Fact #106251
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Oprah Winfrey : It was December 27, 1964. I was ten years old when I tuned in to watch The Ed Sullivan Show ... and it was a moment that changed my life…. When I saw the Supremes on TV that night, it was magical to me because I had never seen black women on television (although we were called “colored” at the time) or anywhere for that matter who conveyed such glamour and such grace. … And nobody was used to seeing us portrayed the way I saw the Supremes…. And for years I wanted to be like Diana Ross or just somebody Supreme.
Mary Wilson (singer, The Supremes) : Performing on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 was enormously important. Prior to that, you saw very few black people on television, [other than] actors playing maids or janitors. So to have three well-dressed, glamorous black women in gowns come on and be stars was significant.
I've spoken to Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey and they've both said that that moment really showed them as black people that they could succeed. Prior to that we were not considered citizens. We couldn't dream of being rich and famous.
(Source : interview in The Guardian, July 15, 2014)
Florence Ballard (singer, The Supremes) : The first time we did the Sullivan show, we almost didn’t get on. It was something about his show. They say it’s always best to be second or third on his show, because if for some reason the show runs over and you’re the last one on, you won’t get on or you won’t get on it all. [On that first show], we almost didn’t make it. We were supposed to do two tunes, but we could only do one. After that we began to be pushed up to the front of the show.
(Source : from the book, The Lost Supreme: The Life of Dreamgirl Florence Ballard)
Diana Ross (singer, The Supremes) : We did the one song and I just cried,” Diana Ross revealed. “I was so unhappy because I thought we had done something wrong. Maybe I didn’t seem strong enough at rehearsal. I thought I had given my all, maybe that’s why they took one of the songs out. I didn’t know that was a regular routine
(Source : from the book, Diana Ross: A Biography)
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Mary Wilson (singer, The Supremes) : Performing on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 was enormously important. Prior to that, you saw very few black people on television, [other than] actors playing maids or janitors. So to have three well-dressed, glamorous black women in gowns come on and be stars was significant.
I've spoken to Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey and they've both said that that moment really showed them as black people that they could succeed. Prior to that we were not considered citizens. We couldn't dream of being rich and famous.
(Source : interview in The Guardian, July 15, 2014)
Florence Ballard (singer, The Supremes) : The first time we did the Sullivan show, we almost didn’t get on. It was something about his show. They say it’s always best to be second or third on his show, because if for some reason the show runs over and you’re the last one on, you won’t get on or you won’t get on it all. [On that first show], we almost didn’t make it. We were supposed to do two tunes, but we could only do one. After that we began to be pushed up to the front of the show.
(Source : from the book, The Lost Supreme: The Life of Dreamgirl Florence Ballard)
Diana Ross (singer, The Supremes) : We did the one song and I just cried,” Diana Ross revealed. “I was so unhappy because I thought we had done something wrong. Maybe I didn’t seem strong enough at rehearsal. I thought I had given my all, maybe that’s why they took one of the songs out. I didn’t know that was a regular routine
(Source : from the book, Diana Ross: A Biography)