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Bennett CerfBennett Cerf
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Session:         Page of 1029

“Please drop these in the mail for me.” I denied ever having got any of them. Oh, I was so disconsolate, and the girls screamed with laughter. That was the last time I starred in a vodka advertisement!

Another adventure that might be amusing is the one time that I really was an actor. I was part of a George Gobel television show! That was in January 1956. I played the part of a book publisher in a sketch. I was terrible, but, oh, what fun. I got all kinds of insulting telegrams from friends, fake offers from agencies, and what not. It was the only time that I learned a part. I had to learn my lines, which I didn't do too well. But I did receive a bona fide offer to play The Man Who Came to Dinner in summer stock. If it hadn't been for Phyllis I would have done it too. Well, that's that.

In 1956 I did one other advertisement that I forgot to mention. I interviewed George Romney, who was then president of American Motors. Of course now he's talking of running for President. He's got about as much chance as I have, I think. At any rate, the deal at that time was that I got a Rambler for nothing for doing this interview. Of course that delighted me. Of course now you have to pay taxes on merchandise obtained this way. That was the last year that you were allowed to accept gifts instead of cash without having to pay income taxes thereon. We didn't need a Rambler car. We had two cars already, but it was gratifying to wangle a Rambler station wagon this way. We





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