MYSTERY GUEST: Anne Jeffreys & Robert Sterling [husband & wife TV actors, best remembered for playing the deceased Kirbys in the TV version of "Topper"] PANEL: Arlene Francis, Phil Rizutto, Dorothy Kilgallen, Bennett Cerf
Back in the 1950's, I thought Anne Jeffreys was one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. Her husband was also easy on the eyes. "Topper" was one of my favorite TV shows. Anne had the first French roll hairdo, as Marion Kirby, I had ever seen. I love that she wears it that way here.
Anne Jeffreys was well-loved in Hollywood and was in the inner circle of all the Hollywood Beauties of the Golden Era....I thought the same.....beautiful, lovely, smart, clever....not something you see, today....
Anne Jefferys was on a PBS Visiting With Huell Howser show titled The Two Anns in 2010 with her friend and co-actress Ann Rutherford who was in the Andy Hardy series with Mickey Rooney and she was in Gone With the Wind as Scarlett Ohara's younger sister. Ann Jeffreys who actually was an opera singer as well as actress died in 2017 at the age of 94. In the 2010 Huell Howser show she was still quite beautiful especially considering she was in her mid 80s. The Huell Howser The Two Anns show is on RU-vid if anyone would like to see it. Huell Howser was well known in California as he visited many places and people in CA. He made 100s of shows for PBS.
Mountain Fisher: Yes I saw them with Huell on his PBS program the day it came on. I posted a comment on that and also did you see her son? He was absolutely not good looking! Huell died several years after from prostrate cancer.
Eva Lamouret was born Veda Victoria Ross (also known as Eva Vicki Ross; stage name "Maggie") on November 8, 1927, in Roscoe, Texas. She later adopted the name Eva from her elder sister's birth name and was known as Eva Vicki. She married ventriloquist Robert Lamouret in Paris in 1950, and had two daughters with him. Lamouret's act included a talking duck puppet dressed in a sailor's outfit, and he also appeared in episodes of the Ed Sullivan Show. After her husband's death in 1959, Eva Vicki Lamouret married Robert Sherman Hender; they divorced in 1973. She died in Maitland, Florida on May 29, 2002. She was one of the famous Ross Sisters during the 1940s - SEARCH for Solid Potato Salad on RU-vid. No wonder she qualified as a chiropractor.
Don't you just love Bennett's aside to Dorothy: "I just want to ask Dorothy a question. Is Liberace married?" Anne Jeffreys and Robert Sterling are yet another pricelessly funny and entertaining Mystery Guest segment - AND they were married to each other (second marriage for each of them) for over 55 years "till death do us part," namely, his death at the age of 88 in 2006. Anne Jeffreys will turn 90 on January 26 this year - in just 2 days, in fact.....
Anne will now turn 92 in about two months. Surprisingly she's had an acting role as recently as last year in an HBO series. They made a very glamorous looking couple.
I always thought that Anne Jeffreys and Robert Sterling were both nice to look at -- even when I was a kid and I saw them in syndicated re-runs of the half-hour sitcom "Topper" where they played ghosts Marian and George Kerby, whom only Cosmo Topper (Leo G. Caroll) could see and hear after he bought the Kerby's house and moved into it. So here I am looking at them 50-odd years later and I still think they're nice to look at. Anne Jeffreys is still alive at the age of 93 -- Robert Sterling died in 2006 at age 88 after having been married to Ms. Jeffreys for 55 years (since 1951). I think they were made for each other.
Veda Victoria Ross (also known as Eva Vicki Ross; stage name "Maggie") was born on November 8, 1927, in Roscoe, Texas. She later adopted the name Eva from her elder sister's birth name, and was known as Eva Vicki. She married ventriloquist Robert Lamouret in Paris in 1950, and had two daughters with him. Lamouret's act included a talking duck puppet dressed in a sailor's outfit, and he also appeared in episodes of the Ed Sullivan Show. On the July 28, 1957 broadcast of What's My Line?, she appeared as a guest. She used the name Eva Lamouret and surprised the panel (but didn't stump them) by revealing that she was a chiropractor. After her husband's death in 1959, Eva Vicki Lamouret married Robert Sherman Hender; they divorced in 1973. She died in Maitland, Florida on May 29, 2002.
The Yankees had played a double header with Detroit that day, losing the first game 5-6 in 9 innings and winning the second 4-3 in 15 innings. Thus 24 innings. the only thing I can think of that Arlene was referring to was that there had been a single game that lasted 26 innings in 1920 between between the Dodgers and Braves. The 24 inning double header would not have broken any records. but it was along day for Phil who must have rushed to the theater to do this show. It was his first of 40 seasons broadcasting Yankee games after having played shortstop for them for 16 seasons.
The Yankees always had trouble with the Tigers back then. If they had played half as well against the rest of the American League, they would have been solid contenders every year(besides 1961). They were generally thought to have the second best talent in the league after the Yankees.
Topper was in syndication by the time this episode was aired and that was how it was on the air when I saw it. This was one of my favorite acted (i.e. not animated) shows as a child. I loved Anne Jeffreys & Robert Sterling (as the Kerby's), Leo G. Carroll (as Cosmo Topper) and the invariably drunk St. Bernard (Neil). I also loved Carroll in "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.". But for some reason, Topper only lasted two seasons. And I don't understand why Anne & Robert never really found another vehicle that showcased their great talents (as well as their physical attractiveness).
+Lois Simmons Some years ago I found a book on great comediennes & Anne Jeffreys was one of the 7 or 8 covered. The author moaned over her talents not being properly utilized.
Lois Simmons, I have always thought the same about especially Anne Jeffreys. But consider how Hollywood trampled over the great Buster Keaton! As an actor once said, "It's a rotten damned game."
22:29 when Dorothy asks if they have a baby and Bennett says: "That doesn't do anything for me at all." I had to stop playback until I stopped laughing.
I noticed that too, and many other moments between Bennett and Dorothy where they seem to be laughing and chatting amicably, which baffles me all the more considering Bennett later comments about her.
I've heard, but have not read, comments from Bennett about Dorothy. He said the rest of the panel didn't like her politics (Republican), and he called her column "disgusting," and he said they were all careful not to talk about confidential matters in her presence, but he never said they loathed each other!
This is also my impression from listening to Bennett's interviews about 25 years after this broadcast. However, do we know for a fact that Dorothy was a Republican or conservative, politically? She was Irish Catholic and my memory is that they, as a demographic, were overwhelmingly in favor of John Kennedy for President in 1960. Or maybe she jumped the fence in this particular election. Also, Bennett sounds more curmudgeonly in his old age in those interviews. They may not reflect his feelings in the 1950's and '60's.
+Vincent Fitzpatrick I think I've been in the same sitch as Bennett where my explanatory comments about a friend came out sounding more negative than intended:all of us have our faults. Bennett makes it clear that he liked Dorothy in his book, & was the panelist who would bring up her name after she died. Daly would never do that after his initial comments re her husband saying she would want the show to go on: a conversation that quite apparently never took place.
@@lemorab1 His actual comment about them not liking her politics was followed by the explanation that "she was a Hearst girl" Take that any way you like. (She was employed by a Hearst newspaper)
Loved the 'Topper'' TV show---great fun, a Hoot---having Ghosts in one's house that you could be friendly with and interact...Anne, always looked so good and at times, quite Glamorous on the show...Robert just was so Damn handsome a Dude, a typically good-looking 50's guy....had such a 'boyhood' crush on him as a youngster....(I, was OUT from the Get-go)....and the booze loving St. Bernard....they did some fine and classy Cigarette commercials, also....And Phil Rizutto----Damn, a fine good-looking Man's Man.....with classy charm and New York Mannerisms......
Eva Lamouret was an AMAZING contortionist! There's got to still be a clip around somewhere of her as part of the Ross Sisters trio in the number "Potato Salad". She's also the only person I've seen correct John Daly's impeccable English (and she was right!).
Sometimes I'm a tad slow on the uptake! I just realized that you've been posting tons of vintage stuff on several different channels. Can't thank you enough! I had just viewed an episode of Topper and RU-vid, who apparently knows me better than I know myself, suggested this video. Back in the '60's I had the pleasure of seeing Anne and Robert in NY in a revival of the musical "Kismet". I remember how much I loved it, particularly because of them - imagine Anne in an Arabian nights costume!!
Glad you've been enjoying the videos! No particular reason anyone should know the same person is doing several channels, don't worry about it. I'm just happy people watch them. I LOVED Topper as a kid, absolutely loved it. I don't find it holds up all that well for me as an adult, but I still enjoy watching for nostalgia value-- even though it aired 15 years before I was even born. :)
I also saw that production of Kismet. 1965. I was 8 years old. I was SO excited a real TV star -- Anne Jeffreys from Topper, which I loved -- was in the same physical space as I was. Half a century later, I work in theatre because of that show!
@@WhatsMyLine I watched the TV show years ago and liked these actors. However, the 1937 film "Topper" with Cary Grant, Constance Bennett, Roland Young & Billie Burke does hold up over time. It has rather a different flavor, mood, rhythm. It is comedic, quirky, a bit slapstick, busybodyish and contains a light touch of sadness, though they adapt quite quickly to death.
When Anne says at the end that they're doing "Anniversary Waltz" in Dayton, that's where I met them. Bob was my cousin, and I was so thrilled at meeting them with my family after the show (at the Key Motel, where they were staying in Dayton). I fixated on Neil, asking them all about him. Ann said he was over 200 pounds, and as a child, I thought that was about the size of Trigger.
As I've observed before, many things have changed since WML was on the air, including use of terminology. Back then, "lie detector" was pretty much the standard term for "polygraph", and if the second contestant's profession had been shown as "Operates Polygraph", I think most people in 1957 wouldn't have known what that was. Nowadays, though, I seldom hear anyone use the term "lie detector" and almost everyone says "polygraph", and the latter term is almost universally understood.
Buggy--horse drawn vehicle. Ice box--refrigerator. Grammar school--elementary education, etc. (Do you remember the hectograph? Carbon copies in triplicate, the last one illegible?)
@@barrykendrick3146 Actually the two processes are much different: a photostat used photochemical means to make a copy of a document, sometimes resulting in a negative image (white writing on a black background). It involved paper with a light-sensitive emulsion coating, wet developers, and so forth. Photocopy machines like those made by Xerox use a dry process: a light-sensitive drum or belt is given an electrostatic charge which dissipates when the light parts of an image are projected onto it. The charged dark parts then attract a powdered toner, a mix of plastic and carbon black, which is then transferred to plain paper and heat-fused to it, just as in a laser printer.
+@@neilmidkiff Interesting that even though I knew the processes to be different I never considered "photostat" incorrect. When Xerox machines appeared, those of us who knew the term continued to use it meaning "a copy" or "to copy," exactly as those who used the term "xerox." No doubt it slowly disappeared, not because it was incorrect, but because it was a simpler word! And I'm still "dialing" my telephone; are you punchcoding yours?!
Topper was a very funny show, it was shown on a local TV channel, M-F, at 11pm, during 1981 and 1982, but hasn't been on TV since, at least not locally, here. I also liked the Topper movies. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is another great ghost sitcom, the storyline is simply different.
The Detroit Tigers were the Yankees opponent for a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium on July 28, 1957. The Yankees were in the usual position in first place while the Tigers were tied with Cleveland for fourth place with a .500 record. The Tigers held off a 7th inning rally by the Yankees to win the opening game, 6-5. The game took 2:47, a long game at that time. In the nightcap, the Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth, but the Yankees answered with three runs on a lead off double by Tony Kubek, Bill Skowron hit by one of Billy Hoeft's pitches with two out, followed by a Hank Bauer triple and a single by Elston Howard. The fifth inning was lengthened when Harvey Kuenn of the Tigers was thrown out at first base and in the ensuing argument over the call, both Kuenn and Tigers manager Jack Tighe were thrown out of the game by first base umpire Frank Tabacchi. Less than two years later, Tabacchi would be demoted to the minor leagues, presumably for not measuring up to snuff as a major league umpire, and never umpired in the major leagues again. He retired after the 1962 season, perhaps because he was not promoted back to the majors when expansion during the 1961 and 1962 seasons required the promoting of 8 more umpires to the major leagues. The Tigers rallied to tie the score in the seventh on a lead off double by Frank Bolling, a walk to Jim Finigan, a sacrifice bunt by Hoeft to move along the runners one base and a double by Bill Tuttle. But Art Ditmar came on in relief of Johnny Kucks to retire Jim Small for the final out of the inning. The Yankees loaded the bases in the 8th inning, but Hoeft retired Bauer on an infield pop up to end the threat. In the 14th inning, the Tigers loaded the bases with one out (including a single by their starting pitcher, Hoeft, who was still in the game), but relief pitcher Bob Grim got Tuttle to foul out to first baseman Skowron and struck out Small. The Tigers loaded the bases again in the 15th inning on a lead off double by Dave Philley, an intentional walk of Ray Boone, a sacrifice bunt by Red Wilson, and an intentional walk of Bolling. But Grim rose to the occasion again by striking out pinch hitter J W Porter (yes, his full name) and getting Hoeft (allowed to bat for himself in the 15th inning) on a ground ball to short. Charlie Maxwell, who had injured his ribs on Friday, apparently was not available for pinch hitting duties and the Tigers had used up most of their bench because of Kuenn being ejected in the fifth inning. They used three different shortstops in his place during the game. The Tigers' weakness was their bullpen, so Hoeft, even though he was bothered by a sore arm during the season, went back to the mound in the bottom of the 15th. With one out, Mickey Mantle walked and scored on Skowron's triple to end the game. It should be noted that the Rizzuto was by far the junior of the three Yankees announcers in 1957, behind Mel Allen and Red Barber. He would not have announced all 24 innings. Still, it was impressive that he made it from Yankee Stadium to midtown Manhattan in less than 90 minutes and had time to dress in evening clothes and look as cool as a cucumber. At some point, the WML staff must have been getting nervous and were looking for someone to take his place, if necessary. Theoretically, the game could have continued until the AL curfew at the time of 1 AM. The Tigers weren't scheduled to play again until Tuesday night in Boston and they would have no problem getting there in time from New York.
Today it would take (according to Google Maps) 21 minutes to drive from what was then Yankee Stadium to the (then) Mansfield Theater (later named the Brooks Atkinson) so its not that surprising he could get on air dressed up and looking in his prime in 90 minutes. But yes I'm sure the producers were monitoring the game closely. We know now that they had a Plan B if an MG didn't show (John) but wonder what their Plan B was if the Guest Panelist didn't.
I always feel a little badly for the husbands in these husband and wife teams when the wife is better known, even though they're both performers, and this disparity in fame and name recognition is put into sharp relief during the questioning. In this case, Bennett guesses the couple at the 11th hour, but can't remember Robert Sterling's full name (and then John can't get the title of their show correct!). On a recent previous episode, Tony Franciosa experienced the same when Arlene admitted that she knew that the Mystery Guests were Shelley Winters and spouse, but couldn't remember what the husband's name was. Similar things happened to Mr. Dinah Shore (George Montgomery) and Mr. Hope Lange (Don Murray) on later episodes.
This is a video of the Ross Sisters, a song/dance/contortionist act that the first guest, Eva Lamouret, the chiropractor, had been a member of. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-d1J3NLNWAPU.html You can read more about it on Wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Sisters
+Jenny Brown I thought so, too! I wasn't sure at first which one in the video was Eva, the one on the left or the one on the right, but when I posted it on the WML Facebook group's page (administered by our benefactor, the owner of this channel facebook.com/groups/728471287199862/ ), someone said it was obvious she was the one on the left. I agree, now.
Mr. Arther later went on to be in charge of his own lie detecting firm, and was apparently durn good at it, as he was the person engaged to go over both Jack Ruby's and James Earl Ray's polygraph tests. Died in 2007. More info: www.zoominfo.com/p/Richard-Arther/32901586 1950s era polygraph machine, being used by a Lincoln police inspector; it's a weirdly damaged picture, but it shows the set-up better than most pictures of that era's machines -- brynmawrcollections.org/traces/archive/files/504e01b2531e3963b2c4dad74c4fbab9.jpg
Worst mistake I've ever seen John make on the air: he attributed the husband and wife mystery show Mr. and Mrs. North to this mystery guests when their show was Topper. OUCH!
I disagree. The worst mistake John made was when Steve Allen was the mystery guest and John told one of the panelists, "Your turn, Mr. Allen". He says that was the only time he ever did that.
The worst I ever saw him do was when he complimented Doris Day on her recent movie, saying how much he enjoyed it. She looked at him strangely and said she had not started filming that movie yet. OUCH!!!
Poor Mr. Daly. First he got the Sterling-Jeffreys show wrong. (It was Richard Denning and Barbara Britton, not married in real life, in _Mr. and Mrs. North_ , which was a mystery show with a sense of humor.) Then, trying to correct himself, he referred to them as Mr. and Mrs. Topper. But Mr. and Mrs. Topper were played (very annoyingly, I always found) by Leo G. Carroll and Lee Patrick. Yes, I know, that's the way the Mr. and Mrs. Topper characters were written, in the _Topper_ films too. Jeffreys and Sterling played the ghosts of Mr. and Mrs. Kerby in the _Topper_ TV series, and I loved their performances, which made the show click. Thank goodness, Miss Jeffreys let that error slide and instead gave a plug to the theater performances she and her husband were doing. Oh, and they could both sing, she in operetta as well as musical comedy including the original run of Kurt Weill's _Street Scene, _ in which she sang "What Good with the Moon Be?"
Given the rules, it is odd that they asked most questions inefficiently. That is, if they had suspected a guest might have been a teacher, they tended to ask something like, "Are you involved in teaching?" The answer is likely "no," which yields very little information. However, it accomplishes the same thing to ask the reverse and it is _far_ more likely that someone is _not_ involved in teaching--or most anything else--than that they are. Asking, "Is it correct to say you are _not_ involved in teaching?" ensures that if you get a "no," you really learned something for it.
Arlene's intro about a 1912 baseball game "way back before any of us were born" is a little disingenuous. She herself was born in 1907, and Bennett was born in 1898. Dorothy (1913) and John (1914) didn't miss it by much.
Snooty John Daly had his English corrected by the Chiropractor. ha ha! He also messed up by giving the wrong name of the series starring Robert Sterling and Anne Jeffreys. It's always nice to see a snob getting corrected.
@@TheNomadicview I am pretty sure Dorothy and Bennett were homophobic, but Arlene I think was very liberal. At least she seems to be the way she converses.
I have had chiropractic perpendicular above my neck at the jawbone-cheekbone for severe sinus problems. And boy did it help! So that was incorrect …but maybe at the time, they never did that…
Anne Jeffreys from the South is the most beautiful woman I’ve seen!!! She just passed away very recently. Robert her husband is very handsome! They made a very beautiful couple! I saw Anne on Huell Hauser’s PBS program a decade ago before he took her and Anne Rutherford to a restaurant in downtown L. A. Ca. at her house in West L.A. and her son appeared. He absolutely is not good looking unlike his parents unless he was adopted or there was an extra-marital affair!
@@stevekru6518 Not necessarily. Technically, the reason anyone is called Dr. is because they have earned their Doctorate Degree and not strictly based on what profession they are in even though it's common for people to wrongly restrict using the title for Doctors in the medical profession only. In other words, a Medical Doctor is supposed to be addressed as Dr. because he has a Doctorate Degree in his field, and not simply because he is 'in' that field.
J love watching this show. I think the dresses Dorothy & Arlene are so elegant & ahead of their time. They are so beautiful & the men's suits are trendy too. Strange to think these people have passed away & sadly Dorothy was murdered. We are watching history. Some of the guests actually invented things. But it's fascinating how things have changed, sometimes Tey smoke, wear fur, do bull fighting, look after lab monkeys.
@@perpieta Just to clarify matters: in this era the show was broadcast live to most of the country at 10:30 pm Eastern Time on Sunday evenings. A few locales (e.g. Alaska and Hawaii territories, and perhaps some remote mountainous areas) weren't reached by nationwide hookups, so the show was kinescoped: a film camera was aimed at a high-quality studio monitor which displayed the same video signal that was being broadcast. Copies of the film would be sent out to local stations in the remote areas for delayed broadcast, and a copy was kept by the producers for an archive; this is the source from which we can now see these episodes. In the early 1950s, live TV from NYC reached only part of the eastern half of the country, and many areas saw the show on kinescope. By the end of the run in 1967, with the final season broadcast in color, they were still archiving the show on black-and-white kinescope film, probably out of habit as well as for economy and accessibility.
Why did the chiropractor keep looking at John Charles Daly when asked simple questions like: do you do anything to save people - or are you a general practitioner? Those we’re simple yes or no answers.
After TOPPER went off the air, I always thought Anne and Robert could have easily portrayed a married couple on a sitcom, but maybe it was their choice to pursue other projects. Does anyone know if they ever considered going back on TV in their own show? I remember seeing Robert in an episode of NAKED CITY a few years later.
As mentioned in the program, she and her sisters were entertainers back in the 40's as the Ross Sisters. Be sure to search for their "Solid Potato Salad" number in the movie Broadway Rhythm!
What's My Line? I enjoy his bad puns as much as his ad libs. But it is more of an art to be able to make something funny in the present time. One of my favorite is when a designer of midget submarines was the contestant. After the game Carol Channing asked for whom it was designed and Bennett immediatley said "for midgets". :) Very funny!
+oldfart4751 The PC thing may be all too confusing. The few Indians I've met much prefer to to be called such than "Native Americans." Technically midgets are in perfect proportion & dwarfs are not, yet many wish to be called "dwarfs." I'm unwilling to speak more than a few syllables of PC confabulations.
In 1912 Philadelphia had two major league baseball teams, the Athletics and the Phillies and nearly 100 years before interleague play, the only Philadelphia team that played the Braves (one of two Boston teams in that era) was the Phillies.
Don't remember Robert Sterling and Anne Jeffreys. They apparently had a lot of guest star stints in the 70s and 80s where I might have seen them, but it's clear that the heyday of their careers occurred before that period.
Please remove this moronic troll from the comments section. Unfortunately today's awful society is full of losers intent on ruining other people's pleasure in using social media. Thank you.
![What's My Line? - Anne Jeffreys & Robert Sterling; Phil Rizutto [panel] (Jul 28, 1957)](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
