What's My Line? - Louis Jourdan (Dec 5, 1954)

MYSTERY GUEST: Louis Jourdan
PANEL: Dorothy Kilgallen, Robert Q. Lewis, Arlene Francis, Bennett Cerf
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[@manofthehour6856]

Haha, Louis Jourdan must be one of the best mystery guests! Although he didn't stump the panel, the fact that he kept going as long as he did (with his mouth going as long as it did inadvertently dropping hints), he was masterful at this. BRAVO!!!! Fantastic performance!

[@Vesnicie]

I love the class, the cleverness, the elegance, the warmth... basically everything we can't seem to muster up anymore.

[@watchman1178]

Sadly, this America doesn't exist anymore.

[@PBAncello-yl3kf]

This is my Happy Place. 😊

[@gordonthomson7533]

Unfortunately it was destroyed by Hollywood and associated machinations. Subtle exploitation and amplifications/deamplifications to manipulate the perspectives of the populace, the culture and their voting habits. America has been played and taken.

[@lynndunlop2071]

I'm from Kilmarnock in Scotland! How exciting to see Mrs Howie!

[@watchman1178]

That was a terrific accent by Louis Jourdan. Never heard him sound "almost" like an American. LOL!

[@bbailey7818]

Born and bred American here, westerner, and Jourdan had a better American accent than I do. 🙂

[@gingerhaydon4693]

Wonderful show... Louis Jourdan did an amazing job with his accent...

[@SR-iy4gg]

That accent Louis Jourdan did was, I think, the best of any I've seen on these shows, not that I've seen a huge number, but I have seen quite a few.

[@ToddSF]

As strange as it was to hear Louis Jourdan affect an American accent with certain things that gave his French origins away (such as the throaty French "r" and the occasional misaligned vowel), I found it quite fun and I think he did a good job stumping the panel for a good while. I think he also had fun doing it, which is part of what made it fun for the audience. He turned 33 years old on June 19, 1954, not quite six months before this appearance on WML. I note that he was 6 feet 1 inches tall (185 cm), which meant they didn't have to have him stand on a box when doing close up scenes with taller actresses in heels (or have the actress stand in a hole outdoors), and he was handsome the way movie stars were once assumed to be. I note he was married just once to Berthe Frédérique "Quique" Jourdan -- from 1946 until her death in 2014, 68 years. He died the following year, 2015, at age 93, about four months before his 94th birthday. He made his home in greater Los Angeles and died there.

[@loissimmons6558]

Apparently Louis and Quique were childhood sweethearts. But they had a tragedy in their marriage. Their only son, 3 y.o. at the time, died at age 29 of a narcotics overdose, Hopefully other than that they had a fulfilling marriage and a good life together.

[@nysavvy9241]

Louis Jourdan was a terrific actor and a good person. He had a long marriage and life. Charming and handsome... talented. God rest his soul.

[@heidikickhouse-]

@@loissimmons6558According to Todd's comment, he was 25 years older than her. If they were childhood sweethearts as you say, either my arithmetic or his dates are off. (One hopes).

[@loissimmons109]

@@heidikickhouse- You misread Todd's comment. They were married from 1946 to 2014, a period of 68 years. She wasn't 68 years old when she died. Obviously she was much older than that.

[@stj971]

He was always a favorite of mine. Very handsome. I loved Gigi very young!

[@bluecamus5162]

John: "What does Mrs. Howie have to do with bombs?" Robert: "I do hope little or nothing." Great ad-lib by Robert.

[@keithnaylor1981]

Louis Jourdan was amazing but his greatest appearance ever was to come in a couple of years in one of the greatest musical movies ever made: GIGI!

[@stj971]

👍👍👍loved it! My fav musical!

[@adamodeo9320]

i was born too late - what great people! thank you for posting these gems!

[@dancelli714]

I never thought of jourdan as a funny guy, but he was this time.

[@soulierinvestments]

Jourdan's accent in this sequence was so memorable that a decade later when he came back to WML again as a mystery guest, Arlene still commented on it.

[@sagarsaxena6318]

Completely incorrect. Arlene had a hard time recalling that Jourdan had even been on the show earlier,let alone remembering his accent.

[@accomplice55]

Yes; she was practically swooning in the later episode! :)

[@icturner23]

@@accomplice55 Who wouldn’t be?

[@icturner23]

@@sagarsaxena6318 It’s worse than her having a hard time remembering - she very definitively announced that he had never been on before, even though he had also been a panellist in the meantime.

[@accomplice55]

@@icturner23: I KNOW! :D

[@nancybrewster9137]

this is just great, these shows bring back some good memories.

[@patrickbateman8622]

how old are you? not trying to be rude but i am just wondering.

[@luciatilyard2827]

How drop dead gorgeous was Louis Jourdan?

[@AnnieKCleary]

Gorgeous and faithful to his wife. A total package :)

[@MOGGS1942]

Arlene thought so, Lucia.

[@SandySaunders9142]

Holy cow! Mr. Jourdan was dreamy!

[@golden-63]

He makes my knees weak!

[@accomplice55]

Totally.

[@pinedelgado4743]

Louis Jourdan was always quite a rascal!! Tres bon, Monsieur Jourdan!!!! :) :)

[@libertyann439]

I wonder what more Arlene could have done if she could have lived another 50 years? She was amazing. And Santa was not too jolly when Dorothy and Robert guessed him right off.

[@igkoigko9950]

With an additional 50 years Arlene would have added gen x and millennials to the greatest generation and boomers she charmed.

[@maureenlaneski2802]

Yes. And other people in her family lived into their 90s.

[@jvcomedy]

It's amazing that on the first contestant that Dorothy has a free guess of Department Store Santa Claus and received a "no" for that guess, but when the game started she immediately started up with the Santa Claus questioning. You would have thought that getting that no answer would have thrown her off the scent. She obviously had a very strong hunch. It was December.

[@robbob1234]

Whenever the panel was close on the free guess, John would say there were some "interesting" answers, which is why she continued down that path.

[@sagarsaxena6318]

Dorothy combined intuition and great deductive reasoning while on the panel. She would've been an absolute force to reckon with as an investigative journalist.

[@dutchtea8354]

@@robbob1234 This was the 10th time an _interesting answer_ was given. By now, the panel knew what that meant. Dorothy was particularly attuned to clues.

[@heidikickhouse-]

@@sagarsaxena6318 Sagar, She absolutely was. And was killed for it. There are a couple of books about it. A few years ago there was a west coast university (I forget which one) Journalism lecture about it on KZbin, maybe an audiobook also? I can't remember, I only read the HC, just mentioning b/c on the surface, it sure sounds like crazy black helicopter stuff.

[@robertjean5782]

​@@sagarsaxena6318Dorothy was a investigative reporter for years 😊

[@miss_midge_]

What ladies and gentlemen the panelists were.

[@geraldkatz7986]

As a kid growing up in the 70s Louis Jourdan would appear in several tv shows as a character actor, usually the villain. I didn't know at the time he was a well known Hollywood actor.

[@glennhoddle10]

23 years later in Dec 1977, Louis Jordan will play a very interesting take on Dracula in the BBC film adaptation. It is highly regarded and one of the most faithful to Bram Stoker's book.

[@Vesnicie]

It's on Prime right now. I just caught it last night. He is quite a sexy Drac.

[@stj971]

I'll try to find it.

[@glennhoddle10]

@@stj971 The full movie is here on KZbin.

[@josephpanzarella1417]

Louis Jourdan's wonderfully fake accent had me thinking that he would stump them. But, once it was established that he was French it only took a few more questions.

[@zekezacker9449]

According to the internet, Louis Jourdan served for a while in the French Resistance/underground in WW2. As far as one can tell from the internet, Jourdan was only a French citizen - John made a mistake in not turning the card with Robert's question of, "Are you an American?"

[@cathykinn4516]

Would have loved to have been in New York in the 1920/30/40/50s! The Talent, the night clubs, the way they dressed for this show on a Sunday & then went on to a club etc, the Real Glamour of that time & place. So envious of Arlene Francis!

[@ericholck3914]

Usually, the more the WML guests talk and try to be clever, the more they give themselves a way. But Jourdan's ability to disguise his voice was fantastic (as Francis noted).

[@piustwelfth]

After discovering the mystery guest was French, Mr. Lewis thought it was Jean Pierre Aumont (another very good looking import).

[@boudica3356]

handsomest man that ever lived

[@marycleary7810]

John is too funny adding the periods for the middle initials

[@jennymode]

John Charles Daly was so smooth with Santa at the end. And looks so tired here. Sometimes I worry about him not getting enough sleep-- gadding about being wonderful!

[@icturner23]

I’m totally with Daly on putting full stops after initials, even though it’s less common in modern British usage than American.

[@Vesnicie]

I have a great soft spot for any grammar nutsy. They are in short supply these days and standards should be maintained.

[@leannsherman6723]

Great accent by Louis Jourdan and also by Robert Q. Lewis.

[@ironduke2000]

James Dean played opposite Louis Jourdan in the Broadway play mentioned here, "The Immoralist," and left not long after it premiered to go to Hollywood to star in "East of Eden." He died less than ten months after this episode of WML was broadcast.

[@quizmaster85]

18:26 - I'm amazed at how Robert Q. Lewis was somehow able to pick out the fact that the Mystery Guest wasn't American.

[@Merrida100]

It was actually very obvious with Jourdan's first uttered sentence. I could hear the French accent clearly.

[@quizmaster85]

Merrida100 Case in point - "Declare".

[@lauracollins4195]

Brendan Richards - The accent was rather forced... like a non-American giving an American accent his best shot. :)

[@grape811]

I’m amazed John didn’t realize to give him a No.

[@andreaplummer3841]

The accent was too forced.

[@jenniferyorgan4215]

Louis Jordan sounded like a cross between Cary Grant & Howard Cossell (hope I spelled Howard's name right). It was great.

[@jenniferyorgan4215]

Sorry (Cosell)

[@jacobmorris3664]

@@jenniferyorgan4215I was hearing Cosell as well.

[@annakaminski4406]

Great watching this.

[@DOA-321]

Louie J. was great in 'The Swan'... with Grace Kelly and Alec Guinness 🤔

[@flannerymonaghan-morris4825]

Louis Jourdan’s fake American accent was quite surprisingly good! It was almost very convincing.

[@technicolordreams2111]

I love Arlene's heart necklace ❤

[@lllowkee6533]

Her heart necklace was stolen from her neck in 1988, while walking down NYC street.

[@robertjean5782]

It was ripped from her neck, by the driver 😢as she got out of a taxi!

[@markxxx21]

18:33 Robert Q Lewis asks, "Are you an American" which should've gotten a no, but John let him continue anyway.

[@user-gq1sh4kf4w]

Yes, I picked up on that and Robert should have have received a No.

[@dutchtea8354]

Did he become a US citizen, or was John not sure if he had?

[@commandoxy]

'It's fun to stay at the YMCA'.

[@ArchAngel_M81]

I wonder why John didn't flip the card when Robert Q asked, "Are you American?", to Louis Jourdan.

[@WhatsMyLine]

I'm assuming that Jourdan became a nationalized US citizen.

[@soulierinvestments]

Dorothy in game one. go girl.

[@loissimmons6558]

Dorothy's wild guess plus Robert's wild guess basically equaled the occupation of the challenger.

[@SimonPeter611]

The Santa claus is from Albion which unfortunately is more famous for it's prisons now. How far we've come as a society

[@JohnDavis-oz5pe]

Great memories

[@mtnman6557]

How in the world did Dorothy get a line on the 1st guest so easily?

[@WhatsMyLine]

Comments left on prior version of this video: MattTheSaiyan 4 months ago I don't normally mind Robert Q. Lewis, but his fake Scottish accent made me want to hire ninja to assassinate him. Louis Jourdan's attempt at an American accent is also rather cringe-worthy, but in a much more amusing way. orgonko the wildly untamed 3 months ago +MattTheSaiyan well the panel praised LJ so if i had to pick whose opinion was more valid i'd pick the experts :) corner moose 3 months ago +MattTheSaiyan Turnabout is fairplay. Americans are always putting on foreign accents, to the annoyance of said foreigners, so M. Jourdan did a bang-up job. dylan plantenga 1 year ago The Scottish contestant seemed a little disappointed that they were mocking her accent or something She seemed rather gloomy Mandeley100 7 months ago I just happened to look up Mr Jourdan as I was watching this episode and discovered that he passed away just yesterday (Valentine's Day) at the grand old age of 93. RIP you suave, handsome devil. Aritosthenes 7 months ago ..not sure i'd refer to him as a devil though... lol lol orgonko the wildly untamed 4 months ago Louis Jourdan had a nice part in TV movie Fear no Evil--had a sequel & was intended to be a series but never made it George Alexander 7 months ago (edited) I saw Mr. Jourdan in a faithful adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula recently. It was from the early 1970s. Quite good. He played the Count. Scott Evans 5 months ago The late Mr. Jourdan was superb at wiggling his way 'round Robert Q. Lewis. Thought he had him there for sure, but the Frenchman was as suave as Roland Garros with an extraordinary bit of 'on air' maneuvering. Johan Bengtsson 10 months ago This was the last show with Franklin Heller as a director. But he would return. Pygiana 11 months ago John Daly's and Robert Q.Lewis' fake Scottish accents are really terrible and embarrassing. orgonko the wildly untamed 3 months ago +Pygiana are you Scottish? Johan Bengtsson 10 months ago As a big fan of James Bond Louis Jourdan will for me forever be the villain in "Octopussy". David Evans 1 year ago Dorothy was incredible good at this game. joed596 6 months ago thank you very much :-) soulierinvestments 1 year ago Mr. Howard really does look like a modernized version of Kris K. No wonder Dorothy got that vibe. A right jolly modern elf. [e-mail] Seattle 1 year ago Yay more videos! :) I so look forward to these... have watched every one you have posted!!!

[@jess4metoo]

I didn't hear any notice of his passing. He was a big star in his day. Strange to say the least.

[@steveburrus5526]

ya Loiuis Jourdan lived a lon g life. He was born on June 19, 1921 and didn't die until last year, February 14, 2015. [93 years old]

[@heidikickhouse-]

Wow! That is above and beyond your already generous efforts to transplant the comments over to the new video! (Insert some appreciating and clapping graphic here.)

[@drumbum3.142]

There were/are Three Mystery Guests to my memory and recollection that I am Surprised - Floored that Dorothy did NOT guess .. This Wonderful Gentleman. Danny Kaye,. (And) the Whisper Edition when George Burns Guest Starred.. I (Still) Honestly can Not Quite (entirely) understand that.

[@13ECHO20]

2:40 First ever "grammar nazi"... lol Kidding, of course. (I couldn't resist.)

[@lauracollins4195]

13ECHO20 - Pointedly correcting the guy by adding the period after his middle initial seems strange and picky. Twice in this episode! Love John Daly, but...really? They’re just signing a chalkboard, not writing an entry for an encyclopedia. :)

[@sagarsaxena6318]

@@lauracollins4195 He was doing it in a goofy manner,not scolding the guests. Chill.

[@flannerymonaghan-morris4825]

Michael Fassbender could play Louis in a biopic.

[@katieg2161]

Bennett Cerf is such a John Daly fanboy. 😀

[@rooseveltdavis9559]

20 days later of this episode, the great Johnny Ace killed himself playing with a gun. In Houston Texas,at the city auditorium.

[@BrookeBullmasterStewart]

Watching these in order. MISSING Steve Allen! What happened?

[@mehboobkm2018]

He was a guest panelist, you will see him now and then.

[@robertjean5782]

He got the tonight show host😊

[@LarsRyeJeppesen]

"Young Adults".. no teenagers yet, Dorothy?

[@elisabethanderson8654]

Dorothy monopolized the time to exclude the other panelists

[@gugurupurasudaikirai7620]

It appears someone on the TV crew had loose lips about that first contestant and Dorothy used it as a prime camera hogging opportunity. Only fair for Daly to flip all of the cards on that one. JCD's Scottish accent sounded more Irish

[@vincentdaly78]

Not necessarily. The show was broadcast in December so she was alert for a Christmas theme, and the contestant did have a Santa Claus look.

[@lllowkee6533]

I think there’s many instances of questionable prior information …?

[@nadiazahroon6573]

Mr. Lewis was so right she did look sad

[@mehboobkm2018]

She might have run out of bombs!

[@Merrida100]

I swear that one guy who seems to be blustering in laughter is in every episode must be given free tickets or something because he's always yelling out. He's so disruptive. I'm convinced he sounds drunk.

[@yeahnoonecaresifyouarefirst]

Today in no one cares: i was born 34 years and 3 days later ❤

[@H-Vox]

I hope John Daly had good breath, he practically made out with people while conferring with them

[@jackseward7779]

The UXB lady said the "product" was made in Scotland. I doubt if German or Italian bombs were made there. Contrary to Mr. Daly, I doubt if they were "purveyed to Scotland for some monetary gain" [other than the pay earned by enemy flyers). BTW, it was never made clear whether she was in fact a brave UXB person or defused and blew up old WW2 Allied ordnance.

[@jaelredfern7381]

Mr. L J was a French hunk oo la la.

[@hizgrase]

We’re introductions written out for them?

[@jghamann]

has anyone from the panel ever guessed right from the first four guesses??

[@Omahabigbill]

Yes, I've been watching a lot of shows lately and there was one where Bennett Cerf guessed it.

[@WhatsMyLine]

I actually made a clips video of all the surviving examples where the panel got the line right on a free guess. Check it out! kzbin.info/www/bejne/ppPNYaiEgsuihKs

[@jghamann]

Thanks!! Worderful job you do here!!

[@Omahabigbill]

Pretty cool! Thanks!

[@WhatsMyLine]

My pleasure! :)

[@MichaelHonscar]

Kamal Khan!

[@stobbinsboy]

compare these people to the likeness of today. What do you see?

[@maureenlaneski2802]

How did they guess the Santa Claus guy?

[@SeanRhatigan]

Dorothy and her goddamn hunches....

[@robertjean5782]

Dorothy was a investigative reporter for years 😊

[@kathyrobertson7229]

And people are still performing Jean Howie's job 60 years later.

[@jacquelinebell6201]

They're all trying their Scottish accents lol. But they sound more Irish!

[@margueritapassion6614]

They probably tought Louis Jourdan was Roger vadim xd

[@piustwelfth]

Not in 1954. They thought it was Jean Pierre Aumont who did marry a famous actress.

[@sansone12]

He worked in the Resistance to defeat the Nazis

[@CrystalTwinStar]

They didn't let him say one word in his native accent! Ugggggghhh

[@robertjean5782]

WML not a talk show😊

[@ahmadfadzil4104]

Are you Kamal Khan?

[@grantgoeters5945]

I wish John Daley would stop helping the panelists.

[@kristabrewer9363]

Ok, now how in the WORLD did Dorothy get THAT!!!

[@OperaJH]

French. Bobby-soxers. Tall, dark and handsome. Has been on stage. Born in France, living in the States. Many motion pictures. Alain Delon wasn’t around at the time. Who else was there? Especially since the play he was in made a splash. James Dean was also in it.

[@accomplice55]

@@OperaJH: I thought Krista was asking about the gym teacher. Arlene guessed Louis Jourdan.

[@robertjean5782]

Dorothy was a investigative reporter for years 😊

[@vickisawyer7405]

I know it's way too late for this comment, but why does John ask the women if they are married and not the men?

[@jacquelinebell6201]

I think so he can refer to them as Miss or Mrs. The men are all Mr. That's my thought.

[@vickisawyer7405]

@@jacquelinebell6201 you are right, different times. I might get offended these days.😹

[@zoicon5]

I was disappointed because I read the title wrong and thought it was Louis Jordan.

[@jaengen]

Who dat?

[@robertjean5782]

😅

[@Paul71H]

I thought the mystery guest was going to be jazz/swing musician and band leader Louis Jordan. I'm a bit disappointed. :-)

[@zzzut]

Kilgallen is too competitive. She has to win all the time.

[@accomplice55]

She was super smart. She couldn't help if that led to her winning.

[@zzzut]

@@accomplice55 Of course she was but she acted like her life depended on her winning. It must have been a drag for the other panelists.

[@heidikickhouse-]

@@zzzut The REAL "drag" is that this game show producer millionaire with these media mogul panelists made almost every guest go home with about $20 in their pocket because four nationally renowned very very rich well-informed media experts (also getting hints) had almost inevitably skunked them. Those unpaid low middle class guests made everyone on that show a ton of money.

[@lemorab1]

@@heidikickhouse- I read that each guest got $500.00, whether they were "found out" or not. The "$5.00 every time you get a no" was just for show. This was a closely guarded secret of WML. Granted, $500.00 is nowhere near what the panelists got paid or what the Producer earned, but back then it was closer to $6,000.00 today.

[@robertjean5782]

​@heidikickhouse- Totally outrageous comments😮

[@c7261]

Man I hate it how Americans carry on with imitating other people's accents. It seems to be a predominantly American thing. I guess that's what happens when you have such a homogenized culture that pointing out people's differences is a source of humor. It's like "people be different" America, get over it already 🤦🏿‍♀️

[@twinsonic]

It's also the only country constantly pointing out that one is German American, Irish American, Mexican American etc etc. Just being American would help the country to progress and unite, unlike now where civil war is looming.

[@peternagy-im4be]

@@twinsonic civil war? Almost but not quite.

[@oldpolishguy253]

"people be"? Who are you imitating? I've heard Brits doing southern US accents (badly) and don't take offense.

[@joncheskin]

The first guest was awesome. For a minute I thought I was watching Miracle on 34th Street and that the panel was going to discover that he was actually Santa Claus.