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with a total of 1,087 episodes. The last in the series was March 28, 1971, but there were a few encore shows, with the final broadcast on June 6, 1971. It was Ed Sullivan’s personal request that the final moment of the show should be Topo Gigio saying “Eddie, kiss me goodnight” (pro- nounced “kissa me goo’night”).
Season 1 (June 20, 1948) through Sea- son 8 (1954–1955) Toast of the Town During the first eight seasons, Sullivan used at least 32 puppeteers and ventrilo- quists. Paul Winchell was a guest on the second broadcast, June 27, 1948. The sec- ond season included eight puppeteers. The Salzburg Marionettes performed October 7, 1951. During a run of performances at a New York nightclub, French puppeteer Yves Joly was on the Sullivan show on February 10, 1952. Paul Winchell, Jimmy Nelson, Bil Baird, and Jay Marshall all had several return engagements on the show.
Season 9 (1955–1956) through Season 15 (1961–1962) September 18, 1955, Toast of the Town became The Ed Sullivan Show. Season 9 had 16 puppet segments. Ventriloquist Rickie Layne first performed in January 1956 and was asked back eight more times during the same season. Rickie Layne and Vevel became frequent guests. The Steve Allen Show premiered on NBC June 5, 1956, and a great rivalry began and continued until 1960. One of the most watched shows in television history was the first Sullivan show appearance of Elvis Presley on Sep- tember 9, 1956. The first use of videotape was 1957. Before that time, every show was 100% live. The networks, producers, and directors placed a great deal of trust in per- formers who would be seen by 40 million viewers, without any possibility of editing, retakes, or censorship. Pinky and Perky, two puppet pigs cre- ated by Vlasta and Jan Dalibor (Czech puppeteers who settled in England) were popular on television in Britain. They did song parodies on the Sullivan show for the first time in September 1958. The same year, Israeli hand-shadow artist Albert Almoznino appeared. In 1958, the United States and the USSR signed a cultural exchange agreement. The Moiseyev Folk Dance Troupe was on the show in 1958. In 1959, the Sullivan show traveled to Mos- cow, and there was a very brief glimpse of the Obrazstov puppets. French puppeteer André Tahon, touring the United States, appeared on the show October 11, 1959. Twenty puppet segments were presented for season 13 (1959–1960).
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Ed "Eddie" Sullivan kisses his pal Topo Gigio, a favorite on the show 1962-1971. Photo ©1965
Season 16 (1962–1963) through Season 18 (1964–1965) Topo Gigio first appeared on The Ed Sul- livan Show on December 12, 1962. Topo, created by Maria Perego, became a per- sonal favorite of Ed Sullivan and appeared over 50 times. During the Christmas season of 1962, the Piccoli Marionettes
of Italy appeared on the show. Ed asked for viewer responses and received 130,000 letters. December 1, 1963, the show was devoted to the Obrazstov puppets from Russia, which were playing on Broadway. This was the first Sunday night broadcast to follow the assassination of President Kennedy. February 9, 1964, 72 million viewers watched the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Season 19 (1965–1966) through Season 23 (1970–1971)
The Sullivan show began broadcasting in color in 1965. The Muppets first per- formed September 8, 1966 (all the Muppet performances were in color). They were an instant success and returned seven more times during the season. The same sea- son, the studio/theater at 53rd Street and Broadway was officially named the “Ed Sul- livan Theater” (later the home of The Late Show with David Letterman, 1993–2014, and then Stephen Colbert starting in 2015). For the last five years of the show, the Muppets, Topo Gigio, Señor Wences, Jay Marshall, Pinky and Perky, and Albert Almoznino were the puppeteer guests. The Muppets appeared 25 times. November 27, 1967, the classic “Java” was broadcast, and on November 30, 1969, the ever popular “Mahna Mahna” was performed. December 1969, the Muppets were on a Christmas show with Arthur Godfrey, the first of a long series of Muppet Christmas shows. Art Carney and the Muppets were featured for the Christmas season of 1970. There are (or were) several online chronicles about the Sullivan show, including the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) and the William Paley Museum of Broadcasting.
Cover of The Ed Sullivan Show DVD.
Each archive is incomplete, and there are inconsistencies among them. No single list is definitive. For many perform- ers, including Señor Wences and Topo Gigio, the tally of performances on the Sullivan show varies with who is telling the story. In the archives, it isn’t always possible to determine who is a puppeteer. A few of the names appear only in The Ed Sullivan Show archives and nowhere else, and there are a few incorrect spellings. There were clearly at least 62 puppeteers or ventriloquists, but seven or eight more might be added to the list.
Ed Sullivan, host of Toast of the Town 1948-1955, which became The Ed Sullivan Show in 1956.
Chronicle of Performers Seasons 1–8, 1948–1955, Toast of the Town Paul Winchell (1922–2005), Virginia Austin Curtis (1903–1986), Martin Broth- ers, Bob Evans (1915–1951), Norman Evans (1901–1962), Wally Dean (1878–
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