A look back at the Ed Sullivan Theater's rich history as "The Late Show" comes to an end

The famed Ed Sullivan Theater has been home to "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" for the past 11 years, and for nearly 100 years, some of the biggest entertainers were introduced to the world on that very stage.

Its future is now uncertain as "The Late Show" comes to an end.

"The theater was involved in making stars"

Built in 1927, the Ed Sullivan Theater was originally named Hammerstein's Theatre and was home to Broadway shows. That year, a young actor named Archie Leach appeared in the musical "Golden Dawn." Leach would later be known as Hollywood movie icon Cary Grant.

The theater was turned into a popular nightclub in the 1930s.

In 1936, CBS signed a long-term lease and turned the space into a radio studio, then a TV broadcast studio, home to "The Jackie Gleason Show" and more.

In September 1956, 21-year old Elvis Presley appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" for the first time, singing to screaming fans in the audience and tens of millions watching at home. The rising rock-and-roll star would return to the show just six weeks later.

But one of the biggest appearances in TV history would happen in 1964 when The Beatles landed in New York City.

"From the very beginning, the theater was involved in making stars," said Ron Simon, head curator at the Paley Center for Media. "We all identify it with some of the great performances. Frank Sinatra sang on radio at the Ed Sullivan Theater."

"If you were on 'Ed Sullivan,' you were big time"

Simon said Ed Sullivan demanded that Black entertainers be an essential part of his show.

"He welcomed the greatest Black talent around, from Lena Horne to Bill Robinson to Pearl Bailey. They were all on his show," he said. "Later, he brought Diana Ross and all the great Motown artists to television."

Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress Leslie Uggams performed on the show 10 times in the 1960s.

"I'm on 'The Ed Sullivan Show.' You can't tell me nothing," she said. "We got an opportunity to be seen. When you're on television, you're going to a lot of homes."

Uggams said "The Ed Sullivan Show" was the "it" show at the time.

"If you were on 'The Ed Sullivan Show,' you were big time," she said. "In my neighborhood in Washington Heights, the whole neighborhood was watching and very proud that somebody from 164th Street was on television and 'The Ed Sullivan Show.'"

The theater was renamed the Ed Sullivan Theater in 1967.  

The future of the theater

CBS purchased the theater in 1993 as a home for David Letterman.

Simon said one of the theater's greatest moments didn't even happen inside the building.

"Paul McCartney on the roof with crowds enveloping 53rd and 54th Street," he said. "It was just amazing."

Colbert took over "The Late Show" in 2015.

In July 2025, CBS announced it would end "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" and retire "The Late Show" franchise.

CBS News New York reached out to the Paramount Skydance Corporation, parent company of CBS News New York, about the future of the theater. They declined to comment.

"It embraced radio in the beginning, television in the beginning. So whatever new technology is coming, hopefully the Ed Sullivan Theater will be part of that," Simon said.

The final episode of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" airs Thursday at 11:35 p.m. ET on CBS.