Monsieur X: "Je viens d'avoir mon 26eme enfant" and his interpreter Mitchell Leiser: “I just had my 26th
child”
The panel is blindfolded for Heliodore Cyr, who had appeared less than a year ago (
E70) when his brood totaled merely 25. Garry notes that he is the first repeat contestant in the history of the show. (There would eventually be others.) He would appear a third time in 1959 when his family grew yet again (
E342). Cyr is French-Canadian and speaks practically no English. Leiser is the production manager for Goodson-Todman shows and would assist Cyr in all three of his appearances. In addition to his winnings, the show presents Cyr with a freezer stocked with food. An extremely brief clip from this appearance is featured on the fourth anniversary show (
E192).
Billy Kilroy Ramoth from Clifton, New Jersey: “I was Marlon Brando’s stand-in”
Ramoth mentions his last name almost in passing. and Garry refers to him throughout as Kilroy. That's the name he used professionally in his unusual show biz career, and the name he fought under previously as a professional boxer. He was Brando’s body double in the fight scenes for On The Waterfront (1954) and would go on to do fight scenes and serve as a technical
adviser in twelve more films, acting as Paul Newman's double in both Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) and The Hustler (1961). In between his show business gigs, using his real name of William Ramoth, he worked in law enforcement, eventually becoming a deputy in the US Marshals Service.
As if all those careers weren’t enough, he also dabbled in writing
poetry.
Special Guest Lauritz Melchior: “I was a boy soprano…then a baritone…then a
tenor”
During the questioning, the panel is
required to sing their questions in an operatic style. The jovial Melchior is a Danish-born opera singer,
considered one of the greatest tenors of his generation. His career flourished throughout the 1930s
and 1940s as a ‘heldentenor’, a heroic voice typically associated with Wagner
roles. By this point he is semi-retired,
but he would continue to make public appearances, both in person and on
television.