Phil - 1977

[Yhtapmys]

EARL WILSON
Phil Harris In Good Health Despite Occasional Libation
[Nov. 22, 1977]
NEW YORK - Phil Harris started lunch with a bloody mary, had three gins with water (''that vermouth kills you") and two coffees with anisette, and laughed as he said, "That's just to get me to the car."
Seventy-three-year-old Phil went to four funerals recently—including Bing Crosby's and Guy Lombardo's—but personally feels fine because, he says, "I just don't let anything worry me." Lunching at Patsy's, he said, "I used to live for every day, now I live for every minute. Alice is very happy."
His wife, Alice Faye, who's in some small movie roles, bought some aprons to play a waitress that cost more than her salary, Phil said. He teased her and she said, "You didn't think I was going to wear what Wardrobe gave me!"
Everything's a laugh at Westbury Music Fair where Phil, who still has all his curly hair, stars with Harry James and the Mills Brothers. The audience shouts for "That's What I Like About the South" and "Watermelon Vine," and Phil, who'd never played a theater-in-the-round, is startled at the standing ovations.
But Phil indicated he won't be working much except for benefits for which he won't be paid. Jack Benny and Bing Crosby felt they had to work just to keep busy. "I walk, I travel, I do a lot of things, I don't feel I have to work all the time," Phil said.
Jack Benny "exaggerated" Phil's drinking prowess, Phil claimed. People got the idea that Phil brushed his teeth with a martini.
"Between smokin' and drinkin', I think smokin' is the more detrimental," Phil said.
"When Bing put down his pipe, I quit cigarettes. I get a lot of exercise. My kidneys are so good, a lot of people would like to swap theirs for mine. Mine ain't complainin', they don't know me."
Phil thought it over. "Do you think we ought to have one more of these?" he said.

[TheSportsmenQuartet]

You gotta love Phil Harris. There will never be another one like him