CLIFTON FADIMAN
Name: Clifton Fadiman
Born: May 15, 1904
Died: June 20, 1999
Clifton Fadiman (May 15, 1904-June 20, 1999) was an American intellectual,
author, radio and television personality.
Fadiman grew up in Brooklyn and was a nephew of the child prodigy William James
Sidis. A graduate of Columbia University, he worked for Simon & Schuster for
ten years, ending as its chief editor. He spent another ten years (1933-1943) in
charge of The New Yorker's book review section and in 1944 became a judge for
the Book of the Month Club. His 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... [and] is not really a good storyteller..."
Fadiman was 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.
Fadiman was already well known from radio where, from May 1938 until June 1948,
he hosted its most popular quiz show, Information Please!, which he briefly
revived for CBS-TV in 1952 as a thirteen-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
Information Please! longtime panelists Franklin P. Adams and John Kieran who,
like Fadiman himself, were literary figures and intellectuals. 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.
Name: Clifton Fadiman
Born: May 15, 1904
Died: June 20, 1999
Clifton Fadiman (May 15, 1904-June 20, 1999) was an American intellectual,
author, radio and television personality.
Fadiman grew up in Brooklyn and was a nephew of the child prodigy William James
Sidis. A graduate of Columbia University, he worked for Simon & Schuster for
ten years, ending as its chief editor. He spent another ten years (1933-1943) in
charge of The New Yorker's book review section and in 1944 became a judge for
the Book of the Month Club. His 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... [and] is not really a good storyteller..."
Fadiman was 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.
Fadiman was already well known from radio where, from May 1938 until June 1948,
he hosted its most popular quiz show, Information Please!, which he briefly
revived for CBS-TV in 1952 as a thirteen-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
Information Please! longtime panelists Franklin P. Adams and John Kieran who,
like Fadiman himself, were literary figures and intellectuals. 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.