Ed Sullivan Exposed the 8 Worst Racist Stars Who Appeared On His Show in Old Hollywood History

For 23 years Ed Sullivan stood in the CBS Studio 50 spotlight in Manhattan and watched almost every major white star of Old Hollywood walk onto his stage. From his June 20, 1948 debut as host of Toast of the Town, through the show's rebranding as The Ed Sullivan Show in September 1955, through the January 15, 1956 first Elvis Presley appearance, through the February 9, 1964 Beatles appearance that drew 73 million American viewers, and into his final broadcast on March 28, 1971, Sullivan booked over 10,000 performers and became the single most powerful weekly gatekeeper of American entertainment culture. What separated Sullivan from other white hosts of the era was that he actively booked Black performers across network resistance, from Nat King Cole in 1956 when Southern affiliates threatened boycotts, through Louis Armstrong, Sammy Davis Jr., Diana Ross, and the entire Motown catalog across the 1960s. This video traces the eight stars from Old Hollywood who walked onto his stage: from Ricky Nelson's all-white Ozzie and Harriet world, through Andy Griffith's segregated Mayberry, through Milton Berle's documented blackface routines, through Red Skelton's racial impressions, through Jackie Gleason's all-white Honeymooners, through Pat Boone's covers of Fats Domino and Little Richard, through Dean Martin's private racism that Sammy Davis Jr. documented, and into Marlon Brando's April 1996 Larry King Live antisemitic revelations. What's covered in this video: Ricky Nelson's 14-year Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet run on ABC from 1952 through 1966 with no Black recurring cast members across 435 episodes, his April 1957 cover of Fats Domino's I'm Walkin' that launched his music career, and his December 1985 death in a plane crash at age 45. Andy Griffith's eight-year Andy Griffith Show run from October 1960 through April 1968 that systematically avoided the civil rights transformation happening in the exact geographic region his fictional North Carolina town claimed to represent, and his conservative political positions preserved in biographical treatments following his July 2012 death. Milton Berle's tenure as host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater from 1948 through 1955, his documented use of blackface makeup in early 1950s sketches, his hostility toward younger Black comedians breaking into mainstream American comedy across the 1960s, and his March 2002 death at age 93 in Los Angeles. Red Skelton's 20-year Red Skelton Hour tenure on NBC from 1951 through 1971, his signature Freddie the Freeloader and Clem Kadiddlehopper clown characters, his racial impressions across NBC programming, and his September 1997 death at age 84 in Rancho Mirage California. Jackie Gleason's 39-episode Honeymooners CBS run from 1955 through 1956 that featured no Black recurring cast members across its Brooklyn tenement setting, his subsequent Jackie Gleason Show variety programming across the 1960s that systematically excluded Black performers from significant recurring roles, and his June 1987 death at age 71 in Fort Lauderdale Florida. Pat Boone's 38 Billboard Top 40 singles, his 1955 cover of Fats Domino's Ain't That a Shame that hit number one on the Billboard pop chart, his 1956 covers of Little Richard's Tutti Frutti and Long Tall Sally, and Little Richard's 1984 autobiography by Charles White that named Boone specifically. Dean Martin's partnership with Jerry Lewis from 1946 through 1956, his role as Rat Pack member alongside Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. in Las Vegas, his hosting of NBC's Dean Martin Show from 1965 through 1974, Sammy Davis Jr.'s 1965 autobiography Yes I Can and 1989 memoir Why Me documenting the private cost of their Rat Pack partnership, and his December 1995 death at age 78 in Beverly Hills. Marlon Brando's 1954 Best Actor Oscar for On the Waterfront, his 1973 Best Actor Oscar for The Godfather, his 1963 March on Washington participation and 1973 Sacheen Littlefeather Academy Awards refusal that constructed his progressive civil rights ally image, his April 1996 Larry King Live interview antisemitic comments about Jewish influence in Hollywood, and his July 2004 death at age 80 in Los Angeles. Mentioned in this video: Ed Sullivan, Ricky Nelson, Andy Griffith, Milton Berle, Red Skelton, Jackie Gleason, Pat Boone, Dean Martin, Marlon Brando, Sammy Davis Jr., Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Diana Ross, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lewis, Sacheen Littlefeather, Sam Phillips, Charles White, Larry King, CBS Studio 50, Ed Sullivan Show, Toast of the Town, Ozzie and Harriet, Andy Griffith Show, Texaco Star Theater, Red Skelton Hour, Honeymooners, Dean Martin Show, On the Waterfront, The Godfather, Yes I Can, Why Me, I'm Walkin', Ain't That a Shame, Tutti Frutti, Long Tall Sally, Motown, Sun Records, Rat Pack, HUAC, Old Hollywood Golden Age. #EdSullivan #GoldenAgeHollywood #HollywoodSecrets