# Challenge! Who is the man sitting with all the stars on Johnny Carson? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 30, 2014, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321 "2014-04-30T00:42:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 27
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321/521 "2014-05-06T02:24:03Z")
Has anyone considered that maybe it’s Cecil Adams? ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321/522 "2014-05-06T02:56:32Z")
Here’s a side by side with [Hans Conried.](http://imgcdn.geocaching.com/cache/log/f1c66a11-5cfb-4046-a235-0e0f7e611877.png) ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321/523 "2014-05-06T02:56:36Z")
> [@Bumbershoot](#): > > I would think it would be mentioned on the cover if there were, but I went ahead and asked the question of both sellers. > [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > I don’t know what it was like in 1970, but remember that now days at least the date on the magazine covers is often a month or two in advance of when it goes on the newsstands, particularly the holiday issues. I wouldn’t be surprised if something that happened in November 1970 didn’t make the magazine until the issue dated January 1971 (which was probably mailed to subscribers in December 1970). Maybe even February 1971. > > Sand don’t forget that there were both US and UK editions of Photoplay. I may well be mixing things up at this point, but for the UK version, the June 1971 edition had the 1970 winners: [http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PHOTOPLAY-magazine-June-1971-JOAN-COLLINS-HUMPHREY-BOGART-cover-/160989544849?nma=true&si=ikaG0ZxHj6YyXx2Z1WiN7ow8I8A%253D&orig\_cvip=true&rt=nc&\_trksid=p2047675.l2557](http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PHOTOPLAY-magazine-June-1971-JOAN-COLLINS-HUMPHREY-BOGART-cover-/160989544849?nma=true&si=ikaG0ZxHj6YyXx2Z1WiN7ow8I8A%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557) ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321/524 "2014-05-06T03:08:55Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > Here’s a side by side with [Hans Conried.](http://imgcdn.geocaching.com/cache/log/f1c66a11-5cfb-4046-a235-0e0f7e611877.png) Except Conreid would have been 53 at that time, and he looked like this (from “Make Room for Grandaddy”): [![](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41CCP4wziRL.jpg) ](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41CCP4wziRL.jpg) The picture you posted is from 1953! ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321/525 "2014-05-06T06:26:16Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Psssst…check out post #472. OK, didn’t see that. But that is indeed a YOUNG Jay Sandrich. The photo is of someone at a younger age than the MM. Lighten the hair, take away the mustache and add a few years, and…well, it’s probably still not him. But I would argue the resemblance is at least still a lot closer than many of the guesses put forth by others here. Burt Bacharach??? David Frost??? Come on! I agree with an earlier poster who said a lot of these guesses have to be coming from younger people who have had very limited exposure to the individuals in question. Perhaps only a single photograph…certainly no experience seeing a moving image of them. I don’t know how else to explain the absurdity of some of the guesses. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321/526 "2014-05-06T09:28:22Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > OK, didn’t see that. But that is indeed a YOUNG Jay Sandrich. The photo is of someone at a younger age than the MM. Lighten the hair, take away the mustache and add a few years, and…well, it’s probably still not him. > > But I would argue the resemblance is at least still a lot closer than many of the guesses put forth by others here. Burt Bacharach??? David Frost??? Come on! > > I agree with an earlier poster who said a lot of these guesses have to be coming from younger people who have had very limited exposure to the individuals in question. Perhaps only a single photograph…certainly no experience seeing a moving image of them. I don’t know how else to explain the absurdity of some of the guesses. It’s the other way around, isn’t it? The article I linked to talks about “Soap”, which puts it in the late 70s (the article also mentions he’s in his mid-40s at the time, whereas - given he was born in 1932 - he would’ve been 38 in the MM picture). So you’d have to mentally make the picture I posted _younger_. I agree some of the guesses have been strange, and that it has to be an age thing. ---
**Author:** ![Mithras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mithras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithras)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321/527 "2014-05-06T12:03:50Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I may well be mixing things up at this point, but for the UK version, the June 1971 edition had the 1970 winners: > > [http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PHOTOPLAY-magazine-June-1971-JOAN-COLLINS-HUMPHREY-BOGART-cover-/160989544849?nma=true&si=ikaG0ZxHj6YyXx2Z1WiN7ow8I8A%253D&orig\_cvip=true&rt=nc&\_trksid=p2047675.l2557](http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PHOTOPLAY-magazine-June-1971-JOAN-COLLINS-HUMPHREY-BOGART-cover-/160989544849?nma=true&si=ikaG0ZxHj6YyXx2Z1WiN7ow8I8A%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557) Yeah, but what we’re interested in are the 1969 awards (which were voted on and awarded in 1970). As established a couple pages back, the March 1970 issue had the voting and the June 1970 issue had the results for the 1969 awards. I don’t know why the winners were announced so far in advance of the show, but that’s apparently how it was done. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321/528 "2014-05-06T12:14:26Z")
> [@Mithras](#): > > Yeah, but what we’re interested in are the 1969 awards (which were voted on and awarded in 1970). As established a couple pages back, the March 1970 issue had the voting and the June 1970 issue had the results for the 1969 awards. I don’t know why the winners were announced so far in advance of the show, but that’s apparently how it was done. Oh, sorry, I thought I might be getting that confused; thank you for the clarification. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321/529 "2014-05-06T13:23:12Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > It’s the other way around, isn’t it? The article I linked to talks about “Soap”, which puts it in the late 70s (the article also mentions he’s in his mid-40s at the time, whereas - given he was born in 1932 - he would’ve been 38 in the MM picture). So you’d have to mentally make the picture I posted _younger_ Didn’t actually read the article that accompanied your photo. I guess what I was looking at is that yours depicted a younger Sandrich than the photo of him I linked to earlier. There’s at least a superficial resemblance between my photo and MM…more so than to your photo. Either way, it’s pretty safe to say it’s not him, as I noted. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321/530 "2014-05-06T14:09:04Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > I agree with an earlier poster who said a lot of these guesses have to be coming from younger people who have had very limited exposure to the individuals in question. Perhaps only a single photograph…certainly no experience seeing a moving image of them. I don’t know how else to explain the absurdity of some of the guesses. I too have been dumbfounded at some of the names speculated. I came to the same conclusion as others have, that those of us who saw these people on television often in many circumstances back in the 1960s have a mental map of that person that is deeper and more accurate than internet photos can ever be. The brain is an amazing organ. Regrettably, I have no idea who the unidentified person in the photo really is. He looks familiar but I can’t come up with a name that makes any sense. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321/531 "2014-05-06T14:53:10Z")
> [@Algernon](#): > > The brain is an amazing organ. It’s my second favorite! But you are right, once you’ve really imprinted someone from seeing them in motion, it’s tough to mistake them. My obsession with F Troop in my youth lets me know it’s NOT Forrest Tucker with a glance. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321/532 "2014-05-06T15:52:46Z")
It’s very odd that every database for either television, NBC, or the Tonight Show, is blank for 11-11-1970, which is supposedly when this aired. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321/533 "2014-05-06T15:56:47Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > It’s my second favorite! Woody, is that you? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321/534 "2014-05-06T15:57:53Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > It’s very odd that every database for either television, NBC, or the Tonight Show, is blank for 11-11-1970, which is supposedly when this aired. Can you find that for the 10th or the 12th? ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321/535 "2014-05-06T15:59:13Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Except Conreid would have been 53 at that time, and he looked like this (from “Make Room for Grandaddy”): > > [http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41CCP4wziRL.jpg](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41CCP4wziRL.jpg) Yes, with a wig and false mustache. Got a photo of him without his Uncle Tonoose makeup? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321/536 "2014-05-06T16:08:58Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > Yes, with a wig and false mustache. Got a photo of him without his Uncle Tonoose makeup? How about [1969](http://www.ebay.com/itm/1969-Hans-Conried-Actor-Comedian-Radio-Stage-TV-Voice-Actor-Wire-Photo-/300605406283)? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321/537 "2014-05-06T16:12:32Z")
And [1970](http://www.ebay.ie/itm/1970-Actors-William-Ryan-Ron-Rosenthal-Hans-Conried-Wire-Photo-/290774296825). ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321/538 "2014-05-06T16:20:29Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Can you find that for the 10th or the 12th? [November, 1970](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Tonight_Show_Starring_Johnny_Carson_episodes_%281970%29#November). Burt Bacharach guest-hosted on the 10th. Joe Namath guest-hosted on the 9th, although, from what I have learned over the last two days, there was always a guest-host on Monday. On Thursday, the 12th, it looks like a typical show. IMDb says the Carpenters were guests on the 13th, information missing from the Wiki page. IMDb & Wiki check on the info about the guests on the 10th, but IMDb neglects to mention Bacharach as the guest host. [Here’s the relevant IMDb page](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055708/episodes?year=1970). ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321/539 "2014-05-06T16:27:31Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > [November, 1970](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Tonight_Show_Starring_Johnny_Carson_episodes_%281970%29#November). > > Burt Bacharach guest-hosted on the 10th. Joe Namath guest-hosted on the 9th, although, from what I have learned over the last two days, there was always a guest-host on Monday. On Thursday, the 12th, it looks like a typical show. IMDb says the Carpenters were guests on the 13th, information missing from the Wiki page. IMDb & Wiki check on the info about the guests on the 10th, but IMDb neglects to mention Bacharach as the guest host. [Here’s the relevant IMDb page](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055708/episodes?year=1970). Ah, I see. To be fair, days in other months are also missing any episode information. This is beginning to remind me of those books you could buy in the 70s that had wicked difficult puzzles that you would try for weeks to solve in the hope of winning a million dollars, but eventually you gave up. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321/540 "2014-05-06T17:19:52Z")
If we actually do hear back from Carol Burnett or Marlo Thomas (I have my doubts) it’ll probably turn out not to be a celebrity. It’ll be either a rep of John Wayne, or a writer or other behind-the-scenes person from the show. Or the editor-in-chief of _Photoplay_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321.md?page=26) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-who-is-the-man-sitting-with-all-the-stars-on-johnny-carson/687321.md?page=28)