Jean Béliveau on "To Tell the Truth" (November 19, 1957)

[@bufnyfan1]

my father was having breakfast with a friend in the early 1980's at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto-when he noticed Jean Beliveau sitting with another man--my father was a huge Habs fan and very timidly went over to Mr. Beliveau and said-I'm sorry Mr. Beliveau I don't want to bother you but can I have your autograph and without any hesitation Mr. Beliveau said "BOTHER ME--SIR you just made my day!!" This was just the kind of man Mr. Beliveau was--total class

[@justafanintexas7913]

I saw him act directly the opposite when he was playing.

[@secondguess3128]

Did you ever watch while sober?

[@GlizzyRedDot]

The great Jean Beliveau...We can't as Canadians realize what a player and man he was today he was The Lemieux as skill and the Great one off of it..What a gentleman and great hockey player he was.

[@justafanintexas7913]

Really??? Ask the non-French players in the day that played with him how nice he was.

[@secondguess3128]

@justafanintexas: Not one had a bad word to say about him. NOT ONE!

[@waterlilyqueen]

@@secondguess3128 his teammate Maurice Richard had a few mild criticisms of him like that Bernie Geoffrion should have been team captain instead of him and that he shouldn’t have waited so long to join the Canadiens.

[@secondguess3128]

@@waterlilyqueen The Rocket was hardly a "non-French" player -- and he wasn't criticizing Beliveau's character, in the manner of our friend in Texas. This is the first I've heard about his preference for Geoffrion as captain. There's a certain logic to it -- Geoffrion had been with the Canadiens 2 seasons longer than Beliveau, and was coming off his 50-goal season when a new captain was being named (to replace Doug Harvey, traded in 1961). But the team's custom -- lasting until at least the 1990s -- was for players to vote on who would wear the C. Richard was entitled to his opinion, but obviously didn't speak for the players. Richard was also an intensely proud individual, acutely aware of his place in hockey -- as such, he resented Beliveau joining the Habs for more money than he was making (one of the costs of bringing Beliveau into the fold, as he had been making more than most NHL players with the Quebec Aces -- the main reason he delayed his NHL career). Montreal was said to have mollified Richard by extending him contract offers for the rest of his career with blank spaces for salary -- that he filled in with the amount of his choice.

[@fredbmurphy]

I knew it was 2 just by his face.

[@markmalone5384]

Fantastique! Certainly our neighbors to the South are now all familiar with The Legend, The Gentleman, my Hockey Idol: Jean Beliveau. After shedding hundreds of tears in the last two weeks, I'm ready to laugh again. Le Gros Bill will NEVER be forgotten! Thank you so much for your research and posting this odd but most amusing clip.

[@Jiltedin2007]

Coming from a Bruins Fan, Jean Beliveau was probably The Most Handsome Man to ever play The Game of Hockey, as well as The Most Successful.

[@waterlilyqueen]

He was handsome but Bobby Orr was/is too!

[@fredmar6436]

@@waterlilyqueen Ron Duguay??

[@jimbobogie8349]

Loved Kitty's questions about the "Costume"-but she raised a very interesting question about helmets.

[@abbywyatt]

As Gordie Howe said on the Dick Cavett show, you can always get somebody to do your thinking for you.

[@davidrobins4025]

What a great hockey player Jean Beliveau was. And a gentleman.

[@MrKTVM]

Rest In Peace-Jean Beliveau.

[@Lava1964]

I've never heard a bad word spoken about Jean Beliveau. I doubt if I ever will.

[@justafanintexas7913]

You will now. He had no time for non-French players on the Habs and openly discriminated against them.

[@secondguess3128]

I could be polite, and say you seem privy to information of which ABSOLUTELY NO ONE ELSE is aware -- or I could just call you out as a lying piece of crap. Think I'll opt for the latter. There is no truth whatsoever to your allegation. See comments by Moore, Ferguson, Dryden -- or any of Béliveau's anglo teammates over the years (including Don Cherry) -- and they positively gush in their praise. I grew up in Montreal and worked there about 10 years in sports media -- I saw Béliveau as a Canadiens executive frequently make time to offer supporting words to anglo players (and francophones . . . and Europeans . . .), and he was as gracious as could be on the occasion that I conducted an interview with him -- in English. Congratulations on being the only person anywhere with an axe to grind against Béliveau.

[@stmaurice2045]

justafanintexas Your comment is a good example of what is called a fake news. Do you work for the Trump administration, Fox News or for the Russian government? Do you have any proof of what you say?

[@Pfsif]

@@stmaurice2045 No CNN.

[@justafanintexas7913]

@@stmaurice2045 - Ken Dryden's bio.

[@danbeliveau6846]

One of the true greats!

[@Doral4720]

RIP Jean Beliveau. What a classy man!

[@davidjacob5828]

Kitty and Polly were babes 😘

[@MARILYN19481]

Thanks for sharing. He was a class act.

[@JOSALDINHOJOSALDINHO]

ONE OF MY IDOLS AND HEROES

[@damour5]

Unbelievable archive. Thanks for posting this!

[@u47tube]

Let me tell ya, this is priceless. Thank you!

[@altfactor]

Jean Beliveau even stumped Kitty Carlisle, which few contestants on "To Tell The Truth" ever did during her 35 years on the show. R.I.P., Jean. One of the true gentlemen in sports.

[@justafanintexas7913]

Because, as it turns out, some of the panelists were tipped-off in advance; the show was rigged and they got caught.

[@jeancorriveau8686]

This was obviously an american show. Every Canadian would have easily recognised Jean Béliveau.

[@freddyfurrah3789]

Obviously 😅

[@markcornish2519]

I saw a what's my line with Jacques plante and Bennett cerf called him jack plant. At least they pronounced mr beliveau's name right here

[@BigredApril1951]

I was 6 years old when my hero was on this show!

[@bluebear1985]

He was quite the player. He would play on ten Stanley Cup winners, retiring in 1971. He soon became a team executive after retiring. He would win the Cup eight additional times as an executive, the most recent one being in 1993. While he is still pretty active in the organization, he is currently in hospital recovering from a stroke. Get well soon, Le Gros Bill.

[@waterlilyqueen]

I've always thought Jean Beliveau was really attractive when he was young even though he's old enough to be my grandfather. Now that I've seen a video of him back then, I'm even more attracted to him than ever.

[@v4v819]

Everyone is attractive when they are young no one is attractive once they are old! Mother Nature!

[@AceBG27]

What a class act Jean Beliveau was. My idol as a little kid.

[@Stanley1994Cup]

this was great!

[@raybrettman9618]

Hard for me to imagine in 2017 that out of a panel in, NYC I presume, no one would have knowledge of, I am guessing, one of the 3 most well known players in the game at the time. I know Gordie Howe was around. I think Rocket Richard was still playing then too. But even as a 61 year old Blackhawk fan, full respect to the memory of Mr Beliveau and those wonderful Montreal teams of yore. Even as a kid was hard for me to dislike those guys or their fans.

[@v4v819]

This is way before your time... No way you would remember him playing in his playing days...

[@rrgomes]

It wasn't just NHL players who were basically unknown; if you watch a lot of game shows from this time (as I have done) you'll see that pro football players and other athletes are frequently unknown enough to appear as contestants and sometimes even as the "impostors" in shows like this. Baseball players were more often recognized, even then, because EVERYBODY went to baseball games in the 1950s--at least everybody in New York.

[@OldRustySteele]

rrgomes, You are definitely correct. What younger people don't realize is that in 1957, baseball was KING in the USA. The NFL didn't really become all that popular until a bit later. The Baltimore Colts vs. NY Giants championship game of 1958 was a watershed moment, as a national audience saw that epic game on TV. But the NBA, NFL, and NHL were still small potatoes compared to major league baseball at that time.

[@v4v819]

The show's contestants had to be "in" on it... No way they didn't know famous celebrity athletes! And in the 50's it was all the rage to watch sporting events on TV! Hockey was actually more popular in relation to the other big 3 sports in north America than it is today- facts that statistics prove if you care to google them! Remember this is tv so i don't think anyone would be surprised if more than half the time it was "put on" like they didn't know these famous figures! People were gullible back then and apparently some still are today! LOL!!!!!!!!

[@tjcassidy2694]

I like how they're all in full uniform - includiung the skates. And they don't even take off their gloves.

[@chrismy-j8580]

RIP NUMBER 2!

[@anandguruji83]

R.I.P JEAN BELIVEAU 1931-2014

[@davidberger2069]

Kitty Carlisle at the 6 minute mark asks "Why don't you have head protection?" Out of the mouths' of babes. To Bob Probert and all other concussion victims. I discovered this as I searched for Jean Beliveau news. His autograph and the care with which he signed his name is legendary. Don Cherry was on Rex Murphys' CBC Radio show discussing Beliveau- Mr. Cherry mentioned seeing Beliveau notice a player who had haphazardly signed his autograph for a fan- Beliveau apparently said to the player afterward "Do you not value your own name?" Or words to that affect. Bill Russell was the Black Quebecois Jean Beliveau

[@anandguruji83]

R.I.P JEAN BELIVEAU AND BUD COLLYER

[@belair55zz56]

RIP number 4.......

[@marsazorean62]

If we had any brains we woud'nt be hockey players. GOLD.

[@guytitanic]

You can see John looking for the hockey puck at the intro LOL and RIP big guy.

[@1biggerrynv]

I saw him win his last cup before retiring ...against Chicago Blackhawks May 18 1971...because next day, I got inducted in to US Army...lol I was rooting for Blackhawks..lol

[@tomkat5626]

Bud Collyer was the voice of Superman on the ''Superman Radio Program''.

[@werqa123]

in that time Jean plays only 5th season his first # was 20 but soon became legendary #4

[@Inakanks]

Notice at the end, Beliveau is wearing #22, the others #4.

[@Tubewings]

They did something similar when Thom McKee as the subject after he won over $300,000 on TIc-Tac-Dough. The impostors were wearing Navy uniforms, while McKee himself was in civilian garb.

[@denislafontaine9820]

Of course, #22 was the number of his line-mate, John Ferguson.

[@robynlefebvre1461]

Donnie Marshall wore #22. Ferguson didn't sign with the Habs until 1963.

[@justafanintexas7913]

Nicely taken. Beliveau wore #22 when first called up by Montreal.

[@secondguess3128]

@justafanintexas: More evidence that you're just making up crap as you go along. Béliveau never wore No. 22 -- he had No. 4 since joining the Canadiens permanently in 1953. Previous numbers he had been assigned in brief stints with Montreal were 12, 17 and 20. Teams did things on the cheap in the '50s. I'm speculating that show producers were unable to round up 3 Habs jerseys with No. 4 -- or, who knows, they may have been trying to throw off the panelists.

[@spacerazer]

A testament to how little NHL was covered south of the Canadian border. prior to mass expansion.

[@patbrennan6572]

Some in the U.S still call it ice hockey, like field hockey and road hockey are all professional sports.

[@fredmar6436]

@@patbrennan6572 I'm from Detroit and I've NEVER called it ICE HOCKEY!!

[@shoknifeman2mikado135]

I wish the lunkheads on Hockey Night would take the time to learn to properly pronounce French Canadian names as well as the American host did for this game. (They take the time to learn to pronounce the names of the Russians and Swedes)

[@1paulgood]

Beliveau was huge

[@dustylover100]

I wonder what would have happened if Maurice Richard was on this show?

[@dustylover100]

I got to meet Beliveau the second time I got to talk to Maurice Richard. He was definitely classy. I have always liked the name Jean Beluveau. Just as I was about to leave the table where they were signing autographs and talking to the fans, I just couldn't resist. I said it long and slow. J-E-A-N B-E-L-I-V-E-A-U. He nodded his head to me.

[@pikeman80]

There were people that didn't know this gentle giant?

[@analogkid4957]

Hockey was not that popular in the United States back in the 1950’s. Especially players from a Canadian based team

[@bobjones6572]

Good Lord!

[@gregd6022]

Hard to believe they would pick #3, a guy with no french accent... but wow, great to see Beliveau!

[@bufnyfan1]

Truth was that even in New York City in the 60's-the Rangers had a "hard core" of maybe 20,000 fans (they weren't followed like the Knicks, Giants, Yankees were). The great Ranger player Rod Gilbert once said that it was true but that core group sold out Madison Square Garden each and every game--it's not surprising this panel wouldn't know much about hockey/Mr. Beliveau

[@bluebear1985]

It's funny you should mention Rod Gilbert. According to him, he was once the mystery guest on "What's My Line?". He had the panel stumped, even after they took off their blindfolds.

[@gynandroidhead]

Rod Gilbert died yesterday. I remembered that episode

[@vlqlvlql7278]

Everything is word champions for the us

[@christinesemerdjian5765]

I knew the right one.

[@v4v819]

Did Jean actually wear his hockey pants backwards or did the other two?

[@jaymorgenthal9479]

This was done live from NYC. Back then hockey was far behind baseball and basketball and with few nhl games on tv here you only knew the players if you went regularly to the old MSG.

These days were just grand, weren't they?

[@rrgomes]

@joelz999 Yeah, isn't it great? And he got some money out of it, too. Considering what NHL players were paid back then, $500 was not bad at all.

[@davidrohlfing9055]

Why was Beliveau wearing 22?

[@davidburke2697]

2+2=4

[@javelin1010]

I can't believe that they were wearing skates and that nobody knew Beliveau by sight.

[@bluebear1985]

There were still a number of people in the US who weren't familiar with him. At the time, the NHL had only six teams. Even though the New York Rangers still drew good crowds at the time, whenever they made the playoffs during the time, they were forced to play their "home" games elsewhere, such as Montreal or Toronto, due to the circus taking over Madison Square Garden at that time of year.

[@bluebear1985]

Just a bit of an update of the number that the real Jean Beliveau was wearing here, it was #22, the one that belonged to Donnie Marshall, a left winger who played for the Montreal Canadiens from 1954-1963, the New York Rangers from 1963-1970, the Buffalo Sabres from 1970-1971, and the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1971-1972.

[@anotherbutt4chair454]

Sad as it may seem if they did this today with hockey players nothing has changed

[@DonLafontaine62]

The most successful was Henri Richard with 11 Stanley Cup rings....

[@justafanintexas7913]

It was easy in those days, the majority of the best players were French Canadian and the Habs had first crack at them.

[@timfronimos459]

Mr Beliveau towers over the other two.

[@jimbobogie8349]

Beliveau was wearing Number 22-interesting...

[@Jiltedin2007]

Not really, Jean Beliveau has his name on the Stanley Cup 17 times. 10 times on the Ice and another 7 more off the Ice while staying within the Habs Organization. Yes Henri Richard won more Cups on the Ice, you are right there.

[@joelz999]

!!!

[@josephpatrickprescott562]

Hello and God Bless All reading this, I must confess that it disturbs me to read some negative comments about Le Gros Bill. First off, most “Quebecers” have some level of intolerance or less than kind attitudes about the “English”. The political and religious history of why would take all day to write about and would be difficult to understand. If Jean had a preference for French-Canadians, that would have been consistent with the desires of the fans of the Habs and the opinion of the organization. That being said, I know for a fact, that REAL hockey people might have a preference who would be on their team….., but, that preference is always outweighed by the talent of the player. Sam Pollack, Dick Irvin, Jene Beliveau….hell, even The Rocket himself would not care where a player came from, what language they spoke, what color they were, who they voted for or what Church they went to…….IF that player could produce out there on the ice. As for The Great Number 4…..I met him 3 times and as a Canadiens fan all of my life, I was in actual awe. He was gracious and genuinely interested in anyone involved in Our Game.

[@OldRustySteele]

Well said, JPP562. Well said, indeed. Jean Beliveau was an outstanding player and an even better human being. The parallel in baseball was Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals. Another great player and wonderful man. They don't make 'em like Jean and Stan anymore. I don't necessarily worship athletes, but those two men deserve much admiration.

[@Staszu13]

Le Gros Bill's wearing John Ferguson's 22

[@neyder99]

haha if we did not have a brain we wouldn't be playing hockey ahahah haha

[@tempfan5547]

neyder99 i think i was '' if we had any brain we wouldnt be a hockey player'' makes more sens for a joke

[@rolandvanags5141]

Nobody asked them about what the H meant.

[@rrgomes]

When I was a lad, jokesters joked that the “CH” stood for “Center Hice”.

[@prestonlindbeck1197]

Randolph Duke: the real Beliveau is number three. Mortimer Duke: No Randolph, the real Beliveau is number two. Now pay up. You know the usual amount.

[@bneale]

Kitty Carlise: "Is this the costume you wear". It's called a uniform, ya dope. Arts fartsy types. What are you gonna do?

[@darkoanton5]

Canadian aristocracy back in the 1950s: couldn't recognize him, FFS.

[@justafanintexas7913]

Ralph Bellamy makes an ass of himself.

[@justafanintexas7913]

Beliveau helped run non-French players off the Canadiens, regularly.

[@secondguess3128]

Fiction.

[@gordonbotten7623]

Total BS. What an idiotic comment.

[@justafanintexas7913]

@@gordonbotten7623 - There are countless interviews with Ontario-born players that were run out of Montreal by Beliveau. But what would they know, eh?

[@secondguess3128]

@@justafanintexas7913 Give it a rest, already! You can't specifically cite even one of those "countless" interviews, nor identify a single player from Ontario you claim was so terribly aggrieved -- so provide verifiable names and quotes, or shut up. I can't speak for non-existent players, but your every word betrays how little you know . . . eh?

[@justafanintexas7913]

@@secondguess3128- Heaven forbid you'd look it up and find that you are wrong.

[@freddyfurrah3789]

Bobby Orr...the greatest. 😮