Coast to Coast AM - Coast Insider
Life of Hank Garrett
In the first half, actor, comedian, and wrestler Hank Garrett talked about his decades-long career in show business and wrestling. He detailed his tough childhood being a street gang member in Harlem and carrying a gun at age 11. His career as a professional wrestler was cut short after a drastic car accident, though he was inducted into the Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He met Sammy Davis Jr., who was performing in Harlem, and he offered him advice about getting away from crime and life in the street gangs. Garrett had developed a reputation as being funny, and Davis helped him get booked doing comedy routines in the Catskills. Eventually, he was signed by the William Morris agency, and ended up as the opening act for Tony Bennett.
Garrett recalled his acting career-- one of his biggest breaks was playing Officer Ed Nicholson in the classic NBC sitcom, "Car 54 Where Are You?" which aired from 1961-1963. Perhaps he is best known for his fight scene playing the Killer Mailman in "Three Days of the Condor" (1975) with Robert Redford (view clip). He shared anecdotes of various celebrities he befriended or worked with over the years, including Frank Sinatra, Angie Dickinson, Elvis Presley, Killer Kowalski, Fred Gwynne, and Don Rickles. He also spoke about his work for "Hankster's Kids," trying to reach out to at-risk children to help them turn their lives around as he did.
