I Chased Her For 3 Years Until She Caught Me (Henny Youngman & Alan King Story) —Part II

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By Seth H. Bramson

We closed the last column with a note regarding fidelity and honorable behavior in a marriage and that has been the hallmark of mine and Myrna’s, our love being shared with Myrna’s children, Ben and Sara, my beloved brother and his daughter, my niece, Dara, and, of course, my two grandsons, Joshua and Harrison. (Ben and Sara each had a son and each of them has given me my magnificent grandsons, of whom I am so proud).

We decided on November 27th, 1976, as the date and were married by the rabbi from the temple on Park Avenue in the New York Gaslight Club, which I was managing at the time. Until I came back to Miami Beach in February of ’78, Myrna and I saw each other about once a month except during Christmas vacation and in the summer but we knew that, eventually, I would be coming back to Miami Beach, which I did after the late, great Lloyd Apple insisted that I come back to join him in partnership with Eddie, Leonard, Sidney and Mervyn Thal—the famous Thal Brothers of Epicure Market, all now of blessed memory—to operate Lloyd’s of Epicure as the catering division of that famous gourmet market.

Meantime, though, following the wedding I remained in New York and sometime early in ’77, my PR guy (and I wish I could remember Bernie’s last name) said to me one day, “Seth, would it be OK, can I invite Henny Youngman to have lunch with us as our guest?” And what flashed through my mind was one of the best-ever scenes from “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.”

It was the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving and the great Doc Severinsen, leader of the Tonight Show Band, was sitting in for the equally great Ed McMahon. Johnny turned to Doc and said, “Doc, I’m having some people over tomorrow night for Thanksgiving dinner. Can you join us?” Doc looked at the audience and said, “Can you believe this?!! Here I am sitting with the number one person in television, the most in-demand entertainer in the country—my boss—and he invites me to dinner at his home. What am I gonna’ say, ‘no?’” At which point Johnny said, “well, can you make it?” And Doc turned, looks at Johnny and said, “no, I can’t. I’m busy” Well, as you can imagine dear readers, the entire audience was convulsed with laughter, and that scene was what immediately flashed through my mind!

Can you bring Henny Youngman for lunch?!! Oh my god, what am I gonna’ say, “no!!”? Hell, no, I wasn’t going to say “no,” and that, ladies and gentlemen, was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Within two weeks Henny was having lunch with me twice a week at the Gaslight Club and one day, after some weeks, one of our members came rushing into my office: “Seth! Seth! Did you see this?!!” “Did I see what?” “This! This!” and he thrust that day’s edition of the New York “Post” open to the page with the famed celebrity and entertainment writer Earl Gardner’s column on it. He pointed excitedly and said, “look, look!” And there it was, big as life: “Famed ‘king of the one-liners’ Henny Youngman a regular at the posh and private New York Gaslight Club at 124 East 56th St. having lunch every Tuesday and Thursday with GM Seth Bramson!” You can’t even begin to imagine what followed.

Not only did people start pouring in, not just to join the club, but, in addition, to meet Henny, who was always warm and gracious, and loved the attention. Then Gaslight President, the late Bob Fredericks, called me from Chicago: “What the hell is going on there?” Bob roared.

“Bob, what are you talking about?” I asked. “My god, he said, your numbers are going through the roof. I’m sending you a bonus. How did you do it?!!” And as I always do, I simply told him the truth: “Bernie asked me if he could bring Henny Youngman for lunch, we hit it off, and he’s now having lunch here regularly, although I think the mention in Earl Gardner’s column in the “Post” might have done some good!”

And that was just the beginning. A few weeks later Henny said to me, “Seth, I really enjoy being with you. Would it be alright if I asked my friend, Alan King, to have lunch with us?!!” Needless to say the Doc and Johnny routine flashed through my head again and the following Tuesday who was I having lunch with? Henny and Alan King. Not only were they both great to be with, but, as with Henny, Alan was cordial and gracious beyond words and greeted everybody who stopped at the table. One day, after several weeks of our dining together Alan said to me, “Seth, you have been so kind to us that we’d like you to join us for lunch at the Friar’s Club!” That, my friends and readers, was the big time!

I arrived at the Friar’s Club on the appointed day and date at the agreed upon time and Alan was waiting for me at a table, standing up and greeting me as a good friend. “Henny will be here in a few minutes,” he said. “Watch what happens when he comes in.” Henny arrived and the maître d’ welcomed him: “Where would you like to sit, Mr. Youngman?” And his incredibly riotous reply was par for the course for the king of the one-liners: “Near a waiter, Robert, near a waiter!”

In January of ’78, Lloyd Apple called me and convinced me to leave New York and return to Miami Beach to enter the partnership with the Thal Brothers and after giving proper notice and saying my good byes—and much to Myrna’s happiness—I headed back home in a rented Hertz truck (about a 14 footer, not too big!), having arranged to meet Myrna in Savannah and drive the rest of the way back with her at my side.

Next time we’ll write about the years from ’78 to ’84, when my first book, “Speedway to Sunshine: The Story of the Florida East Coast Railway” was published, along with my reunion with Alan King at the Palm in Bay Harbor in 2001 on the night of my and Myrna’s 25th anniversary. In the meantime, a sidebar: “Speedway to Sunshine…” which is now the official history of that famous railroad, is also the single best-selling (now note the disclaimer words) regional railroad history ever published in America, with 11,000 copies sold prior to the soft cover edition being published four years ago. We’ll be back with you in just a few days, all!

Stay well and very best wishes for a marvelous, happy and safe New Year.

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