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COPYRIGHT 2004 Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
FEW HISTORIES OF 1950S ENTERTAINMENT MENTION THE NAME OF FAYE Emerson, yet by the early 1950s she was well known in almost every arena of popular culture: actress in two dozen Hollywood films, Broadway performer, radio host, and newspaper columnist. Most importantly, she found her greatest success on television as the popular host of a string of eponymously titled interview programs in the early 1950s. She was frequently referred to as the "first lady of television" in this period, and friend Cleveland Amory noted, "Faye Emerson was the first television star created by television ... I imagine every reference in those days of anything to do with television would have had to include Faye Emerson."
Emerson attained national television fame with The Faye Emerson Show (CBS and NBC, 1950-51), a fifteen-minute interview show, and continued with Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town (CBS, 1951-52), a half-hour variety program. Following a number of periodic quiz show appearances, Emerson became a full-time quiz show panelist on I've Got a Secret (CBS, 1952-58) and What's in a Word (CBS, 1954), and a discussion moderator on such shows as Author Meets the Critics (DuMont, 1952). The latter programs indicate Emerson's more cerebral characteristics, but her mind was certainly not her most publicized trait--her decolletage and chest were. Indeed, the low-cut evening gowns she wore when hosting her interview programs brought her national fame and considerable critical attention. Her visual image of vivacious beauty became one of television's earliest icons; her son William Crawford claimed, "When a cartoon showed a small TV screen containing only a V neckline, the reader knew who was being talked about."
Myriad questions surface upon close examination of Emerson's entertainment career, but this article focuses specifically on the ways in which Emerson merged sexuality and intellect across her decade-long television career. Considering that she was described as both a "Blonde Bombshell" (Martin 24) and the "Smartest in Television" (Dean Myers) by separate newspaper headlines, how exactly could Emerson be defined by these twin positions during a period of popular culture that had no paradigm of a woman as both highly sexual and highly cerebral? How did publicity materials, and Emerson herself, negotiate this complicated balance? Finally, how might the complexity of Emerson's screen image explain the dramatic trajectory of her television career, from a level of popularity that nearly equaled Milton Berle's in the early 1950s to almost no visibility in the early 1960s?
Analysis of publicity materials, Emerson's television appearances, and archival documents reveals the answers to these questions. As this article will show, Emerson found great success on early television, and her sexuality and intelligence were key components of the publicity that helped fuel that success. But both aspects were carefully contained within the confines of the traditional television "personality," a concept of television stardom outlined by such scholars as Lynn Spigel and Denise Mann. Emerson's career subsequently declined by the late 1950s, when her "personality" became considerably more complex, her deep political inclinations emerged with stronger force, and her sexuality was no longer a dominant component of her image. Thus, only briefly did 1950s television make space for a woman who was both outwardly sexual and smart.
The Roots of a Television Career and a Controversial Image
Faye Emerson experienced a rather pedestrian film career at Warner Bros. as a contract actress from 1941 to 1944. Mainly appearing as a supporting actress in B-films, Emerson was never able to establish a consistent character persona that would enable the move to higher profile starring roles. In fact, she appeared in such a wide range of roles that the Los Angeles Times in 1945 touted her "chameleon-like adaptability" ("Quiet Life"). Although this was meant as a compliment, it actually indicated a major problem for Emerson: Warner Bros. was unable to establish a singular star image for her, and without a consistent screen persona, it was difficult to match her up with leading roles. Thus, the publicity that praised her range actually masked a problematic industry status for Emerson. Her film career never rose above secondary billing as a result.
Both her entertainment career and personal life took a turn in 1943, when Emerson met and married Elliott Roosevelt, the son of the president. She subsequently retired from the screen in late 1944, opting to "make a career out of being Mrs. Elliott Roosevelt" ("Faye Emerson Quits"). Emerson's marriage to Roosevelt took her to New York, and as she became more enmeshed in New York life, both socially and professionally, television too took on an increasing presence in the city. Especially because of her local celebrity, Emerson was in a prime position to begin a career on local New York television, then grow as the medium did. She became the narrator of a local fifteen-minute fashion program, Paris Cavalcade of Fashions, from August to December 1948, and then benefited from additional exposure when the show was distributed nationally to NBC affiliates throughout the subsequent year.
Although this hosting job tied her to the world of fashion and glamour, Emerson also soon became involved in the quiz show genre. In fact, she gained national notice with a December 18, 1948, appearance on the NBC quiz show Who Said That? when she gueststarred on the program with her husband and handily answered question after question as he merely watched in stony silence. The final indignity for Roosevelt came when he was unable to identify a quote from his own book on his father, and Emerson quickly chimed in with the answer. The publicity that followed the event revealed her earnest attempts to defend her husband; she was quoted as telling one reporter, "He's busy and I have plenty of time to read the papers" (qtd. in Martin 129). But the couple separated and ultimately divorced in 1950, with Emerson explaining, "I was bad for his...
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