She's the lady in the middle towards the lower portion of the picture.
Some of you guys are going "Who?", but she was a lady that was in my TV game show youth. Kitty Carlisle was a regular panelist on shows like "To Tell the Truth" and "What's My Line?". I never really knew of her background until a few years ago; she was always the very elegant lady who wore the pearls and asked the insightful questions on those shows. As quirky as some of those shows were, she always had a regal air about her, had a quiet dignity and exuded class to this young television viewer.
Years later I found out that she also starred in one of my favorite Marx Brothers' movies, "A Night at the Opera" and in several Woody Allen movies. Beyond her success with the movie roles she was also an accomplished singer, actress and active theater performer (she was still performing in 2006). More importantly she was an avid arts advocate (I found that fact out when she was awarded a National Medal of Arts from the White House) for many things in New York City and beyond. She campaigned tirelessly for funding of the arts. She also belonged to the board at the New York State Council on the Arts for 20 years and was a trustee at NYC's MoMA and Metropolitan Museum of Art.
She passed away April 17th, 2007 in the midst of her loved ones at the age of 96.
And to think I only knew her as the dignified lady on a few game shows in my youth. She will be missed.
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