Steve Guttenberg: How To Make It In Hollywood

Published February 22, 2013 at 10:12 AM EST

"About the third or fourth time [I sneaked into a famous casting director's office], I jumped up on his desk and started dancing. So he said, 'Look. Just sit down. I'll give you five minutes.' And it was like having five minutes with God."

No matter your age, there's probably a Steve Guttenberg movie that was significant to you in some way. Were you a college student in the early 80s? Police Academy probably made you laugh. Spent movie nights with the kids? Bet you rented Three Men and a Baby at the local Blockbuster. A child of the 90s? Zeus and Roxanne.

Steve Guttenberg joined host Ophira Eisenberg on the Ask Me Another stage to share his unlikely tale of Hollywood success, as chronicled in his 2012 memoir, The Guttenberg Bible. As Guttenberg tells it, he arrived in Hollywood as a teenager, sneaked onto the Paramount lot daily by pretending to be the son of then-CEO Michael Eisner, and proceeded to get himself noticed by casting directors. Assisted by equal parts guts, luck and imagination, he went on to star in Diner, Cocoon, Short Circuit and many more.

Sure, Guttenberg has earned a Guinness World Record and danced with the Stars, but we offered him his biggest trial yet: an Ask Me Another Challenge. Aptly titled "Three Men and a Baby," this game required Guttenberg to determine which of three celebrities is the father of some notable babies.

About Steve Guttenberg

"Forget being an actor. You don't have the look, you don't have the talent, and your name is ridiculous. You are the last guy I would ever pick to be a movie star." This was the first piece of advice Guttenberg ever received from an agent. Like many other times in his life, he didn't listen.

Guttenberg went on to star in some of the most successful blockbusters of the 1980s. He lives in New York.

Please enjoy the original 1984 trailer for Police Academy.

This segment originally aired on February 22, 2013.