Fulton J. Sheen? Milton Berle? Bob Hope? Arthur Godfrey?
Question for Quote Investigator: A show business anecdote states that a popular religious television show of the 1950s once received a prestigious award. When the host of the show attended the ceremony, he noticed that fellow awardees were acknowledging the writers who were employed to help create their shows. Hence, the host added the following line to his acceptance speech:
I feel it is time I pay tribute to my four writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
The host namechecked the writers of the four canonical Gospels. This line has been attributed to Catholic Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, but I have also heard that this scenario was fictional, and the line was crafted by a comedian such as Milton Berle, Bob Hope, or Arthur Godfrey. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: Fulton J. Sheen was the host of the show “Life Is Worth Living” from 1952 to 1957. The program was popular, and Sheen won an Emmy for “Most Outstanding Personality” for his efforts in 1952, but the award ceremony was held in February 1953.1 Further, Sheen did not attend the Emmy event, and the gold statuette was accepted for Sheen by a priest based in Los Angeles.2
QI determined that the joke was circulating before the Emmy ceremony. The earliest match appeared in a column published in the “Fort Lauderdale News” of Florida in July 1952. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:3
Just the other day, Arthur Godfrey was talking about Bishop Sheen and how he appeals to American listeners and viewers. Arthur says this is due to Bishop Sheen’s writers: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, et al.
Hence, based on current evidence, QI believes that this quip originated with the entertainer Arthur Godfrey. Subsequently, comedian Bob Hope used a version of this joke. Also, Fulton J. Sheen employed this joke after it was already in use.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
In March 1953 a testimonial dinner honoring Bob Hope was held in New York City, and Hope referred to Milton Berle who was also an attendee at the dinner. Berle’s prime-time variety show competed against Sheen’s program, but the latter achieved higher ratings. Hope’s barb mentioned the writers of the Gospel:4
… recalling Miltie’s difficulties with Bishop Sheen—he said that Berle had just engaged four new writers—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Milton Berle’s primary sponsor was the Texaco oil company, and their premium brand was called Sky Chief gasoline which inspired a joke from Berle delivered during the dinner:
Milton Berle, who said that he and his principal TV rival, Bishop Fulton Sheen, have the same sponsor, “Skychief,” praised Hope sincerely and faithfully promised to use all his jokes next Tuesday.
In December 1954 “Look” magazine gave an award to Sheen for “Best Religious Program”. In addition, “Look” gave an award to Garry Moore for “Best Master-of-Ceremonies”.5 The columnist Faye Emerson described two of the quips delivered by award recipients:6
Garry Moore, who received a “Look” award for his spontaneity, turned right around and paid tribute to “the four guys responsible for my spontaneity—my writers.”
Bishop Fulton Sheen, in accepting his award, said, “I feel it is time that I also pay tribute to my four writers—Matthew. Mark, Luke and John.”
Thus, Fulton J. Sheen did employ the joke while receiving an award, but the honor was a “Look Magazine Television Award” and not an Emmy. Also, the joke was already in use.
In January 1956 “Reader’s Digest” magazine printed a version of the tale while acknowledging Faye Emerson:7
When Garry Moore received a television award for his spontaneity, he turned right around and paid tribute to “the four guys responsible for my spontaneity—my writers.” Bishop Fulton Sheen, the next to receive an award, said, “I also want to pay tribute to my four writers — Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.”
—Faye Emerson, United Feature Syndicate
In 1957 James Beasley Simpson published a compilation titled “Best Quotes of ’54, ’55, ’56” which contained the following entry:8
“I feel it is time that I also pay tribute to my four writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.”
Bishop Fulton Sheen on receiving a Look award for his television addresses, quoted in Faye Emerson’s column, New York World-Telegram & Sun, December 24, 1954.
In 1959 the “Toronto Daily Star” of Canada reported the following two jokes delivered by Bob Hope during a television program the previous night:9
“We don’t have canned laughter on this show, just two hyenas in the cellar with an usher who tickles them with a feather.”
“Even Bishop Sheen has writers—four guys named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.”
In 1973 a columnist in the “San Francisco Chronicle” of California attributed the quip to Milton Berle:10
It was Archbishop Sheen who knocked off Milton’s Texaco Hour as the top television show in the ’50s. The prelate got better ratings than Berle.
“No wonder,” said Milton. “He had better writers — Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
“But we had the same sponsor — Sky Chief.”
In 1976, 81-year-old Fulton J. Sheen visited Sarasota, Florida and was interviewed by a local reporter. Sheen repeated the line, and the article suggested that the line was spoken during the Emmy award ceremony:11
Bishop Sheen received an Emmy Award for his “Life Is Worth Living,” and during his acceptance speech made one of his most memorable one-liners. He recalled, “Everyone before me had thanked their writers, so I said I’d like to thank mine — Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Of course, Milton Berle picked it up from me and used it on his own show.”
Sheen died in 1979. The obituary from the news service of the L.A. Times and Washington Post suggested that the line was spoken in response to receiving an Emmy:12
His weekly “Life Is Worth Living” programs drew audiences as large as 20 million in part of a radio and television career that spanned more than three decades.
“I feel it is time I pay tribute to my four writers: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,” the bishop said in acknowledging an Emmy award.
In 2012 Robert Byrne published the compilation “The 2,548 Wittiest Things Anybody Ever Said” which contained the following entry:13
I would like to acknowledge my four writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
—Bishop Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979)
In conclusion, Arthur Godfrey employed an instance of this joke during a television broadcast in June or July 1952 according to a newspaper report. Hence, Godfrey is the leading candidate for creator of this quip. QI has found no substantive evidence that the joke was used during the Emmy ceremony in February 1953 when Fulton J. Sheen won an award.
Bob Hope used an instance in March 1953. Milton Berle was present, and Berle comically promised to repeat Hope’s joke during his own show. Sheen employed the joke in December 1954 when he received an award from “Look” magazine for “Best Religious Program”.
Image Notes: A book page displaying the Gospel of John from Anthony Garand at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Calvin Engime whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Engime noted that Fulton Sheen did not attend the 1953 Emmy award ceremony.
- Website: Television Academy, Article title: Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, Entry Information: Winner Most Outstanding Personality 1953: Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, Website description: “The Television Academy is dedicated to celebrating excellence, innovation”, (Accessed televisionacademy.com on July 18, 2026) link ↩︎
- 1953 February 13, The Messenger, TV Award Given To Bishop Sheen, Quote Page 3, Column 6, Belleville, Illinois. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
- 1952 July 4, Fort Lauderdale News, Pass in Review: “The Voice” by Orville Revelle, Quote Page 4, Column 2, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
- 1953 March 2, The Cincinnati Enquirer, Fun Unrestrained by Bob Considine (Syndicated), Quote Page 7, Column 3, Cincinnati, Ohio. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
- 1954 December 13, Pasadena Independent, Radio & TV: Bill Bird Reports, Quote Page 28, Column 7, Pasadena, California. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
- 1954 December 24, Birmingham Post-Herald, Around the Dial: TV’s ‘Copperfield’ Gets high Praise with Faye Emerson, Quote Page 8, Column 1, Birmingham, Alabama. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
- 1956 January, Reader’s Digest, Volume 68, Number 405, Shop Talk, Quote Page 56, The Reader’s Digest Association, Pleasantville, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1957 Copyright, Best Quotes of ’54, ’55, ’56, Compiled by James Beasley Simpson, Topic: Religion, Quote Page 86, Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1959 November 10, Toronto Daily Star, TV ‘Don Quixote’ Excellent Show by Dennis Braithwaite, Quote Page 26, Column 7, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
- 1973 September 7, San Francisco Chronicle, Hollywood Hotline by James Bacon, Quote Page 60, Column 1, San Francisco, California. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1976 October 22, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Archbishop Sheen Brings His Warmth To Sarasota by Charlie Huisking (Herald-Tribune Reporter), Quote Page 3B, Column 1, Sarasota, Florida. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
- 1979 December 10, Buffalo Evening News, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Dies at 84; TV Orator, Religious Leader by Martin Weid and Marjorie Hyer (L.A. Times – Washington Post Service), Section 2, Quote Page 21, Column 5, Buffalo, New York. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
- 2012, The 2,548 Wittiest Things Anybody Ever Said, Compiled by Robert Byrne, Quote Number 2283, Touchstone: A Division of Simon & Schuster, New York. (Verified on paper) ↩︎