What's My Line? - Fifth anniversary show; Pearl Bailey; Sam Levenson [panel] (Feb 6, 1955) 

All the shows are so fresh and fun,sadly all the regular panelists and host are long gone,how lucky are we that these great episodes have been shared to RU-vid and in fantastic shape,I love them all,the host John Daly is superb in his role

I'm glad since this show they eliminated that silly walk in front of the panel and the free guess.🎵🎵

I miss Pearl Bailey. She always brought smiles to everyone's Faces

That is a lovely hat Pearl Bailey is wearing.

Thank goodness they changed the format where the contestants would leave by walking behind John Charles Daly; it was really undignified, especially in light of the fact that the mystery celebrities shook the panelists’ hands when they left.

Miss Pearl is of the world. 😘😘😘

I saw Pearl Bailey in New York in the black version of HELLO DOLLY 1971.

Pearl Bailey was a lovely Mystery Guest.

Pearl Bailey, was a beautiful woman and very kind. Ms. Pearl Bailey visited my school along with her very gifted drummer husband. Thank you miss Bailey and your husband.

Pat Finch appeared three times on What's My Line: the very first show in 1950, this show in 1955, and the final show in 1967.

Pat Finch died just a month ago. She was 93.

I had a bonnet like the one Miss Arlene Frances has on when I was a little girl back in the 1960's. My grandma bought it for me. I would wear it on Sundays. Children dressed up in those days.

Pearl bailey was the owl in the cartoon movie the fox and the hound

Great shows

I always thought "Pearlie Mae" was just Beautiful in looks and actions..i remember seeing her on Merv Griffin a LOT

"Fanny" opened on Nov. 5, 1954 at the Majestic Theatre. It had 888 performances and closed on 12/16/56 (the final two weeks at the Belasco Theatre). The original cast included in the three lead roles, Ezio Pinza as Cesar (and who will be part of the WML panel 2 weeks after this show aired), Walter Slezak as Panisse and Florence Henderson as Fanny. Pat Finch is listed as a maid in the original cast, something that Broadway World online missed. And a trivia footnote: as one of the Acolyte's in the performance, the last billed part went to an 11 year old child actor from Cresskill, New Jersey by the name of Gary Wright. Gary would eventually become a keyboardist and early user of the synthesizer. He played background keyboards for George Harrison for over 30 years as well as many other well-known popular musical stars, helped form the band Spooky Tooth in London and is best known for his solo megahits "Dream Weaver" and "Love is Alive" in 1976. He still performs, released his most recent album in 2010 and his autobiography in 2014, and notes that "Dream Weaver" is a much deeper spiritual song than it was made to seem when it was used in "Wayne's World".

A show of anniversaries with the 5th anniversary of WML and a mention of the 75th anniversary of the Salvation Army. It also happened to be my mom's 40th birthday, although I was still a bit too young to remember that. I don't know if my family had their first television set by this time (I know they had it by late summer in 1956), but if they did, my mom would have been thrilled to see Sam Levinson appear on her birthday. One note of clarification about the Salvation Army's anniversary: in 2015, The Salvation Army celebrated its 150th anniversary. For those of you facile in arithmetic, you may have noted that the numbers don't add up. While the Army officially began in London in 1865, it did not officially begin in other countries (Australia, Ireland and the United States were the first three) with the arrival of Salvation Army officers there in 1880. However, they found adherents to the Salvation Army's mission already in those countries doing the work unofficially when they arrived and gladly joined forces with them. A lot of people in the U.S. also do not know that the Salvation Army eventually became a church as well as an evangelistic movement and mission. One of their churches is where I currently attend church.

I have always wondered why a bench was not supplied when Greer were more than one guest. When a conference was required, I also couldn’t understand why a partition wasn’t placed- better than hands I suppose. Nevertheless, it was and still is one of the most entertaining shows of all times. Truly miss those times before I was born and very young. Such class, respect, decorum! What has happened to the world of today? Please bring this show back in its natural and true form!

Did it not occur to the producers to have giant clocks posted not just for Daley to see and manage time, but how helpful it would be for the panelists so they knew to stop dawdling and get a move on? That might've made such a difference in the pace and given the contestants the much earned time they actually deserved.

Um. ok ….THAT is the most adorable child's thought...."a caterpillar is a worm which took off its fur coat" TOOOOOOO CUTE!!!!!!!!!!

Wonderful watching this.

Pearl Bailey was a classy beautiful lady.

Sam Levenson is the schoolteacher we all wish we had.

Lovely episode😃❣️

At 14:50 - John Daly blends ringing down the curtain with throwing in the towel. Mixed metaphors are great fun... I’m often out on a limb without a paddle.

THE RETURN.... OF PAT FINCH! I bet she was really happy not to have to deal with Gov. Hoffman, Psychologist Hoffman and Louis U. on this one. That first episode makes feel like I need to take a shower.

I was born 3 days after this aired.

Dang show... I ended up having to google the animal classification chart to find out where worms fit in 😂🤣😂

I remember most of these celebrities.

I thought I noticed Arlene wearing a different necklace for her heart pendant on last week's show. Love the necklace this week. Very pretty! The lacy, bowed doily on her head? Um... Interesting. 😊

Loved Pearl Bailey!

RIP Pat Finch

I love Arlene’s head adornment. So pretty.

Six months after Pearl Baily appeared on this program Emmitt Till was beaten to death for whistling at a white woman.

Queen Latifa reminds me of Pearl Bailey!

Pearl Bailey looks like Queen Latifah in this segment.

Arlene looks really attractive here.

I appreciate Daly defending Pat Finch's progress. (Also, I like Arlene's hat. But Miss Bailey's more.) And now, a picture Mrs. Whitney and a Middleweight champion, Joe Taylor (the library may shunt you to the main page, but the picture's easily findable from there): images.ulib.csuohio.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/press/id/5023/rec/7

5:20 "Mr. Rubirosa" "Porfirio Rubirosa Ariza" (January 22, 1909 - July 5, 1965) was a Dominican diplomat, race car driver, soldier and polo player. He was known globally as a ladies man. He married two of the richest women in the world. World famous at the time, he is almost forgotten today.

Mr. Daly tells most of the contestants to 'take a hike', :-).

According to BroadwayWorld.com, Patricia Finch was in 6 productions on Broadway. "Fanny" was her first. She answered "no" when asked if she was an understudy, but at some point she understudied the Fishwife part and also was a replacement for the part of a nun. www.broadwayworld.com/people/Patricia-Finch/

I LOVE PEARL!

I've noticed that the men in this period/era all had the same hairline. How unusual is that? Like they were really totally bald on top but had this 4 inches of "hair" in the middle of their head that swept backwards over the top of their head. Imagine them in the shower it must be the one piece of "hair" that when shampoo'd falls down to their chin? I always wondered if the style was for balding men to have the same toupe of partial hair? Does anyone know?

Comments left on prior version of this video: John Fuentes 1 year ago Didn't they change the format to one question at a time? I found it boring when one person could just continue asking ad infinitim. What's My Line? 1 year ago Indeed they did, but only for the mystery guest round; The change of rules took place on 4/17/55, not long after this one. That same episode was also the one where they finally eliminated the contestants' "Walk of Shame" down the panel before the regular rounds began. soulierinvestments 10 months ago I bet Pat Finch was glad she did not have to do the Walk of Shame again. She did the very first walk of shame; maybe it was not degrading but it was embarrassing what with Louis Untermeyer speculating that her perfume was "My Sin." She certainly must have lit up "Fanny." Years later, she was also involved in the chorus of "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" and did some understudy work, too. efesgirl999 1 year ago Such a great show! Shames today's television....I wish there were still men like John Daly around. TOTAL CLASS! Todd Brandt 1 year ago The lovely Pat Finch quite strongly resembles the wonderful singer Marilyn Maye, who is still going strong at age 86. recordsontheweb.net/media/ccp0/prodlg/LPM_3397.jpg iamintheburg 4 months ago When, oh WHEN are they gonna make the PEARL BAILEY STORY with Queen Latifah as Pearlie Mae ? Johan Bengtsson 9 months ago Pearl Bailey played in the musical "House of Flowers" by Harold Arlen and Truman Capot, directed by Peter Brook. This was the first time they used steel pan as a musical instrument in a Broadway show. Pygiana 11 months ago I keep expecting Steve Allen to return. Did they just drop him or didn't he want to come back? What's My Line? 11 months ago Steve left in 1954 to begin hosting the Tonight Show, which was a 5 day a week show that I'm sure he had his hands more than full with. He returned as a guest panelist many, many times, though, and it's a always a real treat to see him back. He sat in for Fred Allen on the show after Fred died (just the evening before). Pygiana 11 months ago Many thanks for clearing up that mystery for. Johan Bengtsson 9 months ago Fred Allen mentions [Porfirio] Rubirosa who was an international Playboy at that time and had been married to Barbara Hutton. Johan Bengtsson 9 months ago Wow! This was the fifth anniversary show! Pat Finch was the very first contestant on that show February 2, 1950. Rowan Smith 1 year ago The final contestant isn't amused by the 'traffic cop in the tunnel of love" joke Johan Bengtsson 9 months ago If Sam Levenson had known that the she was a Salvation Army Captain, I doubt he had made that free guess. joed596 6 months ago wow, their 5th year anniversary! :-) what a great show this was, and thanks for your uploads! mrpuniverse2 1 year ago Miss Finch had a few small roles in movies and tv and appeared on WML three times Rikard Peterson 1 year ago Thanks again for posting these episodes, complete and in order! Not only does it satisfy my sense of order (I'm the kind of person who alphabetises my cd-collection), but it also makes sense of these small week-to-week things, like the worms discussed here for the third week in a row. :) What's My Line? 1 year ago Thanks, Rikard! I always, always, always like to watch shows in the order they aired if at all possible. It really adds to the experience to be able to get those week-to-week references (like Bennett Cerf's war against sack dresses a bit later on), and to see how the show developed as it went along. MattTheSaiyan 4 months ago +What's My Line? I've been watching these in order...most of these I haven't seen before. It's like gradually watching the 1950s take shape and evolve. That decade changed somewhat over time. What's My Line? 4 months ago +MattTheSaiyan One of the most appealing aspects of WML is that it's something of a time capsule, especially because it ran for so long and so much of the series survives and is available. Michael De Sapio 1 year ago I've never heard of Sam Levenson, but he seemed like a nice guy. soulierinvestments 10 months ago Broadway actor. I think he was involved in "Guys and Dolls" and in "L'il Abner." 1984jennaj 1 year ago good episode. Thanks for posting! Thomas Rogers 1 year ago When Pearlie Mae did let "gotta wing it" routines, you laugh so hard you gotta pick yourself off the floor.(Check out stuff with Carson, Andy Williams) This was a beautiful lady inside and out, one of America's truly great performers. Gone waaaaay too soon. What's My Line? 1 year ago I remember as a kid seeing a clip of Pearl Bailey performing "Our Love Is Here To Stay" with Johnny Carson that was a riot in the 1960s. I'd love to see that again.

Love that outfit Pearl wore, sweet and sexy at the same time, just like her!

1955 Think of how that time period was the run up to the civil rights movement and Rosa Parks. Pearl Bailey appears here as a celebrity but also an equal to the white panelists. This is amazing.

Bring back a better society of respect and faith.

Pearl Bailey kind of looks like Queen Latifah right here.

I was a little surprised at the stated age of The Salvation Army, so I did a little research. From what I have found, The Salvation Army was first formed in London in 1865. This episode was in 1955. I am not the best at math, but to me that would make The Salvation Army, 90 years old. Am i missing something?

No male contestants that night. Was there ever an episode where there were no female contestants?

While not as bad as Hal Block with the female evangelist some years earlier, the male panelists ogling of the final challenger was quite uncomfortable to watch. Of course John Daly knew better than to join in the remarks. While men may think it is complimentary to note a woman's beauty, once it becomes in any way suggestive, it crosses the line to crass or worse. If men would stop and think: would I want some guy saying something like that to my mother, my sister or my wife?

5 years later

What did they mean about Pearl Bailey and her hands?

Its Minnie Pearl Bailey !

With utmost respect, Fred Allen is one creepy dude. He's on par with Robert Q, who makes my neck hairs curl

If Fanny played in England, would they change the name?

Where's Bennett?

That hat Pearl Bailey is wearing looks like a UFO

Does anyone understand Fred's snowman joke?

The only thing that annoys me about this show is the rushing through the last guest. It makes me anxious and ruins the enjoyment.

Old maids?

I must say that I have never found Fred Allen (who had a face made for radio) to be the slightest bit humorous or even interesting. I understand he was a fine gentleman. But I am astonished that he could make a living based on his supposed wit.

Could Pearl Bailey, Sammy Davis Jr., Willy Mays, Lena Horne, Harry Belafonte, Nat King Cole etc. use the white bathroom when they came on these shows?

Fred Allen was an awkward man. He didn´t enrich the show - thats for sure.

CHORUS GIRL IN MUSICAL "FANNY" MANAGES PRIZEFIGHTER SALVATION ARMY CAPTAIN

Sam Levenson reminded me of Hal Block with some of his remarks. I didn't like it.

I'm not crazy about women's hairstyles in the 1950's.

John Daley. walked over to meet everyone except Pearl Bailey.

I was six months and a week when this aired.

the great Pearl Bailey...