About Faces

Not to be confused with All About Faces.

About Faces
Ben Alexander, the show's host.
Genre	Game show
Created by	Ralph Edwards
Presented by	Ben Alexander
Narrated by	Tom Kennedy
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	25 minutes
Production company	Ralph Edwards Productions
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	January 4, 1960 (1960-01-04) – June 30, 1961 (1961-06-30)

About Faces is an American game show that aired from January 4, 1960, to June 30, 1961, created by Ralph Edwards.^[1] The host was Ben Alexander and the show's announcer was Tom Kennedy.^[2]

Gameplay

Competitors were selected from the studio audience.^[3] Each pair of contestants was challenged to recall how the two of them had come into contact with each other previously. The first to do so won a prize. The program was similar to Place the Face.^[4]

For guest stars who appeared on the program, Alexander interviewed the star briefly before a "mystery person out of the star's past" was shown inside a picture frame. The star then heard a series of clues to help him or her identify the person in the frame.^[5]

Schedule and production

About Faces was broadcast from 1 to 1:30 p. m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday.^[6] The show was recorded on videotape.^[7] After the show's run on ABC ended, its reruns were broadcast in some local markets.^[8] Joe Landis was the producer and director.^[9]

Guest stars

Guest stars who appeared on the show included Barbara Nichols,^[5] Joan Blondell,^[10] Rosemary Clooney, Jose Ferrer,^[11] and Olaf Odegaard.^[12]

Episode status

The UCLA Film and Television Archive lists among its holdings the premiere episode with Zsa Zsa Gabor, Red Schoendienst (and family), Fred Haney, and Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan.^[13] The March 17 edition exists on YouTube with Tom Kennedy as substitute host.^[14]

The Paley Center for Media lists among its holdings the series pilot, taped May 6, 1959. Ferrer and Clooney are listed as the celebrity guests for that episode.^[15]

References

1. Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 5. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
2. Schwartz, David - The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows, 1987
3. Terrace, Vincent (January 10, 2014). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010, 2d ed. McFarland. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-7864-8641-0. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
4. McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 12. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
5. "Mayor Is 'Surprise' Guest on 'About Faces'". The Desert Sun. California, Palm Springs. March 3, 1961. p. 12. Retrieved April 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "2d Godfrey show on tv postponed". The New York Times. December 11, 1959. p. 67. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
7. "Local Banker, Wife to Be In TV Show". The Shreveport Journal. November 12, 1960. p. 3. Retrieved April 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Ben Alexander Spends Money On Own Shows, as a Sponsor". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. March 20, 1960. p. 132. Retrieved April 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Programming" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 1, 1963. p. 136. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
10. Kennedy, Matthew (September 28, 2009). Joan Blondell: A Life between Takes. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-62674-432-5. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
11. "(photo caption)". The Modesto Bee. August 7, 1960. p. G-12. Retrieved April 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "The Carroll Echo". Carroll Echo. Vol. VI, no. 13. 1961-05-05 – via Carroll University Archives.
13. UCLA Archive: About Faces^{[permanent dead link‍]}
14. "- YouTube". YouTube.
15. Paley Center: About Faces

External links

• About Faces at IMDb