Birthday: Dec. 9, 1942.
Birthplace: Chicago.
Occupation: Actor.
Current home: Malibu, Calif.
Marital status: Married to Helen Butkus since 1963.
Children: Nicole 33, Ricky, 32,
and Matthew, 28.
Working on: I’m in “Any Given Sunday” with Al Pacino and in “Hang Time” on NBC-TV.
The last good movie I saw: “Music of the Heart.”
Favorite meal: My mother’s pirogies.
Favorite performer: Elvis.
Prized possession: My (Pro Football) Hall of Fame ring.
Personal hero: My wife. She’s my best friend and she understands me.
Nobody knows I’m: A very sensitive person.
I’m better than anyone else when it comes to: Practical jokes.
If I could do it over: I wouldn’t change a thing, because when things didn’t go the way I wanted, they turned out better. I wanted to be a football coach, but I had problems with the Bears and that opened the gate to my acting career. And maybe I wouldn’t have been a very good coach.
I’d give anything to meet: I would have said the pope, but I met him in 1979. He was very charismatic and full of energy.
My fantasy is: I’ve had this idea for a TV series for 25 years and it finally gets done and it skyrockets in the ratings and nobody can believe how funny it is. I go to the Emmy Awards, and there are people there like Steven Spielberg–and the kid from the South Side wins.
The one thing I can’t stand: Phonies.
My most irrational act: It was probably something involving the press when they asked me stupid questions during my playing days.
Most humbling experience: Singing in front of a full house at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and forgetting the words to “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World.”
The three words that best describe me: Honest, real and funny.
