ED SULLIVAN

'Edward Vincent Sullivan' (September 28, 1900 – October 13, 1974) was an American entertainment writer and television host, best known as the emcee of a popular TV variety show called ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' that was at its height of popularity in the 1950s and 1960s.

Contents

Biography

References

External links

Biography

A former boxer, Sullivan began his media work as a newspaper sportswriter. When Walter Winchell, one of the original gossip columnists and the most powerful entertainment reporter of his day, left the newspaper for the Hearst syndicate, Sullivan took over as theater columnist for ''The New York Graphic''
Yagoda, Ben (1981), "The True Story of Bernarr Macfadden," ''American Heritage'' 33(1), December, 1981; reference used for this article was the online version, The True Story of Bernarr Macfadden: Lives and Loves of the Father of the Confession Magazine Ben Yagoda
and later for ''The New York Daily News''. His column concentrated on Broadway shows and gossip, as Winchell's had and, like Winchell, he also did show business news broadcasts on radio. Sullivan soon became a powerful starmaker in the entertainment world himself, becoming one of Winchell's main rivals, setting the El Morocco nightclub in New York as his unofficial headquarters against Winchell's seat of power at the nearby Stork Club. Sullivan continued writing for ''The News'' throughout his broadcasting career and his popularity long outlived that of Winchell.
In 1948, the CBS network hired Sullivan to do a weekly Sunday night TV variety show, ''Toast of the Town'', which later became ''The Ed Sullivan Show''. The show was broadcast from CBS Studio 50 on Broadway in New York City, which in 1967 was renamed the Ed Sullivan Theater (and is now the home of ''The Late Show with David Letterman'').
Sullivan himself had little acting ability; his mannerisms on camera were somewhat awkward and often caricatured by comedians who called him "Old Stone Face," owing to his deadpan delivery. Columnist Harriet Van Horne alleged that "he got where he is not by having a personality, but by having no personality.
Somehow, Sullivan still seemed to fit the show; he appeared to the audience as an average guy who brought the great acts of show business to their home televisions. ("He will last," comedian and frequent guest Alan King was quoted as saying, "as long as someone else has talent.") Sullivan had a healthy sense of humor about himself and permitted—even encouraged—impersonators such as John Byner, Frank Gorshin, Rich Little and especially Will Jordan to imitate him on his show. Johnny Carson also did a fair impression. The impressionists exaggerated his stiffness, raised shoulders, and nasal tenor phrasing, along with some of his commonly used introductions, such as "And now, right here on our stage..." and "For all you youngsters out there...". Will Jordan has portrayed Sullivan in ''I Wanna Hold Your Hand'' (1978), ''The Buddy Holly Story'' (1978), ''The Doors'' (1991), ''Mr. Saturday Night'' (1992), ''Down With Love'' (2003), and in the 1979 TV Movie "Elvis"
In the 1950s and 1960s, Sullivan was a respected starmaker because of the number of performers that became household names after appearing on the show. He had a knack for identifying and promoting top talent and paid a great deal of money to secure that talent for his show.
There was another side to Sullivan: he could be very quick to take offense if he felt he had been crossed and could hold a grudge for a long time. This could unfortunately be seen as a T.V personality. Jackie Mason, Bo Diddley, and The Doors became intimately familiar with Sullivan's negative side.
On November 20, 1955, Bo Diddley was asked by Sullivan to sing Tennessee Ernie Ford's hit "Sixteen Tons". Come air time, Diddley sang his #2 hit song, "Bo Diddley". He was banned from the show.
Jackie Mason was banned from the series in 1962. Sullivan gestured that Mason should wrap things up and Sullivan believed Mason replied on live television with the finger (videotapes of the incident are inconclusive as to whether Mason's waving hand was intended to be the gesture, but Sullivan's body language immediately afterward made it clear that he was convinced of it).^[1]
The Doors were banned in 1967 after they were asked to remove the lyric "Girl, we couldn't get much higher" from their song "Light My Fire" (CBS censors believed it was too overt a reference to drug use) and sang the song with the lyrics intact.
The Rolling Stones were a different story; they were forced to change the chorus of "Let's Spend the Night Together" to "Let's Spend Some Time Together." Lead singer Mick Jagger deliberately called attention to this censorship by rolling his eyes and mugging when he uttered the new words. ^[2]
Unlike many shows of the time, Sullivan asked that musical acts perform their music live, rather than lip-synching to their recordings. Some of these performances have recently been issued on CD.^[3]
The act that appeared most frequently through the show's run was the comedy duo of Wayne & Shuster making a total of sixty-seven appearances between 1958 and 1969.
In 1961, Sullivan was asked by CBS to fill in for an ailing Red Skelton on ''The Red Skelton Show''. He performed some of Skelton's characters successfully. One character was renamed "Eddie the Freeloader" (normally "Freddie the Freeloader").
In August of 1956, Sullivan was injured in an automobile accident that occurred near his country home in Southbury, Connecticut. Sullivan had to take a medical leave from the show, missing the September 8 appearance of Elvis Presley (something he earlier had stated never would happen; on a later Presley appearance, Sullivan made amends by telling his audience, "This is a real decent fine boy.") The fact he had to play catch-up to featuring such a star on his show made him determined to get the next big sensation first. In 1964, he achieved that with the first live American appearance of The Beatles, on February 9, 1964, the most-watched program in TV history to that point, and remains one of the most-watched programs of all time. The Beatles appeared several more times on the Sullivan show; Sullivan struck up such a rapport with the Beatles that he agreed to introduce them at their Shea Stadium concerts in August 1965.

In the fall of 1965, CBS began televising the weekly programs in RCA's compatible color process. Although the show was seen live in the Central and Eastern time zones, it was taped for airing in the Pacific and Mountain time zones. Fortunately, most of the taped programs (as well as some early kinescopes) have been preserved and excerpts have been released on home video, taken from specials hosted by Carol Burnett.
Sullivan paid for the funeral of dancer Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson out of his own pocket. He also defied pressure to exclude African American musicians from appearing on his show. In 1969, Sullivan presented the Jackson 5 with their first single "I Want You Back", which ousted B. J. Thomas's "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" from the top spot of Billboard's pop charts.
At a time when television had not yet embraced country and western music, Sullivan was adamant about featuring Nashville performers on his program. This insistence paved the way for shows such as "Hee Haw" and variety shows hosted by country singers like Johnny Cash and Glen Campbell.
By 1971, the show was no longer in television's top 20. New CBS executives, who wanted to attract younger viewers, canceled the show along with virtually all of the network's oldest shows. Sullivan was so upset and angry he refused to do a final show, although he did return to CBS for several TV specials and a 25th anniversary show in 1973. One year later, the man known as "Old Stone Face" died of esophageal cancer at age 73 at New York's Lenox Hill Hospital, ironically on a Sunday night. His funeral was attended by 3,000 at St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York on a cold, rainy day. Sullivan is interred in a crypt at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.
Sullivan was married to the former Sylvia Weinstein from April 28, 1930, until her death on March 16, 1973. They had a daughter. Sullivan was in the habit of calling Sylvia after every program to get her immediate critique.
Sullivan has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6101 Hollywood Blvd.

References

1. CBS special, ''The Very Best of the Ed Sullivan Show''
2. The video of this performance can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uewUcr-BYo
3. www.amazon.com

External links

★

★ Ed Sullivan appearance on the Phil Silvers Show

★ Overview of Ed Sullivan's life