Truly surreal

Readers of this blog know that game show contestants often say their appearances were "surreal." One fellow who did a turn on What's My Line may have invented that notion.

Surrealism's godfather Salvador Dali actually showed up twice on WML. But the 1952 show got wiped. We still have the January 27, 1957 episode, though. And things got surreal enough as Dali answered "yes" to just about every question from the blindfolded panelists. The guy did a lot of different things, after all.

The panel was frustrated for a while. Bennett Cerf even asked if the contestant was a human being. But Arlene Francis eventually caught on to Dali and gave Dorothy Kilgallen a huge assist in guessing him. As soon as Dorothy nailed his identity, Dali briskly strode over to the panel and shook hands.

Dali had also entered with a literal flourish. He used a large paint brush to fling "Dali" all over the chalkboard. He was quite a performer, as he insisted during the questioning.