Portia Faces Life

Portia Faces Life is an American soap opera first broadcast as a radio series from 1940 to 1953, and then on television for a single season in the mid-1950s. It began in syndication on April 1, 1940, and was broadcast on some stations that carried NBC programs, although it does not seem to have been an official part of that network's programming. The original title was Portia Blake Faces Life.^[1]

Stations airing the series, according to newspaper advertisements, included WNAC in Boston, WLS in Chicago, KRLD in Dallas, KGW in Portland, Oregon and KFI in Los Angeles.

The series became part of the CBS Radio Network, on October 7, 1940, and its title was changed to Portia Faces Life. It was sponsored by the company General Foods.

Portia Faces Life continued on CBS until April 25, 1941. Three days later, it moved to NBC where it continued until March 31, 1944. It then returned to CBS as a summer series from April 3 to September 29, 1944. Heard on NBC from October 3, 1944 to June 29, 1951, the series continued until 1953, according to scriptwriter Mona Kent, who wrote every episode.^[2] General Foods remained the sponsor through all 13 years of the radio series.

The programme was launched to television as a series by CBS, airing from April 5, 1954, until July 1, 1955. The TV series version stars Frances Reid as Portia Blake Manning. Reid was replaced by Fran Carlon from July 5, 1954. The program was also retitled as The Inner Fame in March 1955.^[3]