On the morning of October 19, 1953, Julius was waiting to perform in his "spot" during Arthur Godfrey's morning radio program- the first 75 minutes of which were simulcast on TV. Usually, he was featured during the first quarter hour [the 10am segment]. But Godfrey kept him waiting until the last five minutes of the program [around 11:25am(et)], at which point the program was heard on radio only. As of 11:29am, LaRosa was no longer a part of Arthur's radio and TV shows. "Was I just fired?", he asked someone.
A family of very nice people? Godfrey..nice? OMG! Give me a break Mr.Godfrey..where ever you are? You know damn well that is a lie..you were never a nice person.
What happened was, Julie went out and got his own agent- in direct violation of Godfrey's edict that *his* management team would handle all of his cast's bookings and contracts. He went to CBS vice president Jack Van Volkenburgh for advice on how to handle the situaition. Van Volkenburgh told him in effect, "You practically 'hired' LaRosa on the air when he appeared on 'TALENT SCOUTS' in 1950, didn't you? The only way you'll be able to protect yourself legally when you get rid of him is to *'fire'* him on the air." And that's what Godfrey did. But listeners LIKED Julie, and didn't like Arthur's explanation for firing him {because he "lacked humility"}. Ed Sullivan didn't like the way Godfrey treated LaRosa, either......and signed him for several appearances on his 'TOAST OF THE TOWN" TV show. And that led to his substituting for Perry Como from time to time, and his own programs. Godfrey then fired his orchestra leader, Archie Bleyer (because he signed LaRosa to a Cadence record contract), and several others over the next two years. That didn't help his popularity, either.
@@kevinbutler1955NYC To me he was. He was a cornball who thought he had talent. I’ve heard some of his music, and IMO, it’s real cornball stuff. I just thought he was goofy.
Cornball is not the adjective that I would use for some of Mr.Godfrey's tunes..Gary..including one song..that Mr.Godfrey hated and..I also hate this tune..too"The Too Fat Polka".
Because Godfrey was a control freak, a term unknown at the time. He could not tolerate LaRosa having a higher profile of popularity than what Godfrey thought he should have. He resented the singer making more money and felt he should get a piece of it. LaRosa was ambitious for his own career, as was Godfrey for his. This kind of thing has happened a lot in show biz when the boss sees a lesser star rise up so they destroy the rising star to protect their own ego.
Following the LaRosa firing, Godfrey fired 20 other people from his show. From the first time I saw him on TV in the md-'60s, I never found him to be likeable - and didn't even know about the LaRosa incident.
@@chilitoday You touch on La Rosa's making recording money independently of Godfrey with Cadence Records. La Rosa was selling records of songs he had popularized on Godfrey's show like "Anywhere I Wander". I think this made Godfrey furious that he wasn't receiving a cut and he had a well known reputation of turning on the people he was closest to.
@@chilitoday Yeah LaRosa wanted to move on his career, and any employer should look at that as a positive. Like you had a part in helping someone advance, but I've known many in business whose ego is so fragile and are so insecure they will get angry at someone wanting to move on with their career. This was one of the worst offenses though. He could have felt this way and still not handled it so poorly.
I had the pleasure of meeting Julius LaRosa many years later...we talked about 'the firing'....he wasn't totally blindsided...he never trusted Godfrey...it was based on complete jealousy on Godfrey's part.
