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1 June 19, 1952

Orson Bean, Louise Albritton, Melville Cooper, Laura Z. Hobson

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.

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”

Early in his broadcasting career, Thomas Garrison Morfit got his professional name as the result of a radio contest. The female listener who came up with ‘Garry Moore’ won a cash prize. Years later, Garry would admit that he lost track of who that woman was but credited her with being a valuable part of his early success. Like many celebrities of the era, Garry continued to use his real last name in his personal life, as did his wife Eleanor(“Nell”).

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”

Shelly is male, and another friend of producer Allan Sherman. The panel ran out of time before they could solve this Secret.
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Topic revision: r1 - 27 Jan 2023, MattOttinger
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