Wikipedia

Clifton Fadiman

Clifton Paul"Kip"Fadiman(May 15, 1904 – June 20, 1999) was an American intellectual, author, editor, and radio and television personality. He began his work in radio, and switched to television later in his career.

Clifton Fadiman
Born
Clifton Paul Fadiman

May 15, 1904
New York City, US
DiedJune 20, 1999(1999-06-20)(aged 95)
Sanibel, Florida,US
Alma materColumbia University
Occupation(s)Intellectual, author, editor, radio and television personality
Years active1927–1998
Employer(s)Simon & Schuster,New Yorker
Known forInformation, Please!(radio)
Notable workLifetime Reading Plan,The Mathematical Magpie,Fantasia Mathematica(books)
TelevisionThis Is Show Business,The Name's the Same
Spouses
  • Pauline Rush
    ​
    ​
    (m.1927;div.1949)​
  • ​
    (m.1950)​
Children3, includingAnne Fadiman
RelativesBoris Sidis(uncle)
William James Sidis(cousin)
AwardsMedal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters

Background

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Born inBrooklyn,[1]New York,Fadiman was a nephew of the émigré Ukrainian psychologistBoris Sidisand a first cousin of thechild prodigyWilliam James Sidis.[2]Fadiman grew up in Brooklyn. His mother worked as a nurse; his father, Isadore, immigrated from Russian empire in 1892 and worked as a druggist.[3]

Fadiman attended Columbia College atColumbia University.One of his teachers was lifelong friendMark Van Doren;his undergraduate contemporaries includedJacques Barzun,Mortimer Adler,Lionel Trilling,Herbert Solow,Arthur F. Burns,Frank S. Hogan,Louis Zukofsky,andWhittaker Chambers.Although he entered with the Class of 1924, his graduation was delayed until 1925 because of financial constraints.[3]Chambers clearly includes Fadiman in a group ofernste Menschen[ "serious people" ], whose ability to attend Columbia he attributes to "a struggle with a warping poverty impossible for those who have not glimpsed it to imagine it."[4]He graduatedPhi Beta Kappa.[1]Fadiman had ambitions to become a scholar, but at graduation, the chairman of the English Department told him, "We have room for only one Jew, and we have chosen Mr. Trilling."[5]

Career

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After graduation from Columbia, Fadiman taught English at theEthical Culture High School(now known as the "Fieldston School" ) in the Bronx from 1925 to 1927.[3]

Literature

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In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Fadiman worked forSimon & Schuster,ending as its chief editor. At his interview withMax Schuster(a fellow alumnus of Columbia), Fadiman pulled out a folder with a hundred ideas for books. Among Fadiman's original one hundred was to turnRobert Ripley's newspaper cartoon,Believe it or Not!into book form. The series has gone on to sell over 30 million copies.[6]While at Simon & Schuster, he started the translation career ofWhittaker Chambersby having him translateBambifrom German:

My college friend, Clifton Fadiman, was then [circa 1927–1928] a reader at Simon and Schuster, the New York book publishers. He offered to let me try my hand at translating a little German book. It was about a deer named Bambi and was written by an Austrian, of whom I had never heard, namedFelix Salten... Bambi was an instant success, and I suddenly found myself an established translator.[7]

In 1932, Fadiman wrote "How I Came to Communism: Symposium" for theNew Masses(shortly after Chambers left the magazine to begin his underground career), in which he wrote: "History–mainly in the form of the crisis–became my teacher while I was still young enough to learn."[8]

Fadiman then took charge ofThe New Yorker'sbook review section, 1933–1943. He becameemceefor theNational Book Awardceremonies in 1938 and 1939, at least, and again when thoseliterary awardsby the American book industry were re-inaugurated in 1950.[9][10]The awards were inaugurated May 1936, conferred annually through 1942 (publication years 1935 to 1941), and re-inaugurated March 1950 (publication year 1949). Fadiman became a judge for theBook of the Month Clubin 1944. In the 1970s, he was also senior editor ofCricketmagazine, where he wrote the book review column for children, "Cricket's Bookshelf".

Radio

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While still at theNew Yorker,Fadiman became well known on radio, where he hosted a well known and popularquiz show,Information, Please!from May 1938 to June 1948. A regular trio of pundits,Franklin P. Adams,John KieranandOscar Levant,plus one guest expert, conducted each session with erudite charm and good-natured wordplay under Fadiman's nimble control. (GuestJohn Gunther's mention of the then-current Iranian potentate prompted Fadiman to ask, "Are you shah of that?", to which Gunther quipped, "Why, sultanly!" ) Fadiman also made frequent appearances on theMetropolitan Opera radio broadcastsfrom 1949 to 1960. During the intermission segments he would discuss the opera being broadcast and interview famous opera singers.

Television

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Fadiman (right) withSam Levenson,Jack BennyandGeorge S. Kaufman(1952)

In 1952,Information Please!was briefly revived forCBS Televisionas a 13-week summer replacement for the musical variety programThe Fred Waring Show.During that June–September period, devoted fans of the departed radio program could finally not only hear, but also see Fadiman, Adams, and Kieran in action. His longest-lasting TV program wasThis Is Show Business,which ran on CBS from July 15, 1949, to March 9, 1954. CalledThis Is Broadwayduring the first four months of its run, the show mixed song, dance, and other musical entertainment, with information. Host Fadiman, celebrity guest panelists, and regular raconteurs/intellectuals Kaufman,Abe Burrows,andSam Levensoncommented on the musical performers and chatted with them. In late September 1951,This Is Show Businessbecame the first regular CBS Television series to be broadcast live from coast-to-coast. The continuing need in 1950s TV for summer series to replace live variety shows likewise brought this show back in 1956 for a 12-week period (June 26 – September 11). Fadiman and Burrows returned along with new panelistsWalter Slezakand actressJacqueline Susann,the future author ofValley of the Dolls.Susann's husband, TV executiveIrving Mansfield,produced the 1956 revival forNBC television.

Fadiman was also the last master of ceremonies to host theABC-TVgame showThe Name's the Same.After the departure of original hostRobert Q. Lewis,who had presided for three years, producersMark GoodsonandBill Todmanhired different hosts for the final 39-episode cycle:Dennis Jamesfor 18 weeks, thenBob and Rayfor 10 weeks, and then Fadiman for the remaining 11 weeks. The series, broadcast live, featured namesakes of celebrities and other "famous names". On August 16, 1955, when a woman contestant was discovered to be "Hope Diamond", Fadiman personally orchestrated an astounding surprise: he arranged for thereal45 carats (9.0 g)Hope Diamondto be displayed to the amazed panelists and the national television audience. A low point for Fadiman was on the same episode, when he insultedChico Marxand asked "Are you working, or are you still living on Groucho's money?", leaving Chico humiliated.[1]

Fadiman filled in forWhat's My Line?hostJohn Charles Dalyfor two weeks in 1958 when Daly was on assignment in Tokyo.

Influence

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Fadiman in 1973

Fadiman's witticisms and sayings were frequently printed in newspapers and magazines. "When you reread a classic, you do not see more in the book than you did before, you see more in you than there was before", was one of the better known. OfStendhal,Fadiman wrote, "He has no grace, little charm, less humor... [and] is not really a good storyteller". With the advent of TV, Fadiman gained in popularity, quickly establishing himself as an all-purpose, highly knowledgeable guest and host. At ease in front of the TV camera and experienced from his years in radio, he frequently appeared on talk shows and hosted a number of upscale quiz programs.

Fadiman became a prime example of the "witty intellectual" type popular on television in the 1950s.John Charles Daly,Bennett Cerf,George S. Kaufman,Alexander King,and a number of other television celebrities personified, along with Fadiman, the highly educated, elegant, patrician raconteurs and pundits regarded by TV executives of that era as appealing to the upper-class owners of expensive early TV sets.

Awards

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Fadiman received theMedal for Distinguished Contribution to American Lettersfrom theNational Book Foundation.[11]

Personal life

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Fadiman's first marriage was in 1927 to Pauline Elizabeth Rush, with whom he had a son, Jonathan Rush. They divorced in 1949. His second marriage was in 1950 toAnnalee Jacoby,aka Annalee Fadiman, an author, screenwriter forMGMandWorld War IIforeign correspondent forTimeandLife.As a widow, she later used the name Annalee Jacoby Fadiman.[12]She co-wroteThunder Out of ChinawithTheodore H. White(1946). Clifton and Annalee had a son, Kim Fadiman, and a daughter, writerAnne Fadiman.On February 5, 2002, Annalee committed suicide inCaptiva, Florida,aged 85, after a long battle with breast cancer andParkinson's disease.[1][13]Fadiman lost his eyesight when he was in his early 90s but continued to review manuscripts for the Book of the Month Club by listening to tapes of books recorded by his son Kim, after which Fadiman would dictate his impressions to his secretary.[1]

Death

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Fadiman died at the age of 95 ofpancreatic cancer[1]on June 20, 1999, inSanibel, Florida;he lived on nearbyCaptiva Island.In the year of his death, a fourth edition of Fadiman'sLifetime Reading Planwas published asThe New Lifetime Reading Plan.[14]In its obituary,The New York Timescalled Fadiman an "essayist, critic, editor and indefatigable anthologist whose encyclopedic knowledge made him a mainstay ofInformation Pleaseand other popular radio programs in the late 1930s, 40s and 50s "and noted that he" also helped establish the Book-of-the-Month Club and served on its editorial board for more than 50 years. "[15]

Works

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The catalog of theLibrary of Congresshas more than 90 works associated with Fadiman's name.[16]

Translations from German

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Books

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Children's collections and stories

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Prefaces, introductions and/or editions or readers

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Recordings

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The Library of Congress has many recordings of Fadiman, which include:

Notes

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References

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  1. ^abcde"Clifton Fadiman papers, 1966–1970".Columbia University. Archived fromthe originalon June 26, 2010.RetrievedOctober 13,2012.
  2. ^"My perspective of Amy Wallace'sThe Prodigy(1986) ".Doug Renselle. September 1–16, 1998.
  3. ^abcOne of "Kip's" older brothers, Edwin, taught him how to read. Edwin later married Celeste Frankel and became the brother-in-law toMargaret Lefranc(Frankel), who was a future recipient of the Governor's Award for Painting. Cross, Timothy P. (September 1999)."Clifton Fadiman '25: An Erudite Guide to the Wisdom of Others".Columbia University.RetrievedOctober 13,2012.
  4. ^ Chambers, Whittaker (1964).Duncan Norton-Taylor(ed.).Cold Friday.New York: Random House. p. 125.ISBN978-0-394-41969-5.LCCN64020025.
  5. ^Carolyn Heilbrun.When Men were the Only Models we Had.Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002, p. 29.
  6. ^Silverman, Al (2008).The Time of Their Lives: The Golden Age of Great American Publishers, Their Editors and Authors.Truman Talley.ISBN9780312350031.
  7. ^ Chambers, Whittaker (1952).Witness.New York: Random House. pp.56,239.ISBN978-0-89526-789-4.LCCN52005149.
  8. ^ Fadiman, Clifton(September 1932)."How I Came to Marxism: Symposium"(PDF).New Masses:7–8.RetrievedJuly 28,2020.
  9. ^ "Programs on the Air (Radio)".New York Times.March 16, 1950. p. 46.
  10. ^ "Book Publishers Make 3 Awards:... Gold Plaques".New York Times.March 17, 1950. p. 21.
  11. ^ "Distinguished Contribution to American Letters".National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-03-12. (With acceptance speech by Fadiman and introduction by Al Silverman.)
  12. ^ "Clifton Fadiman to Wed; Gets License With Mrs. Jacoby, Widow of War Correspondent".New York Times.February 8, 1950.RetrievedOctober 13,2012.
  13. ^"Milestones".Time.February 18, 2002. Archived fromthe originalon March 12, 2007.
  14. ^Heitman, Danny (Summer 2017)."Clifton Fadiman Didn't Mind Being Called Schoolmasterish".Humanities.Vol. 38, no. 3.National Endowment for the Humanities.RetrievedMarch 16,2022.
  15. ^ Severo, Richard (June 21, 1999)."Clifton Fadiman, a Wordsmith Known for His Encyclopedic Knowledge, Is Dead at 95".New York Times.RetrievedOctober 13,2012.
  16. ^ "Online Catalog".Library of Congress.RetrievedOctober 13,2012.

Further reading

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Preceded by Host ofThe Name's the Same
June 28 - October 7, 1955 		Succeeded by
series cancelled
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