MYSTERY GUEST: Sheilah Graham; Helen Hayes PANEL: Dorothy Kilgallen, Robert Q. Lewis, Arlene Francis, Bennett Cerf ---------------------------------------- New Facebook group for WML! groups/728471287199862/
*Dorothy:* "May I assume it's not historical...or hysterical"(!)...then; "It *got* to be about something! *Bennett:* "Not necessarily, Dorothy!" *Daly:* "There's the publisher, speaking the truth again!" An amusing moment on WML... :)
Wow, the exchange between Bennett Cerf and Sheila Graham: he appears to be referencing remarks made in Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast" about Fitzgerald's anatomical shortcomings, and Graham, catching his drift, speaks of being "the right person" to set the record straight on "certain areas, shall we say." I don't think even Arlene ever managed to sneak anything quite this risqué past the censors.
The Paris book had just come out and you get the feeling that nobody really knew what they were talking about. The censors hadn't a clue, obviously. But frankly, I'm absolutely shocked that Sheilah "went there" with the "certain areas" reference -- on a nationally syndicated television show! But then Fitzgerald himself always thought that she was fundamentally tacky and low class, and would sadistically torment her about it whenever he was drinking, which was often. Sadly, that she was Jewish and had for a long time hidden it from him was the source of his meanest attacks -- he felt he'd been duped. He really wasn't a very nice person; he was abusive to his wife as well.
I can forgive him to a degree, because he was such a drunken mess, and while he may well have been abusive to Zelda, I'm confident she was no picnic, even if contemporary fashion calls for a blackout on the wife's faults and a spotlight on the husband's. Also, I agree with you that nobody got what Bennett and Sheilah were talking about, including 99 percent of viewers, who were bound to have been more literate than audiences today. I wish I were wrong about today's audiences, and would love to know if WML received mail of the fainting-couch kind -- I bet the bit in this episode did elicit a letter or two, since viewers were known to complain about far less offensive matters.
yes, youre right. I used to read that book over and over, I think of it often, amazing that we're watching a person who knew well someone from that book. Her life was incredible too but she said she'd only be remembered for knowing Fitzgerald.
@ironduke2000 When you mention Hemingway’s observation of his friend’s anatomy, your subjective message is that Ms. Graham definitely was referring to it when she said, “certain areas.” You don’t know that she was referring to a man’s anatomy. The passages of A Moveable Feast about Fitzgerald, credited to Hemingway after his death, emphasize his (Fitzgerald’s) heavy drinking and use of incoherent English while the two friends sat at the Ritz Hotel bar in Paris. In the 1960s, many people said A Moveable Feast viciously portrays Fitzgerald as hopeless as far back as 1927, before Zelda became obsessed with her study of ballet. People speculated as to how much of the book Mary Hemingway wrote after she lost her husband and needed money. In the many book reviews from 1964 that I have read, the accuracy of the chapter “Miss Stein Instructs” is never questioned, curiously. If you remember the topics that Gertrude Stein allegedly discussed with Hemingway, you understand how sad it was that Hemingway was no longer alive when A Moveable Feast readers contemplated Stein’s statements. If she really said what he said she had said, she was a genius, but he never confirmed that she had said it.
Helen Hayes MacArthur (October 10, 1900 - March 17, 1993) was an American actress whose career spanned almost 80 years. She eventually garnered the nickname "First Lady of the American Theater" and was one of twelve people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award (an EGOT). Hayes also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor, from President Ronald Reagan in 1986. In 1988, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts. The annual Helen Hayes Awards, which have recognized excellence in professional theater in the greater Washington, D.C. area since 1984, are her namesake. In 1955 the former Fulton Theater on 46th Street in New York City's Broadway Theater District was renamed the Helen Hayes Theater. When that venue was torn down in 1982, the nearby Little Theater was renamed in her honor.
Helen Hayes starred in James M. Barrie's "Dear Brutus" in 1918-19; she was born in 1900. Bennett, born 1898, was indeed the only one of the WML cast likely to remember her performance in such striking terms, although it's just possible that Arlene, born 1907, might have seen it.
Helen Hayes has to be the First lady of the Theater . She even did that first airport movie with Dean Martin and George Kennedy and a cast of dozen more .
Funny to hear Dorothy mention Nyack. She lived a block from Nyack High School where I went; in a beautiful old house by the Hudson River. Her son was already Dano in Hawaii 5-0 by the time I went to high school; I had heard he was kicked out some years before but I can't confirm that that's true. I like how the panel stood up for Miss Hayes...the Grande Dame indeed!
+Kenneth Butler Nice to meet a fellow Rockland County resident. I was midway through high school when "Hawaii 5-0" began its run, so we are close in age. I didn't go to Nyack (we played your school in hockey), but I worked in Nyack for a while, still spend some time in Nyack and I visited a family that lived on the Helen Hayes property in Nyack very often (my classmate who lived there is still one of my best friends). As far as James MacArthur being kicked out of Nyack HS, that might have been an urban legend that started when someone went back through the old yearbooks and couldn't find him. Actually, as might be expected for a child of a well-to-do family in the arts, his schooling was done in private schools (elementary school in NYC, high school in New Hope (PA). Helen Hayes was very much interested in quality private school education. She was one of a group of Rockland County residents, primarily in the arts (along with people like Alan Jay Lerner, Maxwell Anderson and Burgess Meredith) and academia who helped found my alma mater. However, her children were already out of school when my school opened its doors. BTW, the Nyack HS campus that you attended was turned over to BOCES when the new high school in Upper Nyack opened in 1995.
Helen Hayes is so wonderful and she was such a good person in real life. I always thought her adopted son James Macarthur looked so much like her. They both had eyes that were so kind looking.
I didn't realize James MacArthur was the adopted son of Helen Hayes and Charles MacArthur. No matter anyway, as whether adopted or biological offspring, still just as much a son or daughter. Many famous persons have been adopted children, including 38th President of the United States Gerald R. Ford. I was adopted myself, and never knew any other parents but the two who adopted me when I was just six months old. My mother died when she was was only 55 years of age (and I was just 11 years old), but was a loving and responsible parent for the relatively short time we had together. My mom had cancer (unbeknownst to me at the time, although I knew she was very sick) and was in and out of the hospital for several years. My father lived until the relatively old age of seventy-four years old, eventually remarried, to the woman who became my stepmother. I am not necessarily as supportive of stepparents as I am of adoptive parents. But that's another topic. There are good stepparents too, of course. My dad himself was a devoted spouse to both wives, and a good and responsible parent, albeit a little short of temper, a trait (even though not biological) I have nonetheless "inherited." I think the only real problem I may have with adoption, in my case, is my parents waited so long to adopt my sister and myself they were actually old enough to have been our grandparents. That situation can result in (besides the older parents not having as much patience and physical energy to handle younger children) too large a generational span, and thus in the children and parents not having as much understanding of each other's cultural and personal tastes. For example, my parents enjoyed the music of Lawrence Welk, while my sister and I were fans of The Beatles. More age-appropriate parents for my sister and I might have, for example, been Elvis Presley fans, and thus at least have understood rock and roll. Still, my dad played catch with me, and accompanied me to my monthly Cub Scout troop meetings. And my mom helped us (my sister & I) both with school projects, and was still young-at-heart enough she one Halloween dressed as the "Headless Horsemen" (from Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow") when answering the door to trick-or-treaters. So I have many good memories of my parents. By the way, you are correct both Helen Hayes and James MacArthur had "kind eyes." I also thought Jim MacArthur (TV's "Danno" of the original "Hawaii Five -0" to many) died too young, relatively speaking. "Jimmy Mac" was first married to and had two children with Joyce Bulifant, she perhaps best known as a recurring panelist on "Match Game" (1973-82) as well having portrayed "Marie Slaughter" (wife of Gavin MacLeod's "Murray) in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." You may watch Jim MacArthur with his mother Helen Hayes in an episode of "Hawaii Five-O" titled "Retire in Sunny Hawaii... Forever," episode nine from season eight. And you may view that episode here--tugashow.com/video/x2ifi8c Or if you prefer something lighter in tone, "Jimmy Mac"and mom Helen Hayes (along with her fellow "Snoop Sister," the late great Mildred Natwick) may also be seen in an episode of "The Love Boat," episode 28 from Season Three and titled "No Girls for Doc/Marriage of Convenience/The Caller/The Witness," which may be viewed here--www.dailymotion.com/video/x1nqoii_the-love-boat-season-3-episode-28-full-feature-length-s03e28-1-of-2_shortfilms Every so often nepotism works out fine, when the younger descendant of a talented relative also turns out to have real talent. One obvious case is Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli. Another such case is Helen Hayes and James MacArthur.
+gymnastix On a little bit of a tangent: Joyce Bulifant was seriously considered (by producer Sherwood Schwartz) for the role of Carol Brady in "The Brady Bunch" before the role went to Florence Henderson.
gymnastix As an adoptive parent of 8 children, I find your opinions, comments critique, and judging of adoptive parents, at BEST, as ungrateful and cringe worthy!!! Let me assure you, you have NO idea the misery they saved you from! 100’s of thousands of children languish “in the system” of hideous foster care and orphanages!! I was a social worker prior to having my family; I Do know!! We do not begin to have enough unselfish men and women willing to adopt another’s children!! You worry about music and “patience” when you were loved and given a family?!!! What an ungrateful person!! I guessing your parents got NO PRIZE in the child they got in you. What inferior values you have. I’ll stop the torrent of thoughts racing through my mind and heart!!!! Sooooo sad the COLD COLD HEART you have!!
Also on a bit of a tangent, James MacArthur's second wife was Melody Patterson who was only 16 years old when she played Wrangler Jane on "F Troop". She got the part because she forged a birth certificate that gave her age as 18.
Looking for more information about Sheilah Graham, I was shocked to find that she was a few months shy of her 60th birthday. IMHO she looks much younger: a very attractive woman.
Dorothy's "10022" in her goodnight comment at the end was a reference to the use of the new 5-digit zip codes introduced in 1963. Her townhouse in Manhattan was in that zip code.
Sheilah Graham had been F. Scott Fitzgerald's mistress during the last years of his life. She wrote about their relationship in the book "Beloved Infidel" which was later made into a movie in 1959 with one-time WML panelist and two time Mystery Guest Deborah Kerr as Graham (no, I can't see the resemblance!)
"The White House" (a "play with music," written by A.E. Hotchner, with music composed and selected by Lee Hoiby and original lyrics by Hotchner), opened at Henry Miller's Theatre on Tuesday, 19 May 1964 and closed on Saturday, 6 June 1964 (the night before this telecast), after a run of only 23 performances. Helen Hayes played 12 roles in the play (Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison, Rachel Jackson, Mrs. Franklin Pierce, Leonora Clayton, Mary Todd Lincoln, Julia Grant, Mrs. James G. Blaine, Mrs. Grover Cleveland, Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, Edith Wilson, and Mrs. Benjamin Harrison). The rest of the cast included James Daly, Fritz Weaver, Eric Berry, Sorrell Booke, Gene Wilder, Nancy Franklin, Bette Henritze, Michael O'Sullivan, and Eugene Roche. The production was directed by Henry Kaplan, with sets and costumes designed by Ed Wittstein, and lighting designed by Jules Fisher.
How interesting that of the characters Helen Hayes played, one of them never became First Lady. In 1884, James Blaine was the first Republican candidate for President to lose an election since James C. Fremont in 1856 (the first time a candidate ran for President on the current Republican party ticket, not to be confused with the party that ran opposite the Federalist party until the Federalist party disappeared around the time of James Monroe's presidency. A prominent Blaine supporter thought he had come up with a clever way to describe the Democratic party of Grover Cleveland as the party of "Rum, Romanism and Rebellion". Instead, he found a way to antagonize three groups of voters. Even though it occurred in the final week of the campaign, Cleveland's campaign made sure it was quoted as often as possible.The Irish and Catholic vote in NYC was enough to swing New York into Cleveland's column by a little over 1,000 votes. Had New York's 36 electoral votes gone to Blaine, he would have been elected President. With all the talk of graduations on this episode, there is a school connection between cast members Helen Hayes and James Daly. Miss Hayes helped found the school that I graduated six years later. I was just finishing up my first year there (sixth grade) when this episode aired. James Daly's daughter was part of the first graduating class at that same school, a year earlier in June 1963. Her name is Tyne Daly.
Helen Hayes set up a foundation in the memory of her late daughter. It raised funds for lung disease. This was about 4 years before her son got cast in "Hawaii 5-o."
soulierinvestments She was also very involved with a rehabilitation center that was later named after her. It is an excellent facility: www.helenhayeshospital.org/who-we-are/.
+SaveThe TPC I live in the same county where Helen Hayes Hospital is located. My health has been very good so I have never been a patient there, but I have visited patients there on occasion. Indeed it looks like a lovely, well run facility.
@VahanNisanian You mean an additional episode was videotaped immediately before the live telecast? “Double-up” was not and is not a broadcasting industry term.
@@davidhenschel1990 Double-Up was something Susan Astorino wrote in her notes. She was responsible for a very detailed episode guide, because she had access to Gil Fates' log book.
***** Oh, you're right! I thought it was strange that she'd gotten no points at all by the end of the game, but by then I'd already forgotten that she'd gotten that "no."
And to think The First Lady of the American Theater was allergic to theater dust. Eventually, she moved to TV and movies and kept active, living until the age of 92.
And so with mystery guests Miss Graham , Miss Hopper and Miss Parsons who were many f Miss Kilgallens rivals in the gossip columnists field on WML . Does anybody out there know of others ? If they also had radio programs which contained gossip they may have been a sort of rival with Miss Francis .
Sheilah Graham's act wore a bit thin... She had a rather full, interesting life. Her third husband was Wojciechowicz Stanislavovich Wojtkiewicz (1953-1956) . I think it was a good decision to retain the surname of her first husband.
I always thought Helen Hayes to be a wonderful actress (film and stage) and I was surprised when I read "The Richard Burton Diaries" in which, Mr. Burton essentially stated Miss Hayes was universally considered (by both critics and the public) to be "the best" - for absolutely no reason at all (as he saw it). He and Miss Hayes had starred in a Broadway play called "Time Remembered," in the late 1950's (which also starred Susan Strasberg). It reminded me of an interview I saw with Tony Randall some decades ago - he had essentially said the same thing about ("the great") Ethel Barrymore with whom he had worked in a Broadway play - also in the 1950's. Mr. Randall referred to her as "personality" who couldn't act. No doubt, others would disagree, but these two assessments (from top-notch actors of the day) still surprise me when I think of them.
That's interesting! I think I need to let that sink in. I think Tony Randall was somewhat prone to being diplomatically irreverent at times, for which I do not fault him at all. I actually find it a bit refreshing, when delivered properly. And Mr. Randall was among the best at delivering. Thanks for the info. I'll try to investigate further also.
@@rmelin13231 Thanks for the very knowledgeable reply! Mr. Randall was incredibly bright and had a great perspective on many subjects, whether connected to acting or not. He was a big favorite of David Letterman and filled in for guests (dozens of times) who suddenly (for one reason or another) could not make it to the studio in time. Tony Randall lived in NYC very close to the location where the Letterman Show was filmed. This (again) goes back to Mr. Randall's ability to converse on any subject easily and with good humor. Cheers!
Although I graduated from both high school and college, I never wore a cap and gown (the second challenger's product). My high school didn't use them when I graduated (they do now). And although I walked with my college class I found out too late that I was two credits short of graduating and technically didn't get my diploma until I took a course that summer. I had audited a course, "Women in Sports" my senior year that I could have passed easily if I had known that I needed the credits. Then again, knowing my mindset at that time, I might have eschewed the cap and gown anyway. I had an eclectic mix of attitudes, including some quiet, passive anti-establishment feelings. The Groucho Marx song, "I'm Against It" came pretty close to expressing my exact attitude.
Lois Simmons ~ I’ve said this before, your intelligence and thoughtfulness shines through in all your comments. It appears your mix of attitudes stimulated your senses in a very positive way. I’ve never met you but, I know you’ve taken the road less traveled. It’s obvious you chose the high road long ago. Thank you again for always being so kind and fair in your comments.
It would be interesting to know which panelist between Dorothy, Arlene and Bennett, guessed the most guests (both mystery and regular) during the time where all three were on the show together at the same time. I wonder who would win?
Part of the problem with compiling such a list is that in some cases one panelist did 95% of the work, narrowed it down to two possibilities and just happened to pick the wrong one, dumping the correct answer into the lap of the next panelist. There are also a number of times, usually with a mystery guest, that the panel all knows who it is at the same time.
Some of the panelists made every effort to win and were willing to employ even the most tedious techniques to wring out information from a guest. Other panelists realized that viewers were tuning in for 30 minutes of entertainment and good fun and asked questions in a way that furthered that goal.
Just as @Angel Girl, I am going through in order and first hit "like" and then read the comments before watching the episode. If something during the show triggers a desire to add a comment or respond to an existing one, I go back to the comments. For a short time, I tried watching the episodes first but it just didn't feel right.
What was Arlene thinking choosing that dress off the rack? I'm surprised Bennett didn't make a comment given his prior attacks on the "chemise" style dress. They looked form fitting compared to what Arlene is wearing on this show.
What's My Line?: Thanks so much for not mentioning Robert Q. Lewis on the main heading of this page, just because you don't like him. I really shows what kind of non-mensch you are.
May I assume that it is not a cook book? I would have paid money to see Julia Child on Sunday Night WML What did Sheilah write about Dorothy's eyelashes? there seems to be some undercurrent behind the pleasant words.
@@loissimmons6558 "To Serve Man" on The Twilight Zone? Did they literally, actually serve men? I read a short story once about such a phenomenon. Gives me the willies just thinking about it.
@@shirleyrombough8173 SPOILER ALERT It was a story about an alien race that comes to Earth, supposedly to help the world's population. They are so confident that one of them leaves behind a book. There are a few skeptics in the U.S. military so they have their code breakers try to translate it. It takes them a long time but they finally are able to decipher the title: "To Serve Man". Of course this encourages the people on earth even more. And they are allowed to take trips to the alien's planet, which is sold as a glorious place to visit. It' is only near the end of the episode that the few code breakers remaining on the translation project discover that the book is a cookbook.
@andrews527 When you mention Hemingway’s observation of his friend’s anatomy, your subjective message is that Ms. Graham definitely was referring to it when she said, “certain areas.” You don’t know that she was referring to a man’s anatomy. [new paragraph] The passages of A Moveable Feast about Fitzgerald, credited to Hemingway after his death, emphasize his (Fitzgerald’s) heavy drinking and use of incoherent English while the two friends sat at the Ritz Hotel bar in Paris. In the 1960s, many people said A Moveable Feast viciously portrays Fitzgerald as hopeless as far back as 1927, before Zelda became obsessed with her study of ballet. People speculated as to how much of the book Mary Hemingway wrote after she lost her husband and needed money. [new paragraph] In the many book reviews from 1964 that I have read, the accuracy of the chapter “Miss Stein Instructs” is never questioned, curiously. If you remember the topics that Gertrude Stein allegedly discussed with Hemingway, you understand how sad it was that Hemingway was no longer alive when A Moveable Feast readers contemplated Stein’s statements. If she really said what he said she had said, she was a genius, but he never confirmed that she had said it.
@@sherriewhite7146 That explanation makes no sense. Her only child was born in 1947. This episode is from 1964. She would have been 57 in 1964, far too old to be pregnant.
Kirk Barkley - I respect people who, through their own efforts, change their identities to match their aspirations. (I am not speaking about people who claim to do so but with infusions of cash from their own parents.)
Kirk Barkley Columnists in newspapers are not classed as writing non-fiction though. We csn argue till we're blue in the face thst they write utter crap but that's the way it is.
Shirley Rombough Doesn't appear so from how they behave. In any case, Kilgallen was perhaps the most significant female columnist of her generation. Her reach was colossal.
Not one of your classic episodes, it has to be said. I really felt for the academic gown renter. He seemed almost incapable of answering any questions. And the panel wasn't making it easy for him, either. I know they were running short of time, but I suspect that John flipped all the cards at least in part to put the poor fellow out of his misery.
***** I guess you're right that this wasn't as amusing an episode as some others, but I enjoyed it. Sheila Graham's singing and French were a bit grating, but what I thoroughly enjoyed about this episode was the warmth and camaraderie exuded by all members of the panel and John. I especially enjoyed seeing Dorothy being so warm and seemingly relaxed not only with her WML colleagues but with both Sheila Graham and Helen Hayes as well. She had already been through such difficult times, and I know that the worst is yet to come for her, but it's a pleasure to see her apparently enjoying herself, reaching out to others, and being treated and greeted with warmth in return.
Back in those days it was a complement and gave the illusion that the person is younger than they really are. It was used more in the 40's. It's like ''How pretty you look today Mabel." When she really wasn't. I did a single panel cartoon about that subject.
