Hal Block
Encyclopedia
Harold "Hal" Block was an American comedy writer, comedian, producer, songwriter and television personality. Block is most often remembered as an original panelist of the TV game show What's My Line? who was fired from the show in only its third season, reportedly for inappropriate on-air behavior. Block is a controversial figure in the history of television with denunciations being made by some, while others praise him as a comedy writer and credit him with contributing to the original success of What's My Line?
.
During the 1940s, Block was considered one of America's best comedy writers, having worked for many of the top comedians of the era, such as Bob Hope
, Abbott and Costello
, Martin and Lewis
, Milton Berle
and Burns and Allen
and in all major mediums, including radio
, Hollywood movies
, Broadway
and print
. Block also made a major contribution to the USO during World War II.
In March 1950, producers of the new game show What's My Line? hired Hal Block for its fourth episode to add humor to the show's format. With a panel previously consisting of journalists, a politician and a poet, reviewers had criticized the show as bland. After an early rocky start, What's My Line? became one of the top-rated shows on TV. Critics praised his work; the Chicago Sun Times called Block the "freshest new personality in TV." However, Block sometimes seemed to lack a sense of propriety. He once risked the sponsor's wrath, referring to their deodorant with the line "Make your armpit a charmpit." His humor could be risqué which antagonized some conservative 1950s viewers. In early 1953, Block was suspended and then fired. Block left show business a few years later, while What's My Line? continued on as a staple of Sunday night television for another 14 years.
area of Chicago, According to Gil Fates, producer of the What's My Line? TV game show, there were rumors Block had come from a rich family. Three comedy writing contemporaries of Block, Melvin Frank
, Norman Panama
and Bob Weiskopf
, also came from Hyde Park. Block attended the University of Chicago High School, graduating in 1930, and then the University of Chicago
, graduating in 1935, where he majored in law. At the University of Chicago he was co-captain of the university track team, running the 100 and 220 yards sprints, member of Zeta Beta Tau
(Alpha Beta, Chicago) fraternity and editor of the university humor magazine. Block had paid his way through college selling material to comedian and radio emcee Phil Baker at $20 a joke ($300 in 2010 dollars). At just 21, Block was Phil Baker's head writer. After two years of studying law, Block decided to change his career path and attempt to make a living writing comedy.
scripts of the 1940s. During his days as a comedy writer, Time magazine
described Block as a "serious, curly-haired, stocky ... gag-factory" who "resembles actor Edward G. Robinson
".
. Block also continued to write for Phil Baker, for whom he would write for even on into the 1940s, including Baker's hit game show the $64 Question, By 1937, Block was so busy as a writer that in September he only had three hours to stop off in Chicago for his parent's anniversary party before continuing by train to Hollywood writing for Baker's radio show. In the years that followed, Block would establish his reputation by writing for many of the top comedians in radio, including Bob Hope
, Burns and Allen
, Eddie Cantor
, Dean Martin
, Jerry Lewis
and Milton Berle
.
In the early 1940s with the world at war and the depression
still a recent memory, light-hearted musical comedies were popular and Block found himself in demand to do work in Broadway musicals and Hollywood movies. As early as 1939, he contributed dialog and music to the film Charlie McCarthy, Detective. In 1940, he wrote the low-budget Universal film musical I'm Nobody's Sweetheart Now. and contributed to the script for 1943's Stage Door Canteen
. He also made contributions to successful Broadway shows, such as By Jupiter
, Let's Face It!
and Follow the Girls
. In 1941, he was hired to write dialogue for the Broadway revue Sons O'Fun, Olsen and Johnson
's sequel to their hit show Hellzapoppin. Sons O'Fun ran for 742 performances.
Block also showed an instinct for financial opportunities. During the test run in Boston of Follow the Girls, Fred Thompson, the show's principal writer, lost faith in the show and sold his shares to Block for $3,000. Starring a young comedian, Jackie Gleason
, the show became a wartime hit and a huge financial success.
Block was also a columnist and wrote articles for various publications, including Variety
, Collier's
and the Chicago Daily News
.
, Kay Francis
, Mitzi Mayfair and Martha Raye
. In December, the USO sent Block to London to prepare radio broadcasts and write jokes for touring American stars who performed for the troops stationed in England. Block soon discovered that writing for soldiers, British and American, required a specialized technique and he studied British humor to understand how it differed from American humor both in language and taste. Also, a military audience required unique sensitivities as soldiers did not laugh at subjects such as, strikes in wartime industries, shortages endured by civilians, or especially cheating wives. Block also wrote some American-slanted material for British comedian Tommy Trinder
.
to add American comedic sensibility to the Anglo-American Hour and Yankee Doodle Doo radio programs. Maurice Gorham
, BBC executive and journalist who had "seen a lot of Block" during his BBC days, gave his impressions of Block as "a real Broadway type who reminded me of a Damon Runyon
character suddenly set down in a Broadcasting House." Block's contribution with the BBC was singled out by the North American Representative of the BBC, Lindsay Wellington, to dispute Associated Press accusations of excessive British censorship. In a December 6, 1943 letter to the New York Times he wrote, "Nor would it have been possible for Hal Block, American scriptwriter, to write the highly popular London-produced program for combined U.S. British soldier audiences Yankee Doodle Doo."
Block made use of his Broadway experience in music comedy. Block and UPI correspondent and lyricist Bob Musel wrote the popular song The U.S.A. By Day And The R.A.F. By Night for the Eighth Air Force show. The song has been called "the most entertaining song about the war in Europe." The song was unique in taking the approach of praising US and British airmen indirectly by focusing on the horrified laments of members of the Nazi High Command. With a sardonic tone it featured everyone from Hitler to Rommel bemoaning the effects of the Allied bombing. On one occasion, Block sang the song over BBC radio and when trying to leave the building after the broadcast found himself in the middle of an actual air raid.
An excerpt:
Block also wrote the humorous song Baby, That's a Wolf, sung by Rosalind Russell
. Russell wanted to do something beyond the ordinary to entertain the troops and Block wrote the song especially for her. Block has been credited with popularizing the term "wolf" in referring to a libidinous American male, An excerpt:
Through most of 1943, Block was Bob Hope
’s writer for the first USO overseas tour that Hope ever did. They entertained troops through England, Africa and Italy. Initially, when Hope began his tour he had to write all the jokes, until the USO assigned Block as his comedy writer. Hope said that after Block joined him "the jokes got a lot less shaky." Hope said Block had "learned to write funny in bomb shelters, jeeps, and on the backs of camels."
Working close to the war zone could be dangerous. Hope had followed General George Patton's
7th army
into Sicily and one time while Block and Hope were writing a script in a Palermo
hotel, the Germans began a bombing raid. "We did a show and ran for our lives," said Block. Immediately after the incident, Patton sent Hope's troupe back to Algiers for their safety. On another occasion, Block was forced to travel alone in the storage compartment of a cargo plane and the crew tied him to the cargo for his own safety. It was only mid-flight when Block realized the boxes he was tied to were filled with live ammunition. There was also an unnerving episode where Block was taken by MPs to the OSS
compound as a suspicious character. Block also escaped a real tragedy when he was originally to be a passenger on the ill-fated USO plane which crashed in February 1943, seriously injuring actress Jane Froman
and killing 23 others.
At the least, the work was laborious and the conditions often spartan. Block and Hope would sometimes work until four in the morning writing and discussing material, only to head for a car or airfield at six to travel to another camp or hospital. On one occasion in Algiers, Block and Hope were contemplating their accommodations, wondering how they could spend the night sharing a room so small. John Steinbeck
, at the time a war correspondent, overheard them complaining. "You'll think this is practically a bridal suite, when you compare it to my room," he told the two. They then followed Steinbeck downstairs to his room, which was half the size of theirs, and were introduced to journalists Quentin Reynolds
and H.R. Knickerbocker
. Hope noticed even a third man sleeping and asked his identity. "He's the British vice-consul," Steinbeck replied. "This is his room. He invited us to spend the night two weeks ago."
One of the highlights of the USO tour for Block was meeting General Eisenhower
in Algiers during the North African campaign. Block was working on the rehearsal of a USO show when he suddenly discovered the rest of Hope's group had disappeared. Block was enraged when he realized they had left him behind while they went to meet General Eisenhower. Block rushed over to the hotel serving as Eisenhower's headquarters, only to see Hope's entire group descending the stairs, each with an autographed picture of the General. Block talked his way into meeting the General by telling Harry Butcher
, at the time Naval Aide to Eisenhower, "Butch, the one keepsake I want out of this war is an autographed picture of the General for my grandkids." Block met General Eisenhower, introduced as "a man who helps make Bob Hope funny."
In August 1943, Block wrote and produced a unique version of Hope's radio show performed for Allied troops and Red Cross nurses from 'somewhere in North Africa'. So popular was the show, a recording was later broadcast twice over the BBC for British audiences.
Returning from Europe in 1944, Block resumed his writing career and picked up where he had left off. Block was producer, as well as writer, of Milton Berle's radio show, Let Yourself Go. The show was described as a "zany, exhibitionist program" similar to the children's game Forfeits in which audience members and famous guests acted out unusual behavior. On one show, Berle promised to buy a $1,000 war bond if Opera Star Grace Moore
would perform while standing on her head. With the help of Berle and announcer Kenneth Roberts holding her feet, she did a handstand as Block held the microphone while she sang. In September 1944, Block was the writer for Ed Wynn
's program Happy Island, which was Wynn's return to radio after a decade absence. Also in 1944, Block wrote the song Buy a Bond Today. Around 1948, Block wrote the material for an album for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis which was to be used as their audition for entry into television. Block also attained what columnist Hedda Hopper described as a "cushy deal" at a major film studio.
By the late 1940s, Block was at the top of his profession. He was earning a four-figure weekly salary in a day when the average household income was just over $2,000 a year. He resided at the posh Hampshire House in the Central Park South
area of New York City, a hotel which was home to Hollywood notables, such as Frank Sinatra
, Ingrid Bergman
, Ava Gardner
and William Wyler
. He even dictated his jokes to a secretary. However, Block's father remained unimpressed by his son's success. After attending a radio show Block had written, which ended with tumultuous applause from the studio audience, his father said, "Well, are you ready to go back to law school?"
, commenting on Block's approach to writing, said he was "serious – almost academic – about being funny." Block was once asked what was the hardest material to write for a comedian. He quipped, "The ad libs!" While it was widely believed that emcee Phil Baker ad-libbed the popular game shows Take It Or Leave It and $64 Question, most of the shows were actually written by Block. An example of what appears to be casual conversation, but was actually a joke written by Block, was for entertainer Kenny Murray
to say to his TV studio audience: "I don't care whether you laugh at my jokes or not. But it will be pretty embarrassing for you if people all over the country find out you don't have a sense of humor."
Lamenting the amount of comedy material a writer needs to supply for a weekly radio show, Block said, "The only difference between us and white mice on a wheel, is that we have ulcers." It was not only the volume of material that was a challenge in writing for radio, but the reality that they were writing for more than just the audience. It was an era when radio and television shows often had only a single sponsor. (Block once gave his definition of a sponsor as: "A golden goose for whom we lay the eggs.") "We have to make the sponsor laugh," Block wrote in Colliers magazine "And besides pleasing the sponsor, we have to please the sponsor's wife, the producer, the men from the advertising agency, the radio and television critics and the federal communications commission
." Even during his time with the USO, Block recalled when a cannibal sketch he'd written on the BBC was rejected by the British Home Office
. The note justifying the rejection explained they objected to his depiction of cannibals because they were "loyal subjects of the king and many of them are now aiding in the fight against the enemy." However, on this occasion, the rejection was reversed, apparently by an executive with a sense humor as the explanation for accepting the sketch noted that the cannibals had also eaten many loyal subjects.
By the late 1940s, Block had become concerned about the status of comedy writing on the radio. In 1948, Block wrote an article in Variety, which complained about the trend on radio of game shows replacing comedy shows and specifically Fred Allen
. In an article entitled You Can't Top a Refrigerator, he was disturbed that the high-quality of the writing of Fred Allen's show could lose out to the chance to win prizes.
wrote that Block had "mastered" radio, would likely do the same with movies, and "he'll be in a perfect position for television." Block had begun to move into performing as well as writing. Block was disk jockey for his own twice-a-week radio program Around the Clock on WJZ in New York City, was moderator for the short-lived TV game show, Tag the Gag and hosted a show, Four to Go on WGN in Chicago. However, it was as one of the original panelists on the television game show
What's My Line? from 1950–1953 which gave Block national fame. What's My Line?, a guessing game in which the show's panel tried to uncover the unusual profession of guests, became one of the most popular shows on TV in the 1950s and ran for 17 seasons, making it the longest-running game show in the history of prime-time American TV.
with a panel consisting of columnist Dorothy Kilgallen
, author, poet and editor Louis Untermeyer
, politician Harold G. Hoffman
with journalist John Daly
as host. Some reviews of the first show criticized it as bland and colorless. Even Mark Goodson
, one of the show's producers, said the early shows were "as dull as dishwater" and, years later, confessed to feeling at the time that the show wouldn't last more than six weeks. The producers quickly realized the problems lay with the casting and that the show needed some lighter elements. Actress Arlene Francis
was first brought onto the panel and then on March 16, 1950, the fourth show, Block replaced Hoffman. Block continued as a regular panelist for the next three years.
Block brought humor to What's My Line?. On one show, upon a contestant being revealed to be a skunk breeder, Blocked was surprised they hadn’t be able to guess his occupation because, "After all, the fellow had a certain air about him." Block was able to bring levity to what may otherwise have been serious, dry topics, such as with the appearance of Estes Kefauver
, a U.S. Senator who was leading an investigation into organized crime. Much of the investigation was televised and Block suggested to Kefauver he change the name of his broadcast to "What's My Crime?". Block also created what became a tradition of the show's opening. At the beginning of the show each panelist would introduce the panelist sitting beside them, except for the last who would introduce Host John Daly. It was Block's idea, as the last panelist, to break from the simple, straightforward introduction and instead introduce Daly with a joke. This was later taken up by Bennett Cerf
after Block's departure. It also fell to Block as the comedian, then later Steve Allen
and Fred Allen
, to participate in what Gil Fates
called his "Gambits". Prior to the broadcast, Fates would hint to Block a line of questioning for one of the guests which he felt would generate the most laughs. Fates has said it required a comedian to sense from his clues what would generate laughter. For example, with a guest who manufactured girdles, Block was advised to ask questions about kitchen items. On the show Block asked, "Will it make ice-cubes?" To a professional sword swallower he asked, "Do you work outdoors–or is yours considered an inside job?." While technically not cheating, as the panelist was not told the guest's profession, the practice was eventually discontinued in light of the quiz show scandals
.
After a rocky start, by 1952, What's My Line? had become one of the highest rated shows on television. Major publications praised Block's work on the show. Irv Kupcinet
of the Chicago Sun Times called him the "Freshest new personality in TV." Sid Shalit of the New York Daily News called Block "Effervescent." Vogue magazine said, "People are laughing at Hal Block." The Chicago Tribune called Block, "A Golden Boy on TV." The Philadelphia Inquirer called Block's humor "Impish buffoonery."
Block said he found that he loved the performing side of the business. "I've just discovered it," he said. He also, enjoyed appearing on What's My Line? saying the show was "no effort at all to it, wonderful people to work with." The show was also financially rewarding. In an interview years later, Bennett Cerf
said panelists were paid a "scandalous amount", especially as What's My Line? was entirely ad-libbed, there were no rehearsals, and essentially required just a half-hour's work a week.
Block had made the difficult leap from the obscurity of working as writer to becoming a hugely popular television figure in a very short period of time. As a writer Block had worked in anonymity. "For years nobody recognized me, not even the comedians I wrote for," he said. The show had made Block famous overnight and he admitted enjoying it, "Don't think I mind this being recognized, for I love it." However, Bill Todman
, the show's producer, claimed that "Hal was never able to live with the idea of being a celebrity."
. Upon his first meeting with the panel members Cerf thought of Block as "a clod. He wasn't in the same class as the others." What's My Line? producer Gil Fates, in a book he wrote about the show, gave a description of Block as "a strange man" who was "stocky with curly black hair, heavy lips and, rather bulging eyes."
Block's humor at times proved problematic. He once risked the sponsor's wrath by referring to their deodorant with the line "Make your armpit a charmpit." Bennett Cerf claimed that Block "had a style of humor none of us was too fond of." Block had also gained the reputation for on-air risqué behavior, but he was not alone in this inclination as other What's My Line? panelists often employed double entendres on the show. The problem became significant enough that Host John Daly had developed a surreptitious signal, the pulling of his right ear lobe, as a warning to panelists to desist. In these early days of television many programs, including What's My Line?, were broadcast live and this type of humour became a concern of the sponsor. While Block and was not alone in this behavior, he became regarded as the chief offender.
As far back as a writer for Olsen and Johnson, whose bawdy shows usually involved at least one chorus girl losing her skirt, there could be a sexual aspect to Block's humor. Once when addressing a group of businessmen and secretaries, Block told them, "Where would you men be without your secretaries? Probably home with your wives." This inclination continued onto What's My Line?. On one show when the guest was a female disk jockey, Block employed this line of questioning:
After receiving a positive response to each, Block concluded:
Block was also in the habit of asking an attractive contestant for her phone number, or in one case, even chasing a female contestant around the desk à la Harpo Marx
. Although Block intended these faux pas
as humor, What's My Line? had built a large segment of their audience which was conservative and regarded it as inappropriate.
While Block continued to receive positve reviews and his jokes during the show were often quoted in newspaper columns, there was also criticism. Journalist William S. Schlamm wrote in the June 2, 1952 issue of The Freeman
that Block, "on the flimsy ground of being a gag writer, for more than a year has kept claiming dispensation from elementary rules of taste." By 1953, producers had given Block repeated warnings about his behavior which he was apparently ignoring.
s were announced and What's My Line? won the Emmy for "Best Audience Participation, Quiz or Panel Program".
Shortly after Block's return, on a Sunday night in early February, executive producer Gil Fates invited Block to a local bar for a drink. Block listened quietly for several minutes as Fates explained why he was being let go after three more shows. According to Fates, when he finished talking, Block stood up, finished his drink, smashed the glass on the floor, said "You never did like me, you son-of-a-bitch" and walked out.
After three years on What's My LIne?, Block appeared on three more shows, fully aware these were his last. Steve Allen
also appeared on these shows, replacing Bennett Cerf who was away on a seven-week lecture tour. On Sunday, March 1, 1953, Hal Block appeared on What's My Line? for the last time. The March 3, 1953 New York Times announced that Bennett Cerf was "displacing Hal Block" and that Steve Allen, who Fates later wrote "was standing in the wings", would be continuing on the panel. The firing of Block had the desired effect of toning down the sexual innuendoes which disturbed some segments of the audience.
What's My Line? continued on as a staple of Sunday night television in America for another 14 years. In 1957, four years after Block's departure from the show, Hearst columnist Bill Slocum wrote in his column accusing What's My Line? of "the carefully implanted double entendre." However, he went on to add, "Nobody on the panel leers since Hal Block left."
in Chicago. He left the show after only two months due to an incident involving a group of paraplegics who had been invited to appear on the program. After traveling 20 miles, at great inconvenience, they were not used on the show. Block also "had difficulty with a doctor who accompanied them." In October 1953, Block was found guilty of speeding and driving without a license. In June of the same year, Block had been arrested in Chicago and charged wth drunk driving
. The drunk driving charge was dropped. In 1954, Block wrote and performed the satirical song "Senator McCarthy Blues". The song's theme was about a man who had lost his girlfriend to her obsession with watching the McCarthy hearings on TV. In 1955, Block was working on Ted Mack's TV show. In 1956, Block wrote the rock and roll
song "Hot Rod Henry" for the B-side
of Lola Dee's 45 rpm recording of "Born to Be with You
".
In early 1957, a sneak preview in Florida of Second Honeymoon, a new TV show Block was producing, had to be cancelled because there were no prizes. Block explained to a local newspaper that he had bought prizes in a pawnshop
across from the station, WTVJ
, but the shop was closed before he could retrieve them for the show. Block also complained how the incident was reported by the Miami News columnist, Jack W. Roberts, including that he had described Block as a "former What's My Line? panelist." Block said he was better known as a producer and comedy writer. In February 1957, Block was found guilty of drunk driving in Miami Beach, Florida
and for not having a valid driver's license. At the trial the arresting officer said Block, who was staggering, refused to take a Drunkometer test (the original breathalyzer
), was belligerent and told the officer he would regret arresting him because he was "a big man".
By 1960 it was reported Hal Block had moved into the investment business, but hoped to eventually return to television.
In his book What's My Line? TV's Most Famous Panel Show Gil Fates wrote, "You couldn't teach the meaning of good taste to Hal, any more than Star Kist could teach it to Charley the Tuna
." In a 1968 interview, Bennett Cerf characterized Block as "a very vulgar fellow". In 1979, the book TV Gameshows opined that Block was let go from What's My Line?, because he "proved too overbearing." Gil Fates summed up Block's contribution as, "Hal had served his purpose when the program was young but now that we were a class product, his gaucheries were no longer tolerable."
Prior to What's My Line?, Block was a successful comedy writer in all mediums and working for most of the major comedians of the era for fifteen years. Of those who knew Block during his writing days, Bob Hope called Block "a great comedy writer" and journalist Earl Wilson
dubbed him "a radio genius". Block joined What's My Line? when it was in danger of cancellation and left when it was one of the most successful shows on television. Writer and journalist Bob Considine
, recognized this contribution writing in 1969 that Block "was to mean so much to the early success of television's What's My Line?"
.
During Block's years in radio and TV, newspaper columns had linked him romantically to several actresses and singers including Nanette Fabray
, Dorothea Pinto and Joan Judson. Plans for marriage were reported between Block and Mitzi Green
, and then later Kay Mallah, a showgirl. Green had been a childhood star and in 1941 was attempting to make comeback at age twenty-one. Block, along with Herb Baker
, was writing a Broadway show for her. When Block and Green split, he began seeing Dorothea Pinto, a chorus girl. Pinto once made some news while she was working at the Diamond Horseshoe nightclub in New York and punched one of the club's investors. Pinto appeared as a showgirl in Follow the Girls, which Block wrote. Block once explained he preferred being a bachelor because "wives were too expensive."
On April 22, 1981 Block was seriously burned from a fire in his Chicago apartment. On June 16, 1981, Hal Block died in Edgewater
Hospital, Chicago, as a result of the injuries. He was survived by two sisters.
What's My Line?
What's My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations....
.
During the 1940s, Block was considered one of America's best comedy writers, having worked for many of the top comedians of the era, such as Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, Abbott and Costello
Abbott and Costello
William "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose work on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s...
, Martin and Lewis
Martin and Lewis
Martin and Lewis were an American comedy team, comprising singer Dean Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis as the comedic "foil". The pair first met in 1945; their debut as a duo occurred at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 24/25, 1946....
, Milton Berle
Milton Berle
Milton Berlinger , better known as Milton Berle, was an American comedian and actor. As the manic host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater , in 1948 he was the first major star of U.S. television and as such became known as Uncle Miltie and Mr...
and Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen, an American comedy duo consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen, worked together as a comedy team in vaudeville, films, radio and television and achieved great success over four decades.-Vaudeville:...
and in all major mediums, including radio
Radio programming
Radio programming is the Broadcast programming of a Radio format or content that is organized for Commercial broadcasting and Public broadcasting radio stations....
, Hollywood movies
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
, Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
and print
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
. Block also made a major contribution to the USO during World War II.
In March 1950, producers of the new game show What's My Line? hired Hal Block for its fourth episode to add humor to the show's format. With a panel previously consisting of journalists, a politician and a poet, reviewers had criticized the show as bland. After an early rocky start, What's My Line? became one of the top-rated shows on TV. Critics praised his work; the Chicago Sun Times called Block the "freshest new personality in TV." However, Block sometimes seemed to lack a sense of propriety. He once risked the sponsor's wrath, referring to their deodorant with the line "Make your armpit a charmpit." His humor could be risqué which antagonized some conservative 1950s viewers. In early 1953, Block was suspended and then fired. Block left show business a few years later, while What's My Line? continued on as a staple of Sunday night television for another 14 years.
Background
Hal Block was born August 2, 1913 in Chicago, Illinois. Block was originally from the Hyde ParkHyde Park, Chicago
Hyde Park, located on the South Side of the City of Chicago, in Cook County, Illinois, United States and seven miles south of the Chicago Loop, is a Chicago neighborhood and one of 77 Chicago community areas. It is home to the University of Chicago, the Hyde Park Art Center, the Museum of Science...
area of Chicago, According to Gil Fates, producer of the What's My Line? TV game show, there were rumors Block had come from a rich family. Three comedy writing contemporaries of Block, Melvin Frank
Melvin Frank
Melvin Frank was an American screenwriter, film producer and film director. He collaborated with a former schoolfriend, Norman Panama to form a writing partnership which endured for 3 decades...
, Norman Panama
Norman Panama
Norman Panama was an American screenwriter and film director born in Chicago, Illinois. He collaborated with a former schoolfriend, Melvin Frank to form a writing partnership which endured for three decades...
and Bob Weiskopf
Bob Weiskopf
Bob Weiskopf was an American screenwriter and producer for television. He has credits for I Love Lucy which he and his writing partner Bob Schiller joined in the fifth season...
, also came from Hyde Park. Block attended the University of Chicago High School, graduating in 1930, and then the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, graduating in 1935, where he majored in law. At the University of Chicago he was co-captain of the university track team, running the 100 and 220 yards sprints, member of Zeta Beta Tau
Zeta Beta Tau
Zeta Beta Tau was founded in 1898 as the nation's first Jewish fraternity, although it is no longer sectarian. Today the merged Zeta Beta Tau Brotherhood is one of the largest, numbering over 140,000 initiated Brothers, and over 90 chapter locations.-Founding:The Zeta Beta Tau fraternity was...
(Alpha Beta, Chicago) fraternity and editor of the university humor magazine. Block had paid his way through college selling material to comedian and radio emcee Phil Baker at $20 a joke ($300 in 2010 dollars). At just 21, Block was Phil Baker's head writer. After two years of studying law, Block decided to change his career path and attempt to make a living writing comedy.
Writing career
Hal Block was considered as one of the best writers of comedic radioRadio comedy
Radio comedy, or comedic radio programming, is a radio broadcast that may involve sitcom elements, sketches and various types of comedy found on other media. It may also include more surreal or fantastic elements, as these can be conveyed on a small budget with just a few sound effects or some...
scripts of the 1940s. During his days as a comedy writer, Time magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
described Block as a "serious, curly-haired, stocky ... gag-factory" who "resembles actor Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
".
Radio, Broadway, Hollywood
The 1930s and 1940s was the Golden Age of radio and there were significant financial rewards to be made for those writing for radio comedy programs. Phil Baker, for whom Block was the head writer, reportedly spent $1,500 per week on his three writers, equivalent to $24,000 in 2010 dollars. However, the failure rate of those attempting to make it a career was high. Despite the risk, and against his father's wishes, in 1935 Block abandoned the study of law and moved to New York City. Block defied the odds and had immediate success being hired by the comedy team of Abbott and CostelloAbbott and Costello
William "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose work on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s...
. Block also continued to write for Phil Baker, for whom he would write for even on into the 1940s, including Baker's hit game show the $64 Question, By 1937, Block was so busy as a writer that in September he only had three hours to stop off in Chicago for his parent's anniversary party before continuing by train to Hollywood writing for Baker's radio show. In the years that followed, Block would establish his reputation by writing for many of the top comedians in radio, including Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen, an American comedy duo consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen, worked together as a comedy team in vaudeville, films, radio and television and achieved great success over four decades.-Vaudeville:...
, Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor was an American "illustrated song" performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor and songwriter...
, Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
, Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
and Milton Berle
Milton Berle
Milton Berlinger , better known as Milton Berle, was an American comedian and actor. As the manic host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater , in 1948 he was the first major star of U.S. television and as such became known as Uncle Miltie and Mr...
.
In the early 1940s with the world at war and the depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
still a recent memory, light-hearted musical comedies were popular and Block found himself in demand to do work in Broadway musicals and Hollywood movies. As early as 1939, he contributed dialog and music to the film Charlie McCarthy, Detective. In 1940, he wrote the low-budget Universal film musical I'm Nobody's Sweetheart Now. and contributed to the script for 1943's Stage Door Canteen
Stage Door Canteen
Stage Door Canteen is a musical film produced by Sol Lesser Productions and distributed by United Artists. It was directed by Frank Borzage and features many cameo appearances by celebrities, and the majority of the film is essentially a filmed concert although there is also a storyline to the...
. He also made contributions to successful Broadway shows, such as By Jupiter
By Jupiter
By Jupiter is a musical with a book by Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. The musical is based on the play The Warrior's Husband by Julian F. Thompson, set in the land of the Amazons...
, Let's Face It!
Let's Face It!
Let's Face It! is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The book by Herbert and Dorothy Fields is based on the 1925 play The Cradle Snatchers by Russell Medcraft and Norma Mitchell....
and Follow the Girls
Follow the Girls
Follow the Girls is a musical with a book by Guy Bolton, Eddie Davis and Fred Thompson and music and lyrics by Dan Shapiro, Milton Pascal, and Phil Charig....
. In 1941, he was hired to write dialogue for the Broadway revue Sons O'Fun, Olsen and Johnson
Olsen and Johnson
John Sigvard "Ole" Olsen and Harold Ogden "Chic" Johnson were zany American comedians of vaudeville, radio, the Broadway stage, motion pictures and television. Their shows were noted for their crazy blackout gags and orchestrated mayhem...
's sequel to their hit show Hellzapoppin. Sons O'Fun ran for 742 performances.
Block also showed an instinct for financial opportunities. During the test run in Boston of Follow the Girls, Fred Thompson, the show's principal writer, lost faith in the show and sold his shares to Block for $3,000. Starring a young comedian, Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason was an American comedian, actor and musician. He was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy style, especially by his character Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, a situation-comedy television series. His most noted film roles were as Minnesota Fats in the drama film The...
, the show became a wartime hit and a huge financial success.
Block was also a columnist and wrote articles for various publications, including Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, Collier's
Collier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....
and the Chicago Daily News
Chicago Daily News
The Chicago Daily News was an afternoon daily newspaper published between 1876 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.-History:The Daily News was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty in 1875 and began publishing early the next year...
.
USO
Late in 1942 and through most of 1943, Block's career was interrupted by his participation with the USO. Just prior to U.S. involvement in World War Two, President Roosevelt spearheaded the formation of the United Service Organizations to provide entertainment for American servicemen both at home and in war zones. In November 1942, Block wrote an all-star revue for the USO to be performed for the growing American Expeditionary Forces in England. Hollywood stars who volunteered to stay in England for two months to perform in the revue, included Carole LandisCarole Landis
Carole Landis was an American film and stage actress whose break-through role was as the female lead in the 1940 film One Million B.C.. Landis has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 1765 Vine Street....
, Kay Francis
Kay Francis
Kay Francis was an American stage and film actress. After a brief period on Broadway in the late 1920s, she moved to film and achieved her greatest success between 1930 and 1936, when she was the number one female star at the Warner Brothers studio, and the highest paid American film actress...
, Mitzi Mayfair and Martha Raye
Martha Raye
Martha Raye was an American comic actress and standards singer who performed in movies, and later on television....
. In December, the USO sent Block to London to prepare radio broadcasts and write jokes for touring American stars who performed for the troops stationed in England. Block soon discovered that writing for soldiers, British and American, required a specialized technique and he studied British humor to understand how it differed from American humor both in language and taste. Also, a military audience required unique sensitivities as soldiers did not laugh at subjects such as, strikes in wartime industries, shortages endured by civilians, or especially cheating wives. Block also wrote some American-slanted material for British comedian Tommy Trinder
Tommy Trinder
Thomas Edward Trinder CBE known as Tommy Trinder, was an English stage, screen and radio comedian of the pre and post war years whose catchphrase was 'You lucky people'.-Life:...
.
With the BBC
Block was then assigned to the staff at the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
to add American comedic sensibility to the Anglo-American Hour and Yankee Doodle Doo radio programs. Maurice Gorham
Maurice Gorham
Maurice Gorham was an Irish journalist and broadcasting executive. After being educated in England at Stonyhurst College, Lancashire and later Balliol College, Oxford, he began working as a journalist on the London local newspaper Westminster Guardian and Weekly Westminster after he graduated in...
, BBC executive and journalist who had "seen a lot of Block" during his BBC days, gave his impressions of Block as "a real Broadway type who reminded me of a Damon Runyon
Damon Runyon
Alfred Damon Runyon was an American newspaperman and writer.He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To New Yorkers of his generation, a "Damon Runyon character" evoked a distinctive social type from the...
character suddenly set down in a Broadcasting House." Block's contribution with the BBC was singled out by the North American Representative of the BBC, Lindsay Wellington, to dispute Associated Press accusations of excessive British censorship. In a December 6, 1943 letter to the New York Times he wrote, "Nor would it have been possible for Hal Block, American scriptwriter, to write the highly popular London-produced program for combined U.S. British soldier audiences Yankee Doodle Doo."
Block made use of his Broadway experience in music comedy. Block and UPI correspondent and lyricist Bob Musel wrote the popular song The U.S.A. By Day And The R.A.F. By Night for the Eighth Air Force show. The song has been called "the most entertaining song about the war in Europe." The song was unique in taking the approach of praising US and British airmen indirectly by focusing on the horrified laments of members of the Nazi High Command. With a sardonic tone it featured everyone from Hitler to Rommel bemoaning the effects of the Allied bombing. On one occasion, Block sang the song over BBC radio and when trying to leave the building after the broadcast found himself in the middle of an actual air raid.
An excerpt:
- An officer asks the arms manufacturer,
- "Krupp, why are you worried,
- What is your fact'ry's plight?"
- Krupp replies,
- "It was standing here one day,
- then it disappeared one night."
Block also wrote the humorous song Baby, That's a Wolf, sung by Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell was an American actress of stage and screen, perhaps best known for her role as a fast-talking newspaper reporter in the Howard Hawks screwball comedy His Girl Friday, as well as the role of Mame Dennis in the film Auntie Mame...
. Russell wanted to do something beyond the ordinary to entertain the troops and Block wrote the song especially for her. Block has been credited with popularizing the term "wolf" in referring to a libidinous American male, An excerpt:
-
- If he says your eyes are gorgeous
- And that you're really cookin'–
- But your eyes aren't where he's lookin'
- Baby, that's a wolf!
With Bob Hope's USO tour
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
’s writer for the first USO overseas tour that Hope ever did. They entertained troops through England, Africa and Italy. Initially, when Hope began his tour he had to write all the jokes, until the USO assigned Block as his comedy writer. Hope said that after Block joined him "the jokes got a lot less shaky." Hope said Block had "learned to write funny in bomb shelters, jeeps, and on the backs of camels."
Working close to the war zone could be dangerous. Hope had followed General George Patton's
George S. Patton
George Smith Patton, Jr. was a United States Army officer best known for his leadership while commanding corps and armies as a general during World War II. He was also well known for his eccentricity and controversial outspokenness.Patton was commissioned in the U.S. Army after his graduation from...
7th army
United States Army Europe
United States Army Europe and Seventh Army, is an Army Service Component Command of the United States Army and the land component of United States European Command. It is the largest American formation in Europe.-Invasion of Sicily:...
into Sicily and one time while Block and Hope were writing a script in a Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
hotel, the Germans began a bombing raid. "We did a show and ran for our lives," said Block. Immediately after the incident, Patton sent Hope's troupe back to Algiers for their safety. On another occasion, Block was forced to travel alone in the storage compartment of a cargo plane and the crew tied him to the cargo for his own safety. It was only mid-flight when Block realized the boxes he was tied to were filled with live ammunition. There was also an unnerving episode where Block was taken by MPs to the OSS
OSS
-Science and technology:* Open-source software* Open Sound System, a standard interface for making and capturing sound in Unix operating systems* Open Search Server, search engine software...
compound as a suspicious character. Block also escaped a real tragedy when he was originally to be a passenger on the ill-fated USO plane which crashed in February 1943, seriously injuring actress Jane Froman
Jane Froman
Jane Froman was an American singer and actress. During her thirty-year career, Froman performed on stage, radio and television despite chronic injuries that she sustained from a 1943 plane crash...
and killing 23 others.
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
, at the time a war correspondent, overheard them complaining. "You'll think this is practically a bridal suite, when you compare it to my room," he told the two. They then followed Steinbeck downstairs to his room, which was half the size of theirs, and were introduced to journalists Quentin Reynolds
Quentin Reynolds
Quentin James Reynolds was a journalist and World War II war correspondent.As associate editor at Collier's Weekly from 1933 to 1945, Reynolds averaged twenty articles a year...
and H.R. Knickerbocker
Hubert Renfro Knickerbocker
Hubert Renfro Knickerbocker was an American writer and journalist. He was nicknamed "Red" Knickerbocker from the color of his hair....
. Hope noticed even a third man sleeping and asked his identity. "He's the British vice-consul," Steinbeck replied. "This is his room. He invited us to spend the night two weeks ago."
One of the highlights of the USO tour for Block was meeting General Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
in Algiers during the North African campaign. Block was working on the rehearsal of a USO show when he suddenly discovered the rest of Hope's group had disappeared. Block was enraged when he realized they had left him behind while they went to meet General Eisenhower. Block rushed over to the hotel serving as Eisenhower's headquarters, only to see Hope's entire group descending the stairs, each with an autographed picture of the General. Block talked his way into meeting the General by telling Harry Butcher
Harry C. Butcher
Harry C. Butcher was a radio broadcaster who served during World War II as the Naval Aide to General Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1942 to 1945.-Early Life:...
, at the time Naval Aide to Eisenhower, "Butch, the one keepsake I want out of this war is an autographed picture of the General for my grandkids." Block met General Eisenhower, introduced as "a man who helps make Bob Hope funny."
In August 1943, Block wrote and produced a unique version of Hope's radio show performed for Allied troops and Red Cross nurses from 'somewhere in North Africa'. So popular was the show, a recording was later broadcast twice over the BBC for British audiences.
Top of his profession
Grace Moore
Grace Moore was an American operatic soprano and actress in musical theatre and film. She was nicknamed the "Tennessee Nightingale." Her films helped to popularize opera by bringing it to a larger audience.-Early life:...
would perform while standing on her head. With the help of Berle and announcer Kenneth Roberts holding her feet, she did a handstand as Block held the microphone while she sang. In September 1944, Block was the writer for Ed Wynn
Ed Wynn
Ed Wynn was a popular American comedian and actor noted for his Perfect Fool comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a dramatic actor....
's program Happy Island, which was Wynn's return to radio after a decade absence. Also in 1944, Block wrote the song Buy a Bond Today. Around 1948, Block wrote the material for an album for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis which was to be used as their audition for entry into television. Block also attained what columnist Hedda Hopper described as a "cushy deal" at a major film studio.
By the late 1940s, Block was at the top of his profession. He was earning a four-figure weekly salary in a day when the average household income was just over $2,000 a year. He resided at the posh Hampshire House in the Central Park South
Central Park South
Central Park South is the portion of 59th Street that forms the southern border of Central Park in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It runs from Columbus Circle at Eighth Avenue on the west to Grand Army Plaza at Fifth Avenue on the east...
area of New York City, a hotel which was home to Hollywood notables, such as Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films. She won three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, and the Tony Award for Best Actress. She is ranked as the fourth greatest female star of American cinema of all time by the American Film Institute...
, Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
and William Wyler
William Wyler
William Wyler was a leading American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter.Notable works included Ben-Hur , The Best Years of Our Lives , and Mrs. Miniver , all of which won Wyler Academy Awards for Best Director, and also won Best Picture...
. He even dictated his jokes to a secretary. However, Block's father remained unimpressed by his son's success. After attending a radio show Block had written, which ended with tumultuous applause from the studio audience, his father said, "Well, are you ready to go back to law school?"
The life of a comedy writer
Columnist Elsa MaxwellElsa Maxwell
Elsa Maxwell was an American gossip columnist and author, songwriter, and professional hostess renowned for her parties for royalty and high society figures of her day....
, commenting on Block's approach to writing, said he was "serious – almost academic – about being funny." Block was once asked what was the hardest material to write for a comedian. He quipped, "The ad libs!" While it was widely believed that emcee Phil Baker ad-libbed the popular game shows Take It Or Leave It and $64 Question, most of the shows were actually written by Block. An example of what appears to be casual conversation, but was actually a joke written by Block, was for entertainer Kenny Murray
Ken Murray (entertainer)
Ken Murray was an American entertainer and author.-Vaudeville:Murray was born Kenneth Doncourt in New York City to a family of vaudeville performers. According to Murray's autobiography , he changed his name because he did not want to ride the coattails of his father's success; he wanted to make a...
to say to his TV studio audience: "I don't care whether you laugh at my jokes or not. But it will be pretty embarrassing for you if people all over the country find out you don't have a sense of humor."
Lamenting the amount of comedy material a writer needs to supply for a weekly radio show, Block said, "The only difference between us and white mice on a wheel, is that we have ulcers." It was not only the volume of material that was a challenge in writing for radio, but the reality that they were writing for more than just the audience. It was an era when radio and television shows often had only a single sponsor. (Block once gave his definition of a sponsor as: "A golden goose for whom we lay the eggs.") "We have to make the sponsor laugh," Block wrote in Colliers magazine "And besides pleasing the sponsor, we have to please the sponsor's wife, the producer, the men from the advertising agency, the radio and television critics and the federal communications commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
." Even during his time with the USO, Block recalled when a cannibal sketch he'd written on the BBC was rejected by the British Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
. The note justifying the rejection explained they objected to his depiction of cannibals because they were "loyal subjects of the king and many of them are now aiding in the fight against the enemy." However, on this occasion, the rejection was reversed, apparently by an executive with a sense humor as the explanation for accepting the sketch noted that the cannibals had also eaten many loyal subjects.
By the late 1940s, Block had become concerned about the status of comedy writing on the radio. In 1948, Block wrote an article in Variety, which complained about the trend on radio of game shows replacing comedy shows and specifically Fred Allen
Fred Allen
Fred Allen was an American comedian whose absurdist, topically pointed radio show made him one of the most popular and forward-looking humorists in the so-called classic era of American radio.His best-remembered gag was his long-running mock feud with friend and fellow comedian Jack Benny, but it...
. In an article entitled You Can't Top a Refrigerator, he was disturbed that the high-quality of the writing of Fred Allen's show could lose out to the chance to win prizes.
Performer and the advent of television
By the 1950s, television had begun to supplant radio as the main form of entertainment in American homes. In her column of October 11, 1945, Hedda HopperHedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper was an American actress and gossip columnist, whose long-running feud with friend turned arch-rival Louella Parsons became at least as notorious as many of Hopper's columns.-Early life:...
wrote that Block had "mastered" radio, would likely do the same with movies, and "he'll be in a perfect position for television." Block had begun to move into performing as well as writing. Block was disk jockey for his own twice-a-week radio program Around the Clock on WJZ in New York City, was moderator for the short-lived TV game show, Tag the Gag and hosted a show, Four to Go on WGN in Chicago. However, it was as one of the original panelists on the television game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
What's My Line? from 1950–1953 which gave Block national fame. What's My Line?, a guessing game in which the show's panel tried to uncover the unusual profession of guests, became one of the most popular shows on TV in the 1950s and ran for 17 seasons, making it the longest-running game show in the history of prime-time American TV.
What's My Line?
On February 2, 1950, What's My Line? premiered on CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
with a panel consisting of columnist Dorothy Kilgallen
Dorothy Kilgallen
Dorothy Mae Kilgallen was an American journalist and television game show panelist. She started her career early as a reporter for the Hearst Corporation's New York Evening Journal after spending only two semesters at The College of New Rochelle in New Rochelle, New York...
, author, poet and editor Louis Untermeyer
Louis Untermeyer
Louis Untermeyer was an American poet, anthologist, critic, and editor. He was appointed the fourteenth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1961.-Life and career:...
, politician Harold G. Hoffman
Harold G. Hoffman
Harold Giles Hoffman was an American politician, a Republican who served as the 41st Governor of New Jersey, from 1935 to 1938. He also served two terms representing in the United States House of Representatives, from 1927 to 1931.-Early life:Hoffman was born in South Amboy, New Jersey to Frank...
with journalist John Daly
John Charles Daly
John Charles Patrick Croghan Daly John Charles Patrick Croghan Daly John Charles Patrick Croghan Daly (generally known as John Charles Daly or simply John Daly (February 20, 1914 – February 24, 1991) was an American journalist, game show host and radio personality, probably best known for hosting...
as host. Some reviews of the first show criticized it as bland and colorless. Even Mark Goodson
Mark Goodson
Mark Goodson was an American television producer who specialized in game shows.-Life and early career:...
, one of the show's producers, said the early shows were "as dull as dishwater" and, years later, confessed to feeling at the time that the show wouldn't last more than six weeks. The producers quickly realized the problems lay with the casting and that the show needed some lighter elements. Actress Arlene Francis
Arlene Francis
Arlene Francis was an American actress, radio talk show host, and game show panelist...
was first brought onto the panel and then on March 16, 1950, the fourth show, Block replaced Hoffman. Block continued as a regular panelist for the next three years.
Block brought humor to What's My Line?. On one show, upon a contestant being revealed to be a skunk breeder, Blocked was surprised they hadn’t be able to guess his occupation because, "After all, the fellow had a certain air about him." Block was able to bring levity to what may otherwise have been serious, dry topics, such as with the appearance of Estes Kefauver
Estes Kefauver
Carey Estes Kefauver July 26, 1903 – August 10, 1963) was an American politician from Tennessee. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the U.S...
, a U.S. Senator who was leading an investigation into organized crime. Much of the investigation was televised and Block suggested to Kefauver he change the name of his broadcast to "What's My Crime?". Block also created what became a tradition of the show's opening. At the beginning of the show each panelist would introduce the panelist sitting beside them, except for the last who would introduce Host John Daly. It was Block's idea, as the last panelist, to break from the simple, straightforward introduction and instead introduce Daly with a joke. This was later taken up by Bennett Cerf
Bennett Cerf
Bennett Alfred Cerf was a publisher and co-founder of Random House. Cerf was also known for his own compilations of jokes and puns, for regular personal appearances lecturing across the United States, and for his television appearances in the panel game show What's My Line?.-Biography:Bennett Cerf...
after Block's departure. It also fell to Block as the comedian, then later Steve Allen
Steve Allen
Steve Allen may refer to:*Steve Allen , American musician, comedian, and writer*Steve Allen , presenter on the London-based talk radio station LBC 97.3...
and Fred Allen
Fred Allen
Fred Allen was an American comedian whose absurdist, topically pointed radio show made him one of the most popular and forward-looking humorists in the so-called classic era of American radio.His best-remembered gag was his long-running mock feud with friend and fellow comedian Jack Benny, but it...
, to participate in what Gil Fates
Gil Fates
Joseph Gilbert Fates was an American television producer.Nicknamed "Gil", Fates was the executive producer of What's My Line?. Fates produced the game show its entire quarter-century span of CBS and syndicated runs...
called his "Gambits". Prior to the broadcast, Fates would hint to Block a line of questioning for one of the guests which he felt would generate the most laughs. Fates has said it required a comedian to sense from his clues what would generate laughter. For example, with a guest who manufactured girdles, Block was advised to ask questions about kitchen items. On the show Block asked, "Will it make ice-cubes?" To a professional sword swallower he asked, "Do you work outdoors–or is yours considered an inside job?." While technically not cheating, as the panelist was not told the guest's profession, the practice was eventually discontinued in light of the quiz show scandals
Quiz show scandals
The American quiz show scandals of the 1950s were a series of revelations that contestants of several popular television quiz shows were secretly given assistance by the show's producers to arrange the outcome of a supposedly fair competition....
.
Fame
| Don't think I mind this being recognized, for I love it. For years nobody recognized me, not even the comedians I wrote for. | —Block on fame. (1951) |
After a rocky start, by 1952, What's My Line? had become one of the highest rated shows on television. Major publications praised Block's work on the show. Irv Kupcinet
Irv Kupcinet
Irv Kupcinet was an American newspaper columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and a broadcast personality based in Chicago, Illinois...
of the Chicago Sun Times called him the "Freshest new personality in TV." Sid Shalit of the New York Daily News called Block "Effervescent." Vogue magazine said, "People are laughing at Hal Block." The Chicago Tribune called Block, "A Golden Boy on TV." The Philadelphia Inquirer called Block's humor "Impish buffoonery."
Block said he found that he loved the performing side of the business. "I've just discovered it," he said. He also, enjoyed appearing on What's My Line? saying the show was "no effort at all to it, wonderful people to work with." The show was also financially rewarding. In an interview years later, Bennett Cerf
Bennett Cerf
Bennett Alfred Cerf was a publisher and co-founder of Random House. Cerf was also known for his own compilations of jokes and puns, for regular personal appearances lecturing across the United States, and for his television appearances in the panel game show What's My Line?.-Biography:Bennett Cerf...
said panelists were paid a "scandalous amount", especially as What's My Line? was entirely ad-libbed, there were no rehearsals, and essentially required just a half-hour's work a week.
Block had made the difficult leap from the obscurity of working as writer to becoming a hugely popular television figure in a very short period of time. As a writer Block had worked in anonymity. "For years nobody recognized me, not even the comedians I wrote for," he said. The show had made Block famous overnight and he admitted enjoying it, "Don't think I mind this being recognized, for I love it." However, Bill Todman
Bill Todman
William S. "Bill" Todman was an American television producer born in New York City. He produced many of television's longest running shows with business partner Mark Goodson.-Early life:...
, the show's producer, claimed that "Hal was never able to live with the idea of being a celebrity."
Popular, but problematic
During the first three years of What's My Line?'s existence, Block had gained popularity with a wide portion of the TV viewing audience, but behind the scenes he was having problems with the sponsor and producer. Furthermore, according to Bennett Cerf, Block's personality and background set him apart from the other cast members as well. During the show's second year, publisher Bennett Cerf had joined the cast when Untermeyer was dropped from the show because of accusations of being a communistHollywood blacklist
The Hollywood blacklist—as the broader entertainment industry blacklist is generally known—was the mid-twentieth-century list of screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians, and other U.S. entertainment professionals who were denied employment in the field because of their political beliefs or...
. Upon his first meeting with the panel members Cerf thought of Block as "a clod. He wasn't in the same class as the others." What's My Line? producer Gil Fates, in a book he wrote about the show, gave a description of Block as "a strange man" who was "stocky with curly black hair, heavy lips and, rather bulging eyes."
Block's humor at times proved problematic. He once risked the sponsor's wrath by referring to their deodorant with the line "Make your armpit a charmpit." Bennett Cerf claimed that Block "had a style of humor none of us was too fond of." Block had also gained the reputation for on-air risqué behavior, but he was not alone in this inclination as other What's My Line? panelists often employed double entendres on the show. The problem became significant enough that Host John Daly had developed a surreptitious signal, the pulling of his right ear lobe, as a warning to panelists to desist. In these early days of television many programs, including What's My Line?, were broadcast live and this type of humour became a concern of the sponsor. While Block and was not alone in this behavior, he became regarded as the chief offender.
As far back as a writer for Olsen and Johnson, whose bawdy shows usually involved at least one chorus girl losing her skirt, there could be a sexual aspect to Block's humor. Once when addressing a group of businessmen and secretaries, Block told them, "Where would you men be without your secretaries? Probably home with your wives." This inclination continued onto What's My Line?. On one show when the guest was a female disk jockey, Block employed this line of questioning:
- "Do you take things off?"
- "Do people like it when you take things off?"
- "The more things you take off, do people like it better?"
After receiving a positive response to each, Block concluded:
- "You're obviously a strip-tease dancer."
Block was also in the habit of asking an attractive contestant for her phone number, or in one case, even chasing a female contestant around the desk à la Harpo Marx
Harpo Marx
Adolph "Harpo" Marx was an American comedian and film star. He was the second oldest of the Marx Brothers. His comic style was influenced by clown and pantomime traditions. He wore a curly reddish wig, and never spoke during performances...
. Although Block intended these faux pas
Faux pas
A faux pas is a violation of accepted social norms . Faux pas vary widely from culture to culture, and what is considered good manners in one culture can be considered a faux pas in another...
as humor, What's My Line? had built a large segment of their audience which was conservative and regarded it as inappropriate.
While Block continued to receive positve reviews and his jokes during the show were often quoted in newspaper columns, there was also criticism. Journalist William S. Schlamm wrote in the June 2, 1952 issue of The Freeman
The Freeman
The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty is one of the oldest and most respected libertarian journals in the United States. It is published by the Foundation for Economic Education . It started as a digest sized monthly study journal; it currently appears 10 times per year and is a larger-sized magazine. FEE...
that Block, "on the flimsy ground of being a gag writer, for more than a year has kept claiming dispensation from elementary rules of taste." By 1953, producers had given Block repeated warnings about his behavior which he was apparently ignoring.
Firing
In January 1953, Block was suspended for two weeks because the sponsor objected to one of his comments during the show. Steve Allen, at the time an up-and-coming comedian whose appearances on What's My Line? would springboard his career, took Block's place on the panel during the suspension. While Block vacationed in Miami for the duration of the suspension, his fans demanded his return in a flood of letters to the network. Years later, in recollecting these days of What's My Line?, Bennett Cerf claimed that by this time Block was no longer essential to the show. According to Cerf, since he had begun to introduce his own jokes and puns into the show, he now had the more important role and said Block "became second banana." Amidst this turmoil, on February 5, 1953, winners for TVs Emmy AwardEmmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
s were announced and What's My Line? won the Emmy for "Best Audience Participation, Quiz or Panel Program".
Shortly after Block's return, on a Sunday night in early February, executive producer Gil Fates invited Block to a local bar for a drink. Block listened quietly for several minutes as Fates explained why he was being let go after three more shows. According to Fates, when he finished talking, Block stood up, finished his drink, smashed the glass on the floor, said "You never did like me, you son-of-a-bitch" and walked out.
After three years on What's My LIne?, Block appeared on three more shows, fully aware these were his last. Steve Allen
Steve Allen
Steve Allen may refer to:*Steve Allen , American musician, comedian, and writer*Steve Allen , presenter on the London-based talk radio station LBC 97.3...
also appeared on these shows, replacing Bennett Cerf who was away on a seven-week lecture tour. On Sunday, March 1, 1953, Hal Block appeared on What's My Line? for the last time. The March 3, 1953 New York Times announced that Bennett Cerf was "displacing Hal Block" and that Steve Allen, who Fates later wrote "was standing in the wings", would be continuing on the panel. The firing of Block had the desired effect of toning down the sexual innuendoes which disturbed some segments of the audience.
What's My Line? continued on as a staple of Sunday night television in America for another 14 years. In 1957, four years after Block's departure from the show, Hearst columnist Bill Slocum wrote in his column accusing What's My Line? of "the carefully implanted double entendre." However, he went on to add, "Nobody on the panel leers since Hal Block left."
Final years in show business
After leaving What's My Line?, late in 1953, Block was hired as host of a television morning show directed towards women on WGN-TVWGN-TV
WGN-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the CW-affiliated television station in Chicago, Illinois built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WGN-TV's studios and offices are located at 2501 W...
in Chicago. He left the show after only two months due to an incident involving a group of paraplegics who had been invited to appear on the program. After traveling 20 miles, at great inconvenience, they were not used on the show. Block also "had difficulty with a doctor who accompanied them." In October 1953, Block was found guilty of speeding and driving without a license. In June of the same year, Block had been arrested in Chicago and charged wth drunk driving
Driving under the influence
Driving under the influence is the act of driving a motor vehicle with blood levels of alcohol in excess of a legal limit...
. The drunk driving charge was dropped. In 1954, Block wrote and performed the satirical song "Senator McCarthy Blues". The song's theme was about a man who had lost his girlfriend to her obsession with watching the McCarthy hearings on TV. In 1955, Block was working on Ted Mack's TV show. In 1956, Block wrote the rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
song "Hot Rod Henry" for the B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
of Lola Dee's 45 rpm recording of "Born to Be with You
Born to Be with You (song)
"Born to Be with You" is a song written by Don Robertson. It was published in 1956.The biggest hit version was by The Chordettes in 1956. In 1968, Sonny James recorded a version of the song which reached number one on the country charts...
".
In early 1957, a sneak preview in Florida of Second Honeymoon, a new TV show Block was producing, had to be cancelled because there were no prizes. Block explained to a local newspaper that he had bought prizes in a pawnshop
Pawnbroker
A pawnbroker is an individual or business that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral...
across from the station, WTVJ
WTVJ
WTVJ, virtual channel 6 , is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC television network, located in Broward County. WTVJ shares its TV studio and office facility with co-owned Telemundo station WSCV in Miramar, Florida, and its transmitter is located near Sun Life Stadium in north...
, but the shop was closed before he could retrieve them for the show. Block also complained how the incident was reported by the Miami News columnist, Jack W. Roberts, including that he had described Block as a "former What's My Line? panelist." Block said he was better known as a producer and comedy writer. In February 1957, Block was found guilty of drunk driving in Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter which separates the Beach from Miami city proper...
and for not having a valid driver's license. At the trial the arresting officer said Block, who was staggering, refused to take a Drunkometer test (the original breathalyzer
Breathalyzer
A breathalyzer or breathalyser is a device for estimating blood alcohol content from a breath sample...
), was belligerent and told the officer he would regret arresting him because he was "a big man".
By 1960 it was reported Hal Block had moved into the investment business, but hoped to eventually return to television.
Legacy
Hal Block remains a controversial figure in TV lore, with denunciations being made by some, while praised by others.In his book What's My Line? TV's Most Famous Panel Show Gil Fates wrote, "You couldn't teach the meaning of good taste to Hal, any more than Star Kist could teach it to Charley the Tuna
Charlie the Tuna
Charlie the Tuna, the cartoon mascot tuna for StarKist Tuna, was created by Tom Rogers of the Leo Burnett Agency after StarKist hired Leo Burnett in 1961. StarKist Tuna is the name of a brand of tuna currently owned by Dongwon Industries....
." In a 1968 interview, Bennett Cerf characterized Block as "a very vulgar fellow". In 1979, the book TV Gameshows opined that Block was let go from What's My Line?, because he "proved too overbearing." Gil Fates summed up Block's contribution as, "Hal had served his purpose when the program was young but now that we were a class product, his gaucheries were no longer tolerable."
Prior to What's My Line?, Block was a successful comedy writer in all mediums and working for most of the major comedians of the era for fifteen years. Of those who knew Block during his writing days, Bob Hope called Block "a great comedy writer" and journalist Earl Wilson
Earl Wilson (columnist)
Earl Wilson , born Harvey Earl Wilson, was an American journalist, gossip columnist and author, perhaps best known for his nationally syndicated column, It Happened Last Night....
dubbed him "a radio genius". Block joined What's My Line? when it was in danger of cancellation and left when it was one of the most successful shows on television. Writer and journalist Bob Considine
Bob Considine
Robert "Bob" Bernard Considine was an American writer and commentator. He is best-known for co-writing Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo and The Babe Ruth Story.-Biography:...
, recognized this contribution writing in 1969 that Block "was to mean so much to the early success of television's What's My Line?"
Personal life and death
During his early writing days, Block was friends with fellow comedy writers Bill Morrow, Jack Benny writer and Don Quinn, who wrote for Fibber McGee and MollyFibber McGee and Molly
Fibber McGee and Molly was an American radio comedy series which maintained its popularity over decades. It premiered on NBC in 1935 and continued until its demise in 1959, long after radio had ceased to be the dominant form of entertainment in American popular culture.-Husband and wife in real...
.
During Block's years in radio and TV, newspaper columns had linked him romantically to several actresses and singers including Nanette Fabray
Nanette Fabray
Nanette Fabray is an American actress, comedienne, singer, dancer, and activist. She began her career performing in vaudeville as a child and then became a musical theatre actress during the 1940s and 1950s, winning a Tony Award in 1949 for her performance in Love Life...
, Dorothea Pinto and Joan Judson. Plans for marriage were reported between Block and Mitzi Green
Mitzi Green
Mitzi Green was an American child actress for Paramount and RKO, in the early talkie era...
, and then later Kay Mallah, a showgirl. Green had been a childhood star and in 1941 was attempting to make comeback at age twenty-one. Block, along with Herb Baker
Herbert Baker (screenwriter)
Herbert Baker born Herbert Abrahams in New York City 25 December 1920 died 30 June 1983 of cancer in Encino, California was a songwriter and screenwriter for television and films.- Biography :...
, was writing a Broadway show for her. When Block and Green split, he began seeing Dorothea Pinto, a chorus girl. Pinto once made some news while she was working at the Diamond Horseshoe nightclub in New York and punched one of the club's investors. Pinto appeared as a showgirl in Follow the Girls, which Block wrote. Block once explained he preferred being a bachelor because "wives were too expensive."
On April 22, 1981 Block was seriously burned from a fire in his Chicago apartment. On June 16, 1981, Hal Block died in Edgewater
Edgewater, Chicago
Edgewater is a lakefront community area in the North Side of the city of Chicago, Illinois seven miles north of the Loop. As one of Chicago’s 77 official community areas, Edgewater is bounded by Foster Avenue on the south, Devon Avenue on the north, Ravenswood Avenue on the west, and Lake Michigan...
Hospital, Chicago, as a result of the injuries. He was survived by two sisters.