[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 127 (Monday, September 27, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1970]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO ALLEN FUNT

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                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 27, 1999

  Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a man who 
with boundless energy and enthusiasm spread laughter throughout the 
nation with his long-running TV show ``Candid Camera.'' Allen Funt died 
at his home in Pebble Beach on September 5, 1999 at the age of 84.
  Born on September 16, 1914 in New York, Allen attended Cornell 
University graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in fine arts. As 
an undergraduate student, Allen was a scholar of human nature and 
conducted psychology experiments which began his interest in people's 
reactions. Mr. Funt also worked as an assistant for an Eleanor 
Roosevelt radio show from which he began to engender ideas about 
combining spontaneous reactions of people with radio. During World War 
II, Allen was enlisted in the Army and served in the Army Signal Corps 
where he continued to study his idea about combining spontaneous 
reactions and radio as he experimented with location recording and 
concealment techniques. After leaving the Army, Allen founded ``Candid 
Microphone'' on ABC in 1948. In 1960, CBS picked up the show for a 7-
year run and for the year 1960-1961 it was the seventh-best rated show 
in the nation. CBS now airs ``Candid Camera'' with Allen's son, Peter 
Funt, as the host.
  For half a century Allen Funt loved to make people smile. He was a 
visionary who pioneered what has become an entire programming genre, 
but who also genuinely cared about people and appreciated the healing 
power of laughter. In the late 1960's, Allen donated his entire Candid 
Camera film library to the psychology department of his alma mater, 
Cornell University, in order to share his insights into the human 
psyche and his work with the students. After settling in the Monterey 
peninsula in 1978, Allen held fundraisers to support Carmel schools in 
the 1980's and donated ``Candid Camera'' tapes to hospitals and the 
homes of the terminally ill as well as started the ``Laughter Therapy 
Foundation.''
  Allen Funt was truly a remarkable man who will be fondly remembered 
for his ingenuity and enthusiasm. His appreciation of laughter's power 
to heal provided for 52 years of good comedy for the entire nation. 
Allen will be missed by the countless numbers of people he touched both 
personally and through his ``Candid Camera'' show around the world.

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