18 Facts About Arlene Francis

Arlene Francis emigrated to the United States and became a portrait photographer, opening his own studio in Boston in the early 20th century.

Arlene Francis remained a New York resident until she entered a San Francisco nursing home in 1993.

Arlene Francis became a well-known New York City radio personality, hosting several programs.

In 1940, Arlene Francis played Betty in Betty and Bob, an early radio soap opera broadcast.

Arlene Francis was a regular contributor to NBC Radio's Monitor in the 1950s and 1960s and hosted a long-running midday chat show on WOR-AM that ran from 1960 to 1984.

Arlene Francis appeared on other game shows, including Match Game, 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.

Arlene Francis was the emcee on the last episodes of The Comeback Story, a short-lived 1954 reality show on ABC in which mostly celebrities shared stories of having overcome adversity in their personal lives.

Arlene Francis was a pioneer for women on television, one of the first to host a program that was not musical or dramatic in nature.

In 1962, Arlene 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.

Arlene Francis 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.

Arlene Francis was a member of the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors from 1980 to 1982.

Arlene 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.

Arlene Francis wrote of this experience in her 1978 autobiography:.

Arlene Francis encouraged her to divorce Agnew, which was one of the sources of her torment because her parents loved Agnew like a son.

Arlene Francis had instructed their maid to shampoo the carpet while they were away.

The dumbbell was part of the equipment that Arlene Francis used for her regular exercise of weightlifting.

Arlene Francis suffered a broken collarbone, a concussion and many cuts and bruises.

Arlene Francis was known for wearing a heart-shaped diamond pendant, a gift from Gabel, which she wore on nearly all of her What's My Line appearances.