Arlene Francis(1907-2001)
- Actress
- Soundtrack
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 horror 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 (Your Big Moment (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-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 San Francisco hospital, at age 93. Her many fans will miss her, Arlene was
truly one of the greats.