Actor & environmentalist Ed Begley Jr chats with Trey Elling about his new memoir, TO THE TEMPLE OF TRANQUILITY…AND STEP ON IT! Topics include:
- Carrie Fisher’s influence on this book (0:00)
- What Ed Begley Sr was like as a dad (1:37)
- Smoking a joint with Charles Manson (2:44)
- Doing standup with Michael Richards at the Comedy Store in its first week (4:36)
- How a cop routine got him into trouble (6:10)
- Having John Lennon fanboy on Ed (9:49)
- Working for Norman Lear in the 1970s (11:20)
- Endearing himself to Richard Pryor while filming Blue Collar (12:28)
- How Jack Nicholson helped him as an actor when making Goin’ South (13:50)
- Recognizing the good fortune he was born into (16:24)
- How St. Elsewhere improved him as an actor (18:19)
- Hosting SNL in 1984 (20:43)
- Ed’s Larry David story (22:57)
- Having to squash Marlon Brando’s dream (24:25)
- Bruno Kirby’s influence on Ed as a person (27:25)
- How Christopher Guest saved his career (28:58)
- Working on Arrested Development (30:58)
- Living with Parkinson’s Disease (32:51)
- Why the phrase “This is It” means so much (34:56)