LUNCH WITH...JACK BRICKHOUSE: Hall of Fame WGN-TV broadcaster, voice of the Chicago Cubs and Sox. Interviewed by Tom Weinberg at the 410 Club in the Wrigley Building. Talks about Minnie Minoso and other characters in sports and broadcasting that he has encountered in his career. They step out onto Michigan Ave. just north of the Chicago River. The street has been rededicated as "Jack Brickhouse Way."
0:08Copy video clip URL Open to Brickhouse, mid-conversation. They talk about an old quiz show.
1:12Copy video clip URL Weinberg brings up the topic of ‘interactive shows’: “The one thing they forget is that there has to be some showbiz in that to make people want to be a part of it…”
3:29Copy video clip URL They walk to Michigan Avenue, the section just north of the Chicago River has been re-dedicated as “Jack Brickhouse Way.” They chat on the street.
4:56Copy video clip URL Brickhouse an anecdote about how he found out about the street dedication. A colleague pretended that he had a business meeting on Michigan Ave., and drove to just over the river, where she “had gotten the City Council…to set up ‘Jack Brickhouse Way’ and they had the official dedication ready…I couldn’t believe my eyes…a piece of Michigan Ave. should be named after me!”
6:38Copy video clip URL Brickhouse says that his favorite bar outside of Chicago is Harry’s New Yorker in Paris: “That’s quite a hangout for American tourists when they get to Paris.” There, he launched the Paris branch of the Chicago Cubs Fan Club.
8:22Copy video clip URL Brickhouse talks about his friendship with Walter Cronkite.
8:56Copy video clip URL They walk across the street, where they stand outside WGN. Brickhouse talks about “The Bridge Was Up Society,” which is an excuse people used (the bridge was up) in soap opera production to explain their inability to make meetings on time.
10:50Copy video clip URL Brickhouse: “This area has so many memories for me…I’ve been in this town now since 1940, which is 53-plus years. So, you know what this area means to me.”
12:10Copy video clip URL Brickhouse describes his transition out of broadcast in 1981. Brickhouse and the crew talk about Harry Caray and Milo Hamilton’s partnership.
14:44Copy video clip URL Weinberg: “You’re very close to where your old buddy Ernie Steinman used to stand on the street.”
15:51Copy video clip URL Brickhouse talks about Gomer Bath, the first ‘man on the street’ performer. He talks about the man on the street act in Peoria.
18:24Copy video clip URL People on the street stop Brickhouse to say “hey hey!” and thank him.
19:22Copy video clip URL “Take a look of this skyline…as some of the doomsday voices say, if downtown Chicago is dying, someone better let them know, cause this is some area, pal.”
20:11Copy video clip URL Shot of “1 Brickhouse Way” (401 N. Michigan Ave.) and Brickhouse himself walking South toward the Michigan Ave. bridge. There are several shots of the skyline in front of the Wrigley Building and facing south down Michigan Ave.
22:37Copy video clip URL End of tape.
1 Comment
Marvelous – thank you again for posting this. A couple of years before this recording, I saw Mr Brickhouse in the Museum of Broadcast Communications and was afraid to say hello because I feared that, in “real life,” he would be a grumpy guy who didn’t want to be interrupted. This and the other video restored my faith and admiration!