Here's an interesting clip from Johnny Carson's Tonight Show for 12/12/1972. Ed Sullivan was an unadvertised guest that night. Preceding this segment, they did a Mighty Carson Art Players sketch about Dr. Frankenstein bringing his monster to life. Throughout the sketch, the "monster" was covered with a sheet and at the end when it awoke and was unveiled, it was Ed Sullivan. Big laugh. And when they came back from commercial, Ed was in Johnny's guest chair for this awkward conversation.
Ed Sullivan was an anomaly in early television — a man with no real visible talent who hosted his Sunday night variety show from 1948 until 1971, often to sky-high ratings. Sullivan's "day job" was as a newspaper columnist, at first in the sports section. When Walter Winchell became a national sensation with his show-businessy column, he had imitators galore and eventually, Sullivan became one of them. Sullivan and Winchell had once been friends but they became bitter rivals…and with his TV show, Ed won the battle by becoming richer and more famous. (Eventually, they patched things up.)
Sullivan's non-professional presence on TV had a simple explanation: When TV started, everyone was an amateur. He got a show because his newspaper connections and the power of his column enabled him to book great acts. You didn't watch Ed's show for Ed. You watched because of who he was able to book that week. As more and more people of genuine talent moved into television, Ed simply outlasted the rest of the amateurs.
Several people I met who appeared on his show told me that one of the secrets of Ed's success was in how hard he fought to stay on the air. He was able to put pressure in many ways on performers he wanted to do his program. Movie studios and Broadway producers and record companies knew the promotional value of the Sullivan Show and dared not deny Ed what he desired. At times, he simply paid more than another show might have to get certain acts.
For a time, NBC thought they could knock him off by programming an hour with Steve Allen opposite him. The premise was that Steve, one of the most versatile talents then on television, could take down the guy who couldn't sing, couldn't dance, couldn't tell a joke, etc. But Ed prevailed, in large part because he so loved being famous and would do anything to win. He didn't want to go back to being a newspaper guy who went unrecognized on the street and unasked for his autograph. And of course, the money was also a big incentive to stay on.
With Ed, it was do or die. When The Steve Allen Show was canceled, it was not the end of Allen's stardom. There was another Steve Allen Show and another and another. But Ed always knew that when The Ed Sullivan Show went off, it was the end on any possible Ed Sullivan Shows…and when that day finally came, it was.
That happened not long before this Tonight Show appearance. Ed did his last regular show on June 6, 1971. As noted, this visit with Johnny was in December of the following year…and Ed died on October 13, 1974 at the age of 73.
What I find especially interesting about this conversation is how bad a guest Ed is in it and how Johnny is using all his skills to keep the spot afloat. This is an ability that few other talk show hosts have had…one they rarely need since interviews on talk shows today are so non-spontaneous. Some are largely pre-scripted by publicists to ensure that the guest (a) sparkles and (b) gets in all the requisite plugs for the new movie, the new series, the new album or the new whatever.
Ed came on with things to plug and both men make sure they get mentioned…but Johnny is unable to prompt Ed into a good anecdote or story. People said that after Ed's show ended, he deteriorated fast and went into deep depressions. That may be why Carson had to do all the heavy lifting in this chat…