[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

but there is a scene in the movie early in which very still in his prime, fred astaire, in his mid '30s, does the sequence, a dance sequence with a lot of how. eleanor powell makes ginger rogers looks clumsy. and they do this piece, and then frank sinatra, and sonata looks at the audience and says, you know, you can sit around and wait, but you never going to see that again. you can sit around and wait, but you ain't never going to see abigail and john again. because they are singular. and a story that i feel privileged to be able to tell. i want to the dip you in a few moments and then let you ask me questions. let me give you a bit of a -- the letters themselves are so potent. there are about 1200 of them. why are there so many? because they are a part a lot. john is in philadelphia, she's in braintree during the continental congress and the revolution, upcoming, run up to the revolution. there's my son. how are you doing? and then he is in amsterdam while she is back in braintree, quincy, so that you would think like maybe the madisons continent, dolly and james madison, create an eq

garland in the santa fe, but there is a scene in the movie in which three still in his prime, fred astaire, in his mid-30s, is -- does a two minute 482nd sequence, a dance sequence with eleanor powell. eleanor powell mixed ginger rogers look like clumsy. [laughter] and they do this piece, and then frank sinatra comes on, and sinatra looks at the audience and says you know, you can sit around and wait, but you're never going to see that again. you can sit around and wait, you ain't never going to see that again, okay? they are cingular and a story that i feel privileged to be able to tell. i want to depue in a few moments -- dip you in a few moments and then let you ask some questions. let me give you a bit of the letters themselves are so potent. there are about 1200 of them. why are there so many blacks because they are a part a lot. john is in philadelphia, she is in the continental congress and the revolution upcoming, run-up to the revolution. there is my son, how you doing? [laughter] and then he's in paris and amsterdam while she is back in quincy, so that like you would think maybe

i would mimic him and when you watch fred astair on... with these types of...rn and tracey, those are things i grew up with. those are movies that my parents played so i think it just sort of brought me back to the things i love. what acting was and i neat like we moved away from a little bit this sense of comedy even within the drama and it's hard to play and it's found play and it's real acting. >> but the difference is more of the rhythm you were talking about in terms of you have to have a certain rhythmic sense because comedy demands time. >> yes. yes. when we... even in our interchange even as people she and i kind of get off-- for lack of a better phrase--. >> rose: (laughs) i like that one. >> ...on each other intellectually. >> i like to get off on jake intellectually. (laughter) >> rose: if they get off on each other, you've got a lot going, don't you? >> you bet, you bet. >> rose: (laughs) >> and you can't fake it. what is chemistry? it's a word everybody uses but nobody can create. >> rose: it's getting off on eacheer intellectually. (laughter) >> i

. >> jimmy: william shatner called you a combination of fred astaire and gene kelly and said you're am shatner and the check is on the way. >> jimmy: well, that's -- that's captain kirk so that means something special. >> that's amazing. thrilled and honored by that. it was amazing -- >> i call him an american treasure every day of rehearsal. >> jimmy: do you think he believes it, though, every day? >> i think he does. >> jimmy: i was just handed this note. sarah palin tweeted, and her tweet says "i smell something fishy, shame on you, abc." how do you react to that? >> fascinating. >> jimmy: i actually made that up. she didn't really say it. wouldn't it have been great if she did? she said something nice i think -- >> jimmy, you're so cute. >> jimmy: well -- okay so you got all the mirror balls. when you have three, you can regift one of those for christmas, couldn't you? >> yeah it's going to my nieces and nephews yeah. >> no, it's not. >> i actually -- there is a place i found where they can go now. so i'm excited. >> jimmy: a place you found? is it a mirror ball warehouse you set