There's a story that's told about Arnold Palmer's wife appearing on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson. This would be Winnie Palmer, and the time was the late '60s. According to this legend, the following snippet was part of the conversation between Winnie and Johnny:
Johnny: Do you do anything for Arnold before a tournament as a sort of good-luck charm or superstition?
Mrs. Palmer: I kiss his balls.
Johnny: Well ... I bet that makes his putter flutter.
I've heard many people tell this story. Even had one friend who insisted that he watched it in real time.
But there are a couple problems with the story. First, why would Carson have Arnold Palmer's wife on the show? Winnie Palmer was not herself famous. Second, nobody who knew Winnie can imagine her going on a talk show, nor - especially - coming anywhere near such a double-entendre.
And, sure enough, a check of the Johnny Carson archives confirms that it never happened. Winnie Palmer was never a guest on "The Tonight Show."
Urban legend. Never happened.
But something similar did happen, according to Palmer himself. Arnie appeared on The Tonight Show after Jay Leno took over as host, and Jay asked him about the story.
What Arnie told Jay is that Arnie himself appeared with Carson, and Johnny asked him, "Does your wife kiss your balls before you go to play?" Arnold told Jay that he replied, "I don't even go to bed without pajamas."
So Arnold Palmer himself says that the story about his wife appearing on Carson and saying that she "kiss(es) his balls" never happened. Those quotes from the Leno show, by the way, are taken from the Snopes.com entry on this subject. If you read the Snopes story, you'll learn that very similar stories have been told about golfers and comments by their wives, some pre-dating Palmer.
Classic urban legend.
6 comments:
It was Bing Crosby's wife. I saw the show.
No, it was Sean Connery's wife. I saw the show.
No, it was Robert Goulet's wife. I saw the show.
It actually was Mrs. Arnold Palmer and I did watch the show that night. It is also referenced in the book, "Here's Johnny!" sold on amazon.com. Quote from the description: "More than 200 photographs, most previously unpublished, commemorate the most popular features and most memorable moments from The Tonight Show in the Carson era. Included are The Mighty Carson Art Players, Carnac the Magnificent, Stump the Band, Tiny Tim’s wedding, the infamous interview with Arnold Palmer’s wife, Ed Ames’s notorious tomahawk throw, and much more."
Yes, Virginia, it really *did* happen.
I saw it.
Classic Johnny, looks directly into
the camera after about 6 seconds of silence, says "that should straighten out his puts" Now, in Yiddish, "putz" is slang for the male member.
Brilliant.
During the few seconds of silence,a few isolated outbursts were heard from the audience, Mrs Palmer realizes she has blown it, her head drops, Johnny delivers the line, pandemonium breaks out, the camera starts bobbing as the camera man is trying not to lose it.
Arnold Palmer himself confirmed this story was true to Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show" a few years ago. Jay had questioned the validity of the story. It did happen!
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