THAT Was HIS Life
11-16-2005, 11:55 AM
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THAT Was HIS Life
Broadcasting pioneer Ralph Edwards, who spotlighted stars and ordinary people as host of the popular 1950s show "This Is Your Life," died Wednesday of heart failure. He was 92.
11-16-2005, 12:39 PM
#3
I remember him well. Ralph Edwards, RIP
11-17-2005, 03:39 AM
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The role for which Edwards undoubtedly will be best remembered is as
the genial, smiling host of "This Is Your Life," whose surprised subjects
had their life stories recounted by Edwards, punctuated by the voices of
long-lost friends and relatives, who then joined Edwards and the honored
guest on stage.
The Saturday Evening Post once called it "the weepiest show on television."
Launched on radio in 1948 as a spinoff of "Truth or Consequences," "This Is
Your Life" moved to television in 1952 and ran for nine years on NBC.
Edwards hosted a syndicated version that ran from 1971-73, and another
syndicated version, hosted by Joseph Campanella, ran from 1983-84. That was
followed by several "This Is Your Life" specials.
Although best known for its celebrity guests of honor, "This Is Your Life"
also presented the life stories of less-well-known people who had
contributed to their communities -- "unknown American heroes," Edwards
called them.
People such as educator Laurence C. Jones, who had struggled for 50 years
to establish Piney Woods College in Mississippi. His appearance in the 1950s
generated more than $700,000 in contributions to the small college's
endowment after Edwards suggested that viewers each send Jones a dollar for
the fund.
During a "This Is Your Life" broadcast at Pearl Harbor in 1958 honoring
Rear Adm. Samuel G. Fuqua, the last man to swim off the sinking USS Arizona,
an on-air appeal resulted in viewers contributing the seed money for the USS
Arizona Memorial.
But celebrities were the show's big draw and the original version of "This
Is Your Life" honored a virtual who's who of old and new Hollywood,
including Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor, Jimmy Durante, Nat King Cole, Boris
Karloff, Lou Costello, Rock Hudson, Myrna Loy, Debbie Reynolds, Mack
Sennett, Frank Capra and Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.
The trick was to make sure that the honorees were truly surprised when
Edwards and his camera crew approached them.
"Usually, we'd go through the spouse -- and we went as deeply as you could
go this side of Scotland Yard," Edwards once recalled.
the genial, smiling host of "This Is Your Life," whose surprised subjects
had their life stories recounted by Edwards, punctuated by the voices of
long-lost friends and relatives, who then joined Edwards and the honored
guest on stage.
The Saturday Evening Post once called it "the weepiest show on television."
Launched on radio in 1948 as a spinoff of "Truth or Consequences," "This Is
Your Life" moved to television in 1952 and ran for nine years on NBC.
Edwards hosted a syndicated version that ran from 1971-73, and another
syndicated version, hosted by Joseph Campanella, ran from 1983-84. That was
followed by several "This Is Your Life" specials.
Although best known for its celebrity guests of honor, "This Is Your Life"
also presented the life stories of less-well-known people who had
contributed to their communities -- "unknown American heroes," Edwards
called them.
People such as educator Laurence C. Jones, who had struggled for 50 years
to establish Piney Woods College in Mississippi. His appearance in the 1950s
generated more than $700,000 in contributions to the small college's
endowment after Edwards suggested that viewers each send Jones a dollar for
the fund.
During a "This Is Your Life" broadcast at Pearl Harbor in 1958 honoring
Rear Adm. Samuel G. Fuqua, the last man to swim off the sinking USS Arizona,
an on-air appeal resulted in viewers contributing the seed money for the USS
Arizona Memorial.
But celebrities were the show's big draw and the original version of "This
Is Your Life" honored a virtual who's who of old and new Hollywood,
including Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor, Jimmy Durante, Nat King Cole, Boris
Karloff, Lou Costello, Rock Hudson, Myrna Loy, Debbie Reynolds, Mack
Sennett, Frank Capra and Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.
The trick was to make sure that the honorees were truly surprised when
Edwards and his camera crew approached them.
"Usually, we'd go through the spouse -- and we went as deeply as you could
go this side of Scotland Yard," Edwards once recalled.
11-17-2005, 04:03 AM
#5
Here is a good piece of trivia. Truth or Consequences, NM was named for the show. In exchange for taking the name, it was awarded a sum of money. What was the name of the town before it changed it's name to Truth or Consequences?
11-17-2005, 11:29 AM
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Originally Posted by ralper,Nov 17 2005, 05:03 AM
Here is a good piece of trivia. Truth or Consequences, NM was named for the show. What was the name of the town before it changed its name to Truth or Consequences?
11-17-2005, 11:34 AM
#7
Originally Posted by Palmateer,Nov 17 2005, 04:29 PM
Hot Springs
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11-17-2005, 11:35 AM
#8
His shows sure beat Reality TV. RIP.
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