
This appearance was made on March 18, 1951, at the height of Arthur Godfrey's massive popularity and some two years before he fired talented baritone Julius LaRosa during a live broadcast, which precipitated a sharp decline in his public esteem. Godfrey was a radio and TV host as well as a singer and player of the ukulele. Panelist Hal Block appears to think for a moment that Godfrey may be entertainer Eddie Cantor (famous for having five daughters), while Arlene Francis hesitantly suggests he is a famous TV host of the era, Dave Garroway, noted for his horn-rimmed glasses. In asking if the mystery guest was associated with a famous comedian, Dorothy Killgallen might have had in mind singer Dennis Day, who was a sidekick on Jack Benny's radio show for many years and did very talented imitations of voices (such as that of Ronald Coleman) as well as funny voices of his own, not dissimilar to the one used here by Godfrey. Godfrey might well have succeeded in stumping the panel, but he gave himself away when he laughed loudly at Block, who "disqualified himself," removed his mask, and was shocked to see who the guest was (Godfrey's laugh was well-known to the public). At 7.16, right before Francis's Garroway identification, Bennett Cerf clearly says "Godfrey!," paving the way for Kilgallen's informed questions and correct identification of the mystery guest. When Kilgallen asked about Godfrey being known for his handling of commercial products, she hit upon something with <b>...</b>
Arthur
Godfrey
John
Daly
Dorothy
Kilgallen
Bennett
Cerf
Arlene
Francis
Hal
Block
Eddie
Cantor
Dave
Garroway
Dennis
Day
Jack
Benny
What's
My
Line
romeman
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