Virginia Graham, born Virginia Komiss, (July 4, 1912 – December 22, 1998) was an American daytime television

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sh ...

host from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. On television, Graham hosted the syndicated programs ''Food for Thought'' (1953–1957), ''Girl Talk'' (1963–1969) and ''The Virginia Graham Show'' (1970–1972). She was also a guest on many other programs.

Biography

Early life and education

Graham was born and raised in Chicago. Her father, an immigrant from Germany, became a successful businessman who owned the Komiss department-store chain. She graduated from the private Francis Parker School in Chicago, and in 1931, received her degree from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

, where she had studied anthropology. She later earned a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University.

Marriage

In 1935, Graham married Harry William Guttenberg, who owned a theatrical costume company. They remained married until his death in 1980. The couple had one daughter, Lynn Guttenberg Bohrer. Graham's book about her husband's death, ''Life After Harry: My Adventures in Widowhood'', became a bestseller in 1988.

Career

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Graham wrote scripts for radio

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

s such as '' Stella Dallas'', ''

Our Gal Sunday ''Our Gal Sunday'' is an American soap opera produced by Frank and Anne Hummert, network broadcast via CBS from March 29, 1937, to January 2, 1959, starring Dorothy Lowell and, after Lowell's 1944 death, Vivian Smolen in the title role. The orig ...

'' and ''

Backstage Wife ''Backstage Wife'' is an American soap opera radio program that details the travails of Mary Noble, a girl from a small town in Iowa who came to New York seeking her future. Personnel Vivian Fridell had the title role from 1935 until the early 194 ...

''. She hosted her first radio talk show in 1951. Graham was a panelist on the DuMont panel show '' Where Was I?'' (1952–53). She succeeded

Margaret Truman Mary Margaret Truman Daniel (February 17, 1924 – January 29, 2008) was an American classical soprano, actress, journalist, radio and television personality, writer, and New York socialite. She was the only child of President Harry S. Truman a ...

in 1956 as cohost of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

radio show ''Weekday'', teamed with

Mike Wallace Myron Leon Wallace (May 9, 1918 – April 7, 2012) was an American journalist, game show host, actor, and media personality. He interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade career. He was one of the original correspo ...

. In 1982, Graham played fictional talk show host Stella Stanton in the final episodes of the soap opera ''

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

''. She was described by writer Howard Thompson in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' as "a bright, alert, talkative woman of ripe, tart-edged candor." Another writer, Richard L. Coe, said she looked like " Sophie Tucker doing a

Carol Channing Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019) was an American actress, singer, dancer and comedian who starred in Broadway and film musicals. Her characters usually had a fervent expressiveness and an easily identifiable voice, ...

performance."Coe, Richard L. (September 30, 1977). "Virginia Graham in 'Wednesday' at the Hayloft," ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', p. C28. Graham, a cancer survivor, was a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. A former smoker, she denounced smoking, but when asked on her program what she would do if she knew that the world would end tomorrow, she confessed that she would smoke. Graham died of a heart attack on December 22, 1998.

Filmography

Books

* ''There Goes What's Her Name: The Continuing Saga of Virginia Graham'' (with Jean Libman Block), 1965. * ''Don't Blame the Mirror'' (with Jean Libman Block), 1967. Self-improvement, beauty advice. * ''If I Made It, So Can You'', 1978. * ''Life After Harry: My Adventures in Widowhood'', 1988. * ''Look Who's Sleeping in My Bed!'', 1993. Memoir.

References

External links

* *
Cackleklatsch
, ''Time'', June 7, 1968.
Clips from final ''Texas'' episodes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Virginia 1912 births 1998 deaths American television talk show hosts American women television personalities Television personalities from Chicago University of Chicago alumni Northwestern University alumni American radio hosts American radio writers Women radio writers 20th-century American writers 20th-century American women writers Writers from Chicago Francis W. Parker School (Chicago) alumni American people of German descent