The information that this is related to the Photoplay Awards is adding to the confusion, given that most sources indicate that 1968 was the last year in which they were given:
(and others)
I looked for “50th (and fiftieth) anniversary” and “Photoplay” and got only mentions of the fiftieth anniversary of the magazine (which would have been 1960 or 1961).
I don’t think it’s Kerr, but you need to realize, what you’re saying, that the man is less than six foot tall, isn’t a fact. It’s something you guessed, based on a seated photograph.
Photoplay awards continued into the late 70’s. If not a lot of celebrities are taking credit for winning such awards well past 1968.
Link to pic from 1978 Photoplay awards: Photoplay Awards - 10/23/78, In 1971, executive producer Aaron... News Photo - Getty Images
NM
Looks like Bob Saget to me.
That’s all I got.
mmm
Okay, granted, there were Photoplay Awards in 1978. But search “1970 Photoplay Awards”…what do you get?
Even a search for the 1978 event you linked to provides only sketchy information. According to this sales page for a VHS of that event:
No idea why he would be in the pic, but to me he looks like Ed Flanders, maybe best known as Dr. Westphal on St. Elsewhere.
Hard to find a contemporary image, but it is starting to look to me like Gene Reynolds, the Room 222 producer. The smile lines match up in pictures where he is older.
Wikipedia lists many years of Carson shows and guests. Nov. 11, 1970 is blank.
IMDb lists individual shows and guests for each, too. (Warning: the page is HUGE.)
But a search of each of the identifiable people reveals no list on which all appear. So:
…Clearly this is all a prank. The photo has been skillfully constructed from several (and my compliments to the Photoshopper!) The date was chosen randomly; the “1970 Photoplay Awards” hint is bogus.
The mysterious man is the prankster’s Uncle Louie…SOLVED!!!
Well, I’m about done looking for an answer to this. The more I look, the more this thread pops up.
It’s a tail-chaser!
I gotta say this kind of makes sense.
Check the eyes. If you look at the identified guests, especially Robert Young, on the far right, they all appear to be looking past mystery man to Johnny at the desk just outside the picture. Mystery man is sort of looking toward the guests but does not appear to be making eye contact with anyone.
Those of us who were around then and watched the talk and variety shows easily identified all of the other guests, but we can’t identify this guy. So clearly he’s not a talk show regular of the time. He might be a non-celebrity who got an award for something.
I like the theory that he seems to have been added in to the picture afterwards, maybe in a photo lab before the days of Photoshop, and that this was a family gag gift-- “Oh look at Uncle Louie on the Tonight Show!” Except without Johnny how do we know for sure this was the Tonight Show. Yeah, Ed’s there, but Ed would go anywhere for a buck, am I right?
P.S. Look at MM’s right leg-- is he wearing a riding bootwith a brown band around the top just under the knee? But just on his right foot/leg?
He does seem to have eye contact with Carol Burnett. Maybe because he’s her husband, Joe Hamilton.
Ooh creepy theories. Maybe it’s Bruce Willis? 
Yep, and the first was, presumably, the 50th annual one, which was in 1971, presented on the *Glen Campbell Funtime Happy Hour *or whatever his variety show was called. But just because this annual award event was only telecast as a special twice doesn’t mean that an annual award event itself wasn’t presented.
Notice that “annual” part? Things aren’t called “annual” unless they happen every year. The word’s funny like that.
(BTW, Danny Thomas didn’t win an Emmy in either 1970 or 1971. I guess he could’ve been hanging out with his daughter, of course.)
I agree that’s really weird. But what’re we gonna believe, a bizarrely blank Wikipedia entry (edited by highly fallible people) or multiple actual 11/11/1970 newspaper listings and TV Guide listing for the week of November 7, 1970, all of which have those guests scheduled for that night?
I’m not signing up for Newspapers.com, but if anyone does have an account, other papers with this reference include:
Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY, Nov 11, 1970)
Independent Press-Telegram (Los Angeles, Nov 8, 1970)
Bridgeport Post (Oct 30, 1970) - I like this one, the blurb I can see in Google says "11 will be the Photoplay’ “Magazine Awards. Guests on this colorcast include John Wayne, Danny Thomas Mario Thomas, Karen Valentine Carol Burnett, James Brolin, Robert Young, Bette Davis and Glen Campbell.” Colorcast! Still something to boast about.
Daily Kennebec Journal (Augusta, ME, Nov 11, 1970) - This one is from NewspaperArchive.com, but they offer an OCR text version that gives the blurb as: “10 p.m Tonight Show Tonight’s program originates from California featuring the Photoplay Magazine Awards with John Wayne, Danny Thomas, Mario Thomas, Karen Valentine. Carol Burnett, James Brolin, Robert Young, and Glen Campbell.”
My guess is that the biggest stars–John Wayne and Bette Davis–didn’t show up, and this extra guy did. Whoever he is. Or… whatever he is… :eek:
Edited to fix code and add: Joe Hamilton has straight hair and doesn’t look like the guy. And why would he get the best seat in the house?
Well, this has driven me over the edge. I’ve sent a Facebook message to Marlo Thomas. We’ll see if she responds.
StG
T’ain’t Ted Bessel neither.
Maybe not. But it’s a million times closer to Bessell than Klugman.
Looks like Rich Little to me.
He’s become like a Rorschach test. Everyone sees a different person.
Producer. Has to be a producer. Otherwise how could so many people not only not recognize him but be so totally wrong with each try?
That’s possible. Or maybe a director or musician.
