Impresario: The Life and Times of Ed Sullivan
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24 “[Jack] Haley …”: The Daily News, November 17, 1938.
25 “four midgets …”: The Daily News November 19, 1938.
26 “I spoke with blonde …”: The Daily News, September 15, 1937.
27 “Carole Lombard …”: The Daily News, December 12, 1938.
28 “1,000 to 1”: The Daily News, January 9, 1939.
29 “Dear Ed …”: The Daily News, January 10, 1939.
30 “Answer this question …”: The Daily News, September 13, 1938.
31 “hammy.”:: The Daily News, June 4, 1938.
32 “hardly qualified …”: The Daily News, January 11, 1939.
33 “Edward G. Robinson’s …”: Ibid.
34 “Reel for reel …”: The Daily News, June 5, 1938.
35 “When this reporter …”: The Daily News, August 15, 1938.
36 “Listen Ed …”: The Daily News, September 11, 1938.
37 “the house comes down”: The Daily News, September 15, 1938.
38 “Alice Faye …”: The Daily News, January 11, 1939.
39 “a hilarious and dexterous …”: The Daily News, October 14, 1938.
40 “virtually a play-by-play …”: The New York Times, October 16, 1938.
41 “Now watch all the film writers …”: The New York Journal-American, February 13, 1939.
42 “Story has many weak moments …”: Variety, April 26, 1939.
43 “A bustling little melodrama …”: The New York Times, May 4, 1939.
44 “We went down Wilshire …”: Betty Sullivan Precht, interview with author.
45 “spoiled brat,”: The Daily News, October 20, 1937.
46 “Let this be entered …”: Ibid.
47 “We ate out on the porch …”: The Daily News, October 18, 1938.
48 “Mr. Fields would prefer …”: Peter Prichard, interview with author.
49 “After the Louis Massacre …”: The Daily News, 1938, exact date unknown.
50 “An Indianapolis poison-penner …” and other critics’ comments: The Daily News, September 18, 1939.
51 “This is the season for fashion shows …”: The New York Times, April 26, 1940.
52 “picture that’s deficient …”: Variety, May 1, 1940.
53 “swims upstream”: The Daily News, November 17, 1938.
54 “Having come to Hollywood …”: The Daily News, February 28, 1940.
55 “I pointed out …”: Frank Hause letter to Walter Winchell, May 5, 1953, Gabler, p. 253.
56 “I acted hastilly [sic]…”: Frank Hause letter to Walter Winchell, May 5, 1953, Gabler, p. 253.
57 “I was heartbroken …”: Betty Sullivan Precht, interview with author.
Chapter Seven
1 “When I asked the boss …”: The Daily News, July 22, 1940.
2 “Instead of sitting …”: The Daily News, August 18, 1940.
3 “It was a terrible place …”: Betty Sullivan Precht, interview with author.
4 “If you can better yourself …”: Harris, p. 68.
5 “because of his high regard …”: Editor and Publisher, December, 1940.
6 “We are taking the constructive …”: The New York Times, January 19, 1941.
7 “By day a columnist surveys …”: The Daily News, March 9, 1941.
8 “At any continental dinner party …”: The Daily News, February 27, 1940.
9 “Chinese, Italians, Germans …”: The New York Times, June 21, 1941.
10 “Nightclubs did a terrific business …”: The Daily News, January 12, 1942.
11 “Harlem Cavalcade…”: The New York Times, May 2, 1942.
12 “Triumphantly at the end …”: The New York Times, July 29, 1942.
13 “Then I noticed the tears …”: Sullivan, p. 17.
14 “Editorialists throughout the land …”: The Daily News, September 14, 1942.
15 “Erasers on pencils …”: The Daily News, December 14, 1942.
16 “The wolves no longer …”: The Daily News, September 17, 1942.
17 “The Lieut. Douglas Fairbanks …”: The Daily News, September, 14, 1942.
18 “Dear Ed: From us fellows …”: The Daily News, September 12, 1943.
19 “Dear Ed: Over here in England …”: Ibid.
20 “ ‘Would you like to meet Jack Benny?…”: The Daily News, September 1, 1943.
21 “Your CBS radio program …”: The Daily News, September 11, 1943.
22 “Although Sullivan’s voice …”: Variety, exact date unknown.
23 “a bright quarter hour …”: Variety, quoted in Bowles, p. 107.
113 “Wheeler: Well, Frank, it seems to me …”: Radio script from Ed Sullivan Entertains, November 8, 1943.
25 “didn’t think it was appropriate …”: Betty Sullivan Precht, interview with author.
26 “I couldn’t believe …”: Ibid.
27 “overdoing it,”: Harris, p. 76.
28 “an intimate stranger.”: Rob Precht, interview with author.
29 “I go swimming with Harry …”: The New York Times, March 3, 1946.
30 “The town is chuckling at Winchell’s …”: The Daily News, September 17, 1942.
31 “Tip to Washington, D.C.…”: The Daily News, September 14, 1942.
32 “the most cynical grafting …”: The New York Times, June 4, 1946.
33 “When 666 came up on Friday …”: The Daily News, February 1, 1943.
34 “pleaded with the Mayor …”: The New York Times, June 4, 1946.
35 “I always respect …”: Ibid.
36 “Dogs have the capacity for grief …”: The Daily News, May 1946; quoted here from a reprint in Cosmopolitan, February, 1950.
37 “I couldn’t refrain from writing …”: J. Edgar Hoover letter to Sullivan, dated May 23, 1946, from Sullivan personal papers.
38 “It does warm one’s heart …”: J. Edgar Hoover letter to Sullivan, dated January 7, 1947, from Sullivan personal papers.
39 “New York—Vindication has finally come …”: From script for Ed Sullivan’s Pipeline, April, 16, 1946.
40 “He was very attractive to women …”: Jane Kean, interview with author.
41 “an acrobatic dancer with a great body …”: Jack Carter, interview with author.
42 “egocentric—very much so”: Mike Dann, a CBS programming executive. From interview with author.
Chapter Eight
1 “as far back on the shelf …”: The Saturday Evening Post, February 21, 1942.
2 “When somebody got a TV set …”: Paul Winchell, interview with author.
3 “If I had dreamed …”: Harris, p. 97.
4 “likeable and relaxed”: Ibid.
5 “Ed Sullivan was hired as a temporary master …”: Paley, William S. As It Happened: A Memoir by William S. Paley. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., 1979, pp. 238–239.
6 “Screw ’em!…”: Lewis, Marlo, with Mina Bess Lewis. Prime Time. Los Angeles: J.P. Tarcher, 1979, p. 66.
7 “could come in …”: Lewis, p. 70.
8 “I’m sorry that I’ve been moody …”: Betty Sullivan Precht, interview with author.
9 “This is the most fascinating thing …”: The Daily News, June 17, 1948.
Chapter Nine
1 “Marlo, you’re going …”: Lewis, p. 79.
2 “a roof garden with the Manhattan skyline …”: Harris, p. 99.
3 “I’ve done plenty of benefits …”: Lewis, p. 82.
4 “blockbuster of a show.”: Lewis, p. 83.
5 “It’s nothing …”: Lewis, p. 84.
6 “Ladies and gentlemen, the Columbia Broadcast System…”: Lewis, p. 84.
7 “When somebody asked …”: Mike Dann, interview with author.
8 “brought to his emcee role …”: Variety, June 16, 1948.
9 “With a top talent array …”: Variety, June 23, 1948.
10 “I panicked …”: Paul Winchell, interview with author.
11 “Register Mr. B.…”: The New York Times, July 4, 1948.
/> 12 “Your review of my …”: The New York Times, July 11, 1948.
13 “paid a flat fee to Mr. Sullivan …”: Ibid.
14 “Apparently we’re being made …”: The New York Times, July 23, 1948.
15 “no pressure, direct, indirect …”: Ibid.
16 “a later date”: The New York Times, July 28, 1948.
17 “Ventriloquist Paul Winchell …”: The Daily News, July 12, 1948.
18 “kept the event moving smoothly …”: Variety, July 1948.
19 “neo-modern jazz vocalistics,”: Ibid.
20 “One of the small but vexing questions …”: The New York Herald-Tribune, December 31, 1948.
21 “Public opinion, I’m certain …”: Harris, pp. 102–103.
22 “I’d like to meet this fella …”: From Sullivan personal papers.
23 “Come on, Solomon …”: Bowles, p. 71.
24 “He got where he is not by …”: New York World Telegram & Sun, exact date unknown.
25 “Dear Miss Home …”: Bowles, p. 104.
26 “Don’t get swellheaded …”: The Daily News, July 17, 1948.
27 “Frankly Marlo …”: Lewis, p. 7.
28 “You can’t imagine how sick …”: Harris, p. 105.
29 “We were out having dinner …”: Ibid.
30 “making him more of a fighter,”: Betty Sullivan Precht, interview with author.
31 “As a result of this session with the doctor …”: Sullivan letter to Lincoln Mercury executive, dated February 1, 1952, from Sullivan personal papers.
32 “My problem …”: Lewis, p. 93.
33 “Ed, you were in that little box there …”: Quote from Barbara Gallagher, a Sullivan show production assistant, interview with author. Sullivan told her this story late in his own life.
34 “one long blast …”: The Daily News, July 8, 1948.
35 “Tip to mobs …”: The Daily News, July 17, 1948.
36 “the Humphrey Bogart stork …”: The Daily News, July 5, 1948.
37 “Before she filed …”: The Daily News, June 30, 1948.
38 “ice cream and gambling.”: The New York Times, November 29, 1949.
39 “grayer and plumper,”: The Daily News, June 20, 1948.
40 “pretty grim over the coldblooded …”: The Daily News, July 5, 1948.
41 “Can you imagine the cleanup job …”: The Daily News, June 28, 1948.
42 “The Russian conflict …”: The Daily News, July 3, 1948.
43 “GOP leaders …”: The Daily News, July 19, 1948.
44 “Commies in this area bolder …”: The Daily News, July 15, 1948.
45 “Commies in this area have labored overtime …”: The Daily News, July 1, 1948.
46 “I am deeply distressed …”: Barnouw, Erik. Tube of Plenty: The Evolution of American Television. London: Oxford University Press, 1975, p. 121.
47 “Kirkpatrick has sat in my living room …”: The Daily News, June 21, 1950.
48 “If he put the word out on you …”: Mike Dann, interview with author.
49 “Long before Senator McCarthy …”: The New York Post, March 12, 1952.
50 “fearing McCarthy’s retaliation …”: Halberstam, David. The Fifties. New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1993, p. 251.
Chapter Ten
1 “It was toward the end of the evening …”: The New York Times, August 21, 1949.
2 “I don’t want you to misunderstand …”: Lewis, p. 99.
3 “What Ed is getting at …”: Ibid.
4 “that won’t change …”: Ibid.
5 “I’ll see you Sunday …”: Ibid.
6 “Any successor to Mr. Lewis …”: Contract between CBS and Ed Sullivan, dated August 31, 1950, from Sullivan personal papers.
7 “They will work as a team …”: The New York Times, April 17, 1950.
8 “For the most part …”: Lewis, p. 105.
9 “I’ve never met you, but if I do …”: The New York Times, December 9, 1950.
10 “I’ll never forget when …”: Mike Dann, interview with author.
11 “What does Sullivan do …”: Harris, p. 112.
12 “Maybe Fred should rub …”: Ibid.
13 “looked right through me.”: Baker, Josephine and Jo Bouillon. Josephine. New York: Marlowe & Co., 1977, p. 179.
14 “a pathetic little steak …”: Ibid.
15 “I thought a shameful thing had been done …”: Gray, Barry. My Night People: 10,001 Nights in Broadcasting. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1975, pp. 170–188.
16 “I don’t think that Winchell …”: Ibid.
17 “I didn’t hear what Sullivan said …”: Time, January 7, 1952.
18 They rarely ever knock a guy …”: From a poem by Grantland Rice, used by Walter Winchell in his Daily Mirror column, December 26, 1951, quoted in Gabler, p. 422.
19 “so devastating that Winchell …”: Lewis, p. 23.
20 “I’ve got it—and Walter knows …”: Lewis, p. 24.
21 “the most miserable year …”: Bowles, p. 113.
22 “Excuse me,”: Ibid. Stork confrontation anecdote from Bowles.
23 “I am the best damned showman …”: The New York Times, March 23, 1952.
24 “Ed was terrified of CBS’s reaction …”: Logan, Josh. My Up and Down, In and Out Life. New York: Delacorte Press, 1976, p. 309.
25 “That was Julius’ swan song …”: Arthur Godfrey. Quoted in Singer, Arthur J. Arthur Godfrey: The Adventures of an American Broadcaster. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2000.
26 “He’ll be worth it …”: Lewis, p. 152.
27 “There’s nothing personal …”: Time, October 17, 1955.
28 “Why Sullivan can come in strange surroundings …”: Variety, May 27, 1953.
29 “People often ask me why I don’t smile more …”: Ed Sullivan, from the Foreward to Ritts, Paul. The TV Jeebies. Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, 1951.
30 “That fat-faced bum …”: Lewis, p. 121.
31 “It’s the old story …”: Lewis, p. 122.
32 “I did Sullivan as he really was …”: Will Jordan, interview with author.
Chapter Eleven
1 “The thing I remember most …”: George Carlin, interview with author.
2 “What did you think of the show …”: Vince Calandra, interview with author.
3 “He knew nothing about comedy,”: Phyllis Diller, interview with author.
4 “How am I going to explain …”: Harris, p. 137.
5 “If you can do it …”: Lewis, p. 126.
6 “He sure had his finger …”: Carol Burnett, interview with author.
7 “Again he leans into a gale …”: Time, October 17, 1955.
8 “built and maintained an outstanding reputation …”: Contract between CBS and Ed Sullivan, dated November 23, 1954, from Sullivan personal papers.
9 “I just want you to know how happy …”: Letter from Jack Van Volkenburg to Sullivan, dated November 23, 1954, from Sullivan personal papers.
10 “for the duration of your life.”: Contract between MCA and Ed Sullivan, dated March 19, 1955, from Sullivan personal papers.
11 “prayed that Sullivan dropped dead,”: Lewis, p. 125.
12 “Ed Sullivan is going to do…”: Dialogue from Toast of the Town, 1954.
13 “The most popular of all …”: Gabler, p. 468.
14 “tracked down and exposed,”: Quote from the column of Westbrook Pegler, New York Journal-American, 1953, as quoted in Kanfer, Stefan. Ball of Fire: The Tumultuous Life and Comic Art of Lucille Ball. New York: Vintage Books, 2003, p. 172.
15 “It’s a singularly fortunate thing …”: The Daily News, 1953, exact date unknown.
16 “Wherever he goes …”: Lewis, p. 96.
17 “is about the longest shot …”: Time, October 17, 1955.
18 “Everything they’re promising …”: Ibid.
19 “Mr. Sullivan’s motion picture …”: Associated Press, date unknown, most likely from June 1955.
21 “I believe this will be a tremendous grosser …”: Sullivan letter to Jack Warner, dated July 15, 1955, from Sullivan personal papers.
22 “a large florid, booming man,”: From original script for The Ed Sullivan Story, 1955, Sullivan personal papers.
23 “As these acts go on …”: From revised script to The Ed Sullivan Story, 1955, from Sullivan personal papers.
24 “Naturally, this was done in great haste …”: Jack Warner letter to Ed Sullivan, dated November 1, 1955, from Sullivan personal papers.
25 “The greatest European pictures …”: Sullivan script revision of The Ed Sullivan Story, from Sullivan personal papers.
26 “The TV Sullivan is a strange contrast …”: Time, June 25, 1951.
27 “We were discussing your program …”: Fan letter, quoted in the New York Journal-American, June 19, 1963.
28 “We will have to be a magician …”: Jack Warner letter to Arnold Grant, dated November 25, 1955, from Sullivan personal papers.
29 “We will be most anxious …”: Warner Bros. executive letter to Sullivan, dated January 12, 1956, from Sullivan personal papers.
30 “I don’t think that Irving Wallace …”: Sullivan letter to Arnold Grant, dated January 16, 1956, from Sullivan personal papers.
31 “is not exactly a TV novelty.”: The New York Post, April 30, 1955.
32 “The number of things he does …”: Look, August 5, 1947.
33 “Basically, Sinatra is decent …”: The Daily News, 1947, quoted in Kelley, Kitty. His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra. New York: Bantam, 1987, p. 583.
34 “newspaper personalities…‘without paying for their services.’ ”: Ibid.
35 “Let us overlook …”: Variety, April 1955.
36 “Colgate, which was displeased …”: Time, June 2, 1959.
37 “there was never any question …”: The New York Times, August 5, 1956.
38 “The Ingrid Bergman-Rossellini baby …”: The Daily News, February 9, 1950.
39 “Why the hell did I say that?” Bowles, p. 125.
40 “tasteless and shocking.”: The New York Post, August 4, 1956.
41 “never seen anything like it,”: New York Journal-American, July 30, 1956.