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51-468: The program evolved from NBC's first TV variety showcase, Four Star Revue , sponsored by Motorola . The "running gag" sketches were dropped in favor of more performing acts. The weekly show was proposed to be hosted by four comedians in a four-week rotation to provide competition for Ed Sullivan 's Toast of the Town on CBS . The first episode, starring Hans Conried , Rosemary DeCamp and Dick Foran ,

102-479: A Song" Theme three (for other comedians): "All-Star Original Music" Theme four (for Olsen and Johnson , et al.): "All-Star Opening Theme" Pat Sheehan (model) Patricia Ann Sheehan (September 7, 1931 – January 14, 2006), also known as Patricia Sheehan Crosby , was an American actress and model. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for October 1958 and a contract player for NBC . She

153-459: A break for the summer, All Star Revue continued. But this summer series had little relationship to the regular season show. Originating from New York's Center Theatre, there were no regular hosts, though Dave Garroway and Jan Murray repeated, as did a few of the guests. The budget was considerably lower, which explains why there were fewer big-name guests. Sponsors were Pet Evaporated Milk, Kellogg's Cereals ( Shredded Wheat and All-Bran ), and

204-563: A delayed kinescope ). At the start of the season, Ed Wynn was the only host to use the Center Theatre (formerly a venue for ice shows but recently converted to a TV studio) at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan. The others at first declined to follow suit because of the theater's huge, 3700-seat capacity, fearing that the audience wouldn't have a good view of the stage and might not laugh at the appropriate moments. But when NBC installed

255-496: A noted choreographer and director who won multiple Tonys and an Academy Award for his work, and a child-age Christopher Walken , who became an Oscar -winning actor and screen star, appeared alongside Jerry Lewis in a sketch (albeit under his given name, Ronald). Kinescopes of the 28 shows hosted by Martin & Lewis have been airing Saturday evenings on the classic television network RTV since June 30, 2012. The episode broadcast on November 22, 1953, hosted by Donald O'Connor ,

306-541: A stint with his own radio show in the early 1940s. Four Star Revue premiered on NBC on Wednesday, October 4, 1950. After several episodes had aired, a few problems with the show had come to light. The first problem was location. The second problem was the amount of money put into each episode of the show. The third problem was trying to keep a sole sponsor. In 1950, it wasn't yet possible to broadcast coast-to-coast, so Four Star Revue , like most live shows, originated from New York (with viewers in other time zones watching

357-568: A television monitor there in January 1951, the problem was solved and Durante, Thomas, and Carson relocated. Television set manufacturer Motorola opened the season as sole sponsor of the show, but cut back after 13 episodes. In January, they began sharing sponsorship with Pet Evaporated Milk and Norge refrigerators , each paying a third of the cost. Four Star Revue cost $ 50,000 a week to produce, compared to only $ 17,500 for its CBS competition, Arthur Godfrey and His Friends . But according to

408-562: A third season. When Snow Crop pulled out at the end of the previous year, NBC considered cancelling the show. But Kellogg's and Pet Milk remained, and eventually, the network managed to lure Del Monte to sign on as well. Nonetheless, sponsorship was still unstable. Both Kellogg's and Del Monte dropped out at the end of 1952, leaving only Pet. Beacon Wax came on board briefly for the first show in January before being quickly replaced by Johnson & Johnson (makers of Band-Aid plastic strips). With only two sponsors remaining (Pet and J&J), NBC

459-447: A year from 1935-36. He then teamed up with comedian Garry Moore to do The Durante-Moore Show from 1943–1947. After Moore left, the program became known as The Jimmy Durante Show and ran for three more years until being cancelled in 1950. John Elmer "Jack" Carson was a Canadian -born American-based film actor. Carson had done several memorable films during the 1930s and 1940s before his role on Four Star Revue . He also had

510-681: The Blue Network and again from 1947 to 1948 on CBS . Jimmy Durante , known to many as The Schnoz and the Great Schnozzola , established himself as a comedian and talented musician long before Revue and before the beginning of television itself. Durante first became known as a member of the Original New Orleans Jazz Band , the first recognizable jazz band in New York. Durante was the only member of

561-470: The Ritz Brothers , and Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney , each doing one apiece. With a larger stable of hosts, the old Four Star name was no longer accurate, so the show was rechristened All Star Revue . The decision to move Revue from Wednesday nights to Saturday nights had to do with the fact that CBS's Arthur Godfrey and His Friends crushed Revue in the ratings. All Star Revue replaced

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612-510: The United States Army Reserve . The Summer Revue ran from June 28 to August 30, 1952. Season 3 of All Star Revue premiered on September 6, 1952. Unfortunately, Thomas and Wynn did not make it past season 2. Olsen and Johnson were not successful among viewers either. At the time of the third-season premiere, Durante was the only one of the original four stars still on the program. Martha Raye also managed to survive

663-547: The 1951 Miss California Pageant where she placed 6th. Sheehan dated and married George von Duuglas-Ittu on January 9, 1951, in Carson City, Nevada. Her first son Franz Nicholas Gregory von Duuglas-ittu was born October 21, 1951. They divorced on January 6, 1954. Pat Sheehan began appearing on Queen for a Day and the Colgate Comedy Hour in the early 1950s, as well as modeling for various magazines. She

714-539: The 5100 Club in Chicago , Illinois , under the pseudonym "Danny Thomas" (after two of his brothers). Thomas enjoyed success in the nightclub business and also found some success in the radio medium. Thomas made appearances on such radio shows as The Bickersons , The Baby Snooks Show , and The Big Show starring future recurring Revue hostess Tallulah Bankhead . Thomas got a stint at his own radio show entitled The Danny Thomas Show , which ran from 1942 to 1943 on

765-697: The El Capitan Theater in Hollywood (today known as Avalon Hollywood ; other shows that originated here include The Hollywood Palace ), while Eddie Cantor anchored from New York City. This gave NBC a substantial edge over Ed Sullivan, since top-grade talent from motion pictures could also do network TV on the West Coast Colgate Comedy Hour , while Sullivan had to work with whoever happened to be in New York City at

816-455: The Videodex ratings service, Revue reached an average of 2,339,000 homes, while Godfrey' s homes totaled 3,519,000. That worked out to a cost of $ 6.89 per viewer for Revue, compared to $ 1.46 for Godfrey . The season 1 finale aired on July 18, 1951. The second series premiered on a new night, Saturday, and under a new title. Owing to the decision to increase the number of guest hosts, when

867-506: The cancelled Jack Carter Show , in the hope that it would prove a better lead-in to the popular Your Show of Shows . The move had some success; with only Ken Murray and Paul Whiteman as competition, Revue finished the season with a 36.3 rating (tied with Dragnet for 20th place). The time slot change would seem to be minor compared to the major cast change that occurred after the February 16, 1952, telecast. Jack Carson, one of

918-502: The episodes. Jonathan Winters was featured on the show. On May 11, 1967, NBC broadcast a special Colgate Comedy Hour revival (pre-empting The Dean Martin Show , which Colgate sponsored at the time), with guests Nanette Fabray , Kaye Ballard , Edie Adams , Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks (performing one of their " 2000 Year Old Man " routines), Phyllis Diller , Bob Newhart , Nipsey Russell , and Dan Rowan and Dick Martin . None of

969-418: The featured films. Charlton Heston was the host of several episodes in the new format. A number of the earlier hosts had left by the end of the 1953–54 season (with the exception of Martin & Lewis) as the show shifted toward mini-musicals, starring hosts including Ethel Merman and Frank Sinatra , who paired together in truncated version of Cole Porter 's "Anything Goes" . The show was also performing on

1020-599: The first Colgate Comedy Hour on September 10, 1950. During the 1950–51 season, AT&T put into regular service a coast-to-coast coaxial/microwave interconnection service which allowed live telecasts from across the nation. Three production units were quickly set up, one in New York City, one in Chicago, and one in Los Angeles. Martin & Lewis and Abbott & Costello anchored the West Coast, broadcasting from

1071-459: The fourth season, nor was Durante. The third-season finale aired on April 18, 1953. At the end of the 1952-1953 season, it looked as though All Star Revue had finished its run. But when NBC's Saturday night comedy extravaganza Your Show of Shows decided to switch to a three-out-of-four weeks format, the network needed something to plug into the fourth week. All Star Revue got the nod and found itself back in business. Because Show of Shows

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1122-470: The group not originally from New Orleans . His routine of breaking into a song to deliver a joke, with band or orchestra chord punctuation after each line, became a Durante trademark. In 1920 the group was renamed Jimmy Durante's Jazz Band. Later on in the 1920s, Durante spent time in vaudeville and formed the comedy trio of Clayton, Jackson, and Durante , also known as The Three Sawdust Bums with fellow comedians Lou Clayton and Eddie Jackson in 1923. He

1173-663: The hosting role, and the travel was too stressful and painful for him. His final Colgate appearance was in May 1954. Vic Schoen was hired as the musical director in 1954. In 1954, Tony Martinez , later cast as the farmhand on The Real McCoys , made his television debut on The Colgate Comedy Hour . In June 1955, the show changed its name to the Colgate Variety Hour to reflect a move away from pure comedy. An affiliation with Paramount Pictures resulted in episodes featuring scenes from new films and appearances by stars of

1224-627: The latter cut out after the May 31st telecast and was replaced the following week by Hazel Bishop Cosmetics . While starting the season at the Center Theatre in New York City, construction of the transcontinental cable line allowed the show to move to the west coast in November. It was a boon to hosts like Ed Wynn, Jimmy Durante, and Danny Thomas, who were based in Hollywood, but Jack Carson and Carson's replacement Martha Raye continued to originate their shows from New York. The second season finale aired on June 21, 1952. In 1952, instead of taking

1275-457: The major factors in the comedian's success. By the start of 1954, after all but one of the episodes had been hosted by Raye, it was decided to change the name to The Martha Raye Show . This time, All Star Revue was gone for good. The last episode of the series under the Revue title aired on December 26, 1953. The Martha Raye Show aired until 1956. Jimmy Durante also received a spin-off of

1326-404: The name Four Star Revue ), alternating as hosts of the program every week. Other stars would join the show beginning with its second season, causing the title to change to All Star Revue . Some of the other stars to pass through during the second season were Bob Hope , Spike Jones and Helen Grayco , and Paul Winchell . As the series progressed, several permanent hosts were added to replace

1377-558: The original four stars , left the show temporarily to star in a 1952 Broadway revival of the George and Ira Gershwin musical Of Thee I Sing . But that February 16 telecast would turn out to be Carson's last appearance on the show. Despite the improved ratings, holding on to sponsors didn't get any easier. With an increase in cost to $ 60,000 per episode, Motorola and Norge dropped out. NBC managed to hold on to Pet Milk and persuaded Kellogg's and Snow Crop orange juice to sign on. But

1428-776: The original four. Some included actress and singer Martha Raye , boxer Rocky Graziano , actor and toastmaster George Jessel , and actress Tallulah Bankhead . At the time that the show originally aired in the early 1950s, Four Star Revue was known as the second most expensive hour on television. Each episode initially cost approximately $ 50,000 to produce. The most expensive was its sister series, The Colgate Comedy Hour . Like its sister series , Four Star Revue started out with four rotating hosts. They were actors Ed Wynn , Jimmy Durante , and Jack Carson and nightclub entertainer Danny Thomas . Before Four Star Revue , Ed Wynn had been involved in show business for almost 50 years. Wynn began his career in vaudeville in 1903. He

1479-661: The performers who had performed in the original 1950–1956 shows appeared. The special, produced by George Schlatter , also served as a television pilot for a possible revival of the series, which never happened. In the 1954–1955 season, Donald O'Connor left the show and starred in his own musical situation comedy , The Donald O'Connor Show , which aired on the NBC Saturday schedule alternating with The Jimmy Durante Show . Notable guest stars who went on to find success in entertainment included Vera Miles , costar of Alfred Hitchcock 's thriller Psycho , Bob Fosse , later

1530-639: The previous marriage in December 1958, rechristened Gregory Crosby. They divorced on July 3, 1964. In her later years, Sheehan lived in Beverly Hills, California with her friend Gloria Haley Parnassus ( Jack Haley 's daughter). She was employed with Gucci , and did her last interview in 1995 for The Playmate Book: Five Decades of Centerfolds . After surviving cancer, she died of a heart attack on January 14, 2006, in Beverly Hills, aged 74 and

1581-448: The road, unlike other seasons where the shows were transmitted from New York City or Los Angeles at 8 p.m. Gordon MacRae often served as host during this period. On December 11, 1955, Sam Levene guest starred in a Salute to George Abbott. Recurring guest stars included Pat Sheehan , Joy Langstaff, Doris Gildart, and Connie Russell. However, ratings continued to slide while The Ed Sullivan Show got stronger. The final show, emceed by

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1632-517: The room: an experimental color model and a standard black-and-white unit. Eddie Cantor hosted the program with guests including Frank Sinatra, Eddie Fisher, and Brian Donlevy . Four Star Revue Four Star Revue (also known as All Star Revue and All Star Summer Revue ) is an American variety / comedy program that aired on NBC from October 4, 1950, to December 26, 1953. The series originally starred four celebrities, Ed Wynn , Danny Thomas , Jack Carson , and Jimmy Durante (hence

1683-578: The second season. To fill the open slots, NBC decided on hiring a number of showbiz veterans, including Maurice Chevalier and Harold Lloyd , before eventually settling on actors George Jessel and Tallulah Bankhead as regular hosts. Other hosts that season were Dennis Day , Rosalind Russell , the Ritz Brothers, Walter O'Keefe , Perry Como , and Ben Blue . There was also a special ice skating show starring Sonja Henie with guest Harpo Marx . Because of sponsor skittishness, there almost wasn't

1734-569: The series' last continuing host Robert Paige , aired as a Christmas special on December 25, 1955, with Fred Waring and his "Pennsylvanians" choral ensemble. The Colgate Comedy Hour was replaced on January 8, 1956, with the NBC Comedy Hour , hosted by Leo Durocher for the first three shows. After Durocher, the regular hosts changed, and after 18 broadcasts, the final show aired in June. Regular supporting casts always co-starred in each of

1785-541: The series, entitled The Jimmy Durante Show , which ran until 1956. NOTE: The most frequent time slot for the series in bold text . Four Star Revue used several different themes during its run especially for the first two seasons of the series. This was mainly done in part to distinguish between the four celebrities; Wynn, Thomas, Durante, and Carson, and any one episode that a celebrity would host. Theme one (for Danny Thomas ): "Danny Thomas Theme" Theme two (for Jimmy Durante ): "You Gotta Start Off Each Day with

1836-502: The show premiered Sunday, September 17, 1950, with Martin & Lewis and was telecast from the Park Theatre off Columbus Circle in New York City. As theatres are known by different names over history, it is possible that this was the now-demolished International Theatre at 5 Columbus Circle, the broadcast location of another NBC show of the era, Your Show of Shows with Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca . In fact, Eddie Cantor hosted

1887-482: The show's second season premiered on September 8, 1951, it was renamed All Star Revue . Several factors influenced NBC's decision in 1951 to expand the number of Four Star Revue hosts. First, some of the stars were having trouble producing the expected ratings. Second, with more and more money flowing into television, the competition from other networks was becoming fierce. Third, NBC had found with The Colgate Comedy Hour that scheduling conflicts, illnesses, and

1938-494: The simple fact that some of its stars simply weren't well suited to the revue format meant that it was important to have a backup plan. To hedge its bets, the network brought in additional hosts, who could be called upon to fill in for or replace the regulars if needed. Holding on to its original four stars, Revue , in its second season, added the likes of Olsen and Johnson and Martha Raye in four episodes each, Spike Jones and Helen Grayco in two, and Victor Borge , Bob Hope ,

1989-531: The time that a particular episode aired. During the 1952–53 season, Cantor suffered a heart attack immediately after a Colgate Comedy Hour broadcast in September. Although he quickly recovered and returned in January 1953, he was reluctant to move on with the show. By the fourth season, the sponsor was providing $ 6,000,000, but the performers were finding difficulty in offering fresh material. Ratings hence began to decline. Cantor had become too ill to continue in

2040-467: Was also a star of the Ziegfeld Follies beginning in 1914. Wynn also made it big in the radio scene. He first started on a radio program The Fire Chief in the early 1930s. Wynn also had experience in the then new medium of television. During the 1949-50 television season , Wynn hosted one of the first comedy - variety television shows on CBS , entitled The Ed Wynn Show . Danny Thomas

2091-469: Was also known for his recording of the Ben Ryan -composed Inka Dinka Doo in 1933 which, after its debut in the 1934 movie Palooka , was Durante's "theme song" for the rest of his life. Durante also had a relatively good career in radio. He had a recurring role on Eddie Cantor 's NBC radio program The Chase and Sanborn Hour in late-1933. From there he went on to The Jumbo Fire Chief Program for

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2142-480: Was born Amos Muzyad Yakhoob Kairouz on January 6, 1912, in Deerfield , Michigan . Before Four Star Revue and his most memorable role on Make Room for Daddy , which premiered in 1953, Thomas had already established himself as an entertainer. Thomas had started his career as a performer on local Detroit , Michigan , station WMBC program The Happy Hour Club in 1932. In August 1940, Kairouz began performing at

2193-604: Was discovered by Howard Hughes who signed her for his films The French Line and Son of Sinbad . She posed for magazines such as TV Fan , People Today , and TV Guide . She was in movies such as Kismet , Man with the Gun , Daddy Long Legs , and The Adventures of Hajji Baba . She was signed to NBC in January 1956, starring in The NBC Comedy Hour , with appearances on The Milton Berle Show , Texaco Star Theater , and The Chevy Show . Agnes Moorehead

2244-425: Was forced to pay for one-third of the expenses—which didn't bode well for the show's future. Ratings were also very poor, as they had been for most of the show's run. The show could not compete in the ratings with CBS's new series The Jackie Gleason Show (the show ran for two years prior to premiering on CBS on DuMont under the name Cavalcade of Stars ). Bankhead and Jessel were not asked to return for

2295-432: Was her acting coach during this period, while Meredith Willson was her vocal coach. Her co-star, Jonathan Winters said of her, "Pat Sheehan? Lovely, yes, lovely." She appeared in an episode of Blondie and had a dramatic role in an episode of Matinee Theater . She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for October 1958, tied with Mara Corday . Her centerfold was photographed by Sam Wu . Her centerfold

2346-623: Was in Space Cowboys . Gigi was her last movie, in 1958. She dated Frank Sinatra , Phillip Lambro, and Rod Taylor . Shortly after Bing Crosby 's first wife, Dixie Lee , died of ovarian cancer , he started dating Sheehan. Eventually, Crosby proposed to her. On May 4, 1958, she married Crosby's son, Dennis Crosby in Las Vegas, Nevada at The Tropicana Hotel where she was a showgirl. They had two children: Dennis Jr. and Patrick Anthony, and Franz Nicholas Gregory who Dennis adopted from

2397-719: Was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. Her sons, Dennis and Patrick, died years later. In addition to being the first Playmate to tie for Playboy's Playmate of the Month, Pat Sheehan was the first bit player to be signed to a television contract. She was known as one of Hollywood's most beautiful women, often being labeled as "Television's Marilyn Monroe " and "The Blonde Rita Hayworth ." Mike Connolly described her as "The Rich Man's Jayne Mansfield " while they performed alongside each other in The Tropicana Holiday . Kathryn Crosby described her as "the warmest, friendliest girl I've ever known." On April 26, 2019, she

2448-497: Was ninety minutes long, an extra half-hour had to be tacked onto Revue to fill out the time slot. The plan was to retain the rotating hosts arrangement, with Hoagy Carmichael , Henie, Ethel Merman , and Noël Coward mentioned at various times as possible hosts. Martha Raye also returned for season four. But when Raye led off the season and scored big in the ratings, NBC decided to keep her coming back. The critics liked her as well, with writer-director Nat Hiken singled out as one of

2499-565: Was the first color television broadcast in the NTSC color system (used in the U.S. until the change to digital in June 2009). There were few other color broadcasts in the 1953–1954 season, and all of them were transmitted by NBC . The series was also used earlier in the season to demonstrate the final form of RCA's "Compatible" color system to members of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Two sets were in

2550-403: Was the daughter of Arthur E Sheehan Sr and Gladys A Larson. Her siblings were Edward Sheehan and Arthur Sheehan Jr. In October 1949, she won the local Miss Milkmaid pageant, which launched her career. Sheehan was Miss San Francisco of 1950, having performed a monologue. Her prize was a Gensler Lee diamond ring. She took honors for Miss San Francisco and flew to Santa Cruz, California to take part in

2601-524: Was written and produced by the then 22-year-old Peggy Webber , who appeared in over 100 episodes of Dragnet with Jack Webb . The new format was heavily backed by its sponsor, Colgate-Palmolive , to the tune of $ 3 million in the first year, and the 8:00 p.m. ET, Sunday evening format show was a spectacular success, particularly for Eddie Cantor and the Martin & Lewis and Abbott & Costello duos. In his autobiography, Jerry Lewis wrote that

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