[laughs] fred astaire. i asked fred astaire to dance. it's incredible courage. and what happened then? i don't think it takes a lot of courage. it just takes chutzpah. i--he turned me down. but the good thing was that shortly thereafter, the president, who was lyndon baines johnson at the time, did ask me to dance. and what kind of a dancer was l.b.j.? he was a terrific dancer. you mentioned that you had to fight down the temptation to share your views on the vietnam war. you bet. i was marching against the war and playing in a wonderful play called, oh, what a lovely war-- very anti-war sentiment-- at arena stage at the time. l.b.j. was pariah to those of us who were against the war, and there i was dancing with him. and i thought, "now's my chance to tell him." and then i thought, "it's not the time." this poor man needs a little relaxation. besides, he fox-trots very well. [laughing] if he'd been a poor dancer, you would have let him know your view? [laughs] you bet. i-i was-- on the other topic of courage, another early example in your career came in a scene

this clothing chain has also dressed many movie stars, like clark gable and fred astaire. we are talking, of course, about brooks brothers-- founded in 1818 by henry sands brooks. so who oversees this iconic american brand now? it's italian billionaire claudio del vecchio. >> the benefit is that i come in, i participate in meetings and i have a little bit different perspective, sometimes, that companies that have only americans don't have. >> reporter: del vecchio's private holding company, retail brand alliance, bought brooks brothers from the british firm marks and spencer a decade ago. but some things haven't changed. brooks brothers has been headquartered out of this store on madison avenue for the past century. >> many people think of brooks brothers as offering traditional clothing, but the company has introduced many fashion innovations to the u.s. market throughout its history. it introduced the first ready- made suits as well as the silk foulard tie, which is what most men wear to the office today. and don't forget the button-down shirt. >> the people that really

i know about fred astaire, not really. let's look at what is going on.g down from the tower you don't see the low clouds as much, mainly along the coast. beautiful sunrise and sunset today. take a picture of it and send it to me at abc7news.com or u record@abc7news.com. >> we just updated these and cooler in some areas. mainly around concord, antioch where we have 50s now. everybody else still in the 60s you can see around san francisco, 60 to 64 at oakland, sissy santa rosa. low 60s -- gilroy about 58°. let's talk about our highlights, more clouds, cooler breeze won't be as dramatic as yesterday but will continue today, cloudy, drizzle and chances of rain early next week when you will need the umbrella. today 2° in livermore, san jose 4, san francisco napa 8 to 9° drop compared today yes. sun right 7:04 sets at 6:55. multiple layers of clouds that's why they hang around throughout the morning commute into the lunch hour the lowest clouds hang out around the north bay beaches everybody else partly cloudy to partly sunny conditions 50s to most areas. san

he also loved fred astaire and gene kelly. >> he loved the greats. i interviewed him once and he talked about them all very movingly. interestingly this children's book that you've done, "little man," this hero of the book, he could be a young michael jackson. he's a young man with a talent for playing the drums. >> yes. >> and he's desperately trying to find a way to nurture that talent, to develop it. and with the support of his family and friends and so on, he gets the chance and it all ends in glory. did any part of michael, his story and everything play into your thinking for this? >> you know, not for me it didn't. the actual author of the book is my business partner, dave woolly. and the story is basically about him. >> really? >> and his growing years as a drummer and how he went on and on to play with some of the greats in our industry. he's now teaching college. he's very, very bright young man. but this is his passion, drums. i did the reading for it and we had a lot of fun. >> it's beautifully designed. what i like about it is at a time w

james bond's daniel craig and david bowie, fred astaire and cary grant have all benefited here.d yes michael jackson had some of his tailored here too. just a block long, it looks much like any other street in london, but look below. in the basement of saddle row's sorryed firms where hundreds of tailors, sewers and cutters have practice the art that has defineded this street for more than two-and-a-half centuries. the british call it the spoke. just don't call it fashion. >> we're making custom-made farments to the specifications of the customer. >> reporter: right. >> and.... >> reporter: so fashion is irrelevant. >> it is really. >> reporter: angus is often called the godfather of savile row. you were literally as they say first on the block. >> absolutely. >> mason: he had henry pool and company, the first tailor to set up shop here back in the 1940s. if i wanteded a spoke suit, roughly what will it cost me? >> oh, dear. 3,000 pounds. >> reporter: oh, dear is right. that's nearly $5,000. which is why you won't see your reporter in this story being fitted for a new suit. that

. >> well, doug mcgrath said you were the fred astaire of bowling after that. >> that's high praise.nk every woman will identify with this film. >> no question about it. my wife, every scene, she's going, yes, that is what it's like. >> my wife, the lists. keely, the lists. >> one of my kids favorite movies is "mama mia." you're in town to sing live? >> live, now? i'm here to talk to you, george. i'm up in halifax shooting a minisoar ris called "bag of bones." it's from a steven king book. i just flew in to talk to you, celebrate this movie, tonight. >> it's a terrific movie. "i don't know how she does it." it opens nationwide this weekend. >>> you remember the world's cutest dog, boo, here friday. or third cutest because he's got nothing on max and sadie. we have more for you this morning. we want you the take a sneak peek of nat geo's animal babies. we're looking at the caring people trying to save them all. meet uwan uwan and her baby. jenna and rocky. this is big mama. their every coo, gurgle and unt are precious successes for the dedicated teams around the globe trying to keep r