Matthew Jenkin talks to 1950s crooner Buddy Greco about being part of the original Rat Pack and Marilyn Monroe’s last days.

BUDDY Greco may look and sound as smooth as a set of silk jim-jams, but boy did he used to have a temper. “What’s the craziest thing I’ve done?” the Rat Pack survivor purrs. “How about rolling a piano off stage?”

The incident in a club in Houston, Texas, was sparked after a punter near the front of the stage lit a big cigar and refused to put it out.

“I just couldn’t take it after a while,” the 84-year-old explained.

“When I felt they were trying to get the best of me, that little red flag went up and that’s it.

“Everyone has a boiling point.”

Thankfully, his latest tour, visiting The Orchard in Dartford this month, will be smoke free, but the Lady is a Tramp singer says he’s thankful for his short fuse.

The Italian-American raised on the wrong side of Philadelphia said: “I never wanted to be a tough guy but I never wanted people to take advantage of me, which happens quite a bit in the entertainment business.

“I’ve always been smooth headed but there were times when people pushed my buttons and I had quite a temper.

“As I got older, I mellowed out, but I think that fire in my belly kept me going.”

Greco first found fame as a jazz pianist and, at the age of 23, he joined King of Swing Benny Goodman as his band’s pianist, singer and arranger for three years.

However, it was not until the 1960s that he shot to superstardom, running with Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack.

News Shopper: Buddy Greco with Frank Sinatra

Rival, friend and inspiration — Old Blue Eyes was all three of these things, says Greco.

He said: “First of all, he was one of my dearest friends and second of all, he was an incredible inspiration, not just to me but to a lot of the young singers, like myself, who were coming in at the time.

“Frank made it possible for us to make a very good living.”

Greco was one of the pallbearers at Sinatra’s funeral in 1998 and last month also marked the anniversary of the tragic death of his friend Marilyn Monroe, who died on August 5, 1962.

Greco met the movie icon on her last weekend alive when she visited Cal-Neva Lodge in Lake Tahoe five days before she was found dead in her LA home, spending time with him, former lover Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

He said: “That afternoon, she was bubbly and full of vim and vigour.

“We were talking about how we met years ago and then I had to go to rehearsal.

“When she came to the club that evening to see my show she was the total opposite.

“You never knew which Marilyn you were going to see.

“In the space of maybe 12 hours, she went from this wonderful, incredible and beautiful lady to a woman who was kind of shook up.”

While her death remains shrouded in mystery, Greco says he has his own theories — but he’s keeping them close to his chest.

Buddy Greco: Swinging Las Vegas Legends Show. The Orchard, Dartford. September 18. For tickets, call 01322 220000 or visit orchardtheatre.co.uk