Contestants
were shown a face from their past (recent or distant) and tried to
identify
it with help from comical clues offered by the host. Jack Smith
was
the original host, followed by Jack Bailey. By the time Bill took
over, most of the contestants were celebrities and interviews took up
much
of the show.Despite being a show
played mostly
for laughs, the program ran a $25,000 contest -- huge for the time --
called
"Three Face" starting in March, 1954. Viewers sent in messages
supporting
the Heart Fund (in 25 words or less, of course), and the writers of
some
of those letters won the opportunity to identify the three faces that
made
up a composite picture.
On
August 26, 1954 the show ended its CBS run. The following week,
Bill
began hosting Name That Tune for the
same
sponsor (Toni) in the same time slot. When NBC picked up Place
the
Face two weeks later at a different day and time, Bill hosted both
shows. Place the Face would be cancelled yet again two
months
later, only to reappear (with Bill) as a summer series in 1955.
Place the Face was
based
in Hollywood, requiring Bill to commute across the country once a week
to host it. Bill's announcer on Place The Face was Jack
Narz.
Bill married the sister of Narz's wife, making the two game show
veterans
brothers-in-law.
VIDEO
One episode exists, with
celebrity
guest Xavier Cugat.
 |
EPISODE GUIDE
Our thanks to Fredrick Tucker, who got us started on this with his own research into the career of Verna Felton. Even though these shows probably don't exist anymore, it's still interesting to see some of the big names (and not so big names) who paid Bill a visit!
| 1954 | 1955 | |||
| January 21 | No Data | June 28 | Jeff Donnell, Aldo Ray, Gale Robbins | |
| January 28 | Sheree North, Andy Devine | July 5 | June Havoc, Pedro Gonzales | |
| February 4 | No Data | July 12 | No Data | |
| February 11 | No Data | July 19 | Elyse Knox, Barbara Hale, Andy Devine | |
| February 18 | Brian Donlevy, Phil Harris, Verna Felton | July 26 | Joan Bennett, George Liberace | |
| February 25 | Joan Bennett, Charles Farrell, Hal March | August 2 | Bob Cummings, The Mills Brothers | |
| March 4 | Bob Crosby, Benny Rubin | August 9 | Sammy Davis Jr, Mona Freeman | |
| March 11 | No Data | August 16 | Dick Powell, Helen O'Connell | |
| March 18 | No Data | August 23 | No Data | |
| March 25 | No Data | August 30 | Dorothy Lamour, Keefe Braselle | |
| April 1 | No Data | September 6 | No Data | |
| April 8 | No Data | September 13 | No Data | |
| April 15 | Clyde Beatty, Mickey Rooney | |||
| April 22 | No Data | |||
| April 29 | No Data | |||
| May 6 | No Data | |||
| May 13 | Dona Atwood | |||
| May 20 | Sally Rand, Lord Blears, Jack Carson | |||
| May 27 | No Data |
FOR MORE INFORMATION
The Place the Face page at Adam C. Nedeff's Bill Cullen's World
Theme music copyright information at David Shields' site for Classic TV Themes