Clifton Paul "Kip" Fadiman (May 15, 1904 – June 20, 1999) was an American intellectual, author, editor, radio and television personality. He began his work with the radio, and switched to television later in his career.
Background
Born in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...
,New York, Fadiman was a nephew of the emigree Ukrainian psychologist
Boris Sidis
Boris Sidis (; October 12, 1867 – October 24, 1923) was a Ukrainian-American psychologist, physician, psychiatrist, and philosopher of education. Sidis founded the New York State Psychopathic Institute and the '' Journal of Abnormal Psycholo ...
and a first cousin of the child prodigyWilliam James Sidis.
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.One of "Kip's" older brothers, Edwin, taught him how to read. Edwin later married Celeste Frankel and became the brother-in-law to Margaret Lefranc (Frankel), who was a future recipient of the Governor's Award for Painting.
He attended Columbia College at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...
Frank S. Hogan
Frank Smithwick Hogan (January 17, 1902 – April 2, 1974) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He served as New York County District Attorney for more than 30 years, during which he achieved a reputation for professionalism and ...
, Louis Zukofsky and Whittaker Chambers. Though he entered with the Class of 1924, his graduation was delayed until 1925 because of financial constraints. Chambers clearly includes Fadiman in a group of ''ernste 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." He graduated
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
.
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."
Career
After graduation from Columbia, Fadiman taught English at the Ethical Culture High School (now known as the "Fieldston School") in the Bronx from 1925 to 1927.
Literature
Fadiman worked ten years for
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pub ...
, ending as its chief editor. At his interview with Max 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 turn Robert Ripley's newspaper cartoon, ''
Believe it or Not!
''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' is an American franchise founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. Originally a newspaper panel, the ''Believe It or Not'' fea ...
'' into book form. The series has gone on to sell over 30 million copies.
While at Simon & Schuster, he started the translation career of Whittaker Chambers by having him translate '' Bambi'' from German:
My college friend, Clifton Fadiman, was then irca 1927–1928a 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, named Felix Salten ... Bambi was an instant success, and I suddenly found myself an established translator.
In 1932, Fadiman wrote "How I Came to Communism: Symposium" for the '' New 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."
Fadiman then took charge of ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issue ...
's'' book review section, 1933–1943.
He became emcee for the National Book Award ceremonies in 1938 and 1939, at least, and again when those literary awards by the American book industry were re-inaugurated in 1950. (The awards were inaugurated May 1936, conferred annually through 1942 ublication years 1935 to 1941 and re-inaugurated March 1950 ublication year 1949)
Fadiman became a judge for the Book of the Month Club in 1944.
In the 1970s he was also senior editor of ''
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
'' magazine, where he wrote the book review column for children, "Cricket's Bookshelf".
Radio
While still at the ''New Yorker'', Fadiman became well known on radio, where he hosted its most popular quiz show, '' Information, Please!'' from May 1938 to June 1948. A regular trio of pundits,
Franklin P. Adams
Franklin Pierce Adams (November 15, 1881 – March 23, 1960) was an American columnist known as Franklin P. Adams and by his initials F.P.A.. Famed for his wit, he is best known for his newspaper column, "The Conning Tower", and his appearances a ...
, John Kieran and Oscar Levant, plus one guest expert, conducted each session with erudite charm and good-natured wordplay under Fadiman's nimble control. (Guest John 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 the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts from 1949 to 1960. During the intermission segments he would discuss the opera being broadcast and interview famous opera singers.
Television
In 1952, ''Information Please!'' was briefly revived for CBS Television as a 13-week summer replacement for the musical variety program '' The 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 was '' This Is Show Business'', which ran on CBS from July 15, 1949, to March 9, 1954. Called ''This Is Broadway'' during 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, and Sam Levenson commented on the musical performers and chatted with them. In late September 1951, ''This Is Show Business'' became 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 panelists Walter Slezak and actress Jacqueline Susann, the future author of ''
Valley of the Dolls Valley of the Dolls may refer to:
* ''Valley of the Dolls'' (novel), a 1966 novel by Jacqueline Susann
** ''Valley of the Dolls'' (film), a 1967 film adapted from the novel
*** " (Theme from) Valley of the Dolls", the title song from the film, pe ...
''. Susann's husband, TV executive Irving Mansfield, produced the 1956 revival for NBC television.
Fadiman was also the last master of ceremonies to host the ABC-TV game show '' The Name's the Same''. After the departure of original host Robert Q. Lewis, who had presided for three years, producers Mark Goodson and Bill Todman hired different hosts for the final 39-episode cycle: Dennis James for 18 weeks, then Bob and Ray for 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 the ''real'' Hope Diamond to be displayed to the amazed panelists and the national television audience. A low point for Fadiman was on the same episode, when he insulted Chico Marx and asked "Are you working, or are you still living on Groucho's money?" Chico was humiliate
Fadiman filled in for '' What's My Line?'' host John Charles Daly for two weeks in 1958 when Daly was on assignment in Tokyo.
Influence
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. Of Stendhal, Fadiman wrote, "He has no grace, little charm, less humor ... ndis 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
Fadiman received the
Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters
The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors.
The Nat ...
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 to Annalee Jacoby, aka Annalee Fadiman, an author, screenwriter for MGM and
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
foreign correspondent for ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'' and ''
Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
''. As a widow, she later used the name Annalee Jacoby Fadiman. She co-wrote ''Thunder Out of China'' with
Theodore H. White
Theodore Harold White (, May 6, 1915 – May 15, 1986) was an American political journalist and historian, known for his reporting from China during World War II and the ''Making of the President'' series.
White started his career reporting for ...
(1946). Clifton and Annalee had a son, Kim Fadiman, and a daughter, writer Anne Fadiman. On February 5, 2002, Annalee committed suicide in
Captiva, Florida
Captiva is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lee County, Florida, United States. It is located on Captiva Island. As of the 2020 census the population was 318, down from 583 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Ca ...
, aged 85, after a long battle with breast cancer and
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...
.
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.
Death
Fadiman died at the age of 95 of pancreatic cancer on June 20, 1999, in Sanibel, Florida; he lived on nearby Captiva Island. In the year of his death, a fourth edition of Fadiman's ''Lifetime Reading Plan'' was published as ''The New Lifetime Reading Plan''.
In its obituary, ''The New York Times'' called Fadiman an "essayist, critic, editor and indefatigable anthologist whose encyclopedic knowledge made him a mainstay of ''Information Please'' and 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."
Works
The catalog of the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...
has more than 90 works associated with Fadiman's name.
Fantasia Mathematica
''Fantasia Mathematica''
is an anthology published in 1958 containing stories, humor, poems, etc., all on mathematical topics, compiled by Clifton Fadiman. A companion volume was published as ''The Mathematical Magpie'' (1962). The volume conta ...
The Mathematical Magpie
''The Mathematical Magpie'' is an anthology published in 1962, compiled by Clifton Fadiman as a companion volume to his '' Fantasia Mathematica'' (1958). The volume contains stories, cartoons, essays, rhymes, music, anecdotes, aphorisms, and other ...
O. Henry
William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the M ...
Frederick E. Banber Frederick may refer to:
People
* Frederick (given name), the name
Nobility
Anhalt-Harzgerode
*Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670)
Austria
* Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198
* Frederick ...