Sixty years ago (February 9, 1964), Ed Sullivan looked at his audience and the camera and announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, The Beatles!” The moment was the unofficial launch of Beatlemania, and cemented Sullivan’s place as the arbiter of the best in entertainment at that time. Sullivan had started as a reporter and writer, known in particular for his syndicated column for the New York Daily News. He went on in 1948 to become host of the variety show Toast of the Town, which was later renamed The Ed Sullivan Show, remaining on the air until 1971. Besides presenting innumerable Jewish entertainers on his show (Joel Grey, Barbra Streisand, Irving Berlin, and Henny Youngman, to name just a few), Sullivan was a supporter of Jewish causes. He received the annual Brotherhood Award from Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in 1961, and he appeared at a UJA event at Madison Square Garden on June 11, 1967, the day after the Six-Day War ended. In 1930, Sullivan, a Catholic, married Sylvia Weinstein, a Jewish woman, against the wishes of both families. What did Sylvia Weinstein do to mollify her family when she and Ed Sullivan started dating?

Beatles with Ed Sullivan by CBS Television is in the public domain via Wikimedia Commons

A. She promised her family that he would convert before they got married.

B. She told her family that they should not object, as “You’ll see. Someday he’ll get you tickets to see the Beatles!”

C. She told her family she was dating someone named Ed Solomon.

D. She actually did not tell them she was dating a Catholic, knowing that nothing would mollify them. (Of course, they did find out once she got engaged).

E. She told her family that if they made her break up with Sullivan, she would start dating that Italian fellow, Topo Gigio.

Click here for the answer.

✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡