Allen Funt

Allen Funt (September 16, 1914 – September 5 1999) was an American producer-director, 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.

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.

Funt achieved a BA in Fine Arts from Cornell University in 1934 and studied business administration at Columbia University. He 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).

During the 1970s, he made two documentary features 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 JoAnn Pflug. In the 1980s, Funt produced a series of adult-oriented videos called Candid Candid Camera featuring nude women in various scenarios. These shows were broadcast on the Playboy Channel.

Born in New York City, Funt lived for a short time in Westchester County, NY in Croton-on-Hudson. His White Gates estate was sold to opera singer Jessye Norman in the early 1990s. Following a stroke, he died in Pebble Beach, California in 1999. Candid Camera continued with his son, Peter Funt, as host.

Trivia

Allen was briefly mentioned in the Family Guy episode Brian Sings and Swings, when Frank Sinatra Jr and Stewie Griffin sung about the love of Allen Funt's work, and a freshly shaven leg.

Allen Funt is also mentioned in Season Six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in the episode Tabula Rasa, by Anya. Anya: "I don't see any booze. I don't feel any head bumps. And I don't see Allen Funt."

Allen is also mentioned in the South Park episode Something You Can Do With Your Finger, where Wendy Testaburger sings "Balzac was a writer/He lived with Allen Funt/Mrs. Roberts didn't like him/But that's 'cause she's a/Contaminated water/Can really make you sick..."

Funt is mentioned in comic book The Maxx #14 when the titular character is wandering around a dream world and runs into an anthropomorphic horse sporting a stylized version of his mask: "If Allen Funt comes out now, I'm gonna die!"

In the Animaniacs/Slappy Squirrel episode "I Got Yer Can", Slappy places her soda can in her neighbor's trash receptacle. When the neighbor asks her to come back and remove the can, Slappy replies "Allen Funt is a dead man."

The song "Just Say Cunt" by The Queers has a line that says: "There once was some dude on TV his name was Allen Funt"

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