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Ed Sullivan's Really Big Show
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Published: September 27, 2009
The king of prime time television on Sunday evenings from about 1950 to 1970 was Ed Sullivan, a man of no obvious talent. Sullivan hosted a variety show on CBS that in some respects resembled today's "American Idol" and "America's Got Talent" shows.
The list of performers who got their first big break in show business on his hour-long program was a long one.
Television viewing records were shattered on Sullivan's show of Sept. 9, 1956, as America viewed a former truck driver from Memphis, Tenn., Elvis Aaron Presley, and set a record of some 60 million viewers.
America met four lads from Liverpool on the show of Feb. 9, 1964, whose talents changed popular music and men's hair styles. That broadcast broke the previous record with 73 million TV viewers.
Sullivan had a manner of speech and body language that was often mimicked by his comedic guests. He was particularly known for referring to next week's program as being "a really big show," which, with his accent, came off sounding like "a really big sheew."
The show had variety. Besides comedians and comediennes, Sullivan showcased vocal and instrumental musicians, dancers, cast members from a current Broadway show, jugglers, magicians and perhaps even a real dog and pony show on any Sunday evening. Sullivan also broke ground by regularly featuring black performers.
I particularly enjoyed watching acrobats using what I call "teeter boards." One or two acrobats jumped down on one end of a low see-saw, which propelled another acrobat, who had been standing on the other end of the board, through the air and into a chair on a pole or onto the shoulders of another member of their troupe.
Two other acts I relished watching were a Spanish ventriloquist named Senor Wences and a clown billed as "The Banana Man."
Wences manipulated several puppets, one of which he drew on his left hand, using lipstick to turn his thumb and index finger into the puppet's mouth. He then added eyes and a small wig to his hand and setting it atop a puppet body, his hand became the puppet's head. The puppet's name was "Johnny."
You rarely saw Wences's mouth or any part of this throat move when doing the puppet's voices, even while drinking water or smoking.
He also had "The Man in the Box," the head of a puppet in a box which he would open and close, talking to the head and checking frequently to see if the puppet was OK. I realize this sound bizarre.
"All right?" he would ask the Man in the Box.
"All right," the puppet would reply. Its voice would be different if the box lid was closed or open.
The Banana Man said nothing during his act, but an occasional "Woooow!"
The Banana Man came on stage wearing very shabby formal clothes with a large loose tailed coat. From the inside pockets of this coat, accompanied by the trademark "Woooow!," the clown would pull large bunches of what appeared to be bananas, hence his name.
The bunches were deposited large boxes, which also came out of his coat. Eventually he would have assembled three or four boxes on the stage, each full of bananas, watermelons, ties, gloves, violins, music stands, sheet music and other props. For the finale, he assembled a small locomotive engine, also from the recesses of his coat, hooked the boxes to it, and rode his "train" off stage.
The Banana Man's schtick was simple, but you could not help but watch in amazement, even though you knew what was coming next. The Banana Man (a.k.a. Sam Levine) also was a frequent act on the Captain Kangaroo Show from 1958 to 1970.
The Banana Man's showmanship elevated what sounds like an act fit only for three-year-olds to quality entertainment. My description his act doesn't make much sense, but if you have a computer, go to Google and type in "the Banana Man" and go to some of the sites.
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Senor Wences died in 1999 at the age of 103. The Banana Man (as played by Sam Levine) died in November of 1994.
Edward Vincent Sullivan, 73, passed away on Oct. 13, 1974, a Sunday, three years after the show was cancelled by network executives. It had run for 1087 episodes.
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America's got talent? America has always had talent. It just took an impresario like Ed Sullivan to find it and put it on network TV.
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