While the first three episodes are presumed lost or destroyed, enough information has been reported in various sources to establish a lot about the debut episode. Right up until the date of this debut, newspaper listings identified reporter Walter Kiernan as a panelist instead of Orson Bean, so Bean must have been a late substitution.
Unidentified female contestant: “My husband
snores”
The
contestant is the wife of a friend of Allan Sherman. Sherman explained in his
autobiography that since the public was not yet familiar with the show and
couldn’t have contacted them in advance with their own secrets, he and the
staff had to call in friends to be the contestants.
Mrs. Thomas G. Morfit from Rye, New York: “I
am Garry Moore’s wife”
The story Garry perpetuated after he hit it big is that he went from Thomas
Garrison Morfit to "Garry Moore" as the result of a radio contest. In truth, he was already performing as Garry Morfit, but became increasingly frustrated at how often his last name would be mispronounced. After one such incident in late 1939, when he was called Mr Morphine on the air, he hinted at a contest to pick a new name. However, it appears that a few weeks later he just lopped off the second syllable on his own, without listener input. Instead, he offered a contest asking listeners why he changed his name. Still, like many celebrities of the era and even today, Garry
continued to use his real name in his personal life, as did his wife
Eleanor (“Nell”). The still here comes from an anniversary show.
A rehearsal shot on the original courtroom set, which only survived this debut episode. Garry at left. original panelist Melville Cooper at right, and we think the contestant in the middle is Shelly Keller.
Special guest Boris Karloff: “I’m afraid of
mice”
Sherman admits
in his autobiography that this Secret was completely made up, a silly
concoction meant to contrast with Karloff’s frightening public image in several
scary roles, notably the monster in Frankenstein (1931). Most of the early celebrity
Secrets were fabricated by Sherman and the staff. Many of them were, as Sherman described this
one, “dull and commonplace and trivial.”
It took years before the staff would realize that the celebrity segment
could be pretty much anything they wanted it to be, opening up worlds of
possibilities.
Shelly Keller from New York City: “I am
wearing a girdle”
Keller is
male, and another friend of producer Allan Sherman. Keller is a barely employed comedy writer here, but would go on to have a successful career. He was part of the writing room for Caesar's Hour (1954-1957), Sid Caesar's follow-up to his landmark variety series Your Show of Shows. Among his colleagues on that show were Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and Larry Gelbart. He also wrote for sitcoms, including two episodes of M*A*S*H, and for variety shows featuring the likes of Frank Sinatra, Carol Channing and Danny Kaye. The panel ran out of time before they could
solve this Secret.
This episode has not been reviewed. Details come from alternate sources. Except where noted, “secrets” are not exact
quotes. Obviously, Mrs Morfit's secret is exact.