Out & About KY Style: John Y. and Phyllis

Over my journalistic lifetime I’ve been fortunate to interview hundreds of people for newspaper and magazine stories, as well as books, radio, and yes, even television. Many have been famous celebrities, the majority former sports stars.

Gary West is an author and News Journal columnist.

Among the more memorable is John Y. Brown, Jr.

Most Kentuckians know he is a former governor, the 55th, and they probably know his association with Colonel Harland Sanders and Kentucky Fried Chicken. They might even be aware of his marriage to Phyllis George, a former Miss America.

How John Y. and Phyllis became acquainted is a story that only a few outside of their circle would know.

Brown’s story was just beginning to emerge as he began to involve himself in businesses when he decided the law degree he obtained in 1960 wasn’t enough to keep his attention. He needed action.

While in college and law school he sold vacuum cleaners and encyclopedias, making $25,000 one year. He found time for some campus poker games that gave him a taste of excitement he couldn’t find in a classroom or courtroom.

No one ever accused John Y. of never taking a chance, especially when it came to business.

Already proving he was a salesman, John Y. convinced Jack Massey, a deep pocketed southern-by-birth to lead the way in paying Harland Sanders $2 million dollars in 1964 for KFC. Seven years later Heublein paid $284 million for what was then 3,000 outlets in 48 countries. The money paid is equivalent today to just under $2 billion. John Y’s share of the money was reported to have been $35 million, a good sum of dollars in 1971.

Business wise, Brown had a reputation of keeping several balls in the air at the same time. His ability to juggle things around, more often than not, kept him from becoming bored.

There was Lum’s, a beer and hot dog chain, Ollie’s Trolley, John Y’s Chicken, Kenny Rogers Roast Beef, Miami Subs, Texas Road House and Roadhouse Grill, all eating establishments that John Y. and some of his associates hoped to parlay into the same success he enjoyed with KFC.

He might have lost interest in several of his businesses along the way, but it was a hobby, one he acquired early in life, that he seemed to find time for, and that was a good poker game. With a well-earned reputation as a jet-setting high roller, John Y. Brown was on a first name basis with greeters and doormen at Las Vegas Casinos. His star power, although not quite as bright as some of the entertainers he hung with, was well-known.

“I kicked around with Jimmy the Greek (Snyder) a lot,” Brown recalled. “I loved sports and betting on them. He did some PR work for me, and I helped get Jimmy the TV show.”

The show Brown was referring to was the CBS sports show, “The NFL Today,” that featured Brent Musberger, Irv Cross, Snyder, and the former 1971 Miss America Phyllis George. George’s presence made her one of the first females to have a prominent role in a nationally televised sports show, and she caught the eye of the nation.

She also caught the eye of John Y. Brown, who had recently been divorced from his wife of 17 years, Ellie.

“I saw her on TV and said, ‘she’s someone I’d like to meet,’” he said.

Not just anyone could say, “I want to meet Phyllis George” and do it. But, John Y. could and did.

His connections from being the honorary chairman of the National Democratic Party and along with future NBA Commissioner Larry O’Brien co-chaired the National Democratic Telethon to help get the party out of debt. Brown’s visibility made George well aware of who he was.

“I went to pick her up at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles,” he said.  “I ran into Howard Cosell in the lobby. After talking awhile he said he had not met Phyllis, but would like to do so. So I went up to her room and brought her back down to the hotel’s lounge to meet Howard. For the rest of the evening he talked, and she hung on every word he said. If that wasn’t enough, Warren Beaty came over and joined us. By now I was really overmatched.”

Brown says he was able to save face when a little later he was able to introduce Phyllis to Muhammad Ali.

“She was able to interview him and get a scoop on an up-and-coming match the champ had scheduled,” Brown said.

Apparently, John Y. wasn’t overmatched too much, because in March 1979, the two married.

Some thought it might be a Vegas wedding. After all, Brown was a frequent visitor, and it was both Phyllis and John’s friend, Jimmy the Greek, who had taken credit for the couple’s meeting. Years later John Y. laughed when recalling that he actually received a $100,000 invoice from him for making the introduction.

The two were married by Norman Vincent Peale in New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Among the hundreds in attendance were Walter Cronkite, Milton Berle, Bert Parks, Eunice Shriver, Paul Hornung, and Andy Williams, who sang “Just The Way You Are.” The night before they held their rehearsal dinner at Studio 54.

Six months later he and his new wife embarked on another of John Y’s rainbow treks, the governorship of Kentucky.

It was a campaign sprint.  Not having time to do much fundraising or to drive across Kentucky, John Y. used some of his own millions, and with a former Miss America on his arm, helicoptered from one end of the state to the other.

John Y. and, yes, Phyllis won the Democratic primary and defeated Republican Louie Nunn in the general election. From 1979 to 1983 he served as Kentucky’s 55th governor.

But, in spite of the Super Bowl, everyday life John Y. described, the couple divorced in 1998.

Give John Y. Brown credit:  Any man who can wed Phyllis George, sell the Boston Celtics, an NBA team he owned, and announce he’s running for governor in the same week cannot be underestimated.

There’s no excuse, get up, get out and get going!  Gary P. West can be reached at westgarydeb@gmail.com