For twenty-three years, "The Ed Sullivan Show" was the popular destination for millions of Americans every Sunday night to be entertained by some of the greatest musical acts of all time on television. It was this program that brought the seductive swagger of Elvis Presley into people's homes and helped jumpstart the British invasion by being the first to introduce The Beatles and other English acts to these shores, creating a heated frenzy amongst teenage girls and helped inspire some young boys to want to play rock & roll when they grew up.
But there was something else that this variety show did that was daring and far-reaching. "The Ed Sullivan Show" would feature African-American musicians performing on the show regularly, at a time when this concept was not widely acceptable. The host fearlessly held firm to his belief of having the best talent on his show despite concerns from the show's producers and threats from sponsors. The riveting Netflix documentary, "Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan", directed by the late Sacha Jenkins, reveals how this television pioneer was responsible for helping to shift the culture by showcasing these incredible artists in a way that revealed not only their prestigious abilities but their humanity.
Born in Harlem at the turn of the 20th century, at a time when the neighborhood was largely made up of Irish, Jewish and Italian immigrants, Sullivan came from a family that loved music; performing, singing and listening. He was also a natural athlete in school, excelling at playing football, baseball, basketball and track. It was around this time when Sullivan played these sports with Black athletes in the area, never believing that were inferior players and always treated them with respect.
Beginning his career as a journalist, Sullivan wrote a sports column for several newspapers throughout the city. While working for the New York Daily News, Sullivan was dispatched to writing a column, "Little Old New York", which focused on gossip involving Broadway shows which he knew very little about at the time. But he would thrive, moving to radio and producing vaudeville shows to become a powerful force in entertainment news.
In 1948, Sullivan was hired to host a weekly television variety show on CBS, "Toast of the Town" on Sunday nights. Critics were not kind and Sullivan himself would admit he was a bit stiff and uncomfortable in those early days as the master of ceremonies. Yet audiences were drawn to him, appreciating him for his average guy appeal and discerning eye for selecting top talent to appear on the program. Officially renamed "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1955, Sullivan brought to the show the very best of classical, rock, country, world and Broadway.
But the focus of "Sunday Best" is the impact the show had for the numerous African-American performers that made appearances from the very beginning. Sullivan first had on performers who had appeared on vaudeville (Pigmeat Markham and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson) and popular entertainers of the day (Louis Armstrong, Pearl Bailey, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis Jr.). He would later have the early appearances of now legendary soul performers (Jackie Wilson, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, James Brown) and virtually every artist who had recorded for Motown, most notably the Supremes who appeared on the show seventeen times. He treated each of these performers like he did with any of his other guests, offering a firm handshake or a kiss on the cheek which was considered highly controversial at the time. Sullivan received plenty of pushback by several Southern CBS affiliates voicing their concerns of having so many Black acts on the show. He always made it very clear that they did not have to air his program if this was a issue for any station. And throughout the entire run of "The Ed Sullivan Show", there were never any cancellations.
Jenkins, who died from complications of multiple system atrophy back in May, has made a brisk and compelling film that highlights the importance of what Sullivan had done by supporting and nurturing these African-American performers. Harry Belafonte, Motown founder, Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson and Dionne Warwick are just a few who share warm remembrances of their time participating on the show. And while Sullivan did have a reputation for being petty and vindictive if he felt that his guests did not follow his guidelines or disrespected him, "Sunday Best" keeps the genial host in a positive light.
Born in Harlem at the turn of the 20th century, at a time when the neighborhood was largely made up of Irish, Jewish and Italian immigrants, Sullivan came from a family that loved music; performing, singing and listening. He was also a natural athlete in school, excelling at playing football, baseball, basketball and track. It was around this time when Sullivan played these sports with Black athletes in the area, never believing that were inferior players and always treated them with respect.
Beginning his career as a journalist, Sullivan wrote a sports column for several newspapers throughout the city. While working for the New York Daily News, Sullivan was dispatched to writing a column, "Little Old New York", which focused on gossip involving Broadway shows which he knew very little about at the time. But he would thrive, moving to radio and producing vaudeville shows to become a powerful force in entertainment news.
In 1948, Sullivan was hired to host a weekly television variety show on CBS, "Toast of the Town" on Sunday nights. Critics were not kind and Sullivan himself would admit he was a bit stiff and uncomfortable in those early days as the master of ceremonies. Yet audiences were drawn to him, appreciating him for his average guy appeal and discerning eye for selecting top talent to appear on the program. Officially renamed "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1955, Sullivan brought to the show the very best of classical, rock, country, world and Broadway.
But the focus of "Sunday Best" is the impact the show had for the numerous African-American performers that made appearances from the very beginning. Sullivan first had on performers who had appeared on vaudeville (Pigmeat Markham and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson) and popular entertainers of the day (Louis Armstrong, Pearl Bailey, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis Jr.). He would later have the early appearances of now legendary soul performers (Jackie Wilson, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, James Brown) and virtually every artist who had recorded for Motown, most notably the Supremes who appeared on the show seventeen times. He treated each of these performers like he did with any of his other guests, offering a firm handshake or a kiss on the cheek which was considered highly controversial at the time. Sullivan received plenty of pushback by several Southern CBS affiliates voicing their concerns of having so many Black acts on the show. He always made it very clear that they did not have to air his program if this was a issue for any station. And throughout the entire run of "The Ed Sullivan Show", there were never any cancellations.
Jenkins, who died from complications of multiple system atrophy back in May, has made a brisk and compelling film that highlights the importance of what Sullivan had done by supporting and nurturing these African-American performers. Harry Belafonte, Motown founder, Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson and Dionne Warwick are just a few who share warm remembrances of their time participating on the show. And while Sullivan did have a reputation for being petty and vindictive if he felt that his guests did not follow his guidelines or disrespected him, "Sunday Best" keeps the genial host in a positive light.
Here are the full performances of sixteen of the artists that appear in the documentary from "The Ed Sullivan Show":
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