BUDDY HACKETT'S SON REMEMBERS He Was MY BEST FRIEND

COMEDIAN SANDY HACKETT SHARES SWEET STORIES AND THE LESSONS HE LEARNED FROM HIS FAMOUS FATHER

- Hilary Hattenbach, with reporting by Natalie Posner

Funnyman Buddy Hackett took fatherhood seriously. The doting dad of three kids was “wellread, smart and a strict disciplinarian,” recalls his son, Sandy Hackett. “At 16, I got a speeding ticket, and Dad wouldn’t let me drive for 30 days. He said, ‘Walk, get a ride, bicycle, take the bus. I don’t care.’ ” Later, Buddy outfitted Sandy’s car with a new set of wheels and quipped, “If you’re going to drive that fast, you’ll need better tires.”

Sherry and Buddy had one son and two daughters together.

A protective papa by nature, Buddy didn’t just look out for his own children. Once, at the end of a film shoot in communist Hungary, he helped his 18-year-old driver escape by hiding him in the trunk of a car! “That kid came to live with us, and my father put him through Columbia University,” Sandy tells Closer.

Buddy was part of the all star cast of 1963's It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.