Charles Van Doren’s Statement – Full Text

Nov. 3, 1959: "I would give almost anything I have to reverse the course of my life in the last three years. I cannot take back one word or action; the past does not change for anyone. But at least I can learn from the past. I have learned a lot in those three years -- especially in the last three weeks, I've learned a lot about my life. I've learned a lot about myself, and about the responsibilities any man has to his fellow men. I've learned a lot about good and evil. They are not always what they appear to be."

Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, Nov. 2, 1959

TV game show winner Charles Van Doren says everything was a fake. There's a Strange Girl in His Bath     TOKYO -- You know what you've always heard about those Japanese public baths?  Well, don't believe it.     We Americans have  an innate suspicion of any culture which makes a public excursion of so private a matter as a bath.  To this day, we still gossip about the Romans who took their ablutions in mixed frolic.  We look askance at the coeducational baths of Sweden.     And because the Orient, despite Jack Douglas, remains inscrutable, we distrust the Japanese public bath over all.  So, it isn't simply that we're evil-minded.  It's simply that we have never known what goes on behind those steamy doors.     Therefore, in the interests of creating better understanding, I went to a Tokyo bathhouse that was advertised in an English-language paper as:  "Best bath in Tokyo.  Good massage.  Most pretty girl attendants."     When I handed the address to a cab driver, he gave me a sly, toothy grin which, I must admit, unnerved me  a bit.  But which, I subsequently realized, didn't mean what I thought it did.  The grin was merely to inform me that he couldn't speak or read a word of English, and had no idea where I wanted to go.     After I played charades by taking a pantomime bath in the back seat, he got the message and delivered me, oddly enough, to the right address.     A gentleman in horn-rimmed glasses bowed me to a small room on the second floor and handed me a yellow slip of paper to be filled out later, "Contest for bestgur'," he informed me, "Winner gets r'uving cup."     On the contest form were three questions I was requested to answer about the girl who attended me: "1- Does she give good consideration? 2- Is she so sweet? 3- Does she speak in a softly manner?"     While I waited for her to appear and meet these qualifications, I looked around for the rest of the crowd.  But there was nobody there except me.  Finally a girl in halter and tennis shorts came in and helped me to disrobe.  It could have been embarrassing.  Instead, it was almost insulting.  I've never in my life been looked at with such disinterest.     Then, as though I was a piece of flabby finnan haddie, she shoved me into a steam box where I bubbled and boiled away for awhile.  After I was done to a turn, she opened the box, motioned me to sit on a wooden slab about six inches off the cold marble floor, and began soaping my back.     And if you've never sat scrunched up six inches off the floor while a strange girl soaped your back, don't ever.  It's an utterly degrading experience.       Suddenly she began hitting me in the face with pail full after pail full of hot water.     "Tha's enough," I was finally able to sputter, "You wanta' drown a person?" That Grin Again     But she gave me that familiar, toothy grin meaning that she too, didn't understand a word of English, and continued throwing water in my face.     Just as I was about to go down for the third time, she stopped.  And I, too weak to protest, was deposited into a wooden tub of scalding water.  Then I was dried out, stretched out, unmercifully pummeled on the back and shoulder muscles, dressed and ushered out the door.     Over my shoulder I tossed her a baleful look, spit out a remaining mouthful of water, and tore up the contest blank.     Anyone who treats me like that don't get no r'uving cup!

Orson Welles Describes Offer for Rigged Quiz Show

Nov. 1, 1959: Orson Welles says he turned down an offer to pose as a genius on a TV quiz show, explaining that he knew nothing about baseball and would miss all such questions. A producer told him: “We're not going to ask you any questions you don't know.” Art Buchwald interviews Alfred Hitchcock in Paris and the director has quite a few clever things to say … USC beats Cal and UCLA loses to the Huskies.

KNX’s Mornings With Bob Crane

Aug. 9, 1959: The Times profiles KNX announcer Bob Crane, who became the star of “Hogan’s Heroes.” Somewhere at the Daily Mirror HQ, I’ve got an LP that KNX released with Bob Crane on one side and Pat Buttram on the other. If I ever find it I’ll add some clips.

Lili St. Cyr Remarries

Charles Van Doren reportedly confesses to getting answers for the TV game show "Twenty-One.'

Oct. 29, 1959: Americans are ashamed that the U.S. is behind the Soviets in the space race … And Lili St. Cyr is getting married to her sixth husband , Joseph Albert “Strong Boy” Zomar.

Catching Up With ‘Twilight Zone’

Aug. 4, 1959: I almost didn’t post this Cecil Smith column because it’s not terribly well done and is mostly Smith rambling to great length about ghost stories.  But I reminded myself that at this point, very few people had seen anything but the first few episodes and nobody knew what to expect. Until “The Twilight Zone” debuted in 1959, there had been very little in this vein besides “Science Fiction Theatre,” a show that began in 1955, and perhaps “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” (1955-1962), which was more of a mystery/suspense show.  “The Outer Limits” didn’t begin until 1963 and was considered a “Twilight Zone” knockoff. The American Cinematheque is paying tribute to "The Twilight Zone" with a program on Friday. Read more here.>>>  (Notice that despite what this article says, the lines quoted above are the original opening. The introduction that most of us remember didn't emerge until later).   “Science Fiction Theatre,” 1955-1957, was one of my favorite shows as a kid. It’s  out on DVD but I’m afraid to watch the programs because like so many TV shows of my childhood, they might be absolutely awful. It was a dark and sobering day when I sat down as an adult with “Sky King,” “Whirlybirds” and “Highway Patrol.” Aug. 20, 1959: Some thoughts on Rod Serling ... And notice "Destruction Derby" with women drivers!   Hey, what should we watch? Baxter Ward or “Twilight Zone?”

The Times didn’t write much about “Twilight Zone” in its first season after the show debuted. I’ll be watching for articles as we continue our jaunt through 1959 and into 1960.

TV Star's Wife Returns After Suicide Attempt

Reporters meet Virginia Arness at the airport and follow her home. Photographers ask James Arness, the star of "Gunsmoke," to pose with her, but he refuses.

Oct. 26, 1959: The front page teases a story about the Lions getting a bonus to beat the Rams, but I can’t find the story anywhere in the sports pages. Very curious … and the Conelrad frequency was a fixture of the Cold War era.

Matt Weinstock, Oct. 24, 1959

Yet another panel you'll never see in the legacy version of "Peanuts." Bearded Bamboozler     While driving south from San Francisco recently, Mike Molony stopped in Paso Robles and was momentarily puzzled to discover he was the object of the admiring glances of passerby.     He soon caught on.  The men of the town had gone in for whisker growing in observance of the annual Pioneer Day celebration and Mike's distinguished white beaver, a thing of beauty, virtually established him as king for a day.     Not one to holler copper, Mike permitted himself to be lionized by several home guard enthusiasts as a local pioneer and ventured a few ad lib historical comments.  Among other things he recalled the last Indian raid on Paso Robles, back in '93 he thought it was, and the blood-curdling yells of the marauding redskins.     He is certain the mature gentlemen who heard him knew he was making it up but he had some of the youngsters spellbound.  Naturally, he took it on the lam before they could get after him with their slingshots. ::      EYEBROW RAISING letter from a man named Jim: "How does a person get into this protege business?  Are there rules?  Is it like diplomatic immunity? Friend of mine, 36, married, thinks he might be tempted to chuck the old girl and take up with a protege if he could qualify under 50 years old.  Ordinarily he'd be worried about what his friends might think.  But apparently if a man with a protege dies suddenly he is automatically eulogized as a fine, fun-loving guy everybody is just crazy about.  It's got a lot of us baffled and we're wondering."     No answer. :: DAILY DIET There are lots of reducing     pills But really the very worst     one Is the pill who never gets     tiered Of telling you how it was     done.     --AULYN E. KANSTON ::     APPARENTLY there's no end to the nicknames of Gardena poker players.     Sid Marks, the onetime fighter, now a security officer at the Gardena Club, comes up with the monikers of some more of the chums, as follows:  Hockshop Louie, Herman the German, Carnation Benny, Sacramento Sam, Watermelon Johnny, Frenchy the Philosopher, Leo the Cry Baby, Big Daddy Silva, Twinkle Toes Ernie, Louie the Lug and Harry the Hog.     Then there's Leaping Leno, who has perfected the technique of moving from one table to another as the collector comes around each half hour to pick up the house tab;  Deaf Louie, who pretends he doesn't hear, and Sand Bag Elsie, who has been known to check three aces, then raise the bettor the limit. ::     IT WAS BAD enough for the motor vehicle department to suspend his driver's license, says a man named Bill, but he thought it was going too far for the envelope in which the notice was sent to have imprinted, " Has your driver's license expired lately?" ::    FOOTNOTES -- Crews of fast talkers are swarming in West L.A., offering to resurface homeowners' macadam driveways at bargain rates.  Typical pitch: "It's a $75 job but we're working in the neighborhood and we'll do it for $37.50."  When refused, the price goes down to $30.  Awhile back it was oiling shingled roofs . . . Theatergoers remembering the so-so roles given Signe Hasso in movies are entranced by her performance in "Mary Stuart" at the Biltmore . . . In a letter to friends announcing he has gone into the liquor business -- trade name Dino's -- Dean Martin writes, "I guess I should have known I'd wind up this way.  When I was a kid I had the best lemonade stand you ever saw" . . . Pat Buttram, fill-in for Bob Crane on KNX , said yesterday, "The weather bureau forecasts light smog.  That must mean they've found a way to bleach the stuff" . . . An E 1st St. restaurant has an old Board of Equalization notice posted warning patrons that liquor will not be served to minors - signed by William G. Bonelli.  That was a long time ago. [Note: Yes, that’s Bob “Hogan’s Heroes” Crain. He was once an announcer on KNX. —lrh]

Smog Alert!

Funeral services for quintuplets born a few days earlier.

Oct. 23, 1959: A pall of smog covers the city as county supervisors plan to send a representative to talk to Detroit auto executives about emission controls.

Voices: Soupy Sales, 1926 - 2009

May 22, 1985: TV critic Howard Rosenberg interviews Soupy Sales: Once, when Tom Snyder noted in an interview that some of his detractors regarded him as "the Soupy Sales of the newsroom," Soupy replied: "Let me add there is nothing wrong with being a Soupy Sales. I must admit, though, when I have a bad day, I feel like I'm Tom Snyder."