• 14
    collected

Toast of the Town

Season 7 1953 - 1954

  • CBS
  • 45m
  • 19h 30m (26 episodes)
  • United States
Welcome to the Toast of the Town guide at TV Tome. The Toast of the Town guide covers the first 8 seasons of Ed Sullivan's long-running variety series. (Seasons 9 through 24 are on the The Ed Sullivan Show guide.) In 1948, the fledgling CBS television network was planning a weekly variety series. Newpaper columnist Ed Sullivan was chosen as host. The series premiered on June 20, 1948. From the very first broadcast, Mr. Sullivan was criticized for his lack of charisma. He looked stiff, awkward and uncomfortable. But Sullivan had an understanding of show business and his show gradually gained a following. On September 18, 1955, the series was given its new title The Ed Sullivan Show Thanks to everyone who's helped on this guide, including: --Jim Brent (of Burbank, CA), who provided most of the guest lists from 1952 through 1960. --Ben Hallums Rowe And thanks to Historic Films for their on-line database. Their website has been very helpful in verifing guest li

51 episodes

--Harry Belafonte sings ""Matilda""
Additional guests (scheduled): --Gwen Verdon (listed as a ""cover girl"") --Dewey Pigmeat

""Toast to the Met"" - broadcast live from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House in celebration of the Metropolitan Opera's 70th anniversary. Guests: --Rise Stevens and Richard Tucker - the finale from ""Carmen"" --Rise Stevens, Roberta Peters; Robert Merrill, Richard Tucker - Quartet (from ""Rigoletto"") --Robert Merrill - ""Some Enchanted Evening"" (from ""South Pacific"") --Cesare Siepi and Paul Franke - ""Death of Boris"" (from ""Boris Godunov"" --Victor Borge - ""Dressing down Mozart"" routine Additional guest (scheduled to appear): --Hilda Gueden

Scheduled guests: --Rex Harrison and Lilli Palmer (in a scene from S.N. Behrman's ""No Time for Comedy"") --Charles Boyer (actor, in a scene from ""Don Juan in Hell"") --Nora Kovach & Istan Rabovsky (husband-and-wife ballet team) --Norman Evans (British comedian) --Vigo Jahn (novelty act)

The Salzburg Marionettes were scheduled to appear in a special Christmas production.

Scheduled guests: --Rosemary Clooney (guest host, singer) --Julius LaRosa (singer) --Sam Levenson --The Ashtons (acrobatic troupe)

Scheduled: --Dorothy Lamour --Orson Bean (comedian, from ""John Murray Anderson's Almanac"") --Ruth Draper (had a one-woman show on Broadway at the time of this broadcast) --Yehudi Menuhin (violinist) --The Oklahoma University Glee Club

Scheduled guests: --Tony Martin --Senior Wences (ventriloquist) --Myron Cohen (comedian)

Scheduled guests: --Betty and Jane Kean (comedians) --Hilde Gueden (soprano) --Eileen O'Dare (dancer) --Colette Marchand (premiere ballerina) --Les Compagnons de la Chanson (French singing group) --Mayo Brothers (novelty act)

Guests: --Janet Blair - ""Our Fathers Played the Palace"" (big production number) --Novellas (acrobats) - man balances on ladder, juggles and dog tricks. --Audience bow: Paddy DeMarco (boxing champ); Rita Gam --Frank Fontaine (comedian) - does an Ed Sullivan impression then does his ""Crazy"" character. --Hurd Hatfield (actor) - dramatic scene from the play ""Bullfight"" where the matador is brought to shame. --Channing Pollock (magician) --Ed introduces college basketball stars --Nat King Cole - medley of hits (""Mona Lisa,"" ""Too Young,"" ""Pretend,"" ""Nature Boy,"" ""Lover Come Back to Me"" & ""Answer Me, My Love"") 11-minute medley --Lane Brothers - sight gag, two men in big suit

Scheduled: --Eddie Fisher --Betty and Jane Kean (comedians) --The Harmonicats --Richard Hearne (English comedian) --Gautier's Steeplechase animal act Also: ""A Night with Walt Disney's Artists""

Scheduled: --On film: Ed visits with Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster. The three are in a projection room viewing scenes from the new movie ""Vera Cruz"" starring Cooper and Lancaster.
Other scheduled guests: --Leonard Warren (Metropolitan Opera star) --The First Piano Quartet (composed of Adam Garner, Edward Edson, Frank Mittler, and Glauco D'Attili) --Pat D'Or (English juggler) --The Dancing Szonys --Patti Bross (singer, winner of a Frankie Laine contest)

Guests: --Audience bow: The Georgesceau family (family who refused to spy) --The Notre Dame Glee Club (making its 6th annual Easter appearance) - ""Celestial Concepts"" --On film: clip from ""Roman Holiday"" with Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn and Eddie Albert. --Eddie Albert appears on stage with Ed. --Eddie Albert (with wife Margo) - ""Man is For the Woman"" --Eddie Albert and Margo - ""Never Marry an Actor"" --Eddie Albert - ""May to December"" (from ""Nickerbocker Holiday"") --Eddie Albert and Margo - ""Vaudeville,"" Tea for Two"" and ""That's Entertainment"" --Sam Snead (golfer) - demonstrates a golf swing --The Marquis Chimps (trained animal act) - chimps perform tricks   --Eddie Albert narrates an adaptation of ""One God,"" a children's book about the various religious faiths practiced in America. Albert and three children visit Protestant, Jewish and Catholic services. --Audience bow: Florence Mary Fitts (author of ""One God"") --Audience bows: Bill Fulton, Pier A

Scheduled: --Chester Gould (""Dick Tracy"" creator and artist) --Victoria de Los Angeles (Metropolitan Opera star) --Korean Children's Choir (sent to the U.S. by South Korean president Syngman Rhee, under the patronage of the White House) --Moore and Lessey (comedy team) --Mata and Hari (dancers) --Joe Jackson, Jr. (circus clown) --Tom Packs and his elephant act

""The ASCAP Story"" Part 1 with scheduled guests:
--W.C. Handy (composer) --Lionel Hampton and his sextet perform ""St. Louis Blues"" (composed by W.C. Handy)--Bert Lahr (comedian) --Lillian Roth (singer) --Julius LaRosa (singer) --Otto Harbach (ASCAP president) --Maude Nugent Jerone --Geoffrey O'Hara (composer of ""K-K-K-Katy"") --Roy Smeck (banjo player)

""The ASCAP Story"" Part 2
Composers scheduled to appear:
--Jack Norworth - composer of ""Take Me Out to the Ball Game"" --Joe E. Howard - composer of ""I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now""
--Rudolf Frimi - composer of ""Rose Marie"" and ""Firefly"" --Harry Tierney, composer of ""Alice Blue Gown""
Other scheduled guests: --Julius LaRosa sings ""Young At Heart."" --Richard Whiting's daughters Barbara and Margaret Whiting do a medley of their dad's songs. --Benny Fields sings ""My Melancholy Baby.""
--Nanci Crompton dances ""The Bridal Veil Dance."" Audience bow: Liberace

Scheduled: --Nat ""King"" Cole (singer) --David Wayne (plays the Japanese interpreter Sakini in a scene from John Patrick's Pulitzer prize-winning play ""Teahouse of the August Moon."")
--Ted Lewis (entertainer known as the ""Is Everybody Happy?"" man) --Stan Musial (St. Louis Cardinal outfielder) --Byron Nelson (golfer) --Dick Contino (accordionist) --Richard ""Mr. Pastry"" Hearne (English comedian) --Scheduled audience bows: General Claire Chennault and members of his ""Flying Tiger"" division.

Scheduled: On film: Producer David O. Selznick discusses the re-issue of ""Gone With the Wind."" Also: a ""GWTW"" film clip.
Other scheduled guests: --Betty and Jane Kean (comedy team) --Mindy Carson (singer) --Richard ""Mr. Pastry"" Hearne (English comedian) --Page and Bray (dancers) --Dickie Valentine (English singing star)

Scheduled: --Patti Page --Red Buttons (comedian) --Liberace with Hermione Gingold (Liberace plays ""The Warsaw Concerto"" as Hermione Gingold accompanies him on the cello.) --Liberace, later in show, appears as a hillbilly. --George Liberace (Liberace's brother) conducts the orchestra.
--Richard ""Mr. Pastry"" Hearne (English comic dances and does pantomime). --Johnny Farrell (golf pro, discusses the coming National Open which takes place at his course) --Bacone Choir (30 American-Indian singers from Muskogee, Oklahoma, appear in costume to sing choral songs.)

Scheduled: Victor Borge and 12 finalists from the Army Talent Championship. --The 12 GI finalists were selected from among 75,000 men who auditioned from 12 worldwide Army command centers. --Victor Borge entertains while the judges (made up of prominent celebrities) tally their scores. --The finalists include Ezio D. Flagello, Emmanuel Lipman, Charles Malluzza, and Robert Brandstatter, all of the Bronx, Michael Domenico of North Collins, N.Y., Bernard Horowitz, of Brooklyn, Charles Reed, of Newark, and Cephus McGirt.

--Janis Paige and John Raitt - ""There Was A Man"" (from ""The Pajama Game"") --John Raitt - ""If I Loved You"" (from ""Carousel"") --Victor Borge - plays music of famous composers, then does his interpretations of how they would play ""Happy Birthday."" --The Goofers (instrumental quartet, sing ""When The Saints Go Marching In"" & do celebrity impressions) --The Wichita Orphans (barbershop quartet) - ""Wait 'Til The Sun Shines Nellie""
--Mata And Hari (dance stylists doing a Carnegie Hall sketch) --Yokoi Trio (3 female cyclists from Japan)

Scheduled guests (live from New York): --Bert Lahr (comedian) --Joni James (singer) --Ben Hogan (golfer) --Pat Henning (comedian) --The Dancing Szonys On film: --European acts, including chanteuse Patachou, pay tribute to Sullivan. --Ed interviews Genevieve de Galard-Terraube, the French flight nurse known as the ""Angel of Dien Bien Phu.""

Guests (show broadcast from the USS Iowa docked at the Hudson River): --Dolores Gray (musical comedy star) - ""Yankee Doodle Dandy"" & ""Harrigan"" (dances with the Toastettes chorus girls) --Bill Kenny (from the Ink Spots) - ""Mary"" and a medley of hits: ""Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall,"" ""To Each His Own,"" ""If I Didn't Care"" & ""September Song"" --The Step Brothers (tap dancers) - dance to ""Give My Regards To Broadway"" --Dolores Gray - ""Grand Old Flag"" (with the Marine Drill Team)
--Les Marcellis (gymnasts, acrobat act) - acrobats using one table & two chairs in their performance. --Jay Marshall (stand-up comedy) --Eileen O'Dare (acrobatic dancer surrounded by Navy audience) --Jackie (acrobat) --Dolores Gray - ""I Ought To Know More About You"" & ""Just One Of Those Things"" (surrounded by Sailors) --Navy Captain Wayne Loud - talks to Ed about his life and career. Then presents Ed with an Ed charactature drawn by Herb Hazelton, who also appears. --Ed reads telegr

Guests: --Victor Borge (pianist-composer) - appears as guest host --The Four Lads (vocal group) --Mata & Hari (dancers) --Roy Benson (comic magician) --Lita & Pepe (acrobats) --Jeanne Volk (singer) - winner of talent competition
Other guests (scheduled to appear): --Audrey Meadows & Jack Whiting --Mary Small (singer) --Les Charlivels (acrobatic musicians)

Guests: --Eartha Kitt - ""If You Haven't Got Love"" (from the show ""Mink"") & ""Monogamous"" --John Raitt - ""Hey There"" (from ""The Pajama Game"") & ""My Boy Bill"" (soliloquy from ""Carousel"") --Janis Paige - ""Hernando's Hideaway"" (from ""The Pajama Game"") --Celeste Holmes with Hollywood director Michael Curtiz --Andrea Dancers (formal dancing, with double jointed girl)
--The Bogdadis (juggling act with brothers) --Miss Malta and Company (animal act with dancing poodle)

Scheduled: --Eddie Fisher (guest host) --The American Legion's Jackson Zouaves drill team --Joyce's Camel --singing contest winners

Scheduled guests (broadcast from Atlantic City's Convention Hall): --John Harris' ""Ice Capades of 1955"" (40-minute segment planned) - starring Donna Atwood and Bobby Specht, with a cast of 110 skaters.
--Roberta Peters (opera singer) --Sonny Howard (impressionist) --The Harmonicaires

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