Allen Funt’s Birthday – Anniversary

Sept 16, 1914. Creator, producer and host of the first reality television show, Funt orchestrated elaborate hoaxes played on unsuspecting passersby and filmed by a hidden camera. With the catchphrase, Smile,youre on Candid Camera, Funt would reveal he had captured the subjects in the art of being themselves. Born at New York, NY, Funt worked with concealed wire recorders in the US Army Signal Corps during WWII. Premiering on radio as Candid Microphone in 1948, the show quickly moved to TV asCandid Camera and aired (later, hosted by Funts son Peter) until 2004.