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| birthplace = New York City, New York, U.S.
| deathdate =
| deathplace = Pebble Beach, California, U.S.
| occupation = Producer, Director, Writer
| yearsactive = 1948–1990s
| spouse =
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Allen Funt (September 16, 1914 – September 5, 1999) was an American television producer, director and writer, best known as the creator and host of Candid Camera from the 1940s to 1980s, as either a regular show or a series of specials. Its most notable run was from 1960 to 1967 on CBS.
Radio and televisionFunt achieved a BA in Fine Arts from Cornell University in 1934 and studied business administration at Columbia University. He began the show on ABC Radio in 1946 as Candid Microphone and soon experimented with a visual version by doing a series of theatrical short films also known as Candid Microphone. These film shorts served as a springboard for his entrance into television on August 10, 1948.
In the 1963-1964 season, he appeared as an albino orangutan on the episode, "Smile, Todd, You're on Candid Camera," of The New Phil Silvers Show, starring comedian Phil Silvers as factory foreman Todd Deal.
BooksFunt wrote several books, beginning with Eavesdropper at Large: Adventures in Human Nature with "Candid Mike" (Vanguard Press, 1952). He followed Candid Kids (Bernard Geis, 1964) with Candidly, Allen Funt: A Million Smiles Later (Barricade Books, 1994).
FilmsDuring the 1970s, Funt made two documentary films based on the hidden camera theme: What Do You Say to a Naked Lady? (1970) and Money Talks (1972). Funt also produced a syndicated version of Candid Camera from 1974 to 1979; his co-hosts included, at various times, John Bartholomew Tucker and Jo Ann Pflug. In the 1980s, Funt produced a series of adult-oriented videos called Candid Candid Camera.
He amassed a collection of works by the Victorian painter Lawrence Alma-Tadema, but was forced to sell them just before the painter's reputation revived and the prices of the paintings shot up.
Born in New York City, Funt lived for a short time in Westchester County, New York in Croton-on-Hudson. His White Gates estate was sold to opera singer Jessye Norman in the early 1990s. Following a stroke in 1993, he became incapacitated and died in Pebble Beach, California. Candid Camera continued with his son, Peter Funt, as host.
ReferencesAlma-Tadema (Catalogue of the Funt Collection) compiled by Russell Ash, Sotheby’s Belgravia, 1973
External links
Category:1914 births
Category:1999 deaths
Category:American television directors
Category:American television personalities
Category:American television writers
Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in California
Category:Cornell University alumni
Category:Deaths from stroke
Category:People from New York City
Category:Pranksters
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