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The Best of Broadway is a 60-minute live television anthology series that aired on CBS Television on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. Easter Standard Time from September 15, 1954, to May 4, 1955, for a total of nine episodes. Each show was broadcast live in color from New York City, was an adaptation of a famous Broadway play, and included commercials for Westinghouse featuring Betty Furness. Using a "giant new studio," plays were presented in front of a studio audience, which contributed a Broadway-like element.
Original Release
09/15/1954 on CBS
US Release
09/15/1954
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Betty Furness | Self - for Westinghouse products / Self |
Claudette Colbert | Actress / Julie Cavendish |
Margaret Hamilton | Sarah / Usher |
Helen Hayes | Abby Brewster / Fanny Cavendish |
Reginald Gardiner | Beverly Carlton / Critic |
Franchot Tone | Actor |
Buster Keaton | Dr. Bradley |
Art Carney | Woozy |
ZaSu Pitts | Miss Preen |
Mary Astor | Margaret Lord |
# | Title | Air Date |
---|---|---|
1 | The Royal Family | Wednesday, 15 September 1954 |
2 | The Man Who Came to Dinner | Wednesday, 13 October 1954 |
3 | Panama Hattie | Wednesday, 10 November 1954 |
4 | The Philadelphia Story | Wednesday, 08 December 1954 |
5 | Arsenic and Old Lace | Wednesday, 05 January 1955 |
6 | The Show-Off | Wednesday, 02 February 1955 |
7 | The Guardsman | Wednesday, 02 March 1955 |
8 | Stage Door | Wednesday, 06 April 1955 |
9 | Broadway | Wednesday, 04 May 1955 |
Directors
Sidney Lumet, David Alexander, Paul Nickell, Herbert B. Swope Jr., Franklin J. Schaffner
Writers
Ronald Alexander, George S. Kaufman, Edna Ferber, Buddy G. DeSylva, George Abbott, Philip Barry, Howard Lindsay, Herbert Baker, Russel Crouse, Ferenc Molnár, Moss Hart, Herbert Fields, Philip Dunning, Joseph Kesselring, George Kelly, Reginald Jackson, Gore Vidal
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Betty Furness | Self - for Westinghouse products / Self |
Claudette Colbert | Actress / Julie Cavendish |
Margaret Hamilton | Sarah / Usher |
Helen Hayes | Abby Brewster / Fanny Cavendish |
Reginald Gardiner | Beverly Carlton / Critic |
Franchot Tone | Actor |
Buster Keaton | Dr. Bradley |
Art Carney | Woozy |
ZaSu Pitts | Miss Preen |
Mary Astor | Margaret Lord |
Joan Bennett | Lorraine Sheldon |
Merle Oberon | Maggie Cutler |
Fredric March | Tony Cavendish |
Dorothy McGuire | Tracy Lord |
Nancy Olson | Gwen Cavendish |
Ethel Merman | Hattie Maloney |
John Payne | C.K. Dexter Haven |
Neil Hamilton | Charlie Randolph |
Charles Coburn | Oscar Wolfe |
Bert Lahr | Banjo |
Producers
Name | Role |
---|
Martin Manulis | Executive Producer |
Martin Manulis | Producer |
Felix Jackson | Producer |
Jule Styne | Producer |
Year | Type | Category | Won |
---|
1955 | Emmy | Best Actor in a Single Performance | Nominated |