Editing Ed Sullivan (section)

==Legacy==
[[File:Ed Sullivan - Itzhak Perlman 1958.jpg|thumb|upright|Sullivan congratulates 13-year-old [[Itzhak Perlman]] after a concert in [[Tel Aviv]], 1958.]]

Sullivan was quoted as saying: "In the conduct of my own show, I've never asked a performer his religion, his race or his politics. Performers are engaged on the basis of their abilities. I believe that this is another quality of our show that has helped win it a wide and loyal audience."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Sullivan|first1=Ed|title=My Story|journal=Colliers Magazine|date=1952|volume=1 of 3 part series|issue=September 14, 1952}}</ref> Although Sullivan was wary of [[Elvis Presley]]'s image and initially said that he would never book him, Presley became too big a name to ignore; in 1956, Sullivan signed him for three appearances.<ref name=pc7/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://history1900s.about.com/od/1950s/qt/elvissullivan.htm |title=Elvis on the Ed Sullivan Show |publisher=History1900s.about.com |access-date=February 10, 2014 |archive-date=November 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121118173015/http://history1900s.about.com/od/1950s/qt/elvissullivan.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Six weeks earlier in August 1956, Sullivan and the show's producer Robert Precht (who was also Sullivan's son-in-law) were in a near fatal car accident near Sullivan's country home in [[Southbury, Connecticut]], and missed Presley's first appearance on September 9, when [[Charles Laughton]] introduced Presley.<ref name=Million/> After Sullivan came to know Presley personally, he made amends by telling his audience, "This is a real decent, fine boy."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.edsullivan.com/artists/elvis-presley |title=Elvis Presley &#124; Ed Sullivan Show |publisher=EdSullivan.com |access-date=February 10, 2014}}</ref>

[[File:Beatles with Ed Sullivan.jpg|thumb|Sullivan with [[The Beatles]], 1964]]
{{Main|The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show}}

Sullivan's failure to scoop the TV industry with Presley made him determined to book the next big sensation first. In November 1963, while at [[Heathrow Airport]], Sullivan witnessed the [[Beatlemania]] spectacle as the band returned from Sweden and the terminal was overrun by screaming teens. At first Sullivan was reluctant to book [[the Beatles]] because the band did not yet have a commercially successful single in the U.S., but at the behest of his friend [[Sid Bernstein (impresario)|Sid Bernstein]], Sullivan signed the group. Their initial Sullivan show appearance on February 9, 1964, was the most-watched program in TV history to that point.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Harrington|first=Richard|date=February 9, 1989|title=THE BIRTH OF BEATLEMANIA|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1989/02/09/the-birth-of-beatlemania/5a0ceed1-d4d1-443e-b432-e2bf45c72723/|access-date=January 26, 2022|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> The Beatles appeared three more times in person and submitted filmed performances afterwards. [[The Dave Clark Five]], who claimed a "cleaner" image than the Beatles, made 13 appearances on the show, more than any other UK group.

Unlike many shows of the time, Sullivan asked that most musical acts perform their music live, rather than lip-synching to their recordings.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}} However, exceptions were made, such as when a microphone could not be placed close enough to a performer for technical reasons. An example was [[B. J. Thomas]]' 1969 performance of "[[Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head]]", in which water was sprinkled on him as a special effect. In 1969, Sullivan presented [[the Jackson 5]] with their first single "[[I Want You Back]]", which ousted Thomas' song from the top spot of the [[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'']] [[Billboard Hot 100|Hot 100]].

[[File:Ed Sullivan as clown 1972.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Sullivan, in full clown regalia, hosting the 1972 special ''Clownaround'']]

Sullivan had an appreciation for Black entertainers. According to biographer [[Gerald Nachman (journalist)|Gerald Nachman]], "Most TV variety shows welcomed 'acceptable' [B]lack superstars like [[Louis Armstrong]], [[Pearl Bailey]] and [[Sammy Davis Jr.]] ... but in the early 1950s, long before it was fashionable, Sullivan was presenting the much more obscure [B]lack entertainers he had enjoyed in Harlem on his uptown rounds — legends like [[Peg Leg Bates]], [[Pigmeat Markham]] and [[Tim Moore (comedian)|Tim Moore]] ... strangers to white America."{{sfn|Nachman|2009|loc=Kindle location 6021}} He hosted pioneering TV appearances by [[Bo Diddley]], [[the Platters]], [[Brook Benton]], [[Jackie Wilson]], [[Fats Domino]] and numerous [[Motown]] acts including [[the Supremes]], who appeared 17 times.{{sfn|Nachman|2009|loc=6022}} As the critic [[John Leonard (critic)|John Leonard]] wrote, "There wasn't an important [B]lack artist who didn't appear on Ed's show."{{sfn|Leonard|1992|p=146}}

Sullivan defied pressure to exclude Black entertainers or to avoid interacting with them on screen. "Sullivan had to fend off his hard-won sponsor, Ford's Lincoln dealers, after kissing Pearl Bailey on the cheek and daring to shake [[Nat King Cole]]'s hand," Nachman wrote.{{sfn|Nachman|2009|loc=Kindle edition 6031}} According to biographer Jerry Bowles, "Sullivan once had a Ford executive thrown out of the theatre when he suggested that Sullivan stop booking so many [B]lack acts. And a dealer in Cleveland told him 'We realize that you got to have niggers on your show. But do you have to put your arm around [[Bill Robinson|Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson]] at the end of his dance?' Sullivan had to be physically restrained from beating the man to a pulp."{{sfn|Bowles|1980|pp=131–2}} Sullivan later raised money to help pay for Robinson's funeral.{{sfn|Nachman|2009|loc=Kindle location 5875}} At a CBS affiliates meeting in the late 1950s, several Southern station managers complained that Sullivan was booking too many "negroes". Furious, Sullivan referred to the comments in his presentation and said that any station manager that feels this way is under no obligation to carry the show. There were no cancellations. Sullivan said: "As a Catholic, it was inevitable that I would despise intolerance, because Catholics suffered more than their share of it. As I grew up, the causes of minorities were part and parcel of me. Negroes and Jews were the minority causes closest at hand. I need no urging to take a plunge in and help."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Sullivan|first1=Ed|title=My Story|journal=Colliers Magazine|date=September 14, 1956|volume=1 of 3 part series}}</ref>

At a time when television had not yet embraced [[Country music|country and western]] music, Sullivan featured [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]] performers on his program. This in turn paved the way for shows such as ''[[Hee Haw]]'' and variety shows hosted by [[Johnny Cash]], [[Glen Campbell]] and other country singers.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Morris|first1=Edward|title=The First Families of Country Music|url=http://www.cmt.com/news/1683428/the-first-families-of-country-music/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630064602/http://www.cmt.com/news/1683428/the-first-families-of-country-music/|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 30, 2015|website=CMT News|access-date=January 24, 2017 |date=April 18, 2012}}</ref>

The Canadian comedy duo [[Wayne and Shuster]] made the most appearances of any act throughout the show's run with 67 appearances between 1958 and 1969.

Sullivan appeared as himself on other television programs, including an April 1958 episode of the [[Howard Duff]] and [[Ida Lupino]] CBS situation comedy ''[[Mr. Adams and Eve]]''. On September 14, 1958, Sullivan appeared on ''[[What's My Line?]]'' as a mystery guest. In 1961, Sullivan substituted for [[Red Skelton]] on ''[[The Red Skelton Show]]''. Sullivan took Skelton's roles in the various comedy sketches, with Skelton's hobo character Freddie the Freeloader renamed Eddie the Freeloader.