What's My Line? - Jimmy Durante; Dick Boone & Phyllis Newman [panel] (Apr 14, 1963)

MYSTERY GUEST: Jimmy Durante
PANEL: Arlene Francis, Dick Boone, Phyllis Newman, Bennett Cerf

[@lily.winchester]

My beautiful great grandmother is the first contestant and she just passed away today. I’m so lucky to have this video❤️

[@rmelin13231]

She seems a most delightful lady. My condolences to you, and thank you for sharing. It adds a lot to the overall experience to hear from people familiar with a contestant. Thank you!

[@billolsen4360]

She seems to be a very sweet person. Love her profession and that she appreciated the laughter. I'm sure she would have been surprised in 1963 to know that people were still watching her appearance on WML 61 years later.

[@leannsherman6723]

Jimmy Durante seemed like a very sweet man. It was very nice how he acknowledged the audience.

[@billolsen4360]

Loved him in It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World. "Please, say it don't make any difference, Aunt Belle!"

[@daler.steffy1047]

Sorry, but I need to add one more comment or two because the show is just so wonderful. I really fell in love with Phyllis Newman! She was one of the most pleasant and adorable guest panelists the show has had over the years, in my opinion. She was not "overly" perky; rather, she elicited these thoughtful considerations through asking profound questions that were in response to her great critical thinking skills and genuine interest in being a contributor on the show. I was really impressed with her. ~ Lastly, having been born in 1948, I watched most of the westerns that were on television in the 1950s, on our 21-inch, black and white, RCA console television, with the rabbit ear sitting on top of the TV set (for the sake of signal reception). And one of my favorite westerns was "Paladin," with Richard Boone. I always felt this show was an "intelligent" western TV program, as the character of Paladin was refined and educated, and where he used his great wit/insights to gather about him the strategies necessary to resolve the challenges "presented " to him within the drama that each week's show provided.

[@olenfersoi8887]

What a remarkable, good-natured, beloved gentleman Jimmy Durante was. Lived to 86 (died 1980). BTW, though he never mentions it, and though the name is made up, "Mrs Calabash" was actually his first wife, died in 1943.

[@MrJoeybabe25]

From Durante's first peep I knew that voice wouldn't get past Bennett, or the others, really. But, although he's been gone nearly 35 years now, it is always wonderful to see the The Great Schnozzola!

[@romeman01]

Jimmy Durante was so easily identifiable from his voice that, when he appeared again as mystery guest on the Jan. 31, 1965, episode, he said to guest panelist Bobby Darin: "You know something, Bobby?" Darin: "What's that?" Durante: "I've never made a dime on this show!"

[@MrJoeybabe25]

Ha! Great! Wasn't it on that show in 1965 that Durante talked about his new wife and daughter. This at the age of 73 or so!

[@soulierinvestments]

Joe Postove Yes he did. One of the best post game interviews ever.

[@ewallt]

You could hear the audience groan when he first answered. He didn’t do a very good job of disguising his very distinguishable voice. He might have well as sung “Young at Heart.”

[@soulierinvestments]

Durante's 1965 mystery guest appearance was one of the best mystery guests --- ever, particularly his conversation with Daly about his young daughter and performing on the road. This appearance is pretty funny, though, what with the chucking of sheets.

[@WhatsMyLine]

They featured the bit where Durante says goodnight to Mrs. Calabash in the WML at 25 special prominently. What surprised me about that was for once-- the only time?-- it was *John* asking the guest to do a bit of performance! Usually he was the one who put the kibosh on these requests when the panelists (most frequently Arlene) made them!

[@brunozauhar1879]

You certainly don't get class like this nowadays.

[@DebbieFaubion]

I just have to say that Arlene looks stunning in this episode.

[@BeIIeDoc24]

Right!? Fabulous as always! And you could always tell when she was going to be doing play, she always got a bit thinner. That woman was an energizer bunny! So many jobs!

[@tjbnyc76]

Arlene always had beautiful shoulders and décolletage, and often wore gowns and dresses to show them off to flattering effect. You're very right, Arlene looks *especially* stunning this evening.

[@amiek9269]

Stunning, indeed. Bare shoulder and softer hair....

[@Apb23]

Very pretty... lovely dress

[@hcombs0104]

Lady had shoulders.

[@tjbnyc76]

Phyllis Newman's endearingly kooky, bubbly personality masked (no pun intended) the fact that she was a very good panelist. She's really been growing on me in her run of guest appearances that What's My Line? has been been posting recently.

[@WhatsMyLine]

I couldn't agree more! She's a delight, and obviously very, very smart.

[@tjbnyc76]

I do wish the producers had made Phyllis the permanent second female panelist after Dorothy's untimely death in '65. She would have injected a welcome, youthful -- but still adult and sophisticated -- vibe to a show which had become, if not exactly "stale," perhaps a bit "quaint" when compared to the pop culture explosion going on around it. Dorothy and Arlene were ideal panelists together because of the "good cop"/"bad cop" contrast that they embodied; Phyllis' kookiness would have been a wonderful foil for Arlene's more plummy, soignée humor.

[@WhatsMyLine]

Todd Brandt I've been thinking about this ever since soulierinvestments brought it up in a comment on another recent video with Phyllis in it. It's pure conjecture on my part, but I wonder if perhaps the feeling was that it wouldn't be fair to Arlene after 15 years on the show to bring in a woman so much younger, and despite the subtle differences you described so succinctly, Phyllis wouldn't have been the stark contrast that Dorothy was to Arlene. The lovable, funny, beautiful female panel member role was already filled. Just a thought. We'll probably never know. But Phyllis sure was a natural, wasn't she?

[@tjbnyc76]

What's My Line? I never considered that angle, probably because even though I think Phyllis' major contribution to the panel was providing a welcome "youthfulness," I never consider the fifty-something Arlene to be "old"!!! (Around this time, one of her high profile movie roles was in "The Thrill of it All" as an *expectant mother*, presumably meant to be in her late 30's or early 40's...and she carried it off!) I do think you make a reasonable assumption, however. I'd like to think that, if that were the case, it was a matter of the production team being preemptively solicitous of Arlene's feelings, rather than any insecurity on Arlene's own part -- which I doubt, anyway. Arlene seems too smart and too confident in her own feminine allure to be fazed by having a younger woman on the panel with her; not to mention far too charming and nice to make it an issue. Have I mentioned that I worship daily at the shrine of St. Arlene of Francis? The woman can do no wrong in my eyes. ;)

[@WhatsMyLine]

Todd Brandt I agree 100% with everything you wrote, including "The woman can do no wrong in my eyes"!

[@waldolydecker8118]

19:40 Durante...on the short list of the most respected entertainers by his peers/the public in the history of American entertainment. The guy's popularity lasted from 1910's vaudeville into the 1970's, conquering every medium - radio, Broadway shows, movies, television, night clubs; he did it all. Formed a racially integrated comedy/musical team in vaudeville, Clayton, Jackson, and Durante, and brought his mates along even after he was tapped for individual success. Clayton died in 1950; both Jackson and Durante died in 1980. Other than Bob Hope, who had a similar esteemed 60 year run across all mediums, Durante has few challengers for most beloved and respected entertainer in America during the 20th Century.

[@LarsRyeJeppesen]

Phyllis Newman was so beautiful.. and smart.. love when she's on

[@robertmelson2130]

The last contestant, Piero Francobaldi, also raced cars and will be killed in a one-car road race accident in Malmedy, Belgium about 15 months after this appearance. Comparing pictures of the race car driver with this man leaves no doubt it's the same person; he was not quite 29 years old at his death (he's only 27 here).

[@Bigbadwhitecracker]

That happened a lot on both WML and IGAS, people dying tragically within months of their appearance.

[@michaelnivens6267]

Ha cha cha !!!!

[@MountainFisher]

This is one of the hottest versions of Arlene. Look at her coming out in the dress.

[@geniusmchaggis]

arlene francis.....WHAT SHOULDERS

[@Bigbadwhitecracker]

Good enough to bite

[@SmappleMcWingers]

This episode is from the day of my -20th birthday!

[@donaldleroy6502]

That's pretty 😎 I watched an excellent episode of password plus aired on my 16th birthday

[@daler.steffy1047]

Whether the show's guests tested water pistols or ultrasonic fighter jets, they all received the same respectful, wonderful considerations.

[@drumbum3.142]

Am a *HUGE* Afficianado of Madam Phyllis Nwmn; Her Laugh, Her Smile, Her Physique, and Her Sharp - if not at times Silly and Goofy -- Intelligence.. .🧸🧸🎭🧸🧸🧸 She Is MISSED.😓🙏😥😓😔😔🧸 She has.. ... A GORGEOUS... ..Wonderful Guest Appearance on the FANTASTIC Wild Wild West t.v. show.. 🎨

[@jadezee6316]

who said "i wish i could sing like jimmy Durante"? answer.......tony Bennett

[@rapunzelz5520]

There is no possible way durante could have disguised his voice....should have used a prop

[@2021kyoto]

Does anyone realize that John Charles Daley's Father In Law was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Earl Warren?

[@sanseifromkofu728]

It would be mentioned a couple of times by Bennett in reference to John's wife, Virginia.

[@kali8188]

Jimmy Durante's 1965 appearance lasted a little longer than this. :-)

[@VahanNisanian]

Phyllis Newman's hair looks like it is starting to get longer. It was also like that on last week's show (Anne Bancroft in her second mystery guest appearance). The clip is on rmm413d's channel.

[@WhatsMyLine]

I believe I was just sent a copy of this episode by epaddon, as well as 3/17/63-- looking now and will post these very soon, possibly tonight.

[@Walterwhiterocks]

It could possibly be a wig, not sure.

[@robertmelson2130]

They sure did get Durante quickly--that voice of his was just too distinctive. I did think at first that he might get away with it as he sounded as if he was imitating Clarence Nash (Donald Duck) who appeared on 12/12/54.

[@Bigbadwhitecracker]

I predicted they would get him in three people. I was right.

[@frankroper3274]

WOW...Paladin in his prime!

[@donaldleroy6502]

Wow, Marilyn has perfect handwriting, absolutely beautiful. I'm not sure where these panelists are from, but in the Northeast helicopter is pronounced hellicopter not heelicopter

[@olenfersoi8887]

Bennet Cerf is from NYC, later moved to Mt Kisco, N of the city, and he received his bachelor's degree from Columbia U. So, there's no reasonable regional reason for his strange pronunciation.

[@enriquesanchez2001]

CERF's pronunciations always IRKED ME for such an apparently educated person. He sounded prosaic!

[@soulierinvestments]

Durante in show biz for 50 years and with the same show biz partner for 50 years. Justin Bieber, dear, try and top THAT.

[@WhatsMyLine]

Hey, I'll be surprised if Bieber *lives* 50 years.

[@vbacs22]

"heel-e-copter" Bennett and his pronounciation.

[@neilmidkiff]

Read my reply to Galileocan g above. You'll learn that Bennett was using the original pronunciation of the word, which has changed over time. He gets a lot of words wrong, but this isn't one of those times.

[@bigoldinosaur]

Hello Frosty.

[@MrJoeybabe25]

Was Arlene's talk show on WOR radio a secret? It never seems to have been mentioned and here was the traffic reporter from HER station, and no mention was made of the connection. Arlene did the show from 1961 until 1984. There was no shame in radio broadcasting, even in the 60's (I'm a former talker myself). It seem that when Mr. Feldman shook Arlene's hand there was some radio talk perhaps. She obviously didn't know who he was, or she would have disqualified herself. Very strange, indeed, because Arlene Francis was really a wonderful radio personality.

[@BeIIeDoc24]

Perhaps WOR was affiliated with ABC or NBC? I haven't googled, so forgive me lol

[@WhatsMyLine]

Lorna Badeo I grew up in the NY area, so I can actually answer this without researching it! WWOR was an independent local station, not network affiliated, and that's probably why her show wasn't plugged directly. That, and possibly the fact that, being a local show, plugging it on a national TV broadcast wouldn't have done much good. The fact that her show isn't mentioned directly even when someone from her own station appeared makes me think it wasn't a casual oversight, but intentionally avoided.

[@BeIIeDoc24]

What's My Line? ah! thank you. perfect sense then! because they never hid the fact that Arlene had a radio program. Often, mystery guests mentioned that they had just been on with Arlene on her show. So definitely makes more sense that due to its local nature, it was pointless to plug it nationally. and the big 3 networks had their own radio affiliates.

[@epaddon]

Lorna Badeo WOR in those days had a semi-affiliation with Mutual for any national stuff as I recall, at least certainly in the 50s.

[@WhatsMyLine]

epaddon I've never really understood what the Mutual network was. But I suppose I could address that in about five minutes by checking Wikipedia!

[@LarsRyeJeppesen]

16:04 THERE HAS BEEN NO CALL FOR A CONFERENCE... /s

[@bryanstorm8291]

Why would Bennett say they miss George Gobel?

[@robertmelson2130]

Here is the NYT obit for the second contestant, Fearless Freddie Feldman. He'd done some interesting things in his field. www.nytimes.com/1996/10/20/nyregion/fred-feldman-helicopter-reporter-dies-at-63.html

[@smithsmith9379]

He seemed to be comfortable on TV and brought his sense of humor. Funny exchange with Phyllis starting at 15:00 where he gestured for John to flip the card.

[@loissimmons6558]

I remember listening to his traffic reports many times over the years from 1962-78. He was generally called Fred Feldman (one of the initials from his sign-in stood for "Alfred") on the air and he had a good rapport with the on air personalities in the studio.

[@soulierinvestments]

about 18:00: Jimmy Durante's title is hand-lettered, which means that for some reason his first appearance on WML was a last-minute selection. Freeze about 21:06: the camera angle on Durante picks up the bottom part of the decorative marquee above the stage entrance with the animated figures and "What's My Line?" inscribed on it. I wonder if they ever found Mrs. Calabash.

[@preppysocks209]

Years after this episode it was determined that Mrs. Callabash was Durante's first wife. He must have missed her terribly. And everyone says Durante was the nicest guy ever in show biz -- had to make it on personality with those looks.

[@galileocan]

I know it's already been mentioned here for this episode, but once again, Bennett shows his strange view of pronouncing words in the English language. Who on earth says "hell-o-copter" as "heee-lo-copter". That's right - no one. Not sure why John repeated Bennett's incorrect pronunciation after the fact. But it amazes me that for a publishing company president, he has a long history of saying the most peculiar pronunciations that I have ever heard. I remember when he was saying Pittsa instead of Peeza for the word "Pizza". Bennett the non-conformist

[@galileocan]

Ok. Todd you may have checked, but I have never, and just asked 4 people, and none of them have either heard anyone say "heelocopter". No one says it no matter what the dictionary may claim.

[@neilmidkiff]

+Galileocan g Have you ever asked that question to 4 other people born in 1898? The pronunciation of words changes over time. There are songs from a century ago that rhyme "abdomen" with "foemen", that is, accenting the middle syllable "-do-" instead of the first one "ab-" as we do now. I used to think that it was just a funny mispronunciation for the sake of the rhyme, but later looked up old dictionaries, and found only the abDOmen pronunciation given. You can check this sort of thing easily now online at archive.org or Google Books, which have many older dictionaries. The root of the first part of "helicopter" is the same as in "helix" (a spiral like a screw thread) which is pronounced with a long "e", and that was the original way of saying "helicopter" until the majority of people decided that a short e sounded better. By the way, the second part of the word is not "copter" but rather "pter" from the Greek for "wing", as in pterodactyl. Helico- (spiral) -pter (wing).

[@neilmidkiff]

+Galileocan g Have you ever asked that question to 4 other people born in 1898? The pronunciation of words changes over time. There are songs from a century ago that rhyme "abdomen" with "foemen", that is, accenting the middle syllable "-do-" instead of the first one "ab-" as we do now. I used to think that it was just a funny mispronunciation for the sake of the rhyme, but later looked up old dictionaries, and found only the abDOmen pronunciation given. You can check this sort of thing easily now online at archive.org or Google Books, which have many older dictionaries. The root of the first part of "helicopter" is the same as in "helix" (a spiral like a screw thread) which is pronounced with a long "e", and that was the original way of saying "helicopter" until the majority of people decided that a short e sounded better. By the way, the second part of the word is not "copter" but rather "pter" from the Greek for "wing", as in pterodactyl. Helico- (spiral) -pter (wing).

[@galileocan]

Thanks. There were a lot of people born in 1898. They didn't pronounce words like Bennett did. And by the way, it wasn't just this word but countless words and people's names that Bennett would constantly get mixed up. He sad some sort of disorder I'm afraid, and I'm just trying to find someone who is trained medically or psychologically who knows that the phenomenon is. No one other than Bennett mixed up so many words or people's names. The fact that he was born in before 1900 I'm afraid doesn't explain the problem he had.

[@galileocan]

If I say someone's name is Jones, and you repeat it as Janes, isn't an issue of the time you were born - it's a medical or speech impediment.

[@sandydog291]

Poor Jimmy, he had no real chance of effectively disguising his very distinctive and famous voice.

[@ChrisHansonCanada]

*_TESTS WATER PISTOLS_* *_BROADCASTS TRAFFIC REPORTS FROM HELICOPTER_* *_WINE MAKER_*

[@MrJoeybabe25]

I miss Dorothy! No mention was made of her at the top of the show. Is she still "sick"?

[@VahanNisanian]

Sadly, yes. And you know what is even more sad? Because of Dorothy's absence during the Spring of 1963, the Radio "Breakfast with Dorothy and Dick", which she and her husband had been hosting since 1945 was cancelled! Dorothy was REALLY starting to fall apart by 1963.

[@MrJoeybabe25]

***** I did not realize that her show with husband Dick Kollmar was still on the air as late as that. I guess it could have kept on going for much longer, as WOR, which was their station, was famous for very long running shows. What a real shame. Gee, I wonder if Dorothy would have known the traffic guy? Her show as on, I believe from 8:15 until 9am right after John Gambling.

[@VahanNisanian]

Joe Postove Another thing: We haven't gotten to 1965 yet, but of the 45 episodes that were made when she was still alive, Dorothy appeared in 38 of them. All the 1965 WML episodes exist, and have aired on GSN in the past.

[@MrJoeybabe25]

I hope she's back soon.

[@VahanNisanian]

Joe Postove Dorothy returned on the next show.

[@TheBearcub410]

The day I was born

[@MrJoeybabe25]

Can anyone watching Jimmy Durante tell me what I mean by "Wood"?

[@armyvet4081]

francis would not shut her mouth

[@u.s.militia7682]

Women were so classy back then. Not like today’s sweatsuit bearer.

[@merrylmarsh9037]

😄

[@BrokenneckYgor]

Jimmy says: Ise got da big nose but I wears worms hose

[@spudwas]

Durante and Hayley Mills were the worst at disguising their voice!

[@LarsRyeJeppesen]

Thank God Dorothy wasn't on. That last contestant might have been embarrassing for her....

[@erichanson426]

There goes the panel cheating again

[@michaelnivens6267]

It gets old ,at times

[@Baskerville22]

Never liked Durante...or his Mob mates

[@Bigbadwhitecracker]

I don't know about his mob mates but I never saw his "talent". Can't sing, isn't funny, can't act. It's a guy with a big nose and a hat. And MGM ruined Buster Keaton by thinking Durante and Keaton would make a great comedy team. WTH?