To Absent Friends - Charles Van Doren

Charles Van Doren

1926-2019

Back in my junior year in high school, my American History teacher told me to read a book, I believe it was called "The Crucial Decade", for an extra credit project.  The book was a history America in the 1950's, and a large portion of the book was devoted to what is commonly called the "quiz show scandals" of that era.  To me, it was a fascinating story, and it was where I first became aware of Charles Van Doren, who died earlier this week at the age of 92.

In that era of television, quiz shows were boffo ratings winners, and a show called "Twenty-One" was one of the biggest.  Van Doren was a handsome and telegenic young Columbia University college professor from a distinguished literary family (his father was a Pulitzer Prize winning poet and and a senior Professor of English at Columbia) who was recruited to go on "Twenty-One" and take on reigning champion Herbert Stempl, who was everything that Van Doren was not.  Where Van Doren was handsome, sophisticated, and self-assured, Stempl, a public school kid, college drop out, army vet, and postal worker, was uncomfortable on camera, perspired profusely, and, to be diplomatic, was not a handsome fellow.

Van Doren defeated Stempl, went on to a long run as champion on the show, earned $129,000 in winnings, became a national celebrity (see Time Magazine cover above), and signed a contract with NBC to appear as a contributor on the Today Show.  There was only one problem.    Not only were the show's producers giving Van Doren (and other contestants, including Stempl) the questions in advance, they were also giving them the answers.  The shows were rigged, and, eventually, it all came tumbling down around all of them.  Grand juries were convened and Congressional hearings were held.  Van Doren ended up pleading guilty to perjury and received a suspended sentence.  He also lost his jobs at Columbia and NBC.

The story of the quiz show scandals is fascinating, and it was told brilliantly in Robert Redford's 1994 film, "Quiz Show", which starred Ralph Fiennes as Van Doren and John Turturro as Stempl.  If you've never seen the movie, I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Van Doren took a job with Encyclopedia Britannica,  eventually becoming the chief of the Editorial Department, and went on to author essays and scholarly books.  He always refused to discuss the scandals and his role in them until 2008, when he wrote an article in the New Yorker about them.  He declined to take part in a 1992 PBS documentary on the subject, and reported turned down an offer of $100,000 to be a consultant on Redford's 1994 film.

Herb Stempl, by the way, is still with us, and will turn 93 in December.

RIP Charles Van Doren.