L to R: Cliffie (in the wagon), Billy Liebert, Harold Hensley, Herman “the Hermit,” Ernie Ford, Speedy West, Bucky Tibbs, Les Anderson, Gene O’Quinn, Eddie Kirk. Here are excerpts from Cliffie’s talent show book, ‘You Gotta Be Bad Before You Can Be Good’: “I pursued acting just long enough to realize that I’d never be as good an actor as my cousin, Victor, nor would I make a good living from it. Quite frankly, I really didn’t feel that I had the natural ability to memorize the exact words; it was hard work and it didn’t seem to flow for me as it did when I was adlibbing on my radio shows or when I was emceeing or performing on one of my Saturday night dances in El Monte. But I’m thankful for all the cumulative acting experiences that I’ve had. I realized that all the hours I put in at the Pasadena Playhouse where I learned various aspects of the acting and stage play trade were beneficial to me; it became a part of my stock-and-trade for the rest of my show biz career. All this knowledge was used in understanding the principle elements involved in producing, casting, programming and directing musical variety TV shows such as my 'Hometown Jamboree Show' as well as concerts.”