
Ed Sullivan would not have a late night TV show today.
He was a super freak — intensely awkward (not in a charming way) and untelegenic (in a Richard Nixon way).
But even bigger than that, this was a guy who valued talent regardless of the race, gender or measurements it came in.
When Sullivan welcomed Jayne Mansfield onto his show in 1957 to perform a violin concerto, he didn’t pull a Jack Paar — “And here they are, Jayne Mansfield!” (a writer’s room line by a 21-year-old smartass named Dick Cavett).
He prepared his audience for what they were about to see: “Here’s a girl [he wasn’t perfect] who can “out-violin Jack Benny … and all because her mother made her practice.”
Behold, a gowned Mansfield (sleeves rolled up). Or rather, one Vera Jayne Palmer, dedicated music student, giving her full attention to Vivaldi’s Concerto No. 6 in A Minor.
For the first time, a nation witnessed Mansfield pull her away from an awareness of her body and lean into the music’s imagery. Jayne was an artist!
Cultural biases change in small, incremental breakthrough moments like this.
Vera Jayne and Norma Jean sound like they could have been soul mates.




































