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Birth name Arlene Francis KazanjianNationality USABirth 20 october 1907 at Boston (
USA)
Death 31 may 2001 (at 93 years) at San Francisco (
USA)
Arlene Francis (born Arline Francis Kazanjian; October 20, 1907 – May 31, 2001) was an American actress, radio talk show host, and game show panelist. She is known for her long-standing role as a panelist on the television game show What's My Line?, on which she regularly appeared for 25 years, from 1950 through the mid-1970s, on both the network and syndicated versions of the show.
Biography
Francis was married twice. Her first marriage was to Neil Agnew, from 1935–45. Agnew worked in the sales department of Paramount Pictures, which required frequent business trips that left Francis home alone. The marriage ended in divorce in 1945.
She wrote of this experience in her 1978 autobiography: Having made the actual physical break, it was easier for me than I had thought to explain to Neil some of what I felt, what I had been feeling for so long a time. Not all, of course. There were areas which I couldn't discuss even then, which would be too hurtful to him, I felt. I saw him fairly often, and he courted me as though we had just met, but I was building up strengths which enabled me to resist not only his blandishments (including a lovely little house which he bought in New York as an enticement to get me to change my mind) but those of my parents, who also would have given anything to see me go back to the status which had been quo.
Francis's second marriage was to actor and producer Martin Gabel, from 1946 until he died of a heart attack on May 22, 1986. Gabel was a frequent guest panelist on What's My Line? The couple, who often exchanged endearments on the show, had a son, Peter Gabel, born January 28, 1947, a legal scholar associated with New College of California in San Francisco. Peter Gabel was an associate editor of Tikkun. While working at the 1964 New York World's Fair, Peter surprised his mother as a contestant on What's My Line.
Francis was known for a heart-shaped diamond pendant, a gift from Gabel, which she wore on nearly all of her What's My Line appearances. A mugger robbed her of the pendant as she was exiting a New York City taxi in 1988.
Best films
(1950)
(Actress) Usually with