Whither Charley?

"I know his name--I know his name," the contestant muttered desperately. For a few seconds longer he punished his memory while some 50 million Americans held their breaths. Then Charles Van Doren, 31, turned full face to the TV camera. "No, I don't," he confessed with a weak smile. "I guess I don't know."

So ended last week the four-month mental marathon that had accomplished the transformation of an egghead into a TV darling (TIME, Feb. 11 et seq.). By failing to name Belgium's King Baudouin, Van Doren lost the game on NBC's Twenty One to Mrs. Vivienne Nearing, a blonde barrister who had tied him for two weeks running. The loss shaved Van Doren's take from $143,000 to $129,000, still the largest prize ever awarded on any single program. Income taxes will slice this sum plus the annual $4,500 he gets as an English instructor at Columbia University to about $28,795. (Columbia last week gave him a $100-a-year raise that had nothing to do with his TV prowess.)

The defeat by Mrs. Nearing left him wondering what to do with the remainder of his sudden fame. In any case, he intends to stay at Columbia. But he has been deluged with outside offers from radio, TV and Hollywood, now needs an agent to handle the requests. Van Doren claims to have made no commitments about his future in show business other than to sign up for the first program of NBC Radio's revival of Conversation on March 21, which will be moderated by his good friend Critic Clifton Fadiman. What does Van Doren plan to charge for an appearance? "There's a medieval custom," he grins, "that an author never mentions money."

Taking a cue from NBC's Twenty One, which soared to success on the suspense created by Van Doren's consecutive appearances, CBS's $64,000 Question last week changed its ground rules so that a successful contestant can return week after week, may go on until he wins $256,000. First memory expert to be eligible for the new goal is Rob Strom, ten-year-old Bronx science whiz, who won his first $64,000 with barely a pause over some half-dozen tough questions.

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