WML Project: Wilt Chamberlain

[SWC75]

1/8/61 Wilt Chamberlain Cerf and Joey Bishop stand on chairs to shake hands with Wilt but still aren’t as tall as he is.Wilt is the first guest.


This episode has the most incongruous pair of guest stars: Wilt and Joan Crawford. I wonder what the aging movie queen thought when she saw “The Stilt”.

 

[SWC75]

On 3/12/62 Wilt appeared on I’ve Got a Secret, ten days after he scored 100 points on the Knicks and that was his “secret”:


Wilt looks especially huge next to the diminutive (5-7) Garry Moore. You can see why they called him "The Stilt".

 

[SWC75]

Here is the story of the 100 point game, with sound bites from the radio broadcast, (the game was not televised):

Amazing to think he actually hitch-hiked home from the game, which was in Hershey, Pa. Back then the NBA held games in odd locations sometimes just to drum up interest. It was a very different era.

 

[SWC75]

This documentary is a heart-felt tribute from his friend and rival, Bill Russell: