![]() ![]() "I owed it to Ethel and I owed it to Bobby not to break down." "There was no way I was not going to get through this, " he said. Finally, FBI agent Bill Barry, who accompanied Kennedy on the campaign trail, suggested he sing "Battle Hymn of the Republic, " one of Kennedy's favorite tunes. ![]() Williams said the hardest gig he ever performed was singing at Robert Kennedy's funeral - made even harder by liturgical songs that the priest at St. "When I was doing my television shows I worked very hard to be natural and not be nervous, but I had to know exactly " A perfectionist, Williams could only relax on the set after he'd rehearsed every line, even the ad libs. The show was then was given a second chance when S&H Green Stamps came on as a sponsor, and lasted until 1971. The strength of his success with "Moon River" led to his own variety show, which was canceled after the first season in 1962. #ANDY WILLIAMS FULL#He recites the full song, through to "Huckleberry friend, " then asks, "What does that mean? It's all parables, it's not reality. It sold 400,000 copies the first day, and "Moon River" became his theme song, even though he still finds the lyrics cryptic. #ANDY WILLIAMS MOVIE#Knowing that he would sing the theme song from "Breakfast at Tiffany's" during the 1962 Academy Awards broadcast, Williams recorded an album of movie themes, including "Moon River, " and released it the day after the show. Williams got his television start as a regular on Steve Allen's "Tonight Show, " where he sang underwater, jumped off the high dive and learned from a master. During a recent conversation, Williams spoke about singing, writing and television work. That's a far cry from the walk-in cooler where he had to change clothes during one of the stops in his hungry years. I've got perfect lights, perfect sound, the perfect band, the perfect dressing room, the perfect wife, the perfect house, perfect dog, what's not to like? My dressing room is like a penthouse apartment." I've got my own theater, it's exactly what I want. "So, " he said recently, turning the tables on the questioner, "tell me why I'm still at it? No, I know why I'm still at it. He will sing again, albeit briefly, when he visits Atlanta Thursday to sign copies of his memoir at the Atlanta History Center. Astonishingly, at 82 Williams still performs nightly at the Moon River Theatre he built in the middle-America tourist mecca, Branson, Mo. Williams' shining, resonant voice - it seems to have his toothy smile built right in - was once described by Ronald Reagan as a national treasure. He choked back tears to sing at Kennedy's funeral. He played golf with Bobby and Ethel Kennedy and was staying at the Kennedys' suite in the Ambassador when Bobby was assassinated in 1968. Williams gives some celebrities a spanking in "Andy Williams: Moon River and Me" and last month ruffled some feathers by criticizing President Barack Obama as a Marxist who "wants the country to fail."īe that as it may, Williams, the staunch Republican, was better known in his heyday as a friend of the Kennedys. ![]()
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