I Don’t Know How I Got Here … But I’m Just Thrilled to Death
May 26, 2021
"I'll remember this foreverโand I'm 95, that's not so long!"
I love her! Thank you, Chita. I cannot tell youโthis woman! She started my career! We were rehearsing Bye Bye Birdie in Philadelphia, doing tryouts. One day they came down with a new song & dance number for Chita. And Chita said โDick, the skinny kid, doesnโt have anything to do in the first act. Why donโt you let him do it?โ It was โPut on a Happy Face,โ which started my whole career! God bless you! I couldnโt danceโsheโs the strongest dancer there is in the world. She held me on and kept me out of the orchestra pit.
I donโt know how I got here. I have no credentials at all. But Iโm just thrilled to death. You know thereโs nobody left alive to know that I was the first emcee of the Kennedy Center awards! Nobody remembers! It was in a houseโI got to dance with one of the daughters, I remember, but nobody is around who remembers that!
You know, I donโt think entertainers go into the business to get awards. Your recognition by your peers, I guess, is always a little icing on the cake. But this! I mean this is outta sight. This is, you know… Canterbury Tales, knighthood… thereโs nothing beyond this! This is the end!
And I donโt think I earned it, but by God, thank you so much. Iโll remember this foreverโand Iโm 95, thatโs not so long! I apologize for the cane. Four or five hundred falls over a footstool did that. Thank you!
[Immediately following this speech, Dick descended the stage stairs with a flourish and shouted “Ta-da!”]