W
herever Ed
Sullivanwent,
itwasa really
b ig s h o w.
W henRobert
Precht,theel-
destof hisfivegrandkids,starredtrying to get his autograph, and he
was good-natured about it,” Robert
recalls to Closer. “He always had time
for his fans.”
And for his family. Ed was happilymarried to wife Sylvia from 1930
until her death in 1973. “They had a
very good marriage, and she was his
biggest fan,” granddaughter Margo
Elizabeth Speciale tells Closer. They
had only one child, Betty, whose hus-
band, Bob Precht, worked as a pro-
ducer on The Ed Sullivan Show, the
groundbreaking and wildly popular
variety show that ran from 1948
to 1971. “He was a big deal to
America, but to me, he was just
Grandpa,” says Margo. “I re-
member being on the couch in
our living room and him doing
little magic tricks and pretend-
ing to take his thumb off.”
A GREAT SHOWMAN
Born in Harlem, N.Y., Ed start-
ed out as a columnist for the
New York Daily News, writing
about sports and theater. But he
toiled in the shadow of Walter
Winchell, the most famous news-
paperman in America. “There
was a fierce rivalry,” says Robert. “He
wanted to be remembered as the best
at something, and after a lot of strug-
gle, he became the best emcee.”
The new medium of television al-lowed Ed that opportunity, but it took
him years to become comfortable
with his stiff on-camera appearance.
“He was Everyman, your uncle next
door, but critics tore him apart in the
beginning because they felt he was so
awkward,” says Margo. “He learned
to laugh at himself, and that was an
endearing quality.”
Besides, Ed knew he wasn’t really
the star of the show. He was only
there to introduce a wide array of
performers, from novelty acts like
the Italian puppet Topo Gigio to
such rock ’n’ roll superstars as Elvis
Presley and the Beatles. Perhaps
most importantly, he gave a platform
to African-American artists like
Diana Ross and the Supremes and
Stevie Wonder during an era when
racial segregation was still common.
“Through his body language and
the way he introduced people, he
conveyed a real affection for Afri-
can-American culture,” says Rob-
ert, who’s working on a biography of
his grandfather. “He created a kind
of model integrated society.”
Margo is currently making a doc-
umentary about Ed’s role as a “silent
force in the civil rights movement.
By having African-Amer-
ican performers on the
show and treating themwith dignity and respect, he showed
Southerners that these people you
are being intolerant of are just like
you and me, and look how beautiful
and talented they are.”
Ed’s intentions weren’t overtly po-
litical, but his belief in fundamental
human decency always came across.
“He had a strong sense of what was
just and unjust,” says Robert. “He
made his life a big stage, and he ed-
ucated the American public about
performers and New York life.”
A year after Sylvia’s passing, Ed
died of cancer at 73 in 1974. But his
spirit lives forever in his fans’ mem-
ories. “When people think of him,
they think of family togetherness
— watching his show together,” says
Robert. “It’s a legacy of shared ex-
perience that’s a unique, vanished
part of America.” — Bruce Fretts,
with reporting by Diana CooperED’S FAMILY
PHOTOALBUM
Ed celebrates the 22nd
anniversary of his TV show with
granddaughterMargoin 1970.
He introduced grandsons
Vincent and Robert to the
Beatlesduringa tripto Miami.
Ed with wife Sylvia, daughter
Betty, and grandchildren
Robert, Carla, Vincent, Andrew
and Margo