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The Way They Were on
"What's My Line?"
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September 24, 2010
(update)
Barbra Streisand made a couple of
very unusual TV guest appearances during the 60s, when she showed up on two
live Sunday night telecasts of the game show "What's My Line?". On both
episodes, Barbra was the "mystery guest" who had the task of trying to
fool the blindfolded panelists from guessing her identity. In both
appearances, it took only a few questions before one of the panelists
got it right. Barbra had something to plug on both shows. In 1964, she
was there to promote her new musical, "Funny Girl," recently opened on Broadway. In 1965, Barbra
returned to promote her upcoming television special, "My Name Is
Barbra." Both shows were broadcast in glorious black & white (the
image above has been enhanced to see what the appearance might actually
have looked like in color).
Transcripts from both appearances are presented below.
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Sunday April 12, 1964, 10:30 PM
  
Host John Daly with panelists Dorothy Kilgallen, Gore Vidal, Arlene Francis and
Bennett Cerf
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Daly: |
Would you enter, mystery challenger, and sign in please. |
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Cerf: |
May we assume that you
are in some branch of the entertainment industry? |
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Barbra: |
I would say
never assume, but I must say, I think so. |
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Kilgallen: |
Are you related by
marriage to someone who is also in the entertainment business? |
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Barbra: |
Yes |
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Vidal: |
Are you appearing very
soon in a play on Broadway? |
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Barbra: |
Yes. |
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Vidal: |
I know who it is. Can I
take a guess? |
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Daly: |
Yes, go ahead, Gore. |
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Vidal: |
Joanne Woodward. |
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Daly: |
Very good. That's one
down and nine to go. Miss Francis. |
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(Gore Vidal removes
his mask and is disqualified). |
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Francis: |
Whisper it to me, Gore.
Is your main performance in the Broadway theatre rather than in
pictures? |
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Barbra: |
This week,
yes. |
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Cerf: |
Has your picture ever
appeared on the cover of "Time" magazine? |
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Barbra: |
A picture, or
a painting? |
| Cerf: |
Don't argue with me. |
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Barbra: |
I must
confess, yes. |
| Cerf: |
What, I didn't get the
answer? |
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Barbra: |
Yes it was. |
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Kilgallen: |
May I clarify something,
John? I thought that someone established that our mystery guest was
about to open. Is that true? |
| Daly: |
No. I believe the way
the question was put, we could assume that anybody who was presently
playing and would appear tomorrow would give an affirmative answer. |
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Kilgallen: |
Alright. Are you Barbra
Streisand? |
| Daly: |
Yes. Actually, Bennett
hit it right on the nose. Miss Streisand's portrait was in "Time." |
| Cerf: |
I've just been reading a
wonderful four page piece about Miss Streisand. I'm particularly
anxious to hear about that "A" you dropped from Barbara. |
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Barbra: |
Oh, they erased it.
Look at that. Didn't they say about it in the piece? |
| Cerf: |
Yeah. You just dropped
it, hmm? Just like that? |
| Francis: |
You wanted to change
your name. They wanted you to change your name. Is that it, so you
dropped the "A" from Barbara? |
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Barbra: |
Yes. |
| Cerf: |
I think you're so
wonderful in "Funny Girl." I think it's one of the greatest
performances I've ever seen on Broadway. |
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Barbra: |
Thank you very much. |
| Daly: |
Let me say, Miss Barbra,
that one of our producers told me just before we came on, that he'd
talked to you earlier this week, and that said you'd watched "What's
My Line?" when you were nine years old. I hope that you saw it, what
was it, two weeks ago or three weeks ago, when we had Bette Davis on. |
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Barbra: |
I heard about that! |
| Daly: |
Because your ears should
have been burning. I rarely heard such euphoria. I think it was "Time"
that said you have a bit of Judy Garland and a hunk of Ethel Merman.
And Bette Davis even made "Time" magazine sound like they weren't
praising you at all. You should be very proud of it. |
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Barbra: |
She's marvelous. |
| Daly: |
She's a very great star. |
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Barbra: |
It's such a strange
feeling because I did watch it so many times, you know, every Sunday
night. It was my last chance at freedom before I had to go to school
the next day. And it's so strange to be here. |
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Kilgallen: |
We have to go to school
in the morning Barbra, too. |
| Daly: |
Well, actually I was
then just getting out of the 8th grade. Was that when you were 9? I
guess I was a little bit older than that. Well, I know that "Funny
Girl" is a very great hit, and it must fill your soul with joy, and at
the same time, I know that it takes a lot of your time and your
energy, and we appreciate your giving us a Sunday night. It was good
of you to come and see us. |
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Barbra: |
Thank you. |
| Francis: |
Congratulations, Barbra. |
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Kilgallen: |
Congratulations. |
Sunday, April 25, 1965, 10:30 PM
  
Host John Daly with panelists Dorothy Kilgallen, Tony Randall, Arlene Francis and
Bennett Cerf
| Daly: |
Would you
enter, mystery challenger, and sign in please. |
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Kilgallen: |
Mystery
guest, are you in show business? |
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Barbra: |
[Barbra
says yes in a long-winded answer in Italian] |
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Kilgallen: |
Grazie,
grazie. |
| Randall: |
Are you
primarily a motion picture actress? |
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Barbra: |
Ehh, no. |
| Francis: |
Are you
better known for your work in the theatre? |
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Barbra: |
Si. Si. |
| Francis: |
Ecco. Ecco.
(Here. Here.) |
| Cerf: |
When you are
performing in the theatre, do you ever raise your voice in melody? |
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Barbra: |
Qualche volta,
si. (sometimes, yes?) |
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Kilgallen: |
Are you also
famous for raising your voice in melody on records and in television
studios? |
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Barbra: |
Mmmm. yes. |
| Francis: |
Are you
about to do a big special on television this week? |
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Barbra: |
Mmmm, si. |
| Francis: |
You are the
inimitable Barbra Streisand. |
| Daly: |
There has
been so much in the papers about you, particularly in the last week or
ten days because, Wednesday night, isn't it, between 9 and 10 o'clock
on CBS, "My Name Is Barbra," she wrote up on the board when she came
in. And I want to, if I may, tell you something now that I think will
please you. Our estimable and excellent crew, our camera men and sound
men, worked with Miss Streisand when they were doing some sections of
the tape of the show, and they think that it's going to be one of the
great successes of all time. |
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Barbra: |
Well,
they know, they know. |
| Daly: |
They're the
real pros. If they like it, everybody will. |
| Cerf: |
Are you
going to sing "People?" |
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Barbra: |
Why not. |
| Francis: |
She couldn't
get off without it. I wish she could sing it for us. |
| Daly: |
Well, also
with your permission, we can all wish her Happy Birthday. It was
yesterday, wasn't it? Twenty-three years old yesterday. Many ,many
happy returns of the day. |
Did You Know?
Both
of Barbra's appearances on What's My Line? were broadcast from
the CBS studio in NYC which later became the world famous nightclub,
Studio 54. Barbra and Jon Peters partied at Studio 54 in the
'70.
Dorothy Kilgallen, the What's My Line panelist who guessed
Barbra's identity during her first appearance on the show, was a
graduate of Barbra's high school alma mater, Erasmus Hall.
In
2006, Elliott Gould appeared as the "mystery guest" during a live
stage performance of What's My Line? in LA. He was never on the
original TV show.
 Nearly every major
celebrity of the day made an appearance as a What's My Line?
mystery guest, and many of them had a connection to Barbra
Streisand's career. On any given show, you might see the likes of
Jule Styne, Liberace, Kaye Medford, Walter Pidgeon, Yves Montand,
Maureen Stapleton, Louis Armstorng, Harold Arlen, Lauren Bacall or
Mimi Hines, to name a few. James Brolin even made an appearance
during the 1970's version of the show. But our favorite
Barbra-connected mystery challenger was Billy Rose. He showed up
on the August 23, 1953 episode. And no, Fanny Brice was never a
What's My Line? guest.
When
Barbra made her first appearance on What's My Line?, one of the
panelists was author Gore Vidal. In 1961, Vidal was a guest on the
same program with Barbra (The Jack Paar Show with Orson Bean),
the first time she was ever on national television.
Dorothy Kilgallen, a panelist during both Streisand appearances, wrote
of Barbra's performance for President Johnson at his inaugural in
1965, Barbra Streisand came on and sang flawlessly...she made
'People' sound like the most important song next to the National
Anthem.
In
1968, Arlene Francis narrated a short film called The Look of
"Funny Girl." The documentary was a promotional piece that
featured Barbra modeling several of Irene Sharaff's proposed
costumes for the upcoming feature film.
Barbra's Newest Fan: Bette Davis
 On the March 29, 1964
episode of What's My Line?, legendary screen actress
Bette Davis appeared as the mystery guest and professed her
admiration for Barbra Streisand, having just seen Funny
Girl on Broadway. Bette Davis's comments were conveyed
on the air to Barbra two weeks later when Barbra was the
mystery guest herself.
"I
have been seeing plays, and I have fallen madly in love this
week with Barbra Streisand. I think she's the most wonderful
thing I've ever seen. It's hard to believe that she's never
really been a performer before. I just sat with my mouth
open, in awe, in love with her, really. I don't think she
needs my compliments. Some day they will be doing her life."
- Bette Davis on Streisand.
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