What's My Line? - Jeanette MacDonald (Dec 21, 1952) 

One of the classiest, witty, urbane programs to ever appear on TV. The panel, with John Daly, cannot be topped. Nor could this program ever be recreated, So glad it is still available.

July 19, 2005: Suzanne A. Zinser-Rosenborg died of lung cancer July 9 at her home, Pennfields Farm. She was 77. Born in Cannstatt, Germany, she was a former resident of Westfield. A graduate of Skidmore College, she owned horses most of her life and was one of only two female thoroughbred trainers in America in the early 1950s, working under her maiden name, Suzanne Zinser. She appeared on TV shows — including "What’s My Line?" and "Wide World of Sports" — to discuss what was an unusual occupation at the time for women. At one time, she had 12 thoroughbreds on her farm and raced them at various tracks. Daughter of the late Richard H. and Paula Y. Zinser, she is survived by her husband, Rutger Rosenborg, a resident of Princeton in the 1940s who attended Princeton High School and was a member of the Princeton University Class of 1946; sons Richard Rosenborg of San Diego and Eric Rosenborg of New Providence; daughters Jennifer R. Fricke of San Diego, Victoria Rosenborg of Wilton, Conn., and Karina Rosenborg of South Fallsburg, N.Y.; and eight grandchildren.

I love so much Jeanette McDonald since I was a Kid. A true human person and the most beloved Star of cinema Missing you so much ❤

Jeanette MacDonald had one of the best smiles. Seems so warm and fun. Was sad they guessed her so quickly. Would've loved seeing her get more time on the show. But she got to talk a little afterward, which most of the celebrities guests don't get to do.

Hers was one of the most beautiful voices that ever sang.

Jeanette was such a wonderful singer. Her films were unforgettable with Allan Jones and Nelson Eddy.

I adore Arlene Francis. She is amazingly insightful.

I had no idea Jeanette MacDonald was so charming when not playing charming characters. I had no idea what kind of person she was in real life. She and John were really having fun. The "one question at a time, moving clockwise" introduced after this was a good change. There were times under these old rules when one panelist asked ten questions, guessed the celebrity and the others didn't have to make a contribution at all. How nice Robert Q. Lewis was to say that John Daly was his favorite quiz show moderator. Let's see. I was a year and a bit old when this first aired. I don't think my parents forced me to stay up until 11pm to watch! Thank you for bringing this episode to us all in the 21st century.

So talented! Sad to think only 13 years later Jeanette Macdonald would be gone at the age of 61. RIP Jeanette Macdonald, woman was a legend!

Jeanette MacDonald was indeed a very glamorous, beautiful and talented person. I love the sound of her voice so much - she and Nelson singing together was simply perfection

I just LOVE Jeanette MacDonald, for she was such a beautiful and wonderfully gracious and modest woman!! RIP, Miss. MacDonald.💕🥀

Arlene France’s voice is so charming,amusing and appealing. Revealed more so I think during this episode..

Jeanette MacDonald was one in a million!

I loved Miss MacDonald. I have all her movies . A beautiful voice unmatched. Very classy lady

Suzanne Zinser was beautiful. Truly breathtaking!!!

Dorothy was sphitzen when she guessed Jeanette. This is one of the best episodes.

Suzanne Zinser (later Rosenborg) trained on the New York City circuit (Belmont, Aqueduct, Saratoga and now-defunct Jamaica). She was about 24 at the time. To give an idea of how much this show dates us, jockey Frank Amonte Sr., who's now 78 and who won a race a day shy of his 70th birthday, was a teenage apprentice and got some of his first mounts from Zinser.

So lovely and gracious.

Jeanette Macdonald's older sister was Blossom Block, Grandmama of The Addams Family.

Jeanette wore that dress at her Red Rocks Denver concert Summer 1952. It was bright orange.

In my opinion, one of Jeanette MacDonald's best films was _San Francisco_ from 1936. Nelson Eddy didn't happen to be in that one. In fact, MacDonald was the only singing star in this musical picture. She played an opera singer newly arrived in San Francisco in the early 20th century, in search of a career. Her co-stars were Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy, neither of whom sang. The movie features the rousing song, "San Francisco", which was eventually adopted by the City as its official song, replacing "I Left My Heart in San Francisco". It also features pretty amazing special effects recreating the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. The film was from the same year as _Rose Marie_, which featured Nelson Eddy as a singing Mountie. They rewrote the story, changing the title role from a backwoods Canadian girl who wore buckskins to an sophisticated opera singer, just so they could cast Jeanette MacDonald in the part. _Rose Marie_ is worth watching just to experience Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald singing the duet "Indian Love Call" with the mountainous lakes and forests of Canada as a backdrop.

Loved Rose Marie and Maytime! Such a Heavenly Couple ...sad it didn't work out, but in Screen it was Highly Romantic!! Beautiful Era and Costuming by Adrian Sparkled with Brilliance!!

Witty, bold, beautiful, kind Arlene.

Always a relief to find Hall Block missing when I turn into these early episodes

70 years later, at exactly 9:36pm, I was born in 1996.

What a splendid opportunity to have this gorgeous and talented personality on this show, the lovely Ms. MacDonald.

I love this show along with You Bet Your Life. My two favorites of them all...

Jeanette MacDonald was quite something in "The Merry Widow". Supposedly, she did not get along with her co star Maurice Chevalier. But you could not tell that from the film. She is simply stunning early in the film when singing from the balcony with her hair down.

The two women panelists, especially Dorothy Kilgallen, were much better at ferreting out the guest's line than the men. Dorothy was very clever at wording her questions to get a "Yes", often resorting to double negatives or "Is it not _______?".

These shows are just a minute before my Time but they are true classics.😂

I was born in '62, and like watching these old reruns and then looking up the guest challengers to learn about their lives and about the 50s and 60s. One thing that has surprised me is how 'frisky' Daly and the panelists all were - I had thought the 50s were a bit more staid.

A beautiful,strong,gifted lady,love Jeannette!!!!

She was a tremendous Star !

Jeanette certainly deserved better applause; small studio audience at time, methinks

I just love 💕 the panel

ADORABLE, JEANETTE MACDONALD !!!!

I think Dorothy must be going to San Francisco. Someone must have told her to be sure to wear some flowers in her hair.

GREAT show!!!!! There's no way that Suzanne Zinser could have been (or would have been) one of the contestants if Hal Block were on the panel this week. (Which brings up a question: was this Robert Q. Lewis's first appearance as a panelist on WHAT'S MY LINE?) Nor, given Hal Block's sloppy kiss planted on Bette Davis's cheek several weeks before, do I think that the production staff would have run a similar risk in having Jeanette MacDonald as Mystery Guest if Mr. Block were on the panel, either. And Miss MacDonald (or Mrs. Raymond, if you prefer) is, indeed, still a very glamorous woman and a very gracious and charming LADY..... And I don't think that my ears don't deceive me: Bennett Cerf seems to be battling laryngitis on this episode, too. And good for Robert Q. Lewis in figuring out Lester Reppert's "line"; that was, indeed, a "toughie." And, for the first time in a few weeks, the show is able to fit in a fourth contestant (counting the Mystery Guest as one) instead of just three. Again, thank you very much for sharing these gems with us!!!!!!

Man, that first contestant was a beauty.

HI . Been a while since I watch What's My Line. Today I'm watching all of the episode the came on before and after the Christmas .

There were some real sopranos in the movie Jeanette,Grayson,Dunne and also Ann Blythe,Jane Powell and Julie Andrews. and the marveleus Deanna Durbin the others were on Broadway..My favourite were Jeanette,Dunne , Durbin and Dame Julie.

She was one of the few Hollywood actresses who sing who was an actual soprano.....another of course was katherine grayson.

That night Jeanette MacDonald was also on Names The Same hosted by Robert Q Lewis.

I am loving this show! I’ve watched it in order so far and it’s such a charming, calm escape from a chaotic modern life! Arlene is my favourite although I like all the panel (even HB most of the time!). The only bit I find slightly annoying as time goes by is the voice the celebrity guest has to put on. It started off funny and I realise why they have to do it, but it does start to grate after a while. Thank you so much for uploading these, I’m really enjoying watching them.

Great show👏👏👏👏

Suzanne Zinser, WOW! Skidmore girl, class of 49'.

"She looks like she has all the equipment necessary." That sounds like something Hal Brooks would say, NOT ANOTHER FEMALE!

"Forest Hills, Long island" is actually a neighborhood in New York City's Borough of Queens. So that answers the question from a few episodes back as to whether people from Queens ever say they're from Long Island.

Miss Kilgallen guessed the lovely Miss MacDonald, ironically they died the same year 1965 .

I really enjoy the episodes I've seen with RQL. I am not familiar with him from anything else, but I must look into him more!

As I've watched this on my lunch hour in recent months I've come to two conclusions. The show wasn't the same after Dorothy's death and Hal Block and Robert Q. Lewis were both dorks. Just my opinions of course, others may certainly disagree.

Jeannette MacDonald was survived by her husband of many years, Gene Raymond. The relationship seems to have been quite unusual, if wikipedia is to be believed.

Hard to believe they all dead. Jannette was just 49 y old

Wow! From 24:49 onward while listening in headphones and watching the laptop screen in front of me it is like the announcers voice is coming from the screen! Crazy. It has to do with the miking position and the mic selection among other things.

Back when actresses had class and grace.

That was great when they had the fellow whom made gold bricks for the treasury (also showing the age of the show as I don't believe the treasury works with gold anymore) and the celebrities asked if it was something that a lady could wear around their necks.lol

Jeanette Macdonald sounds like her sister, Blossom Rock, who played Grandmama on The Addams Family...

I am not quite sure why this was the case but according to wikipedia, Jeanette MacDonald's 1965 funeral was attended by former Presidents Truman and Eisenhower and future Presidents Nixon and Reagan.

Something tells me that Arlene did not mind sitting next to Robert Q. Lewis in this episode. The tension was more than apparent when she had to introduce Hal Block in the earlier weeks.

The American accent was slightly different back then. The pronunciation was more precise it sounds. Even the grammar. Some call it more proper.

I thought Mr. Mott was from. Mott's Applesauce at first then his line popped up, very interesting.

Dorothy plays too safe by asking too many ‘yes’ answers.

The horse trainer was gorgeous

You'd never know Jeanette MacDonald was 49 by looking at her here. Or that Robert Q. Lewis was only 31, she was old enough to be his mother and looks younger than he does. And wow, at times Lewis was coming on even harder than Hal Block sometimes did, I wonder if that was by design and he was intentionally using the same shtick

John goofed in deciding how to respond to the question Bennett asked at 13:05. Bennett says, "This product of yours could not possibly be used as legal tender in any part of the world, could it?" The contestant answers, "yes," meaning, "yes, it could be used as legal tender." From 13:15-13:17, John briefly mulls over the question and decides that "yes" was the correct response, but he was incorrect. The correct answer would be, "No, you are wrong to think that it could not possibly be used as legal tender."

7:46 i love it when dorothy gasps really loud when shes thinks she knows the answer! she does this a couple times throughout the show. how cute of her :> edit: I JUST WATCHED THE REST OF IT, SHE DIDNT THINK THAT THR CONTESTANT WAS A HORSE TRAINER LMAOO XD

Suzanne was so elegant. She could easily be a model. Not her choice, for sure.

Robert Q. Lewis's comments to the first contestant were as crude as Hal Block.

Today's RU-vid Rerun for 8/4/15: Watch along and join the discussion! [apologies if this shows up more than once-- Google+ and RU-vid are not cooperating with each other, as usual.] ----------------------------- Join our Facebook group for WML-- great discussions, photos, etc, and great people! facebook.com/groups/728471287199862/ Please click here to subscribe to the WML channel if you haven't already-- you'll find the complete CBS series already posted, with new videos still being added every weekend, and you'll be able to follow along the discussions on the weekday "rerun" videos: ru-vid.com/show-UChPE75Fvvl1HmdAsO7Nzb8w

Reuben Mammolian once said Jeanette MacDonald was the easiest lay in Hollywood 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁

regarding the question as to whether a panelist had guessed an occupation during the 'free guess' segment, Arlene once guessed that a young woman was a lifeguard and Daly said that indeed she was. Daly then said that that was the third time that happened and one of the other times was when they guessed an atomic scientist by sight. Can't imagine how they were able to do that.

Jeanette is my favorite!

I was months old when this was aired. Great memories

What was the TV sow that John Daly referred to at the end that the sound man worked on? It sounded like The Web Tonight. ?

Jeanette says she is chiefly a motion picture performer, but when this aired she had not been in one since a Lassie yarn three years earlier. Her heyday in musicals was long gone, and she would never film again.

Robert Mott: interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/robert-mott

Either is it a ghost or the shadow of a boom microphone behind John when he presents the last contestant. 19:55

Ladies and gentlemen, I read so many comments concerning Hal Bloch’s behavior. I agree that he didn’t project the upper middle class sophistication that was desirable to the viewing public. But I personally like him just because you can tell he came from a lower class background.

Was this Jeanette MacDonald's only appearance on WML?

Back when they all seemed to like each other.

They finally got a goldbricker on the show...

Ive said it before and Ill say it again. Women from this time period dressed like....women!!! No having to guess if its a girl or a guy!

The racehorse trainer looks a lot like 70s/80s soap opera actress Margo McKenna (Edge of Night). Almost a dead ringer right down to the hairstyle.

Funny, in announcing Dorothy, the announcer says, "Let's meet our What's My Line panel, whose lines you already know, " at which point he tells the audience what Dorothy Kilgallen's line is, as if they didn't know. The panelists do the same for the panelist to their left. If we already know their lines, why tell us what they are? That phrase "whose lines you already know" was eventually removed. Maybe Goodson figured out the script made no sense.

The first guest looked the part to be a race horse trainer. She had an aura about her…

What in the world, and who suggested..those things in Doroty's hair!

I think this is the earliest available episode (possibly the first episode ever) where Daly uses what will become his catch phrase, "Will you come in, mystery challenger and sign in PLEASE!" with the emphasis on PLEASE

Bennett is in the wrong seat

if the first contestant works for a stable ( she was salaried ) -- then she could be said to work for/on a team

Arline is so beautiful 😍

Bennett looks totally out of place sitting next to Dorothy Kilgallen. They later seated him on the far right

H'mmmm I'm back to thinking they DON'T know the answers beforehand after the wonderful 'wide of the mark' questionning this episode.

Just look how humble these old time stars were. Not like today, preoccupied with theirfalse grandeur. Ugly an shallow and most of all, talentless...…..

that second man had the Dark Lord's Halo around his head lol.....

Some are quick to condemn John Daly as a wolf due to conferences. Clearly you miss the joking manor with which John conveys with all guests, male and female. RQL goes a little to far sometimes but no farther than Steve Allen and other male panelists. The one that was disgusting, crude and rude was Hal Block. I can't believe he was asked back after one appearance. Hal wasn't someone most women would find appealing, even in those days.

3:52 Hedy Burress' mom !!!

The TV sounds effects guy works for “The Web”?

Philadelphia girl .

All the panel and John Daly were making quips about Miss Zinzer's beauty but nobody tried to kiss her, so that must be what Hal Block did to get fired. I'm puzzled as to why John Daly, who was from South Africa, reverts to an upper-class English accent when he explains a complex point. Arlene Francis does it too in other episodes when she says 'Jolly good!' It seems that an English accent was regarded at that time as something to copy or aspire to - in fact the panel members sound half-English and half-American.

Considering brains and beauty of all tv personalities, only one outperforms Arlene, but Mrs. Peel (unfortunately) isn’t real.