[REPORTER]
About four days ago, a plane landed at Idlewild Airport. The plane came from the Middle East bearing a man who claims to be 2,000 years old. He's spent the last six days at the Mayo Clinic. Sir? Is it true that you are 2,000 years old?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Oh boy!.....Oh.. Yes...

[REPORTER]
You are 2- It's hard to believe, sir, because in the history of man nobody's ever lived more than 167 years as a man from Peru claimed to be. But you claim to be 2,000.

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Yes, I'll be- not yet- I'll be 2,000 October 16th. Yes.

[REPORTER]
You'll be two-thou-whеn, when were you born?-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
-Wе didn't have formal years and names and, and writing. We didn't know.

[REPORTER]
I see, and-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
-Nobody kept time then. See, we didn't know, we didn't write, we just sat around, we point at the sky and we said "Whoa! Hot! Ooh!" Ya know?

[REPORTER]
That's all they said?
[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
We didn't even know it was the sun, we thought that....

[REPORTER]
You mean you really didn't know anything?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
We didn't know anything! We were so dumb and stupid!-

[REPORTER]
Sir,-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
-We didn't even know who was a lady.

[REPORTER]
But they were-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
(unintelligible) They was with us, but we didn't know who they were! We didn't know who was ladies and who was fellas.

[REPORTER]
You thought it was just a different type of fella

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Yes, they're stronger or smaller or you're softer. The softer ones I think were ladies all the time.
[REPORTER]
But, what, how did you find out about-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
-A cute, a cute fat guy with you could mistake (unintelligible). Soft and cute

[REPORTER]
Who was the person that discovered the female?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Bernie.

[REPORTER]
Who was Bernie?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Bernie was one of the leaders of our group.

[REPORTER]
And he discovered the female?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Yes.

[REPORTER]
How did that happen.
[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
He said "Hey, there's, there's ladies here!"

[REPORTER]
I'm very interested to find out how Bernie discovered the woman.

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Well, he-

[REPORTER]
How did it come to pass?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
He, wha, one morning, he got up smiling. Well, he said "I think there's ladies here." So I said 'Whaddaya mean, huh?" So he said "'Cause in the night, I was thrilled and delighted." See? So then he went into such a story that......it's hundreds of years later, I still blush!

[REPORTER]
Sir, could you give us the secret to your longevity?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Well, the major thing, the major thing is that I never ever touch fried food.-

[REPORTER]
Uh,uh-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
-I don't eat it, I wouldn't look at it, and I don't touch it. And, and, eh, uh, never run for a bus, there'll always be another, Even if you're late for work, you know. I never run for a bus, I never ran, I just strolled jaunty jolly, walking to the (unintelligible)

[REPORTER]
But there were no buses in the time of-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
No, in my, in my time, we had, eh-

[REPORTER]
What was the means of transportation then?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Mostly fear.

[REPORTER]
Fear transported you?!

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Fear, yes. You see, an animal would growl, you will go two miles in a minute.

[REPORTER]
But I suppose you would-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Fear would be the main propulsion.

[REPORTER]
Yes, but most people are interested in living a long and fruitful life as you have

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Yes, fruit is good too now that you mentioned fruit. Fruit kept me going for 140 years, my child. I was on a very strict diet, mainly nectarines. Love that fruit! It's a half-a-peach, half-a-plum, such a helluva fruit. Not too cold, not too hot, you know? Just nice.

[REPORTER]
What is the-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Even a rotten one is good, that's how much I love 'em. I'd rather eat a rotten nectarine than a fine plum, what do you think of that?

[REPORTER]
I can understand that.

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
That's how much I love them.

[REPORTER]
Yes, sir?-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
-Some good things-

[REPORTER]
Sir, what did you do for a living?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Well, many years ago-thousands of years ago-there was no heavy industry.

[REPORTER]
We know that.

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
The most things we manufactured or we made, the most things we ever made was, uh, we take a piece of wood, see? And rub it and rub it and clean it and look at it and hit earth with it. And hit a tree with it.

[REPORTER]
For what purpose?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Just to keep busy, there was nothing *laughs* There was absolutely nothing to do! We had no job.

[REPORTER]
What other jobs were there? There must've been something else besides hitting a tree with a-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Nope.

[REPORTER]
-piece of stick.

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
That-Hitting a tree with a piece of stick was pretty good job. You couldn't get that job, you know? Mainly it was sitting and looking at the sky was a big job, and another job was watching each other was one thing. That was life like looking each other.

[REPORTER]
And what language did you speak at that age?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
They spoke, uh, Rock. Basic Rock

[REPORTER]
Basic Rock. That was before Hebrew

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Yeah, it was. It was 200 years before Hebrew was the Rock language or Rock talk.

[REPORTER]
Can you give us an example-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Yes.

[REPORTER]
-of that?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
""Hey you, don't throw that rock at me!" "Hey you, what are you doing with the rock over there? I'll call a policeman, for god's sake."

[REPORTER]
Do you remember, do you remember your Hebrew, sir?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Yes, I-I-I remember fluently-

[REPORTER]
Because I understand the modern Hebrew is different from the-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Yes a difference in some of the phonetic alliterations and patterns. Yes, yes-

[REPORTER]
Can we hear an example of the ancient Hebrew?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Uh, the ancient Hebrew is, uh, "Oh, hi there. Hello. Hello there, how are you? I'm alright, I tell you."

[REPORTER]
That's English.

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Oh wait, wait. Uh.

[REPORTER]
Do you remember any Hebrew?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Very little I think. I don't think I remember it. I think I must've forgotten a great deal of it.

[REPORTER]
I think you forgot it all, sir

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Maybe all, yes. Maybe all.

[REPORTER]
Yes

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Thousands of years since I needed it.

[REPORTER]
Now sir, did you ever have any formal job as we know it today?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Well, I was a manufacturer, I was an owner.

[REPORTER]
What kind of a factory did you have?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
I had a, uh, I used to make the Star of David, the Jewish stars, I was one of the first ones to makd

(overlapping)

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
As soon as religion came in, I was one of the first in that.

(overlapping)

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
I figured this is a good thing-

[REPORTER]
Yes, and how did you make them? Did you have tools?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Well, we didn't have lathes. I employed six men, see? One for each point. And they used to run together and li backboard. And at great speeds they would fuse.

[REPORTER]
Thus making a star.

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Yes. We would make two a day because of the many accidents. You have six men running at high speeds, of course!

[REPORTER]
You never thought of going into anything else.

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
No. I had an offer once.

[REPORTER]
What was that?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
A fella came to me; Simon.

[REPORTER]
What did Simon ask you to do?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
He said "We have a new thing. A new item. A winner. Looks like a winning item that's gonna be a big seller. It's called a cross." And, uh, I looked at it and I turned it over and I looked in all sides of it, and I said,"Uh, it's simple. It's too simple." I didn't know that it was eloquent.

[REPORTER]
You mean you didn't-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
No. I didn't know it be such a hit.

[REPORTER]
You turned him down.

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
And I said "I'm sorry, but I'm too busy." See, I could've, I could've fired four men, two men run together, bang! You got a cross. See, I could've saved-I would've had over $100 today. I mean, crosses. They're everywhere.

[REPORTER]
By the way, sir, are you married?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
I've been married several hundred times.

[REPORTER]
Several hundred times?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Yes, yes.

[REPORTER]
You have been ma- Do you remember any of your wives?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
One I remember well.

[REPORTER]
Which one was that?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
The third one; Shirley. Oh, I remember her-

[REPORTER]
I'm afraid to ask this next question, you have many hundreds of wives?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Hundreds and hundreds of wives?

[REPORTER]
How many children do you have?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
I have over 42,000 children. And not one comes to visit me. (dialogue drowned by laughter) Yes. You bet. How they forget their father. Sure. That's how it is.

[REPORTER]
That's awful, sir. That's really- you mean to say there isn't one daughter who-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Many daughters but, but, you know how they are. Good luck to them, let them go. I don't want- Listen, let 'em be happy. As long as they're happy I don't care. But they could send a note and write "Hiya, Pop." "How ya doin', Pop", ya know? Something. No, they don't

[REPORTER]
Sir, you must've known some great men in your time. You did travel throughout the-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
I knew the great and the near-great.

[REPORTER]
Can I ask you about some of these?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Certainly, I'll tell you the true.. I'll tell you the true "Whether-I-knew-or-not."

[REPORTER]
For instance-for instance, people are very interested in somebody like Joan of Arc. A lot has been written about her, we read a lot a-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Ah, what a cutie. Joan,

[REPORTER]
You knew Joan of Arc?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
I went with her, dummy! I went with her.

[REPORTER]
Nowhere in history do we know of Joan going with anybody.

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Well, they don't print that!

[REPORTER]
You didn't marry her.

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
No, no, I didn't marry her because she was on a mission. She used to say to me-She used to say to me "I gotta go save France." I used to say "Look, I gotta wash up. You save France. See ya later. After you save France, I'll wash up."

[REPORTER]
How did you feel-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Hurry, hurry, me and Murray

[REPORTER]
How did you feel about her being burned to the stake?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Terrible. Terrible. See I didn't- I didn't know.

[REPORTER]
Sir, how about some of the legendary characters who supposedly might've existed? For instance, Robin Hood. Did he exist?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Oh yeah, lovely man. Ran around the forest.

[REPORTER]
Did he really steal from the rich and give to the poor?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
No, he didn't.

[REPORTER]
He didn't

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
He stole from everybody and kept everything.

[REPORTER]
Well, how did legend-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
How did legends

[REPORTER]
How did legend spring up that he was-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
He had a fella, Marty. Marty the press agent ran in all the papers and wrote in scrolls. He took the legend that he gave to the poor. Who knew? Who knew? He gave you such a knock in the head when he robbed you (unintelligible)

[REPORTER]
In other words,-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
He was a tough guy.

[REPORTER]
I hate to see our legendary figures smashed like this

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Well, I hate to smash 'em for ya.

[REPORTER]
Yes, did you-you lived so long, did you have an accident in all this time?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
An accent? Oh yes

[REPORTER]
An accident.

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Oh, an accident! Uh, yes, Yes, in the year 61 I was hit, uh, I was run over by seven men fleeing a lion. They ran me over.

[REPORTER]
That's the extent of-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
They didn't have insurance, I didn't have insurance. There was no such thing back then, so you lay dead til you got going

[REPORTER]
In the 2,000 years you've lived, you've seen a lot of changes

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Ah, certainly.

[REPORTER]
What is the biggest change you've seen?

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
In 2,000 years, the greatest thing mankind has ever devised that I think in my humble opinion is Saran-Wrap. You can put a sandwich in it, you can look through it, you can touch it, you can put it all over your face and pull it around everything. It's so good, you can put with-

[REPORTER]
You equate this with-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
I love it. You can put three olives in it and put a little one. You can put ten sandwiches in it and make a picture out of it. Whatever you want, it's clean and it sticks-

[REPORTER]
You equate this with-

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
You can look right through.

[REPORTER]
You equate this with man's discovery of space.

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
That was good. That was good. That was a good thing

[REPORTER]
Well sir, we don't have much more time but we all here would like to know your code.

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Well, alright. Is this it?

[REPORTER]
You're on.

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
The farewell?

[REPORTER]
Your farewell address

[2,000-YEAR-OLD MAN]
Hello there. This is 2,000 years talking to you from the depths of Back-there-when-we-was-now-I'm-still-and-they-not. And I just want to say keep a smile on your face and stay out of a Ferrari or any small Italian car. Stay out of them, and I wanna tell ya it's been a wonderful 2,000 years, and you've been a wonderful civilization, and it's been a thrill living for 2,000 years, and eat a nectarine it's the best fruit ever made.