If you were on The Ed Sullivan Show, you had arrived. The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Van Cliburn, Lucille Ball, Bing Crosby — a legendary list of luminaries spanned an incredible range of pop culture, from puppets, dancing bears and spinning plates to Broadway, opera, classical music and ballet. Even newsmakers like Cuba's Fidel Castro showed up as guests on the show, which ran from 1948 to 1971.
Bernie Ilson was Ed Sullivan's press representative in the 1960s, and host Liane Hansen speaks with him about his new book, Sundays with Sullivan: How the Ed Sullivan Show Brought Elvis, the Beatles, and Culture to America.
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