he United Nations and Walter White of the NAACP, black political leaders were practically absent from early TV. It was unreal¬istic to expect network television to accommodate a racial threat such as Robeson. Magnified by his international reputation, whatever he had said about the condition of black Americans in 1950 would have had impact throughout the world. In censoring Robeson, network and program personnel were declaring that criticism of American racism was not permissible if that criticism was profound, uncompromising, and internationally provocative. The line of demarcation was clearly drawn: television would not tolerate militant African-American reformers.
That perimeter endured throughout the 1950s. Eight years after the incident with NBC, Robeson encountered the same situation when he was slated to appear on a local public affairs television program in Chicago. When in late March 1958, it was announced that Robeson would be a guest on V.I.P.—hosted on by Norman Ross on WBKB, the ABC station—popular reaction precipitated postponement and then cancellation of the appearance. Instead of a half-hour interview with Robeson, Chicago viewers saw a travelogue about India. Robeson was not only banned from V.I.P., he was never permitted to appear on American television to discuss his ideas.
The Case of Nat King Cole
At first glance Nat King Cole appears to have been the diametric opposite of Paul Robeson. Nonpolitical and noncontroversial, Cole was a jazz pianist and vocalist whose mellow King Cole Trio enjoyed wide acceptance throughout the 1940s. In the following decade, when he disbanded his Trio and pursued a solo career as a singer of popular ballads, Cole continued to receive approval from black and white listeners.
If any black performer seemed destined for his own network TV series, it was Cole. He had already hosted an NBC radio series, King Cole Trio Time, which in 1946 had been sponsored nationally by Wildroot hair tonic. At a time when most African-American singers imitated the group harmonies of gospel ensembles such as The Ink Spots, or the rhythm and blues sound whose roots lay in less sophisticated musical forms, Cole was a well-trained, disciplined vocal artist. Only Billy Daniels and Billy Eckstine rivaled him in vocal polish, and neither had the number of hit recordings produced by Cole.
Between 1944 and 1957, Cole had forty-five recordings which were listed in the competitive charts maintained by Billboard magazine. Several of these songs—"For Sentimental Reasons," "Nature Boy," "Mona Lisa," and "Too Young"—reached the number one position, and thirteen were listed in the top ten. In the period 1940-1955, Cole records were on the Billboard charts for a total of 274 weeks. This made him the ninth most popular recording personality in that fifteen-year period—ahead of such celebrities as Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Tommy Dorsey, and Dinah Shore.
Cole did well in early television. He appeared on network TV as early as June 1, 1948 when he was the principal guest on the CBS human interest series We, the People, when it debuted as the first regularly-scheduled program aired simultaneously on radio and television. Typical of his later appearances were his performances on Showtime U.S.A. in 1951 and Chance of a Lifetime the following year. Throughout the first half of the 1950s Cole was spotlighted on most top-rated variety programs for whenever he appeared with such personalities as Ed Sullivan, Jackie Gleason, Red Skelton, or Perry Como, his style elicited strong audience approval. In mid-1954 when he signed with CBS to make ten guest appearances, it was rumored that this was in preparation for his own forthcoming show.
Compared to Robeson and his social militancy, Cole was assimilated, unthreatening, and popularly accepted. While he was not the first black host of his own network series, as the top African American recording artist of his generation Cole had the best chance of success. The premier of The Nat King Cole Show on NBC on November 5, 1956 seemed to open a new era for black performers.
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