This Is Your Life

This Is Your Life
Title card from 1954
Genre	Reality Documentary
Presented by	Ralph Edwards
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
Production
Producer(s)	Ralph Edwards
Running time	45–48 minutes
Release
Original network	NBC
Picture format	Black-and-white
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	October 1, 1952 (1952-10-01) – 1961
Chronology
Related shows	British version Australian version New Zealand version

This Is Your Life is an American reality documentary series broadcast on NBC radio from 1948 to 1952, and on NBC television from 1952 to 1961. It was originally hosted by its creator and producer Ralph Edwards. In the program, the host would surprise guests and then take them through a retrospective of their lives in front of an audience, including appearances by colleagues, friends, and family. Edwards revived the show in 1971–1972, and Joseph Campanella hosted a version in 1983. Edwards returned for some specials in the late 1980s, before his death in 2005.

The idea for This Is Your Life arose while Edwards was working on Truth or Consequences. He had been asked by the U.S. Army to "do something" for paraplegic soldiers at Birmingham General Hospital, a Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California Army rehabilitation hospital (a site later converted into a high school). Edwards chose a "particularly despondent young soldier and hit on the idea of presenting his life on the air, in order to integrate the wreckage of the present with his happier past and the promise of a hopeful future." Edwards received such positive public feedback from the "capsule narrative" of the soldier he gave on Truth or Consequences that he developed This Is Your Life as a new radio show. In the show, Edwards would surprise each guest by narrating a biography of the subject. The show "alternated in presenting the life stories of entertainment personalities and 'ordinary' people who had contributed in some way to their communities." The host, consulting his "red book", would narrate while presenting the subject with family members, friends, and others who had affected his or her life.

By the 1950s, the show was aired live before a theater audience. The guests were surprised by Ralph Edwards and confronted by the microphone and cameras. Planning for the broadcast meant that some would find out in advance that they would be featured. For example, Carl Reiner later admitted that he knew beforehand about his appearance, and Eddie Cantor had a heart condition, so the show's producers made sure that he was not surprised.