It may or may not have been planned, but on this night 56
years ago Charles Van Doren's historic run as champion on
"Twenty-One" came to an end. He and his opponent, attorney
Vivienne Nearing, were playing at $2000 a point and both requested
a six-part question on the names of rulers of different countries.
Mrs. Nearing went first and got all six; Van Doren hesitated when asked
to name the king of Belgium. The movie "Quiz Show" suggested that he
knew the answer (Baudouin) because he had referred to him at a family
gathering shortly before; nevertheless, he said Leopold on the air. Mrs.
Nearing then stopped the game, leading 17-10, and won $14,000, reducing
Van Doren's total to $129,000 (Van Doren didn't disappear from television,
at least not right away, as he was a regular on the "Today" show).
It's not clear if he was told to lose or if he threw the match because, as he
said in the movie, he wanted to get out from all the attention he was getting,
plus he was staring at a tax problem (I think I read somewhere that he grossed
$35,000 after paying federal and New York state taxes).
I'm sure most of you know that Van Doren stonewalled until November 1959,
when he admitted before Congress that he was part of a deception; his 2008
article in the New Yorker revealed nothing new. What you might not know is
the night Van Doren "lost" "Twenty-One" was six points ahead of "I Love Lucy"
(the two shows were head-to-head) but fell to five behind Lucy the following week.
Mrs. Nearing was knocked off in short order, leaving with only $5500 in stated winnings
(but actually more like $10,000 in kickbacks).
Lucy biographer Bart Andrews once asked her if she and Desi watched Van Doren.
While they enjoyed the quiz shows, she said, they watched Van Doren only once,
on February 25, when their own show was a rerun.
years ago Charles Van Doren's historic run as champion on
"Twenty-One" came to an end. He and his opponent, attorney
Vivienne Nearing, were playing at $2000 a point and both requested
a six-part question on the names of rulers of different countries.
Mrs. Nearing went first and got all six; Van Doren hesitated when asked
to name the king of Belgium. The movie "Quiz Show" suggested that he
knew the answer (Baudouin) because he had referred to him at a family
gathering shortly before; nevertheless, he said Leopold on the air. Mrs.
Nearing then stopped the game, leading 17-10, and won $14,000, reducing
Van Doren's total to $129,000 (Van Doren didn't disappear from television,
at least not right away, as he was a regular on the "Today" show).
It's not clear if he was told to lose or if he threw the match because, as he
said in the movie, he wanted to get out from all the attention he was getting,
plus he was staring at a tax problem (I think I read somewhere that he grossed
$35,000 after paying federal and New York state taxes).
I'm sure most of you know that Van Doren stonewalled until November 1959,
when he admitted before Congress that he was part of a deception; his 2008
article in the New Yorker revealed nothing new. What you might not know is
the night Van Doren "lost" "Twenty-One" was six points ahead of "I Love Lucy"
(the two shows were head-to-head) but fell to five behind Lucy the following week.
Mrs. Nearing was knocked off in short order, leaving with only $5500 in stated winnings
(but actually more like $10,000 in kickbacks).
Lucy biographer Bart Andrews once asked her if she and Desi watched Van Doren.
While they enjoyed the quiz shows, she said, they watched Van Doren only once,
on February 25, when their own show was a rerun.