What's My Line? - Gordon & Sheila MacRae; Martin Gabel [panel] (Apr 16, 1961)

MYSTERY GUEST: Gordon & Sheila MacRae
PANEL: Arlene Francis, Martin Gabel, Dorothy Kilgallen, Bennett Cerf

[@thamnosma]

I've come to really enjoy Martin Gabel. Excellent player.

[@aileen694]

And what presence he had, not to mention that voice!!! I've read several nasty remarks about Martin being "unworthy" of Arlene...personally, I think they were a lovely match, both in personal and professional life. Wish I could've been there as friends to them!

[@dariawells7438]

His presence and his manner make him incredibly attractive, which is more important than physical attractiveness.

[@cdrugly]

20:29 Sheila McRae’s Dinah Shore impression is EXCELLENT.

[@leesher1845]

I like with Martin Gables said: “As long as he doesn’t burn them” - meaning books. They did that in Nazi Germany not too many years before this show was aired.

[@aileen694]

The strongman was beautiful! Even his hairline was shaped like angel wings or a heart! And with a sweet nature, too. Wow...

[@janettejoseph1430]

I've become addicted to these shows. Love that everyone is dressed and everyone is so polite. We don't see that today

[@rmelin13231]

I'm with you 100 percent on that. I find myself smiling with each episode.

[@sherlockhomo-ph4su]

They are incredibly mean to overweight people

[@janettejoseph1430]

I was not aware. I will pay more attention

[@rayizard5687]

I agree with Arlene, he was adorable!

[@tjbnyc76]

Sheila MacRae's Dinah Shore impersonation was spot on. And this episode has one of my all-time favorite Flirty Arlene moments, after the strongman exits. "Isn't he CUTE?" she can be heard saying to Dorothy off-camera, and then, "He's the most adorable strongman I've ever SEEN! I'm sorry, Martin."

[@Sylvander1911]

She even looked like Dinah

[@cynthialyman2636]

Gordon MacRae blew me away in both Carousel and Oklahoma, but once I heard him singing My Funny Valentine on an album my father owned and it gave me goosebumps.

[@cassiemoira]

I like that Martin defended Arlene by teasing Bennett at 9:27. Very simple isn't it? haha Man did Arlene like that strong man ;)

[@markxxx21]

Arlene would flirt with every good looking man (or boy) that came on.

[@thamnosma]

Arlene gave a lot of hard gazes to the hot women too. She's a hoot.

[@davidsanderson5918]

cassiemoira Personally I didn't think Gabel needed to stick his neck in at that point. Arlene is his property, is she?

[@donnawoodford6641]

Gabel's comment wasn't necessary. Arlene is quite capable of standing up for herself.

[@yeahnoonecaresifyouarefirst]

Ewwwww no one is no one's property..... Actually I take that back we are all God's property whether you believe or not

[@loissimmons6558]

Sheila MacRae was the third and final Alice Kramden, succeeding Pert Kelton and Audrey Meadows.

[@neilmidkiff]

Bennett makes a pun at 25:12 using the older meaning of "drummer" as a traveling salesperson, one who "drums up" business.

[@savethetpc6406]

So nice to see Dorothy "back on her game" -- both literally and figuratively -- in this episode!

[@WhatsMyLine]

SaveThe TPC Yes, as we've talked about, it's not like the last few years are a depressing, slow decline for Dorothy on WML. She has ups and downs.

[@yeahnoonecaresifyouarefirst]

Exactly! I hate it when they speculate she died of what they want to claim she died from(?/of?)

[@stuartharris2165]

Interesting that Bennett was very quick in the "oral history" interviews to say Dorothy was always to quick to guess the mystery guest, and then Bennett does it himself.

[@alanhodges8839]

Gordon and Shiela MacRae, the definition of brilliant personalities.

[@allenjones3130]

During their marriage, the MacRaes we're known for doing impressions of famous entertainers.

[@gailsirois7175]

Love Dorothy's hair...so cute and very becoming

[@nadiazahroon6573]

Mr. Haly is so handsome

[@icturner23]

An absolute dish.

[@stephenbox4318]

F2

[@hopicard]

I like the "Tears books?" by Bennett Cerf at 11:15! ;)

[@savethetpc6406]

And such a thing to be mentioned during National Library week, no less!

[@milenabenton9333]

SaveThe TPC 😔😏😁😁😁😁😩

[@susanlane5118]

@@savethetpc6406 5b33 3b

[@LANCSKID]

The ‘books’ were telephone directories. Great reading matter, I find.

[@Merrida100]

It was such a trade off. People seemed generally more respectful, but notice how the women were judged. I know that's also a sign of the times at hand. One of those double edged blades.

[@davidsanderson5918]

Merrida100 Totally. I even think of poor Dorothy and poor Arlene having to come up with new dresses, new hairstyles every flipping week while Bennett just strolls on with the same suit, if not sometimes with trousers that don't even 'go'!! Dorothy in particular looks uptight about her appearance just walking on stage and I imagine she fussed for hours trying to get lipstick to make her lips fuller and makeup to make her face less moon-like while all these glamour people are waltzing through Manhattan. Tough time to be a woman. Meanwhile, look at the state of Gabel!! What on EARTH did Arlene see in him?? He just epitomises dullness. No effort to look good, ever while his wife has to pull out the stops.

[@su8483]

Dave Sanderson Martin Gabel is yummy. He is quite intelligent, great sense of humor, makes good money, great talker, etc, etc.. AND, perhaps best of all, LOVES and respects his wife and son. Oh, to meet a man like that ... They aren't a dime a dozen. Unfortunately.

[@petemarshall8094]

@@su8483 Well said. Martin is clearly a fine person, and for Mr. Sanders to write him off based on a judgement of Martin’s appearance is rather shallow. I think he looks sharp, and his voice and diction are superb. Perhaps Dave Sanderson sells elevator shoes?

[@dinahbrown902]

Most women are still like that . Watch them check out the female contestants when they are leaving the stage.

[@dominicpiscopo7915]

Arlene wasn’t shameless she was merely flirting which I do a lot keeps one young keeps the blood flowing

[@miketheyunggod2534]

The parents of Meredith.

[@salvatorecollura2692]

Well, I'm sure that was the last time Mr. Cerf criticised Miss Francis with Mr. Gabel present! Arlene is so universally adored that the whole exchange seemed to genuinely shock Martin. Though to be fair to Bennett, this is certainly an exception rather than the rule: he is almost never anything but very warm and very gracious to his longtime neighbour and friend.

[@davidsanderson5918]

Salvatore Collura They're all chums. They can take it!

[@salvatorecollura2692]

Dave Sanderson never said they couldn’t.

[@davidsanderson5918]

Salvatore Collura Well what I'm really saying is that it isn't exceptional. They seem to have banter going on often. Cerf had it mercilessly with the 'chuckles' nickname recently. There's often little 'oneupmanships' between Daly and Dorothy, Daly and Arlene. Frankly the exception is Gabel here...with his little petty remark which came over too thorny, I thought.

[@qazwiz]

Excellent imitations by the quickly guessed Mystery Guests

[@robertfiller8634]

Gordon's imitation of Perry Como was pathetic, and I think it was only done to introduce Sheila's Dinah Shore which was spot on!

[@cynthialyman2636]

Yeah: that strong man was darned cute, can't deny that. And Arlene was shameless but I can't blame her a bit.

[@karenmallonee3867]

Hubba Hubba!!! 😜

[@dinahbrown902]

She always is and that’s what makes her so endearing

[@leesher1845]

I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ☺️

[@robertmelson2130]

Johnny Olson's second time to announce for the show.

[@lllowkee6533]

Sometimes Bennett , in spite of being cultured and classy, says the most thoughtless things to

[@davidarcudi230]

One and one make one. That's marriage.

[@yeahnoonecaresifyouarefirst]

❤

[@yeahnoonecaresifyouarefirst]

Tell my husband that.... He involves his mommy all the time but he's not a mamas boy..... What's wrong with that picture? 😂

[@gomphrena-beautifulflower-8043]

Rawlings is still a leader in the sports equipment business, as far as I know!

[@dcasper8514]

gomphrena. check out the Reach sporting equipment.

[@loissimmons6558]

In the category of noticing little things (22:04), the final challenger, Dorothy Dodgion, has a first and last name starting with the same two letters. And yet in her signature, the capital D in her first name is completely closed, while the capital D in her last name is very open.

[@bethe192]

usually indicates an open, extroverted personality.

[@neilmidkiff]

She appears young enough that she may not have been married to Mr. Dodgion for very many years. I wonder whether her birth surname had an open initial letter. Then again, I'm always amazed that our blackboard signatures are so much like our pen-and-paper ones, given that they're achieved with a completely different set of muscular actions -- the brain has to do some pretty impressive re-mapping to make that work.

[@loissimmons6558]

@@neilmidkiff The thing that amazes me about handwriting, according to what I've read, is that if someone is naturally left handed, but was forced to write with their right hand, the letters still tend to be slanted the way it is natural for someone left handed to write them with the left hand.

[@bluecamus5162]

Good catch, but it may simply be that, like everyone else except a teacher, she isn't used to writing on a blackboard, -- and I doubt even a teacher writes in cursive upon one. That dang blackboard gives a lot of people trouble.

[@yeahnoonecaresifyouarefirst]

Woah.

[@janettejoseph1430]

But then again I'm 86 years old

[@VahanNisanian]

Sheila MacRae died recently. No question about it. Sheila died of a broken heart (daughter Meredith died 14 years ago).

[@ChrisHansonCanada]

Sheila died of Alzheimer's. She wasn't even aware that she had a daughter.

[@Anti-WokeCanadian]

This episode dispels the myth that Arlene Francis never removed her heart pendant, as she liked to claim. She clearly wasn't wearing it in that episode.

[@yeahnoonecaresifyouarefirst]

It had gotten stolen by then

[@Anti-WokeCanadian]

The pendant was stolen in 1988. @@yeahnoonecaresifyouarefirst

[@yeahnoonecaresifyouarefirst]

@@Anti-WokeCanadian ah.... Well idk all I know is that it was stolen but it was beautiful we can all agree on that ❤️

[@randysills4418]

Sheila MacRae was great as Dinah Shore! I always liked her a lot... ❤

[@mikejschin]

Bennett made a huge linguistic error with the jazz drummer. He says at 23:55 that when you go up in the Empire State Building, you're said to be in high dudgeon. That's entirely wrong. High dudgeon has nothing to do with altitude; it refers to a state of being very angry. Example: She walked out of the meeting in high dudgeon. Bennett of all people should have known better.

[@JLionelWaller]

Except he did not say that, he said, "when you go up in the Empire State building 'they' say you are in a high dudgeon" . Since he is quoting someone else, it is not clear whether he agrees with the idea or not.

[@yeahnoonecaresifyouarefirst]

GOD FORBID he be wrong

[@SteveLittleLivesHere]

""He tears books" 😂😂😂

[@LarsRyeJeppesen]

Bennet's expression was hilarious

[@lindanicola]

So funny!

[@LANCSKID]

Telephone Directories …

[@Rosey01222]

Anybody else notice host John Daley's habitual hairdo? The long, long piece of hair that grows from the forehead and is combed back trave!ing down the back of his head. Covering a bald spot at the crown of his head, maybe? Interesting too is that in the show's 17 year run Dailey hardly ages. He always looks about 45 years old. He was 37 when the show started and 63 when it ended in 1967.

[@carolyoung6732]

Rosey01222 My husband swears he has 3 parts, but, I can only see 2.

[@reno1uest]

Your math doesn't add. 37 plus 17 would only be 54 when the show ended.

[@davidsanderson5918]

Rosey01222 From day one I noticed Daly's rather elaborate fashioning of hair, yes. I've just got used to it I suppose. I also noticed Bennett forgetting to dye his hair certain weeks. White on the sides.

[@neilmidkiff]

John's comb-over appears more complicated than that to me. It looks like he grew it long on the back of his head, combed it forward, then with the aid of some "product" (pomade, gel, whatever) crimped/folded it back so that it would appear to be growing from the front center of his scalp, so as to simulate one type of male pattern baldness in which the hairline recedes from each corner of the forehead. I believe that without this trick the front and crown of his scalp would have looked completely bald. I would have thought he could easily have afforded a good-quality toupée that would have looked more natural and been less trouble to maintain.

[@JLionelWaller]

Notice, that although they have a lot more hair, many of the young male singers did the same thing, Ricky Nelson, Fabian, etc. Does not say anything, except that there can be many reasons for it.

[@bc82sop42]

The host is a technical daddy!!!

[@larryallgood46]

According to TV.com this Episode aired on April 16, 1961. www.tv.com/shows/whats-my-line/episode-560-97355/

[@WhatsMyLine]

Interesting. . . this is the first time I'm aware of a discrepancy between the guide on tv.com and the log I'm using, which I found on a long-defunct Geocities page. I did confirm that I didn't make the error myself, this is what my log shows, reversing the order of this show and the one with Julie London. I watched these recently but wasn't paying attention for clues that might indicate which show really came first. If anyone has any ideas, please chime in!

[@lllowkee6533]

Sometimes Bennett says the most thoughtless things to a guest!

[@dinahbrown902]

Yes he does

[@yeahnoonecaresifyouarefirst]

💯

[@MitchellHang]

Is this the first episode announced by Johnny Olson?

[@roberttelarket4934]

Sheila does a marvelous impression of Dinah even though I hate Shore!!!

[@hor2kulture]

This is the same day that Martin won his Tony. I wonder if this episode was filmed on an earlier day, or if Martin and Arlene had to dash straight over to the ceremony after this.

[@JLionelWaller]

Interesting comment, "tools of ignorance", certainly did not mean what I thought it meant. It is a baseball term and is the name of the catcher's equipment.

[@marthagill8336]

All of the Dinah Shores are extinct now.

[@LANCSKID]

Why do people in these WML comments keep referring to John Daly as John ‘Daley’?

[@reno1uest]

Does anyone know if this was a prerecorded episode?

[@jaengen]

Nope it is live right now.

[@yeahnoonecaresifyouarefirst]

​@@jaengenlol!

[@helenmilner1946]

Just so admiring of Bennet Cerf, such a gentleman

[@AvRand6]

3:05 so impressive they managed to pull Jimmy Kimmel for this show

[@Marcel_Audubon]

John Haly was a dreamboat

[@brandonflorida1092]

This is 4 days after the Russians launch the first human being into outer space.

[@LANCSKID]

… and I had beans on toast for tea.

[@williamlynnroden]

This is the first time I have seen a male and female MG where the male precedents the female to shake hands. The other times, the male "hangs back" and the female goes forward first.

[@sandratull5725]

8

[@71gmf]

I'm really confused... How can a baseball glove be worn below the waist???

[@perrybarton]

Well, if your gloved hand is hanging down by your side, then it’s below the waist. 😎

[@rmelin13231]

Have you tried fielding a ground ball above the waist?

[@direcorbie]

Since when is a baseball glove worn below the waist?

[@rmelin13231]

When it's hanging by the player's side, or when fielding a ground ball.

[@dianemutchler9213]

Bennett was rude to Arlene - stating that it was "obvious" the first contestant was in the circus. I liked how Martin responded to Bennett soon after Bennett guessed wrong on the specifics. I find Bennett to be full of himself at times. He is not one my favorites as a panelist.

[@yeahnoonecaresifyouarefirst]

Mine either honestly..... I like any other guest judge..... Well almost all of them

[@ChrisHansonCanada]

STRONGMAN FOR RINGLING BROTHERS CIRCUS DESIGNS BASEBALL GLOVES JAZZ DRUMMER 😜

[@LANCSKID]

Noodle sucker …

[@donblosser8720]

Tears books?! Publisher Cerf is scandalized.

[@dinahbrown902]

🤣

[@LANCSKID]

Telephone Directories.

[@1jamyc]

John Daly loves dropping Toots Schorr's name any chance he gets. Probably got him a few free drinks....

[@geoffm9944]

Once again Bennett was tipped off. It happened far too often to be a coincidence.

[@Fush1234]

What on earth did she see in him.

[@YY4Me133]

Who?

[@Anti-WokeCanadian]

As my Grandma would ask, "Who's SHE? The cat?"

[@yeahnoonecaresifyouarefirst]

😂

[@yeahnoonecaresifyouarefirst]

Meow

[@LANCSKID]

Let’s have us some good old-fashioned bitchin’ 👩🏻‍🦱👧😾

[@roberttelarket4934]

Sheila does a marvelous impression of Dinah even though I hate Shore!!!