During the 17 year run of “What’s My Line?” on CBS from 1950 to 1967, the audience lived through the sad passings of panelists Fred Allen in 1956 and Dorothy Kilgallen in 1965. Fans can see those programs on the “What’s My Line” channel.
Here are the television news obituaries for the three survivors of WML’s run, Bennett Cerf in 1971, John Daly in 1991 (previously posted here but included again for completeness) and Arlene Francis in 2001. In each case, only one evening newscast of the three networks mentioned the respective death, CBS with Bennett and Arlene and ABC with John.
24 Comments
RIP
I really enjoyed watching all of the people on What's my Line. ❤❤
🙏🕊️🙏
No obituary for Dorothy? She was easily as well known as anyone else on the panel for her other work besides the TV show.
Great time in America history. So awesome
93 Arlene Francis!! Keep our minds ACTIVE, and we should live long & prosperous!😁😁😁
I miss that era so much
We live. If lucky, we love and/or are loved. Then we die. Such is life as we know it.😢
My fav bennett cerf- his face was so easy to read when he didn’t like the clues
The class and style these people had will never be seen again.
Always tasteful. And always Ladies and Gentlemen. Different times, indeed
BIG FOUR
What's with Peter Jennings's salty quip about Daly being a news anchor and game show host? Sounds like that was personal to him lol
God Bless Mr Cerf🙏❤️
Such a beautiful,
classy and extremely talented lady🙏❤️
Memory Eternal 🌹 Asdvadz hokin lousavoreh
I think Bennet cerf was really smart and Arlene Francis to.😢😢. Still watch wots my line in 2025. RIP to all who were on this show.
The shot of Arlene Francis & Dina Merrill, both ladies passed away aged 93.
Arlene Francis was an actress.
It's hard to imagine that razor wit and dynamic personality of Arlene's being reduced by a neurodegenerative disease, but she sure burned bright in her day. It's easy to see how her and Bennett and their respective spouses could be such loving friends and neighbors all those years.
John Charles Daly was much more than an anchorman for 7 yrs and a game show host. He was White House Correspondent during Franklin Roosevelt’s term, a war correspondent in North Africa and Italy, first to report that Pearl Harbor was attacked, first to report Roosevelt’s death. He had a long and illustrious career as a journalist and it’s a real shame that this was not acknowledged.
Oh, my gosh. The great memories I have of them and of What's My Line.
All gone and not forgotten.
So sad, I adore the original "What's My Line?" quartet (let's not forget Dorothy Kilgallen!)
RIP to them all. I'm sure they'd love to know they're continuing to entertain new generations around the world well into the 21st century and beyond.