The BEST episodes of The Ed Sullivan Show season 15
Every episode of The Ed Sullivan Show season 15, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Ed Sullivan Show season 15!
From 1949 until its cancelation in 1971, the show ran on CBS every Sunday night from 8–9 p.m. E.T., and is one of the few entertainment shows to have run in the same weekly time slot on the same network for more than two decades. (During its first season, it ran from 9–10 p.m. E.T.) Virtually every type of entertainment appeared on the show; opera singers, popular artists, songwriters, comedians, ballet dancers, dramatic actors performing monologues from plays, and circus acts were regularly featured. The format was essentially the same as vaudeville, and although vaudeville had died a generation earlier, Sullivan presented many ex-vaudevillians on his show. Seasons 1-8 can be found listed under the series "Toast of the Town".
#1 - scheduled: Slappy White; Matt Monro; Smith & Dale
Season 15 - Episode 16 - Aired 12/31/1961
Scheduled guests: --Slappy White (comedian) --Matt Monro (singer) --Sandy Stewart (singer) --The Barry Sisters (singing group) --Smith and Dale (comedy team) --Saverio Saridis (policeman-turned-singer) --The Hi-Lads (singing group) --The Estelle Alfonso Dancers --The Shirleys (balloon act)
#2 - scheduled: Joan Sutherland; Pegleg Bates; Joey Adams
Season 15 - Episode 35 - Aired 5/13/1962
Scheduled guests: --Joan Sutherland (opera star) --Joey Adams (comedian) --Pegleg Bates (dancer) --Alan Gale (comedian) --Al Kelly (double-talk expert)
#3 - Art Carney / Fats Domino / Phyllis Diller / Connie Stevens / Tommy Sands
Season 15 - Episode 25 - Aired 3/4/1962
Guests: --Fats Domino - ""Jambalaya"" & ""Let The Four Winds Blow"" --Connie Stevens & Tommy Sands - ""Maggie Blue"" --Connie Stevens - ""Wild Is The Wind"" --Tommy Sands - ""Got A Lot Of Livin' To Do"" & ""More Than You Know"" --Troy Donahue, Connie Stevens, Paula Prentiss - Voted most popular stars, most versatile performers, 1962. Film clip from ""Susan Slade"" & ""Bachelors In Paradise"". Trio dances the Twist --Broadway cast of ""Take Her, She's Mine"" (Art Carney, Phyllis Thacher, Elizabeth Ashley and June Harding) perform scenes from play: Airport scene where family says goodbye to college bound daughter & scene where daughter comes home for Christmas all grown up. --Phyllis Diller (stand-up comedian) - topics: living in New York, eating in Japanese restaurants, and her marriage --Henny Youngman (stand-up comedian) - jokes about wife, marriage --Johnny Puleo - six harmonica players perform ""Heart Of My Heart."" --On film: clip of John Glenn's ticker tape parade in NYC follo
#4 - Henry Fonda & Olivia de Havilland / Maureen O'Hara
Season 15 - Episode 26 - Aired 3/11/1962
Guests (St. Patrick's Day show): --Henry Fonda & Olivia de Havilland (actors) - scene from ""Gift of Time"" set on cruise ship. A doting wife tries to care for her fatally ill husband. --Maureen O'Hara (actress) - sings ""Come Back to Erin"" & ""If I Loved You"" --Rosemary Clooney (singer) - ""Cabin in the Sky"" & ""Give Me the Simple Life"" --Pat Rooney, Maureen O'Hara, Rosemary Clooney and Ed Sullivan - ""Great Day for the Irish"" & ""Danny Boy"" --Pat Rooney (82-year-old song-and-dance man) - sings ""The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady"" and tap dances --Bobby Rydell - ""Mammy"" --Pat Buttram (stand-up comedy) --The Three Houcs (juggling act from Germany) - a father & his daughters juggle pins --Folias de Espana (Argentine dance & singing troupe) - (1) Flamenco dancers - ""Los Tres Caballos"" (2) Later in show, sings, dances and plays the guitar. --Audience bows: NY Senator Jack Javits & wife --Hugh Lambert Dancers (modern dancers) - ""Where Did You Get That Hat?""
#5 - Rowan & Martin / Robert Goulet / Dick Haymes & Fran Jefferies
Season 15 - Episode 27 - Aired 3/18/1962
Guests: --Rowan And Martin (comedy team) - doing a skit about people who live underground --Dick Haymes & Fran Jefferies - medley: ""Come On Get Happy,"" ""I'm Gonna Love You Like Nobody's Loved You"" & ""I'd Know You Anywhere"" --Robert Goulet - ""All Of You"" & ""Two Different Worlds"" --Maria Neglia (violinist) --Rickey Layne & Velvel (ventriloquist act) - Ed talks with dummy --Alan Gale (stand-up comedian) - topics: people who worry, Michigan & Notre Dame football jokes --Bob Lewis (stand-up comedian) - more jokes about worrying --Johnny Hart (magician) - performs magic act, card tricks, silk tricks, etc. --Juan Carlo Copez & Maria Neives (dancers from Argentina) --Gail Hart (child performer) - young baton twirler --Paul Sydell & Susie (trained dog act, dog performs handstands)
#6 - Sid Caesar / Jackie Mason / Diahann Carroll / Richard Kiley
Season 15 - Episode 28 - Aired 3/25/1962
Guests: --Jackie Mason (stand-up comedian) - does imitations, appears with Ed. Later in show, tells jokes about income tax and JFK. --Carol Lawrence & Hugh Lambert - dance from ""Subways Are Sleeping"" --Carol Lawrence - ""When The Sun Comes Out"" --Sid Caesar (comedian) - does a pantomime of people waking up in the morning --Sid Caesar & Carol Lawrence - do a comic performance of ""Shadow Waltz"" --Earl Grant & Bill Grant - ""Lonesome Road"" Cast of the Richard Rogers Broadway show ""No Strings"": --Diahann Carroll - ""The Sweetest Sound""/""Sweetest Sounds"" (from ""No Strings"") and ""Loads of Love"" --Richard Kiley, Bernice Massi & cast - ""Be My Host"" (production number from ""No Strings"") --Richard Kiley - ""No Strings"" --Noelle Adam - also in ""No Strings"" cast
#7 - Jackie Wilson / Patti Page / Wayne & Shuster / Ann-Margret (on film)
Season 15 - Episode 29 - Aired 4/1/1962
Guests include: --Jackie Wilson - ""Heart"" -- Patti Page - ""Most People Get Married"" & ""All The Way"" --Anna Motto - ""Aria"" from ""Romeo & Juliet"" --Wayne & Shuster (comedy team) - routine: ""Sam Casey, Dedicated Auto Mechanic"" (phony TV show) --Myron Cohen (stand-up comedian, tells jokes about old ladies) --Dewey Pigmeat Markham (comedy act) judge passes out sentences --Parker & Betty Keane (comedy team doing a sketch about a husband & wife) --Kasten's Animal Fantasy (monkey act) --On film: Ann Margret singing ""Mack the Knife"" (screen test for ""State Fair"") --On film: Ann Margret & Pat Boone sing ""Willing And Eager"" (clip from ""State Fair"") --Audience bow: Colleen Dewhurst
#8 - scheduled: Cyd Charisse; Lionel Hampton; Jack Carter
Season 15 - Episode 30 - Aired 4/8/1962
Scheduled guests: --Cyd Charisse (dancer) --Roland Petit (choreographer) --Lionel Hampton (bandleader) --Jack Carter (comedian) --Anita Bryant (singer) --Professor Backwards (comedian) --The Kim Sisters (vocal group) --Franco Corelli (opera singer) --Hal and Barbara Loman (dancers) --Rudy Cardenas (juggler)
#9 - Sophia Loren / Mahalia Jackson / Teresa Brewer / Maximillian Schell
Season 15 - Episode 31 - Aired 4/15/1962
Guests: --Maximilian Schell (actor) - Academy Award winning performance from ""Judgement at Nuremberg"" --George Chakiris & Rita Moreno - perform a short scene from ""West Side Story"" --Mahalia Jackson (gospel singer) - ""Old Time Religion"" & ""Were You There?"" --Teresa Brewer - "" South Rampart Street Parade"" & ""Love Makes The World Go Round"" --Sophia Loren - short interview (on film?) Sophia talks about her film ""Two Women"" -- Liberace - Foggy Day"" & ""Tico Tico."" --Liberace (later in show) - does a tribute to Vaudeville, medley: ""This Old Piano,"" ""Piano Roll Blues"" & ""Old Soft Shoe."" Liberace then dances the soft shoe to ""Me & My Shadow"" --Larry Storch (comedian) - does impressions of John F. Kennedy and United Nations Delegates --Pat Henning (stand-up comedian) - makes his handkerchief dance, jokes about baldness, and does a Bette Davis impression --Helene & Howard (comedy dance team) --Hugh Lambert Dancers - do a dance in celebration of baseball --Excess Ba
#10 - Harry Belafonte / Miriam Makeba / Thelma Lee
Season 15 - Episode 32 - Aired 4/22/1962
Guests: --Harry Belafonte (singer, in a 15 minute segment) - ""Mule Skinner,"" ""Try to Remember"" ""Baby Boy"" and ""Michael, Row the Boat Ashore"" (and possibly ""Crawdad Song"" & ""Kingston Way"") --Miriam Makeba (South African folksinger) - ""Kilimanjaro"" & ""(Love Tastes Like) Strawberries"" --Harry Belafonte & Miriam Makeba - perform a duet --Connie Francis (singer) - possibly ""When The Boy In Your Arms (Is The Boy In Your Heart)"" --Thelma Lee (comedian) --On film: Ed Sullivan appears as a clown (with grease paint & baggy costume) in a Ringling Brothers Circus segment. The segment also features Stevenson's Dogs. Scheduled guest: --Connie Stevens (actress from ""Hawaiian Eye"") - scheduled to sing
#11 - Johnny Mathis / Jackie Mason / Rip Taylor / McGuire Sisters
Season 15 - Episode 33 - Aired 4/29/1962
Guests: --Johnny Mathis (singer) - ""Marianna,"" ""Love, Look Away"" & ""Love"" --The McGuire Sisters - ""You're Driving Me Crazy"" & ""That's a Plenty"" --Jackie Mason (comedian) --Rip Taylor (comedian) --Guy Marks (comedian) --Brascia and Tybee (dance team) --The Madcaps (novelty harmonica duo) --The Waterbird Show (performing ducks)
#12 - scheduled: Bobby Darin; Diahann Carroll; Corbett Monica
Season 15 - Episode 34 - Aired 5/6/1962
Scheduled guests: --Bobby Darin (singer) --Diahann Carroll (star of the Broadway musical ""No Strings"") --The Amazing Mr. Ballantine (magician Carl Ballantine) --Corbett Monica (comedian) --Francis and Blair (comedy team) --The Valenos (dancers) --Dick Contino (accordionist)
#13 - The Everly Brothers / Timi Yuro / Al Hirt
Season 15 - Episode 23 - Aired 2/18/1962
First of two shows broadcast from Miami Beach. --The Everly Brothers - ""Crying in the Rain"" & ""Jezebel"" (The Everly Brothers are wearing U.S. Marine uniforms) --Al Hirt (trumpeter) - ""Night and Day,"" ""I Can't Get Started,"" ""When the Saints Come Marching In"" --Timi Yuro - ""Come Rain Or Come Shine"" & ""Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams"" --George Jessel (comedian, sings ""April Showers"") --George Kirby (comedian, impressionist) --a Dolphin act (from the Seaquarium)
#14 - Peggy Lee / Jackie Robinson / Slappy White / Brothers Four
Season 15 - Episode 36 - Aired 5/20/1962
Guests: --Peggy Lee - medley: ""The Sweetest Sounds,"" ""I'll Get By,"" ""I'll Believe In You"" and ""New York City Blues"" --Louis Prima appears on stage and plays trumpet --Jackie Robinson (baseball great) - appears on stage with Ed and gives batting tips --The Brothers Four (folk singers) - ""This Train"" and ""This Land Is Your Land"" --Slappy White (stand up comedian) - Various Topics --Georgie Kay (stand-up comedian) - routine about ladies meeting for lunch --Elliot Reed (comedian impersonating JFK at news conference) --Hugh Lambert & his Dancers - four couples dance the ""Masquerade"" waltz --Martha Perez (opera singer from Cuba) - sings a medley of Cuban songs --Los Verdu (balancing act from West Germany) - 4 women & 1 man balancing on large balls --Ed shows photos and films of Hong Kong --Audience bows: Johnny Rotz (jockey); Lou Pondfield (Pimlico Vice President) --Ed talks about the USS Constellation, aerial film of the ship, followed by an audience bow by
#15 - Jackie Wilson / Connie Francis / Red Buttons
Season 15 - Episode 37 - Aired 5/27/1962
Guests include: --Jackie Wilson - ""Lonely Teardrops"" & ""Forever and a Day"" --Connie Francis - ""Second Hand Love,"" ""Ring Dang Do,"" ""How Can I Go On?"" and a medley of Irish songs
#16 - Rudy Vallee / Paul Anka / Chita Rivera / Peter Nero
Season 15 - Episode 38 - Aired 6/3/1962
Guests: --Rudy Vallee (singer-actor, from Broadway's ""How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying"") --Paul Anka (singer) - ""A Steel Guitar and A Glass of Wine"" --Chita Rivera (musical-comedy performer) --Peter Nero (pianist) --Peg Leg Bates (tap dancer) --Bill Dana (comedian, in character as Jose Jimenez) --Dave Barry (comedian) --Adam Keefe (comedian) --Smaxie and Maxie (performing seals) Scheduled to appear: --Willie Mays (of the San Francisco Giants, giving baseball tips for kids) CBS repeated this show on September 16, 1962.
#17 - Larry Storch / Danny Lewis / Mickey Mantle & Roger Maris
Season 15 - Episode 39 - Aired 6/10/1962
Guests: --Jerry Van Dyke (comedian) --Jackie Mason (comedian) --The Lettermen (vocal trio) - ""How Is Julie"" --Danny Lewis (veteran song and dance man, father of Jerry Lewis) --Mickey Mantle & Roger Maris (of the New York Yankees) appear on stage to shake hands with Ed Sullivan. --Larry Storch (stand-up comedian) --The Lettermen (vocal trio) --The Hanneford Family (equestrians, from Ringling Brothers Circus) --Julie Wilson sings a medley of Cole Porter songs
#18 - Dave Brubeck / Frank Gorshin / Gloria Lynne
Season 15 - Episode 40 - Aired 6/17/1962
Guests: --Dave Brubeck (with his jazz quartet) - ""Take Five"" (with Paul Desmond on sax). --Frank Gorshin (comedian) - does imitations of various celebrities --Nipsey Russell (rhyming comedian) --Robert Goulet (musical-comedy star) - ""Where Do I Go from Here?"" ""Falling in Love With Love"" & ""Two Different Worlds"" --The Highwaymen (folk singers) - ""Michael Row the Boat Ashore"" & ""Sinner Man"" --Gloria Lynne (singer) - ""Impossible"" & ""June Night"" --Eagle and Man (comedy team) - act includes a Louis Armstrong imitation --The Tinellis (acrobats from the Latin Quarter) --The Hugh Lambert Dancers (series regulars) - female dancers wearing tight slacks --On film: Ted Williams (Boston Red Sox executive) gives baseball tips to young athletes. Scheduled guest: --Noelle Adam (dancer) - scheduled to appear but not mentioned on transcript
#19 - 14th Anniversary Show: Bing Crosby; Jerry Lewis; Theresa Brewer
Season 15 - Episode 41 - Aired 6/24/1962
14th Anniversary Show (Ed is in audience for most of show): --Lucille Ball (cameo, wishes Ed well from on top of elephant) --Bing Crosby sings "" I Can't Believe Your In Love With Me"" --Jerry Lewis (cameo. Jerry tries to get Ed to give a more enthusiastic delivery) --Steve Allen (rummages through props from previous shows) --Arthur & Katherine Murray (dancers) - ""Anniversary Waltz"" --Jack Carter (comedian) - makes jokes about the show, tries to get Ed & Arthur to laugh but they remain stone faced. --Phil Silvers & Jack Benny (backstage, joke about Ed) --Kate Smith sings ""Climb Every Mountain"" --Johnny Carson (stand-up comedy & presents plaque to Ray Bloch) --Theresa Brewer - Smile medley (with dancers wearing Ed Sullivan masks) --Red Buttons (mime sketch, tries to light the candles on Ed's anniversary cake) --Ted Mack introduces Will Jordan. --Will Jordan (impersonates Ed Sullivan) --George Gobel (comedian, plays a conductor of a choir singing in praise of
#20 - Taped at the Moulin Rouge, Paris: Connie Francis; Johnny Halliday
Season 15 - Episode 42 - Aired 7/1/1962
Taped at the Moulin Rouge, Paris, France: --Connie Francis - ""La Paloma,"" ""Milord,"" ""S'wonderful"" & ""You Always Hurt The One You Love"" --Connie Francis, Gino (Johnny) Dorelli & Johnny Hallyday - ""You're The Tops"" --Johnny Halliday - ""Pony Time"" & ""Kiliwatch"" (with combo) --Gino (Johnny) Dorelli - ""Love In Portofino"" --Danielle Darrieux - ""September In Paris"" (in French) --Annie Cordy - ""Vieux Pianola"" --Gil Dova (juggler) --The Cinco Brutos (comic singing group) sing ""Little Darling,"" ""See You Later Alligator"" & ""Baby Rock"" --Gino Donati (comedy balancing act) --Eddie Seifert and Company (three contortionists) --Can Can dancers
#21 - Patti Page / Rowan & Martin / Billy Eckstine
Season 15 - Episode 43 - Aired 7/22/1962
Guests (from the Stardust club in Las Vegas): --Patti Page - ""Doggie in the Window,"" ""Old Cape Cod,"" ""With My Eyes Wide Open,"" ""Allegheny Moon"" & ""Night and Day"" --Rowan & Martin (comedy team) --Billy Eckstine (singer) - ""What Kind of Fool Am I?"" --Martha Anne Bentley (ballet dancer) --Rickie Layne (ventriloquist, with his dummy Velvel) --The Dunhills (tap dancers) --The Novelites (vocal-instrumental comedy group) --The Marquis Chimps
#22 - Burt Lancaster / Dion / Diahann Carroll / Abbe Lane
Season 15 - Episode 44 - Aired 8/12/1962
Guests: --Burt Lancaster (actor) - shows clips from his film ""Birdman of Alcatraz"" --Dion - ""It Ain't Necessarily So"" & ""Lover Come Back to Me"" --Diahann Carroll (singer, from Broadway's ""No Strings"") - ""Love Walked In"" & ""Poor Little Rich Girl"" --Xavier Cugat (orchestra leader) and Abbe Lane - ""Malaguena Salerosa"" --Abbe Lane (wife of Xavier Cugat) - ""Mon Manege a Moi"" --Xavier Cugat with dancers Augie and Margo - ""El Cumbanchero"" --Will Jordan (comedian-impressionist) --Marie Wilson (comedian) --The Bertinis (a bicycle act)
#23 - scheduled: talented newcomers making their TV debuts
Season 15 - Episode 45 - Aired 8/19/1962
Talented newcomers making their TV debuts --Joey Hollingsworth (tap dancer) Additional guests (scheduled to appear): --Tony Darryl (pop singer) - ""This Nearly Was Mine"" --Yolanda White (pop singer) --Augustin Anievas (pianist) - ""Liszt's Etude No. 10"" --Bobbie Baker (comedian) --Janis Martin (mezzo soprano) --Olivette Miller (jazz harpist) --Arlene Fontana (singer-dancer) --Donald Hulme (accordionist) - ""William Tell Overture"" --Korengo (Hungarian magician)
#24 - scheduled: Richard Boone; Jackie Mason; Sophie Tucker
Season 15 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/26/1961
Scheduled guests: --Richard Boone (actor) --Jackie Mason (comedian) --Sophie Tucker (singer) --Gloria Lynn (singer) --Deedy and Bill (novelty singers)
#25 - First show of the 15th Season
Season 15 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/17/1961
Scheduled guests: --Gordon and Sheila MacRae (musical comedy performers) --Bert Lahr and Nancy Walker (comedians) - reprise their sketch about a married couple who are not speaking to each other --Corbett Monica (comedian) --Teddy Randazzo (singer) --The Wanderers (singing quartet) --The Mayo Brothers (a tap-dancing duo) --Richiardi (illusionist)