Arlene Francis was an American game show panelist, actress, radio and television talk show host. She is best known for her long-running role as a panelist on the television game show What's My Line?, on which she regularly appeared for 25 years, from 1950 to 1975, on both the network and syndicated versions of the show.
Francis in 1958
Francis c. 1950
The What's My Line? panel in 1952. From left: Dorothy Kilgallen, Bennett Cerf, Francis, and Hal Block; newscaster John Daly was host of the show.
Francis (left) with Cerf, Kilgallen, and Daly on What's My Line? in 1965
What's My Line? is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States, between 1950 and 1967, on CBS. The game show started in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity panelists to question contestants in order to determine their occupation. The majority of the contestants were from the general public, but there was one weekly celebrity "mystery guest" for which the panelists were blindfolded. It is on the list of longest-running U.S. primetime network television game-shows. Originally moderated by John Charles Daly and most frequently with regular panelists Dorothy Kilgallen, Arlene Francis, and Bennett Cerf, What's My Line? won three Emmy Awards for "Best Quiz or Audience Participation Show" in 1952, 1953, and 1958 and the Golden Globe Awards for Best TV Show in 1962.
What's My Line?
Host John Charles Daly's 1950 CBS publicity photo for What's My Line?
The panel in 1952. From left: Dorothy Kilgallen, Bennett Cerf, Arlene Francis and Hal Block with John Daly as the host.
(l–r) Arlene Francis, Bennett Cerf, Dorothy Kilgallen and John Daly on the 15th anniversary show in 1965
