Tommy Curtis, The Matchmaker Meetin’ and Greetin’

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Tommy Curtis on the impetus for “Meetin’ and Greetin'”

“You came up to me and said, ‘You’re doing a great job,'” and I think I just had huge ratings or whatever it is. You said, ‘Tom, you know. I want to say this in the way Andy would say it, because he was a legendary boss and a great guy. He said, ‘Tom, I don’t think that cruisin’ and boozin’ is so correct anymore. Can you come up with something else?” You didn’t say, ‘Stop using ‘cruisin’ and boozin”,” but you said, ‘Come up with something else,’ and that’s how meetin’ and greetin’ began, thanks to you.”

A Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and this is Our Town, and this is a special, special broadcast for me, a podcast, to introduce this man that I’ve known for many, many, many years. The actual creator ofthe iconic American phrase, “meetin’ and greetin’,” my guest is a local legend according to the Washington Post, and according to WMALFM. He was a Yale man also, and has the unique distinction of having appeared on the front page of the Post Style section, Metro section, Sunday magazine, and a story on page one. In addition, the City Paper profiled him in a lengthy cover piece. Further, he is a subject of an acclaimed filmmaker, Dave Nuttycombe’s short documentary, Match Me if You Can. My guest today is Tommy “The Matchmaker” Curtis, and he’s back from Hollywood. Tommy, welcome to Our Town.
Tommy Curtis: All of that is because of you, sir. I got to tell you, this is the man that discovered me.
A Ockershausen: You can’t blame me for that, Tommy.
Tommy Curtis: It is, it’s true.
A Ockershausen: You are Hollywood royalty. Your family, they must have had great roots in New York, where your family’s originally from. Correct?
Tommy Curtis: Exactly. My grandfather was Gentleman Jack Cohn, and my uncle was the, what do you call it? I don’t want to say hated, but the very controversial Harry Cohn.
A Ockershausen: Harry Cohn.
Tommy Curtis: He was King Cohn
A Ockershausen: A studio mogul.
Tommy Curtis: Right.
A Ockershausen: The first time I ever heard the word, mogul, it was about Harry Cohn.
Tommy Curtis: Gentleman Jack, they argued consistently over the years, because he was the business end, and King Cohn was this guy that was actually, they say-
A Ockershausen: The creative part of the business?
Tommy Curtis: Yeah. You know what? In the movie, The Godfather, the legend is that was my uncle Harry’s horse, in his bed.
A Ockershausen: Is that correct?
Tommy Curtis: Because he gave the part to Sinatra in From Here to Eternity, that made Sinatra’s career. That’s the story, I understand. That’s a myth, or whatever.
A Ockershausen: Yeah, but it’s a good story.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah.
A Ockershausen: That’s unusual to have the business side in New York and the creative side in Hollywood.
Tommy Curtis: Exactly.
A Ockershausen: Your family was the New York side.
Tommy Curtis: Right.
A Ockershausen: You’ve got so much to talk about, Tommy, but I ran into your name the first time when you were running for the office. I don’t know whether it was the school board or something with the city, and you had a place called Wayne’s Love on K street. I couldn’t believe it. I said, “Here’s the guy, a saloon owner, wants to be on the school board. What is this all about?”
Tommy Curtis: May I just say one thing about that? John F. Kennedy’s grandfather, Honey-Fitz, was a saloon owner too. I used that all the time in those days. I said, “Well, it’s not that bad.” Don’t forget, I did go to Yale, so I’m not completely-
A Ockershausen: You’re a Yale man.
Tommy Curtis: I’m a Yale man. That was the little castle on K street; you’re right.
A Ockershausen: What a great place thought. K street was beginning to come alive then, right?
Tommy Curtis: Right. Of course.
A Ockershausen: The city was beginning to come alive.
Tommy Curtis: Singles were starting.
A Ockershausen: Singles bars were happening all over town.
Tommy Curtis: I opened up, I was going to say The Yacht Club, but that’s another story.
A Ockershausen: Yeah, that’s later.
Tommy Curtis: That’s later.
A Ockershausen: The Yacht Club is much later.
Tommy Curtis: Wayne’s Love opened, I think six weeks before the legendary [Mike O’Hara 00:03:15] opened up the Gentlemen II. We were lifelong friends and competitors.
A Ockershausen: Two saloons.
Tommy Curtis: Exactly.
A Ockershausen: You shared the wonderful services of Linda Roth
Tommy Curtis: That’s right. It’s very incestuous. It’s amazing, but true.
A Ockershausen: That’s wonderful.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah.
A Ockershausen: How did you get the club? What was it called? Not the Bombay Club, the one in the Carlton. What was your club’s name?
Tommy Curtis: That was the Polo Club.
A Ockershausen: The Polo Club?
Tommy Curtis: Yeah.
A Ockershausen: Who was in that with you? Mike wasn’t in that, was he?
Tommy Curtis: No, but this amazing story.
A Ockershausen: 1980?
Tommy Curtis: Yeah. Front page again, of the style section.
A Ockershausen: Absolutely.
Tommy Curtis: 4,000 people at the opening in a little place, which I think you had a party at later on.
A Ockershausen: We did. We had the WMAL Christmas party there.
Tommy Curtis: Who was my partner in that, Alan Weitzman, the legendary advertising guy.
A Ockershausen: Love Al. He’s still alive and kicking?
Tommy Curtis: He is. In Annapolis, I think.
A Ockershausen: In Annapolis. He lives in Annapolis.
Tommy Curtis: Listen to this. Jack Boyle from The Cellar Door. He was my partner, a wonderful guy. He became later, as you know, the head of the biggest promotion company in the world.
A Ockershausen: Fabulous.
Tommy Curtis: A lovely guy.
A Ockershausen: He had a partner.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah. Exactly, who died. Sam L’Hommedieu, that was his partner.
A Ockershausen: Sammy L’Hommedieu, how about that?
Tommy Curtis: You always said, when you put me on TV, to use your connections and get these interviews with all these famous rock stars, and Jack set it up. In fact, I had that huge interview with John Denver.
A Ockershausen: You started it with so many people, Tommy. It all comes back to me as we talk, that what was happening in town, in the city, in Our Town that was beginning to come alive, to realize there was so much to it. It used to be the center of the city was F street. You guys moved it to K street and Georgetown, you and Tom.

Tommy Curtis Coins the Phrase “Meetin’ and Greetin'”

Tommy Curtis: That’s right. I got to say this thing while I’m giving you all this credit. It’s true, but the most important thing, I don’t know, sometimes I feel like Clare Booth Luce, the male version. I’ve done all this stuff, but the key and what everybody, I think it’s going to be on my tombstone, and you’re the reason for it, I created that term which you mentioned in the intro, “meetin’ and greetin’.”
A Ockershausen: “Meetin’ and greetin’.” That’s right.
Tommy Curtis: I got to tell this story, because no matter where I go, a person will say at Safeway, they won’t even say The Yacht Club. They’ll say, “Hey, meetin’ and greetin’.”
A Ockershausen: That’ll live forever.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah. It’s a national term. Everybody uses it now. I got to tell your listeners, I’m sure they don’t know, but how it came about was that I used a term called cruisin’ and boozin’ on the radio.
A Ockershausen: I remember it vividly.
Tommy Curtis: That was politically incorrect. One day in the hallway in your own inimitable style-
A Ockershausen: WMALFM.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah, in the hallway of WMALFM, which you also ran besides WMALAM and Channel 7. You came up to me and said, “You’re doing a great job,” and I think I just had huge ratings or whatever it is. You said, “Tom, you know.” I want to say this in the way Andy would say it, because he was a legendary boss and a great guy. He said, “Tom, I don’t think that cruisin’ and boozin’ is so correct anymore. Can you come up with something else?” You didn’t say, “Stop using cruisin’ and boozin’,” but you said, “Come up with something else,” and that’s how meetin’ and greetin’ began, thanks to you.
A Ockershausen: We backed into it Tommy, because if you remember, I used to have a great relationship with the bar owners.
Tommy Curtis: Right.
A Ockershausen: I got in so much trouble by criticizing happy hour. I said, “There’s nothing good about happy hour because people get drunk and get out and drive. It’s killing people,” so I don’t like liquor. I love the bars, I love the restaurants. They’re all dear friends, but it’s not a happy hour. Boy, they got so mad at me. I think guys still remember that, that I got in a lot of trouble.
Tommy Curtis: Well, that’s why you said to me, “Tommy-”
A Ockershausen: Right, exactly.
Tommy Curtis: “You have to stay away from that.”
A Ockershausen: We’re preaching one thing and you’re calling it cruisin’ and boozin’. That was a connotation. It meant a lot to a lot of people.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah.
A Ockershausen: Remember the Q107 booze cruise?
Tommy Curtis: Yeah.
A Ockershausen: That grew before we got into that fight with the bars. Tommy, when you had a chance, as Wayne’s Love and you were a character, a character in the city, to work on WMAL with something special. You had your own program, your own show, your own listeners.
Tommy Curtis: It was kind of unique I guess.
A Ockershausen: It was very unique.
Tommy Curtis: In the middle of the day.
A Ockershausen: In the middle of the day.
Tommy Curtis: We just had-
A Ockershausen: I said, “Nobody’s going to listen to the middle of the day.” Boy, was I wrong.
Tommy Curtis: Thank you.
A Ockershausen: People were caring about Tommy Curtis.
Tommy Curtis: I didn’t become Tommy “The Matchmaker” til many years later, you know.
A Ockershausen: Many year later. Many years later. Also, Tommy, I’ll bring this up, and the producer Janny O, that Tommy had a chance to be on Channel 7, WMALTV, and he did a piece for broadcast on Channel 7, about Send in the Clowns.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah.
A Ockershausen: Who was the singer? What’s her name?
Tommy Curtis: Okay, I can’t remember.
Speaker 1: Judy Collins?
Tommy Curtis: Who was it, Judy Collins? Yeah.
A Ockershausen: Judy Collins.
Tommy Curtis: Actually, when you got me on Channel 7, I did two specials. Both of them won Emmys, thanks to you and the Emmy people. One was special behind the scenes with Chicago and The Beach Boys.
A Ockershausen: Yes, right. That was it.
Tommy Curtis: The other was a special on young talent in Washington. Both of them were lauded. Who helped me was Paul and Holly Fine, the legendary documentarians.
A Ockershausen: Absolutely, the greatest couple.
Tommy Curtis: Exactly. They went to 60 minutes after they had left your company, I believe. I think it was.
A Ockershausen: We had a discussion. Our boss at the time was a man named Fred Halik. He was the boss of the whole company, was hired by the Star, and we had a policy that if people were married they couldn’t work at WMALTV at Channel 7.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah, I think I remember that.
A Ockershausen: Paul and Holly were going to be married and this company policy was one of them had to leave. This policy makes sense to me, so I went to Fred Halik and I said, “Fred, we have a great policy, but we’re going to break up one of the greatest teams in all of television.” Their documentaries, they have won everything. I said, “We got to rethink this policy.” He said, “I think you’re right.”
Tommy Curtis: Yeah.
A Ockershausen: “We’re going to change that policy if they’re already here.” That was the difference. We wouldn’t hire them if they were married, but if they were here, let them be married.
Tommy Curtis: Oh, what a wonderful thing you did. Interesting-
A Ockershausen: I lucked into it.
Tommy Curtis: I want to tell you, on those specials, this is how life goes on. The associate producer on those specials, and my assistant, who do you think it was? Kathleen Cunningham, who became Kathleen Matthews. I don’t know if it’s a funny story, but as you know from all the publicity, what I did several months ago, I endorsed Jamie Raskin-
A Ockershausen: Her opponent.
Tommy Curtis: Over my old friend Kathy Cunningham. I felt a little guilty about it.
A Ockershausen: That is great.
Tommy Curtis: That made a lot of publicity, I must say, about my endorsement of Jamie Raskin.
A Ockershausen: It does.
Tommy Curtis: He’s going to win.
A Ockershausen: He’s still a big name of certain sections of Montgomery County. You know that and I saw it with my own eyes. You got into the entertainment business with The Yacht Club, and it was people by people from Montgomery County. Very few Washingtonians came there, but Montgomery County-
Tommy Curtis: In northern Virginia because it was right around the beltway. They came quite a bit.
A Ockershausen: They came a lot from northern Virginia?
Tommy Curtis: Yeah. That was amazing.
A Ockershausen: It was an adult bar…
Tommy Curtis: Over 35. Nobody had ever opened anything like that.
A Ockershausen: Never have.
Tommy Curtis: They told me that a jacket and tie place wouldn’t work, and what, 18 years later, it worked.
A Ockershausen: We’re going to come back and talk about it. We’re going to take a break here, Tommy, but that’s so true, because that was an adult place. There’s nothing like that existing now. This is Our Town, Andy Ockershausen and Tommy “The Matchmaker” Curtis.
[Commercial]This is Andy Ockershausen talking to Tommy Jacomo and bragging about his restaurant, The Palm.
Tommy Jacomo: Hi, I’m Tommy Jacomo. I want to you come down and see me at The Palm restaurant. I’ve been here for 43 years, and we have great steaks, great lobsters, great food, caricatures on the walls. It’s just a fun place to eat and drink. We’re located at 19th and N, just below Dupont Circle. For reservations, call 202-293-9091. That’s 202-293-9091, www.thepalm.com.[End Commercial]
A Ockershausen: Tommy Curtis is our guest on Our Town, and The Matchmaker is something else, but he’s a lifelong resident here of the Metropolitan Area, particularly in Bethesda. He was on WMALFM, but because he had talent. The real talent when he opened that Yacht Club was, and it fit the profile of the WMAL to a T, one of the things, Tommy, that we ran up against as a radio station, was that your audience is old. They’re not the audience that we’re after. They weren’t the 18 to 35 year olds that spend a lot of money. We only want the young people. We’re not buying the old people, but we took the position that WMAL was 35 plus. We took the position that a club, such as The Yacht Club, would appeal to people, and we endorsed it. You made it happen. Tommy, we all should sell our product as an adult. Adults have a lot of money. They spend money. So many people don’t know that, but it is a fact. It meshed so beautifully and that’s why I’m so glad The Yacht Club came along.
Tommy Curtis: It’s interesting you should say that because I did, what a couple years ago, I did an appearance at the Mercedes-Benz place in Bethesda. Of course, that’s the audience that they want, at 35 plus.
A Ockershausen: Absolutely. People with money.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah, exactly. I have appeared at Safeway supermarkets, I’ve appeared at Barnes and Nobles, and other places like 35 and over. It’s so true, and yet the movies I’ve been involved in through my brother and all these wonderful people around here, were horror movies that went for the 16 to, I guess 30 market, at the latest. At the highest.
A Ockershausen: People with no money.

Movie Maker

Tommy Curtis: Yeah, but now what’s happening. It’s so crazy. When I first made Hell Night with Linda Blair, she was a young. It was after the Exorcist. Actually, I made it with my brother, who’s the genius of making these low budget films, and a whole bunch of wealthy Washingtonians who saw like…
A Ockershausen: Was Mel Estrin in that?
Tommy Curtis: No. Mel Estrin wasn’t, but Sidney Teplin was.
A Ockershausen: I know that name.
Tommy Curtis: The late Sidney Teplin, of course and Sandy, his wonderful wife… You knew Shane Gould, because Mr. Gould represented Jack Kent Cooke. Jud Gould, his son was involved…
A Ockershausen: They were involved in the movie?
Tommy Curtis: Yeah.
A Ockershausen: In the movie.
Tommy Curtis: In the movie backing Jerry Leer, the great lawyer, so many of the top people. Now, this is crazy, Hollywood is again interested in remaking Hell Night. That’s why I was in Hollywood.
A Ockershausen: Is that right?
Tommy Curtis: Yeah.
A Ockershausen: That’s great.
Tommy Curtis: Listen to this. It is now appearing on Halloween night in lots of, what do you call them, marathon? Horror movie marathons? Who likes this movie so much? Quentin Tarantino adores Hell Night. Apparently I’m going to put together another group of developers and-
A Ockershausen: Tommy, you’ve got more things going that anybody I know.
Tommy Curtis: Stanley Zupnik. I forgot Stanley. He was behind that and was the leader in the group that produced Dreamscape.
A Ockershausen: You came up with Seduction, starring Morgan Fairchild.
Tommy Curtis: Hey.
A Ockershausen: I met Morgan Fairchild when Barry Wright was dating her.
Tommy Curtis: Oh my God, Barry Wright was one of my guys. That’s right.
A Ockershausen: Absolutely. He was dating Morgan Fairchild-
Tommy Curtis: I set it up.
A Ockershausen: When he was running temporary.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah, we came out to Hollywood with all the investors, and my mother, or I can’t remember who, set up the date, but he had a date with Morgan Fairchild. What a great guy, Barry. The late Barry Wright.
A Ockershausen: We loved Barry. He was very generous at Christmas time. Remember he had a food for Christmas program?
Tommy Curtis: Of course. I have to tell you, in my reunion at Yale they ask you to put something about your life, about what you’ve done the last 35 years or longer. I said, one of my highlights was going out on a date with Morgan Fairchild, and also Susan Ford. Don’t for get Susan Ford.
A Ockershausen: Wow.
Tommy Curtis: That was the, my front page-
A Ockershausen: The daughter of the President of the United States.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah. That was my Enquirer, my only thing on the front page of the Enquirer, which goes to show you that they really needed a lot of junk, because they said, “She’s ready to marry this Washington DJ,” and I’ve got to tell you, that was pretty far from the truth.
A Ockershausen: She married a guy, secret service guy.
Tommy Curtis: That’s right. Yeah, Vance, something Vance.
A Ockershausen: He opened his own business last-
Speaker 1: Chuck.
Tommy Curtis: Chuck. What’s his name?
Speaker 1: Chuck Vance.
Tommy Curtis: Chuck Vance, nice guy.
A Ockershausen: Chuck Vance, and I had a committee for the fight night.
Tommy Curtis: Yes.
A Ockershausen: With Joe Robert.
Tommy Curtis: That’s right.
A Ockershausen: That’s where I met him. Tommy, let’s get back to your radio, TV career, briefly before the movie.
Tommy Curtis: Sure.
A Ockershausen: We had a chance at WMAL, with what’s the woman that did the song, Send in the Clowns?
Speaker 2: Judy Collins.
Speaker 1: Judy Collins.
A Ockershausen: Judy Collins song. Tommy took a crew and a cast, and redid the thing with clowns at the circus. Did you not photograph the clowns at the circus?
Tommy Curtis: I-
A Ockershausen: That was Paul Fine did the photography.
Tommy Curtis: Paul Fine, yeah exactly.
A Ockershausen: Weren’t there clowns at the circus?
Tommy Curtis: Yeah. I can’t quite remember what that was about.
A Ockershausen: It was so beautiful.
Tommy Curtis: That was Paul Fine more than me. I like to say, in the movie business, all I did in the movie business was basically get the money together.

Tommy “The Matchmaker” Curtis

A Ockershausen: Get the money.
Tommy Curtis: Then I had these famous partners like as mentioned, Stanley Zupnik the big developer, which is why I’m back dealing with all these wonderful developers and lawyers. My brother, Bruce Cohn Curtis of course, who uses the name. I never did until, I think it was Diana McLellen who saw the chief of protocol come up and talk. Annenberg, what was her name? Annenberg.
Speaker 1: Wallis?
Tommy Curtis: Well, that’s her daughter. I was-
A Ockershausen: Leonore?
Tommy Curtis: Leonore. Thank you. What a memory. I was covering for WMALFM, something at the White House. I’m behind the ropes and all of a sudden Leonore Annenberg, who was chief of protocol with her buddy –
A Ockershausen: Absolutely.
Tommy Curtis: She comes up to me and says, “You’re Joe’s son, aren’t you?” I said, “Yes.” She said, “Daddy?” That was her husband, the famous-
A Ockershausen: Walter.
Tommy Curtis: Walter Annenberg. In front of all the press, she comes over and says, “Bring him over here. I want you to meet my second cousin.” Nobody in Washington knew that I was involved like that.
A Ockershausen: Related to the movie people.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah, related to those people at all. Then The Ear said, “you’re not going to believe this. The charisma kid, teeny tiny Tommy Curtis is an heir, all that kind of stuff. It was amazing.
A Ockershausen: It was incredible. I remember the story so vividly, Tommy.
Tommy Curtis: I don’t like being Teeny Tommy, but that’s all I can say.
A Ockershausen: The Matchmaker.
Tommy Curtis: I’m The Matchmaker.
A Ockershausen: One of the things about that series, not series but that piece, Paul Fine did the shooting and his wife Holly did the editing. It was your genius that put it together. It won the DC television Academy Awards Emmy.
Tommy Curtis: That’s right.
A Ockershausen: It was-
Tommy Curtis: Fun, Fun, Fun. The Beach Boys and Chicago.
A Ockershausen: A huge celebration at the downtown with all the greats, black tie. I was invited to accept this trophy for WMALTV for Send in the Clowns. I said, “Well, wait a minute here. I had less to do with this than I did with this dinner. This is Tommy Curtis’ deal. He’s going to come on with me, on stage. He’s going to accept this award for Channel 7.” They said, “Okay, let’s do it.” I’ll never for get that night, Tommy. Brought the house down.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah.
A Ockershausen: They played it there, right there live.
Tommy Curtis: Now I think I remember completely. Send in the Clowns was the story of young talent in Washington and the music was Send in the Clowns.
A Ockershausen: Yeah, correct.
Tommy Curtis: You’re right. We shot it all over the place, with all these sights. Mr. Henry’s I think had young talent. It’s a true story, folks.
A Ockershausen: Paul Fine put it together.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah.
A Ockershausen: Holly edited it.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah. I want to tell you that Andy said, and that’s a true story, he said, “Hey, you guys, I can’t get up there. I got to get Tommy Curtis up there with me. He’s the guy behind it.”
A Ockershausen: I had nothing to do with it.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah. It was wonderful of you, typical of you to do something like that, and I never forgot that.
A Ockershausen: No, no, no. I’m like Charlie Brotman, say about Charlie, he hates publicity like he hates his right arm. I think I’ve gotten to that point.
Tommy Curtis: Well, in the movie business of course, publicity is the most important thing.
A Ockershausen: It’s all about the type. That piece was so important to me and to Channel 7. I guess nobody does local things like that anymore. At least I don’t see it, but there are no more Paul and Holly Fines. There’s no more WMALTV, and there’s no more WMALAM, but we’ve got you, Tommy.
Tommy Curtis: Thank you.
A Ockershausen: I’m so glad the FM station, Q107, that was a big hit, and you were a big hit with them.
Tommy Curtis: Actually, remember, to all the people that are listening, WMALFM was called the soft explosion.
A Ockershausen: Absolutely.
Tommy Curtis: Thank you.
A Ockershausen: Great campaign, wasn’t it?
Tommy Curtis: Yeah, wasn’t it a good campaign?
A Ockershausen: Great campaign.
Tommy Curtis: Another legend behind that was that advertising company that you hired.
A Ockershausen: Earle Palmer Brown.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah. Earle Palmer Brown.
A Ockershausen: Brown, that was a great thing, the soft explosion. Then later on in your career-
Tommy Curtis: Oh, we got to get right, yeah.
A Ockershausen: You finished TV, you finished being a bar owner, finished running a saloon.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah.
A Ockershausen: You ran into a possibility in Bethesda at the back end of a motel.
Tommy Curtis: Basement, basement.
A Ockershausen: The basement of a motel. What was the name of the hotel?
Tommy Curtis: The Holiday Inn of Bethesda, owned by two guys that everybody knows, Ralph Deckelbaum and Bernie-
A Ockershausen: Deckelbaum. Isn’t that…
Tommy Curtis: I can’t remember his last name.
A Ockershausen: Not Bernie Libby.
Tommy Curtis: His son, Alan. Oh my God, I can’t.
A Ockershausen: It’ll come.
Tommy Curtis: I can’t remember, but anyway, they said, “Why don’t you take over this teenage bar.” You want to hear something interesting about that story, originally I was going to put that bar, The Yacht Club, where the River Club became a location.
A Ockershausen: Downtown.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah. Paul Cohn who’s now running Boss Shepherd’s downtown.
A Ockershausen: Paul had all kinds of places.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah. You’ll probably have him on your show soon. I was going to say, I sold the rights to that location, the lease rights, to Paul, and they opened up The River Club. I just took the money and ran. I ran into a wonderful guy, my former partner at a bar in Bethesda, which had no nightlife at all, Peter Yeskel. Peter said, “You got an idea for a bar?” I said, “Yeah, I want to open up a bar for people over 35 and make it jacket and tie in Bethesda.
A Ockershausen: Adult.
Tommy Curtis: Adult, thanks. The next thing I know right then and there he said, “Yeah, let’s do it.” That became one of the best investments, as he has told me, he ever made in his life.
A Ockershausen: Well, I can believe that.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah.
A Ockershausen: The space was available?
Tommy Curtis: Yeah.
A Ockershausen: They needed someone to go in there.
Tommy Curtis: It was closed. My longtime partner and friend, who I think you’ve met over the years, Frank Polar , he-
A Ockershausen: I know Frank.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah. What do you call it? Of course, he was a very dear friend of Mike O’Harro, who you’ve had on your show, he designed it, put the bar in and changed it all around. That became The Yacht Club of Bethesda. Within three weeks that place had a line. When-
A Ockershausen: Never stopped having a line.
Tommy Curtis: Eighteen years later, it still had a line and it was called the most, with Clyde’s, The Yacht Club, and some other place were the top three places for women to go to, who enjoyed it.
A Ockershausen: It certainly was, Bethesda, my recollection, it was the queens of Montgomery county were there all the time.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah, all the time. I have to tell you, Andy. This is so crazy. About nine years later, once a month I’ll get a call from some guy who owns an office building, a developer who’s opening up a hotel, and they’ll say, “Would you like to put a Yacht Club in there?” because it’s immediate success. I have to say I don’t want to be at the front door every night for the next 10 years, like I was for 18 years.
A Ockershausen: Yeah, but Tommy, without you there would be no Yacht Club. Your being at the door, that’s what made the club.
Tommy Curtis: Well, it was a show, wasn’t it?
A Ockershausen: That was the show.
Tommy Curtis: I did the radio show there.
A Ockershausen: You put people together. You were The Matchmaker.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah.
A Ockershausen: It was a great, great club as I recall, for adults. I couldn’t do it because I was a married man.
Tommy Curtis: To a very beautiful lady, I must say.
A Ockershausen: Absolutely.
Tommy Curtis: With great personality. It became the mecca of that upscale, jacket and tie crowd.
A Ockershausen: Adult club.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah, and that’s why. It’s so crazy. I can’t believe nobody has ever, since that time, even tried to open a club like that.
A Ockershausen: There’s not Tommy Curtis.
Tommy Curtis: It might be that. I don’t know. It could be that. I’m sorry that I’m in Hollywood, involved in the remaking of Hell Night.
A Ockershausen: You’re still with us though.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah.
A Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Tommy “The Matchmaker” Curtis’s show and I’m a guest. It’s been great to have Tommy. We’ll be back with some more Tommy Curtis.
[Commercial] Tony: Hi. Tony Cibel here, to tell everybody about our newest restaurant over off New York Avenue. It’s called Ivy City Smokehouse. 1356 Okie Street, Northeast, right next to the Hecht Company Warehouse. It is terrific and we have the only seafood smoker in the District of Columbia. When you go to your grocery stores or your delis, ask for Ivy City products, 202-529-3300, or ivycitysmokehouse.com[End Commercial]
Announcer: Our Town with Andy Okershausen.
A Ockershausen: I’m talking with The Matchmaker, Tommy Curtis. We’re talking about the very, very famous couples club, I called it, for adults called, The Yacht Club. Tommy was the skipper of The Yacht Club, but there was not Yacht Club without Tommy Curtis.
Tommy Curtis: There was no water in Bethesda.
A Ockershausen: No lake, no rivers.
Tommy Curtis: “Is this The Yacht Club?” “Yes.” “Do you have boat slips?” “No, we don’t.”
A Ockershausen: Did that actually happen?
Tommy Curtis: Yeah, a few times.
A Ockershausen: Tommy, you put people together because you’d see them at the door and you’d get an idea of who they were and why they were, and introducing them was an important thing to the club. It mixed it up.
Tommy Curtis: I’d have this flashlight and I’d put it on a single woman, and guys would say, “Oh, she’s available.” I have to say, one of the things I told guys, see these are the secrets of mixing and matching, I said, “Stay near. No, don’t be next to the ladies room, but near, about 10 feet away.”
A Ockershausen: So you could watch it.
Tommy Curtis: You could see who’s in and out, and you could also use whatever line you need. It makes it easier. Also, I used to say to them, to women I would say, “When you’re coming to The Yacht Club,” this is a true story. I would say, “Don’t go to a Malaysian or a, what’s the, Thai restaurant, because it’s full of garlic. I know you don’t think you’re going to meet anybody, but you probably will when you don’t think it.” Yeah.
A Ockershausen: That’s the best thing in the world, the best advice. Boy, that is better than any perfume you could ever have.
Tommy Curtis: I can’t be everywhere to match everybody anymore.
A Ockershausen: No.
Tommy Curtis: I got to tell you a quick story. I was at a nightclub in Beverly Hills a couple of years ago. Vince Vaughn was standing next to me and there was this very attractive, tall, gorgeous girl over to my right. I couldn’t help myself. I do become Tommy The Matchmaker wherever I am. I don’t know how it happens. I told her, “Don’t you want to meet that guy?” She said, “Yeah.” I said, “Well, that’s easy. Come over here.” I tapped him on the shoulder. I said, “Vince, say hello to Charlotte.” Whoever it was. Boom. They went off dancing together. Anybody is susceptible to-
A Ockershausen: You can’t help it. You’re a people guy, Tommy.

Talk to Me Pin

Tommy Curtis: By the way Andy, did you see this? Listeners, you can’t see this, can you? I used to say this through the looking glass all the time. This is the TTM, which is my new project. It has been test marketed. It’s called the Talk To Me pin. It allows a single person in a supermarket, or a library, kids in class, this is the breaker of the ice. If the girl is wearing it, you can say hello to her.
A Ockershausen: You can feel free to talk to her.
Tommy Curtis: Yes.
A Ockershausen: To approach her.
Tommy Curtis: Yes.
A Ockershausen: That is a great idea.
Tommy Curtis: People love it.
A Ockershausen: It’s great for men too.
Tommy Curtis: You know where I got that from? I got it from the Yale University Secret Societies. It’s like this is a secret society for singles. It’s not that big, and it’s small. Couples wouldn’t recognize it, but if you’re a single, you know.
A Ockershausen: You would.
Tommy Curtis: You will know about the talk to me pin. It’s cool.
A Ockershausen: It may be like the handkerchief out of the back pocket.
Tommy Curtis: Yes, that’s right.
A Ockershausen: It’s a signal.
Tommy Curtis: Women didn’t like the handkerchief idea, because it was too big. They like this. We’ve test marketed and we’re going to change this from gold-
A Ockershausen: The talk to me pin for singles.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah. That’s it.
A Ockershausen: How about that?
Tommy Curtis: We’re going to change it from gold to silver.
A Ockershausen: I don’t know how you can do it, Tommy. It’s so great, all the things you have done, and all the kind of people you put together.
Tommy Curtis: 189, I think it was, at last count.
A Ockershausen: 189 marriages out of the 17 years?
Tommy Curtis: Please don’t ask me about divorces.
A Ockershausen: That’s 10 a year.
Tommy Curtis: Don’t ask me about divorces.
A Ockershausen: Oh yeah. No divorces.
Tommy Curtis: That’s bad publicity for me.
A Ockershausen: The space is still empty down the street here?
Tommy Curtis: Isn’t that crazy? I was happy to move along back to the movie business and back to the talk to me pin, and all this kind of-
A Ockershausen: Back to show business.
Tommy Curtis: Back to show biz, yeah exactly. Now, actually we’re working on one project, especially mine. This is going to be the biggest news in cinema for the last year or two if it works, if we make a deal. The first person I went to was Bob Johnson at RLJ Entertainment. Yeah.
A Ockershausen: I know Bob.
Tommy Curtis: They’re thinking about it. It’s actually through my family’s estate that we get the rights to this project.
A Ockershausen: Wow.
Tommy Curtis: Is that amazing? My mother had kept it suppressed, and my uncle didn’t want to do it. I wish I could say, but it’s about a major, major, major personality that nobody knows this stuff. It’s a great…
A Ockershausen: Is it a book that your family owns, or a show?
Tommy Curtis: It’s an actual movie. I shouldn’t really get into that much because it’s top secret, but yeah the family did own it. Now that’s something I am working on, besides all these guys that are working with me now on the Hell Night project.
A Ockershausen: Tommy, you just are so involved in so many things. You remind me. I’m thinking about The Yacht Club. When I joined Channel 50-
Tommy Curtis: Oh, I remember that. Yeah.
A Ockershausen: Somebody gave me a part, Home Team Sports, as a matter of fact. They gave me a party to welcome me back to Bethesda at The Yacht Club. Who showed up with Bob Pincus and his lady friend, his girlfriend, who became Mrs. Jack Evans, and they had triplets and she died, you know.
Tommy Curtis: I didn’t know that.
A Ockershausen: That was Pincus’ girlfriend. Absolutely.
Tommy Curtis: Bobby Pincus was very close to my partner in Dreamscape and Fear City, those two movies.
A Ockershausen: That is correct.
Tommy Curtis: Stanley Zupnik, a great developer and a wonderful guy.
A Ockershausen: I love Stanley. He’s got his own airplane too.
Tommy Curtis: Exactly. I’ve been in that plane with him.
A Ockershausen: Isn’t he something else?
Tommy Curtis: It’s a small plane, but it’s a two engine actually, right?
A Ockershausen: It got you around. That’s right, twin engine airplane.
Tommy Curtis: He’s very involved with me.
A Ockershausen: Great. I love Stanley. He’s something else.
Tommy Curtis: A very creative guy.
A Ockershausen: Oh yeah. He was very big in downtown Washington. I know that. Tommy, you’ve got so much on your plate. How are you going to find time? You got to take time to do these things. They’re so important. Staying active.
Tommy Curtis: Thank you. It’s amazing that the juices are still flowing. It’s crazy.
A Ockershausen: That’s the way it is, Tommy.
Tommy Curtis: I love it. On top of all that, all my friends in the bar business want me to go back and do the Bar ‘N Restaurant report, which was-
A Ockershausen: That was great, it was sippin’ and dippin’
Tommy Curtis: I did it for Tony Cibel. I endorsed his four places. It’s like an infomercial but done in 60 seconds.
A Ockershausen: Tommy, I lived through that with you. That was very well done.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah. That’s right. It was cosponsored by nonalcoholic beer company, which you were always in favor of.
A Ockershausen: What was that beer? You had them on TV too.
Tommy Curtis: Yes. That’s right.
A Ockershausen: Had the beer commercial.
Tommy Curtis: Gosh.
A Ockershausen: Janny, what was the beer commercial?
Tommy Curtis: It was-
A Ockershausen: Tommy at the bar.
Tommy Curtis: How could I forget? Tony also, your dear friend, was on it. The guy who owns the great place on K street, the power place, the steakhouse on K street, the most famous original one. His brother runs it now.
A Ockershausen: Not The Palm?
Speaker 1: No, no. The Steakhouse.
Tommy Curtis: The one on K street.
Speaker 1: Prime Rib.
Tommy Curtis: Prime Rib, of course.
A Ockershausen: Oh, the Prime.
Tommy Curtis: I did one for him.
A Ockershausen: One of the brothers died.
Tommy Curtis: That’s right.
A Ockershausen: Then they opened up-
Speaker 1: It was Nick.
A Ockershausen: Let me tell you. Since Nick died the place has not been the same.
Tommy Curtis: Really.
A Ockershausen: I say that, and that’s the way I feel.
Tommy Curtis: His brother-
A Ockershausen: I was never a regular, but he was the Prime Rib to me.
Tommy Curtis: Exactly, and he did that Barn Restaurant Report with me. We did it with Tony, we did it with him.
A Ockershausen: Oh, right. You did it all over.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah. How do you like this? I cannot remember the name of the nonalcoholic. Now there’s several nonalcoholic beers.
Speaker 1: O’Doul’s?
Speaker 2: O’Doul’s.
Tommy Curtis: It wasn’t O’Doul’s.
A Ockershausen: He had his own beer.
Tommy Curtis: No, it was a German beer. Lowenbrau Right. It was German beer.
A Ockershausen: He had his own beer. He did his commercial.
Tommy Curtis: “Hi, I’m-”
A Ockershausen: What have you missed, Tommy?
Tommy Curtis: I can’t remember. I’m trying to remember the commercial and I might remember the beer.
A Ockershausen: Janice and I use this words of a lady in her 90s in Cleveland Ohio. She had a watchword for us. She said, “Get up, get dressed, and get out.” That’s her secret to life.
Tommy Curtis: I think-
A Ockershausen: She’s in her 90s.
Tommy Curtis: I think you’re right.
A Ockershausen: You got to get out, Tommy.
Tommy Curtis: I’m trying, but I was just thinking when you were talking. I was saying, “My God, those parts of my life and all those wonderful stories written by, you were mentioning off the air, Frank Rich wrote a whole thing on me.
A Ockershausen: Absolutely.
Tommy Curtis: Now he’s one of the top-
A Ockershausen: New York Times.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah.
A Ockershausen: Great grammar critic.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah.
A Ockershausen: I knew him when he was a kid. His old man used to bring him to the stadium for football. He’s bring this little kid in the booth with him in Marion’s box. Remember Stew Long that ran-
Tommy Curtis: Sure, another bar owner, but he’s a lawyer, right?
A Ockershausen: Absolutely. Great guy. He has an illness problem but he’s coming along real well.
Tommy Curtis: Oh, I didn’t know that.
A Ockershausen: Tommy, the names that are still there, that why Janice’s idea, we brought back Our Town with names like yours that people haven’t heard from in a while. Now they know more about you, I hope, by listening to this podcast. I’ve certainly learned a lot. I knew most of it on the periphery, but you’re in Hollywood.
Tommy Curtis: You were part of it, most of it.
A Ockershausen: I was a part, a little part…
Tommy Curtis: You’re the reason for my success, I got to tell you. When you saw me and said, “That guy might be something,” that happened.
A Ockershausen: Well, when you had Wayne’s Love, that sold it for me.
Tommy Curtis: I always thank you for that.
A Ockershausen: The city’s changed dramatically, Tommy. The millennials have taken over Washington. You know that. If you drive around here it’s unbelievable.
Tommy Curtis: Yet, they brought back, on FM, they brought back Jack. He’s an older kind of guy.
A Ockershausen: That’s right.
Tommy Curtis: I saw him. He looks great. Listen-
A Ockershausen: Jack’s still alive. I call him Rich Man. He makes a lot of money. Tommy, so did you. It’s been all about fun, because I know that Yacht Club was not a gold mine, but it was a great thing for Our Town. It’s a great thing to have you back, Tommy.
Tommy Curtis: Thank you.
A Ockershausen: Good luck in your motion picture business.
Tommy Curtis: Thank you.
A Ockershausen: If we can give you any publicity, we’re here to do it.
Tommy Curtis: Thank you very much. I enjoyed being with you in our little reunion here.
A Ockershausen: Listen, we’ve gotten such a great response, believe me, from the public, for what we’re doing. If you like what you hear on Our Town, give us a review on iTunes. It’s easy to do. We also want to thank John Kelly of the Washington Post for a great article. I don’t know whether you noticed it yesterday.
Tommy Curtis: Everybody saw that. Come on. Everybody in the 35 plus reads John Kelly.
A Ockershausen: Actually read the paper.
Tommy Curtis: Which is so great for me because they’re all going to be listening to me and you today.
A Ockershausen: One of the things we found out, Tommy, with some research, is that young people still want to know about the past. They want to know about, who was Tommy Curtis, who was The Yacht Club, who was going on at the Prime Rib, who was going on in Georgetown, what happened to Mike O’Haro what happened to The Champion? The young people want to know, so that’s our hope for the future, that they’ll appreciate what we did for them.
Tommy Curtis: I found that to be true too. It’s crazy you should bring that up. I find that all time. People say, “How did you do it? How did you match people up? Why don’t you do it again? Why don’t you do it-”
A Ockershausen: There’s no question they want you to do it…
Tommy Curtis: The last time I appeared in Bethesda, about four years ago, I drew 500 people in the pouring rain, and they weren’t all over 45. There’s a lot of people over 30, 35, 30 and over that are wondering.
A Ockershausen: They’re looking for you.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah. I love online. I really think it’s a great thing, but there’s nothing like being able to see, touch, immediately- that person.
A Ockershausen: Tommy, and there’s nothing like you, and what your impact on Our Town. Thank you so much for coming back from Los Angeles to do this. We really appreciate it. We’re going to be pushing it, pushing it, pushing it. We want everybody to listen to Our Town.
Tommy Curtis: Thank you, Andy.
A Ockershausen: Thank you, Tommy Curtis, Matchmaker.
Tommy Curtis: I appreciate it.
A Ockershausen: Make me a match. You’re great. Look, you made me a match. How about it? Right here.
Tommy Curtis: That’s it. I did it.
A Ockershausen: I’m over-matched.
Tommy Curtis: Oh. Don’t forget, Matchmaker, what is it? What’s my email address so people don’t have to call me?
Speaker 1: Www.-
Tommy Curtis: Matchmaker@talktomepin.com. Thank you. I’m not with it, at this online stuff.
A Ockershausen: Thank God.
Tommy Curtis: Thank God for Janice.
A Ockershausen: If it weren’t for Janice, I’m a dead man.
Tommy Curtis: If you want to see yourselves on TV and you want to remember the times, what do you call it, at The Yacht Club, there’s a wonderful Dave Nuttycombe, did a wonderful 14 minute short film documentary through the AFI, a few years ago, on me.
A Ockershausen: American Film Institute.
Tommy Curtis: Yeah, Match Me if You Can. That’s available-
A Ockershausen: Match Me if You Can.
Speaker 1: Where can they get it?
Tommy Curtis: It’s on video. It’s everywhere.
Speaker 1: It’d be on YouTube?
Tommy Curtis: Sure. Match Me if You Can, Tommy the Matchmaker.
A Ockershausen: Tommy, the greatest.
Tommy Curtis: Dave is a terrific documentarian.
A Ockershausen: This is Our Town with Andy Ockershausen. We’ve had a great session with Tommy Curtis. See you next time.
Announcer: You’ve been listening to Our Town, season one, with your host Andy Ockershausen. New Our Town podcast episodes are released each Tuesday and Thursday. We welcome your comments and suggestions on how you like the show, or who you’d like to hear from next. Catch us on Facebook at Our Town DC, or visit our website at ourtowndc.com. Our special thanks to WMAL radio in Washington DC, for hosting our podcasts.