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Arlene Francis
Age: 93 (passed away May. 31st, 2001)
Height:
Birth Place: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Born: Oct. 20th, 1907
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Arlene Francis' Main TV Roles
NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at
IMDB
BIOGRAPHY: Arlene Francis, the witty actress and popular television personality, was born Arlene Francis Kazanjian on Oct. 20, 1907, in Boston. Her father was an Armenian immigrant, later painter and portrait photographer; her mother was the daughter of actor Alfred Davis. Even at an early age, Arlene said, "I started out with one goal: I wanted to be a serious actress." She studied at the Theatre Guild and then went to Hollywood. Her movie debut was in Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), in which Bela Lugosi (often cast as a villain or mad scientist in many of his over 40 movies) tied her to an X-cross to extract her blood (trivia: Arlene and Bela were both born on Oct. 20). The live theater, however, was her first love, and she appeared in many plays. In 1935, she married movie executive Neil Agnew; they'd stay together for 10 years. Arlene made her Broadway debut in 1936 and had her first major role in "All That Glitters" two years later. She appeared with Orson Welles in the Mercury Theatre production of "Danton's Death" in 1938, and in "Journey to Jerusalem" in 1940. Her big hit was "The Doughgirls" in 1942; it ran for 1-1/2 years. Arlene had auditioned for her first radio part at the same time she was getting started in the theater; she later recalled, "Radio came easily." In the 1940s, she played in as many as five radio serials a day. Arlene married actor Martin Gabel in 1946 (he died in 1986), and they had a son, Peter. She also was host of a radio dating show called "Blind Date," which was adapted to a TV series in 1949 ("Blind Date" (1949)), and she was the host (1949-1952). It was television that brought Arlene fame, and she became one of the highest-paid women in TV. Arlene was a permanent panelist on CBS' "What's My Line?" (1950) (a Mark Goodson (I)-Bill Todman production) from 1950 through 1967 and continued as a panelist in a syndicated version that ran until 1975, thus being with the show for its entire 25-year run. She was warm, witty and had a cute laugh--and was always fashionably dressed. She wore a diamond heart-shaped necklace, which started a fad. She was still doing radio while on TV, and in 1960, she was the star of "The Arlene Francis Show," a daily interview show in New York, on WOR; it ran for 23 years. Arlene retired from show business after that and lived comfortably. She was still giving interviews in 1991. Arlene spent her last years living in San Francisco. Arlene died of cancer on Thursday, May 31, 2001, in a Francisco hospital, at age 93. Her many fans will miss her, Arlene was truly one of the greats.
TRIVIA:
- She was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Radio at 6432 Hollywood Boulevard and for Television at 1735 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.
- On May 26, 1963, Arlene was involved in an automobile accident in which she was injured and prevented her from being on the show that night. 'Kitty Carlisle' (qv) stood in for her on that night.
- On December 4, 1954, she was awarded a citation for outstanding performance in her profession by Emerson College in Boston.
- Suffered from Alzheimer's disease from mid 1980s until her death in 2001.
- Began her Broadway career in early 1928 in the flop play "La Gringa" (directed by 'Hamilton MacFadden' (qv) and starring 'Claudette Colbert' (qv)). She remained very active there until early 1954 when her TV commitments increased. Arlene continued to appear on Broadway with far less frequency through 1975 (see "Other Works").
- Began practicing yoga in the 1950s when that was unusual for New Yorkers of her generation. She never referred to it on _"What's My Line?" (1950)_ (qv). Arlene was able to share her interest with Jess Stearn, author of one of the first best-selling books on yoga. 'Dorothy Kilgallen' (qv) plugged the book in her newspaper column in 1965, misspelling his first name as "Jesse." Either Dorothy or her editor placed the item immediately after one about an upcoming Las Vegas singing engagement of 'Johnnie Ray' (qv).
- Although semi-retired starting 1983, Arlene was the co-host up until about 1986-87 of a local New York show that aired once a week (early Saturday nights) on WNBC-TV
- After unsuccessfully owning and operating a boutique on Madison Avenue in New York City, she dropped her surname, changed the spelling of her first name and headed to Hollywood.
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