What's My Line? - Steve Lawrence; Alan King [panel] (Aug 22, 1965)

[@waldolydecker8118]

22:00 Alan King really hits the nail on the head noting that Steve Lawrence is not only an outstanding singer but the guy is equally humorous. If he didn't sing at all, he could have been quite successful doing comedy alone. The guy's wit is off the charts....not sure if that all came from his apprenticeship with master Steve Allen or if he came to Steve having already been somewhat down that road. One of my favorite funny men and its not even his main line of work.

[@rmelin13231]

I am in complete agreement. I will add that he is superb in so many aspects of performing that it's almost frightening. Camera-friendly, polite, well spoken, humorous, congenial, and a dynamite singing voice, to name just a few of his talents.

[@ellengutknecht4994]

@@rmelin13231 I agree. And he had a beautiful wife. Mrs. Lawrence. John couldn't remember. Steve said Eydie Gorme.

[@davidsanderson5918]

Ten weeks to go....and I'm STILL yet to see any hint of the 'decline' of Kilgallen as suggested by many who have left comments for WML clips. I'm watching chronologically and fast approaching her last episode (which I've seen already, have to say). In fact her deductive skills in wrapping up the wrestler woman were as sharp, laser-like and 'together' as ever. And her appearance if anything is looking as good as it's ever been since the programme started in 1950. Great hair today, great dress choice, great make-up. Top form.

[@sandrageorge3488]

I have done the same and found no strange or unusual behavior.

[@gailsirois7175]

Thank you ! I'm just so tired of so many people trying to assert how drunk and/or drugged up she is on a fairly regular basis if you listen to them...she is sharp as a tack...and always in good form

[@shadikhosropanah2363]

you are right

[@lopa2828]

She was very sharp minded, ready witted along with die hard perfectionist and razor sharp journalist and yes nothing unusual behaviour could be seen in her behaviour throughout her untimely demise. That's why many guessed her demise was not suicide or accidental overdose, but actually homicide.

[@peternagy-im4be]

Dorothy was clearly exhibiting evidence of alcohol or/and drug use in excess to which she was to accidentally die shortly.

[@allanshulstad1783]

Good guests. Often hilarious

[@saifonlawrence2044]

Steve Lawrence was one far out,hip ,groovy cat...dig it man !

[@allanshulstad1783]

Alan King did some good acting, too.

[@mkl62]

Thanks for posting.

[@rapunzelz5520]

You can tell when bennet knows the mystery guest....sometimes he lets the guessing go on, but he sits back with a telltale, satisfied grin on his face.

[@gailsirois7175]

Cheater

[@josephpalermo4538]

It's called being SMUG....Bennett to me always appeared to be a snob!!!

[@Noone58319]

It’s a cute grin, too.

[@joeybonin7691]

He knew A LOT of folks in the business.

[@jmccracken1963]

I've been watching the episodes from 1964-1965 in chronological order. One thing that I notice is that, in each of the taped episodes which air in August of 1965, more time is allowed for banter with each contestant, especially so with the Mystery Guest. This is probably since, because the episodes were being videotaped, there was no pressure to get a 4th contestant on for the episode. A foretaste of one of the norms of the syndicated series: only 3 contestants.....

[@preppysocks209]

Embarrassing moment for John at 21:11, forgetting the name of Steve's wife., and calling her "Mrs. Lawrence." He couldn't even come up with it for a few seconds. Steve had to interject with "Eydie Gorme."

[@princeharming8963]

It's understandable that he might have a brain f**t every now and then, as John not only knew a LOT of people... there was a LOT going on simultaneously that he had to juggle while sitting in that chair. There was so much more to it than just friendly banter. To his credit however, he didn't misfire often.

[@thamnosma]

Dorothy is back after missing for two weeks.

[@allanshulstad1783]

Daly was the soul of suavity

[@Beson-SE]

Bennett's Weekly Puns: "Tonight, Mrs. Ay, I guess we'll be running the gamut from "Ay" to Z, won't we". 3:50 "I thought the fellow who made the ice cubes sort of made a sucker out of you." 23:41

[@allanshulstad1783]

The maven of panel moderators.

[@ellengutknecht4994]

Steve was equally talented as he beautiful Eydie. Steve lost his battle with dementia. Sad I thought he was doing fine in the beginning. Steve passed away on March 7, 2024. What a loss!!!!

[@MajorSeventh]

I'm surprised no one guessed "salt" for the ice cube guy (something hard that is eaten that doesn't grow).

[@Merrida100]

Salt grows

[@bigoldinosaur]

"Do I know your mother?" "I doubt that sweetheart."

[@bluecamus5162]

The iceman cometh.... and did stumpeth the panel.

[@Beson-SE]

No doubt that Bennett wrote his own introductions of John and that the other panelists most certain did too every week. Dorothy's phrase was always the same no matter who sat on her left "...a charming young actor/comedian/singer/writer...."

[@jmccracken1963]

Concerning a couple of Broadway shows mentioned in this episode..... Unlike "Mrs. Dally," which ran only 53 performances on Broadway, the play "The Impossible Years," by Robert Fisher and Arthur Marx (Groucho's son), proved to be what Bennett Cerf would call "a big, fat hit" on Broadway. It opened at the Playhouse Theatre on Wednesday, 13 October 1965 - and it ran for 560 performances, closing on Saturday, 27 May 1967. The original cast principals included Alan King (Dr. Jack Kingsley), Janet Ward, Jane Elliot, Neva Small, Michael Vale, Bert Convy, Michael Hadge, Jack Hollander, and Sudie Bond. (A young actor named Scott Glenn played Andy.) The production was directed by Arthur Storch, with sets designed by William Pitkin, costumes designed by Ann Roth, lighting designed by Martin Aronstein - and hair designed by The Kenneth Salon. I don't know how long Alan King played Dr. Jack Kingsley in the show, though. Ed McMahon replaced him for a week in mid-January of 1966 - and, at some point during the run, Sam Levene succeeded Alan King in the role of Dr. Jack Kingsley, and remained in the cast through the end of the show's long run. When this episode was videotaped, "What Makes Sammy Run?" was entering the last 3 weeks of its long, successful Broadway run (540 performances) at the 54th Street Theatre. The show closed on Saturday, 12 June 1965 - and yes, Steve Lawrence played Sammy Glick to the end of the run. (Richard France was his standby in the role.)

[@Noone58319]

I love your expertise! Thank goodness for people like you.

[@ChrisHansonCanada]

*_MANAGES PROFESSIONAL WRESTLERS_* *_MAKES ICE CUBES_*

[@MrJoeybabe25]

At 3:55 John "well there goes that August heat for you". OK, if they want to pretend that it's August 22nd, I'll have to live with it. But if John wants to speak with forked tongue about something as mundane as what day it is, I am disappointed. If he's going to lie, make it a big one, John. Golly!

[@soulierinvestments]

very warm for May.

[@stephensaunders1845]

Unluckily, 22 August 1965 was a rather cool day in New York - a top temperature of just 70°F. It had been 90 a week earlier, however.

[@loissimmons6558]

Regarding the second challenger (Daniel Levin) who pronounced his last name with a slight emphasis on the first syllable, it would have been fitting if his product had been baker's yeast or baking powder.

[@VahanNisanian]

Videotaped on May 23, 1965.

[@TheGadgetPanda]

Between them Steve Lawrence and his wife seem to have made more guest appearances on the show than anyone else. Or at least it seems that way.

[@savethetpc6406]

21:00 -- Alan King asks: "You consider a wife a relative?" This time they all seemed to think the answer to that question was a legitimate yes, and I agree, but I remember a much earlier episode in which the panel quibbled quite a bit over that one. (I don't remember who the guest was, or exactly how far back, though -- could be in the 50s, even.)

[@MrJoeybabe25]

SaveThe TPC If relative is kinship then a spouse would be considered a relative. A person connected with another by blood or affinity

[@philippapay4352]

TheGadgetPanda - The multi-talented Steve Lawrence (a fabulous singer, great comedian, fine actor) and his beloved, brilliantly talented Eydie Gorme (who was a star before him here and in Latin America throughout her career as a solo singer in several genres and languages, with him and with Trio Los Panchos) were probably exceeded in appearances both as individuals and as a couple only by Steve Allen and Jayne Meadows. This may include times as panelists, as well.

[@lopa2828]

I think Gordon and his wife Shiela MacRae were among other most well known mystery guests apart from Steve and his wife. But yes I agree with you.

[@MrJoeybabe25]

Just before the 10:00 mark Bennett asks "if fisticuffs have anything to do with her occupation". They had a conference. Now Bennett is sharp enough to realize that if they needed a conference to come up with an answer, then asking if she had anything to do with professional boxing was kind of dumb, huh?

[@sandrageorge3488]

You mean Bennett Cerf? Not Mark Bennett.

[@drumbum3.142]

Rest In Peace Sir.🎭🧸 Thank You for the Memories.🧸🎭🧸🧸🧸

[@RonGerstein-tf5tp]

Do you mean Steve Lawrence (Sidney Liebowitz)?

[@drumbum3.142]

@RonGerstein-tf5tp Yup. I Hope I'm Wrong. But (it) seems that he passed away within the past thirty-six -- forty eight hours.

[@RonGerstein-tf5tp]

@@drumbum3.142 He prickly died 3/7/243$

[@MrJoeybabe25]

Wait a minute, heah! Ice is NOT processed? Oh my. All my water, here at home was getting excited too!

[@loissimmons6558]

+Joe Postove If your water got excited enough, it would really get steamed.

[@loissimmons6558]

I thought that as a pioneer, especially as a manager of a wrestler with as great a reputation as Antonino Rocca, that Mary Ay's name would show up somewhere on the Internet other than her connection with this episode of WML. But nothing, nada, zilch. Not many episodes ago, someone posted a question as to whether any of the people who appeared on WML were frauds. I am wondering if Mary Ay was in reality an executive secretary for the company that managed Rocca and a group of other wrestlers and that the company got her on the show to help plug Rocca (who was in his mid-40's by this time and his career somewhat in decline).

[@soulierinvestments]

First contestant: is it on the level? I would think the ring would have to be level for it to work at all.

[@MrJoeybabe25]

Too bad that Bennett is dead. What a comeback!

[@MrJoeybabe25]

I was wondering what "Blackjack Candy" might be. Tis.... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Jack_(confectionery)

[@ghshinn]

They called it a chew in the article you referenced, but when I was a kid we had a thing called blackjack taffy. It was licorice flavored. Do you think it's the same thing?

[@MrJoeybabe25]

ghshinn If you run a Google on Black Jack candy licorice taffy will come up as well, I think.

[@waldolydecker8118]

Normally when good looking women contestants appear on the show, there are numerous cat-call whistles from the audience. 11:46 When the second guest enters - a male who on site looks like your prototypical nerdy corporate bean counter - some wise guy from the audience delivers a sarcastic cat-call whistle that can just faintly be heard (you might have to turn up the volume), along with quick, faint laughter by a few who enjoyed the humor. Great stuff, lol.

[@preppysocks209]

Tiny number of views of this episode. Probably one of the least of any of them.

[@lindafurr2404]

Steve Lawrence is 88 yrs young.

[@RonGerstein-tf5tp]

He died 3/7/24

[@YouDummy]

At 17:10 Alan King said he would beat his children for chewing ice. What a guy.

[@boognish999]

Thank you Arlene for ignoring Dorothy's "May we have a conference ?" interruption. Dorothy was so intrusive, loved the screen time and took the game way too seriously.

[@Fred-mp1vf]

I miss the times when professional wrestling was respectable, rather than the degenerate trash that it later became! (Never liked boxing though.)

[@MrJoeybabe25]

No equipment in pro wrestling? How about brass knuckles and whips and chains and all that good stuff? There was (I don't know if it is still in existence) a pro wrestling league that operated under mostly amateur rules. Amateur wrestling is a great sport and this pro league was tougher than what you would find in college and high school wrestling, but not fixed or (usually) bloody. I think you can see legitimate wrestlers are real athletes.

[@lyylski]

Brass knuckles, whips, etc. weren't really common place in 60s. Especially in New York area. They were more of a southern thing and I believe even those started to gain traction in the 70s and 80s.

[@boognish999]

As I watch every show in order it seems that they ran out of mystery guests in this era. I mean really? Steve Lawrence?

[@preppysocks209]

He had been on the panel, WML was a CBS show, and this was a chance to plug a CBS show. Money trumps everything.

[@gailsirois7175]

I love Steve Lawrence

[@gbrumburgh]

I often wonder if repeats like Steve Lawrence is a last minute booking for someone who couldn't make it.

[@rmelin13231]

He was well liked, well respected, and he had a show to plug.

[@rmelin13231]

@@gailsirois7175 As do I - he can do it all.

[@markxxx21]

They must've had trouble booking celebrities because people like Steve Lawrence were on way too much (for the celebrity round)

[@Noone58319]

Or maybe these were celebrities that agreed to be last-minute Mystery Guests if the need arose? Could be.