Quiz Kids

Quiz Kids is a radio and TV series originally broadcast in the 1940s and 1950s. Created by Chicago public relations and advertising man Louis G. Cowan, and originally sponsored by Alka-Seltzer, the series was first broadcast on NBC from Chicago, June 28, 1940, airing as a summer replacement show for Alec Templeton Time. It continued on radio for the next 13 years.

On television, the show was seen on NBC and CBS from July 6, 1949, to July 5, 1953, with Joe Kelly as quizmaster, and again from January 12 to September 27, 1956, with Clifton Fadiman as host. The premise of the original show involved Kelly asking questions sent in by listeners and researched by Eliza Hickok and Rachel Stevenson. The answers were supplied by a panel of five children, chosen for their high IQs, strong academic interests, and appealing personalities, as well as such qualities as poise, quickness, and sense of humor.

The Stars

One of the first Quiz Kids was seven-year-old nature expert Gerard Darrow. For the initial premiere panel he was joined by Mary Ann Anderson, Joan Bishop, George Van Dyke Tiers and Charles Schwartz.

Other Quiz Kids of the 1940s included: Joan Alizier, Lois Jean Ashbeck, Jack Beckman, Claude Brenner, Geraldine Hamburg, Mary Clare McHugh, David Nasatir, Sally Ann Wilhelm, Ruth Duskin Feldman, war refugee Gunther Hollander, Shel Talmy, and math experts Joel Kupperman and Richard Williams.

Key Dates

• The series was first broadcast on NBC from Chicago on June 28, 1940, airing as a summer replacement show.
• It continued on radio for the next 13 years.
• Final episode aired on July 5th, 1953.

Other Information

The Quiz Kids not only spawned a host of quiz shows starring both extraordinary and ordinary people, but also gave rise to the now more popular term “Whiz Kids,” first applied to the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies and later to several cabinet members in the Kennedy Administration.

One of the notable ex-Quiz Kids is the Nobel Prize-winning biologist James D. Watson. Others included actor and dialect coach Robert Easton, legendary Hollywood acting coach Roy London, producer Harve Bennett, poet Marilyn Hacker, Mayo Clinic Chief of Staff Richard Sedlack, and actress Vanessa Brown.

The popularity of the television series never approached that of the radio programs, which first aired on Wednesday evenings and later on Sundays and had a devoted following of both adults and children. The Quiz Kids has been revived six times since the original television series, including versions in Canada, the United States, and Australia.