King of the blurbs

One of his favorite actors was Marlon Brando, whom he interviewed later. Most writers found Brando confounding, but not King. "He called and said, 'Larry, this is Marlon,' and I said, 'Marlon who?' " Brando picked King up in an old white Chevy ("The doorman said, 'I see it, but I don't believe it' ") and they proceeded to drive around Beverly Hills, singing show tunes.

"I love actors," says King. "They're incredibly smart and they all understand human nature. Brando always said, 'Acting is observing. Observing is what I do.' "

Having appeared in 21 movies, from "Ghostbusters" to "Shrek 2," King feels like one of the tribe. Not shy about promoting anything -- when I ask about his wife, he immediately says, "She just recorded a song with Willie Nelson and she's opening for Rickles in Vegas in a few weeks. Let me tell you, she can really sing!" -- King figures this interview might be a good way to tout his own acting potential. "I'm 73, I got a nice voice, I look healthy, I could play a judge, lawyer, crook, politician. I'm tired of just doing cameos."

He says he just finished a small part in "Shrek 3," reprising his role as Doris, an ugly bartender. He lowers his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Here's a hot tip. Doris has a sister this time and it's Regis Philbin!"

Of this year's crop of Oscar films, his favorite was "The Departed." "It was flawless!" he enthused. "Beautifully acted. Scorsese at the top of his game. I didn't want it to end!" He still hasn't seen "The Queen," because for him it feels like deja vu all over again. "I did shows every night on Princess Di when she died," he says. "And we've done so many royalty shows that I guess I'm tired of the subject."

He still can't get over the fact that "All the King's Men," his idea of an Oscar picture, was slammed by critics. "What was wrong with that movie?" he asks. "I don't get it. How could they knock Sean Penn, who is our best film actor today? The girls were great. Geez, they even rapped Anthony Hopkins!"

King complains that critics would rather pan a movie than praise it. "That's what I don't get about 'em," he says. "It's like they don't even want to like the movie. I have a confounding time with a guy like [The Wall Street Journal's] Joe Morgenstern. Sometimes I don't even know what he's looking at." King is still upset that the critics bashed "The Holiday," calling it corny and sentimental. "What -- is sentimental such a bad word?" he says. "If a movie makes you cry, it has to have moved you. I cried in 'Letters From Iwo Jima.' Is that such a bad thing?"