Faye Emerson

Acting

Faye Emerson

Born 1917-07-08 · Elizabeth, Louisana, USA

Faye Margaret Emerson was an American film and stage actress, and television interviewer who gained fame as a film actress in the 1940s, before transitioning to television in the 1950s, hosting her own talk show. Born in Louisiana, Emerson spent the majority of her early life in San Diego, California. She became interested in theater while attending San Diego State College, and subsequently pursued an acting career, appearing in stock theater in California. She subsequently signed a contract Warner Bros., and began appearing in their films in 1941. She starred in several films noir, including Lady Gangster, and Howard Hawks's war film Air Force. In 1944, she played one of her more memorable roles as Zachary Scott's former lover in The Mask of Dimitrios. From 1944 to 1950, she was married to Colonel Elliott Roosevelt, son of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In 1949, Emerson began hosting The Faye Emerson Show, a late-night talk show series. She went on to become a prolific television interviewer, which earned her the nickname "The First Lady of Television". Throughout the 1950s, she also appeared in numerous Broadway stage productions. Emerson formally retired from show business in 1963, and retired to Europe. She resided there until 1983, when she died of stomach cancer in Deià, Spain, aged 65. For her contributions to the motion picture industry, Emerson received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. Her star is located at 6529 Hollywood Blvd.

Acting credits

Manpower poster
6.5

Hank McHenry and Johnny Marshall work as power company linesmen. Hank is injured in an accident and subsequently promoted to foreman of the gang. Tensions start to show in the road crew as rivalry between Hank and Johnny increases.

Manpower

1941

Air Force poster
6.5

The crew of an Air Force bomber arrives in Pearl Harbor in the aftermath of the Japanese attack and is sent on to Manila to help with the defense of the Philippines.

Air Force

1943

Destination Tokyo poster
6.9

During World War II, Captain Cassidy and his crew of submariners are ordered into Tokyo Bay on a secret mission. They are to gather information in advance of the planned bombing of Tokyo. Along the way, the crew learn about each other as they face the enemy and some of them lose their lives.

Destination Tokyo

1943

Hollywood Canteen poster
7.3

Two soldiers on leave spend three nights at a club offering free of charge food, dancing, and entertainment for servicemen on their way overseas. Club founders Bette Davis and John Garfield give talks on the history of the place.

Hollywood Canteen

1944

Hotel Berlin poster
6.2

An assortment of diverse characters gather at the Hotel Berlin in World War II Germany as the Third Reich falls.

Hotel Berlin

1945

The Very Thought of You poster
6.4

Army sergeants Dave and "Fixit" spend a three-day pass in Pasadena, where they meet Janet and Cora, two young women who work in a parachute factory.

The Very Thought of You

1944

The Mask of Dimitrios poster
7.1

A mystery writer is intrigued by the tale of notorious criminal Dimitrios Makropolous, whose dead body was found washed up on the shore in Istanbul. He decides to follow the career of Dimitrios around Europe, in order to learn more about the man. Along the way he is joined by the mysterious Mr. Peters, who has his own motivation.

The Mask of Dimitrios

1944

Wild Bill Hickok Rides poster
5.5

The Western hero takes on a ruthless land baron whose henchmen killed his best friend.

Wild Bill Hickok Rides

1942

Between Two Worlds poster
7.2

Passengers on an ocean liner can't recall how they got onboard or where they are going. Soon it becomes apparent that they all have something in common.

Between Two Worlds

1944

Blues in the Night poster
6.2

A struggling band find themselves attached to a fugitive and drawn into a series of old feuds and love affairs, as they try to stay together and find musical success.

Blues in the Night

1941

Main Street to Broadway poster
7.3

In New York, a surly, down-on-his-heels playwright meets a country girl who's giving up trying to act and returning home. He goes with her for inspiration when his agent convinces a stage star to take his next effort. When he returns to Broadway, his girl stays behind and starts seeing a local businessman.

Main Street to Broadway

1953

Juke Girl poster
7.2

During the depths of the Great Depression a hitch-hiker Steve Talbot and jukebox-joint hostess Lola Mears stumble into Cat-Tail Florida where farmers and pickers struggle under the buyer who rules by monopoly, dirty contracts and violence. Steve helps organize against the buyer, leading to further escalation ending in a lynch mob.

Juke Girl

1942

The Hard Way poster
6.5

Helen Chernen pushes her younger sister Katherine into show business in order to escape their small town poverty.

The Hard Way

1943

Nobody Lives Forever poster
6.4

A con artist falls for the rich widow he's trying to fleece.

Nobody Lives Forever

1946

Uncertain Glory poster
6.7

In occupied France, a convicted thief and murderer escapes the guillotine when a bombing raid strikes the prison, but is quickly re-captured by the inspector of the Surete responsible for his original arrest. Fearing the guillotine more than his actual death, the convict inveigles the inspector to help him with a plan to rescue 100 Frenchmen taken by the Gestapo following an act of sabotage: he will confess to being the saboteur and allow himself to be executed by firing squad, the Gestapo's method of execution, thus freeing the 100 men.

Uncertain Glory

1944

The Nurse's Secret poster
5.6

An apparent suicide by a rich woman leads her nurse and a policeman to an insurance scam.

The Nurse's Secret

1941

Murder in the Big House poster
6.8

When a prisoner on Death Row is "accidentally" killed just before his execution, a reporter smells something fishy...

Murder in the Big House

1942

Secret Enemies poster
5.8

FBI agents Carl Becker and John Trent raid a New York City hotel, sending Nazi spies to an upstate hunting lodge.

Secret Enemies

1942

The Desert Song poster
6.0

Paul Hudson, leads a group of desert bandits against some Nazis, who want to use them as cheap labor for their railroad.

The Desert Song

1943

Her Kind of Man poster
6.3

A nightclub singer can't choose between a charismatic small-time gangster and an honest newspaperman.

Her Kind of Man

1946

Guilty Bystander poster
5.4

A drunken ex-cop gets a shot at redemption when his young son is kidnapped after a smuggling deal goes belly up.

Guilty Bystander

1950

Lady Gangster poster
5.7

An actress gets involved with a criminal gang and winds up taking the rap for a $40,000 bank robbery. Before being sent to prison, she steals the money from her partners and hides it, thinking to use it as a bargaining chip to be released from prison. However, her former partners have different ideas.

Lady Gangster

1942

Danger Signal poster
6.0

After robbing and murdering his married lover and then making her death look like suicide, conniving philanderer Ronnie Mason relocates to Los Angeles. Under a new identity and claiming to be a writer, Ronnie finds lodging at the home of Hilda Fenchurch and her mother. He woos Hilda, knowing she has money, but when he discovers that Hilda's sister, Anne, has just inherited $25,000, he switches his attentions to her.

Danger Signal

1945

Bad Men of Missouri poster
6.2

The Younger brothers return to Missouri after the Civil War with intent to avenge the misdeeds of William Merrick, a crooked banker who has been buying up warrants on back-taxes and dispossessing the farmers.

Bad Men of Missouri

1941