PASSWORD 1965-09-02 Natalie Schaefer & Jim Backus

[@-Ready-Player-One-]

Natalie Schafer was so classy, even when she would use her flip glasses to read. What an elegant and stylish lady. It was always so enjoyable to hear her talk.

[@Sincopare]

Ms. Schaefer has that wonderful Continental accent which you don't get to hear anymore.

[@stmichl9433]

Yes it's so strange how American accents have changed so much since the 1950s and 60s. Natalie sounded transatlantic more than purely Yankee. She was quite ahead of her time apparently. Extremely modern. Quite the opposite in many ways to her characterisation of Mrs Howell.

[@lekoman]

@@stmichl9433 Important to remember that most people didn't sound like that, even in the heyday. It's just that actors were trained to speak that way from the stage or on film, so much of the media that remains of that era has that accent in it.

[@dmnemaine]

@@stmichl9433 Natalie had that very posh-sounding Eastern accent. Many people from wealthy families in the Northeast spoke that way naturally.

[@1962Tim]

Agreeing with the others before me. What a very classy, lovely woman. Wow!

[@hairyscotman]

I loved the HOWELL's!!! Natalie is a gorgeous lady!!! Jim....always my Mr. Magoo!!!

[@craigsmith157]

Now I'm in the mood to watch Gilligan's Island. Lol. Natalie is a beautiful 65 year old. She lives another 26 years, almost to the age of 91.

[@itiswhatitaintanditaintwha1427]

Tony Caban I'm always in the mood to watch Gilligan's Island! 🏝️

[@ebayerr]

Craig Smith : She looks amazing for being 65 years old. I didn't realize that Jim Backus was 13 years younger than her.

[@magnificentfailure2390]

Natalie also became one of the early voices for women's breast cancer awareness. Dawn Wells spent an awful lot of time in her social-pages trying to show the world what a brave and wonderful human Natalie was.

[@LULOHANFYAH]

Dawn Wells once said that nobody ever knew how old Natalie was until she died because she never would tell them. I am looking at he wrinkle free neck and seeing why nobody knew her age. She was so well preserved.

[@lynettepalecek3141]

Natalie Schaffer was born in 1900. Jim Backus was born in 1913. Bob Denver was born in 1935. Russell Johnson was born in 1924. Dawn Wells was born in 1938. She was Miss Nevada in 1960. I think that Alan Hale, Jr was born in 1918. I don't know when Tina Louise was born.

[@TEETERAL00]

I think Betty White is in the front row of the audience, applauding at the beginning

[@rg8152]

And her mother is on her right/our left 😊 They used to sit in the audience together in many game shows. Match Game, TTTT, NYSI…

[@jimvinespresents...8463]

My dad -- Lee Vines -- was the announcer on this show.

[@joeambrose3260]

R I P

[@tbrunk4214]

Great voice

[@stmichl9433]

I love Lee's whisper-quiet enunciations of the password. It adds so much to the atmosphere of the show and creates an intimacy between the at-home audience and the performance at hand. Those kinds of narrative techniques were popular back in those days. Something you don't see in television anymore.

[@MC-vo7vt]

Such a great voice. Would have been cool to appear once on a while.

[@Roaddog77]

Wow very Kool. I was 5 years old when this aired.

[@randysills4418]

Jim Backus flirted with our mother on national TV in 1965.The show was in color and she deliberately wore a striking royal blue dress with a green coat hoping that she would be picked as a contestant and it worked! Mr. Backus was the celebrity she chose to help her and he commented on what a beautiful young lady our mother was. We teased her about that forever!

[@TheMikester307]

Tanks so much for this story!

[@elliebellie7816]

Thank you for answering one of my questions which has always been: How did they chose their contestants?

[@fredkaplan9720]

Great Clues on both sides

[@francinamanning2320]

Spotted Betty White in the audience! Sweet to see her there! Probably attended many shows.

[@flowertrue]

That's a funny story, thank you for sharing it. 😃

[@johnsax1445]

No one knew at this time what a television phenomenon “Gilligans Island” would later become through years of reruns.

[@5thdimension625]

Exactly. Entertaining generations of children after school each day

[@infonut]

It is well known Natalie thought Gilligan's Island was dreadful and would NEVER be picked up by anyone with common sense. She only agreed to test for it because it included a trip to Hawaii for filming. She was shocked, angry and heartbroken when it was picked up because it did everything she hoped it wouldn't. It typecast her and ruined her movie career. What little their was of it. I have no doubt that was no Freudian slip when she answered "TV" to the "catastrophe" clue.

[@BadRonald1]

Wow Natalie's looking good and her cute smile

[@itiswhatitaintanditaintwha1427]

Good to see The Howells together on a game show!

[@kurtkauffman4326]

Indeed there!

[@howardkerr8174]

Both of these stars were excellent players, Natalie seems like she must have been very fun to be around.

[@nelsonricardo3729]

In an episode of I Love Lucy, Natalie ran a charm school. Perfect casting!

[@Rlotpir1972]

Natalie was also in one of Lucy's movies, "Forever Darling".

[@lynettepalecek3141]

@Nelson Ricardo. I watched that episode and it was funny. 😅. Natalie Schaffer was very good.

[@harperstacey9604]

Natalie Schafer was a personal friend of Lucille ball. From Ms. Harper Stacey.

[@BrianBattles]

Everyone wearing suits, even the audience! 😃😄

[@cccccc5398]

That was one of the BEST passwords iv seen.

[@sylviastreet6785]

I like Natalie’s hair style! I would like mine like that! (I’m old)

[@janetremsing6988]

🙂👍Having only seen her as Mrs. Howell, I didn’t realize just how gorgeous she was!👍🙂‼️

[@rharvey2124]

And Natalie Schafer was about 65 years old at this time. Look it up.

[@MajorAnthonyNelson]

I used to run home from school in the early 1970s to watch Gilligan island reruns

[@harperstacey9604]

Me, too. From Ms. Harper Stacey.

[@marycook1644]

Well, we also love your show !!! 🦚

[@jefflandreneau7027]

What I love so much about this is that compared to today's gameshows.. there isn't the overproduction that you see today. There's no constant up close crowd shots. The audience doesn't applaud and or laugh at every little thing they say. There's no big music production and even though it's Password..if it was made today I'm sure at some point someone would be dancing. It was just 5 people talking and playing a simple game. Television today is simply terrible and people just try too hard. Back then it was natural and they just went with whatever happened and got natural reactions from audiences

[@marcpower4167]

And they dont mind the fact the stakes are so small, granted $500 went much further back then but there's no pressure just have some fun, maybe win a few bucks, hang out with 2 great actors and a fine TV host for a bit. Sounds like a good night. Unlike, today we're talking potentially life changing amounts of money, get the wrong person on there, that could really affect them if they lose....😰

[@markschildberg1667]

Jimmy Fallon destroyed Password, turning it into the Roman Coliseum instead of a distinguished game.

[@infonut]

Same with Jeopardy. It moves. I don't plan on meeting any of these people and wouldn't recognize them if I did. I don't get any money, prizes or inspiration from their show and/or advertising and am more insulted that they keep trying to shove it down my throat.

[@debiboyd364]

Yes they did

[@VetsrisAuguste]

I love how Natalie Schaefer can provoke the answer “hag” with the solitary word “woman” while dressed so glamorously. Mrs. Howell was one of my first lifestyle icons.

[@MKIVWWI]

The Howells square-off! I love it!

[@harperstacey9604]

Thurston vs. lovey. From Ms. Harper Stacey.

[@northshore1000]

I wish we still all dressed so formally for public occasions. So classy!!

[@HappySunshineDay]

Natalie's dress was out of this world gorgeous!

[@louislucky7440]

Well preserved!¿¿...even by 2021 standards...she's HOT !

[@erica-spiritualfitnessblog9181]

2:05 you’ve done it again Magoo!!! 😂

[@joeambrose3260]

Natalie was 13 yrs older than Jim Wowsers

[@randigerber1926]

They sure had a lot of flight attendants as contestants on Password!

[@waynemizer4912]

*stewardesses

[@voicetube]

I think possibly even as a single clue for "Balance," I'm thinking "Equilibrium"?

[@howardkerr8174]

Absolutely priceless: Ms Shaefer giving her guess without getting a clue, and poor Mr Ludden totally flummoxed...and on the heels of Mr Backus hearing the clue wrong and trying for a second go at the right word.

[@waldolydecker8118]

what was really priceless is just a few seconds before 3:10 Allen made the comment "Anybody that believes she is as feather-headed as she acts on [Gilligan's Island] is very wrong...very wrong." Then, unfortunately the very next time she opens her mouth, she completely contradicts his statement. Priceless.

[@Camop-iz9kt]

Little touch of Magoo at 2:06!

[@GeminieCricket]

Better times then than now 😢2020’s is a nightmare !

[@TheEchovoices]

she reminds me of Marilyn Monroe such a gorgeous lady she was

[@marycook1644]

🛥 I always thought so too ! In this taping she absolutely glows with beauty ! 🌺

[@janetremsing6988]

And CLASSY, too!

[@clydegoodrich6720]

I'm a huge fan of Natalie Shaffer. She made her high-class, socialite character so lovable, which could've been a challenge, but she did it so well. I've seen her in other productions, too. She was fabulous. ❤

[@jln55]

How many women have such great skin/complexion as Natalie does at age 65?

[@AlanTuringWannabe]

She was 65? Wow she looks youthful. Quite the beauty

[@joeambrose3260]

Natalie keeping in character with the specs

[@mthivier]

I could be remembering this incorrectly, but I vaguely recall hearing somewhere the glasses were her own, and she decided to use them as a prop when she was playing Lovey.

[@TheCalico72]

My gosh, Natalie is stunning and adorable! When I was a kid watching Gilligan's Island, I thought she was an old woman. Shame on me.

[@randysills4418]

And she was born in 1900!

[@eduardo_corrochio]

I enjoy Natalie and Jim on Gilligan's Island, have liked that silly sitcom since reruns after school when I was a kid. Of course, most fun part were the dream sequences; the cast had to have loved doing those ... pirate ship, Cinderella, the wild west, Dracula, soap opera, spy movie spoof, etc. Natalie uses a lorgnette here for reading and I know that Lovey did once in a while too. Natalie was fun guest starring on The Brady Bunch, Thriller, I Love Lucy, and more. I suspect that Backus ad-libbed occasionally as Thurston, which is enjoyable, but you can only do so much of that in a scripted show.

[@passwordplus]

Did anyone notice that Betty White and her mom Tess were shown in the audience at the opening intro of the show😊👍

[@hellokitty777able]

Jim was good at this. Also, Natalie is the best aged lady, EVER.

[@Deken]

I would love to know what Natalie Schaefer's skin routine or beauty secrets were! She was a gorgeous lady.

[@harperstacey9604]

Good genes.

[@snootybaronet]

Absolutely stunning, her hair, teeth, eyes, skin are all wonderful.

[@andrewmulligan6844]

Jim Backus is smart

[@scotnick59]

Natalie was like 65 here: a very well-preserved lady

[@Gods2ndFavoriteBassPlyr]

She really was a stunning woman... and a truly gifted entertainer.

[@danseabreeze1404]

I just watched here on you tube "Natalie Schafer--Rare 1989 TV Interview, Gilligan's Island, Astrology" where she is 90 years old and only looks slightly older than here.

[@angelan2764]

How old was Jim here?

[@scotnick59]

@@angelan2764 52

[@derekcoyle1147]

Angela N 52. Amazing he’s 13 years younger.

[@sandrap6321]

Natalie reminds me of an older version of Marilyn Monroe & Jim could be FDR's brother.

[@harperstacey9604]

They were perfect choices to play the Howells on gilligan's island. From Ms. Harper Stacey.

[@marycook1644]

🦚 I always thought that Lovey and Marilyn resembled each other. And acted similarly ! 🏖

[@miamidolphinsfan]

Excellent episode.....I never thought they would get rendevouz

[@NEPatriot]

The Howell's really brought their A game to this episode.

[@johnprovince5304]

A session of Password should be mandatory for opponets seeking any office. It would reveal a whole lot very fast.

[@keithhyttinen8275]

And what about the endless parade of incompetent Anglo Saxons getting CEO positions?

[@Gods2ndFavoriteBassPlyr]

@@keithhyttinen8275 What on earth does that even mean?

[@elaineh5821]

While watching Natalie, I was struck how much she looked like Marilyn Monroe. She was 65 years old. I never would have guessed it if several people didn't mention in the Comments.

[@marycook1644]

I have always thought the same thing, about her and Marilyn !! I am happy to see that I am not the only one !! Blessings from California. 🦋

[@snootybaronet]

Natalie is stunning.

[@cynthiawalker5620]

That’s INCREDIBLE!! She looks soooo beautiful!

[@danielplatts9446]

Jim was really on point this game.

[@harperstacey9604]

Backus

[@danielplatts9446]

@@harperstacey9604 yes that's his last name.

[@harperstacey9604]

Jim Backus was pretty good on game shows. From Ms. Harper Stacey.

[@cweefy]

I'd rather live in this time

[@keithhyttinen8275]

Everybody has money and a house. The GOP and Ronald Reagan murdered all that.

[@joeambrose3260]

Natalie looks simply ravishing

[@carolynluckas1219]

How is it people were so much smarter in the 50’s than 2020.

[@gusloader123]

Carolyn Luckas: Hello. Reading was required in elementary schools. Both during class time, and then at least once a month the class would visit the school library and every child had to check out a book to read at home. {Whether they read it is questionable.} Kids with bad grades were held back a year. Since the 1980's, the school districts have been passing the failing students on to the next grade level to not get grief from bad parents of the crummy students. Late 1970's and 1980's Video games happened and in 1995 the internet came along. Very little reading done since the internet came about.

[@lawsonj39]

What counts as "smart" varies over time. Give one of those 1965 people a smart phone and they'd be the biggest idiots you've ever seen! 😁

[@randysills4418]

People read more back then. Newspapers were common reading for many and students were not passed from grade to grade just to advance them and get them through schooling.

[@infonut]

@@randysills4418 ... reading is the BEST way to improve your vocabulary and consider and objective opinion.

[@rahkuaschount]

@@lawsonj39 No. Intelligence can be tested. IQs have steadily been declining, even with the goalposts being moved; revised modern test standards make current IQ tests much easier than the ones from the 1950s. Try it yourself: Get an Internet Archive 5th grade textbook from 1950 and see how you you fare.

[@lindaroper2654]

Allen always greeted the panel first. He love this game .

[@itiswhatitaintanditaintwha1427]

In a later show Bob Denver got stuck on the word 'Skipper'! 🤣🤣

[@dmcvegan1963]

I believe that's Betty White in the audience at :27 sitting in the front row between two older ladies. She was married to Allen Ludden at this time.

[@ellengregory8002]

I once looked up Thurston and Lovey on Wikipedia. Natalie Schaefer was Jewish, which I probably wouldn't have guessed, and Jim. Backus was expelled from the Kentucky Military Institute for riding a horse through the ness hall. Two unique characters.

[@rharvey2124]

You've heard the famous story how Natalie Schafer never told her age to anyone - not even her only husband who asked her age once more - as he lay dying.

[@MsDana-mo9fp]

I would've guessed that she was Episcopalian or Anglican with her persona! She always looked like she should be in the court of a Queen.

[@chucksellers8422]

I was just about to write what the first 2 comments say. She does look so young. I didn't know how common I am. 95% of people talk about her age. Gsssss

[@pikemeredith5604]

A lot of people thought Natalie & Jim were married in real life. They looked like they really belonged together. Sad that Jim got terribly ill & died the way he did. He did however manage to appear in one of the Gilligan's Island movies in a cameo.

[@m.e.d.7997]

Jim and Natalie both seemed so nice. Both good players too

[@mikele5756]

I wish you posted the next episode, it looks like fun. (11/16/65)

[@jonathanashbeck3740]

0:28 Looks like Betty White in the audience!

[@peteb1206]

Wife of the host! She was in the front row of the audience regularly.

[@m.e.d.7997]

Too bad Gilligans Island did not have a longer run than 3 years. Jim is impressive here. He knows his words.

[@angelthman1659]

Natalie is 65 here and looks 53, and Jim is 53 and looks 65.

[@harperstacey9604]

Jim looks older than Natalie. From Ms. Harper Stacey.

[@supremes1964]

lovey looks LOVEY!!!!

[@jjgreek1]

tHIS IS AWESOME

[@randysills4418]

Lovey Howell cried when her agent told her that Gilligan's Island had been picked up for broadcast. So when she said television after a related clue for the show...

[@peteb1206]

You can see she is not too enamoured about the show, and very reluctantly accepts Alan's congratulations on the show being picked up for a second season.

[@randysills4418]

She hid her age and originated looped odd 12 years claiming 1900 as her birth year.

[@randysills4418]

I meant to say she took off twelve years from her age and claimed 1912 as her birth year instead of 1900. Maybe auto-correct got me somewhat before?

[@Packer1290]

Natalie has an interesting accent for someone born in New Jersey....LOL!

[@Ernie_Centofanti]

I was 9 years old when this aired.

[@harperstacey9604]

I wasn't even born yet.

[@kristenkaz3080]

I had no idea Gilligan’s Island was on for as long as it was.

[@marycook1644]

🦉 This is a very great episode !! Blessings from California. 🎊

[@Texan96]

You can see Betty White with her mother in the audience in the very beginning

[@raymondclark6232]

On 0:27 Looks like Actress Betty White-Ludden is part of the Audience clapping.I see Mr and Mrs Thurston Howell the iii playing Password.It's make me laugh seeing the Howells on Gilligan's Island.I love Gilligan's Island.Especially Mary Ann(Dawn Wells),She is pretty then in her 20's and pretty now in her 70's during commercials for ME TV.

[@ccbsnyc]

It looks like Betty White and her mother in the front row. There is an episode of Match Game where they are both shown in the audience.

[@ccbsnyc]

Betty White was often in the audience.

[@joylynn7898]

Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down

[@Smittyschannel]

Love it- GI is my fav show

[@nessundorma6720]

Jim was the voice of Mr Magoo

[@harperstacey9604]

Jim Backus appeared in the film, rebel without a cause. From Ms. Harper Stacey.

[@theOriginalTimG]

....growing up the HOWELLS were the richest people I knew.....

[@michael-dy8tz]

Natalie had such beautiful, dazzling teeth. I didn't realize that on Giligan's Island.

[@TheMikester307]

Oh my gosh! "Pastoral Counselling" as a new field! My Catholic College (Newman University, Wichita) offers degrees in that now! ------Mickey

[@viennawaits4u36]

I would have love to have seen Mary Anne vs Ginger.

[@MC-vo7vt]

Would have been intense since they weren’t fond of each other.

[@harperstacey9604]

@@MC-vo7vt Dawn Wells had said that she and Tina Louise weren't enemies. From Ms. Harper Stacey.

[@kennethdesmondmosley1075]

The Howells do Password.

[@kennethedwards3936]

Sharper than people from 2021 .Even with computers the millennial has half the equivalent knowledge of a person from 60 years back.

[@waldolydecker8118]

and whose fault is that? the millennials or the people in charge leading them and setting the examples and national standards? lol Its like blaming the minor child for what goes on in the household.

[@jefflandreneau7027]

@@waldolydecker8118 there's a lack of willingness and drive from millennials. That's the problem

[@waldolydecker8118]

@@jefflandreneau7027 - That element has always existed in every Generation. Each Generation is a product of its time and the social/political environment of its time. It is especially a product of its national leadership and what incentives and standards the national leadership incorporate into the society and body politic. 60 years ago elected Officials at every level - local, state, federal, - didn't spend 24/7 sewing distrust in Government so that the private sector and the politicians personally could line their pockets from the distrust. We always say that a household's kids are a reflection of the parents who raised them and the environment of the household the kids grew up in. Similarly, Millennials - or any other previous or succeeding Generation for that matter - are a reflection of the state of the country and the times the Generation is growing up in. If a household's kids are bad, we blame their parent's poor leadership and management; if millennials as a Generation are bad, then the blame similarly has to go to the country's political and corporate leaders for their poor leadership, poor management, and poor role model examples. Blaming kids and refusing to equally blame the adults in charge is actually a greater shortcoming than the shortcomings you assess to millennials.

[@marathonfortruth4768]

Is that Betty White in the audience? Mrs. Allen Ludden.

[@bubbagreensmith7174]

Much simpler times for sure!!!

[@ThomasFromTN]

Bubbagreen Smith People always say that - and it's almost always wrong. The mid-60s...Vietnam, Cold War, Civil Rights Movement, JFK, Malcolm X, RFK, MLK...there was nothing simple about those days.

[@juancarlosmontes]

@@ThomasFromTN You are so correct. Those were most troublesome times. Violence on the college campuses, violence in the streets, heroes of different social classes gunned down in the streets and on live television. Many people were losing their marbles over the stress and tearing their hair out worried about what was happening to our country.

[@MrJoeybabe25]

At about :25 I think I see Betty White in the audience.

[@thomastimlin1724]

To bad they didn't have the Skipper and Gilligan walk on as contestants as a joke.

[@joeambrose3260]

Or Ginger and Maryann

[@ccbsnyc]

It's hard to believe, but Natalie Schaefer is 65 in this episode, if the date is right

[@joeambrose3260]

64

[@andytaylor5476]

Natalie Schafer was 65 here.

[@ChrisBakerauthor]

Natalie Schafer had it in her contract that they couldn't do closeups of her on _Gilligan's Island_.

[@joeambrose3260]

I've see.n closeups on GI ( Honeybees )

[@rharvey2124]

Yes but from what I've read - Sherwood's books perhaps- Natalie forgot and/or didn't mind close ups as the episodes went on.

[@harperstacey9604]

She didn't want any close-ups because she lied about her age. From Ms. Harper Stacey.

[@dmnemaine]

Natalie Schaefer and Jim Backus were so personable. Of course that could all have been an act, but it's very difficult to fake that level of genuineness. Seemed like very lovely people.

[@AustinLaPlante]

There would of been one more episode of the 1962-Summer 1965 nighttime Password featuring stars from CBS' Petticoat Junction, Gilligan's Island, and Slattery's People. Unfortunately, doesn't seem like the episode existed at this time.

[@kathyb1020]

I finally got to the end of the black & white shows. I wish the rest of 1965 were posted on KZbin.

[@sharksport01]

James Deans dad in Rebel.

[@claybolton2318]

If you were a movie star you could be well preserve

[@MsDana-mo9fp]

So surprised that Mr. Backus does not stand up to meet the women!

[@AlanTuringWannabe]

Jim is an excellent clue giver.

[@ochsj1971]

0:27 Betty White is in the bottom row in the center of the screen.

[@atraxrobustus3618]

I was exactly one month old

[@BrianBattles]

"Male contestant, what do you do for a living?" "Female contestant, do you have a family?"

[@leonpse]

Brian Battles He often ask women if they are working.

[@Ransomhandsome]

Ludden was made aware of their situations before the show.

[@nelsonricardo3729]

"Female contestant, what does your husband do for a living?"

[@rharvey2124]

They interviewed contestants before, still do today as they did then.

[@Hebrews88]

Speaking as a women, if more women were stay at home mothers and wives, I believe our nation would be a much better place.

[@williamdunphy352]

From CBS Television City in Hollywood.

[@dougearnest7590]

It was fun seeing Natalie Schaefer and Jim Backus both on the show. It's interesting that at a time when men had manners he didn't stand when introduced to any of the ladies - did he have back problems or something?

[@jaymesguy239]

Natalie Schaefer was a true class act. They don't come like that anymore.

[@lanabyk8012]

$500 bucks back then is probably like $5,000 today...maybe more...

[@lekoman]

I don't think I'd ever heard Jim Backus's normal speaking voice! What a novelty!

[@jamesalford877]

Natalie was hot!