russia asking for help. "send us grains, we're starving." russia replied, "we're sure of grains for ourselves. tighten your belts." mao replied, "send us belts." [ laughter ] you know-- [ laughter ] you know, because of this new situation between america and red china, russia is a little bit worried, because they feel that they're being isolated and they decided to go easy on things. and, for the first time in history in russia, they decided to give russian people freedom of speech. in fact, recently, russian newspaper "pravda" ran a contest for best political jokes. first prize got 20 years.

[ applause ] but, you know, it's impossible to understand politics. i don't worry about it. i'm very happy living in america. and i'm a single guy, you know. in fact, i went to singles bar the other night. i met a girl and she said to me, "you know, i have never made love to a korean guy." i said, "me too." [ laughter ] thank you. [ music ] [ applause ] >> good to see you again. we'll take a break.

[ applause ] [ music ] [ applause ] >> doc. we're talking with johnny yune. and we have charlton heston, blair brown, and jack douglas with us. were you born-- you were born in korea, right?

>> when did you first come here? >> 1962. >> '62. you know, you're one of the few-- well, you're the only korean comedian i think i, uh, i've ever known. and the only other oriental i can remember is-is pat morita. >> yes. >> who, uh-- who does comedy. are there-- are there other successful oriental comedians who have made that transference to this country? >> uh, not that i know of. >> yeah. do they-- now this still seems like a silly question. obviously, they have comedians in korea. >> yeah, but you see, uh, it's a tough job. >> yeah. [ laughter ] because-because of the political situation and what you can say? >> yes, because, you see, wh-- uh, where i come from, um, when you laugh at someone, it's an insult. [ laughter ] so, um-- >> i see. if you laugh, that's insulting. >> and also you have to be careful what you say. >> because of the political, uh, situation there? >> yes. >> yeah. >> politics is a very, uh, very strange game, and i can never understand politics, you know? >> nobody understands it really. >> like, uh, sometimes you become hero, sometimes you become bad guy. like, uh, i-i don't know if you

politician korean rights leader, chung-shin pak? >> oh, yes. >> you know, he's back in korean now. he's a hero in korea, as a matter of fact. and they want to come out with a chung-shin pak sandwich. yeah, you eat it under the table. [ laughter ] >> now, who did-- now, if some comedian did a joke like that in korea-- >> yes. >> what would happen? [ laughter ] >> in korea. well, i will never s-- i mean, it's very difficult for me to say what's going to happen. >> but they wouldn't find that amusing? >> oh, uh-- >> they wouldn't find that-- >> not really. uh, well, they'll have to learn about the comedy. >> right. >> sooner or later. because you'll have to catch up with the rest of the world. >> right. >> you can't live all by yourself like china. even china has open-- opened the door. >> right. >> now you can't remain communist. i-i tell you, you know, politics always mixed me up, because i read an article in "l.a. times." this is an article-- "l.a. times."

man exploits man. in communism, it is the other way around." [ laughter ] >> confusing. >> yeah. it confused me, you know? like, uh, i truthfully-- i lived under communism once. >> right. >> and i know what communism is. i mean, i used to sing through my nose because i was so afraid to open my mouth. [ laughter ] and in communist country, you don't watch television, because television watches you. >> yeah, that's a whole different thing. >> and, i remember, my father said, uh-- uh, i'll never forget this. "a communist is someone who has nothing and willing to share it with you." [ laughter ] >> did your whole family come to this country in '61? >> no. i-i'm still all by myself. >> yeah. >> my family's back in korea. >> how did you decide to make the move? i don't think i ever asked you this. >> well, i came as a, uh-uh, exchange student. >> exchange student. >> yes, i went to-- i was in the university. >> did you speak any english when you came here?

>> un poquito. you're obviously from south koreb. >> yes. yes. >> un poquito. [ laughter ] your show, tku, was supposed to have premiered a little earlier, right? then it was pre-empted by-- what was that called? >> yes. it was scheduled to be on the air last january 24th and it got preempted by, um, uh, republican senate minority leaders speaking against mr. president's union address. and they didn't realize that senate minority was killing this minority. [ laughter ] >> that's right. you're a minority. you're a minority too. so, uh, it's due on coming up, uh, coming up soon? >> yeah, well, they tried-- nbc's doing their best to, uh-uh, get it on the air late part of march. >> yeah. >> and i hope i get the air date soon. >> you play a detective. >> yes. and, uh-- >> moonlights as a comedian. >> uh, ye-yes. >> you understand moonlighting? >> moonlight? >> an extra-- >> i'm not related to, uh-uh, reverend moon. >> no, that's not you, the reverend moon.

[ laughter ] moonlighting means an, uh-uh, extra job. kind of a cover. >> yes. i'm a korean exchange detective, and, um-- [ laughter ] from exchange student to-- >> yeah. >> and i, you know, i moonlight as a comedian when i'm off duty. >> right. now everybody assumes because somebody is an oriental and is a detective, you are skilled in the martial arts. whether it's kung-fu or karate or jujitsu or any of that. >> oh, i know kung fu. >> did you-- did you study that? >> i once step in it. >> no, no. not that. [ laughter ] [ applause ] i'll just sit here and play straight for you. [ laughter ] do-- do you use any of the, uh-- >> i-- yeah, i studied-- >> aikido? is there-- is that another one? >> no. i studied -- koreans study the art called taekwondo under the master jun chong on wilshire boulevard. >> really? >> yeah. >> you're not making this up now? >> no, he, uh, he's fantastic.

>> what was that art? what is that martial art? >> taekwondo. that's the korean style of karate. >> ah. >> and i can protect myself from, uh, especially like, uh, a flasher. [ laughter ] >> yes. >> you know, it's very easy. like, the ladies who-- when you're a flasher, you protect yourself like-- you know, flasher opens like this? >> yeah. >> and then you go... [ screaming ] [ laughter ] >> oh, yes. well, that would do it, all right. you know, you surprised everybody on this-- you surprised everybody on this show one night, because you were sitting here and you sang-- you said you had just sung at a bar mitzvah or something like that. [ laughter ] or you-- or didn't you get up and do a-a yiddish song? >> yes, i did a hebrew song once here. >> yeah, a hebrew song. and you have this beautiful singing voice. >> thank you. >> and we ask tonight if you'll do something for us, because >> i would love to. >> you'd like to do something? [ applause ] but, uh, i can-- i can only sing the song that my is that all right? >> sure. your mother used to sing--

[ applause ] [ music ] [ singing in italian ] [ laughter ]

[ music ] [ music ] [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you.

>> really good. [ laughter ] yeah. >> thank you. [ applause ] >> you've come up-- you come up with more surprises. next time in french. okay? [ laughter ] >> you have it. >> okay. we'll take a break.

[ applause ] [daughter] sometimes the hallways felt like a giant maze.

and she slept during the day and was up at night. she seemed irritable all the time. [daughter] it felt like there was a weight on my shoulders. and the weight was really hard to hold up. [mother] one day my daughter was crying, that's when jenny told us she thought about hurting herself. [daughter] then my parents got me treatment. that's when the bad feelings started to go away. [ music ] [ applause ] >> we're back. this book i'm holding is called "the actor's life" which is a-- an illuminating account of charlton heston's career and a commentary on some 20 years of movie-making. chuck opens this friday here at the ahmanson theatre in one of the great plays, "a man for all seasons." would you welcome, please,

[ music ] [ applause ] are you ready to go? >> now i want to make one thing clear from the start-- >> you're ready for a game anytime, aren't ya? >> nope. now you know perfectly well i do not come on "the johnny carson show" in jogging suit. i just came from a matinee and, as soon as i finish, i'm going to eat my sandwich and go back to the theatre and do the evening preview. >> that's right. >> and this is the kind of thing you wear, uh-- >> that's right. >> between shows. >> you are now in the preview rehearsals. >> but i'm not putting down the johnny-- i wear a tie, don't i? >> i know that. >> okay. just so we got that all squared away. >> just thought you were ready for a-- knowing-knowing how much you love tennis, i figured you're just ready any time. >> yeah. that too. >> yeah, i'm glad to see you. i have not seen you since the night, as you know-- a few weeks ago, i mced a dinner for the march of dimes for your good friend, greg peck and george burns was on the stage. it was the jack benny memorial award. and you were supposed to be there, but you had a-a rather harrowing day.

the play rehearsals, uh, but that was the day, if you remember it in the news, that a rather disturbed lady, uh-- >> oh, yes. >> had hijacked a plane and in new york and had demanded to see a couple of people in the motion picture industry. your name was one of them. i think jack lemmon was another. >> jack lemmon. yup. >> it was something to the effect-- that there had been a note left in a twa terminal-- >> that was the proposed scenario. turned out not to be the case, but-- >> and you were supposed to-- you were supposed to go there and read this to the nation or something. what-what-what's the story? >> well, i didn't mind that so much, but as we were-- the fbi fellows came and picked me up at the rehearsal down at the ahmanson. and, as we were racing up the free-- up to lax, why they handed me a bulletproofed vest. [ laughter ] and that made me a little nervous. [ laughter ] but i must say, um-- >> 'cause they didn't know that there'd be some conspiracy or something. >> yeah. they-they thought-- they said we have to point out to you that you, in fact, may be the target. now, of course, i really did

hours while the fbi negotiators talked to the lady on the airplane and on the ground at kennedy. >> but at the same time, you put yourself in a-- in a certain amount of jeopardy. let's be honest. >> well, it was nothing-- i really made no contributions, johnny. honest. honest to pete. but i did-- it did give me an opportunity that i think was valuable to me. >> i would have sent a guest host if they'd have called me. >> yeah. [ laughter ] [ applause ] >> not that i'm chicken, but i think i would have called david brenner or john davis and said, "hey, guys. how would you like to go out to lax in a bulletproof--" why not? >> don't tell me you weren't a little bit concerned now. you gotta be in those things. >> well, a little bit. but, uh, those fellas are very-- don't they? >> they know what they're doing. and at a time when the fbi has come under a lot of criticism from people with varying degrees of qualification to criticize-- >> right. >> it was interesting to sit

the dedication, intelligence, moderation, and responsibility with which they ran the whole thing. and as a-- from my situation, involved in it and as a taxpayer, i was impressed. >> right. the end of that thing wasn't-- they never-- yeah. [ applause ] once in a while it's not bad to, uh-- the end result of that entire thing-- the-the-the note was never found, as i understand, at all. or any-- anything to re-- >> no. the-the lady's story that there were accomplices at lax waiting with a note and with undisclosed instructions for me to read a message to the world were an invention, but-- >> yeah. >> uh, of course, they had to take it-- as was her statement that she had nitroglycerin in her purse. >> you'd have to assume, uh-- >> but you have to assume the worst-- worst case. >> yeah. it was a very testy situation to be in. >> it's very fortunate that, um, that it worked out. i think another member of our profession deserves some credit too. theo bikel-- a fine actor-- was

and he was right in the middle of it, and he entertained the passengers by playing his guitar, well, to keep them-- >> 'cause they sat on the ground for, uh, quite a number of hours. >> oh, six hours. >> without really informing them of what was going on. i think they told them, so as not to, uh, disturb them, that they-- >> theo-- theo paid his dues. >> and he got up and entertained them? >> yeah. >> that's great. i didn't know that. >> of course, i talked to him on the phone. he said, "what are you gonna do?" he said, "if i had been a doctor, i would have gone around taking everybody's blood pressure." [ laughter ] you do what you're supposed to do. >> yup. get up and entertain. and thank you for coming tonight, because i know you're in rehearsals for a-a very tough play. >> well, it's tough, johnny, but it's so-- such a rich piece to work on. "a man for all seasons" is-- there's been no-- it was written in 1959. >> robert bolt, right? >> there's been no play written since, i swear, that comes close to it. it is a more meaningful play now than it was when it was done, when paul scofield created the part. went on to do it brilliantly on film, but-- >> right. it's a test for an actor too, isn't it? >> it's a test for an actor, but it's a feast for an actor and an audience.

>> i-i did a matinee. it was-- i'm not tired. >> yeah. >> i'm looking forward to the evening. i'm looking forward to the run. it's a rich, rich piece. >> good. when it goes well and you've got the material, isn't it funny how all of a sudden it's not tiring? >> you bet. >> but if you're in something that is not working, how quickly you can-- >> 'cause then you've gotta do all the work. >> that's right. let me interrupt a second. we'll come back and talk about a few other things.

[ applause ] [ music ] [ applause ] >> we're back. we're talking with, uh, chuck heston. you know, you were one of the-- one of the actors among others that i know-- that set aside a-a certain time out of motion pictures to, uh, to play the boards, as they say. to go out in the theater, because it's a stimulation. it gives you a chance to expand a little bit and, uh-- >> different kind of problem. different kind of, uh, responsibility. >> and work at that craft of acting. >> yeah. you bet. >> and very often a lot of people who are predominantly motion picture people are a little reluctant to do that because it kind of-- they feel that it opens up them to the critics.

>> yeah. >> over history have been almost super-critical of "movie people" who work legitimate stage. even though-- that you have done this before. does that bother you at all? laying your self open to the critics? to say, "okay. here's chuck heston--" >> well. a couple of actors have asked me that. but all you're risking is your vanity, johnny. >> right. >> and maybe that's a healthy thing to do every so often. i mean, what's going to happen? if-if a critic doesn't like what i do, does that mean i'm not going to get a job or something? no. of course not. >> no. and that doesn't mean that the audience or other people don't like it. that's only one man's-- >> right. i remember the marvelous thing laurence olivier said to me once. i did a play with him some years ago and it was a flop. and then we're commiserating with one another when the notices come in, and i said, "well, i guess you have to learn to, uh, dismiss the bad notices." and he said, "chuck." he said, "that's easy." he said, "what you have to do-- this is much more important-- is to learn to dismiss the good ones." >> there's a lot in that.

>> yeah. >> everybody is very quick to believe the flattering things about you, you know. say, "boy, that man is really right." >> forget those too. >> if somebody says he's bad, they say, "hey, he's crazy." what's the nicest thing somebody has ever said about you as-as a critic? >> well, uh, i think the nicest, uh, review i ever had as an actor was not from a professional critic. but my second picture was a picture about the circus for cecil b. demille. >> "the greatest show on earth." >> "greatest show on earth." >> sure. >> it won the academy award. jimmy stewart, dorothy lamour, betty hutton, cornel wilde. they were all very good and the circus was marvelous and, you know. and mr. demille showed me a letter after the picture-- after the academy awards, you know, and some woman had written to him and said how much she'd liked the picture and how good betty hutton and jimmy were and everything. and she said, "you know--" 'cause i played the circus manager, and she said, "you know, that circus manager fit in very well with the real actors too." [ laughter ]

>> that's the best notice i've ever had. >> that is sensational. >> that's sensational. yeah. >> that is sensational. look, i know you have to go back. you have another preview performance tonight, and then officially you open for seven weeks? >> seven weeks. tomorrow. >> seven weeks at the ahmanson theatre. i suppose you'll do what? seven shows a week? >> uh, eight. >> two on wednesday? >> got two on, uh, wednesday. two on saturday. and sundays off. >> that's a full schedule. >> but it's gonna be a rich time. i hope a lot of people-- i hope you'll be able to come out, johnny. >> i'd be delighted to come down. >> okay. >> i promise you i will be there. thanks, chuck, for coming. [ applause ] [ music ] >> he's one hell of a nice guy. he really is.