The McGuire Sisters were a singing trio in American popular music. The group was composed of three sisters:
79-605: Among their most popular songs are " Sincerely " and " Sugartime ", both number-one hits. The McGuire sisters were born to Asa and Lillie (Fultz) McGuire in Middletown, Ohio , and grew up in Miamisburg near Dayton . Their mother, Lillie, was a minister of the Miamisburg First Church of God , where, as children, they sang in church at weddings, funerals, and revivals . When they started singing in 1935,
158-472: A halfback , basketball as a guard and track as a sprinter. With the baseball team, Sullivan was a catcher and the team's captain, leading the team to several championships. Sullivan noted that, in the state of New York, integration was taken for granted in high-school sports: "When we went up into Connecticut, we ran into clubs that had Negro players. In those days this was accepted as commonplace; and so, my instinctive antagonism years later to any theory that
237-562: A payola investigation years later), Fuqua noted that Freed had in fact contributed to the songwriting for "Sincerely", thus his claim to a songwriting credit in this case was legitimate. The best-selling version of "Sincerely" was a pop cover recorded by the McGuire Sisters , which entered the charts in 1954 and reached number one the next year . It was eventually certified as a gold record . Ed Sullivan Edward Vincent Sullivan (September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974)
316-619: A vaudeville act (such as acrobats, jugglers or magicians), one or two popular comedians, a singing star, a figure from the legitimate theater, an appearance by puppet Topo Gigio or a popular athlete. The bill was often international in scope, with many European performers appearing along with the American artists. Sullivan had a healthy sense of humor about himself and permitted and even encouraged impersonators such as John Byner , Frank Gorshin , Rich Little and especially Will Jordan to imitate him on his show. Johnny Carson also performed
395-477: A CBS affiliates meeting in the late 1950s, several Southern station managers complained that Sullivan was booking too many "negroes". Furious, Sullivan referred to the comments in his presentation and said that any station manager that feels this way is under no obligation to carry the show. There were no cancellations. Sullivan said: "As a Catholic, it was inevitable that I would despise intolerance, because Catholics suffered more than their share of it. As I grew up,
474-492: A Ford executive thrown out of the theatre when he suggested that Sullivan stop booking so many [B]lack acts. And a dealer in Cleveland told him 'We realize that you got to have niggers on your show. But do you have to put your arm around Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson at the end of his dance?' Sullivan had to be physically restrained from beating the man to a pulp." Sullivan later raised money to help pay for Robinson's funeral. At
553-424: A Negro wasn't a worthy opponent or was an inferior person. It was just as simple as that." Sullivan landed his first job at The Port Chester Daily Item , a local newspaper for which he had written sports news while in high school and which he joined full-time after graduation. In 1919, he joined The Hartford Post , but the newspaper folded in his first week there. He next worked for The New York Evening Mail as
632-523: A customs house employee. His twin brother Daniel was sickly and lived only a few months. Sullivan was raised in Port Chester, New York , where the family lived in a small red brick home at 53 Washington Street. He was of Irish descent. The family loved music, frequently playing the piano, singing and playing phonograph records. Sullivan was a gifted athlete in high school, earning 12 athletic letters at Port Chester High School . He played football as
711-401: 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"). The latter phrase
790-707: A former CBS Radio playhouse that in 1967 was renamed the Ed Sullivan Theater (and was later the home of the Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Show with 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
869-430: A hunger for combat fed by his coverage of, and devotion to, boxing." Bo Diddley , Buddy Holly , Jackie Mason , and Jim Morrison were parties to some of Sullivan's most storied conflicts. On November 20, 1955, African American rock 'n' roll singer and guitarist Bo Diddley appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show , only to infuriate Sullivan. A reporter who was there at the time described what happened: "Controversy raged at
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#1732776685745948-403: A magazine interview, leading to a major reconciliation between the longtime adversaries. Throughout his career as a columnist, Sullivan had dabbled in entertainment, producing vaudeville shows with which he appeared as master of ceremonies in the 1920s and 1930s, directing a radio program over the original WABC and organizing benefit reviews for various causes. In 1941, Sullivan became host of
1027-743: A microphone could not be placed close enough to a performer for technical reasons. An example was B.J. Thomas ' 1969 performance of " Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head ", in which water was sprinkled on him as a special effect. In 1969, Sullivan presented the Jackson 5 with their first single " I Want You Back ", which ousted Thomas' song from the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 . Sullivan had an appreciation for Black entertainers. According to biographer Gerald Nachman , "Most TV variety shows welcomed 'acceptable' [B]lack superstars like Louis Armstrong , Pearl Bailey and Sammy Davis Jr. ... but in
1106-602: A powerful force in the entertainment world and 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 New York Daily News throughout his broadcasting career, and his popularity long outlived that of Winchell. In the late 1960s, Sullivan praised Winchell's legacy in
1185-545: A repeat invitation." Mason added that his earning power "... was cut right in half after that. I never really worked my way back until I opened on Broadway in 1986." When the Byrds performed on December 12, 1965, David Crosby got into a shouting match with the show's director. They were never asked to return. Sullivan decided that "Girl, we couldn't get much higher", from the Doors' signature song " Light My Fire ",
1264-1199: A restaurant in Bradenton, Florida , calling it McGuire's Pub. They were inducted into the National Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 1994, and in 2001, they were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame . They also have been inducted into the Coca-Cola Hall of Fame and the Headliners' Hall of Fame. They were inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame in 2009. Christine was married six times. Her first marriage to Harold Ashcraft (1942 until August 16, 1950) she had two children, Herold and Asa. Christine later married John Henry Teeter (December 30, 1952 until December, 18, 1962), Robert Hugh Spain (December 12, 1967 until 1970), Guy Marks (from 1975 until unknown), George Rosenfeld (from ?? until his death on August 23, 1996), and David Mudd (2002 until his death on August 19, 2011). All
1343-402: A song in the musical Bye Bye Birdie and in 1963 appeared as himself in the film . In 1954, Sullivan appeared as a cohost on the television musical special General Foods 25th Anniversary Show: A Salute to Rodgers and Hammerstein . Sullivan was quoted as saying: "In the conduct of my own show, I've never asked a performer his religion, his race or his politics. Performers are engaged on
1422-568: A sports reporter. After the newspaper closed in 1923, he bounced through a series of news jobs with the Associated Press , the Philadelphia Bulletin , The Morning World , The Morning Telegraph , The New York Bulletin and The Leader . In 1927, Sullivan joined The New York Evening Graphic , first as a sports writer and then as a sports editor. In 1929, when Walter Winchell moved to The Daily Mirror , Sullivan
1501-575: 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
1580-726: The Late Show with David Letterman (taped in the Ed Sullivan Theater), Ross stated, "he could never remember our names. He called us 'the girls'." In a 1990 press conference, Paul McCartney recalled meeting Sullivan again in the early 1970s. Sullivan apparently had no idea who McCartney was. McCartney tried to remind Sullivan that he was one of the Beatles, but Sullivan obviously could not remember, and nodding and smiling, simply shook McCartney's hand and left. In an interview with Howard Stern around 2012, Joan Rivers said that Sullivan had been suffering from dementia toward
1659-675: The Summer Silver Theater , a variety program on CBS , with Will Bradley as bandleader and a guest star featured each week. In 1948, producer Marlo Lewis convinced CBS to hire Sullivan to host a weekly Sunday-night television variety show, Toast of the Town , which later became The Ed Sullivan Show . Debuting in June 1948, the show was originally broadcast from Maxine Elliott's Theatre on West 39th Street in New York. In January 1953, it moved to CBS-TV Studio 50 at 1697 Broadway,
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#17327766857451738-644: The Central and Eastern time zones , it was taped for airing in the Pacific and Mountain time zones . Excerpts have been released on home video , and posted on the official Ed Sullivan Show YouTube Channel. By 1971, the show's ratings had plummeted. In an effort to refresh the CBS lineup, CBS cancelled the program in March 1971, along with some of its other long-running shows throughout the 1970–1971 season (later known as
1817-536: The Ed Sullivan Show again." Jim Morrison replied, "Hey, man, we just did the Ed Sullivan Show ." The Rolling Stones famously capitulated during their fifth appearance on the show, in 1967, when Mick Jagger was told to change the titular lyric of " Let's Spend the Night Together " to "Let's spend some time together". "But Jagger prevailed," wrote Nachman, by deliberately calling attention to
1896-631: The Ed Sullivan Show' s producer, Bob Precht. The Sullivans rented a suite of rooms at the Hotel Delmonico in 1944 after living at the Hotel Astor on Times Square for many years. Sullivan rented a suite next door to the family suite, which he used as an office until The Ed Sullivan Show was canceled in 1971. Sullivan habitually called his wife after every program to get her critique. The Sullivans regularly dined and socialized at New York City's best-known clubs and restaurants including
1975-492: The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon in 1994. Since then, the sisters had made occasional public appearances together, including in 2004, when they reunited to perform in a PBS special Magic Moments: Best of '50s Pop. The sisters' command of their vocal cords and harmonious blend, perhaps the most impressive of any trio before or since, had not significantly diminished. After their careers wound down, they opened
2054-517: The Stork Club , Danny's Hide-A-Way, and Jimmy Kelly's. His friends included celebrities and U.S. presidents. He also received audiences with popes. Sylvia Sullivan was a financial advisor for her husband. She died on March 16, 1973, at Mount Sinai Hospital from a ruptured aorta. In the fall of 1965, CBS began televising its weekly programs in color. Although the Sullivan show was seen live in
2133-421: The rural purge ). Angered, Sullivan refused to host three more months of scheduled shows. They were replaced by reruns, and a final program without him aired in June. He remained with the network in various other capacities and hosted a 25th anniversary special in June 1973. In early September 1974, Sullivan was diagnosed with an advanced stage of esophageal cancer . Doctors gave him very little time to live, and
2212-716: The Andrews Sisters . Maxene Andrews said in an interview with Joe Franklin on WOR (AM) radio in 1979, "The McGuire Sisters were fine once they stopped imitating the Andrews Sisters." While working on the Godfrey show, the McGuires befriended singer Lu Ann Simms and attended her wedding to music publisher Loring Buzzell in July 1956. Buzzell's music publishing firm, Hecht-Lancaster & Buzzell Music (co-owned by Harold Hecht and Burt Lancaster ) provided two songs for
2291-435: The Andrews Sisters in New York in the early 1950s and received important advice. The McGuires moved when they sang, often executing dance routines in lavish production numbers on countless television specials. The Andrews Sisters performed similarly in films in the 1940s, and were the first female vocal group to move when they sang, rather than just standing at a microphone. The sisters had mimicked that style, as well as those of
2370-461: The CBS Studio 57, last Sunday ... in a verbal battle that started over one of the performer's refusal to do a number on the telecast which Sullivan had requested. During the dress rehearsal, Bo Diddley ... agreed to do " Sixteen Tons ," as Marlo Lewis, Toast of the Town's Executive Producer and Sullivan had requested. However, at 8:29 PM, as Sullivan went into commercial, the folk singer hurried to
2449-583: The Ford Motor Company, cancel Draper's appearance. Draper denied the charge, and appeared on the show as scheduled. Ford received over a thousand angry letters and telegrams, and Sullivan was obliged to promise Ford's advertising agency, Kenyon & Eckhardt, that he would avoid controversial guests going forward. Draper was forced to move to Europe to earn a living. After the Draper incident, Sullivan began to work closely with Theodore Kirkpatrick of
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2528-592: The McGuire Sisters, " May You Always ", which became the best-selling 45 and sheet music of 1959, and "Theme from The Unforgiven (The Need for Love)", which became another big hit in 1960. The McGuire Sisters were the Mystery Guests on the May 29, 1955 airing of What's My Line? Fred Allen guessed who they were. In 1958, their mother appeared as a guest challenger on the television game show To Tell
2607-553: The Mills Brothers and the Dinning Sisters ever since they were young, when they would perform short shows for family and friends in their parents' living room. Phyllis McGuire recounted that she and her sisters did not know any popular songs when they became famous, only the hymns taught to them by their mother. The trio imitated other singing groups long before their success. They performed for five Presidents of
2686-563: The Society's views with those of Adolf Hitler might trigger a defamation lawsuit. Dylan was offered the opportunity to perform a different song, but he responded that if he could not sing the number of his choice, he would rather not appear at all. The story generated widespread media attention in the days that followed. Sullivan denounced the network's decision in published interviews. Sullivan butted heads with Standards and Practices on other occasions, as well. In 1956, actress Ingrid Bergman
2765-538: The Supremes , who appeared 17 times. As the critic John Leonard wrote, "There wasn't an important [B]lack artist who didn't appear on Ed's show." Sullivan defied pressure to exclude Black entertainers or to avoid interacting with them on screen. "Sullivan had to fend off his hard-won sponsor, Ford's Lincoln dealers, after kissing Pearl Bailey on the cheek and daring to shake Nat King Cole 's hand," Nachman wrote. According to biographer Jerry Bowles, "Sullivan once had
2844-599: The Three Ritz Brothers . He got out of it by adding, 'who look more like the Three Stooges to me'." Joe DeRita , who worked with the Stooges after 1959, had commented that Sullivan had a personality "like the bottom of a bird cage." Diana Ross , who was very fond of Sullivan, later recalled Sullivan's forgetfulness during the many occasions the Supremes performed on his show. In a 1995 appearance on
2923-533: The Truth . In December 1958 they appeared and performed as themselves in Season 4, Episode 11 of The Phil Silvers Show , "Bilko Presents the McGuire Sisters". The McGuire Sisters and the Andrews Sisters met several times during their careers. Phyllis credited Patty, Maxene, and LaVerne Andrews during a television interview with Maxene in the 1990s, hosted by Sally Jessy Raphael , saying that her sisters and she met
3002-612: The United States : Richard Nixon , Gerald Ford , Jimmy Carter , Ronald Reagan , and George H. W. Bush , and for Queen Elizabeth II . In London they performed a set for the Royal Variety Performance of 1961. During the 1960s, the sisters maintained a busy television schedule, making frequent appearances on popular variety programs hosted by Ed Sullivan , Dean Martin , Danny Kaye , Milton Berle , Andy Williams , Perry Como , and Red Skelton . The trio
3081-430: The anti-Communist Counterattack newsletter. He would consult Kirkpatrick if any questions came up regarding a potential guest's political leanings. Sullivan wrote in his June 21, 1950, Daily News column that "Kirkpatrick has sat in my living room on several occasions and listened attentively to performers eager to secure a certification of loyalty." Cold War repercussions manifested in a different way when Bob Dylan
3160-892: The attention and accolades on Sullivan's show that he felt were rightfully his. "I am owed," he said, "and I never got paid." "He might have," wrote Nachman, "had things gone smoother with Sullivan." Buddy Holly and the Crickets first appeared on the Sullivan show in 1957 to an enthusiastic response. For their second appearance in January 1958, Sullivan considered the lyrics of their chosen number " Oh, Boy! " too suggestive, and ordered Holly to substitute another song. Holly responded that he had already told his hometown friends in Texas that he would be singing "Oh, Boy!" for them. Sullivan, unaccustomed to having his instructions questioned, angrily repeated them, but Holly refused to back down. Later, when
3239-434: The band was slow to respond to a summons to the rehearsal stage, Sullivan commented, "I guess the Crickets are not too excited to be on The Ed Sullivan Show ." Holly, still annoyed by Sullivan's attitude, replied, "I hope they're damn more excited than I am." Sullivan retaliated by cutting them from two numbers to one, then mispronounced Holly's name during the introduction. He also saw to it that Holly's guitar amplifier volume
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3318-462: The basis of their abilities. I believe that this is another quality of our show that has helped win it a wide and loyal audience." Although Sullivan was wary of Elvis Presley 's image and initially said that he would never book him, Presley became too big a name to ignore; in 1956, Sullivan signed him for three appearances. Six weeks earlier in August 1956, Sullivan and his son-in-law, the producer of
3397-497: The camera from the bottom of twin wells. "Yet," the magazine concluded, "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." A typical show would feature
3476-490: The causes of minorities were part and parcel of me. Negroes and Jews were the minority causes closest at hand. I need no urging to take a plunge in and help." At a time when television had not yet embraced country and western music, Sullivan featured Nashville performers on his program. This in turn paved the way for shows such as Hee Haw and variety shows hosted by Johnny Cash , Glen Campbell and other country singers. The Canadian comedy duo Wayne and Shuster made
3555-488: The censorship, rolling his eyes, mugging, and drawing out the word "t-i-i-i-me" as he sang the revised lyric. Sullivan was angered by the insubordination, but the Stones did make one additional appearance on the show, in 1969. Moe Howard of the Three Stooges recalled in 1975 that Sullivan had a memory problem of sorts: "Ed was a very nice man, but for a showman, quite forgetful. On our first appearance, he introduced us as
3634-523: The early 1950s, long before it was fashionable, Sullivan was presenting the much more obscure [B]lack entertainers he had enjoyed in Harlem on his uptown rounds — legends like Peg Leg Bates , Pigmeat Markham and Tim Moore ... strangers to white America." He hosted pioneering TV appearances by Bo Diddley , the Platters , Brook Benton , Jackie Wilson , Fats Domino and numerous Motown acts including
3713-480: The end of his life. Sullivan, like many American entertainers, was pulled into the Cold War anticommunism of the late 1940s and 1950s. Tap dancer Paul Draper 's scheduled January 1950 appearance on Toast of the Town met with opposition from Hester McCullough, an activist in the hunt for what she perceived as subversives. Branding Draper a Communist Party sympathizer, she demanded that Sullivan's lead sponsor,
3792-583: The family chose to keep the diagnosis secret from him. Sullivan, a lifelong smoker, believed his ailment to be yet another complication from a long-standing battle with gastric ulcers . He died on October 13, 1974, at New York's Lenox Hill Hospital . His funeral was attended by 2,000 people 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 has
3871-402: The frantic "I Love a Violin", the a cappella "Danny Boy", and a segment during which Phyllis retired backstage as Christine and Dorothy shared the spotlight playing a concert arrangement of "The Way We Were" on twin pianos. Other highlights in the act were a comical Trinidad-flavored tune, a soft rendering of "Memory" from Broadway's Cats , and a "Money Medley", which they also performed live on
3950-480: The group is often attributed to Phyllis' long-standing personal relationship with mobster Sam Giancana (although for years she claimed that their friendship was strictly platonic), which reportedly led to the group's blacklisting. During one of his 1960s court appearances for which Phyllis was subpoenaed, Giancana told reporters outside the courthouse, "Phyllis knows everything" about the rumored unethical behaviors of John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert . Giancana
4029-593: The group. Their initial Sullivan show appearance on February 9, 1964, was the most-watched program in TV history to that point. The Beatles appeared three more times in person and submitted filmed performances afterwards. The Dave Clark Five , who claimed a "cleaner" image than the Beatles, made 13 appearances on the show, more than any other UK group. Unlike many shows of the time, Sullivan asked that most musical acts perform their music live, rather than lip-synching to their recordings. However, exceptions were made, such as when
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#17327766857454108-474: The last great American TV show", said television critic David Hinckley. "It's one of our fondest, dearest pop culture memories." Sullivan was a broadcasting pioneer during the early years of American television . As critic David Bianculli wrote, "Before MTV , Sullivan presented rock acts. Before Bravo , he presented jazz and classical music and theater. Before the Comedy Channel , even before there
4187-877: The latter marriages remained childless. Christine's grandson, Army Cpl. Evan Asa Ashcraft, aged 24, was killed in Iraq in 2003, when the convoy he was traveling in came under fire. On July 30, 1951, Dorothy married Sgt. John Henry Brown, whom she divorced on January 9, 1956. During their childless marriage, Dorothy was romantically linked with singer Julius La Rosa . On December 6, 1958, she married Lowell James Williamson, with whom she had two sons, Rex and David. In November 1952, Phyllis married Cornelius (Neal) Anthony Burke Van Ells. They divorced in 1956. She had no children. On September 7, 2012, Dorothy McGuire died at her son's home in Paradise Valley, Arizona , after suffering from Parkinson's disease and age-related dementia; she
4266-432: The mansion if any of the money to build the lavish home came from Giancana, Phyllis denied the suggestion, claiming that she invested heavily in oil when the sisters were at the height of their popularity. In the same interview, she acknowledged that her relationship with Giancana was in fact a love affair, saying, "When I met him, I did not know who he was, and he was not married, and I was an unmarried woman. And according to
4345-528: The most appearances of any act throughout the show's run with 67 appearances between 1958 and 1969. Sullivan appeared as himself on other television programs, including an April 1958 episode of the Howard Duff and Ida Lupino CBS situation comedy Mr. Adams and Eve . On September 14, 1958, Sullivan appeared on What's My Line? as a mystery guest. In 1961, Sullivan substituted for Red Skelton on The Red Skelton Show . Sullivan took Skelton's roles in
4424-549: The music of The McGuire Sisters. Their number one single, "Sincerely", is lip-synced by the film's stars Cher , Karen Black and Sandy Dennis as "The Disciples of James Dean." " Join the Club ", the second episode of the sixth season of The Sopranos , references both The McGuire Sisters and Sam Giancana. Sincerely (song) " Sincerely " is a popular song written by Harvey Fuqua and Alan Freed and first released by The Moonglows in 1954 . The Moonglows recorded
4503-463: The next big sensation first. In November 1963, while at Heathrow Airport , Sullivan witnessed the Beatlemania spectacle as the band returned from Sweden and the terminal was overrun by screaming teens. At first Sullivan was reluctant to book the Beatles because the band did not yet have a commercially successful single in the U.S., but at the behest of his friend Sid Bernstein , Sullivan signed
4582-482: The show, Robert Precht, were in a near fatal car accident near Sullivan's country home in Southbury, Connecticut , and missed Presley's first appearance on September 9, when Charles Laughton introduced Presley. After Sullivan came 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 book
4661-411: The show, either live or on film. However, Sullivan's prediction about Bergman's career later proved correct, as she won her second Academy Award for Anastasia , as well as the forgiveness of her fans. Sullivan was engaged to champion swimmer Sybil Bauer , but she died of cancer in 1927 at the age of 23. In 1926, Sullivan met and began dating Sylvia Weinstein. Initially she told her family that she
4740-589: The side of Ray Block, musical director, to announce he had 'changed his mind' and was going to do "Diddley Daddy". After several attempts to get him to change his mind, CBS brass went into a hurried conference in attempt to synchronize the timing of the show with the longer number." Sullivan was enraged: "You're the first black boy that ever double-crossed me on the show," Diddley quoted him as saying. "We didn't have much to do with each other after that," he added. Later, Diddley resented that Elvis Presley, whom he accused of copying his revolutionary style and beat, received
4819-736: The song during their first session for Chess Records, which took place in October, 1954 at Universal Recording Corporation in Chicago. The Moonglows' version reached number one on the Billboard R&;B chart and number 20 on the Billboard Juke Box chart. Co-writing credits were shared by Moonglows band member Fuqua and disk jockey Freed. After it became known that Freed had inappropriately claimed songwriter credits for songs by bands he promoted (associated with his downfall in
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#17327766857454898-442: The studio audience, and to television viewers unaware of the circumstances, it seemed as though Mason's jokes were falling flat. Mason, in a bid to regain the audience's attention, cried, "I'm getting fingers here!" and made his own frantic hand gesture: "Here's a finger for you!" Videotapes of the incident are inconclusive as to whether Mason's upswept hand (which was just off-camera) was intended to be an indecent gesture, but Sullivan
4977-470: The various comedy sketches, with Skelton's hobo character Freddie the Freeloader renamed Eddie the Freeloader. Sullivan was quick to take offense if he felt that he had been crossed, and he could hold a grudge for a long time. As he told biographer Gerald Nachman, "I'm a pop-off. I flare up, then I go around apologizing." "Armed with an Irish temper and thin skin," wrote Nachman, "Ed brought to his feuds
5056-692: The way I was brought up, there was nothing wrong with that. And I didn't find out until sometime later really who he was, and I was already in love." The sisters reunited in 1986, performing at Toronto's Royal York Hotel for the first time since their retirement. Numerous nightclub engagements followed in Las Vegas , Atlantic City , and New York City's Rainbow & Stars, showcasing the group and Phyllis' impersonations of Peggy Lee , Judy Garland , Pearl Bailey , Ethel Merman , and even Louis Armstrong . Singing their greatest hits as part of their act, they were also featured performing specialty numbers such as
5135-562: The youngest sister, Phyllis, was four years old. Eventually, they sang at occasions outside church, and by 1949 were singing at military bases and veterans' hospitals, performing a more diverse repertoire than they had in church. The McGuire Sisters signed with Coral Records in 1952. In the same year, they appeared on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts , and Godfrey hired them for his other shows, where they remained for seven years. The November 1953 issue of Cosmopolitan called them "Godfrey's Merry McGuires". The sisters often were compared to
5214-565: Was The Tonight Show , Sullivan discovered, anointed and popularized young comedians. Before there were 500 channels, before there was cable , Ed Sullivan was where the choice was. From the start, he was indeed 'the Toast of the Town'." In 1996, Sullivan was ranked number 50 on TV Guide ' s "50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time". Sullivan was born on September 28, 1901, in Harlem , New York City, to Elizabeth F. (née Smith) and Peter Arthur Sullivan,
5293-491: Was 84. Dorothy's husband of 54 years, Lowell Williamson, died six months later on February 25, 2013, after sustaining a fractured back from a fall; he was 89. Christine McGuire died in Las Vegas , Nevada , on December 28, 2018, at the age of 92. No cause of death was given. Phyllis McGuire, the last surviving member of the trio, died peacefully at her estate in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 29, 2020, of natural causes; she
5372-483: Was 89. The McGuire Sisters, and most especially Phyllis McGuire, who lived in Las Vegas, were the subjects of the 1995 HBO movie Sugartime , which depicted a romantic relationship between Phyllis and mobster Sam Giancana . Giancana was played by actor John Turturro , and Phyllis was played by actress Mary-Louise Parker . The Robert Altman film Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean (1982) prominently features
5451-635: Was an American television host, impresario , sports and entertainment reporter, and syndicated columnist for the New York Daily News and the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate . He was the creator and host of the television variety program Toast of the Town , which in 1955 was renamed The Ed Sullivan Show . Broadcast from 1948 to 1971, it set a record as the longest-running variety show in U.S. broadcast history. "It was, by almost any measure,
5530-590: Was barely audible, except during his guitar solo. Nevertheless, the band was so well-received that Sullivan was forced to invite them back; Holly responded that Sullivan did not have enough money. Archival photographs taken during the appearance show Holly smirking and ignoring a visibly angry Sullivan. During Jackie Mason 's October 1964 performance on a show that had been shortened by ten minutes due to an address by President Lyndon Johnson , Sullivan—on-stage but off-camera—signaled Mason that he had two minutes left by holding up two fingers. Sullivan's signal distracted
5609-415: Was booked to appear in May 1963. His chosen song was " Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues ", which poked fun at the ultraconservative John Birch Society and its tendency to see Communist conspiracies in many situations. No concern was voiced by anyone, including Sullivan, during rehearsals; but on the day of the broadcast, CBS's Standards and Practices department rejected the song, fearing that lyrics equating
5688-410: Was convinced that it was, and banned Mason from future appearances on the program. Mason later said that he did not know what the "middle finger" meant, and that he did not make the gesture anyway. In September 1965, Sullivan—who, according to Mason, was "deeply apologetic" —brought Mason on the show for a "surprise grand reunion". "He said they were old pals," Nachman wrote, "news to Mason, who never got
5767-460: Was dating a Jewish man named Ed Solomon, but her brother discovered it was Sullivan, who was Catholic. Both their families were strongly opposed to interfaith marriage, which resulted in a discontinuous relationship for the next three years. They were finally married on April 28, 1930, in a City Hall ceremony. Eight months later Sylvia gave birth to Elizabeth ("Betty"), named after Sullivan's mother, who had died that year. In 1952, Betty Sullivan married
5846-404: Was dressed and coiffed identically, and performed synchronized body movements and hand gestures with military precision. Their recordings of "Sincerely", "Picnic", and "Sugartime" all sold more than one million copies. They retired from public appearances in 1968, giving their last performance that year on The Ed Sullivan Show . Phyllis McGuire continued to perform solo for a time. The demise of
5925-587: Was in fact in the exclusive domain of his impressionists, as Sullivan never actually spoke the phrase "really big show" during the opening introduction of any episode in the entire history of the series. Jordan portrayed Sullivan in the films I Wanna Hold Your Hand , The Buddy Holly Story , The Doors , Mr. Saturday Night , Down with Love and in the 1979 television movie Elvis . Sullivan played himself, parodying his mannerisms as directed by Jerry Lewis, in Lewis' 1964 film The Patsy . Sullivan inspired
6004-548: Was named the New York Evening Graphic 's Broadway columnist. He left the paper for the city's largest tabloid, the New York Daily News . His column, "Little Old New York", concentrated on Broadway shows and gossip, and Sullivan also delivered showbusiness news broadcasts on radio. In 1933, Sullivan wrote and starred in the film Mr. Broadway , in which he guided the audience around New York nightspots to meet entertainers and celebrities. Sullivan soon became
6083-658: Was planning a return to Hollywood with the film Anastasia after living in exile in Europe since 1950 in the wake of her scandalous love affair with director Roberto Rossellini . Sullivan was confident that the American public would welcome her back, and invited her to appear on his show. He flew to Europe to film an interview with Bergman, Yul Brynner , and Helen Hayes on the Anastasia set. When Sullivan arrived back in New York, Standards and Practices informed him that under no circumstances would Bergman be permitted to appear on
6162-472: Was shot in 1975 by an unknown gunman thought to be Dominic "Butch" Blasi, his closest confidante and right hand man of sorts. Phyllis resided for decades in a famously showcased mansion in Las Vegas, boasting its own beauty parlor, a swan moat, and a replica of the Eiffel Tower which actually rose through the home's roof. When asked by Barbara Walters during a 1980s ABC-TV 20/20 interview from within
6241-405: Was too overt a reference to drug use , and directed that the lyric be changed to "Girl, we couldn't get much better" for the group's September 1967 appearance. The band members "nodded their assent", according to Doors biographer Ben Fong-Torres, then sang the song as written. After the broadcast, producer Bob Precht told the group, "Mr. Sullivan wanted you for six more shows, but you'll never work
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