Emerson, Faye

Faye Emerson was born July 8, 1917 in the small commune of Elizabeth in Louisiana , where her father owned a ranch and at the same time worked as a stenographer in court. The family moved first to Texas , then to Illinois , before settling in California ^[1] . When Faye was still a teenager, her parents divorced. Faye stayed in San Diego with her mother and her new husband, and then she was sent to a closed Catholic school . After leaving school, Fay entered San Diego State College, where she became interested in acting, making her debut on the stage of the local theater in 1935 ^[1] .

Emerson played in California's repertoire theaters, where Paramount and Warner Brothers scouted studios. As a result, in 1941 she signed a multi-year contract with Warner Brothers and worked on her entire film career at this studio ^[2] .

During the five-year contract with Warner Brothers, Emerson played in more than 20 films, playing both major roles in Category B films and secondary roles in larger films ^{[1] [2]} . As critic Hal Erickson notes, “it seems that over the years of work on Warner, Emerson has received roles that category A actresses have refused” ^[4] . Gary Bramburg also believes that “a significant portion of the roles she received were interesting at best. When Emerson had strong roles, they nonetheless bore a subordinate character in “male cinema” ” ^[1] .

Emerson first appeared on the screen in 1941 in several films, among them the most significant were the melodrama Man's Power (1941) by Raoul Walsh and the musical crime drama Blues in the Night (1941) by Anatol Litvak (in both cases, without indicating credits) ^[1] . In 1942, she played a prominent role in the modest espionage drama “ Secret Enemies ” (1942) and in 1943, small roles in major films on the theme of World War II - “ Destination Tokyo ” (1943) by Delmer Daves with Carey Grant and John Garfield and The Air Force (1943) by Howard Hawks with John Garfield and Gig Young . Among the melodramas with Emerson, the Hard Way (1943) with Aida Lupino , The Thought of You (1944) with Dennis Morgan and Elinor Parker , as well as the mystical melodrama Between Two Worlds (1944) with Paul Henrade and also Elinor Parker . But most of all, Emerson played in small crime dramas and noir films . In particular, she played the main female roles in the crime films “ Murder in the Big House ” (1942) with Van Johnson , “ Lady Gangster ” (1942), “ Find a Blackmailer ” (1943), “ Night Crime ” (1944) with Jane Wyman , “ Doubtful Glory ” (1944), “ Signal of Danger ” (1945) with Zachary Scott , “ Her Type of Man ” (1946) and “ Guilty Witness ” (1950) again with Zachary Scott. In addition, she played prominent supporting roles in two more significant noir films directed by Jean Negulesco - The Mask of Dimitrios (1944) with Zachary Scott and Peter Lorre and Nobody Live Forever (1946) with John Garfield ^{[1] [5 ] ]} .

According to Erickson, “although she hardly had any prospects for an Oscar , she was most powerful in performing such roles as the catchy nightclub actress in Between Two Worlds (1944) and the rejected mistress in Mask of Dimitrios (1944)” ^[4] .

In 1944, after she married the son of US President Franklin Roosevelt , Brigadier General Elliott Roosevelt , Emerson gradually began to move away from work in Hollywood . The couple moved to New York , where they took a prominent place in the secular circles of the city. In 1948, Emerson made her debut on the Broadway stage ^{[1] [2]} , where in 10 years she played in five productions ^[6] .

“Combining beauty, intelligence and style, Emerson played brilliantly in both drama and comedy. Then she found her niche on television ” ^[1] , where she began to play in separate episodes of television anthologies, such as“ Chevrolet Television ”(1948-1950),“ Ford Theater Hour ”(1949),“ Television Theater “Filko” ”(1950),“ Television Theater “Goodyear” ”(1953) and others ^[7] .

“Television brought Emerson her greatest fame.” ^[4] Since 1948, Emerson began appearing on the screen as the host and hostess of her own television programs, and “over the next decade did not leave television screens” ^[2] . In the fascinating “golden era” of television, she was remembered for her chic outfits - evening dresses with a deep neckline and expensive jewelry ^[1] , for which she was called the “first lady of television”.

Initially, Emerson was the host of the Paris Cavalcade of Fashion show (1948), and in 1950 in New York she became the mistress of her own Fay Emerson Show (1950). “As a star of the show“ The Fay Emerson Show ”and several subsequent shows, she won the hearts of male spectators with her charm, beauty, sophistication and especially her legendary outfits with a deep neckline” ^[4] . Her program “The Wonderful City of Faye Emerson ” (1951-1952, 42 episodes) was “one of the largest and most expensive shows on early television” ^[2] . In this program, Emerson visited various cities, mainly in the United States, studying various types of music characteristic of the area ^[8] . In 1952, Emerson was the host of the program “The Author Meets Critics” (1952) ^[1] , and in 1953-54, along with her third husband, the head of the music orchestra, Skitch Henderson , hosted the Fay and Skitch music program. Emerson’s career on television finally ended in 1961, when she played in the television anthology “United States Steel Hour” ” ^[7] .

“Having been constantly present on the television screen throughout the 1950s, Emerson, if she wanted to, could have stayed there much longer. However,“ the actress, once called “the most well-dressed woman on television,” began to get involved in the early 1960s traveling, and no longer returned to active work in Hollywood ” ^[1] .

In 1938-1942, Emerson was married to a car dealer from San Diego, William Crawford, in this marriage her only son was born ^[1] .

“Perhaps Emerson was best known as the wife of Elliott Roosevelt , Brigadier General and son of US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, ” whom she married in 1944. Her husband was a war hero and writer, and the couple even lived in the White House for a while, until President Roosevelt died in 1945 ^[1] . “During the five-year marriage with Roosevelt, the name Emerson often got into the news. She met with many world leaders both during her husband's travels abroad and at the Roosevelt family home in Hyde Park , New York . Emerson and Roosevelt divorced in 1949. " ^[2]

“Emerson’s third and final marriage was also constantly in the spotlight. A year after her divorce from Elliott Roosevelt, she married the leader and conductor of the popular television orchestra Skitch Henderson . In 1952-1953 goadh, the couple together hosted the 15-minute musical show “ Fay and Skitch ”. Their union lasted seven years ” ^[1] . The couple divorced in 1958, and “with the exception of one-time appearances on television, Emerson has since been beyond the scope of public attention” ^[2] .

“Although Emerson actively attracted the attention of the public throughout her career, she spent the last years of her life in rich retreat” ^[4] . For almost two decades, she completely went into the shadows and lived in Europe, particularly in Switzerland and Spain, very rarely visiting America exclusively on business matters " ^[1] .

She died in 1983 at the age of 65 from stomach cancer , in the artistic colony of Deia in Mallorca , where she lived for the past few years ^{[2] [1]} .

• 1941 - Manpower / Manpower - The nurse who lost the die (not shown)
• 1941 - Blues in the Night - Nurse Dr. Morse (uncredited)
• 1941 - Sincerely yours / Affectionately Yours - Nurse at the hospital (uncredited)
• 1941 - Nine Lives Are Not Enough - Rose Chadwick
• 1941 - Bad Men of Missouri - Marta Adams
• 1941 - The Secret of the Nurse / The Nurse's Secret - Telephone Operator
• 1941 - Exactly at Twelve / At the Stroke of Twelve (Short) - Miss LaMond (uncredited)
• 1942 Secret Enemies - Paula Fengler
• 1942 - The Girl from the Bar / Juke Girl - Violet Murphy
• 1942 - Murder in the Big House - Gladys Wayne
• 1942 - Lady Gangster / Dot Burton
• 1942 - Wild Bill Hickok Rides - Peg, girl in choir
• 1943 - The Desert Song - Heiji
• 1943 - Destination - Tokyo / Tokyo Destination Tokyo - Mrs. Cassidy
• 1943 - Find the Blackmailer - Mona Vance
• 1943 - Women at War (Short) - Anastasia Stormy Hart
• 1943 - The Hard Way - Waitress in an Ice Cream Parlor
• 1943 - Air Force - Susan McMartin
• 1944 - Hollywood Canteen Store - Fay Emerson
• 1944 - The Very Thought of You - The Cuddle Cod Colton
• 1944 - Crime by Night - Anne Marlowe
• 1944 - The Mask of Dimitrios - Iran Preveza
• 1944 - Between Two Worlds / Between Two Worlds - Miss Maxine Russell
• 1944 - Uncertain Glory - Louise
• 1944 - In Our Time / Girlfriend of Count Stephen at a nightclub (uncredited)
• 1945 - Danger Signal - Hilda Fenchurch
• 1945 - Hotel Berlin - Hotel Tili Weiler
• 1946 - Nobody Lives Forever - Tony Blackburn
• 1946 - Her type of man / Her Kind of Man - Ruby Marino
• 1948 - Paris Cavalcade of Fashions (TV program) - Presenter
• 1948-1950 - The Chevrolet Tele-Theater / The Chevrolet Tele-Theater (television series, 3 episodes)
• 1949 - The Ford Theater Hour (television series, 1 episode) - Lydia Kenyon
• 1949 - The Silver Theater / The Silver Theater (1 television series)
• 1950 - The Billy Rose Show / The Billy Rose Show (television series, 1 episode)
• 1950 - Guilty Bystander - Georgia
• 1950 - The Philco Television Playhouse (TV series, 1 episode) - Beauty
• 1951-1952 - Wonderful Town, USA (TV program) - Presenter
• 1952 - Author Meets Critics / Author Meets the Critics (TV Show) - Presenter
• 1952 - Chesterfield Presents / Chesterfield Presents (TV series, 1 episode)
• 1953 - Main Street to Broadway - Faye Emerson
• 1953 - Goodyear Television Playhouse (TV series, 1 episode)
• 1953-1954 - Faye and Skitch / Faye and Skitch (TV program) - Co-host
• 1953—1961 - The United States Steel Hour (television series, 5 episodes)
• 1954 - Studio One / Studio One (television series, 1 episode) - Melissa
• 1957 - Face in the Crowd - Faye Emerson (uncredited)

• Faye Emerson at IMDB
• Faye Emerson at Allmovie
• Faye Emerson at Turner Classic Movies