Editing Arlene Francis (section)

== Career ==
[[File:Arlene Francis.JPG|thumb|left|Francis c. 1950]]
After attending [[Finch College]], Francis began a varied career as an entertainer based in New York City.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Argrave |first1=Caroline |title=There's No Place Like Home: Arlene Francis and Domesticity in Doubt |date=April 2020 |publisher=Louisiana State University |location=Baton Rouge, Louisiana |page=45 |url=https://repository.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6169&context=gradschool_theses |access-date=5 February 2024}}</ref> She became an accomplished stage actress, performing in many local theatre and [[off-Broadway]] plays and in 25&nbsp;[[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] plays through 1975.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Simonson |first1=Robert |title=Arlene Francis, Stage, Film and TV Actress, Is Dead at 93 |url=https://playbill.com/article/arlene-francis-stage-film-and-tv-actress-is-dead-at-93-com-96974 |website=Playbill |access-date=5 February 2024}}</ref> In 1932, she made her film debut in [[Universal Pictures|Universal's]] ''[[Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932 film)|Murders in the Rue Morgue]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Stage, Television Star Arlene Francis |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2001/06/02/stage-television-star-arlene-francis/76aec651-9ff7-4674-8253-b98aca7834ae/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=5 February 2024}}</ref> She appeared in films sporadically until the 1970s.

Francis became a well-known New York City radio personality, hosting several programs. In 1938 she became the female host of the radio game show ''[[What's My Name? (radio program)|What's My Name?]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Television: The Perils of Arlene |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,893650,00.html |access-date=5 February 2024 |magazine=Time |date=September 9, 1957}}</ref> Although several men appeared as co-hosts over the years, Francis was the sole female host throughout the program's long run (on [[ABC Radio Network|ABC]], [[NBC Radio Network|NBC]], and [[Mutual Broadcasting System|Mutual]] networks) until it ended in 1949.<ref name="dunningota">{{cite book |last=Dunning |first=John |author-link=John Dunning (detective fiction author) |title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtRbXNca0oC&dq=%22What's+My+Name,+game+show%22&pg=PA716 |section=What's My Name? |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-19-507678-3 |page=716 |edition=Revised |accessdate=2019-08-25}}</ref>

In 1940, Francis played Betty in ''[[Betty and Bob]]'', an early radio soap opera broadcast.<ref name=ota>{{cite book |last=Dunning |first=John |date=1998 |title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtRbXNca0oC&dq=%22betty+and+bob,+soap+opera%22&pg=PA81 |section=Betty and Bob |location=New York, NY |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=81–82 |isbn=978-0-1950-7678-3 |access-date=June 11, 2023}}</ref>

In 1943, she began as host of a network radio game show, ''[[Blind Date (1950s game show)|Blind Date]]'', which she hosted also on ABC and NBC television from 1949 to 1952.<ref name="independent" /> From 1952 to 1961 she was a regular substitute for [[Dave Garroway]] on the [[Today (American TV program)|Today Show]]. She was a regular contributor to [[NBC Radio]]'s ''[[Monitor (NBC radio)|Monitor]]'' in the 1950s and 1960s and hosted a long-running midday chat show on [[WOR (AM)|WOR-AM]] that ran from 1960 to 1984.<ref name="nytobit" />
[[File:Whats My Line original television panel 1952.JPG|thumb|right|The ''[[What's My Line?]]'' panel in 1952. From left: [[Dorothy Kilgallen]], [[Bennett Cerf]], Francis, and [[Hal Block]]; newscaster [[John Charles Daly|John Daly]] was host of the show.]]
[[File:What's My Line 1965.JPG|thumb|Francis (left) with Cerf, Kilgallen, and Daly on ''What's My Line?'' in 1965]]

Francis was a panelist on the weekly game show ''[[What's My Line?]]'' from its second episode on [[CBS]] in 1950 until its network cancellation in 1967, and in its daily syndicated version from 1968 to 1975.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wakin |first1=Daniel J. |title=Arlene Francis, 93, Mainstay Of 'What's My Line?' on TV |work=The New York Times |date=June 2, 2001 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/02/arts/arlene-francis-93-mainstay-of-what-s-my-line-on-tv.html |access-date=5 February 2024}}</ref>

The original show, which featured guests whose occupation, or "line," the panelists were to guess, became one of the classic television game shows, noted for the urbanity of its host and panelists.<ref name="nytobit" />

She appeared on other game shows, including ''[[Match Game]]'', ''[[Password (American game show)|Password]]'', ''[[To Tell the Truth]]'', and other programs produced by [[Mark Goodson]] and [[Bill Todman]], including a short-lived hosting stint on the Goodson-Todman show ''By Popular Demand'', replacing original host [[Robert Alda]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/450102366/?terms=%22arlene+francis%22+%22popular+demand%22|title=Looking & Listening with Ben Gross|last=Gross|first=Ben|date=August 31, 1950|work=Daily News|access-date=October 23, 2018|language=en}}</ref>

According to ''[[TV Guide]]'', Francis was the highest-earning game show panelist in the 1950s, making $1,000 ({{Inflation|US-GDP|1000|1954|fmt=eq|r=-2|cursign=$}}) per show on the prime time version of ''What's My Line?''. By contrast, the second-highest-paid panelists on TV, [[Dorothy Kilgallen]] and [[Faye Emerson]], received $500 ({{Inflation|US-GDP|500|1954|fmt=eq|r=-2|cursign=$}}) per appearance.<ref>''[[TV Guide]]'' January 8–14, 1954 page 6. Retrieved February 21, 2017</ref>

Francis was the emcee on the last episodes of ''The Comeback Story'', a short-lived 1954 reality show on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] in which mostly celebrities shared stories of having overcome adversity in their personal lives.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Earle|last1=Marsh|first2=Tim|last2=Brooks|title=The Complete Directory to Prime-Time Network and Cable Television Shows, 1946-Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC&dq=%22Comeback+Story,+The%22+%22Arlene+Francis%22&pg=PA275 |page=275|date=October 6, 2007|publisher=Random House Publishing |edition=Ninth|isbn=978-0-345-49773-4}}</ref>

Francis was a pioneer for women on television, one of the first to host a program that was not musical or dramatic in nature. From 1954 to 1957, she was host and editor-in-chief of ''[[Home (1954 TV series)|Home]],''<ref name="independent" /> [[NBC]]'s hour-long daytime magazine program oriented toward women, which was conceived by network president [[Pat Weaver]] to complement the network's ''[[Today (NBC Program)|Today]]'' and ''[[The Tonight Show|Tonight]]'' programs. In 1954, she appeared on the cover of ''[[Newsweek]]'' magazine.<ref>{{cite magazine |last= |first= |title=TV's Arlene Francis: Pots and Puns|date=July 19, 1954 |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_newsweek-us_1954-07-19_44_3/mode/1up|magazine=Newsweek |location= |publisher=Newsweek Magazine |access-date=October 5, 2022}}</ref> She hosted ''Talent Patrol'' in the mid-1950s. In 1962, Francis was one of numerous people recruited to guest host ''Tonight'' during an interval period before [[Johnny Carson]] took over as host from [[Jack Paar]]. This made her the first woman to host not only ''Tonight'' but a national late-night U.S. network talk show. In November 1961, she hosted [[The Price is Right]] for [[Bill Cullen]] while he was on vacation.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIzZVTZ7oog</ref>

She acted in a few Hollywood films, debuting in the role of a streetwalker who falls prey to mad scientist [[Bela Lugosi]] in ''[[Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932 film)|Murders in the Rue Morgue]]'' (1932). In her memoir, Francis said she was cast for the movie even though her only acting experience at the time was in a small Shakespearean production in a convent school she had attended.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Arlene Francis: A Memoir|last1=Francis|first1=Arlene|last2=Rome|first2=Florence|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=1978|isbn=0-671-22808-0|pages=18–19}}</ref> Some sixteen years later, she appeared in the film version of Arthur Miller's play ''[[All My Sons (film)|All My Sons]]'' (1948) with [[Edward G. Robinson]].

In the 1960s, Francis made three films: ''[[One, Two, Three]]'' (1961), directed by [[Billy Wilder]] and filmed in [[Munich]], in which she played [[James Cagney]]'s wife; ''[[The Thrill of It All (film)|The Thrill of It All]]'' (1963) with [[Doris Day]] and [[James Garner]]; and, in 1968, the television version of the play ''[[Laura (1968 film)|Laura]]'', which she had played on stage several times. Her final film performance was in Wilder's ''[[Fedora (1978 film)|Fedora]]'' (1978).

In 1978, Francis wrote her autobiography, ''Arlene Francis: A Memoir'', with longtime friend Florence Rome.<ref name="Francis 1978">{{Cite book|title=Arlene Francis: A Memoir|last1=Francis|first1=Arlene|last2=Rome|first2=Florence|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=1978|isbn=0-671-22808-0}}</ref> In 1960, she wrote ''That Certain Something: The Magic of Charm'',<ref name="independent" /> and she published a cookbook, ''No Time for Cooking'', in 1961. She was a member of the [[Peabody Awards]] Board of Jurors from 1980 to 1982.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.peabodyawards.com/stories/story/george-foster-peabody-awards-board-members|title=George Foster Peabody Awards Board Members|publisher=peabodyawards.com|access-date=October 3, 2015|archive-date=May 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518091724/http://www.peabodyawards.com/stories/story/george-foster-peabody-awards-board-members|url-status=dead}}</ref>  Francis also guested on television programs including ''[[Mrs. G. Goes to College]]'' in 1962 in the episode "The Mother Affair".

Francis made sporadic television appearances throughout the 1980s, with her final appearances being during [[Mark Goodson]]'s birthday party and on ''[[The Howard Stern Show]]'' with [[Robin Quivers]] and [[Kitty Carlisle]], in 1991.