The Untold Story of How Dennis Prager Got His Start
In this hour‑long Timeless Wisdom episode, Dennis Prager sits down with radio legend George Green to recount how Prager’s radio career began in 1982 at Los Angeles’s KABC. Green describes the moment he met Prager, noting the “fascinating” quality that matched his hiring mantra, and how Prager’s first show – a commercial‑free, two‑hour program featuring a rotating panel of religious leaders – exploded to a 40% market share, an unprecedented rating for a talk‑radio slot. The conversation moves through the evolution of KABC into the nation’s first 24/7 talk‑radio station, the logistical challenges of pre‑recording Friday nights for the Sabbath, and anecdotes about rival host Ray Bream’s opposition to Prager’s expanding hours. Green also reflects on his own career arc: after 38 years at the station, a corporate takeover by Disney/ABC led to a three‑day termination notice, prompting him to launch George Green Enterprises and interview 57 prominent figures about life after fame in his book Out of the Spotlight. Prager promotes the book, discusses the universal theme of moving “out of the spotlight,” and shares listener testimonies about how his show has impacted personal lives. Interspersed throughout are sponsor reads for Life Audio, Angel documentaries, and calls from listeners expressing gratitude and personal struggles. The episode blends personal memoir, radio‑industry history, and philosophical musings on fame, purpose, and resilience.
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Life Audio.
On today's episode of Timeless Wisdom.
In 1982, we were going along very strongly, and Dennis Prager comes into my life. Well, sit down, Dennis, I'd like to talk to you. Well, it didn't take very many minutes for me to discover the one word that I used for my entire career. Of all the people that I ever hired, all of them had one one characteristic that you had so much of, and you still have so much— fascinating. And I found you fascinating within the first 5 minutes that I, that I met you. We chatted, we talked, you went on the air, and that show took off like it was a rocket ship.
That's coming up on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager.
We live in a time where the moment you question the narrative, you're told to stop thinking and start complying. That's why what Angel is doing matters. With eye-opening documentaries like Thank You, Dr. Fauci and RFK: Legacy, Angel is willing to explore the issues others avoid. In a culture shaped by gatekeepers, Angel offers something rare: a platform for truth-seeking storytelling that isn't constrained by fear or conformity. Go to angel.com/prager, join the Angel Guild, and watch these films today.
Welcome to Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. To hear thousands of hours of Dennis's lectures, courses, and classic radio programs, and to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles, go to DennisPrager.com. Hello, my friends.
Welcome to The Dennis Prager Show. A very, very, very different hour awaits you right now, and one that I just have deep, deep feelings with regard to because it's so personal. I owe a man my career in radio, and he is in this studio with me right now. It is an amazing thing to me that I have, I have been in radio for 33 years. It's, it's a— boggles my mind. I remember the first day so well. And the man who first hired me is one of the legends of radio, ran one of the two most successful, if not the most successful, talk station of its time in Los Angeles. And that's, uh, I began with him 33 years ago. He offered me the opportunity at a very young age to host a very, very, very very popular show, which believe it or not was on on Sunday evenings. But let me give you an idea of how popular I— it was. I actually have verified the statistic that I am about to relate to you. I have verified it because it's so unbelievable. In radio, if you get what they call, let's say, a 3 share, that means you have 3% of all listeners to radio in that city You are doing very, very well. A 3 share is, is considered excellent. You never hear of anybody going above a 5 or 6 share. This is the super, super talent, super dominant voice, doesn't it? The show that he enabled me to host, or tried me out on and then gave me the job, had a 40% share, a 40 share. That means about half of every radio that was on in the largest listening area in the country, that is Southern California, was listening to that show. To this day, to this day, folks, people say, I, I hear, oh, Dennis, oh, Religion on the Line, oh God, I love that. Atheists loved it. Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists Everybody, it was just unbelievably popular. I was the moderator. I remember it was popular before I took over. I'm not making any claims to have made it that way. I inherited this very popular show. And it was 2 hours and was commercial-free, so it was really like 3 hours, to be perfectly honest. We had on a rabbi, priest, and minister each week, different ones each week, sent by their respective religious communities. And then at the 5-year mark— I did it exactly 10 years to the, to the week, is very uncanny— and, uh, 2 years, 10 years to the week. And after 5 years, I opened it up to every other religion on Earth, and I had every single one. The only one I remember— I had everybody, I mean I'm telling you, everyone. Buddhist monks. And I, of course, I had LDS people regularly. That's Mormons. I had, uh, I mean, we had, did we had Messianic Jews on. I mean, everybody. The only one was not, there was Jehovah's Witnesses. For some reason, uh, they, we invited them, but it never worked out. But everybody else was, was on the show. My name was brought to, uh, Roberta Weintraub brought this man my name, and I got to give her— I mean, I cannot say thank you to George Green without saying thank you to Roberta Weintraub. The man is here. He's also written a book. He himself, he has 50 interviews, and he asks questions about life. He, George Green, is curious about life. He's had— this is, I think, his third career now. And, uh, it is for me, uh, I get the sort of, uh, not only nostalgia but sort of chills to see you, George Green, because I owe you so much. So welcome to my show.
Oh, good morning, Dennis. Uh, when was the last time that you had a guest on who started off crying?
Oh, he's gonna make me cry.
Well, uh, I'm an emotional guy, and I look back on my career and I look back on people like you and there's tears in my eyes because I'm so proud. So proud of what I did and so proud of the people that I helped create. Creating Dennis Prager was, was one of the great things in my career. When Roberta came to me, she said, George, I've got an interesting man that I'd like you to talk to. His name is Dennis Prager. And I said, "Oh, fine." You know, it was 1982 and I had been there since 1960. I had been the general manager since 1979 and in 1982 we were going along very strongly and Dennis Prager comes into my life. "Well, sit down, Dennis. I'd like to talk to you." Well, it didn't take very many minutes for me to discover the one word that I used for my entire career Of all the people that I ever hired, all of them had one, one characteristic that you had so much of and you still have so much, fascinating. And I found you fascinating within the first 5 minutes that I met you. We chatted, we talked, you went on the air and that show took off like it was a rocket ship. And we never had anything on the air, at that radio station.
Oh, you can say it was KABC.
Well, it was KABC at that time. It certainly was at that time, but—
It's a different station.
Nevertheless, nevertheless, the program took off and I said, I've got a gem here. I've got something that's really very valuable. And I think, well, you did the show for 10 years, but I think it was 3 years later or 2 or 3 years later that I moved you into the nighttime show and then we went on up into the daytime show where you, you were forever. And then after that, you went on into syndication. But, uh, your career has been unbelievable. I see the accomplishments, I see the books, uh, Religion on the Line. Guess what I have in front of me? I have all the cassettes of everything you've ever done. What else do I have in front of me? The Dennis Prager book with a wonderful little—
from when? What was the date on it?
January 19th, '96, for George. With great gratitude for enabling me to bring these values— how important is that word values in your life?— and ideas to so many people for 14 years. All my best wishes, Dennis Prager. So you're a great deal, very important in my life, and you always will be.
Well, I'm very touched, obviously. Somebody's got to give you a start. You— I remember exactly, and tell me if you remember this, I remember exactly what you were looking for. I, as I understood it, you said to Roberta Weintraub, who was then the head of the Los Angeles Board of Education, you said, Roberta, do you know somebody who might be able to host this show? And she said, well, what do you need? And you said, he, he or she has to— because it was a she I replaced. He or she has to speak well, has to know religion, but not be a clergyman. So she said, yeah, is that right? Do you remember that?
That's right.
So I apparently— so I filled the bill. Now, folks, I just have to tell you, because I've never, I've never talked about this and reminisced about this. This is perfect to have George Green here to do this. So I was, I, I was moderating the show. Now remember, again, I told you there were no commercials. So there was no break in which to talk. And your program director, Wally Sherwin, was sitting next to me because I didn't know how to press buttons. I couldn't do anything. All I could do was talk. So he would press the buttons, take calls, get rid of the calls, and all of this stuff. It looked to me like, you know, some complex science. And at 11 o'clock— it was 10 to midnight— at 11 o'clock, he slipped me a note, and I regret terribly that I didn't keep it. Tell them you'll be on next week. And it's probably the most important note I ever received. That's how it happened. I don't even know if you know this.
Well, I don't remember the note, but, but—
well, you couldn't.
Yeah, I'm saying, yeah, he, uh, he wrote the note, and I'm, I'm glad to be here with you.
I was sweating so much, George, that I was dripping onto the microphone, and I remember thinking, will anybody think I'm broadcasting outdoors in a slight rain? It was a silly thought. But I remember thinking that as the drops came on the microphone. All right, we'll be back reminiscing. If you have questions about how the career of this radio person you're listening to began, you're certainly welcome to speak to George Green, who is a legend in radio, and rightly so. He has a book out, and it is Out of the Spotlight: Over 50 Interviews with Famous Successful People Who Enjoy Their Lives as they move from one spotlight into another. It's fascinating reading, to use your term, fascinating. We'll be back in a moment. You are listening to The Dennis Prager Show, 1-800-PRAGER-776.
This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.
We live in a time where the moment you question the narrative, you're told to stop thinking and start complying. That's why what Angel is doing matters. With eye-opening documentaries like Thank You, Dr. Fauci, and RFK: Legacy. Angel is willing to explore the issues others avoid. In a culture shaped by gatekeepers, Angel offers something rare: a platform for truth-seeking storytelling that isn't constrained by fear or conformity. Go to angel.com/prager, join the Angel Guild, and watch these films today.
Now back to more of Dennis Prager's Timeless Wisdom.
Hello, my friends, and welcome back, or welcome to my show. I'm Dennis Prager, and this is a rare hour, unique actually, and it is very personal. My origins in radio, which I, I don't speak about because it just doesn't come up, but the man who made it possible, the first man to hire me picked me out of nowhere, as it were, is a radio legend, George Green, who's really one of the fathers of talk radio as we know it. And it's as simple as that. He was general manager of the ABC station in LA with which I began my career. And I remember I explained the last, last hour how that happened and what show I began with. I remember, George, when I brought my parents to meet you. I'll never forget this. And the— it was— I even remember the old building. And you said to them, your son is going to be a star. And of course my mother went nuts. I will, I will say my mother loved stars. So the thought that their son—
she didn't say, why wasn't he a doctor?
Yeah.
She did until you, actually until you she did, Lambert. My brother was the— talk about in the spotlight, my brother had been in the spotlight. You know, you can't really compete with a guy who goes to Harvard Medical School. There's nothing left, you know, heaven. But anyway, I'll never forget, and you were so gracious to them, and they didn't blink as they walked through the radio station and saw, you know, what it was like. It was very, very touching to me. I didn't think of myself, and still don't, as a star, but I obviously understood what you meant, and I'll never forget their being with you. You don't remember their visit by any chance, do you? There would be no reason that you would.
No, I don't remember, but what I should have added, if I had to add now, I would have said superstar.
Oh, oh, well, okay.
Which you are. Now come on, I know you're modest, but let me tell you, there are very, very few people people at your level who have done as well and have consistently stayed the line has changed so many people's lives and their thinking, their thinking about the moral way of living a good life and a clean life and an honest life. My goodness, I just, I wish that word could be communicated to not 3 million people, to maybe 100 million people.
Well, that's true, that, that, that I do. I, I think much more about those I don't touch because the, the, this, the, the task is so great today because I worry about America terribly, to be honest. I, I, I do. I go to sleep and wake up thinking about it. I sleep well, I sleep fast, but I, I worry about my country a great deal. So, uh, I went, folks, from this show, uh, George After a couple of years, as he mentioned, said to me, you know, Dennis, you might consider doing an hour of your own without guests. And I remember thinking, me? An hour? Wow, it was such a compliment. Now that show was on 10 to midnight, and with this gigantic audience, I might add. You know how many people, folks, would say to me, you know, Dennis, including women— women, this was like a running joke. Every woman who said it didn't know that it was said by others, but You know, my husband doesn't know this, but I go to sleep with you every Sunday night.
I don't want to interrupt you, but—
No, no, please. Absolutely.
One very, very important point that you just brought up. I gave you a nighttime show Monday through Friday, but you would not do Friday night.
That's right.
Because it was a Shabbos.
Because of the Sabbath.
And because of the Sabbath, so you prerecorded Friday night, and I allowed that to happen, and it worked out well.
I was very grateful to you. You for that. But, uh, but ultimately, uh, we went to— that's right. Oh yeah, that's right. You're right. I was on 9 to Midnight. That's the first weekday show that I got, and I, and I didn't do it on Friday. That's right. Thank you for that, and thank you for everything, of course. But, uh, anyway, so you said, all right, try this. It was very funny what happened. So then I succeeded from 9 to 10, and then you said, man, let's get another hour in. So then I would go 8 to 10 and then 10 to 12. Then you said, it's really going well, Dennis, how about a third hour? I said, George, I'll be on 5 hours. So you said basically, so what? And so I was then on 7 to 12. Then you said, what about Saturday night? You know, after sunset. So I said, okay. So then I went on 9 to 12. George, I remember saying on the air, I said, folks, I actually feel bad for those of you who don't like me, because if you turn the radio on on Saturday night or Sunday night, I'm all you get.
Yeah, but you see, you see what you didn't know, Dennis, is the personality who followed you, Ray Bream, came into my office and said, if you dare give, uh, Dennis Prager my hours, I'm going to kill you. Oh, that's funny. Oh, I didn't, I didn't know that. But, uh, Mr., Mr. Bream was doing extremely well figured you couldn't do 8 hours in a row.
No, I want to tell you, let me say though, now that you mentioned Ray Bream, I first, I adored Ray Bream, another legend in radio. He was on Midnight to 5 o'clock. Folks, I have to tell you, this is the way it was. This is prior to the internet. I would be doing the show till then on weeknights. He didn't do weekends, so he, he was your star overnight. So I would do the show Monday to Thursday, pre-record Friday at 9 to midnight. So he would walk into the studio around 10, 10:30, but he wouldn't come in alone. He, uh, he did come in alone in terms of people, but he came in with gigantic, uh, what, file cabinets, gigantic metal. He would roll them in. You have to understand, folks, the file cabinets were as large as he was. And he was a large man. So he would roll these things into the studio because he didn't— we didn't have an internet to look up information. He brought his world of information into— did you know that about a file cabinet? No, because you wouldn't be there. Why you— why would you be there?
I would only show up once in a while to show him that a manager was still alive. Yeah, and I'd walk in the middle of the night. He said, look, what are you doing here?
Yeah, right. Okay, so I'm giving you a story then that you didn't even know about the about this. It was so funny to watch him, and I, and I love— and you know what I said to him? I'll never forget this. And he was always so good to me. I said, Ray, when I got the Daily Job, I said, Ray, am I gonna have enough things to talk about 3 hours a day? And he cracked up. The guy had 5 hours a day and didn't have enough time. He said, Dennis, I promise you, this is not an issue. God, was he right, because I so lament all the time we didn't have more time. Let me just tell you folks that there is a— now, is the book available on Amazon?
It's available by going to georgegreen.net.
georgegreen.net.
And that'll take you— you push a button and you'll see Out of the Spotlight, right, with the most fascinating—
and do we have a link at our— and we have a link at dennisprager.com straight to you. Okay, so it's really worth getting. You'll, you'll really love it. I'm happy to recommend it to you. Uh, what is it, over 50 people that you've interviewed? And, and what is it like to lose the spotlight? Because that's true for everybody, folks, whatever your work.
Uh, I was given 3 days notice after 38 years.
Oh, we're going to talk about that. Oh, that's a story. Back in a moment with George Green. I'm Dennis Prager.
This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.
We live in a time where the moment you question the narrative, you're told to stop thinking and start complying. That's why what Angel is doing matters. With eye-opening documentaries like Thank You, Dr. Fauci and RFK: Legacy, Angel is willing to explore the issues others avoid. In a culture shaped by gatekeepers, Angel offers something rare: a platform for truth-seeking storytelling that isn't constrained by fear or conformity. Go to angel.com/prager, join the Angel Guild, and watch these films today.
Now back to more of Dennis Prager's Timeless Wisdom.
That theme that you hear in the background is the first theme of my radio show. It's from Handel. The great classical composer who composed The Messiah, his most famous piece. This piece became so popular in Los Angeles, which I think my, my guest will find fascinating, that we had so many listeners at the time that Tower Records, the giant record company that no longer exists— Tower Records, which had a giant sign up, 'As featured on Dennis Prager Show, Handel's Concerto a Due Cori No. 2.' Most people didn't hear of Handel, let alone Concerto a Due Chori No. 2. But they sold out. I mean, at Tower Records, because it's such a beautiful piece. And with classical music, the way it works is the more you hear it, the more you love it. And they would hear this piece every day, every hour actually, that I began— that I would begin the show. I began, thanks to this man, the general manager of what was then a profoundly successful station. It is not so today for very sad reasons that have to do with actually the owners who became incompetent and did a terrible thing. But it's a separate story. George Green is the legend here. He was the general manager. Was your station in LA the first 24-hour talk station?
Yes, it was.
1960. So not even WABC in New York at the time?
No. As a matter of fact, the general manager of WABC came out to Los Angeles. His name was Ben Hoberman, and he told the sales staff— I was there from 1959— but in 1960, he says, uh, we're gonna take a little leaf from the success of WOR in New York and KMOX, a little talk there. We're going to go all talk. And all of us looked up and said, what is that? Said, well, you'll see.
So you said no music?
No music, I said. How could you sell a radio station without any music? And we went out on the street and said, here's what we have. We have this talk station. And we had to explain what it was. And the first indication that we had that we had something was that the advertisers that we were selling $1 or $5 or $10 spots per, they were getting results and said, what is happening here? And we found out that the people who listen to talk radio listen because they want to hear what's being said. And there was a lot of difference between hearing and listening. You could stand up on top of the building and saying Coca-Cola, but nobody, they can hear the sound, But listening is different than digesting the message, which is why this radio station and you and the talk personalities all over America do so well getting results because people listen to hear information and entertainment, and that's the key behind talk radio.
Yep, and nobody would know that as well or better, certainly not better than you. And this, uh, this, this was the, uh, the man. I was so nervous, George, when, when I met you first, because you— I knew you as a legend, and here I was, a kid in his early 30s, and, you know, I'm gonna get a show out of nowhere. You know, it's not like I had— oh well, you know, this kid Prager, yeah, he's had this, uh, night show in Idaho, and I'm going to listen to some tapes. That was the day of those were the days of tapes and you know we'll try him out. I had never done radio. Why did you gamble on me?
Well because you know when you manage a radio station or manage a business you know you can't think forever about things. You have to have certain ideals and I heard you and I realized that you were fascinating and I understood that you had a message to to tell. And our listeners, as same listeners you have listening here to the Salem Network, uh, and KRLA here in Los Angeles, these listeners are more intelligent, they're brighter, they're a little older, and, and they understand the world. And that's why, um, that's why I hired you, because I felt there's a message people are going to like to hear.
Wow.
Well, the other is you said ideals, and I thank you for that, but I will also say you had an instinct. I mean, that's— that's— people who have gifts have instincts, and you go and you, you, you led by it. George Green has a book out, by the way, I'm very happy to promote, Out of the Spotlight. I'll talk about it in a moment.
Hi, Dennis, um, I am from Fort Worth, Texas, and I've listened to you for decades. I have your books on the Torah, um, and I I miss you dearly and I pray for you often, and I love hearing your timeless wisdom because it makes me— it fills the void from you not being on the radio regularly anymore. But I do want you to know that I'm praying for you and I hope you, um, are well. Thank you. Bye-bye.
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Hi everybody, this hour is too short an hour for me because it so touches me. And my guest said he had, he had tears in his eyes when we began speaking. He's the man who brought me, hired me to radio, and the rest is, you know, they say history. And he just took, I don't know how much of a gamble, but I had no background in radio and he put me on an important show and kept increasing my hours. Oh, and by the way, I didn't know George Green, the legend of talk radio. Started the first 24/7 talk radio in the United States, and it just obviously took off. But you kept saying to me, Dennis, you're really successful on the weekend shows. We'd like to give you a weekday show. And I said, I can't believe this, but I thought I had the ideal life. During the week I would write and go around the country lecturing, totally free man. And during the weekends at night, when I'm at my best, I love night, night anything, I'm a night person, I had the radio show. And to me, this was heaven. So what, I'm going to now be beholden every day to a job to go in? And you said, Dennis, do you not understand? That's where talk radio is, weekdays as much. And you had a huge audience weekends, but it's weekdays. And it didn't work. And finally, you basically said I'm an idiot.
Yeah.
You don't— and you never did. You were always so, you know, polite and classy, but everybody would say, Dennis, will you please say yes to George Prager? And of course I did. And finally, finally though, it would— took years, and then it did take off, and I've loved it, and I— it gives me a forum for my ideas and values. What else can I ask for? He has this book Out of the Spotlight, and it's a series of interviews with 57 people. Is that right? Yes, and various stages of fame, but it doesn't matter if you heard of them or not because their insights into life that are precious. Among the Themes, because that is the title of his book, Among the Themes is what happens when you are out of the spotlight. And it is very hard for a lot of people, especially those who crave spotlight. It's like you've taken away their air.
You take away your identification.
Yeah, your identity.
And that, that, that is what happened to me after 38 years. The Walt Disney Company bought, bought the company, bought ABC, bought ABC, Capital Cities ABC, right? And they decided to make some changes at the top, and we were doing extremely well. We were 1, 2, or 3 for 25 years or more. And I won't mention the name of the man. He said, let's have breakfast. By the way, ladies and gentlemen, don't ever have breakfast with your boss if you want to have a loan. So we had breakfast and he said, how long you been with the company? And I said, well, 37 going on 38 years. He said, well, we want to make a change, and this is on a Friday, Thursday, and he said, and your replacement is coming in on Monday. And I said, "What?" I'll never forget that. I'm going to be 65 years old. What do you mean? And he looked at me strangely like, "65?" Make a long story short, I was given 3 days' notice and I turned the radio station over to a successor who began to destroy the radio station, but that's another story. But I was thrown out and found myself in the dark and found myself, and I just wanted to be George Green. I didn't want to be introduced as George Green, oh, he's George Green, the manager, blah, blah, blah. I just wanted to be George Green. And so I didn't have a place to go and I was going to, I felt revenge, I was angry. And my wife, my late wife, said, well, you know, I know what you want to do. And I said, yes, I'm going to open up a big suite of offices and I'm going to hire my old secretary and I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, She said, "Why don't you take that little office off in the corner and start a little company of your own, and if you like it, you can expand then." Well, I never left my house. I started George Green Enterprises. I started hiring talent— not hiring, I went to my old talent, including you, managing you and managing Michael Jackson and managing Ken Minyuk and managing Leon Kaplan and so many others. And I was in a talent management business and a year later I said, you know what, there's so many other people that are out of the spotlight that they're— because of consolidation and because they just fired, I wonder what they're doing. And there's two different ways, two things happen in your life. If somebody says you're gone, now you've got a problem, an emotional problem, or somebody says I'm going to retire. Byron Allenbaugh, who I introduced, who I interviewed, one of 57 people, head of Ralph's Grocery Company. He knew at 65 you gotta retire. Pat Boone, Abbie Lane, Art Linkletter, so many people that are, you know, so many—
whether you heard them or not, it's just fascinating what happened. And everybody has to confront this at a certain point out of the spotlight. But I will say what Disney did to ABC, I'm allowed to say it. What Disney did when it took over ABC Radio was, was terrible. Simply terrible. Back in a moment.
This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.
We live in a time where the moment you question the narrative, you're told to stop thinking and start complying. That's why what Angel is doing matters. With eye-opening documentaries like Thank You, Dr. Fauci and RFK: Legacy Angel is willing to explore the issues others avoid. In a culture shaped by gatekeepers, Angel offers something rare: a platform for truth-seeking storytelling that isn't constrained by fear or conformity. Go to angel.com/prager, join the Angel Guild, and watch these films today.
Now back to more of Dennis Prager's Timeless Wisdom.
Hi everybody, Dennis Prager here, and it pains me to say it's the final segment of this hour because this is so touching to me. He, he's a remarkable person, and he, he's a legend in talk radio. He started the first 24/7 talk radio station. It was an unbelievable success. I was there in the heyday as a kid, basically. He gambled on me. Worked out, thank God. And he has a book of, uh, of interviews with people. He also has children's books out. They're all at georggreen.net. You can go link at dennisprager.com or just go for Out of the Spotlight, the book, at Amazon. I mean, any there, but it's worth your while. He's very human, and he got to talk to people who were in the spotlight big time and then out of the spotlight. But that's true for everybody. Everybody is in the spotlight and then out of the spotlight. That is the nature of life. And you don't think it, which is the point here of Estelle Getty's great line to you. You, when you're a success, you don't think it'll end. So you spend all your money, you let others handle all your money, and then you end up with no money. How— don't you ever wonder, how did these great stars or great athletes who had tens of millions of dollars. How do they go bankrupt at 40? George?
Well, I asked all 57 people about their advice, and Estelle Getty, who was a superstar with Golden Girls, and I said, what advice would you give to others to win that spotlight when they start dimming? What should they do? And she said, you can't become seduced by this. You go into this business having made a normal living, and then all of a sudden you're making $50,000 a week which is a ridiculous sum of money. Depend on no one for your sustenance. Don't turn your life over to anyone who can ruin it. Depend upon yourself because in the final analysis, that's all you've got.
Alright, we'll leave the quote there because of the time, but that's why you need to— you do, you should read this. Out of the Spotlight, George Green. 3 ways to access it. I have so many calls and it kills me because People would love to speak to you. Jim in California wants, what would my career be if I hadn't gotten into radio? I often, I would have continued speaking and writing, I guess. What, maybe, maybe I'd have gone into politics, but I doubt it because you have to, you have to have a fortune or a huge name. I don't know. Anyway, Dave, Duncan, Russ, Steve, thank you for your calls. Tony called to say he met you and what a humble man you are. You are. You're a wonderful man, George, and let me say to my many listeners, thank you from the bottom of my heart for making my career possible.
Well, thank you from the bottom of my heart for being part of my life.
God bless you, sir. We will continue. You are listening to The Dennis Prager Show.
Tomorrow on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager.
Arnie in Clearwater, Florida. Hi, Arnie. Dennis Prager.
Hi, Dennis Prager. I suffered for years from moodiness, which led to depression, which led to ruining my career. And after open heart surgery, I started listening to you by— quite by accident, because I couldn't do anything else but listen to the radio. And I determined to fight moodiness. I could not agree with you more. You fighting feelings is not like being in the ocean. It's a battle. And I, I don't want to stroke you, but I'm telling you, I don't agree with all your political points of view, but you saved my life. I fought moodiness by getting up in the morning, putting on a pair of swim trunks and getting back to swimming. I swam in college for New York University, and at 66, I have more friends, male and female, than I ever had in my life. I have people calling me, Arnie, let's go here, let's go there. And Dennis, it's a battle. I'm up in the morning. I don't know why it attacked me, but it still does. But I put those swim trunks on, I put my sneakers on, and I say, the hell with you. You're not taking over my life.
Join us tomorrow to hear more on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Visit DennisPrager.com for thousands of hours of Dennis's lectures, courses, and classic radio programs, and to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles. We want to take just a second to thank the team at Life Audio for their partnership with us on the podcast. Go to LifeAudio.com to find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts in their network, including shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more.
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