43
Youngstown’s Ed O’Neill, Ray Mancini recall show
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
Countless guests have sat in the hot seat across from David Letterman during the 33-year run of his late-night shows.
Included among those guests have been a few with Youngstown roots.
Actor Ed O’Neill, the TV and film actor who was born and raised on Youngstown’s North Side, made two guest appearances on the show, in 1989 and 1991. Both came during the run of “Married With Children,” the Fox-TV smash (1987-97) that elevated O’Neill to fame.
Though he couldn’t remember the details of the banter he traded with the host, O’Neill did recall some interesting details about his “Late Night With David Letterman” visits.
“It was not the easiest show to do,” he told The Vindicator in an email. “I got the feeling that actors were not his favorite group. He seemed to have more fun with comedians who came in with bits.”
Still, O’Neill said he liked Letterman and considers him the best late-night host, next to Johnny Carson.
Letterman’s pre-show protocols stood out in O’Neill’s mind. They perhaps give an insight into how the host maintained an on-air spontaneity for more than three decades.
“He kept the studio freezing cold,” wrote O’Neill. “After his pre-show rehearsal, [Letterman] was escorted across a hall into his dressing room. People were told not to make eye contact at that time. I never [talked to him] before the show. You just walked out and shook hands, sat down and started. Dave didn’t like any dead spots.”
Another Youngstowner who appeared on Letterman’s show as a guest is Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini. The year was 1983, and Mancini was the reigning lightweight boxing champion of the world.
Mancini isn’t the type who gets nervous, but he recalled that folks who were close to him were uneasy about his appearance on Letterman’s show.
“People were nervous because [Letterman] was very sharp. He had a caustic wit,” said Mancini. “He would cut people up if they weren’t prepared, although he softened over the years.
“But I wasn’t worried about it,” Mancini continued. “They told me to have some fun.”
The former boxer recalled reciting a poem he had written while on the show. “When I look back, I think I had to be out of my mind to read a poem,” said Mancini, with a laugh. “How cornball can you get?”
Mancini also surfaced on the show — at least in name — in 1987, when guest Warren Zevon performed his song “Boom Boom Mancini.”
The late rocker had written the song as a tribute to Mancini, with the chorus:
“Hurry home early.
Hurry on home.
Boom Boom Mancini’s
fighting Bobby Chacon.”
Other celebrities from Youngstown who were guests on Letterman’s show include singer Maureen McGovern. The Boardman High graduate appeared in 1995.