Hy Gardner (December 2, 1908 – June 17, 1989) was an American entertainment reporter and syndicated columnist for the ''
New York Herald Tribune
The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...
'', host of ''Hy Gardner Calling'', ''The Hy Gardner Show'', and ''Celebrity Party'', and an original celebrity panelist on the first incarnation of ''
To Tell The Truth'', along with
Ralph Bellamy
Ralph Rexford Bellamy (June 17, 1904 – November 29, 1991) was an American actor whose career spanned 65 years on stage, film, and television. During his career, he played leading roles as well as supporting roles, garnering acclaim and ...
,
Polly Bergen
Polly Bergen (born Nellie Paulina Burgin; July 14, 1930 – September 20, 2014) was an American actress, singer, television host, writer and entrepreneur.
She won an Emmy Award in 1958 for her performance as Helen Morgan in ''The Helen Mo ...
,
Kitty Carlisle
Kitty Carlisle Hart (born Catherine Conn; September 3, 1910 – April 17, 2007) was an American actress, singer, and spokeswoman for the arts. She was the leading lady of the Marx Brothers movie '' A Night at the Opera'' (1935) and was a regular ...
and host
Bud Collyer
Bud Collyer (born Clayton Johnson Heermance Jr., June 18, 1908 – September 8, 1969) was an American radio actor and announcer and game show host who became one of the nation's first major television game show stars. He is best remembered for ...
.
In 1957, Gardner also appeared on the show made up as a clown along with guest-challenger (famous clown)
Paul Jung. Gardner also played himself in the 1963 movie ''
The Girl Hunters'' with writer/friend
Mickey Spillane
Frank Morrison Spillane (; March 9, 1918July 17, 2006), better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American crime novelist, whose stories often feature his signature detective character, Mike Hammer (character), Mike Hammer. More than 225 million c ...
, who included Gardner in several of his
Mike Hammer Michael Hammer or Mike Hammer may refer to:
*Michael Armand Hammer (1955–2022), American philanthropist and businessman
*Michael Martin Hammer (1948–2008), engineer and author
*Mike Hammer (character), a fictional hard boiled detective
** ''Mick ...
novels.
Career
In the early 1950s, Gardner began interviewing celebrities on the radio on his own show, ''Hy Gardner Calling''. He had wanted to be a columnist for entertainment news as a young boy, and in 1951 he was hired by the ''
New York Herald Tribune
The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...
'' where he continued until 1966 when the paper closed. ''The New York Times'' described his writing style as an "art form".
[
In 1953, Marilyn Boshnick became Hy Gardner's secretary. They married in 1958. At that time, Gardner was the interviewer of the guests on ]Spike Jones
Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader specializing in spoof arrangements of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment were punctuated with gun ...
's short-lived ''Club Oasis
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea''
Brands and enterprises
...
'' comedy/variety show on NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
. In 1967, the couple began a gossip column together. Titled ''Glad You Asked That'' it was soon syndicated.[
Gardner's television interviews began in 1954 and continued until 1965. Mickey Spillane, who cast him in a mystery film in 1963, said upon Gardner's death: "He was an innovator. He did the split screen before Edward R. Murrow." Gardner also provided rocking chairs to help relax his interview guests.][
After split-screen interviews were replaced by in-studio interviews, the show was renamed ''The Hy Gardner Show''. ''The Herald Tribune'' folded in 1966, and Hy and Marilyn Gardner moved from New York City to ]Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
. ''The Hy Gardner Show'' continued on television, and ''Celebrity Party'' debuted on radio and was syndicated.[ Interviews continued until the mid-1980s.
]
Death
Gardner died of pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
on June 17, 1989, at the North Shore Hospital in Miami. He was 80 years old.
References
External links
Hy Gardner Calling with guest Steve Allen (1958)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Hy
1908 births
1989 deaths
Television personalities from New York City
American radio personalities
Writers from New York City
Writers from Miami
American male journalists
Journalists from New York City
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American male writers
Deaths from pneumonia in Florida