What's My Line? - George Jessel; Tony Randall [panel]; Marlo Thomas [panel] (Apr 11, 1965)

[@WmGood]

This show, old as it is, is IMO the very best panel show EVER. When I feel down all I have to do is watch one of these and they cheer me up.

[@maryeckerberg8041]

Ditto

[@wiguy3]

Love the touching mentions of Dorothy. She was quite a character and the show was just never quite the same without her.

[@davidsanderson5918]

wiguy3 Ernest Hemingway said she was "the most powerful female voice in America." This show was really just light relief from her proper work.

[@gailsirois7175]

Wonderful person...special woman

[@Deejaay83urj38]

It's hard to believe

[@danielmadigan8276]

@@Deejaay83urj38 MI

[@shuroom57]

I still can't bring myself to watch any of the WML episodes from after her passing. I'm sure I WILL eventually; just putting it off.

[@princeharming8963]

John Daley's response to Bennett's clown remark we pure genius.. and pitch-perfect timing.

[@susanrutherford866]

He is brilliant

[@garywarmee4367]

Marlo has her great, early THAT GIRL! look a year before her series would premiere!

[@VahanNisanian]

A year later, Marlo Thomas, Danny Thomas' daughter, would star in one of the most groundbreaking single-camera sitcoms, "That Girl". It was groundbreaking, because it was one of the first television programs with a totally independent, capable, and liberated woman. It set the tone for future programs of the same scenario, such as "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", which came out four years later.

[@JimC]

Yes, it was groundbreaking at the time. But now it's extremely cringey. I just can't watch it. TMTMS was much better.

[@Deejaay83urj38]

Yes. And more to the point in particular . . A woman, first on a show, who was unmarried

[@2508bona]

Plenty of giggles in this ep, from EVERY source.

[@MrJoeybabe25]

George Jessel was the emcee on the short-lived The Comeback Story, a 1954 reality show on ABC in which mostly celebrities shared stories of having overcome adversities in their personal lives. He was replaced as emcee by Arlene Francis, but the program soon folded. Also, In 1925, he emerged as one of the most popular leading men on Broadway with the starring role in the stage production of The Jazz Singer. The success of the show prompted Warner Bros.-after their success with Don Juan (1926) with music and sound effects only-to adapt the The Jazz Singer as the first "talkie" with dialogue and to cast Jessel in the lead role. However, when the studio refused his salary demands, Jessel turned down the movie role, which was eventually played by Al Jolson.

[@davidsanderson5918]

Cerf's joke at Daly's expense to close the clown segment is an absolute gem. Lovely!!

[@44032]

The younger John Daly looks more like Michael Landon.

[@michaelknittel5259]

OMG this has been the most entertaining What's My Line I have ever seen!

[@davidsanderson5918]

Michael Knittel Yeah it was a good'un. I think the anniversary one for their five hundredth show takes some beating.

[@loissimmons6558]

At 8:57, Bennett asks an innocent question that makes note of the fact that the second challenger is from the same part of Long Island as where the first challenger was currently performing. Bennett is merely trying to rule out some trickery on the part of the WML staff, but Tony misunderstands and is incredulous, mentioning how large the population is on Long Island. This triggers Tony's silly laugh, laughter so hard from John Daly that he has a coughing fit, and frequent jokes throughout this segment at Bennett's expense. Even Arlene chimes in at one point. The only one who doesn't join in is wide-eyed, innocent newcomer, Marlo Thomas. Bennett doesn't look very pleased at how he was being made fun of, all because he engaged in what he thought was good game play that sometimes led to a quick solve by one of his fellow panelists. At one point even the challenger, Adele May Jower, joins in on the laughter. It was the one exception to an observation I had made about the rest of her appearance. For the most part, she looks like someone very self-contained, walking stiffly, not projecting her voice or showing much sign of even breathing. I suspect that based on her actions, her apparent age, and her shape (also wearing dark colors) that she had on some very heavy-duty shapewear which produced the desired effect.

[@davidsanderson5918]

Lois Simmons I think Bennett took it well and didn't let any irritation show... if indeed there was any at all. The only time I thought Bennett looked a little tired of a repeated item was when Daly called him Chuckles throughout one episode several moons ago.

[@MrJoeybabe25]

Right at the beginning the picture flip flops. Don't see that anymore!

[@asteverino8569]

Mr Jessel, you seem a humanitarian and a good man.

[@juanmonge7418]

Marlo was one delicious piece of womanhood! Smart, funny, cute. She checked all the boxes.

[@shuroom57]

I loved That Girl. She was really funny, quick and assertive. Plus all the things you said, off course.

[@bigoldinosaur]

Yeah that kid is representing my home of Des Moines, Iowa!!! WWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

[@TheExperience35]

That was my grandfather, he has passed now but we carry on the tradition. We just performed here in Des Moines at the shrine circus

[@loissimmons6558]

In the final segment, Tony and Marlo get into one of the strangest and silliest arguments I've seen thus far on WML, about the size of the hands of a challenger who is sitting right in front of them. As time is short, John finally decides to try to call a halt to it and flip the cards. The challenger concurs with Tony, but points out that his hands were well-calloused. Oh for the days when WML had the "walk of shame" and Dorothy would ask to see the challenger's hands. Someone might have also asked about the lapel pin he was wearing.

[@jvcomedy]

Arlene wasn't wearing her trademark necklace tonight.

[@galileocan]

Jessel obviously wanted to be guessed immediately. He did his best to give away as much information as he could, and didn't do much to disguise his voice.

[@Merrida100]

Hey, where is Arlene's heart shaped necklace?

[@leesher1845]

How interesting that the audience was applauding that somebody was 67 years old!

[@shuroom57]

I know! I'll be 67 in two years myself and I'm just a kid! It was old, old, old back then. Lifestyles were remarkably different back then, of course.

[@kentetalman9008]

@@shuroom57 I'm 78. Back then, I'd be dead.

[@samdash4706]

Marlo Thomas is super-cute here.

[@vincentvalentine9417]

seriously!

[@shuroom57]

I can't take my eyes off of her.

[@RonGerstein]

Marlo Thomas had a NOSE JOB before this episode. Her original nose resembled her father's, Danny Thomas.

[@leesher1845]

Marlo Thomas was so cute when she was young.

[@RonGerstein]

Marlo Thomas had a nose job before this episode. Her original nose resembled the nose of her father, Danny Thomas.

[@joelfogelsanger5773]

No Bennett, a lobster bib is not apparel.

[@ShannonLee1956]

Little John looks like he could be related to Elvis!

[@JimC]

19:16 tomorrow the Lord willing I speak at San Diego for Israel, the following day for a Catholic college in Chicago Hmm, Chicago Tribune archives show nothing for Jessel in April. He was in town in July to emcee a celebration of Israel's founding, where Catholic nun Sister Francetta Barberis spoke. She was president of Webster College in Missouri and was to begin working in DC for Pres. Johnson's "War on Poverty"

[@brianedwards4161]

The day I was born

[@MrJoeybabe25]

Check out 12:25! Arlene is about to become STRAPLESS!

[@soulierinvestments]

George Jessel was also a film producer, along with being *the* professional toast master and after dinner speaker of his generation. I can’t quite decide if it is funny that he impersonated Marlo’s father as his disguise.

[@MrJoeybabe25]

Here's Georgie on Mike Wallace in 1957. www.hrc.utexas.edu/multimedia/video/2008/wallace/jessel_george.html

[@SuperWinterborn]

Joe Postove Thanks for the link, Joe! Quite a fellow! ;)

[@MrJoeybabe25]

The first contestant, John Daly, looked like a young Elvis. That was a wild suit he had on, what style is that?

[@Beson-SE]

Bennett must have been very satisfied when he said: "there are some clowns named Daly who don't need make up." :) The young John Daly was very cute but nervous. 7:24

[@SuperWinterborn]

Joe Postove This style of suit is very common in India/Asia. I like it. :)

[@jvcomedy]

+Joe Postove It looked like a suit that was made popular by "The Beatles" at the time. Commonly called "A Beatle Suit".

[@TheExperience35]

That kid, was my late grandfather. He got the "Elvis" comparison quite a bit. Thank you for the compliment to such a fine man

[@helenellis]

In the UK we call them (or ones similar to them) Nehru jackets, after the first prime minister of India. But I think the young Mr Daly was aiming for the look of The Beatles' collarless suits designed by Pierre Cardin.

[@walterbyrne5888]

Class act

[@jacquelinebell6201]

Floyd Moore is a very hsndsome cable car operator. He should be in the movies!

[@shuroom57]

He may very well have been. He said he operated the Powell-Hyde line. That was the cable car from which Rod Taylor stepped in the opening scene of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, just two years earlier. The building he enters (from the front, anyway) is next to my old dentist's office bldg. Anyway, Mr. Moore might have been that driver in the shot.

[@broughtbackin]

@@shuroom57 From his obit in 2011: He worked for 36 years for the Municipal Railway of San Francisco, ten of those years as a Cable Car Gripman. Guess he was happy with his job. He was gorgeous though!

[@bbailey7818]

I wonder if John Daly the circus clown was coached to appear especially serious and even glum to throw off the panel. But Arlene seemed to have ESP for performers. Bennett's line @ 7:24 and the deadpan delivery is one of the biggest laughs I can remember on WML. John's comeback was priceless.

[@preppysocks209]

As usual, Bennett thinks at 14:40, that there are only two ways his questions can be answered: yes and an in correct no.

[@preppysocks209]

With the passing of Phyllis Newman, there are very few living panelists. As of 1965, they include Woody Allen, Paul Anka, Orson Bean, Jeannie Carson (obscure from England from 1957!), Jane Fonda, Steve Lawrence, William Shatner, Marlo Thomas, Dick Van Dyke, and Betty White.

[@mikejschin]

Great list. The only other one I can think of is Harry Belafonte.

[@pgh45rpms]

Sadly, three years later Orson Bean and Betty White have passed on.

[@juanmonge7418]

So has Harry Belafonte.

[@shuroom57]

Hang in there, Dick! (Van Dyke, of course. You know what I mean.)

[@RonGerstein]

Steve Lawrence died in 2024.

[@adamodeo9320]

George Jessel actor-producer singer and more - a giant

[@peternagy-im4be]

He was huge. Massive in fact.

[@leesher1845]

Sweet way that George Jessel acknowledged the audience.

[@lawrencetate145]

That Girl is so gorgeous!

[@designsonyouinparis]

Wish for those wonders times would come back!

[@joelfogelsanger5773]

Why didn't Marlo Thomas just say George Jessel? She obviously knew who it was!

[@MrMatteNWk]

Gilbert Gottfried's favorite MG segment

[@moonlightray8493]

3:13 Would you look at that, "The Name's the Same" haha!

[@nickarcher03]

George Jessel is one of those celebrities that I wonder why they were ever popular

[@RonGerstein]

Hey brainless: Google his name or look him up in Wikipedia.

[@Beson-SE]

There is a word they often use that I don't know how it's spelled. It concerns clothes and clothing and it rhymes with "Carol" but starts with a "p". I can't find it in my Dictionary. Can you enlighten my ignorance?

[@miriamfeigenbaum3611]

apparel

[@WhatsMyLine]

Johan Bengtsson "Apparel"? Doesn't start with P, but it's close enough, and that would explain why you're not finding the word you're looking for.

[@WhatsMyLine]

***** We must have typed our replies at exactly the same minute. :)

[@Beson-SE]

What's My Line? Thank you! I thought they said 'a parel' instead of apparel. No wonder I couldn't find it. :)

[@SuperWinterborn]

Johan Bengtsson I remember from earlier episodes, I had some trouble with that word too, but finally I found it in the dictionary. This is one of the real problems I have when it comes to certain words in this program, Not knowing how they're spelled. :)

[@PennyLaneYouTube]

Marlo introduced Bennett as “The man i’m going to seduce…”. 😂😂😂

[@soulierinvestments]

First contestant. WML had an affinity for employed boys. Too bad to hide that cuteness under heavy makeup. Also too bad that style of suit coat never caught on. Lapels are such a waste.

[@SuperWinterborn]

soulierinvestments As Joe mentioned above here; he looked like a young Elvis. This suit you will find many places in Asia. It's nice. :)

[@MrJoeybabe25]

Say, Gary...do you know Floyd Moore? He lives in San Francisco too!

[@WhatsMyLine]

I don't even know who lives in the apartments on either side of mine.

[@MrJoeybabe25]

What's My Line? Is there any kind of Gracie Allen museum, or birthplace in SF?

[@WhatsMyLine]

Joe Postove No-- but up till 2007 I was living in the same neighborhood as the Catholic school she went to as a girl, The Star of the Sea Academy. Made me think of her every time I walked by. :)

[@MrJoeybabe25]

What's My Line? Does San Francisco have any formal (city or otherwise) acknowledgement that she grew up there?

[@WhatsMyLine]

Joe Postove Not that I'm aware of. There's a street named after her in L.A., which intersects with a street named for George.

[@Damon_Strong]

This is one of the episodes that busts the myth that Arlene Francis never took off her heart pendant. She obviously wasn't wearing it that evening.

[@broughtbackin]

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!! Someone call the cops! Arlene's necklace was in the shop getting fixed! What an evil person she must be. GROW UP

[@VahanNisanian]

Tonight was a double-dose of Tony Randall, as earlier that same night, the August 15 episode was recorded. Tony also introduced the woman filling in for Dorothy in that episode, Anita Gillette as "her first time on this show". Which technically was correct, even though it was taped before her AIRED appearance.

[@loissimmons6558]

It wasn't very sharp of Tony to do that with what he knew was a taped episode of Gillette!

[@fanboy2015]

John Daly, the first contestant, was the Fifth Beatle.

[@christopherjones8517]

Was on to tell the truth also

[@Bigwave2003]

You wouldn't know it to look at him at age 67, but Georgie Jessel had many scandalous affairs in his younger days.

[@Bigbadwhitecracker]

which continued on to his death. I knew he wouldn't leave Marlo alone; he just couldn't.

[@stevenginsberg8471]

Creepy

[@jacquelinebell6201]

Doesn't surprise me. He sounded a little bit crude. Also, Bennett looks a much younger 67 than he does.

[@MrJoeybabe25]

Georgie had a beautiful comb over!

[@Beson-SE]

And he grabbed John's glass of water and threw the water onto the floor... :/

[@shuroom57]

THAT comb over went in all directions, over here, over there, over everywhere! Hmm, wait. I might try that.....

[@VahanNisanian]

The next episode will be interesting: The reconstructing of the Marian Anderson mystery guest appearance, which was badly mutilated by the assembling of "What's My Line At 25".

[@WhatsMyLine]

Thanks for mentioning it-- I remember you asking about this months ago! Yes, in tomorrow's video the Marian Anderson segment is back in its proper order for the first time since the show originally aired in 1965.

[@soulierinvestments]

and thanks to Gary for his careful work with these episodes. For all intents and purposes, this channel is the What's My Line archive.

[@VahanNisanian]

soulierinvestments It is just too bad he still doesn't have the Bert Lahr episode from January 1963 (sorry for constantly bringing it up). All because one trader acted like a jerk about it. There are two other people that I know are confirmed to have it: Brandon Bolton and Chuck Donegan. Wonder if Gary has negotiated a trade with either of these two yet? wildjackmonroe.weebly.com/whats-my-line.html illustriousgameshowpage.com/gameswz.html

[@MrJoeybabe25]

***** How is it that only three guys have this tape. Was it never run on GSN and they have the original kine'?

[@VahanNisanian]

Joe Postove It was run on GSN. At least one or two times. There could be more people who have it, but those few are the only people I can think of.

[@magnificentfailure2390]

Physician, meet thyself.

[@soulierinvestments]

Gil Fates apparently did not like Jessel much. He wrote in his book that he showed up, sometimes in his own uniforms, to publicize whatever war the USA happened to be in. When he appeared once in syndicated WML, when Arlene asked him how we were going to get our troops home from South East Asia, he launched into a long defense of the virtues of the Vietnam War. That'll leave them laughing.

[@MrJoeybabe25]

Tony Curtis in his later years took up the uniform wearing thing, with medals and the works. I think he thought it made him look younger.

[@stevekru6518]

If Jessel could defend the Viet Nam he could more easily explain why spitting into the wind and shooting yourself in the foot are great strategies. As is often the case, Arlene was perspicacious.

[@SMAY0001]

I read he was quite a leach!

[@VahanNisanian]

Some people pointed out that Marlo's hair in the first four seasons of "That Girl" was really just a wig, and that her hair during the final season was her original.

[@Beson-SE]

Her hair looked like a helmet.

[@garywarmee4367]

I think Marlo's hair was her own in the 1st season or two of THAT GIRL! After, she went to a fuller, thicker, more "helmet" industrial strength version of her flip. Last season was her lacquered, more modern center part with a fall to fill it out, big time. Love you, Marlo Thomas.

[@moderne-ist1612]

After the first couple of seasons, only the bangs were fake. I have read that she referred to the hairpiece as “the moustache”

[@jackseward7779]

They boast about Mr. Jessel turning 67 whereas Mr. Cerf turned 67 one month later.

[@MrJoeybabe25]

Is Arlene wearing canvas tonight?

[@jazzvampire]

Whatever it was, it certainly looked difficult to walk in! Funny that this period produced a sort of updated hobble skirt; I guess slits were once again deemed unnecessary. Dorothy wears a similar style on numerous episodes, as well.

[@wiguy3]

Not one of her more flattering outfits. I just noticed she wasn't wearing her heart necklace on this showing.

[@leesher1845]

Panelists were so smart. You don’t see that kind of intellect today on game shows; quite the contrary. Today’s contestants can barely speak proper English.

[@christinecatt5391]

How right you are..! Have you seen the current game show 'Family Feud '..? The questions on that show need to be censured.. including the host and the contestants.. I am genuinely surprised that trashy show is still being aired..??. Steve Harvey is classless, loud, and crude...and seems to encourage the double entendres and sexually explicit answers and crude comments.. I'm sure he's laughing all the way to the Bank..!!

[@peternagy-im4be]

Thankfully i stopped watching TV many years ago.

[@soulierinvestments]

RE: Fluffy I wonder whose bright idea it was to team Tony Randall , Shirley Jones, Howard Morris, Edward Andrews, Ernest Truex, Jim Backus, Frank Faylen and with a lion, yet. What on earth was up with Tony, all that intense horselaughing? What’s up John with all that guffawing and coughing? He had a cigarette habit I hear and there is some of the evidence of it tonight with the hacking.

[@770WT]

Tony Randall could be a real jerk on these shows.

[@peternagy-im4be]

No he wasn't. OK?

[@princeharming8963]

Last contestant: Imagine a time.. when you could be proud of being from San Francisco!

[@peternagy-im4be]

You still can??

[@josephpalermo4538]

Couldn't stand Tony Randall

[@kentetalman9008]

He's one of my favorite celebrities. I always look forward to him being on WML.