Meet the Beatles: Let’s revisit their first landmark appearance on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’

Susan King
·4 min read
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The Beatles made their first of three appearances on CBS’ “The Ed Sullivan Show” on Feb 9, 1964.  Sullivan knew he had a really big “shew” that night, telling the audience mainly of teeny-boppers and teenage girls that “our theater’s been jammed with newspapermen and hundreds of photographers from all over the world. And these veterans agree with me that the city never has witnessed the excitement stirred by these youngsters from Liverpool…Now tonight you’re going to be twice entertained by them…Ladies and gentlemen, The Beatles.”

Their fans screamed, cried and grabbed their hair when John, Paul, George and Ringo performed “All My Loving,” “Till There Was You” and “She Loves You.” They came back 35 minutes later in the show to sing “I Saw Her Standing There” and their No. 1 hit “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” The ratings for the episode scored to 23.24 million households. Beatlemania was sweeping America before Feb. 9, but after “Sullivan” it became an absolute tsunami.  So much so that on April 4, 1964, the Fab Four had five singles in the top ten Billboard chart: “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Twist and Shout,” “She Loves You, ““I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Please Please Me.” Seven more Beatles tunes were also in the Top 100 tunes that week.

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The Beatles was such a dominant force on the episode people forgets they weren’t the only ones guesting that night. In fact, the rest of the show was standard “Ed Sullivan” with guests running the gamut from acrobats to a number from a hot Broadway musical.

Lionel Bart’s hit Broadway musical “Oliver!” had been running on Broadway for over a year when the cast including Tony nominees Georgia Brown and Davy Jones (two years before “The Monkees”) performed the peppy “I’d Do Anything.” (PetSmart currently uses that song in its commercials. (

Sullivan loved magicians and for this episode he showcased Dutch comic magician Fred Kaps who excelled in card tricks. The Travalanche noted: “As any performer knows, following an act that does really well kills your act. It therefore follows that following an unprecedented sensation is disastrous, On the ‘Sullivan’ show Kaps basically had to perform magic tricks for an audience of 14-year-old girls who were still crying, chattering excitedly with each other, and recovering from their first orgasms as the Fab Four trotted off the stage. It was especially unfortunate for Kaps because it ought to have been one of the biggest nights of his life.”

The laughs were few and far between for married comedy team of Mitzi McCall and Charlie Brill’s routine. Performers knew they had won over Sullivan if he invited them to come over for a handshake or a brief conversation. The couple just stood there after they finished waiting for him to bring them over. He didn’t.

The audience was more enthusiastic for the Australian tumbling group Wells and the Four Fays; Toni Basil and her mother performed with them when they were appearing in Las Vegas.

The larger-than-life and often bawdy entertainer Tessie O’Shea, who was appearing on Broadway in the musical “The Girl Who Came to Supper,” bellowed her way through “I’ve Got Rhythm,” “The Tender Trap” and her hit “Two-Ton Tessie from Tennessee.” She would win the Tony award for “Girl” and played the telephone operator in Norman Jewison’s 1966 hit comedy “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming.”

And actor Frank Gorshin, best remembered for his memorable, Emmy nominated turn as the Riddler on the 1966-68 ABC series “Batman,” was also an acclaimed comic impressionist. Sullivan invited him to do his uncanny impressions of such Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas and even Richard Widmark. And though he was overshadowed by the Beatles, the appearance certainly opened doors for him. Gorshin was soon signed to appear in the 1965 Disney classic “That Darn Cat!” and then came “Batman.” He performed in films, TV and even Broadway up until his death in 2005.

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