ABC/Lorenzo Bevilaqua
(NEW YORK) — In his new book, Cheech Is Not My Real Name…But Don’t Call Me Chong, Cheech Marin details his life before and after meeting his longtime comedy partner, Tommy Chong.
The pair flipped the comedy world on its head with a series of hit records in the early 70s, which they parleyed into movie fame. However, the pressures of the partnership and behind-the-scenes tensions soon frayed the relationship.
Marin went on to star in his own films, as well the long-running TV show Nash Bridges, and movies including The Lion King and Desperado.
But in 2008, the pair reconciled officially and continue to tour.
“I came to the conclusion that we were brothers,” Marin told ABC Radio. “As brothers, you can hate each other, love each other…but you always have each other’s back, because you’re brothers.”
He adds, “We could argue — which I think teams should do. It’s the irritant that creates the pearl, you know?”
Marin continued with a laugh, “The funny thing is, even though all those years of estrangement…we’d go away and be adversarial in the print or on radio to each other — and then come back, ‘Hey, how ya doing? How’s the kids?'”
With ABC’s Dancing with the Stars ramping back Monday, we asked Cheech what he thought of Chong’s performance on the show three years ago.
“He was the oldest guy to make it that far,” Cheech said proudly of Chong’s week-10 elimination.
Even so, Cheech joked, “And you could see him waning every week. Finally, they just sat him in the chair and the dancers danced around him. He couldn’t wait to get off that show.”
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