In 1964 Eric & Ernie were appearing at the London Palladium - In the audience was the American Ed Sullivan -
A variety host of huge stature and importance
Ed Sullivan liked Morecambe and Wise.
Over a five year period he booked them for seventeen spots on
The Ed Sullivan Show at $4000 for each one - a show which regularly
had audience viewing figures of over fifty-three million.
The Ed Sullivan Show had been on US TV since 1948.
Every saturday at 8 o'clock on CBS it was an eagerly
anticipated show and Ed could literally make or break acts.
On the first show the duo were billed as a "European act" and then
they were introduced by Ed as 'Morey, Cambey and Wise!!'
In other shows Ed would even call them 'Morton and White' and
'Bartholomew and Wisdom'
Despite making many more appearances on the show, over the next
four years, they never quite made it in the USA. Bob Hope said it was
because Eric talked too fast for the Americans. A very odd statement
when you think of the success of people like Groucho Marx!!
Whilst doing these shows Ed Sullivan took a huge liking for the lads and he really took them under his wing. He took them out to dinner and let them order huge amounts of room service. Sid Hills and Dick Field came over and joined in. They all got sloshed for free!!
Click HERE to download The Ed Sullivan Show theme song (149KB)
