LARRY THE CABLE GUY DISHES BEANIE WEENIES AND TOW MATER

Welcome And How We Met

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Hi, I'm Kim Alexis. Today in Paris, Dr. Kelly is showing his collection of spring clothes. Hi, I'm Kim Alexis with your ticket to adventure. I'm Kim Alexis, and I'm here in New York City. Got a great show coming up for you, so stay tuned. So we are here today with a man who really needs no introduction, but you may know him as Larry the Cable, the Larry the Cable, the guy. Larry the cable guy. Yeah, you are the guy. And you are my friend also, Dan Whitney. So welcome to Unexpired.

SPEAKER_02 0:40

Yeah. Thanks for having me, Kim. I'm excited to be on with you. This is pretty awesome. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

Yeah. So um you and I met like I'm not you and I met like 10 years ago. So I'm wearing one of the shirts where we met at the American Century Golf Tournament.

SPEAKER_02 0:57

That's right. The one of the funnest tournaments of all time, the American Century.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

Yeah. Maybe fun. I was I'm saying maybe fun for you, but boy, was this stressful for me. That was too much. All the cameras.

SPEAKER_02 1:11

Hey, that was a rough day. You know, the first time I was at the American Century tournament, I hit a guy in the temple and I busted a window in a car on an errant drive in the parking lot. And the good news is though, I was the only celebrity that week to uh make good golf channel and court TV on the same day. So that's an accomplishment.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

There you go. Yeah, I don't even want to tell you what I did, but uh boy, that was that was that's a hard course.

SPEAKER_02 1:44

Well, it's a hard, hard course, but golf is not easy, so you have to like you know, you have to live it. You have to hit a hundred balls a day. And for just a casual golfer, you know, it's it's hard.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Yeah, we're gonna choke at some point, but you do really well. I remember um you had guys in the these young kids in the crowd, and um they would be like, remember how rude they were to you? Like, here, sign this, and you they would just push things at you. And I said, You need to say please.

SPEAKER_02 2:16

I do remember that. That was that I'm glad you said it. It was very nice. I know. I look, I'm the only guy, I that's obviously that's why I'm there. I'm not there because I'm a great golfer, but I love crowds, I love people, so I interact with the crowds and tell jokes. And at some point, you're right, those kids, sign this. It's like, what's sign this? What am I, a monkey with a piano? I mean, say it, be nice about it.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

Yeah, yeah. They were about like 10 or so, these little boys. And I'm like, you need to say please. I have three boys right of my own. So I'm like, uh-uh, this does not where's your mother? That's what you want to say. Where's your mother?

SPEAKER_02 2:58

Yeah, that was your mother came out, that was perfect, yeah. And we've been friends ever since.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

I know, I know. It's fun when you get to go to all these different charity events and um meet so many great people, but you and I hit it off right away. And I was like, I don't know a comedian like you, and you're like, I don't know a supermodel like you.

SPEAKER_02 3:18

So yeah, yeah, we hit it off pretty good. That was awesome. I uh I uh love hanging out with you.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

Yeah, well, let's start in.

SPEAKER_02 3:28

Well, I'm gonna tell you why, because you're normal, Kim. You are you're you know, you're normal. There's not a lot. There are some celebrities that are normal, but not a lot. So whenever you come across somebody that's had the success that you've had, and I mean, for Pete's sake, you know, who didn't have your poster in 1983, you know? Um, but you're just like down to earth and normal. I was like, Kim's awesome, yeah. She's a normal, she's a normal chick. It's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 3:56

Yeah, that's right. Well, you're pretty normal too, but you've also got some personality and some persona.

From Radio Gigs To A Persona

SPEAKER_00 4:03

So I'm fascinated that you started out in radio as your own name, which is Dan Whitney, and take us through that, what that was like back in the day. I mean, did you go to high school and say I'm gonna be a comedian?

SPEAKER_02 4:16

No, I never didn't know what the heck I wanted to do. I grew up on a pig farm, I grew up with livestock, so I actually wanted to be a cattle auctioneer, is what I wanted to do. And then uh we ended up moving to Florida, which is a whole different change in everything from a small town in Nebraska of 1,200 people to West Palm Beach, Florida. It was uh quite a culture shock. And uh no, I uh I got a job. I went to college and I was uh I pitched in college and I did not want to work. I had to work my way through school, unlike a lot of people now, you know. Right. I mean, there's still some people that do, but it's always I remember parents save up and make sure you pay for your kids' education, you know. Parents always gonna save for the kids' education. That didn't happen, my generation. If we're going to college, we're working for it, you know. And so I uh I went to college, but I was was working, but I didn't want to work during baseball season. I got a job at the higher agency, and I'll make this quick. I was a bellhop. People said you ought to be a comedian, you ought to be a comedian. This was in the heyday, right when stand-up really started turning into the new rock stars. And uh a comedy club opened up in West Palm Beach called the Comedy Corner, and I just started going to open mic nights and uh and uh just working on my stuff. And I used to do some characters on stage, one of them was Larry that was a cable installer, that was it, just a cable installer. Five minutes of my show with a cable installer because I thought it was funny. A buddy of mine had a morning show that was really popular in Tampa Bay, and I used to call his morning show all the time because they needed characters, and that character got really popular, and uh, we had we sold t-shirts, I ran for president in 1992, and it was this major thing, and then next thing I know, uh another radio station wanted me on, then another radio station, and uh Larry the Cable Guy was pretty much born, and then uh I started doing it on stage in 1995, uh in uh in uh uh Sarasota. Uh the comedy club guy booked me as Dan Whitney, aka Larry the Cable Guy from the Ron and Ron show in Tampa. And I went up and I did my act normally, but they kept yelling out my phrases. And when I was done, I was signing autographs and taking pictures. And Les McCurdy said, Have you ever thought about doing your whole show like Larry the Cable Guy? And I said, No, and he goes, Well, can you talk like that for an hour? I go, You know my friends, Les. I talk like a redneck all day long when I'm not here. All I do is hang out, all I do is hang out in country bars. So I went on stage for the first time trying it out, and it killed, and a light bulb kind of went off of my head. And if I got more radio stations, then I can uh sell out some comedy clubs, and that's exactly what I did, which led me to the blue-collar comedy tour, which led me to uh being a voice for Mater and Cars. Yeah, you're jumping ahead though. You're jumping ahead. But that's how but that's how the persona started. It started out just as a little five-minute bit on stage, and that's how it started.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

And you just more or less, because of that, you listened to feedback and then just went with it, right?

SPEAKER_02 8:00

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you go as a comedian and an open micer, and you're trying to, you know, you're trying to get booked and trying to be funny. You want, you know, so you try you go with stuff that is funny and works and that you love to do, and right.

Foxworthy Friendship And Braves Fandom

SPEAKER_02 8:15

Um so yeah, I I started doing that, and and I started doing that on stage, it was influenced because uh Foxworthy and I, I met Jeff Foxworthy in 1986, and uh we used uh this is really funny. We used to go to the Braves games, we're both huge Braves fans. So he'd come down for two weeks with his buddy Vic Hanley from Alabama, and we would spend two weeks in a row in March at the Atlanta Braves Spring Training Facility.

SPEAKER_00 8:45

How did you become a Braves fan?

SPEAKER_02 8:48

I became a Braves fan in 1975 uh in Nebraska. Uh before WTBS, there was WTCG, which turned into WTBS in the uh late 70s, early 80s, but in 1975, uh Hank Aaron was going for the home run uh lead. And so the game of the week every Saturday was always a Braves game because they're awaiting for Hank Aaron to break the record. So I just became a Braves fan just from following them for those three weeks, and then uh my grandparents had cable, and uh my grandma was a baseball fan, and she would watch the Atlanta Braves on from WTCG in Atlanta, and then we got cable the next year, and so I started watching. I've been watching Braves games on TV since the mid to late 70s, so that's in your yeah, that's how are you still a Braves fan? Absolutely, through thick and thin, darn right. Uh I actually uh I love it that we're super good, but I also uh didn't mind it when we when we uh were horrible because you didn't you weren't when you found a Braves fan, it was almost like family because there wasn't many Braves fans. Then when the Braves started getting good, of course, everybody's on the Braves bandwagon. Oh, the Braves, yeah. Well, where were you in 1986? Because there weren't a lot of us, right?

SPEAKER_00 10:27

Oh funny. Okay, so let's go back to Foxworthy. So you guys met behind stage, right? Just at one of the events.

SPEAKER_02 10:34

I I met Jeff at the comedy corner in West Palm Beach, Florida. That was my home club where I was working out material, and uh Jeff, like I said, Jeff, me, Vic Henley, and a guy named Chris Baker, we would sit for two weeks. We'd go to all the Braves games. There was uh the Braves played there and the Expos played there. So when the Braves they played the Expos a lot too, so there was always a game, there's always something going on. But we would sit in the stands and entertain ourselves. Jeff and I he's like my adopted older brother. I mean, we him and I have the same sense of humor, and we grew up, believe it or not, pretty much the same way, you know. I'm from a small town in Nebraska, and it's the same as where Jeff grew up, except without the accent, you know. We didn't have we had we had there were some people in my town that had a little southern twinges to them because of Missouri was so close, and and uh, but uh we would sit up there and Jeff would just lean over and he'd go, Hey, did uh did Donna bring that coleslaw to church Sunday? And then I would go, No, you hear what happened to her. Uh Lydia, her friend Lydia uh come by last Wednesday and uh put the car in the fountain, you know, and we would just go off on these stupid stories, and then Vic would join in, and we would just get to laughing and laughing, and so uh so yeah, one day on stage, Jeff is in the back and Vic's in the back, and it's open mic night, and I'm going up doing jokes, and I know they were listening, so I'm on stage and I go, Hey, you guys ever see this guy? He ever coming to your house? Hey, did you order cable? Somebody ordered something down here, and so I started riffing on the voice and the character, and Jeff just lost it. And and that's when it started developing, was right then. So it's kind of Jeff was kind of instrumental and kind of it would because we were at those games all the time, and that always made us laugh just doing a couple rednecks sitting at the game, because we knew we could do it because we grew up with with that in our families, and it was right, we would just amuse ourselves with it. I never thought it'd turn into anything, but we would to this day, Kim. We still do to this day. Jeff, if there's a message on my phone, I'll look it's Jeff, and it's something dumb. It's uh you know, hey Jew, belong at the auto parts door. They got that part down there. Let me give you the number, it's you'd be in the piece of paper. Here it's A B B is in Bobby, L is in Lydia, and he'll do like a five-minute message on an auto part, then he'll call me back and say he got a letter wrong, and he'll redo it all again with another five-minute message.

SPEAKER_00 13:29

How funny! Yeah, so how'd you hook up?

Blue Collar Tour And Ron White

SPEAKER_00 13:32

How'd you hook up with Ron White, who by the now now? I mean, he was funny back then, but now he's sober, right?

SPEAKER_02 13:39

Yeah, he yeah, Ron quit drinking. I'm very happy. I'm very happy. I mean, Ron is Ron is sweet, man. I love Ron to death. I don't see Ron a ton.

SPEAKER_00 13:51

Um, he played he comes to your tournament, but he's so quiet.

SPEAKER_02 13:54

Yeah, he played in my tournament when you were there. He's very quiet. Ron, uh yeah, I when we started the blue-collar comedy tour, Kim, I Jeff obviously was what was got was there. Jeff is the one that wanted me to come up and audition for it. And um, I never met Bill Ingball in my life, I didn't even know who he was. Ron, I'd met Ron a couple of times in passing at like a comedy club or something like that. So I already kind of knew Ron, just in and and I like I loved he was great, he's super funny. So um when we did the blue collar thing, uh Ron and I really had a really cool little bond because we were the two opening acts, and uh, and it just kind of exploded for both Ron and I. And I'll never forget this is a really cool deal. I'll never forget. We went over to Jeff's house one day, me and Ron, and he invited us over. We were I don't know what we were doing, and uh we pull up where did Jeff live? He lives in Atlanta, and uh both is Alpharette, I think. And uh man, it we pull up there, and I told Ron, I go, Man, Ron, this is like the La Quinta Inn right here. This is unbelievable. I mean, it was a beautiful house, five acres along the Chattahoochee River, and you know, and Jeff's such a redneck, you know. You walk in, and the first thing you see is every single it was three stories, it was huge, every single piece of furniture was camo. It was like it was like this beautiful house with all trailer furniture, and uh and he had deer stands out in the woods, and he get up in the morning and he'd shoot arrows from the first floor, then arrows from the second floor, and then arrows from the third floor target shooting. I mean, it was amazing. But I remember when we walked in there, Ron White says, and we were just opening acts, and Ron White said, Man, Dan, this is so unattainable. And I said, Ron, you know what, we're funny too, and we're on a pretty good tour, so never say never. If we work hard and keep at it, you can attain this as well. And yeah, I'll never forget that little moment that we had, and then when we both broke out, and you know, that's we kind of when we see each other, we just kind of smile and go, man, uh, we we did it. It's kind of cool, kind of cool. But Ron's Ron's great. I mean, we all got along uh pretty good. A lot of people thought we traveled together, we never really traveled together. We we went to each venue separately. Sometimes we would travel together, but not a lot. I mean, a few times.

SPEAKER_00 17:05

Don't you think you needed to like save that interaction sometimes? Like if you were with each other all the time, yeah, it would be hard.

SPEAKER_02 17:14

Well, I think it's easy, but either way, it was easy. We were all such good friends and so tuned in with each other that uh it was it's almost like when you see an old friend you haven't seen in two years, and you just pick up right where you left off, right? So that's pretty much what it was like.

Writing On Stage And Ad Lib Magic

SPEAKER_00 17:32

Um are you writing stuff in your head all the time? Like, is that something you do, or you it just does it just spit out like when someone bumps you? It just kind of seems to me it spits right out. Something that I would never think of, and you just it just comes right out of you.

SPEAKER_02 17:48

Well, yeah, that um uh that part, like we sat on stools and stuff. There was a lot of spontaneous stuff going on. That's why that grew into such a long bit. That was originally just we had a story to tell, and that was it. Then it got just another story would pop up, and we'd finish the show and go, Man, Ron, that was great. You should tell that one again. Keep that one in there, that was good. Or Jeff Man, I never heard you tell that story. You should tell that story, or Bill. That was yeah, same thing. Hey, yeah, Dan, where'd you get that? Man, do those do those jokes again, then I'll pop in with and it just it grew and grew. I mean, that show we literally could have done that entire show just sitting on stools and talking, to be honest with you. That was the best part of the show.

SPEAKER_00 18:37

Yeah, that's what's so neat, though. It's just so genuine, and it just spits out of you guys things I would never think of. You just make funny, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:47

It was it that that was total magic. I mean, it really was, and I'll tell you what was cool about it. We were all the cool thing about blue collar comedy, we're all four different types of comedians, yeah. I mean, I mean, Jeff, Ron, and Bill were storytellers, but they were all three different types of storytellers. But I wasn't a storyteller, I was just a joke guy. I was just yeah, so that ended up coming in handy when we were sitting on the stools because I would just chime in with anything, I didn't have a segue or nothing, I would just chime in with some dumb thing and they'd give me a goofy look, and then I'd tag it with two more. But the next joke I did would segue into something they had to do, so it sounded like it was just so smooth because that my little segue worked into the other person's act, so it's kind of kind of neat, kind of like you're laying bricks, and every now and then here I come along with a little bit of putty to put the brick down, you know. Yeah, that was that whole thing was really cool, but yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:03

So you like the ad lib better than you like pre-scripted, right?

SPEAKER_02 20:08

You know, you gotta obviously pre-scripted, you gotta have something down there. But I I love coming up with stuff on stage. I think Jeff will even tell you, and and the boys will tell you that sometimes some of your funniest stuff comes up while you're on stage because you're yeah, you start laughing beforehand sometimes, like you'll laugh when you get the idea, and then you have to then you tell us. Yeah, that's that's fun. I mean, if you're creating on stage, you know the crowd's getting a good show because you're having a good time. But I I love uh doing stuff like that because when I say when I do a joke and I laugh, and then I go, I'll be honest, I'm hearing a lot of this for the first time myself. That's right, that's where that stems from. Because I did. It's like, oh man, I just that was funny. I gotta remember that. And sometimes sometimes I've been on stage and I've even said, like, oh my gosh, anybody, somebody write that down, right? Will you write that down for me? I don't want to forget it. There's something like that because I don't want to forget the joke. But yeah, I just have a good time on stage. I love doing stand-up and and uh but a lot of the I tell you, a lot of the a lot of our really good tags and stuff came as we're on stage, just uh that we thought of.

SPEAKER_00 21:29

Yeah, that's neat.

Getting Cast As Mater In Cars

SPEAKER_00 21:31

So, how did you transition into the Pixar with Disney? I mean, you told this story to me before. Yeah, tell the tell the audience.

SPEAKER_02 21:40

Yeah, I was just sitting at home and I got a fax. It was a fax on my fax machine, believe it or not. Back back in the day when we had fax machines that we were something special. And it was um 2002. I have it in my room, um, framed up, but it was my manager said, Go. Look at it, and I looked at it, and it said uh uh uh that they were fans of mine, and uh there's a new uh car, there's a new uh Pixar movie coming out called Cars. And uh they want to offer me the role of uh Zeb, the talking tow truck, and I I didn't know what that meant. And I told my man, and I called him, I was like, Well, what is this? You got they're giving you a part in a Pixar movie. And I'm like, Well, and I was touring, you know, I was doing really well at the comedy clubs. And I go, what does that mean? And a few theaters, I was telling, what's that mean? Uh uh they said, uh, well, nothing. You got the part. I said, I don't gotta go audition. I get when do I go audition? You don't have to audition, they're giving you the part. What part don't you understand? And I was just like, they're giving me the part, really, and I'll be honest, Kim, it was like all that hard work of doing that voice and not really getting a lot of pay for it from radio stations, but just trying to get something going. Man, it all came to fruition right there in 2002, getting that little letter. And man, I'll be honest, I freaking cried because it was like, I can't believe I'm gonna be in. I mean, and in my head, I'm like, man, only huge celebrities get a voice in a Pixar movie. Are you kidding me? So it was re it was really awesome, and then uh, and then the funny part is I didn't after I got the letter, I went out there and I did my part, and I only had like 14 lines. Maybe maybe well, I'll take that back. I had maybe 25 lines, 25 lines. So I went out there. I mean, I can't remember, there's like 25 lines.

SPEAKER_00 23:58

And that the accent came right away, or did that develop?

SPEAKER_02 24:03

No, that he but he hired me for my accent. He loved my act. He he got a copy of the blue-collar comedy tour, and he goes, Hey, I like that guy. Let's get that. That that's the voice of my. He had he said he went through about 150. Um uh he went to about 150 uh uh uh voice man, uh uh 150 voice actors, like 200 celebrities. He couldn't find his voice. He had like two days to find somebody for taping, and then he went at the last minute said, Hey, go get that blue-color comedy to receive. I've not I've heard of Foxworthy, but I haven't heard of the other three. And I was the first, I was the first voice he heard, and I don't know what joke it was, but he was laughing and he said, Man, I called his secretary, goes, I just found the voice that I want for Mater. And I got hired off of that. And the voice changes a little more, like you it becomes a little more, I don't know, and you emphasize when I'm on stage, it's uh hey, I was up here at the house last week and we had a deal, you know, kind of like that. Mater was the same thing. Mater was just like, hey, my name's Mater. Are you Mater too? You know, now Mater, hey, now, you know, so I'm getting a little older, so you want to make sure. So anytime I do the voice, I the first thing I do is I always go, I'll clear my throat, and I'll go, hey, my name's Mater, like tub mater without the tub, and I'll match it up with how it normally went, and that's how I do it. Um, but no, a matter of fact, when I got in there, when I got in there, I asked him, Do you want me to is Mater more slow talker? Is he a fast talker? And he literally said to me, What are you talking about? He's you, he's just you, you just be you, do what you do, and I'll be happy. I said, Okay, so I did. I just I said, Well, this is gonna be a piece of cake, right? And it was it was so much fun. I loved it, but you know, Mater, it was Zeb and he changed it to Mater, uh, after a guy that he met at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, who they called the king of the infield, and he was talking to him. He asked him what his name was, and he goes, Ah, hey, people around here call me Mater. And so he goes, Oh, that's awesome. I'm gonna he goes, I'm gonna name my tow truck, Mater, just after you. So that's the way he did it.

SPEAKER_00 26:37

Yeah, oh, how cute is that?

Sleeveless Flannel And Get Her Done

SPEAKER_00 26:40

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SPEAKER_02 27:21

You mean the branding the letter the cable guy?

SPEAKER_00 27:24

Yeah, or well, you couldn't brand by yourself mater, right?

SPEAKER_02 27:28

You that had to go through no maters. The maters all picks are in Disney now, I guess. Right.

SPEAKER_00 27:35

Um right, but but your stuff, you got to, I mean, my husband carries a little fish hook on his hats.

SPEAKER_02 27:42

Yeah, you know, I always when I was a kid, uh, you know, lived in I lived in the middle of nowhere. So we always had fish hooks on our hats and stuff like that. And and so when I started doing Larry the Cable Guy on stage, I just I wore on stage when I drove over. The first time I did Larry the Cable Guy, I wore the same thing that I drove over to the comedy club in a pair of jeans, uh cut-off NASCAR, uh a cut-off Nebraska t-shirt, and a NASCAR hat, and a pair of lace up roper boots. And I went and changed, and that's how I went on stage as Larry the Cable Guy. And uh, but that's how I normally dressed normally. So it wasn't much of a change, it was just normal. The reason I did the flannel, the only reason I did the sleeveless flannel was I'm a big bone guy, chubby. Uh I don't like to say fat, but flannel shirts fit really good, they kind of come down off your chest and they kind of cover up your side rolls. So I would wear a flannel shirt because I loved them. The only I and Phoenix, when we taped the first blue-collar comedy tour, it was steaming hot in Phoenix, Arizona. I cut the sleeves off my flannel shirt because it was so stinking hot, and I went on stage in a flannel with no sleeves. That's how that came about. From Phoenix, I didn't realize that. Yeah, so then every time people saw me, they expected me to have a flannel shirt on with no sleeves. So I always made sure I had a flannel shirt on with no sleeves. Um, so that's how that came about.

SPEAKER_00 29:27

Even when you're golfing, I mean, I've seen you golfing in flannel sleeveless. Well, yeah, I trouble with the clubs.

SPEAKER_02 29:36

Well, when I, you know, uh in Nebraska when I was a kid, when it was warm, you loved it because it was cold all winter. So I would wear t-shirts and sleeveless shirts, and and uh in Florida, then I moved to Florida and it's warm all the time. Down in West Pump, South Florida was warm. So I was always wearing sleeveless something, and so that was just that's just why I did that. That's how I do it. So I I I got so but that's how the whole branding came with the sleeveless flannel. It was everything is by really just an accident. I didn't plan any of it. You don't plan stuff like this, uh, it just happens. Um uh and you better make sure that you have an act that's funny and you're ready for it because when certain things start to hit, like the getter done was really hitting, the sleeveless stuff was hitting. Well, then I better show up and be funny, or it's not gonna go very far. And uh and I showed up and it was funny, thankfully. But that's how all the branding started with the hat. I all you know, when I was a kid, I would have a fish hook in my hat. When I was uh uh I would always wear sleeveless something somewhere, and so when I started going on stage just with that look, that became my branded look. And then when people started saying get her done in Florida all the time in 1991, 1990, yeah, 1991, I went and got it copyrighted and started selling t-shirts because it's like you know, so um uh did you grow up saying that phrase, get her done, or I never did, I just popped it out on the radio when I was in when I was a little kid, my grandpa would take water to the cattle over the hill, and he would always say, He would say, Let's get to getting. And I guess it might have stemmed out of that. I have no idea. I was just on the radio one day, and I was signing off, and I said, All right, fellas, let's get her done. And they go, What's that mean? I go, get her done, whatever you gotta do, just get her done. And that was pretty much how I would sign off all the time, and then I went and got copyrighted when because I started selling t-shirts with it, and and yeah, but I I reckon that's probably where I I got it at. I uh that's but I remember that when I was a kid, but it's just one of those things that happen.

SPEAKER_00 32:09

But how cool is that? Because even my husband uses that term all the time. So you've got Americans, I don't know if other people in other countries, but use that phrase because of you. I mean, how cool is that for you?

SPEAKER_02 32:22

Yeah, it's pretty sweet. I uh, you know, I uh very blessed. I I had no idea it would do what it did, but you know, um get her done and got her dead and all kinds of stuff. It's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 32:37

Uh yeah.

Faith Forgiveness And Father Lessons

SPEAKER_00 32:39

So um you talk a little bit sometimes about learning from your father's mistakes. I'm not sure how open you are about that. I don't remember hearing you talk about that in private, but was your dad a uh he was a strong guy?

SPEAKER_02 32:55

Yeah, dad's super tough. Yeah. He uh, you know, my dad was uh my dad did all kinds of stuff. My dad was a guidance counselor at a high school, and he was uh he had a band, he had a really good band, he was a good guitar picker, man. He had a 1953 Fender telecaster, and those early days when he was like 18, he actually played with the Everly Brothers and uh and uh just locally around where they lived and he lived. And uh he uh had a band called the Memphis Beats. Then on the weekends he was a preacher, he had two churches that he would preach at, non-denominational churches, and uh kind of a backwoods. My dad, a little southern twing to him, you know, kind of fire and brimstone kind of guy. Um uh but he was always doing something. He was super strong, absolutely. But yeah, no, I I uh I learned a lot about life from my dad, just the good and the bad, you know. I never had like, you know, it's always I get jealous sometimes of people that they're going there, they are there up, they have a dad day, they go hang out with their dad and they're golfing with their dad and they're doing. I never did anything like that. I never I never saw him. He was always doing something, he was always doing this or that, and had a temper on him, you know. He had a pretty good temper. So uh I never really I more or less avoided him most of my life, tried to avoid him. Um, I don't uh yeah, I don't uh you know, he wasn't uh let's put it this way. Uh he uh he was a good preacher, people loved him. You people always come. It was funny one time my dad, my brother and I were standing there, somebody came up to his ass when you know your dad was my guidance counselor, and he kept me from a lot of bad things. I'd be dead today if it wasn't for your dad. And wow, you know, super nice, right? And I and I you know and I'm like, man, that's pretty cool. That is so awesome. Then my brother goes, You sure he's talking about our dad? Because it wasn't that way with his own kids, but it was with other people. So uh I never, but it uh, you know, it taught me how what to do and what not to do with my kids, you know, taught me how to be a better dad um to my kids, you know. Being a celebrity and doing what I do, I made sure that my family came first all the time. Um but I never now listen, I don't I don't seen that firsthand. Yeah, I mean, I forgive my dad. There's the thing about the world nobody is perfect and everybody makes mistakes, and my dad made a lot of them, but my dad was also a human being, and I get it, you know, I totally get it. And it would always fr the one thing that would frustrate me about my dad was my dad was a good Christian man, but he wasn't a good Christian man. But my dad to other people, he was a good Christian man, uh but and I always tell people, you know, watch out for people that claim to be uh uh how would I put this?

SPEAKER_00 36:22

They're one way on stage, right?

SPEAKER_02 36:24

Well, there's there's people that use the Bible to justify their actions, right? Let's put it that way. So when you read the Bible, Jesus was un I mean, you know, I'm a Christian and that's who I follow, but I follow all of it, regardless if I don't like it. So basically, my dad created uh this little personal Jesus that agreed with everything that he was doing and everything he was saying. Instead of going, well, you know, maybe that's not right. I shouldn't, you know what I mean? Repenting. Yeah, there's there's people that use the Bible to justify their shitty behavior, right? And and I do not look, I don't hold a grudge to my dad at all about that. Right. Uh, I forgive him, I've been forgiven, I forgive him, and he's a human being, and so am I, and I'm not perfect. That's what that's what I'm taught, that's what Jesus was all about. However, he was also all about uh repenting, not doing a certain thing you're not supposed to be doing, and moving on with your life, you know, like David, like David in the Bible. David uh personally, David was a horrible human there for a while, you know, got Bathsheba pregnant and made sure her husband was killed in battle so he wouldn't have to face it. That's scumbag activity, but yeah, God said that you are a man after my own heart. And why did he say that? Because David realized what he was doing, repented, asked for forgiveness, and moved on with his life, never to be in that kind of activity ever again, right? And that's that's what it's all about. But my dad, you there's people that use the Bible and make their own little personal Jesus where everything's hunky-dory and they can do anything they want because their Jesus forgives them. But right, that's that's kind of how my uh that's kind of how my dad would do.

SPEAKER_00 38:42

My dad would say things to justify behaviors that were not good, but you could have turned and fallen away, and instead you became stronger and in a way better.

SPEAKER_02 38:58

Absolutely, because Kim had uh I it's not God's fault, right? You know, it's totally not God's fault. That's like punishing the teacher for the bad actions of a of a few kids, but some people do it, right?

SPEAKER_00 39:16

They go to grow up going to church, right? Didn't your dad make you go to church? Absolutely, yeah. And then some people just turn away like it's not for me, and instead you turned and embraced it and became a better man. That's what's really cool.

SPEAKER_02 39:30

Well, absolutely, because it's the only thing uh it's the only thing that that works, you know, and that we we want that for our kids too.

SPEAKER_00 39:39

And I've seen you with your children, I mean, and your wife, and you're wonderful, you know.

SPEAKER_02 39:43

So you're it's it's it's the truth. I mean, it is the truth, so people are always looking for the truth, you know. Yeah, I I didn't want to get all preachy on here, but people always people always go, What is the truth? They're searching for truth, and then they say they're Christians and they love Jesus, and they're still searching. Well, he says, I am the way and the truth and the like, yeah. You know what I mean? So it's right there. So you either believe that or you don't believe that. I believe that. So so using I've never I've never gone away from that, regardless of what my dad did. Uh you know, right? I'm all about forgiveness, Kim. And if that's the thing with a lot of people, they can't forgive. If you can forgive and let go, it's very freeing, and that's well, it's better for us for our health, right?

SPEAKER_00 40:32

Absolutely, absolutely. Yeah, so have you ever had to turn

Choosing Work That Fits Your Values

SPEAKER_00 40:36

down jobs? I know in my business I've had to turn down jobs because of my faith. Have you ever turned down any pretty substantial jobs because it didn't jibe with Christianity?

SPEAKER_02 40:49

Um I turned down a movie where I had to be naked the entire time. No, I'm just kidding. You're always making me laugh. Whoever whoever wanted to be in that movie is an idiot. I uh I uh um uh he laughs more at his own jokes than we do sometimes. I you know what? Uh have I turned down I've turned down uh I've turned down certain sketches. I remember on blue color TV there was a couple of sketches. I only turned them down because I knew my mom would probably not think it was funny. I did it because I didn't want to hurt my mom. So, but uh as far as uh uh no, no, because all the movies that I did were mine and I can do whatever I want with them. Um uh there's a couple of things that I a couple of scenes and a couple of movies that I probably uh now that I'm older with kids and stronger in my faith, I probably would have X'd it and said, no, I'm not doing that scene. But you know, I wasn't, you know, I was a different person back then. So I don't as far as now, yeah, there's stuff now. If something came along that I didn't agree with and something went a certain way, or I would, yeah, I definitely would not do it. Absolutely. But I I can see your situation. I mean, being beautiful as you are in a model, I'm sure they wanted you in all kinds of certain environments, and that is definitely kudos to you because a lot of people wouldn't do that, so that's that's so cool that you yeah, I was put in a lot of weird situations. No, definitely absolutely, it's definitely hard to be a very beautiful girl in Hollywood and the entertainment business. That's a fact.

SPEAKER_00 42:51

Well, I didn't play in the Hollywood game, I just didn't want to, so I'm like, I don't want to play that game, I'm not gonna there.

SPEAKER_02 42:58

I know, but I what I mean is you're in all the magazines, and you know what I mean. That's about as Hollywood as you can get for me, I think.

SPEAKER_00 43:07

So we're wrapping

Get Er Done Foundation And Giving Back

SPEAKER_00 43:09

up here. I guess I want to talk about your golf tournament. So you obviously too much is given is my big line. Much is required, and God gave you a lot, and you are very good about giving back and sewing back into the community. So talk about your getter done golf tournament that you do in Nebraska.

SPEAKER_02 43:26

Well, yeah, that's a lot of fun. I love doing that because I love uh I do. I love get I love seeing the people's faces when you give them things. I've always liked that. When I was a little kid at Christmas, you know, I couldn't afford to give anybody, so I would go around the house and I would find items and wrap them up and put people's names on them so they could I could give them something at Christmas, you know. Uh, but I've been but yeah, I've been very blessed. I've been very fortunate. I have unbelievable fans and a Lot of them, um, some of them need help, some of them, yeah. I mean, some of them are Madonna Rehabilitation Center, some of them, you know, they they're they have uh cancer, or they you know, there's people that have issues, they're yeah, and all there's I'm sure some of them are my fans, so let's help out, let's help out as much as we can. So uh I we we my my boy was born with uh hip dysplasia, and it was a really bad case of hip dysplasia, and this is how it all started. I met a doctor in Orlando, nobody, Kim, knew anything, they know everything about dog hip dysplasia, but right for humans, you would go on the internet and it would send you to 19 different places and have a hundred different ways to swaddle your kids. And well, there was a guy in Orlando at the Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital that was going down to Mexico and fixing kids with horrible hip dysplasia, and he said if he could only find a way where all these doctors and pediatricians in the country could go, and it's one spot on the internet that tells you how to do this, and that's what we did. We started the International Hip Dysplasia Institute at the Orlando uh Children, the Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital, and it became this huge thing, it was awesome. Uh, doctors from all over the world were using this, and it ended up, I mean, it's great. I mean, it was such a cool thing, and then from there we just said, okay, we got that, let's branch out and do some more stuff. So um, let's get some vets involved. That was for that's for everybody. Everybody got hypnosis, but mainly for babies. What can we do for the vets? Uh the Madonna Rehabilitation Center that takes care of people with traumatic brain injuries and all sorts of issues. And they had soldiers there, they had little kids there, they had just regular folks. Uh, and so we uh uh did a deal with with them that bought them a whole new wing at the hospital and a children's wing. And it just kept snowballing. So we've uh given we've we got a great golf tournament that you are so awesome to come attend. And uh and uh yeah, it's a good time, and people wonder how that works because people pay to come see and say hi to play golf with the celebrities and just have a good time. And it's it's only two two days long, it's not long. We have a lot of cool celebrities, but we've raised a ton of money, and it's all for kids, any kind of kids, newborns, all the way up to however old you I don't even know how old we got, yeah. But um, and veterans, and we do a ton of stuff with vets. Um, I think it's and I say it all the time, it's a shame that you have to have a fundraiser for veterans, right? You know, when you're giving billions and billions of dollars overseas to companies that hate your guts, right, and yet we have to raise money for a fact. It's such a bad, it's so backward. But uh the cool thing about my foundation is now every year we have one main big gift, and then we have about 15 smaller ones because what we notice is all the main ones get billions and millions of dollars, uh, but there's some organizations where five grand, ten grand, fifteen grand, twenty grand will be amazing for them, and they will do amazing things, it makes a difference. Yeah, so we do about fifty, I think we do about 12 to 15, I think, little small donations around uh the United States and uh in Nebraska, Florida, uh, specifically, because I'm I lived in both of those places, and uh man, it just you know it does a lot of good. Get her done foundation.org. And I think it's got a whole list of places that have benefited from the foundation. But that was a pretty cool thing. I'm glad we were able to start it. It's pretty fun.