Joan Rivers was widely considered the first female late-night host when she began hosting Fox’s The Late Show in October 1986.
However, nearly forty years before Rivers took that job, there was another woman who had, in fact, pioneered the genre and become the first late-night host: Faye Emerson.
Emerson, who was born in Louisiana in 1917, came before Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Dick Cavett or Johnny Carson and was really the figure who created an entire genre of television that thrives today with the likes of Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon.
Deadline explores her story, how CBS’ Kelly Kahl was instrumental in preserving her legacy, how she paved the road for the likes of Chelsea Handler, Samantha Bee and Lilly Singh and how a scripted series about her life is now in development.
The Faye Emerson Show began airing on CBS on October 24 1949 in local East Coast markets...
However, nearly forty years before Rivers took that job, there was another woman who had, in fact, pioneered the genre and become the first late-night host: Faye Emerson.
Emerson, who was born in Louisiana in 1917, came before Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Dick Cavett or Johnny Carson and was really the figure who created an entire genre of television that thrives today with the likes of Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon.
Deadline explores her story, how CBS’ Kelly Kahl was instrumental in preserving her legacy, how she paved the road for the likes of Chelsea Handler, Samantha Bee and Lilly Singh and how a scripted series about her life is now in development.
The Faye Emerson Show began airing on CBS on October 24 1949 in local East Coast markets...
- 7/1/2020
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
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