Longtime readers here (inc. the former ONO) might recall a few times that What’s My Line appeared, an episode appearing at the foot of this post.
Picture and sound quality are not good but it did have all four regular panelists at one time, not always a given. A very popular CBS show from the early 50s to the mid 60s, many major entertainers, sports people and those from all walks of life appeared … it was civil, mannered, even elegant, the panellists highly popular in that America.
And as you’d expect from nourishing unherdables, the facade at WNL was in some ways a lie, if respectability was one of the criteria. Big deal you may well say … who’s perfect? And whilst words such as illegal and fraudulent were not used … other words such as misleading, unethical and sharp practice were … referring to how panellists often knew contestants but even that could be down to someone tipping them off.
A different type of criticism was, for example, that Martin Gabel was a former card carrying communist, his wife Arlene was leftwing but not a member, John Daly was leftwing east coast Democrat establishment, later boss of Voice of America … the only non-leftist was Dorothy Kilgallen who was murdered investigating Jack Ruby … which leaves leftwinger Bennett Cerf and he’s the main focus of this post.
But first … Jessica Mitford … every bit a communist, the “red sheep of the family”:
One of the six aristocratic Mitford sisters noted for their sharply conflicting politics. Jessica married her second cousin Esmond Romilly, who was killed in World War II, and then American civil rights lawyer Robert Treuhaft, with whom she joined the Communist Party USA and worked closely in the Civil Rights Congress. Both refused to testify in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee. They resigned from the party in 1958.
She became a “muck raking” journo, not unlike Dorothy Kilgallen but on the other side of politics, and one of her famous exposes was of Bennett Cerf and The Famous Writers School:
Moral of the tale is nothing really changes, the crooks will fold or sell, only for the new owner to open under a different name.