651     May 30, 1966 (Taped May 23)
Betsy, Bill, Bess, Henry

Sol Yaged from Brooklyn: I taught Steve Allen to play the clarinet,” Terry Gibbs from Canoga Park, California: “I taught Steve Allen to play the xylophone and vibes” and Sister Mary Regina from La Grange, Illinois: “I taught Steve Allen to play the piano”                   
Yaged and Gibbs are well-known jazz musicians.  Yaged served as a consultant when Steve starred in The Benny Goodman Story (1956).  Gibbs made frequent appearances on Steve’s variety programs. Sister Mary was his childhood instructor.  Steve performs with Yaged and Gibbs, and members of the Norman Paris band.    

Joe King from Winston-Salem, North Carolina displays a huge 22x25 foot painting: “This is only part of the painting…the entire painting is longer than a football field” 
The canvas is one part of The Battle of Gettysburg (1883), a cyclorama painting of Pickett’s Charge designed to immerse the viewer in a panoramic 360 degree view of the subject.   The full work measures 70x410 feet.  The original version, painted by a team led by French artist Paul Philippoteaux, was commissioned by Chicago businessmen and displayed at the 1893 World’s Fair there.  Philippoteaux would oversee three more versions for Boston, New York and Philadelphia.  Only the Boston version survives intact, and is currently on display in Gettysburg.  King believes he owns the original Chicago version, though today art historians have determined that his copy is a faithful reproduction of the original, featuring artists who worked with Philippoteaux but were not overseen by him this time.  King’s version is today owned by the North Carolina Civil War and Reconstruction History Center.  It has seldom been displayed in public.     

Special guest Shelley Winters asks questions of the panel and Steve, such as ‘how many have taken acting lessons’ or ‘how many have spent a night in jail’, and they all guess how many of them have done it.  Winters has just won her second Academy Award for A Patch of Blue (1965) and will soon be seen in Alfie (1966).  Jayne Meadows would play the same game with the panel later (E680).