Impresario: The Life and Times of Ed Sullivan
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42 “it would seem the producer’s approach …”: The New York Times, August 5, 1956.
43 “Incidentally, when is Ed Sullivan …”: Harris, p. 210.
44 “Ingrid never forgave me …”: Harris, p. 210.
Chapter Twelve
1 “I was a hot-headed college student,”: Bob Precht, interview with author.
2 “Well, if you’re that upset …”: Bowles, p. 61.
3 “He put me in place …”: Bob Precht, interview with author.
4 “Betty Dearest: This is the most wonderful …”: The New York Post, exact date unknown.
5 “It was very tempting,”: Bob Precht, interview with author.
6 “Hey, doc, come here quick …”: Bowles, p. 130.
7 “Tell them it’s nothing serious,”: Ibid.
8 “frail and concave …”: Lewis, p. 183.
9 “I love Ed …”: Kelley, p. 585.
10 “Today, living on his 200-acre farm in Southbury …”: Exposed, March, 1957.
11 “Dear Ed. Would you lend me …”: Quoted by Sullivan in Colliers, September 14, 1956.
12 “Bring Back the Grinds …”: Quoted in the New York Herald-Tribune, July 3, 1956.
13 “Steven Allen Presley …”: Bowles, p. 121.
14 “$5,000 for some youngster …”: Leonard, John. A Really Big Show: A Visual History of The Ed Sullivan Show. New York: Penguin Group, 1992, p. 181. This quote likely comes from The New York Post, spring, 1956.
15 “I hereby offer Ed Sullivan $60,000 …”: The New York Post, July 13, 1956.
16 “From his extensive repertoire …”: The New York Times, September 10, 1956.
17 “If the adverse public reaction …”: First three letters quoted from The New York Times, September 23, 1956.
18 “The few studios that welcome rock ’n’ roll …”: Letter printed in The New York Times, September 30, 1956.
Chapter Thirteen
1 “responsible for such tactics” and Sullivan’s response: The New York Post, October 3, 1956.
2 “crybaby,”: The New York Post, October 4, 1956.
3 “I have no comment to make …”: Variety, date unknown.
4 “Ed Sullivan is the only man …”: Harris, p. 109.
5 “a sense of showmanship …”: Cantor, Eddie. Take My Life. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1957, p. 246.
6 “You never knew what he was going to say …”: Connie Francis, interview with author.
7 “Wasn’t your father Allen Jones?”: Jack Jones anecdote, as told by Carol Burnett, interview with author.
8 “Sometimes you wondered,”: Ibid.
9 “You don’t screw …”: Lewis, p. 97.
10 “Dear Hub …”: Gabler, p. 487.
11 “He couldn’t integrate himself …”: Gabler, p. 497.
12 “He is ready to fight fire …”: Time, October 17, 1955.
13 “I never talk about …”: As quoted by Carol Burnett, from interview with author.
14 “During these ten years …”: The New York Times, June 22, 1958.
15 “I’m going to quit …”: New York Journal-American, June 21, 1958.
16 “I used to get letters …”: The New York Times, June 22, 1958.
17 “Ed, here’s something I know …”: Lewis, p. 166.
18 “All of us thank you …”: Ibid.
19 “What was all that about?”: Ibid.
20 “ungrateful, impolite people …”: Life, October 20, 1967.
21 “The noise was terrible …”: London Evening Standard, July 10, 1971.
22 “I don’t give a damn …”: Lewis, p. 168.
23 “People flocked to see it …”: Carol Burnett, interview with author.
24 “Ed Sullivan, of the News.”: Barbara Gallagher, interview with author.
25 “the Lowell Thomas …”: New York Journal-American, June 21, 1958.
26 “decadence, escapism, and insulation …”: Text of a speech given by Murrow on October, 15, 1958 in Chicago at the Radio and Television News Directors Association.
27 “Why the hell not …”: Lewis, p. 154.
28 “We believe Castro is not a …”: Halberstam, p. 721.
29 “Andy-roo, you and I are getting out of here …”: Andrew Laszlo, from interview with author.
30 “Andy-roo, I lied to you,”: Laszlo, interview with author. All Laszlo and Sullivan quotes from Castro story are from Laszlo interview with author. Information also comes from Laszlo, Andrew, ASC. It’s a Wrap. Hollywood: ASC Press, 2004.
31 “reacted violently …”: Laszlo, p. 22.
32 “[It will] be easy …”: Sullivan’s question and Castro’s answer from the broadcast interview, as seen on The Ed Sullivan Show.
33 “Castro gets booed by newsreel audiences …”: The Daily News, November 2, 1959.
Chapter Fourteen
1 “Our mission to Moscow …”: The Ed Sullivan Show, August, 1959.
2 “I expected a gloomy city …”: Ibid.
3 “Unless you intervene sir …”: Sullivan telegram to Nikita Khrushchev, dated September 5, 1959, from Sullivan personal papers.
4 “release the youngsters who participated …”: Sullivan telegram to Nikita Khrushchev, dated November 4, 1959, from Sullivan personal papers.
5 “Somewhere on this globe …”: The Ed Sullivan Show, 1959–60.
6 “The Colgate-Palmolive Company …”: The New York Times, June 2, 1959.
7 “Bob had a lot to learn …”: Sistie Moffit, interview with author.
8 “I was aggressive …”: Bob Precht, interview with author.
9 “Ed was the boss …”: Connie Francis, interview with author.
10 “Sophie had a fit …”: Ibid.
11 “I feel my integrity as an artist …” and Sullivan’s reply: The New York Times, January 28, 1961.
12 “I am looking forward eagerly …”: Sullivan letter to Bill Paley, dated March 22, 1960, from Sullivan personal papers.
13 “Paley loved Ed Sullivan …”: Mike Dann, interview with author.
14 “dictated by the people …”: The New York Times, June 24, 1961. All FCC quotes in this section are Ibid.
15 “Ed, I don’t have the money …”: Quotes for the account of Paar vs. Sullivan come from a variety of news and trade publications, including Variety, Life, the New York Post, and Newsweek.
16 “We looked at that wall …”: Connie Francis, interview with author.
17 “Ed was going around …”: John Moffit, interview with author.
18 “It was scary!”: Vince Calandra, interview with author.
19 “In the past year …”: The New York Times, June 17, 1962.
20 “Carmine was Ed’s Nubian slave,”: Sistie Moffit, interview with author.
21 “if we can continue that spirit …”: The New York Times, October 17, 1962.
22 “The actors will be free …”: The New York Times, September 3, 1963.
23 “Alabama has moved ahead of Mississippi …”: “What’s Going On Here”: quotes from The Ed Sullivan Show, 1963–64.
24 “All the Kennedys send you …”: Joseph Kennedy letter to Sullivan, dated April 28, 1960, from Sullivan personal papers.
25 “Dear Sylvia, I had read that piece …”: Letter from Joe Kennedy to Sylvia Sullivan, dated October 4, 1960, from Sullivan personal papers.
26 “I think that your brilliant young son …”: Sullivan letter to Joseph Kennedy, dated April 20, 1962, from Sullivan personal papers.
27 “The idea for your International Assembly …”: President John Kennedy letter to Sullivan, dated March 15, 1961, from Sullivan personal papers.
28 “P.S. Ted and I watch your wonderful show …”: Joan Kennedy letter to Sullivan, dated July 17, 1964, from Sullivan personal papers.
29 “unforgettable moments”: The Daily News, March 23, 1973.
30 “the party of hope …”: The New York Times, May 24, 1963.
31 “I used to be a member …”: The Daily News, May 24, 1963.
3
2 “the nightmare week …”: The Ed Sullivan Show, 1963.
Chapter Fifteen
1 “call in a barber.”: Bowles, p. 184.
2 “I gave him my honest opinion …”: Peter Prichard, interview with author.
3 “You have been misinformed …”: Sullivan letter to Leslie Grade, dated November 13, 1964, from Sullivan personal papers.
4 “ ‘Sylvia,’ he said (Mrs. Sullivan recalls it well)…”: Saturday Evening Post, April 20, 1968.
5 “We were in London last September …”: Press-Enterprise, Riverside, California, June 14, 1964.
6 “Well, as I always said …”: Peter Prichard, interview with author.
7 “Brian was a friend of mine …”: Peter Prichard, interview with author.
8 “Brian was a bright guy …”: Bob Precht, interview with author.
9 “He was excited about the story …”: Spizer, Bruce. The Beatles Are Coming! The Birth of Beatlemania in America. New Orleans, LA: 498 Productions, 2003.
10 “Ed, as always, had a quick reaction …”: Peter Prichard, interview with author.
11 “There were girls …”: The New York Times, February 8, 1964.
12 “Will you sing for us?…”: Ibid.
13 “Do you hope to get haircuts …”: Davies, Hunter. The Beatles: The Authorized Biography. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1968, p. 195.
14 “Everybody already knows who the Beatles are …”: Ed Sullivan as quoted by Bill Bohnert, from interview with author.
15 “McCartney said that he and John …”: Beatles comments, as quoted by Vince Calandra, interview with author.
16 “I would like for you …”: Sullivan, quoted by Vince Calandra, interview with author.
17 “I don’t believe this …”: Bob Precht, quoted by Vince Calandra, interview with author.
18 “just as Ringo was sitting down …”: Bill Bohnert, interview with author.
19 “The oldsters outdid the kids …”: Goldsmith, Martin. The Beatles Come to America. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2004, p. 161.
20 “The door of the truck was open …”: Bill Bohnert, interview with author.
21 “This was the best it was ever going to be …”: Ringo Starr, as quoted by a Sullivan secretary, retold by Bill Bohnert, interview with author.
22 “In their sophisticated understanding …”: The New York Times, February 10, 1964.
23 “imported hillbillies who look like sheepdogs …”: Goldsmith, p. 147.
24 “I was offended by the long hair,”: Spizer, p. iv.
25 “the uncertainty of the times …”: Davies, p. 196.
26 “set up an hour-long din …”: The New York Times, November 4, 1964.
27 “That’s a possibility …”: Ibid.
Chapter Sixteen
1 “We got it into our heads …”: Booth, Stanley. The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones. Chicago: A Capella Books, 2000.
2 “I know that these men are controversial entertainers …”: Letter from Eric Easton to Sullivan, dated January 25, 1965, from Sullivan personal papers.
3 “We were deluged with mail …”: Letter from Sullivan to Rolling Stones manager, dated February 8, 1965, from Sullivan personal papers.
4 “We will be presenting Ed …”: New York Herald-Tribune, March 20, 1964.
5 “very, very generous.”: Ibid.
6 “He was totally in charge …”: Jackie Mason; all quotes from Mason anecdote, from interview with author unless otherwise noted.
7 “a variety of four-, ten-, and eleven-letter words …”: The New York Times, February 24, 1965.
8 “I’ll destroy you …”: Ibid.
9 “insubordination and gross deviation …”: The New York Times, October 20, 1964.
10 “although I don’t know why …”: The New York Times, January 29, 1966.
11 “He always had stage fright …”: John Moffit, interview with author.
12 “orgasmic insurance.”: Lax, Eric. Woody Allen: A Biography. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1991, p. 189.
13 “When the storm abated …”: Ibid.
14 “is unquestionably one of the …”: The New York Times, September 13, 1965.
15 “I did everything I could …”: Bob Precht, interview with author.
16 “Shut your mouth …”: Sullivan, quoted by Russ Petranto, production assistant, interview with author.
17 “I was booked for the next Sunday …”: Joan Rivers, interview with author.
18 “but the fans figured it out …”: Jim Russek, interview with author.
19 “Either the song goes, or you go.”: Sandford, Christopher. Mick Jagger: Rebel Knight. London: Omnibus Press, 2003, p. 104.
20 “Fuck off, mate”: Mick Jagger, quoted by Vince Calandra, interview with author.
21 “I remember once I came in …”: Joan Rivers, interview with author.
22 “He was always very nice to me …”: Barbara Gallagher, interview with author.
23 “A couple times he had me come over …”: Vinna Foote, interview with author.
24 “You know there was …”: Jim Russek, interview with author.
25 “invented the Broadway column …”: Ladies Home Journal, June, 1967.
26 “As we both grew older …”: Winchell, p. 320.
27 “Walter, don’t ever let …”: Ibid.
28 “You watched The Ed Sullivan Show…”: All quotes from Doors anecdote, Ray Manzarek, interview with author, unless otherwise noted.
29 “a smugness in their attitude …”: Jim Russek, interview with author.
30 “There was never a doubt …”: Bob Precht, interview with author.
Chapter Seventeen
1 “from Joplin, Missouri,”: Sullivan, quoted by Bill Bohnert, interview with author.
2 “it had more resonance …”: George Carlin, interview with author.
3 “Ed adored Richard,”: Russ Petranto, interview with author.
4 “Whatever happened to The Ed Sullivan Show?…”: Philadelphia Sunday Bulletin, January 25, 1970.
5 “The changeover in audience composition …”: Irwin Segelstein, interview with author.
6 “We made every effort …”: Bob Precht, interview with author.
7 “establishment shows.”: The Milwaukee Journal, January 13, 1969.
8 “We didn’t know what to do …”: Mike Dann, interview with author.
9 “Fuck ’em, we’ll do …”: Bowles, p. 196.
10 “Who’s on the show tonight?”: Mary Lynn Shapiro, interview with author.
11 “Well I’ll be a …”: Bowles, p. 203.
12 “grand tradition,”: Ibid.
13 “I was indeed sorry …”: J. Edgar Hoover letter to Sullivan, dated April 7, 1971, from Sullivan personal papers.
14 “You know, I could write a song …”: Susan Abramson, interview with author.
15 “I dragged him around …”: Sistie Moffit, interview with author.
16 “How about that?…”: Sullivan, quoted by Jerry Vale, interview with author.
17 “in a period of deep reminiscence …”: All quotes from Delmonico interview, Show magazine, summer, 1971.
18 “I got the feeling …”: Rob Precht, interview with author.
19 “For my own taste, Nixon …”: The New York Times, November 4, 1972.
20 “a classic of comedy …”: Los Angeles Times, September 20, 1971.
21 “a powerful stabilizing influence …”: United Press International, March 23, 1971.
22 “What goes next? The Bill of Rights?…”: The Cleveland Press, March 23, 1971.
23 “I spoke to the wax museum …”: The Daily News, January 15, 1972.
24 “He was truly a fourteen-carat …”: Gabler, p. xiv.
25 “We would have made it …”: The New York Times, April 9, 1972.
26 “She took care of him like a hawk …”: Joan Rivers, interview with author.
27 “was not feeling too well …”: Variety, March 28, 1973.
28 “just keeping himself very busy …�
�: Ibid.
29 “He went to Danny’s Hideaway …”: Jerry Vale, interview with author.
30 “When Sylvia died …”: Ibid.
31 “I saw him on Broadway, very forlorn …”: Bill Gallo, interview with author.
32 “You son of a bitch …”: all Shecky Greene quotes, interview with author.
33 “My grandfather very abruptly …”: Rob Precht, interview with author.
34 “We had consulted with his doctors …”: National Enquirer, November, 1974.
35 “faithfulness to the serious arts.”: Bowles, p. 212.
36 “an American landmark.”: The New York Times, October 17, 1974.
37 “Ed had a remarkable quality …”: Ibid.
38 “Bennett Cerf’s widow …”: The Daily News, October 14, 1974.
Epilogue
1 “I definitely think he had a sense …”: Rob Precht, interview with author.
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