358     November 4, 1959
Bill, Bess, Henry, Betsy

All secrets have to do with physical fitness.   

Current Mr. Universe Bruce Randall: “I used to weigh 401 pounds…I lost 218 pounds”                 
Randall poses in trunks during the questioning.  He lost the weight in an astonishing 32 weeks, with barbell training.  The Mr. Universe bodybuilding competitions began as an amateur event in 1948.  Steve Reeves, who later played Hercules and other strongmen in films, was an early competitor and the 1950 champ.  A professional class was added in 1952.  The most famous Mr. Universe winner would be Arnold Schwarzenegger, who won three consecutive titles between 1968 and 1970.   

Erwin Erkfitz from Detroit: “I walked across the United States (3,000 miles – 67 days)” 
Diane Struble from Fort Lauderdale, Florida: “I swam around Manhattan Island (35 miles in 11 hours)” 
Lura Mae Hilliard from Georgia: “I rocked in a rocking chair for 70 hours without stopping”                 
All three are on stage together for quickie one-question-per-panelist secrets.  Erkfitz walked from the Pacific to the Atlantic in 1958, ending his journey on Dave Garroways’ Today show.   Struble accomplished her feat on August 15.  It was so easy for her she had to be talked out of a second lap.  Hilliard outlasted fifteen other contestants at an event and won $250.   

Special Guest Arnold Stang: “I’m going to prove that I can punch my way out of a paper bag” 
The panel has been set up on various pieces of exercise equipment and must perform on them while asking questions.  Committed to the gag of his weakness, Stang fails to accomplish his own task.  Coincidentally, given the nature of this episode, the tiny-framed, bespectacled Stang would later co-star with Mr. Universe Arnold Schwarzenegger (then billed as “Arnold Strong”) in Hercules In New York (1969).