and different. i actually found a book in my school library how to do it. and you're interested? >> yeah. i've never heard this story. >> so i checked the book out. i started practicing with it. i found a little puppet at sears, it was about $20, my mother paid for half, i paid for the other half. i started doing little shows for kids in the -- around my school. and my church. and things like that. and decided when i was about 13 or 14 that i wanted to be one of the top ventriloquists. >> larry: it was a goal? >> yeah, it was a goal. i think when i was 15, i decided i wanted to be known as one of the great ventriloquists -- >> larry: who was your favorite? >> edgar bergen, no doubt.

>> larry: charlie mccarthy was -- >> it was all about character and everything. of course, to become as -- a household name like edgar bergen and charlie mccarthy, that was a goal. sherri lewis and these guys were big influences on me as well. i just decided when i was about 15 or 16, that when people thought of ventriloquism, i wanted them to put my name up there with the big names. >> larry: "america's got talent" made it for you, right? >> yeah. >> i was in my 40s. >> larry: were you appearing in clubs? >> no, i was doing fairs, festivals. little small town stuff. in fact, what was funny about it, since i was a ventriloquist, they always looked at me as a kid's act. they would put me next to the petting zoo or with a bunch of clowns. it was terrible. i started playing schools, elementary schools.

when i got close to about 40 years old, i thought to myself, you know, i guess the whole thing of being rich and famous is a pipe dream. because nobody's ever really going to care about a 40-year-old ventriloquist. then america's got talent came along and changed everything. you want to sit down? okay, we'll put her down. but yeah, just like everybody else, i went and stood in line. and with a bag full of hopes and dreams and hoping that something would happen. what i thought would happen was that i would get on "america's got talent," i would get on two or three episodes, and then it would raise my -- the people's awareness of what i do. i never in a million years thought i would win it. i thought there was no chance in anything that a ventriloquist could win "america's got talent." but my goal was to get on and do things that would make people say, you know, i want to see what he's going to do next week. so i opened with "at last" etta

james, because i thought that was unusual to be a guy singing etta james without moving his lips. then i had this whole plan, i was going to do tony bennett, dean martin. i was going to do some of the other ones. louis armstrong, kermit the frog. so i had all these plans. and i thought if i can just get people to go to their phones and say, i want to see what he's going to do next week and go to their phones and vote for me. >> larry: what did work for you? >> the turtle singing "crying" as roy orbison. >> larry: did you expect to win at that point? >> you know, i didn't. the main reason was the guy who came in second was a really great reggae singer. i was looking at youtube. and i would see my youtube stuff, only had like 100,000 hits. and his had over 1 million. i thought, this guy's going to run away with it. but i was happy.

i might get second, you know. but i felt like i had done a $1 million performance. i felt like i had done a winning performance. >> larry: is maynard down there? >> yeah, yeah. do you want to talk to maynard. >> larry: you can put your voice down there, can't you? >> i can. i'll do an echo. ladies and gentlemen -- how do you do that? i have no idea. let's set maynard right here. >> is that larry king? >> that is larry king. >> i cannot believe it. >> larry: how did you come up -- who designs the puppets? >> this little guy -- >> larry: sorry, maynard, you are a puppet. >> i'm not an atheist. i know somebody designed me. >> anyway, i don't know what that means. >> larry: but it was funny. >> this guy was a guy that i -- many, many years ago, probably 15, 20 years ago, i decided i wanted to have an elvis impersonator in the show.

i could do an elvis voice. so i called up a guy, clinton detwiler in colorado. he's kind of the uber ventriloquist. he was the guy who ran the studios for years and years and years. i called him up -- >> larry: makes puppets? >> yeah, i called him and said i need this elvis puppet. and he had this guy, and i bought this guy from him. and then after america's got talent and everything took off, i found out that i had to like own the rights to every single puppet. and i had this guy, and i had just bought him from clinton. so i called him up and i said, what do i do about this puppet? and he said, well, luckily, he's the only one i've ever sold. so i actually bought the rights from clinton -- it wasn't clinton, there was another guy up in -- i can't remember his name. it was another guy. >> larry: so you own this? >> i own him, yes. >> yeah. >> larry: you feel like you're owned?

>> not at all. because i have a lot of fun. and that's all. >> but i got this idea that it would be funny to have an elvis impersonator who didn't know any elvis songs. what he actually does in the show is he sings an aaron neville song. he doesn't know it's aaron neville. >> larry: you do aaron neville. i won't put you on the spot to do him now. >> i can if you want. >> i can. >> larry: do aaron neville. ♪ look at this face ♪ look at this life ♪ i still don't know where it's going ♪ ♪ i don't know much ♪ but i know i love you >> he does that in the show. >> larry: it's amazing. are there some people you can't do? >> i'm sure there are. i'm having a really difficult

time with frank sinatra. but i'll get there. i just feel like if i work hard enough on something, i can get there. one of these days i'll do frank. >> larry: you also, of course, have a great voice. you sang the national anthem at dodgers stadium. you're a singer in your own right. >> that's the thing, i have a joke in the show where i do a song and i say, most people that have seen me on tv don't know that i can sing. after the show, i'll go out and sign autographs and talk to people and meet them. people will say, you sang that song by yourself. i didn't know you could sing. well, i'm a ventriloquist and the puppets are singing. i guess i'm doing a good job if they don't know i can sing. i love that. >> larry: you told me you never miss a performance, right? >> i have never missed a performance, not in 28 years, i think. >> larry: you worked through laryngitis. >> mm-hmm. everything. i have the best voice doctor in the world. he lives in dallas, texas. and he is unbelievable. his name is dr. kirkham.

he works with mick jagger, and axl rose. >> larry: you got the mirage county from "america's got talent." it's for ten years, is that true? >> i'm not supposed to talk money. but that's what i've heard. >> larry: the amazing terry fator. we'll talk to his lovely wife and how he nabbed -- don't go away. pringles superstack can makes everything pop! ♪ hey [ male announcer ] same cost but a lot more fun. everything pops with the pringles superstack can! we get double miles on every purchase. so we earned a holiday trip to the big apple twice as fast! dinner! [ garth ] we get double miles every time we use our card. and since double miles add up fast, we can bring the whole gang! it's hard to beat double miles! i want a maze, a sword, a... oww!

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>> larry: we're back with the incredible teary fator. his new wife is with us as well. who is one of the features in the act. in fact, we're going to see more people, more puppets from the act in a little while, too. you'll meet them as well. how did you and taylor hook up? >> she was my assistant in my show. and when i became available, my sister actually became friends with her. i was like, there's no way ever that she could possibly be interested in me. >> i don't think either of us thought about it at all. his sister, debbie, is the one who kind of hooked us up. because we have a lot of similar interests. >> and then once i became available, my sister was like, i think taylor would go out with

you. i said, there's no way. she said, i think you should ask her. i said, would you -- would you -- go out with me? before i got it out, she said yes. >> we remember the story just a little differently. >> maybe i heard it -- i couldn't believe it. >> larry: don't you just get tired being in a show place at night? >> not really. i'm a dancer. so i kind of miss dancing a little bit. but i'm so proud to be in his shows. it's amazing to be in a hit show. >> larry: we're going to meet some of the puppets that you'll be seeing him do in a little while when they sing. this was terry's first puppet, right? >> yes. well, this is -- it wasn't my very first. it was my first professional puppet. >> i tell you, i've been around here for a very long time. >> that's right. he has. my mother knew that i had made this commitment to myself to become one of the top ventriloquists.

so she started saving when i was 15. and took three years. and for my 18th birthday gave me walter. it took years for me to create the character of walter. and actually, he was originally a political puppet. the reason his name is walter airedale is because it was when walter mondale was running against ronald reagan. >> and i had an accent because mondale -- >> so that's what he originally was. >> that's right. >> and then i started a band in 1987 or '88. and it was a country band. and i put a cowboy hat on walter. i thought if i put a t in walter airedale, it was country. he is a yodeler. ♪ >> larry: what do you think of what he does? because you look at these puppets like it's a little weird, right? does he bring them home?

>> he does not bring them home. everybody asks that. they stay at the mirage. i think the puppet's a little weird. >> what are you talking about? weird? this is a side of you i've never seen. >> it's a little strange because they're so life-like when he's puppeteers. but -- >> larry: some ventriloquists are nut cases. >> some are. >> larry: and some movies, there was a great movie written, "magic" -- >> larry: anthony hopkins. the puppet controls the master. you never had that? >> never, never. >> no, never. unfortunately, i tried, but it just don't work. >> larry: walter will be back in a lilts while and he will sing. let's bring up winston, the impersonating turtle. what's the history of winston? >> winston has -- >> i have a very interesting history. >> yes, he does. >> larry: tell us. >> when i was doing "america's

got talent," i had a wonderful world that i wanted to do with louis armstrong and kermit the frog. and so i called up the muppets when i was doing the show and i said, would it be okay if i did kermit the frog on "america's got talent." and they said no. i felt like it was one of those impressions that would really get me through to the next level. so i'm sitting there thinking, i just racked my brain trying to think of something besides a frog. so i went with a lizard and came up with a turtle. and named him winston the impersonating turtle. >> and then came up with this voice because i'm really cute. >> larry: you can get away with him doing kermit as you do in the next segment. >> i even called and said, is it okay if i do kermit's voice? you can do kermit's voice, not just actually kermit. >> so i thought i'll do the frog here. >> i did louis armstrong and winston. >> larry: which we'll see in a

little while when they sing back-to-back. do they ever -- i know you're not a nut. but do you ever start to really think of them? >> no, not really. >> larry: put them in a box and they're just -- >> once the show is done, it's over. but they are an extension of my personality, or extension of me. so i don't ever get lost, you know, like who's who. but what is funny is, i definitely am funnier when i have a puppet on my hand. >> larry: as a stand-up. >> absolutely. i think the reason is i feel more free, because when -- because, you know, i'm a person who just -- i want everybody to have fun. i just want everybody to enjoy themselves. i don't want to hurt anybody's feelings or say something that might have offensive. so i've got that filter going on in my head. whereas a puppet can get away with a lot more. so a puppet can say and do things that a person can't. so i think i'm just a little more free. my brain is a little more free.

>> larry: how do you regard the muppets? that's not ventriloquism. >> watching kermit the frog showed me just how life-like puppets can be. >> yeah, just look at me. >> larry: i knew jim henson pretty well. and he would never let the children who would come to see him see the puppet in a box. >> no, no. >> larry: he would always hide them. they only could see them when they performed. >> that's one of the things that is very -- i'm really, really careful about, when i'm on stage, and it's something that i wish all ventriloquists would pay attention to. and that is, when a puppet is seen by the audience at any time, they're alive. you never, ever, ever want them to see a dead puppet. a lot of times a ventriloquist will go get the puppet and it's dead until it gets to the microphone stand. that's not how it should be.

>> larry: you don't put them live down here. >> no, never. >> larry: the next one will also be in the next act. vickie the cougar. by the way, why do you call her a cougar? >> well, it's because that term became popular with the -- >> what do you mean, don't i look like a cougar? >> larry: a flimsy loose woman. she's a vegas kind of broad. >> what is that supposed to mean >> larry: i don't mean to put you down. >> i call this my christmas skirt. that's where i put my christmas presents. >> larry: how is the christmas show going? >> it's wonderful. i think i'm the only show in vegas that does a christmas show. but i'm a big kid. i think we decorated the day after halloween, we decorated our house. i love christmas. so i change the show, about half of it is christmas songs, christmas jokes and things. >> of course, we wear these christmas outfits.

>> you're going to be singing a christmas song later. >> i am. >> larry: do you ever have the occasion when you're going back and forth as you do so quickly with the puppets where your voice goes into the puppet and the puppet voice does go into you? >> that does happen occasionally. sometimes something will happen where i accidently say the wrong line. in fact, on my dvd, there's a point where i'm doing michael jackson, and i get the voices all mixed up. and we left it in. it's a very funny -- people tell me it's one of their favorite parts of the dvd. >> larry: do you have any bad nights? >> you know, the only bad night is when i'm really sick and i don't feel well. but you asked me earlier about not missing shows. i don't miss shows. i've literally had times when they were holding a bucket backstage because i felt so bad. the audience never knows it. but they're not bad shows for the audience but the bad show's for me because you have to struggle through them. i just feel -- i'm one of those vaudevillian types.

people come there, they want to see it. it was my dream to have people come and see the show, so i'm going to do that show no matter what. >> larry: you do a lot for charity. i know you're very involved. in fact, i attended an event you were very involved with for various charities. you recently headlined on veterans day weekend. >> i feel that we need to show our appreciation to our veterans. they worked so hard to keep us free. and they give up so much. they sacrifice so much. and i just want to make sure they feel appreciated and know how much we -- well, just how much we appreciate the sacrifices they make. >> larry: very involved in the arthritis foundation. >> my sister has rheumatoid arthritis. >> larry: it's a wonderful night. it's an honor knowing you. back on stage with the three characters you just met. you got lucky. >> we are writing a tv show together. we're actually creating a television show we'll be pitching to the network.

me and taylor, my wife. so we want to co-host. it's a really good idea. it's going to be a hit. >> larry: we'll get you on "american idol." we'll be back with more of terry fator. you're going to see them perform. don't go away.

♪ well, i was walking through the room ♪ ♪ with $100 bills ♪ it thrills and chills like horns on my sill out on the grill ♪

♪ and i had another round of crown ♪ ♪ everybody's getting down in this town ♪ ♪ ain't never going to be the same ♪ ♪ because i saddled up my horse and i ride into the city ♪ ♪ i make a lot of noise ♪ the girls are so pretty ♪ riding up and down broadway in my stud leroy and the girls say ♪ ♪ save the horse ♪ ride a cowboy ♪ save the horse ♪ ride a cowboy. >> walt t. airedale. >> thank you, thank you. >> now, in las vegas, of course, you need more adult humor. so i'd like to introduce vickie the cougar.

so vickie, you're going to do something -- >> if you haven't made out your christmas list, ladies, here's a few ideas. ♪ santa, baby, just see what's under the tree on me ♪ ♪ i'm also a good girl ♪ santa, baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight ♪ ♪ think of all the fun i've missed ♪ ♪ think of all the fellows that i haven't kissed ♪ ♪ next year i could be just as good ♪ ♪ if you'd check off my christmas list ♪ ♪ santa, baby, i want to not ask for a lot ♪

♪ i've been an angel all year ♪ santa, baby ♪ so hurry down the chimney tonight ♪ ♪ hurry down the chimney tonight ♪ >> and the character that actually won "america's got talent" for me, winston the impersonating turtle. so, winston, it's a beautiful outfit. >> it's not an outfit. i am santa claus. >> the real saunt clause? >> i'm santa. >> i'm assuming since we have a christmas show at the mirage -- >> it's called a very terry christmas. >> you want to do a christmas song? >> i do. >> okay. what voice do you want to do? >> i can't sing. i've got a frog in my throat.

kermit the frog here. ♪ have yourself a merry little christmas ♪ ♪ let your heart be light ♪ from now on your troubles will be out of sight ♪ ♪ here we are as in olden days ♪ happy golden days of yours ♪ through the years we all will be together ♪

♪ if the fates allow ♪ and above the highest boughs ♪ and have yourself a merry little christmas now ♪ merry christmas. >> merry christmas, winston. >> larry: thank you. what a show. he's at the mirage. he's incredible. we want to thank terry, his lovely wife, and, of course, the great man himself, terry fator and his co-stars walter and vickie and winston. you can see more of them at the mirage casino and resort in las vegas. terry fator, ventriloquism -- do

my voice. >> ventriloquism and concert. >> larry: that's very good. tuesday through saturdays at 7:30. for more information, go to terryfator.com. next is jane levy. she's written the number two best-seller in america, the last boy, the life of mickey mantle. she's next. don't go away. recently a whole new kind of cloud came to st. cloud, minnesota. ask me what a cloud feels like... and here are the first real people to sleep on those brand new clouds. ask me what it feels like to be comforted by a cloud. a new tempur-cloud supreme... by tempur-pedic... ask me why we love our cloud... ask me how it's soft as a cloud... and still supports me. ask me why this is a million times better than my pillow-top. a pillow-top may look nice and puffy, but underneath

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>> larry: jane levy is an old friend. "new york times" best-selling

author. feature writer for the washington post. her new book is terrific. it's a guaranteed best seller. it's "the last boy, mickey mantle and the end of america's childhood." what a read. why did you call it what you called it, "the last boy"? >> you know, i have a picture that someone gave me for my 35th birthday. i'm not going to tell you how long that was ago, taken by a fabulous photographer. it's mickey and billy and whitey in the dugout at shea stadium in the mid-'70s. mickey's sitting there in pin stripes, gapping at the middle. he's got these graying muttton chops. he's making this goofy jerry lewis kind of face. and billy's, of course, egging him on and laughing. whitey's looking askance. and i looked at that, i looked at the difference between his age chronologically and the way

he was aping a kid, aping someone else on a playground. and i said, he's the last boy. and he was the last boy in a generation of boys, larry, who i think were treated as if, you know, boys got to do what boys got to do. and boys will be boys. and that's okay. we'll like them anyway for whatever they do. it's okay not to know completely. what we do know, we'll forget. the rules changed after him. >> larry: yeah, they did. in this age, of cnns and espns and tabloidism, it's hard for the young person to realize, how big would mickey be now? how much of a press item would he be now? >> well, they'd have to put, you know, a plaque out in the new monument park at yankee stadium that would be five times the one they did for steinbrenner. it's hard to imagine now what 536 home runs meant when he

retired at the end of 1968. you know, those were -- he had honest muscles. and those were honest home runs. he was an unprecedented alloy of speed and power. i was in texas the other day, and dr. bobby brown, of course, who played with him, and later became president of the american league and a cardiologist said, when mickey was young, before he got hurt in the '51 world series, when he ran, he kicked up tufts of dirt as high as his head, he ran so hard. and he was -- bobby brown actually told this story and i was mad at him for not telling it to me when i could have included it in his book, in '52 he was in korea and he managed to get film of the '52 world series. and he showed it to his guys. they said, lieutenant, lieutenant, run that back again. when they ran it back again, they said, how did that 4-f -- run so hard? that was after he lost a step.

>> larry: he was also so many other things. he was an alcoholic, he was a player, he could be very rude and very sweet. would complex be a good word? >> far more so than people let on. you know, we like to think somebody's one or the other, either/or. so he's all of these revelations of profane language and i saw a bunch of that myself, larry. i saw the best and worst of him when i interviewed him in '83. people think that must be all there was to him. it wasn't. this is fascinating. he was also a gentle soul. he was a man with great emotional iq. his teammates said, you know, he was the guy in the locker room who could intuit what people were feeling. he took in teammates like strays.

jerry lumpy, the infielder when he was a rookie, had no place to live, so mickey said, here are the keys to my house in new jersey. his wife and sons had gone back home to oklahoma. so jerry goes out there and he finds ten cashmere sports jackets in the master bedroom closet. mickey says, take them, too. and he did. >> larry: we'll be right back. thank you for calling usa prime credit. my name is peggy. you have problem? peggy? ok, i've been waiting for fifteen minutes for someone to pick up. you're tenacious like bull. i like. please hold. no, no, no...pe- (phones ringing) so pretty. want better customer service? switch to discover ranked #1 in customer loyalty. it pays to discover.

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>> larry: the freight great. >> larry: the great ones --

>> if i was on send base and somebody hit a single. i know i'm supposed to score, and i couldn't score. or if i go from first to third on the same goal, i don't know, it gets to you. >> larry: he was a hero of yours as a child, and you meet him and finally get to talk with him and he came on with you, right? >> yeah. you know, i kind of feel that was almost pro forma, larry. as if, i'm mickey mantle and that's what i'm supposed to do. i went to atlantic city to the clarj hotel and casino where he was working. and he had been banned from baseball by commissioner kuehne, who had done the same to willie mays. so he knew what was coming. he had no other way to make a living. reserve shortstops didn't make gazillion dollars then. when he retired he was $100,000 ballplayer. that was a big schmere back

then. but he needed a way to make a living, and he needed in part because his youngest son billy was dying of a disease mickey always thought he would get. and so nonhodgkin's lymphoma. my parents had honeymooned at this hotel, december 25th, 1941, the only night they could get a rabbi in the city of new york before my father shipped out. so i wait for mickey. and he's late. he shows up a couple hours late. he looked like he had had a long evening the night before. and there were many of them. and he sticks out his hand, and i can't do the drawl too well, but he sticks out his hand and say, hi, i'm mick. and i said, because i was a mickey guy, you had to have a guy in new york, you know that. either duke or willie or the mick. well, mickey was my guy. so i stuck out my hand and i said, i'm nervous. and he said, why, did you think i would pull on your tittie? my childhood ended.

since i was 32, it was about time. but nonetheless, i grew up real fast. >> larry: we'll be right back. ar smile after just three days. for a smile that's sure to stand out. ♪ crest 3d white professional effects whitestrips.

>> larry: his flaws were many, his attributes were many. did you, on finishing the book and the exhaustive research, did you like him? >> yeah. you know, and i liked him probably in a more grown-up way. when i started out with this, he was my guy. and by the end of it, he was a guy. the reason i put myself in it, is because i thought that my experience with him in atlantic city, where he also, larry, famously, after insulting me, you know, looked at me, saw me shivering on a golf course and said, can't somebody get this

girl a bleepin' sweater? she's going to bleepin' freeze. i put that sweater up on the door to my office and i looked at it every day. mickey mantle invitational golf tournament sweater. and i looked at it. and it was made of 100% orlon acrylic. a substance i didn't know up until then. but the gesture, the instincts to be kind and his ability to step outside what i like to call his mick-ness, that huge bubble of celebrity, and see me rather than just be seen himself was really an important part of him. and i think he wanted -- his son said this to me, he wanted people to be honest with him. but what happened is nobody says what needs to be said and nobody says, you can't talk like that. you can't act like that. and after he passed out face down, dead drunk in my lap, the

next morning i went and pretty much told him off. i probably could have gotten fired by it by george solomon at the "washington post." i took a huge risk. his son said, if you were a guy, he probably would have gotten up and walked away and told you where to go. when i said, how can a grown-up act like this, and here's what you did to me when i was 7 for an autograph, he said, well, hell, jane, i'll give you an autograph now. and he whips out the sharpie. and he autographs the glossy for me. and one of the funnier things -- i've kept two things from my career, larry, that autograph and the sweater. and the autograph is funny, because what he did to me when i was 7, and i guess this is okay to say, it's cable, you know, when i reached over at the police barrier outside the

players' gate, he emitted a certain flatulence. he was good at that. when i told him in atlantic city, how could you do this, how could you do this to a kid, you know, he gets this mortified look and he writes on the photograph, to jane, sorry i farted, your friend mick. >> larry: we'll be right back.

>> larry: we're back with more moments with one of my favorite writers, jane leavy. why did his wife stay with him?

>> well, what people have told me, and what he said to his friends, is that the only thing she ever wanted to be was mrs. mickey mantle. in fact, she was actually a gifted soprano. and gave up a scholarship to college, to a local college in oklahoma in order to become mrs. mickey mantle. but it was a marriage that had ceased to be a marriage long before his death in 1995. she said they had become friends. she called him my beloved friend. and, you know, friends of hers told me that she had never given up the hope that they would live together under the same roof. it was a tormented marriage that was dictated by his father. i think part of what happened to mickey is that he had this legendary baseball father, mutt