To Tell the Truth with guest William M. Gaines

I've always wanted to see this! Mad Magazine publisher, William M. Gaines on To Tell the Truth! I imagine that panelist Gene Rayburn may have had the upper hand here, seeing as how the head writer of Match Game was Dick Debartolo, one of Mad's most prolific contributors. So perhaps Gene was acting coy when he delivered the wrong answer. Debartolo makes a rare public appearance without his moustache at the end of the show.

Dick saw the clip yesterday and wrote in to Classic Television Showbiz:

"How in the world did you know that was me without my stache? Amazing." Debartolo also put to rest the idea that Rayburn may have known who Gaines actually was, "Actually, they led totally separate lives, so Rayburn probably heard MAD stories from me, but he never met Gaines. I don't think he was faking it when he didn't vote for him. Bill was thrilled that he stumped the panel. Especially since that was about the best dressed I ever saw Gaines! Still back stage Kitty [Carlisle] said to me: "I never figured it was him --- I mean look at the way he's dressed. I was looking for someone who ran a very successful magazine so I thought it couldn't be him!"

Thanks for the note, Dick, we'll be sure to hit you up for more anecdotes in a few weeks when we post the failed Vaughn Meader "comeback" comedy LP The Second Coming.