Anonymous telegrams

[mmcirvin]

People quoted as saying "If you want to send a message, use Western Union":

Samuel Goldwyn
Louis B. Mayer (frequently spelled "Meyer")
Harry Cohen (or possibly Cohn)
Darryl Zanuck
Jack Warner
Either Jack Warner or Samuel Goldwyn
Harry Warner

Slightly further afield:

D. W. Griffith
George S. Kaufman
A well-known screenwriter
Irving Berlin

Further still:

Jane Yolen, science-fiction author
Benjamin S. Lambeth, air-warfare analyst for the RAND Corporation

This attribution to David Lee Roth is probably not implying originality on Roth's part, but I'm not so sure about this one.

The most believable attribution I've found is this one to producer Joe Pasternak, since it refers to an original article in which he's being quoted directly, and the phrase doesn't seem to have yet achieved its canonical form:

"I should blow $2,000,000 to send a message?" cries the happy Hungarian. "Western Union is cheaper!"

Comments

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

Oh, samantha2074 saw the line quoted somewhere without attribution, and I said I thought it originated with Louis B. Mayer, then looked it up and quickly saw that it wasn't that clear.