What's my Line? Lowell Thomas

[thesocialpet]

If he is described as a Radio announcer, being on TV is totally different. Remember, this is very early in the start of TV, especially live TV. He looks like he was trying to disguise his voice, since his voice was so well known. I think he succeeded!

[thesocialpet]

I think he just looks very, very nervous.

[galileocan]

This has to be one of the most boring and misleading mystery guests ever. I don't see how this panel or any panel could have guessed him with the type of answers he was giving. Was he out of it??

[Kate8790]

I love Bennett corny jokes. Lol.

[Nobeester]

Looks to me like he was confused by their questions. They could hardly be answered, in the strictest sense of the word, "yes" or "no."

[xander7ful]

Something was wrong with him this night because I don't think he tried to disguise his voice at all. Maybe he had never watched the show before or maybe he was just shy.

[rentatrip1]

Lowell seems to have taken a heavy depressant narcotic - like he is almost ready to fade on the mat- WTF ? This guy was the Highest paid radio broadcaster of the time ...? yet he is semi-commatose ...WTF ? hay dude - you are on national TV live ...get with the program - wake up & smell the coffee

[rentatrip1]

looking at the whole clip from the top - perhaps he had hit the bottle and that is why the group came out "LIVE" and set up the two-step intro as a delay so the crew could get Lowell back to life back stage ???? In another episode John Daly specifically refer to one contestant who came in "ONE MINUTE" before air-time...I have a hunch ...that this is the deal - I think Lowell had a drink out on 5th Ave. before he poured into the studio- ??? Alcohol is a Sin !

[ameroux]

He does seem to be rather lost. I wondered if he was just nervous at being out of his usual situation.

[anwellian]

@rentatrip1 Thomas, whose voice was one of the most recognized in the world at the time, was no doubt doing all he could to underplay and disguise it. Typically he had a strong delivery and one or two answers delivered in his recognizable tones would have given his identity away immediately. What else could he do but keep his answers as brief as possible and even in another language. He was literally trying to "hide" his voice while answering the questions.

[rentatrip1]

disregard the ploy to fool the cast - This man appears to be almost totally drunk on booze- slow and akward ... He looks like he took several belts just before coming on stage and they kick in as the show proceeds-

His fear of TV was hidden by radio - and everything "scripted" - this was live and spontanious --It scared the shit out of him-

this is the man who followed T.E. Lawerance across the desert

[anwellian]

"Drunk" and "scared" is doubtful. He toured the world giving live performances in front of millions with his Allenby/Lawrence show in the 'teens and 1920s, anchored the first live, network TV newscasts in 1939, appeared in Fox Movietone in the '30s, hosted "High Adventure" on TV in the '50s and was a popular on the lecture circuit. But he was not an actor, his facial expressions were typically subdued and he was not accomplished at camouflaging his voice. You are probably noticing that.

[e148]

maybe their not liking to wear masks comes from sometimes mistaking a woman for a man, or the sex, age,etc. Or sometimes not getting the mystery guest at all, like here. Rosiland Russell and Sophie Tucker ( and many more) were both mistaken for a man, at least briefly. Steve Allen asked Art Carney if he was man. He was doing a child's voice at the time.

[ameroux]

I think the masks were just uncomfortable.

[ART13autotune]

thank you for the posting

[chucknyc123]

random house got more plugs than anybody on this show.

[HowardOfOz3565]

Maybe cause it was Bennett's company????

[filmfemmenoir]

Hmmm, I wonder why Dorothy took her mask off early?...

[ART13autotune]

it was 10 down none to go

[44032]

On U-Tube you can get recordings of the voice of every president from Grover Cleveland onward. Check out William Howard Taft. I think he sounds very much like Lowell Thomas.

[bigred997]

great pun by bennet on this episode but lousy moderation by john. the fix was in to keep his colleague up there.

[jimmysudar]

despite his erudition, bennett is really just a big kid.

allen ludden seems like someone it was impossible not to like.

they all seemed a bit tipsy in this episode. i've often wondered if they did the show afer a cocktail hour or two.

[karlakor]

I find it very irritating when the mystery guests take such a long time to answer a simple question! I can understand how frustrating it must be for the panel, limited as they are to their hearing alone, to ask a question and then get no response until an uncomfortable, long silence has passed.

[karlakor]

It seems that the panel did not like wearing the blindfolds and especially resented it when they had to do it twice in one show.

[byrd56]

So that's what Allen Ludden looked like without the glasses at 8:45.

[ClassicShowbiz]

Wow, Lowell Thomas is an awful guest!

[soulierinvestments]

I remember his radio newscasts quite well --- CBS evenings at 6:00 MT -- and he did them beautifully. This tends to indicate that he did best with a script in hand.

[XMLarry]

Hey Bennet, can the corny jokes and stick with the game.

[soulierinvestments]

deGaulle of Bennett to do that pun on live TV.

[wmlfan9]

Give credit where it's due. Bennett's DeGaulle Stone pun was a good one.