answers.input_text: short
answers.span_text: John Daly
questions: who was the original host of what's my line
name: What's My Line?
contexts: What 's My Line ? Directed by Paul Alter ( 1957 - 61 ) Presented by John Daly ( 1950 -- 67 ) Wally Bruner ( 1968 -- 72 ) Larry Blyden ( 1972 -- 75 ) Starring Arlene Francis ( 1950 -- 75 ) Dorothy Kilgallen ( 1950 -- 65 ) Louis Untermeyer ( 1950 -- 51 ) Hal Block ( 1950 -- 53 ) Bennett Cerf ( 1951 -- 71 ) Steve Allen ( 1953 -- 54 ) Fred Allen ( 1954 -- 56 ) Martin Gabel ( semi-regular 1956 -- 67 ) Soupy Sales ( 1968 -- 75 ) Narrated by Lee Vines ( 1950 -- 55 ) Hal Simms ( 1955 -- 61 ) Ralph Paul ( 1961 ) Johnny Olson ( 1961 -- 72 ) Chet Gould ( 1973 -- 75 ) Country of origin United States No. of seasons 25 No. of episodes CBS : 876 Syndication : 1,320 Total : 2,196 Production Producer ( s ) Mark Goodson Bill Todman Running time 25 -- 29 minutes ( CBS ) 22 -- 23 minutes ( syndication ) Distributor CBS Enterprises ( 1968 -- 71 ) Viacom Enterprises ( 1971 -- 75 ) Release Original network CBS ( 1950 -- 67 ) Syndication ( 1968 -- 75 ) Picture format Black - and - white ( 1950 -- 66 ) Color ( 1966 -- 75 ) Audio format Monaural Original release February 2 , 1950 -- September 3 , 1975 Chronology Related shows I 've Got a Secret To Tell The Truth