Swing into Spring (1959)

The Frank Sinatra Show with guests Ella Fitzgerald and Peter Lawford (1959)

The Danny Kaye Show with guests Buddy Greco and Ella Fitzgerald (1966)

The JFK Pre-Inaugural Gala with guests Milton Berle, Bill Dana, Harry Belafonte, Nat King Cole, Jimmy Durante, Ella Fitzgerald, Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra (1961)

The Dean Martin Show with guests Shelley Berman, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Mathis, Gene Sheldon and The Young Americans (1966)

The John F. Kennedy Inaugural Gala featuring Joey Bishop, Frank Sinatra, Ethel Merman and Ella Fitzgerald (1961) - Footage Offline - 09/10/10

The Nat King Cole Show with guest Ella Fitzgerald (1957)

The first network variety program to star an African-American was the short-lived, but very popular, Nat King Cole Show. (Amos n' Andy and Belulah were the first TV shows to star African-American actors)To make up for its many airings of The Comic View, BET re-ran the show during its formative years. Wish they would show more early television featuring Black showbiz pioneers. Ella had just come out with the LP pictured above when she made this appearance. This show was cancelled when NBC buckled to pressure from racist advertisers appeasing their racist Southern clientele and their demands. After the cancellation, Nat King Cole remarked, "Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark."