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Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan

Original title: Sunday Best
  • 2025
  • TV-14
  • 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
1.1K
YOUR RATING
Ed Sullivan in Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan (2025)
BiographyDocumentaryHistory

Ed Sullivan broke barriers by booking Black artists on his Sunday night variety show. This documentary spotlights the TV pioneer's legacy of equality.Ed Sullivan broke barriers by booking Black artists on his Sunday night variety show. This documentary spotlights the TV pioneer's legacy of equality.Ed Sullivan broke barriers by booking Black artists on his Sunday night variety show. This documentary spotlights the TV pioneer's legacy of equality.

  • Director
    • Sacha Jenkins
  • Stars
    • Ed Sullivan
    • Louis Armstrong
    • Peg Leg Bates
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.8/10
    1.1K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Sacha Jenkins
    • Stars
      • Ed Sullivan
      • Louis Armstrong
      • Peg Leg Bates
    • 22User reviews
    • 13Critic reviews
    • 83Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos7

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    Top Cast52

    Edit
    Ed Sullivan
    Ed Sullivan
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Louis Armstrong
    Louis Armstrong
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Peg Leg Bates
    Peg Leg Bates
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    The Beatles
    The Beatles
    • Themselves
    • (archive footage)
    Harry Belafonte
    Harry Belafonte
    • Self
    James Brown
    James Brown
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Cab Calloway
    Cab Calloway
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Diahann Carroll
    Diahann Carroll
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Johnny Carson
    Johnny Carson
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Ray Charles
    Ray Charles
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Chubby Checker
    Chubby Checker
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Nat 'King' Cole
    Nat 'King' Cole
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Walter Cronkite
    Walter Cronkite
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Sammy Davis Jr.
    Sammy Davis Jr.
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Bo Diddley
    Bo Diddley
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Ella Fitzgerald
    Ella Fitzgerald
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    David Frost
    David Frost
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Berry Gordy
    Berry Gordy
    • Self
    • Director
      • Sacha Jenkins
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews22

    7.81K
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    Featured reviews

    10brendajbrody

    The best of the best

    I grew up watching Ed Sullivan and I knew I would see people who looked like me. I didn't think about it much, I just loved it. When I was older, I could appreciate his bravery in the face of blatant racism. After seeing this, I will always honor his memory. He was a great man who stood tall in his convictions. He deserves respect and glory.
    10VickieJ-75

    Absolutely amazing!

    This documentary should definitely be a 10/10! It never ceases to amaze me to see how the power of GOOD music can bring people together...a nation together! Thanks to Mr. Sullivan, the nation experienced the power of music of various genres by Black Americans, loved by people of all races and backgrounds. Beautiful!
    10sherrio-8

    Fabulous for everyone in the family !

    Loved this!!! Beautiful , entertaining, interesting and rich with history and talent ! A must see especially for younger folks who might not know who Ed Sullivan was. Thank you to Netflix for offering a masterpiece that we can watch with our children. Kudos to the producer Margo Speciale for sharing this story with the world!
    9Krutchie-5

    "Ed Sullivan: More Than the Beatles & Elvis"

    I'm too young to have experienced The Ed Sullivan Show when it aired, and like most people, when I think of Ed Sullivan, I picture the Beatles or Elvis Presley shaking up America's living rooms. But Sunday Best shines a light on another story-one I never knew about-his deliberate push to showcase Black artists at a time when TV was anything but inclusive. As someone who has worked in the entertainment industry for decades covering music and film, this was a genuine eye-opener. Through vivid interviews and archival gems, the film shows how Ed was ahead of his time-sometimes with his finger on the pulse, sometimes creating the very pulse that America would come to follow. And honestly? I didn't realize how cool Ed was. Turns out, he was OG cool.
    10blanche-2

    A profile in courage

    Many of us remember The Ed Sullivan Show growing up - the program that introduced us to the Beatles. Elvis, opera, Topo Gigio, and dozens upon dozens of black entertainers during profound civil unrest in our country.

    Today the unrest is of a slightly different kind - but to hear someone in the '60s claim that blacks were taking our jobs had a very familiar ring to it.

    Ed Sullivan, a columnist who became a television icon - pioneered featuring black artists on his show: Stevie Wonder, Pearl Bailey, Ike and Tina, Nina Simone, the Supremes, Diahann Carroll, the Jackson 5, Harry Belafonte, the Temptations- giving many artists their start.

    Fortune favors the bold, and there was no one more fearless than Ed Sullivan, who didn't hesitate to bring black artists into Southern homes.

    What impressed me was how he held the artists' hands, patted them on the back, hugged them, at a time when some people would find that shocking.

    Born in Harlem, then heavily populated by the Irish, Sullivan had an open-minded dad who knew minorities coming into this country had always suffered.

    I was left asking myself what happened to courageous people like Sullivan, like Carl Laemmle who founded Universal Studios and then saved 308 Jewish families from the Holocaust, like Rosa Parks, like Charles Shultz, who refused to remove a black child from a Peanuts cartoon, who fought for what they knew was right, who refused to be cowed or intimidated. Today I see a lot of fear.

    I highly recommend this documentary for its wonderful memories and a reminder that once there were people who bucked the system.

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    History

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Sunday Best producer Margo Precht Speciale is also the granddaughter of legendary TV host Ed Sullivan.
    • Connections
      Featured in BriouxTV: The Podcast: Ed Sullivan doc producer Margo Precht Speciale (2025)

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 7, 2025 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Website
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Sunday Best
    • Production companies
      • Delirio Films
      • Diamond Docs
      • MPS Legacy Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 30m(90 min)
    • Color
      • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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