Ed Sullivan brought me to TV first in 1952, then Garry Moore's program gave me a lot of confidence and freedom.
I was dreaming I was on the Sullivan Show.
When I was a kid, we didn't have a TV until the late '50s, but I can remember watching Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, Steve McQueen, and 'Gunsmoke.'
I recently watched that Lucie Arnaz-produced documentary [Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie, 1992] about her parents [Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz], and I saw so much of my own childhood there.
I love radio and have done a little bit for years - since 'Workers' Playtime' in the 1950s. It's also a good springboard for comedians.
I don't think Ed Sullivan had anything to do with Carib Song.
I did the Ed Sullivan show four times. I did the Steve Allen show. I did the Jackie Gleason show.
My dad was the original announcer on The Goon Show.'
I was always singing and dancing for my mother when I wasn't glued to the television watching I Love Lucy or the Carol Burnett Show.
When television captured the popular imagination of the 1950s, a rash of movies satirized Hollywood while also mythologizing it.
I used to come down from New Rochelle and go to Radio City. They'd have a floor show and a movie. I'm showing my age, but I saw 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' and 'Broken Arrow' with Jimmy Stewart. It was a great way for a kid to see a movie.
I love Judy Garland, I love Doris Day, I love Marilyn Monroe. I love everything that comes from that era. The music is just beautiful and powerful - and simple. That's what makes it so great.
Pretty much anything you laughed at in the second half of the 20th century can be traced back to Your Show Of Shows.
