#Bennett Cerf

[oldshowbiz]

1981.

A reference to What's My Line on an episode of Taxi with Martin Short.

[drallimylime]

i’ve probably watched 40+ episodes of What’s My Line? in the past month.

[jisforjudi2]

Every now and then I stumble on something I think it's really special. Eleanor Roosevelt as the Mystery Guest on What's My Line, October 18, 1953. Her appearance begins at 14:26

[softinsidewithroughedges]

tag yourselves I'm Mr. Cerf's bow tie

[markalanfoster-blog]

The Contradictions of Ayn Rand

My own views are almost dialectically opposed to those of Ayn Rand and her Objectivism. I could critique her philosophy from now until eternity, but that can wait.

Nevertheless, when reading Bennett Cerf’s autobiography, I was intrigued by his views of her. Cerf, the cofounder of Random House Publishing and one of the most beloved humorists of his generation, said that, after she tried to meet with him on publishing the book, Atlas Shrugged, he refused. Then he changed his mind. He also became her publisher.

He found her to be absolutely delightful. Cerf, his wife, and Rand would frequently hang out together. He wrote that, at a party, many guests could not tear themselves away from Rand. She was, apparently, the life of the party.

Cerf was a true “jetsetter.” He and his wife were renowned NYC socialites (not socialists). Cerf was also a TV personality through the extremely popular What’s My Line? game show. It aired on CBS for 17 years and was hosted by the ABC (originally CBS) journalist, John Daly. I would imagine that Rand appreciated Cerf's attention.

As an aside, I am not referring to the later syndicated and lower-quality continuation of What’s My Line?. Daly was gone. (He was a neoconservative; and most of his post-retirement work, sadly in my view, was with the Heritage Foundation and similar organizations.) There were two different hosts. I liked the new show, but it could not measure up to the original. And why did they have the chronically unfunny Soupy Sales as a panelist?

But returning to the subject: My personal view is that Rand, though living in Russia in the former Soviet Union, was, as a nonpracticing Jew, devastated by the nazi Holocaust. It turned her into a cynic. That cynicism gave birth to Objectivism. But the real Rand was still there.

Rand, however, was a good actress. She played the role of a true Objectivist. I recall how nasty she was to guests, for no apparent reason, on the late Phil Donahue’s (1935–2024) show. Either Phil didn’t realize what she was doing, or he simply kept silent on the subject. On the other hand, perhaps Rand really was that cruel.

Here is a portion of Cerf’s discussion of Rand:

>>At any rate, Ayn and I became good friends. What I loved to do was trot her out for people who sneered at us for publishing her. She would invariably charm them. For instance, Clifton Fadiman, who had snorted at the idea of our publishing Ayn Rand, sat talking with her until about three in the morning. George Axelrod, author of The Seven Year Itch, toward the end of a long, long evening at Ayn’s, disappeared with her into another room and we couldn’t get him to go home. Later he said, “She knows me better after five hours than my analyst does after five years.”<<

But Rand was a good actress. She played the role of a true Objectivist. I recall how nasty she was to members of the audience, for no apparent reason, on the late Phil Donahue’s show. Either Phil didn’t realize what she was doing, or he simply kept silent on the subject. On the other hand, perhaps Rand really was that cruel.

[brummie-man-interests]

"The Twilight Zone: Twenty Two" is based on an anecdote from the 1949 book, 'Famous Ghost Stories' by Bennett Cerf [Bennett Alfred Cerf] (May 25, 1898 - August 27, 1971) who is best known as the publisher and founder of 'Random House' books.

[gallimaufryish]

[travsd]

Booking Bennett Cerf

Among show biz buffs, Bennett Cerf (1898-1971) has become the poster child for How American Pop Culture Has Changed And Not for the Better. Cerf was the co-founder of the Random House publishing company; he was also a panelist on television game shows. We exaggerate perhaps when we claim that such things could never happen any more, but you must admit, it would be remarkable. Cerf was born with…

[thatwritererinoriordan]

I've already read Heart of Darkness and The Snows of Kilimanjaro. I'm going for the Katherine Mansfield.

What story/author would you read first?

[sohannabarberaesque]

Know this: The Mystery Guest in this particular What's My Line? episode (as originally aired January 11, 1953) was the vocal inspiration for Lippy the Lion and Peter Potamus, ultimately via Daws Butler.

(As reminder, John Charles Daly hosted; panellists were Dorothy Kilgallen, Bennett Cerf, Arlene Frances and Steve Allen.)

[oldshowbiz]

1962.

[vintage-every-day]

MYSTERY GUEST: Piper Laurie. PANEL: Dorothy Kilgallen, Art Linkletter, Arlene Francis, Bennett Cerf. (Oct 15, 1961)

[theempressar]

OH EM GEE 🤣 🤣🤣 I just watched this one...John almost falls out his seat laughing... Bennett gets so embarrassed... they are ADORABLE 🥰🥰🥰

5 October 1958

[challenger is a sheep shearer]

John [to Bennett]: Now, what does Miss Kurtz have to do with sheep?

Arlene [off-camera]: She pulls the wool over their eyes!

…

Bennett: Do you, uh, do you pluck sheep?

[John and audience lose it]

John: I’ll tell you what, Bennett, do you want to reach for another verb? Because I think you’ve got the right idea

[softinsidewithroughedges]

[muppetydyke]

Muppet Mainstage, November 2nd, 2024

“Slimey to the Moon” is a parody of the jazz standard “Fly Me to the Moon” written by Bart Howard with new lyrics by Christopher Cerf. The song was performed by Tony Bennett in season 29 of Sesame Street (1998), detailing Slimey the Worm’s trip to the moon.

[alphaman99]

Follies Of God

9h  ·

Barbara Sinatra: "We were at a dinner party one night with Bennett Cerf and Betty Bacall when Frank wandered into a guest room to collect a pack of cigarettes from his overcoat. There he found the producer Arthur Hornblow finishing up a telephone call to a woman. 'I hope she's pretty,’ Frank said softly. Arthur replied that she was; it was his mother, Susie, who was in poor health in Florida but still excited about the latest Yankee scores.

'What I wouldn't give for one more telephone call with my mom,' Frank told him wistfully.

At his suggestion, they called Arthur's mother back and put Frank on the line. 'Is this really Frank Sinatra?' she asked. 'You sound too much like him not to be. I love your voice.'

'Well, I love your voice too, Susie,' Frank said. 'Tell you what—I'm going to call you every Saturday night at six o'clock, and we'll chew over the Yankees' performance, okay?' He kept his promise and never missed a Saturday evening call to Susie Hornblow until the day she died. For good measure, he sent flowers to her on Mother's Day and to other widowed mothers in the same hospital. Frank added her name to his list of lonely women he'd call on a regular basis. They included a relative of Freeman Gosden's and several single mothers. Few believed them when they claimed that Ol' Blue Eyes was a frequent caller, but they knew the truth and that was all that mattered."