Ed Sullivan and his wife, Sylvia, in the water on Cote d'Azur during vacation, 1965
Photo by Hecht
Ed Sullivan was born 120 years ago today.
An entertainment writer and television host, Sullivan was best known as the presenter of the television variety program, The Toast of the Town, now usually remembered under its second name, The Ed Sullivan Show.
Broadcast for 23 years from 1948 to 1971, it set a record for long-running variety show in U.S. broadcast history. In 1996, Ed Sullivan was ranked #50 on TV Guide's "50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.”
Sullivan, of Irish decent, was born in Harlem. A former boxer, Sullivan began his media work as a newspaper sportswriter for The New York Evening Graphic.
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. His theater column was later carried in The New York Daily News.
Sullivan’s column, “Little Old New York,” concentrated on Broadway shows and gossip, as Winchell's had. Like Winchell, he also did show business news broadcasts on radio.
Again echoing Winchell, Sullivan took on yet another medium in 1933 by writing and starring in the film, Mr. Broadway, which has him guiding the audience around New York nightspots to meet entertainers and celebrities.
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. Debuting in June, 1948, the show was broadcast from CBS Studio 50 at 1697 Broadway (at 53rd Street) in New York City.
In 1967, the theatre was renamed the Ed Sullivan Theater. It was home of the Late Show with David Letterman and now Stephen Colbert.
Television critics gave the new show and its host poor reviews. Harriet Van Horne alleged that "he got where he is not by having a personality, but by having no personality." The host wrote to the critic, "Dear Miss Van Horne: You bitch. Sincerely, Ed Sullivan."
Sullivan had little acting ability. In 1967, 20 years after his show's debut, Time magazine asked, "What exactly is Ed Sullivan's talent?" His mannerisms on camera were so awkward that some viewers believed the host suffered from Bell's palsy.
Time in 1955 stated that Sullivan resembled “a cigar-store Indian, the Cardiff Giant and a stone-faced monument just off the boat from Easter Island. He moves like a sleepwalker; his smile is that of a man sucking a lemon; his speech is frequently lost in a thicket of syntax; his eyes pop from their sockets or sink so deep in their bags that they seem to be peering up at the camera from the bottom of twin wells.”
The magazine concluded, however, that "Yet, instead of frightening children, Ed Sullivan charms the whole family." Sullivan appeared to the audience as an average guy who brought the great acts of show business to their home televisions.
"Ed Sullivan will last," comedian Fred Allen said, "as long as someone else has talent." Frequent guest, Alan King. said "Ed does nothing, but he does it better than anyone else in television."
He had a newspaperman's instinct for what the public wanted, and programmed his variety hours with remarkable balance. There was something for everyone. A typical show would feature a vaudeville act (acrobats, jugglers, magicians, etc.), one or two popular comedians, a singing star, a hot jukebox favorite, a figure from the legitimate theater and for the kids, a visit with puppet "Topo Gigio, the little Italian mouse," or a popular athlete.
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, and even Joan Rivers imitated Sullivan's unique posture.
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…," "For all you youngsters out there…," and "a really big shew" (his pronunciation of the word "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.
When Elvis Presley became popular, Sullivan was wary of the singer's bad-boy style and said that he would never invite Presley on his program. However, Presley became too big a name to ignore, and Sullivan scheduled him to appear on September 9, 1956.
In August, however, 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 series and missed Presley's appearance.
Charles Laughton wound up introducing Presley on the Sullivan hour. After Sullivan got to know Presley personally, he made amends by telling his audience, "This is a real decent, fine boy."
Sullivan's failure to scoop the TV industry with Presley made him determined to get the next big sensation first. In Feb. 9, 1964, he achieved that with the first live American appearance of The Beatles, the most-watched program in TV history to that point and still one of the most-watched programs of all time.
The Beatles appeared three more times on the Sullivan show in person, and submitted filmed performances later. Sullivan struck up such a rapport with the Beatles that he agreed to introduce them at their momentous Shea Stadium concert on August 15, 1965.
The Dave Clark Five, heavily promoted as having a "cleaner" image than the Beatles, made 13 appearances on the Sullivan show — more than any other UK group.
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 sometimes be seen as a part of his TV personality. Jackie Mason, Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly 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." Diddley sensed the choice of song would end his career then and there, and instead sang his #1 hit, "Bo Diddley." He was banned from the show.
In 1963, Bob Dylan was set to appear on the show, but network censors rejected the song he wanted to perform, "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues," as potentially libelous to the John Birch Society.
Refusing to perform a different song, Dylan walked off the set at dress rehearsal. Sullivan, who had approved the song at a previous rehearsal, backed Dylan's decision. The incident resulted in accusations against the network of engaging in censorship.
In early September, 1974, X-rays revealed that Sullivan had advanced esophageal cancer. Only his family was told, however, and as the doctors gave Sullivan very little time, the family chose to keep the diagnosis from him.
Sullivan, still believing his ailment to be yet another complication from a long-standing battle with ulcers, died five weeks later, on October 13, 1974.
His funeral was attended by 3,000 at St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York on a cold, rainy day.
