MEN’S CLUB
BY HOWARD ARKIN
Photos courtesy
Oof Arnie Rabinowitz n Thursday, January 10,
the North Shore Towers
Men’s Club was treated
to an interesting lecture by guest
speaker Keith Crocker. The first
part of Crocker’s lecture was a
synopsis of Ed Sullivan’s life and
the Golden Age of Comedy. Ed
was born in Harlem in 1901 and
grew up in Port Chester, New
York. He excelled in four sports
(baseball, football, basketball
and track) at Port Chester High
School. After graduation, he
worked for numerous newspapers
before joining the New York Daily
News in 1929, succeeding columnists
Walter Winchell.
Sullivan continued writing his
column through the 1940s and into
the ’50s. He was hired by CBS in
1948 to host a new television show
called, “Toast of The Town,” which
eventually would be changed to
“The Ed Sullivan Show.”
In all honesty, I thought all Ed
did was introduce the acts and
point out celebrities in his audience.
As a frequent guest, Alan
King once said “Ed does nothing,
but does it better than anyone else
in television.”
On Sunday evenings at 8:00,
many of us knew we’d be seated
in front of our 12- or 16-inch, blackand
white TV sets to watch the
“Toast of The Town.” Most probably
watching
the show on
a Dumont or
Admiral, we often
had to get up to
adjust the rabbit
ears to eliminate
the snow which
appeared on the
screen. I’m sure
anyone reading
this article knows
exactly what
snow and rabbit
ears are.
During the
second part of
Crocker’s lecture,
we were shown
clips of some of
the entertainers
who appeared
on the show (from
1951-1967), such as Myron Cohen,
Carol Burnett, Frank Gorshin,
Jackie Gleason, Jackie Mason, and
Stan Feberg. One person whose
name you will not see on this list
is Murray Levine. Murray won a
United States Army talent contest
in 1955 and appeared on the show
in June of that year in a comedy routine.
2019
February You can ask Murray all about
it. He is now a North Shore Towers
resident living in building two.
¢Of course Jackie Mason’s infamous
COURIER “finger incident” was brought
up. Sullivan was standing in the
wings and indicated to Mason he
had two minutes left to finish his
TOWERS act by holding up two fingers. This
angered Mason and he directed
his middle finger back to Sullivan.
Sullivan then banned Mason from
SHORE all future shows. Mason’s 1964
indiscretion could conceivably
get him a presidential nomination
NORTH in today’s world! A big thanks to
Arnie Rabinowitz and Jerry Siegel,
who again provided an entertaining
Irwin Shanes, our terrific Bingo
Caller; he always calls the winning
30 evening.
number Men’s Club
Special
Events for
February
1. Sunday, February 3,
6–10 p.m.
Super Bowl Party
(Members-Only)
Coleridge Lounge.
FREE to all Members.
Food and soft drinks included.
To register, call Jack Sevita
(718-631-0028)
2. Tuesday, February 5
at 7 p.m.
Members/Guest Dinner:
71 Hillside Ave.,
Williston Park.
Spanish cuisine and live
music.
$43 per person.
Includes unlimited sangria,
wine, and beer.
3. Tuesday, February 19
Members-Only Lunch:
La Baraka in Little Neck
Buffet Lunch
$20 per person including
tax and tip.
Any questions, contact Jerry
Siegel (347-235-4513)
Beatles on Ed Sullivan
They met each other in the Men’s Club. Now
they're great friends; Bob Marks and Jack Sevita