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ON THE BROADWAY SCENE *, *,«*»„ NEW YORK, N. Y., May 8.— RED BUTTONS and I had lunch together. He had i ust come back from Japan where he had filmed "Sayonara" with Marlon Brando. The same trip had brought him back from a show business "grave." He had spent his whole life struggling to the top. TV made him a I star, and then after two ] years— a has-been. The ■ sponsor was pulled out i from under him. And. overnight, he w e n t from stardom to star vation. He endured several years of being TVs Number One loser until Josh Logan ; signed him for "Sayonara.* Previewers say that his job in the picture guarantees him a big movie career. Today he ordered ham . and eggs. Last year, he might not have dared. Someone would have made a wisecrack. • • * Boy, let me tell you — its an ednea-tion. What you learn from something like what happened to me! All I can say is if you can Make It again, it should happen to everyone. Believe me — I know. AAA I am such a crummy interviewer that I didnt even ask, "Howd you liwe Japan?* i or "Whats it like to work with Joshua Logan?* or "Does Marlon Brando really j wear torn undershirts?* I was supposed to . be interviewing Red Buttons, but sudden- i I ] ■ i I ly we had finished lunch and I still hadnt asked him a single question. "Cmon," he | said, "Lets walk a little." We were at Madison Avenue and 76th Street so we j walked over to Fifth and headed downtown. AAA The day was beautiful. Red inhaled right down to his toes, absorbed the beauty of the trees beginning to blossom in Cen- tral Park, glanced at the line of buildings beyond them, dodged a bus that tried to race us to the corner and sighed, "Nothing has what New York has. Its like a very old. comfortable shce." AAA He sniffed hard again. Boy. just to be alive! Once in a while to get up — to be able to digest some ham and eggs — to appreciate what life is all about — to wake up and not have a toothache." He qualified this, "Okay, I dont say this can happen every day. It cant be ALL the time. But, if just sometimes you feel it like this — like I do right now — thats when you realize how foolish everything else is — the aggravation, the torment . . ." We walked silently a few yards. Red continued. "Mans power to endure is exceeded only by his ability to forget." He explained. "I read that somewhere and its so true. Thank God! Can y imagine going through life remembering all the little hurts, all the little feelings of guilt? Can yimagine??? People say that even now were a nation of neurotics. Imagine if we couldnt forget. Wed all be screaming idiots by now. What would Red Buttons want to forget? An outsider, someone not in or near show business, a "civilian" might see Buttons and think, "The guy looks like a million" bucks. The suit musta cost him tw7o-fifty, I remember I useta see him on television. Wow, whata bundle he musta made. I read now where hes in a picture with Marlon Brando, just got back from Japan or somewhere. Man, what a life." Then theres the other side. There are always two. Yknow, that feeling in your stomach when you go up in an elevator. Red felt it coming down from the top of television to the bottom. . . . The lightheadedness of the heights to the hangover of the depths. ... He might want to forget being broke after having made a fortune in two years, and the feelings of guilt for having spent so much money in the common show business belief that things would always be good. . . . Or, the headwaiter at a major New York night club who gave him a tourists table instead of the ringside at an opening. It hurt all the more because Red had closed there just the day before. ... He might be happy to forget the agony of being the top flop in TV ... a comedian who in himself was the funniest joke of all. . . . The friends who avoided him fearing he might want help — when all he wanted was someone to talk to. . . . The constant cold - as - ice - newspaper reports of his troubles and the jokes about it. Isnt it Continued on Page FjUy-One 1 I i , ON THE BROADWAY SCENE By BURT BOYAR Continued from Page Two tough enough to have scars without being shoved into "Macys window" naked? . . . And the people in the trade who look at you like youve committed a crime by failing. ... No more requests for autographs. * * * Ringside tables can seem unimportant. Autographs, false friends and disrespect from newspapers arent terribly important except when they are the barometer of how youre doing and youre forced to be reminded every day that the barometer is falling. At* Throughout our stroll people smiled at him, waved to him, stopped to say hello. Red grinned wondrously. "Do you know what happens when a man makes a comeback? Its fabulous. People grab hold of you and they start pushing you up. They know youve suffered. Its so true — cry and you cry alone. Theres just no room for crying and self-pity in this world. Its a tough world and youve gotta be tough IN it. I dont mean to others. With your-sef! Its rough, but when you Make It — when It Happens — well, there just arent words. But, its all over you. Its the sweet smell of success." He added, "Wait a minute. I hate to plug someone elses picture. I shoulda said its the sweet smell of Sayonara. A A * "Show business is merciless. Look at Gleason and Caesar. But, the public really cant be blamed. Its not fair to call them fickle. They have a right to what they want — theyre paying for it. Theyre buy- I i , ing the products which are overpriced because of the advertising. " • a * We approached 57th and Fifth. He pointed to a building. "In there. Thats the guy. Hes the one who did it for me. Martin Baum. He had the foresight. He said, Read this book. There "s a part in it thats just for you. I*read it right away and I told him, If you dont get me this part Ill kill you. He got it for me. He had the foresight . . ." AM* "Cmon," said Red, pointing west on 57th street, "lets go this way. This is Wandering Day. Its a shame to waste it." As we walked, more people waved and congratulated him on his new career. He hummed, "Things that were happening at one time — seem to be happening again — * I told him, "Thats an appropriate song." For a moment he didnt know what he had been singing. He grinned, "I guess its a Freudian slip."
