Arthur Godfrey

== Behind the scenes ==
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When the Godfrey show began appearing on television, some Southern CBS affiliates objected to the Mariners barbershop quartet. This group of four [[US Coast Guard]] veterans included two whites and two blacks. Godfrey resisted criticism from network affiliates in Southern states and struck back. He noted that black and white troops were serving together in the [[Korean War]], and he attacked critics including Democratic Georgia Governor [[Herman Talmadge]]. Godfrey's opposition to racial discrimination was longstanding, alluded to on his broadcasts.

According to several people who worked either for or closely with Godfrey, behind his on-air warmth and benevolent image was a volatile, egomaniacal and controlling personality. He insisted that his "Little Godfreys" all attend dance and singing classes, believing they should be versatile performers regardless whether they possessed the aptitude for those disciplines. In meetings with his staff and cast, he could be abusive, sarcastic and intimidating. CBS historian Robert Metz, in ''CBS: Reflections in a Bloodshot Eye'', quoted Godfrey as having once told cast and staffers, "Remember that many of you are here over the bodies I have personally slain. I have done it before and I can do it again." Julius La Rosa claimed in an interview with writer Gene Lees it occurred during what were referred to as Wednesday night “prayer meetings” held after that night’s show to start preparing for the next week’s. Godfrey also demanded, though there was no contractual requirement, that his cast members refrain from hiring personal managers or booking agents. He insisted his staff could handle all of that. Given the rise of the "Little Godfreys" from total obscurity due to their exposure on Godfrey's popular programs, no one felt inclined to challenge him. Despite his ability to bring in huge profits to the network, most CBS executives who respected Godfrey professionally disliked him personally, since he often baited them on and off the air, occasionally by name, even including CBS chairman [[William S. Paley]].

Godfrey's attitude was controlling before his hiatus for hip surgery, but upon his return, he added more air time to his morning shows and became critical of a number of aspects of the broadcasts. One night, he substituted a shortened, hastily arranged version of his Wednesday night variety show in place of the scheduled "Talent Scouts" segment, feeling that none of the talent that evening was up to his standards. He also began casting a critical eye on others in his cast, particularly La Rosa, whose popularity continued to grow.

===La Rosa incident===
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Like many men of his generation, Julius La Rosa, as well as other male Godfrey cast members, thought dance lessons to be somewhat [[effeminate]] and bristled when Godfrey ordered them for his entire performing crew. CBS historian Robert Metz suggested that Godfrey had instituted the practice because his own physical limitations made him sensitive to the need for [[Motor coordination|physical coordination]] on camera. "Godfrey", Metz wrote, "was concerned about his cast in his paternalistic way".

Godfrey and La Rosa had a dispute in the fall of 1953, when La Rosa, the most popular of the "Little Godfreys", missed a dance lesson due to a "family emergency". He claimed he had advised Godfrey, but was nonetheless barred, via a notice placed on a cast bulletin board, from appearing on the show for a day in retaliation. La Rosa went to Godfrey's hotel and attempted to discuss the incident, but after being rebuffed by Godfrey's assistants, he waited in the lobby. When Godfrey came into the lobby, he reportedly walked past La Rosa as if he wasn't there and refused to talk with him. At that point, La Rosa, whose success on records had brought interest from top show business managers and agents, retained manager Tommy Rockwell to renegotiate his contract with Godfrey or, failing that, to receive an outright release; however, such talks had yet to occur.
[[File:Julius La Rosa 1955.JPG|left|thumb|upright=1.0|Julius La Rosa]]

La Rosa was also signed to [[Cadence Records]], founded by Godfrey's musical director [[Archie Bleyer]], who produced "[[Eh, Cumpari!]]", the best-selling record of La Rosa's musical career. La Rosa later admitted the record's success had made him a little cocky. Godfrey discovered that La Rosa had hired Rockwell in the wake of the dance lesson reprimand, when he received a letter from Rockwell, dictating that all future dealings with La Rosa would be handled through [[General Artists Corporation]], Rockwell's agency. At that point, Godfrey immediately consulted with CBS President Dr. [[Frank Stanton (executive)|Frank Stanton]], who noted that Godfrey had hired La Rosa on the air and suggested firing him the same way. Whether Stanton intended this to occur after Godfrey spoke with La Rosa and his manager about the singer's future on the program, or whether Stanton suggested Godfrey actually fire La Rosa on air without warning, is unknown. Soon after the firings, Stanton conceded "maybe this was a mistake".

On October 19, 1953, near the end of his morning radio show&nbsp;– deliberately waiting until ''after'' the television portion had ended&nbsp;– after lavishing praise on La Rosa in introducing the singer's performance of "[[Manhattan (song)|Manhattan]]", Godfrey thanked him and then announced that this was La Rosa's "[[swan song]]" with the show, adding, "He goes now, out on his own&nbsp;– as his own star&nbsp;– soon to be seen on his own programs, and I know you'll wish him godspeed as much as I do". Godfrey then signed off for the day, saying, "This is the CBS Radio Network". La Rosa, who did not know what the phrase "swan song" meant, was incredulous when told he had just been fired, since he had not been informed beforehand of his termination, and contract renegotiations had not yet taken place. In perhaps a further illumination of the ego that Godfrey had previously kept hidden, radio historian [[Gerald Nachman (journalist)|Gerald Nachman]], in ''Raised on Radio'', claims that what truly angered Godfrey about his now-former protegé was that La Rosa's [[fan mail]] had come to exceed Godfrey's.<ref name=PoTPBS>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/pioneers-of-television/|title=Pioneers of Television|website=Pbs.org|access-date=June 21, 2023}}</ref> It is probable that a combination of these factors led to Godfrey's decision to discharge La Rosa. Godfrey very likely did not expect the public backlash that followed, a result of the incident running directly counter to Godfrey's solicitous, paternal image.

The La Rosa incident was the beginning of an era of controversy that enveloped Godfrey, gradually destroyed his folksy image, and diminished his popularity. La Rosa's was not, however, the only firing that day. Godfrey also fired Archie Bleyer. In 1952, Bleyer had formed his own record label, [[Cadence Records]], which had a contract with La Rosa; Bleyer also married Janet Ertel of The Chordettes. The focus of Godfrey's anger was the fact that Bleyer, while on hiatus from the show, had produced a spoken-word record by Godfrey's Chicago counterpart [[Don McNeill (performer)|Don McNeill]] to be issued by Cadence. McNeill hosted ''[[Don McNeill's Breakfast Club|The Breakfast Club]]'', which had been Godfrey's direct competition on the [[NBC]] [[Blue Network]] (later [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]) since Godfrey's days at WJSV. Despite the far more modest following of the McNeill show, Godfrey was unduly offended, even paranoid, at what he felt was disloyalty on Bleyer's part. According to Godfrey, a meeting between Bleyer and Godfrey immediately following La Rosa's dismissal, revealing Bleyer was unconcerned about the matter. He claimed Bleyer simply shrugged off the dismissal and focused on developing Cadence, which found significant success with hit records by the [[Everly Brothers]] and [[Andy Williams]]. Bleyer himself never commented publicly on the rift with Godfrey.

La Rosa, on the other hand, was beloved enough by Godfrey's fans that they saved their harshest criticism for Godfrey himself. After the firing, a conference was held by La Rosa and his agent. On October 21, with public animosity towards Godfrey steadily rising, Godfrey further complicated the matter at a press conference of his own where he announced the firing of La Rosa and Bleyer, citing their "outside activities". While praising La Rosa, Godfrey added he felt that La Rosa had lost his "humility". The charge, given Godfrey's sudden baring of his own ego beneath the façade of warmth, brought anger, mockery, and a significant backlash from both the press and public.<ref name=PoTPBS/> Almost instantly, Godfrey and the phrase "no humility" became the butt of many comedians' jokes. 

In November 1953 singer-songwriter [[Ruth Wallis]], renowned for her ''[[double-entendre]]'' "party records", wrote and recorded a topical novelty song, "Dear Mr. Godfrey", with the pointed lyric "hire me and fire me and make a star of me." The record, self-published by Wallis, was an immediate sensation, selling more than 100,000 copies during its first 10 days of release, and launching Wallis on a whirlwind nightclub tour later that same month.<ref>''Variety'', "'Godfrey' Disk Sales Hum; Ruth Wallis Cafe Dates", Nov. 18, 1953, p. 51.</ref>

Godfrey later claimed he had given La Rosa a release from his contract that the singer had personally requested. Godfrey, however, provided no evidence to support that contention.

===The firings continue===
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After his 1953 hospitalization broke his smoking habit, he had concluded that smoking was not beneficial and very likely harmful, a total reverse from his earlier commercials. His once-friendly rapport with the Liggett & Myers tobacco company ended as he spoke out on the air against smoking. The Teterboro Airport incident in January 1954 kept Godfrey's image negative in the media. 

Godfrey subsequently fired other producers, writers, and cast members including [[Marion Marlowe]], [[Lu Ann Simms]], Haleloke, and [[The Mariners (vocal group)|The Mariners]]. The integrated quartet (two members of the foursome were African-American) believed Godfrey had acceded to continued criticism from CBS affiliates in the South over the group's presence on the show.{{citation needed|date=January 2016}} [[Pat Boone]] and [[Carmel Quinn]] joined the cast for a time. But any thoughts of Godfrey curtailing the fired cast members' network-television exposure backfired somewhat when they continued to perform for Godfrey's substitute host, [[Robert Q. Lewis]], who now had his own afternoon show on CBS.

Occasionally, Godfrey snapped at cast members on the air, including Tony Marvin. Other performers, most notably [[Pat Boone]] and, briefly, [[Patsy Cline]], stepped in as "Little Godfreys". Cline, who had won top honors for her appearance on ''Talent Scouts'', declined to become a regular, confining her appearances to a few guest spots. Eventually, Godfrey did away with any regular cast except Marvin, bringing in performers for a stipulated period of time and, if they did well with his audiences, bringing them back at various times.

Godfrey's problems with the media and public feuds with newspaper columnists, such as [[Jack O'Brian]] and newspaperman turned CBS variety show host [[Ed Sullivan]], were duly documented by the media, which began running critical exposé articles linking Godfrey to affairs with several female "Little Godfreys". Godfrey's anger at Sullivan stemmed from the variety show impresario's featuring fired "Little Godfreys" on his Sunday night program, including La Rosa. Godfrey later dismissed long-time vocalist [[Frank Parker (singer)|Frank Parker]], an Italian-American known for his Irish tenor. Godfrey had been told Parker made jokes about him during a Las Vegas appearance.

===In popular culture===
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As the media turned on Godfrey, two films, ''[[The Great Man]]'' (1956) starring [[José Ferrer]], who also directed and produced, and Elia Kazan's ''[[A Face in the Crowd (film)|A Face in the Crowd]]'' (1957) starring [[Andy Griffith]] and [[Patricia Neal]], were inspired in part by Godfrey's increasingly controversial career:
*''The Great Man'', adapted from a novel by TV writer Al Morgan, centered on a tribute broadcast for Herb Fuller, a Godfrey-like figure killed in a car crash whose genial public demeanor concealed a dissolute phony. Various parallels to Godfrey's life could be seen in the film, from his affair with the show's girl singer to his dicey relationship with the show's bandleader. The term "The Fuller Family" was a direct play off "The Little Godfreys".
*''A Face in the Crowd'' creator [[Budd Schulberg]] maintained his story was actually inspired by contrasts between the public image and private personality of [[Will Rogers|Will Rogers, Sr.]] Also, the film's protagonist, Lonesome Rhodes, with his combination of country singing and country storytelling, superficially resembled popular singer and network TV host [[Tennessee Ernie Ford]]. Nonetheless, prominent elements of the film, including the scenes when Rhodes (played by Andy Griffith) spoofed a mattress commercial on a TV show he was hosting in [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]], were clearly Godfrey-inspired. The research by Kazan and Schulberg included attending an advertising agency meeting about Lipton Tea.

Godfrey was a frequent target for parody:
*Actor and comedian [[Art Carney]], whose celebrity impersonations were part of his comic repertoire, frequently parodied Godfrey, singing one of his signature tunes "Candy and Cake" and imitating his laugh. 
*As early as 1949, comedians [[Bob and Ray]] presented an obvious parody with the character of Arthur Sturdley (voiced by [[Bob Elliott (comedian)|Bob Elliott]]) who, in plummy, folksy tones, constantly ragged his announcer Tony ([[Ray Goulding]], imitating Godfrey's announcer Tony Marvin). Tony, meanwhile, would incessantly answer every question with "That's right, Arthur!" In the 1969 film ''[[Cold Turkey (1971 film)|Cold Turkey]]'', Ray (not Bob) played another parody of Godfrey, this time as folksy radio announcer "Arthur Lordly".
*Satirist [[Stan Freberg]] picked up on Bob and Ray's use of the catchphrase "That's right, Arthur", and recorded a barbed spoof of Godfrey's show. "That's Right, Arthur" depicted the star as a rambling, self-absorbed motormouth and his longtime announcer (Tony Marvin, portrayed by voice actor [[Daws Butler]]) as a yes-man, responding "That's right, Arthur" to every vapid Godfrey pronouncement. Freberg's label [[Capitol Records]], fearing legal problems and noting objections from Godfrey's attorney, refused to release it, to Freberg's annoyance. The recording was finally issued in a 1990s Freberg career retrospective CD box set.
*Comedian [[Jerry Lester]] mocked him as "Arthur Clodfrey".
*The [[Joy Boys]] performed a similar satire of Godfrey on their radio show, calling their fellow Washingtonian "Arthur Codfish".

Godfrey appeared on many major magazine covers including ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'', ''[[Look (American magazine)|Look]]'', ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', and more than a dozen ''[[TV Guide]]'' covers. He was also the first man to make the cover of ''[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]]'' magazine. Despite his ''faux pas'', Godfrey still commanded a strong presence and a loyal fan base. ''Talent Scouts'' lasted until 1958.

===Allegations of anti-Semitism===
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Accusations of anti-Semitism shadowed Godfrey during the height of his career and continue to persist. [[Eddie Fisher]], in his autobiography, ''Been There, Done That'', discusses the rumor:

{{blockquote|One of the best-known anti-Semites in show business was Arthur Godfrey, the host of radio's most important amateur talent contest. Godfrey owned the Kenilworth Hotel in Florida, which supposedly had a sign in front that read NO DOGS OR JEWS ALLOWED. But when I got the opportunity to appear on Talent Scouts, I leaped at it. I didn't care that Godfrey wouldn't let me in his hotel as long as he let me sing on his radio show.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fisher |first=Eddie |title=Been There, Done That |page=11 |isbn= 9780312975586 |publisher=St. Martin’s Press |year=2000}}</ref>}}

Arthur J. Singer, author of ''Arthur Godfrey: The Adventures of an American Broadcaster'' (2000), rejects this accusation, citing Godfrey's good personal relations with a number of Jews in the entertainment industry, including his longtime announcer Tony Marvin. As for Godfrey's association with the Kenilworth, the hotel did establish a "No Jews" policy in the 1920s, but abandoned it when Godfrey acquired a stake in the hotel in the early 1950s. In the eyes of the public, the increasingly negative, and largely self-inflicted publicity Godfrey, despite his ongoing popularity, had generated since 1953 no doubt added credence to the accusations. In fact Godfrey was only a part-owner of the hotel and insisted that when he took that stake, he ''ended'' any discriminatory policies that existed. Further undermining Fisher's account, he appeared on ''Talent Scouts'' years before Godfrey purchased a part interest in the Kenilworth.

[[Dick Cavett]], in an opinion piece for the ''New York Times'' (July 16, 2010), calls the accusations of anti-Semitism "...purest nonsense".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/more-of-our-man-godfrey |title=More of Our Man Godfrey |publisher=The New York Times opinion |first=Dick |last=Cavett |author-link=Dick Cavett |date=July 16, 2010 |access-date=November 8, 2011}}</ref>