The Paper 10.04.18

Page 1

Volume 48 - No. 40

By Friedrich Gomez

It seemed no one bothered to tell Ed Sullivan that vaudeville was dead. Long buried and given last rites by the juggernaut that is television. Neither did anyone tell Mr. Sullivan that he was totally unfit to be anything close to a television master of ceremonies. He was god-awful. The personification of two-left feet in a walking marathon during an earthquake. Or so everyone thought.

The so-called experts sized him up The The Paper Paper -- 760.747.7119 760.747.7119

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October 4, 2018

as a failure before he even went on the air. And the great ones, the golden ones, the ones who placed the master-of-ceremonies bar exceedingly high with their own inimitable skills and talents in front of the television lens – even they could not have predicted any remnant of success for him.

Legendary television host and unrivaled master of ceremonies, Art Linkletter (1912–2010), was one of them. Of Ed Sullivan, Linkletter said: “He was one of the strangest personalities that you can ever imagine in the history of the busi-

ness! He had no business being on the air – at all!”

So, how could the immortal Linkletter, from Moose Jaw, Canada, host of America’s favorite radio and television show “House Party,” which ran 25 successful years, and CBS’ radio and television’s “People Are Funny,” for 19 years, have been so wrong? After all, Linkletter and others were the undisputed masters of their craft, the teachers and measuring rods of excellence which all aspiring M.Cs were required to emulate. Unlike Linkletter, American actress

and singer, Florence Henderson (b. 1934), best known for her role on ABC’s “The Brady Bunch” (19691974), got closer to answering the Sullivan riddle. Where Art Linkletter left-off in his summation regarding Ed Sullivan not having any semblance of talent as a TV host, Henderson continued after Linkletter’s conclusion, to uncharted waters, and she nailed it: “We can all kinda laugh at Ed. Because half the time he couldn’t remember your name. Or he couldn’t remember someone’s last name. But, I think the audience loved that. The fact that he was himself.”

Ed Sullivan - See Page 2


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