Most of us KNOW why. If you know you know.

She should absolutely be in the Hall, and should have walked in among the first. @@walkingtrails7776

😞

LA Times: the lady’s obituary one evening in 1968 in the Thousand Oaks News-Chronicle. Her favorite tiger had died, the obit said, and Miss Stark had retired her act after losing some mobility in her body. A few months later, she drafted a will and farewell note, closed her windows on the world, turned on the gas, and lay down on her kitchen table. She was either 74 or 80, depending on which records you believed. It was with these strange, long-buried memories that I returned to Thousand Oaks the next day, to see what I might discover about this remarkable figure, and what led her to spend a life in the company of oversize killer kitties. Jungleland, of course, was long gone--driven into bankruptcy in 1968 by the Mansfield incident and other problems. The fearsome, monolithic Thousand Oaks Performing Arts Center occupies the space where Miss Stark once put her tigers through their paces. The obit also mentioned--to my great pleasure--that Miss Stark was “at home behind a typewriter” and had written an autobiography. Not surprisingly, it was titled “Hold That Tiger” (by Mabel Stark, as told to Gertrude Orr, published in 1938). Wikipedia: She returned to California and finished her career at the Jungle Compound (later called Jungleland) in Thousand Oaks. Stark appeared occasionally on television in the 1960s. For example, she did a stint as one of the guests with an unusual occupation on What's My Line?, the popular Sunday night CBS-TV program. In 1968, Jungleland was sold to a new owner who disliked Stark and fired her. Soon after she left, one of her tigers escaped and was shot. Stark was angry and hurt about the animal's destruction, and felt that she could have safely secured the tiger if the owners had asked for her assistance. Three months later, she killed herself by an overdose of barbiturates. In the last pages of her autobiography, Hold That Tiger, Stark writes: "The chute door opens as I crack my whip and shout, 'Let them come,' Out slink the striped cats, snarling and roaring, leaping at each other or at me. It's a matchless thrill, and life without it is not worth while to me." She died on April 20, 1968 Mental Floss: Jungleland was bought and sold several times during Stark's tenure, and the park declined financially through the 1960s (it was finally dismantled in 1969). The new owner in 1968 did not like Stark, and fired her. The 79-year-old tiger tamer did not want to retire. The loss of her job, combined with an incident in which one of her tigers escaped and was killed, sent her into despair. Mabel Stark took an overdose of barbiturates, and was found dead by her housekeeper on April 20, 1968. According to her 1938 autobiography Hold That Tiger, Stark would have preferred to die at the hands of a tiger than by any other means, but it was not to be. She had already survived that fate.

Holy crap, that's awful. These videos and their respective comments are a double edged sword in amazing facts about recent history and sad stories of these people's deaths.

Wow; thanks for sharing. How terrible.

I will also say , thanks for the info.

Um this is from 1961 pay attention. lol

I loved the children's programs too: Kookla,Fran,and Ollie, Howdy Doody, and others. This was before Sesame Street arrived in the 70's.

She suffered so many serious maulings but never quit. She must've been addicted to the adrenaline rush/thrill of it. It was, apparently, the thing that made her feel most alive and gave her life meaning. When she lost her cats, she took her own life. But what a life.

So does Dorothy’s

My absolute favorite.... especially ' back in the day '. No one sounds like her. Wish she was still singing today. Good times.

What a genius Emilio Pucci was. A renaissance man he was.

Quite a bit about Connie in the comments. She was perhaps the biggest star on the planet at that time.

And just look at the reaction of the studio audience when Connie entered!! She was a huge star, and remains today a very beloved entertainment figure.

My mother was a big fan of Connie Francis. When I was a kid (1970s) i thought it was simply because they shared the same first name.

Dan Celli I love Connie Francis. I wish singers today had her class.

@@southerncatholicgal5548 - Connie Francis recorded a wonderful Italian song, "Mamma," recorded by Luciano Pavarotti and another opera singer, whose name escapes me. I wish that Ms. Francis had been encouraged to sing a few bars of "Mamma."

She was appearing at the Westbury Music Fair on New York's Long Island at the time of the rape. As her appearance extended over multiple nights, she was staying at the Howard Johnson's Hotel chain near the Westbury Music Fair. Had there been other more secure venues nearby, she likely would have stayed at one of them. At any rate, her assault and later successful lawsuit against Howard Johnson's for its negligence in not securing its rooms sufficiently is the reason that today we have much more secure rooms when staying at most hotels.

@@cnoland2000 yes, a major change in tort law started with a few lawsuits like that around that time. In many states today, and in all states then, a property owner would not be liable for the criminal acts of a person who broke into the property. The chain of causation would have been broken. But some states now do hold property owners liable for assaults committed against guests or residents for criminal assaults of third parties, landlord-tenant, innkeeper-guest, dormitory-student being the most common.

So sad that she suffered through that horrible experience. Did they ever catch the pos that did that?

@@catmanpc9166 No, the person was never caught.

@@AllenMQuinn That's too bad. Thx for responding.

I remember the movie Where the Boys Are as well as the song....I was in first grade

Jerry was insufferable. And the way he treated his family was unbelievably cruel.

@@TheProfessorpat It's very difficult to find positive comments about Jerry Lewis.

Never noticed before but at certain angles here she looked amazingly like Jackie Kennedy.

Children don't seem to learn those manners anymore.

Yes of course it's why they stood..ya know, they HAVE stood before

Yes, it is a shame that pride in appearance, etiquette, manners and class have faded from our lives; I do miss the social graces. The ladies on the panel always stand for an older woman and yes, it was about respect. I am thankful to have grown up all those years ago.

+BLAIR M Schirmer Jayne Mansfield got HUGE appaulse too!

Great show. Connie francis is the greatest popular singer of them all.

@BLAIR M Schirmer And Nat King Cole, the second time. John had to shush them, too.

@@davevansant1447 So do I ! 👍👍🎵🎵

Ambience World ... That’s sad 😔

Thanks for sharing that. How sad.

Ambience World That's a sobering postlude to her appearance here. Though I'm glad I read this after watching rather than before. Thank you,

How very sad.

Thank you for sharing.

Female singer is Connie, Male singer is Elves The highest singer

Roger Smith Very cool -- are you still an animal trainer? It surprises me that at age 71, someone who was as vibrant, strong and active as Mabel Stark obviously still was, (given her continuation in such a profession), nevertheless had the look of a typical "little old lady." In my experience, contemporary folks in their early 70s generally look much more youthful.

@@savethetpc6406 very true!!! Mabel to me ilooked like she was in her 80s. People do look more youthful now.

That was one mean looking woman. Thank goodness Jerry Lewis got to to laugh real good. She needed it.

Sounds as though she could turn a phrase as well as she train a cat.

Harry, your photo looks sharp but is there “lipstick on your collar?”

It's been a pleasure so far! And I'm sure that won't change.

Really great stuff. I love seeing the sponsors' commercials at the beginning as well. My dad used to love this show too. Thanks again What's My Line?

The hell going through her mind after the needless death of her beloved tigers. Either she couldn't live with herself because of the guilt....or she couldn't bear her life without the tigers. Or both. Either way, what a terribly sad end to this woman's story. Beware of devoting your life to one thing or one person or one role because when that one thing is gone you risk losing your will to live.....which is such a waste as life should go on!!

Sad 😢

Very good....David Sanderson

Took my Dad to see her (his favorite singer) in Watertown NY in 1995. She put on a good show. We got to meet her afterwards, a very gracious lady. Prost - Slainte' - Cheers ...

LUIS FE Rojas Glad you enjoyed it. :)

+What's My Line? Yes, Connie Francis was just so beautiful. And Jerry Lewis was cool!

@@jas22 Yes! JL was cool and so handsome!

Jerry was a nasty bully.

it's all relative, isn't it? the older i get, the younger "old" stars look!

your right!

I'm 75 now and soooo agree. Strange feeling. (-:

I was hoping that too! When I was a kid, a guy came to our local 5&10 and did a cool demonstration of Duncan yo-yos, mom bought one for my brother that lit up. I wonder if this was the same fellow we saw. I remember he was impressive with a yo-yo!

To Tell the Truth did that sort of thing not WML

Live TV, man. "🎶 Born___to be Wi-i-i-ild ! 🎶"

Who?

As has been mentioned by any number of commenters, the audiences' reactions to words or phrases clued the panelists (especially the delightful Miss Arlene Francis) to the contestants' "lines." I wish audiences had been warned not to be so enthusiastic. Nothing to be done about it since WML? aired so many decades ago. The program is still one of the best ever aired on television. What a treat to watch it now (12-31-2020 -- hurry up 2021 and please be a better year!).

Nuno Soares - Connie Frsncis recorded the song Mamma, a beautiful and poignant song also recorded by Luciano Pavarotti in Italian. Italian or English, it'll tear your heart out. Connie Francis's version was just beautiful.

Thanks for adding the info on the prerecorded shows, Vahan. I really appreciate it.

What's My Line? Oh, no problem. There is, unfortunately, at least one pre-recorded episode that has been lost to the ravages of time: The April 9, 1967 episode (recorded on March 5, 1967). One of five lost color episodes, because they had been videotaped and stockpiled for alternate week/summer airing, and for some reason, were not kinescoped at the time.

I've read that the entire final season on CBS was originally broadcast in color-- but only B&W kinescopes survive.

Interesting that Dorothy mentions that Bennett had just returned from England and Ireland. I wonder if she is referring to a trip he planned to take place during the summer, one that hadn't actually happened yet when the show was pre-recorded.

@@loissimmons6558 She did indicate he was travelling for Random House and not on vacation, so was promoting his books in two other English-speaking nations that were then off WWII rationing, so might be able to afford them.

It's always great to hear from folks who knew the contestants!

But we have redeemed ourselves by electing a president whose wife is as classy and admirable as the Mmes Kennedy, Obama, Bush II,

(to continue), Adams I and II and others.

Marilyn Monroe loved his clothes, she is buried wearing one of his dresses.

I am sure the tigers were abused - shame on her

Joseph Forest They WERE good friends at the beginning but that began to wane for Dean after a few years. But by that time they were legally tied together by millions of dollars worth of contracts, and I think Dean was afraid that he might not make it on his own. After all, by that stage he had two wives and 7 children to support. But eventually the situation with Jerry became so impossible for him personally that, as easygoing as he was, he just felt he had no other choice. However, even then it took a long time to sort out all the legal and financial complications.

Joseph... Why do you think Dean got drunk so often?

He’s NOT funny

Marilyn Monroe loved his dresses, she is buried wearing one.