Cont.

BILL v. JOE NAMATH
C.C. & Co.

Bill:  I had more fun on that movie than anything else I've ever done.  Joe was terrific.  He was the nicest guy in the world.  He was actually a real strong guy.  He weighed about 240.  Of course, they wouldn't let him ride the motorcycles because of his football contract.  A lot of the players hung around the set.  One time Joe threw me a 70 yard pass.  No harder than that; he just went like that [making an effortless throwing gesture].
Q:  But did you catch it?
Bill:  Of course.  There's Sid Haig (pointing).  A sweet, sweet human being.  He's Egyptian.  He's played a lot of Arab villains..  He works a lot.  He did a Laredo with us [Last of the Caesars] and a Bond movie.  [Diamonds are Forever].  That's Bruce Glover.[pointing].  He hit a cow when we were filming a scene.
Q:  With his fist?
Bill:  No, with his motorcycle.  Tore a chunk of flesh off his leg.  Joe Namath threw this big party for all of us.  Hal Needham [world famous stuntman] brought this huge sign for Bruce Glover.  "Watch for Cows"

Bill with Sid Haig

Bruce Glover

Q:  How about the women in the film?

Ann-Margret

The Biker Chicks

Having a good time.

Bill:  I've said many times that Ann-Margret was one of the nicest people I've ever worked with.  And  that girl there [pointing to picture of biker chick in hat] was crazy.  She was out of her mind.  Good out of her mind.  They were all having a great time.  The girl who played my girlfriend [Jennifer Billingsley the blonde in the middle pic]] also came down and did Stoker with me.
Q:  You mean Hollywood Man?   The movie the gangsters took over.
Bill:  Yeah, it became Hollywood Man.
Q:  We heard about that.  How did you lose control of it?
Bill:  We [Ray Girardin & Bill] wrote a movie called Stoker about making a biker movie and being attacked by a bunch of real outlaw bikers.  That's what it started out as.  One of the actors had family "connections" who helped finance the movie.  They changed the whole plot into a movie about gangsters taking over a movie about bikers.
Q:  And they killed you off even though you were the hero for once.
Bill:  And one of the idiots who killed us in that final scene was playing around with the prop gun.  He thought it was funny to shoot the blanks off right by my ear.  I still have problems hearing in that ear.
Q:   Sounds like an all-around lousy experience.
Bill:  I guess it was worse for the guy who financed it.  He ended up in prison.  Not because of anything to do with our movie though I don't think.

[Back to the C.C. & Co. at the beginning of the fight scene with Joe Namath]
Bill:  That guy there almost beat me up.  He was a kicker for the New York Jets.  Go back a little bit.  [rewind]  Watch how I push him.  He hated that, man.  He couldn't believe how strong I was with one hand.

Bill:  That was a good fight.  We didn't use any doubles.
Q:  That's a surprise.  The Jets wouldn't let him race the bike, why did they let him do a fight with you?
Bill:  It was well planned out.  I've only hurt guys twice in fight scenes.  One was Rod Taylor [In Darker Than Amber] but he broke my ribs first.  The other was on Laredo.  A great big guy, a wrestler, usually played bad guys.  Mike Mazurki.  If you saw him, you'd know him.  I broke his nose in a fight.
The big guy is the recognizable Mike Mazurki
in the Laredo episode "Pride of the Rangers" Q:  You said C.C. was the third and last  time you were doubled on a motorcycle.
Bill:   Yeah.  When I died in that motorcycle race, Hal Needham doubled me going over the car.   The one where we crashed against the wall near the beginning of the race was me and Paul Myers [Namath's stunt double].  And that wasn't planned.   Worked out good though [grin].