A Side Of Ed Sullivan We Never Knew…

In the photo is Barbara Smith Forster with Ed and his two grandsons. They are on stage at the Deuville Hotel in Miami where the Beatles performed live 50 years ago on Sunday, February 16, 1964. Barbara was secretary to the show’s producer, and Sullivan son-in-law Bob Precht. I’ve had the good fortune to have some extended conversations with Barbara and other Sullivan staffers over the past month and that has given me a lot of new insights into the show and it’s people, including Mr. Sullivan. It’s well known that Ed had an explosive temper and was by all accounts, “a bit gruff”, however…there were things he did in private that most never knew about. For instance, the Tessie O’Shea appearance on the Beatles debut show. Along with the fab four and Georgia Brown of ‘Oliver’, Tessie shares top billing on that famous marquee, but why? The truth is, Sullivan had a soft spot for some of the old vaudeville and Broadway people that were having a hard time. Occasionally, like in Tessie’s case, he would book them on the show himself and surprise the talent scheduling people. At times, he would encourage night club owners he knew in the northeast to offer bookings to some, but Mr. Sullivan would also secretly give many of them a “loan”. For those of us lucky enough to have grown up with ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ as a part of our lives, we know that this was one of a kind! Nothing that comes after it can ever capture the uniqueness, stature and iconic nature of one of television’s true landmarks.

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