Dean
Martin's Closet Door - During 200 episodes of
the variety program THE DEAN MARTIN SHOW/NBC/1965-74, singer Dean Martin
routinely opened a closet door at his on-stage bachelor
pad to find a surprise guest of the week. The idea
originated when the producer of the show needed a way for
Dean's comedian uncle Leonard Barr to make a surprise entrance on the
show. The spot was so well received, the producer's began
putting surprise celebrity guest inside the closet each week. The fun thing about the closet door skit
was that
Dean never knew week-to-week who was behind the door. Stars
"coming out of the closet" included such notables as Jack
Benny, Johnny Carson, Flip Wilson, Jimmy Durante, Red Skelton,
and Ronald Reagan. When Reagan stepped out of the closet, Dean
asked the then newly elected governor of California, if he had
job in his administration. Reagan sadly announced to Dean "I'm
sorry but we already have a Director of Alcohol and Beverage
Control." And when actor Michael Landon stepped out dressed as
Joe Cartwright from the NBC western series BONANZA, he told Dean,
"My brother Hoss wear as ten gallon hat and he's a pint short."
With Hoss' hat in hand, Joe walked over to Dean's private bar
and took a bottle of booze. Johnny Carson of NBC's THE TONIGHT
SHOW occasionally used the "behind the door" sketch on his own
late night talk show.