Faye Emerson was one of the most visible individuals in the early days of U.S. television. A “television personality” (meaning talk show host and more), her omnipresence during the infant days of TV made her one of the most famous faces in the United States and earned her the unofficial titles of “Television’s First Lady” and “Mrs. Television.”

Before television settled into stricter genre forms, when prime time was dominated by more presentational types of programming, “personalities” prospered. Variety shows abounded, as did low-cost, low-key talk shows that took advantage of TV’s intimate nature. While the hosts of some of these shows were men– Ed Sullivan, Gary Moore, and Arthur Godfrey are among the better-known “personalities”-- the majority were female: Ilka Chase, Wendy Barrie, Arlene Francis, and others.

Emerson had been a marginally successful film and stage actress before she embarked on her second career in television. After noticing her in a local theater production, a talent scout offered Emerson a contract with Warner Brothers, and she starred or co-starred in various “A” or “B” movies. Her career took an upswing in 1944, when she married for a second time, to Elliot Roosevelt, son of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The studio’s publicity machine used this union to bring her greater fame and expanded Emerson’s non-acting opportunities. As a “first daughter-in-law,” she took part in presidential ceremonies and, with her husband, staged a successful trip to the Soviet Union in the late 1940s. She also acted on Broadway and on radio.

Emerson made her first television appearance of note in 1949 as a panelist, with her husband, on a game show. Her quick wit and breadth of knowledge– which upstage her husband to such a degree that she apologized on his behalf on air– made her something of a sensation. Later that year, actress Diana Barrymore was forced by illness to drop out of her soon-to premiere local New York talk show. The producers phoned Emerson to take over, and she accepted. 

The Faye Emerson Show premiered in October 1949 and went national over the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) the following March. It quickly gained a following, snagging an average 22 rating. ONe month after that program's national debut, Emerson began a second talk show, this time on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). This made her one of the first people to have two shows simultaneously on two networks.

The late-night talk show of its day, Emerson frequently welcomed celebrity guests (actors, authors, and other personalities). Sometimes the show was more freeform. Sometimes it was simply Faye talking about her life and goings-on about town.

In retrospect, Emerson seemed a natural for early television, a medium that had to bridge the gap between the art of life drama and the appeal of wrestling. Emerson's combination of Hollywood good looks and social connections– along with her old-fashioned common sense, her Pleasant personality, and her friendly conversations about people, places, and parties– made audiences want to welcome her into their homes. Adding to her appeal were her much-talked about designer gowns featuring plunging necklines. It was believed such décolletage helps her attain much of her male viewership. (One wit would later say that Faye Emerson put the “V” in TV). The topic was such hot copy for a time that it inspired fashion/photo spreads in Life and other magazines. Finally, to move past it, Emerson brought it to a vote on her show. She asked viewers what she should wear. Ballots ran 95 percent in favor of Emerson’s style staying as it was.

However, Emerson was more than just window dressing. During the height of her fame, she was a frequent substitute host for Edward R. Murrow on Person to Person and for Garry Moore on his show. She took part in so many game shows that a magazine once labeled her “TVs peripatetic panelist.”

Emerson's omnipresence as a television performer should not be underemphasized. Before cable and satellites, the average household was lucky to receive a handful of channels. As she hosted various shows on various networks for much of the 1950s meant, even the most infrequent of audiences had to be aware of Emerson as one of TV's first citizens. A viewing of her work today reveals a pleasant, largely unflappable but somewhat stiff talent. Still, she radiates glamor and remarkable camera presence. 

In 1950, after divorcing Roosevelt, Emerson announced on her evening program her plans to marry musician Lyle C. “Skitch” Henderson. (It is believed that she was the first person ever to make such an announcement on television.) In 1953 the two teamed for the show Faye and Skitch. Earlier, in 1951, Emerson began hosting one of the medium’s most expensive programs, Faye Emerson’s Wonderful Town, in which she traveled the United States and profiled different cities.

As the 1950s came to a close, TV “personalities” found themselves with fewer opportunities. Some, like Arlene Francis, brilliantly reinvented themselves; others found themselves relegated to guest appearances before moving into retirement. Emerson was in this latter group. She continued to make TV appearances until 1963, when, rich and weary of show business, she sailed off for a year in Europe. FInding it to her liking, she seldom returned to the United States and died abroad in 1993.

Several factors explain why Emerson, “Mrs. Television,” did not endure on the small screen but her masculine counterpart, “Mr. Television” (Milton Berle), did. Perhaps most important, those individuals such as Emerson who fit the role of TV personality never had a single marketable trait: neither comic nor singer, they were more like the good host at a private, intimate party. By the late 1950s, as talk shows left primetime, the party was over. TV production moved out of New York and left Emerson's kind of glamor behind. In contrast, a variety show performer such as Berle could adapt more easily as television evolved as an entertainment media. Still, it is worth remembering that, at its beginnings, television needed a friendly, unifying factor, a symbol to initiate audiences into its technology– and for millions of viewers that envoy was Faye Emerson.