The Mike Wallace Interviews

From The University of Texas at Austin

The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin maintains one of the world’s largest collections, housing the archives of such figures as Norman Mailer, David Mamet, Arthur Miller. In the early 1960s, broadcast journalist Mike Wallace donated the interviews from his television program The Mike Wallace Interview, which aired in 1957 and 1956. Most episodes have not been seen since they aired.

Here is a selected list of guests from the 65 interviews available. (For the full list, visit the HRC site.)

Gloria Swanson (4/28/1957) — Gloria Swanson, one of Hollywood’s most spectacular stars, talks to Wallace about why she is not making films, sex appeal, Hollywood in the 1920s, marriage, plastic surgery, and cancer cures. Watch Video

Eldon Edwards (5/5/1957) — Eldon Edwards, Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, talks to Wallace about the South’s attitude toward the KKK, the Klan’s membership, segregation, the NAACP, communism, and J. Edgar Hoover. Watch Video

Steve Allen (7/7/1957) – Steve Allen, comedian, musician, and television personality, talks to Wallace about his rivalry with Ed Sullivan, his television show, and awards. Watch Video

Glenn McCarthy (7/21/1957) – Glenn McCarthy, the legendary Texas oil millionaire, talks to Wallace about money, gambling, fighting, and the Hollywood film Giant, which some say is the story of his life. Watch Video

Frank Lloyd Wright (9/1/1957 and 9/28/1957) – Frank Lloyd Wright, one of the greatest architects of the 20th century, talks to Wallace about religion, war, mercy killing, art, critics, his mile-high skyscraper, America’s youth, sex, morality, politics, nature, and death. (This interview is available on home video through the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.). Watch Video

George Jessel (9/14/1957) — George Jessel, veteran comedian, talks to Wallace about television, Jimmie Hoffa and the Teamsters Union, fame, Jewish performers, relationships, and his desire to be named ambassador to Israel. Watch Video

Orval Faubus (9/15/1957) – Orval Faubus, governor of Arkansas, talks to Wallace from the Governor’s mansion in Little Rock during his standoff with the Federal Government over the integration of Little Rock Central High School. Faubus had called in the National Guard to bar the African-American students from the school and had met the day before this interview with President Eisenhower in an effort to resolve the conflict. Watch Video

Kirk Douglas (11/2/1957) – Kirk Douglas, a film star who had recently completed two films, Paths of Glory and The Vikings, talks to Wallace about acting, fame, the charge that Hollywood films misrepresent America abroad, Nazis, Communists, and European versus American women. Watch Video

Leonard Ross (12/21/1957) — Leonard Ross, a 12-year-old California school boy who won a total of $164,000 on the game shows The Big Surprise and The Sixty-Four Thousand Dollar Challenge, talks to Wallace about the effects of quiz shows on children, school, politics, eggheads, spanking, mothers, and Santa Claus. Watch Video

Oscar Hammerstein II (3/15/1958) – One of the most successful and controversial figures in show business and Broadway lyricist for such classics as Oklahoma!, The King and I, and South Pacific, Oscar Hammerstein II talks to Wallace about sentimentality, racism, religion, and politics. Watch Video

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