Whistleblower behind the Quiz Show scandal
Herbert Stempel 1926-2020
Herb Stempel, who has died aged 93, blew the whistle on one of America’s biggest media scandals: the rigging of TV quiz shows in the 1950s to boost ratings. A gifted student from NY, Stempel had been picked by the producers of a hugely popular show called Twenty-One to be the contestant the viewers rooted against: he was kitted out in ill-fitting suits; given an ugly buzz haircut; and told to repeatedly mop his brow. Set against him was Charles Van Doren, a golden boy Ivy League academic from a prominent family. Stempel got to the eighth round; then, he was asked to name the film that won the best picture Oscar for 1955. He knew the answer: Marty was one of his favourites. Instead, in front of a live TV audience of 50 million people, he replied On the Waterfront – a film about a man who takes a dive.
Herbert Stempel was born in Queens in 1926, the son of Solomon and Mary. Gifted academically, he attended the prestigious Bronx High School of Science, where his IQ was recorded at genius level. After a period in the army, he enrolled at the City College. Around that time, he began to notice the vast prizes being offered on TV quiz shows, and decided to audition for Twenty-One. But before even his first appearance, the producers turned up at his door, and asked him: “How would you like to win $25,000?”
On the day before each broadcast, he was given the answers, and told how to deliver them: his every sigh, grimace and hesitation was scripted. He’d been promised a TV job if he let Van Doren (who had also been coached) win. But the job never materialised, so he went public. It caused such shock, there were congressional hearings. Van Doren was prosecuted, and retreated from public life; Stempel became a teacher. But when the events were turned into the film Quiz Show, he acted as a paid consultant. John Turturro played him, but he made a cameo appearance.