This is the thirty-second in a series of examinations of legends about television and the people involved in TV and whether they are true or false.

Click here to view an archive of the previous TV urban legends.

Let’s begin!

TV LEGEND: An episode of “This Is Your Life” introduced a survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima to the co-pilot of the plane that dropped the bomb.

STATUS: True

Imagine that you survived the detonation of an atomic bomb dropped on to your city.

Now imagine that you dedicated your life to charity related to the victims of the bombing.

Now imagine you’re doing a talk show to discuss the charity when suddenly you discover you are on a game show and you are going to meet the co-pilot of the plane that dropped the bomb on your city.

That would be a pretty awful situation, wouldn’t it?

But that’s exactly what happened to Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto.

A Methodist minister, Tanimoto survived the destruction of Hiroshima and was later one of the six subjects featured by John Hersey in his world-famous article series (and later book), Hiroshima…

After the war, during the mid-1950s, Tanimoto began involved in various charities related to the atomic bombing, including the so-called “Hiroshima Maidens,” the young women who were physically deformed due to radiation from the atomic bomb.

Tanimoto took the to the United States to receive much-needed plastic surgery.

Here is Tanimoto as he arrived in the United States in 1955…

At the time, there was a popular TV series, created, produced and hosted by Ralph Edwards called This Is Your Life.

The concept of the show was that Edwards would get a person (often a celebrity but also frequently just a normal person) and surprise them with the fact that they were on the show. Then they would do an overview of the person’s life up until that point, complete with notable people from their past (who they were was part of the surprise).

For Tanimoto, things went along as they typically did…

although Tanimoto seemed a bit thrown by the whole thing (he was likely nervous).

However, things took a turn for the especially bizarre when one of the “mystery guests” was announced – it was Robert Lewis, co-pilot of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima!!!

Look at the expression on Tanimoto’s face when he hears it…

Lewis goes on about how he wrote in his journal the day of the bombing, “Oh God, what have we done?”

And then – one of the most awkward handshakes imaginable…

The funniest thing about it is that the episode aired without commercials, because it was clearly a “very special” episode of This Is Your Life, and yet they didn’t seem to realize that what they were doing was pretty darn bizarre.

Lewis, himself, was a wreck over it, as well, and almost didn’t make the taping because he was drinking at a bar to calm his nerves.

The footage is part of a great documentary on the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki called White Light/Black Rain…

TV LEGEND: James Arness is the tallest person ever to be the lead in a television series in the United States.

STATUS: False

James Arness played Sheriff Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke, the longest running dramatic program in the history of television.

That record does not seem likely to be broken any time soon (ER seemed to last forever, and it fell six seasons shy of Gunsmoke, and over THREE HUNDRED EPISODES shy), but another mark connected with the program HAS been broken, even though it doesn’t seem to have made its way to the talking points about James Arness.

James Arness was six foot, seven inches tall. He has said that during World War II, when he was in the infantry, when they did beach landings they would have him go in first to judge the depth of the water (Arness was a highly decorated soldier during World War II and he suffered injuries that bother him to this day).

Check him out with some random people…

That’s one tall dude!

So as the story goes, he is the tallest person to ever be the lead of a scripted television series.

Ken Howard, of White Shadow fame, was “only” six foot six inches.

However, as of the debut of his 2006 Fox sitcom (which just recently was officially canceled), Brad Garrett took the title…

at six foot eight and a half inches tall, Garrett is easily the tallest person ever to have the lead on a scripted television series.

That is one tall dude.

But four years after Garrett won the “title,” Arness still gets credit for the “record” in a number of places.

But we all know better, don’t we (heck, I believe we can count Garrett’s short-lived 1988 summer sitcom, First Impresions, as well, but either way, the answer is Arness ISN’T – we can quibble about WHEN Garrett took the crown from him at some other point!

TV LEGEND: David Brenner shaved nine years off of his age when he began doing comedy in the late 1960s.

STATUS: True

David Brenner made his debut on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in 1971, at the age of 26…

Brenner soon became a favorite of Carson’s, and Carson had him on 158 times, the most any other performer has ever appeared on the Tonight Show!

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Brenner also served as the guest host for Carson on his day off.

Here he is talking to Helen Gurley Brown from Cosmopolitan magazine…

But as Brenner got older, people began to be more and more suspicious about his age.

Finally, in early 2009, on the Howard Stern radio show, Brenner “came out” about his age. When he got his start, he took NINE YEARS off of his given age!!!

You see, Brenner had worked in film (behind the scenes) before ever starting comedy, so he was experienced (in the bad way) when he began trying out his comic material at colleges in the late 1960s.

At the time, he figured it made more sense to knock his age down to the mid-20s, as that way he could be seen as “young” and “hip.”

He took his young and hip self (Carson even comments on his youth) to the Tonight Show, but instead of the 26 he was telling people he was, he was 35!!

Can you imagine how hard it is to keep that up for so long (even if a lot of people guessed as much due to his clear age difference with other actors “his” age)?

Brenner is now 74 years young.

Thanks to the Howard Stern Show for the information!

Okay, that’s it for this week!

Feel free (heck, I implore you!) to write in with your suggestions for future installments! My e-mail address is bcronin@legendsrevealed.com