Did you know how Carol Burnett first became famous?
She was starting out in New York City, at the same time John Foster Dulles was Secretary of State for the Eisenhower administration. Dulles was considered serious...and frankly, a little boring. So Burnett had a great idea: she'd make a song about how she was madly in love with this matter-of-fact politician!
It worked.
People thought she was hilarious. She was invited to shows, got her name out there...
And the rest -- well, you already know about that, including the long-running Carol Burnett Show.
So what Dulles think about this?
“Dulles was famous for being dour, grim, and humorless. So when Carol Burnett sang a song about a crazed fan’s obsession with Dulles, it brought the house down. Her singing that song on the Ed Sullivan Show was her big break.
“To add to the delicious humor of this story, Carol Burnett told Diane Rehm that shortly after her performance, she saw Dulles giving an interview on Meet the Press. This is what Burnett said happened at the end of the interview:
“‘And so it was, you know, all the serious talk about what the Secretaries of State talk about. And then at the very last part of the show, the moderator said, well, all right, we’re going to leave now,
but, Mr. Dulles, just tell us what is this about you and that young girl that sings that love song about you. And I looked — oh, I got real close to the television set.
And he got a twinkle in his eye and he said,
“I make it a matter never to talk about love in public.”‘*
“Even the most staid Cold Warrior had a sense of humor!”
*Another source: When asked about the song on Meet the Press, Dulles responded with good humor: "I never discuss matters of the heart in public."
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