P: Were you brought up to question authority?

R: To a degree, yeah.

P: What about questioning your parents’ authority?

R: That wasn’t encouraged.

P: What did they tell you about sex and drugs?

R: Drugs were around so much that they didn’t have to tell us a lot - other than to take us for a walk on the street and show us.
You know: "Mommy, what’s that?"
"That’s a junkie."
"What’s a junkie?"
"He does heroin."
"Is that why his face is on the sidewalk?"
"Yes. He’s taken heroin and he can’t get up."
"Oh well, that’s a good lesson to learn. I don’t want to do that."

P: What about sex? Who explained the facts of life to you?

R: My father, probably, though I really don’t remember the conversation. I was also looking at Playboy.

P: When you were how old?

R: Ah, 13. I would buy these old Playboys from this used-book shop, so I probably learned more about sex from Playboy than from my parents.

P: Did they approve of this, or was this something you kept hidden?

R: I would hide them.

P: Ever get caught?

R: Looking back, I can’t say my parents didn’t know they were there. I kept them under my mattress, and I’m sure when they were changing the sheets they must have seen them. But they didn’t say anything. They wouldn’t make it an issue.

P: How old were you when you lost your virginity?

R: Seventeen. Which, according to Playboy, is very late.

P: Particularly for someone working in the theater.

R: That’s true. I had girlfriends, but it was really difficult to find a place to do it. My parents never went away, not for a weekend, not even for a day. The theater was the only place. I can remember maybe two opportunities that I had in this little quasi-bedroom at the theater, but nothing ever happened.

P: So it happened in college?

R: Yeah, I was 17.

P: Was it a big deal? Were you a sex-obsessed teenager?

R: I wouldn’t say obsessed, no.

P: Were you a horny guy?

R: All guys are horny, aren’t they?

P: So it was a big deal?

R: To lose my virginity? Absolutely. It was a rite of passage.

P: Is it a good story?

R: No. [Laughs]

P: OK.

R: I’d like to say it is, but it isn’t.

P: How did you wind up at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh?

R: It was a state university far away from New York City and it had the only theater department of all the state universities that I applied to that sent me any literature. My options were limited. We didn’t have much money.

P: What was Plattsburgh like?

R: It was like a two-year party, a chance to just let loose and have a good time. I got involved in theater productions immediately. Had a great time.

P: Why did you leave after your second year?

R: because after about a year and a half I realized that the partying was not going to get me anywhere. And the theater department there wasn’t so great. I left after two years and went out to Los Angeles to establish residency so I could afford to go to college at UCLA. I applied and was eventually accepted. I worked in a warehouse for a year and earned money to put myself through college.

P: You also delivered pizzas in Beverly Hills and waited tables at the Hillcrest Country Club. What were those jobs like?

R: The pizza job was great because the tips were really good - you could make $100 to $150 a night.

P: And Hillcrest?

R: Hillcrest - that was a rough crowd. [Laughs] It wasn’t a great job.

P: Why not?

R: It was a salaried job, so tipping wasn’t allowed. It wasn’t like a real waiter job; you couldn’t make the same kind of money. It was steady work and it was a pretty good check every week, but after a while it got to be a real drag.

P: Did you ever serve anybody you later worked with?

R: No, no. I served George Burns and Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme. I think I also served Joey Bishop.