Buff Cobb, who hosted the pioneering television talk show "Mike and Buff" in the early 1950s with Mike Wallace, then her husband, died July 12, her family announced. She was believed to be 83.
Cobb, a former actress and theatrical producer, died at a nursing home in Lebanon, N.H.
She was appearing with Tallulah Bankhead in a touring production of "Private Lives" when Wallace, then a relatively young newsman, interviewed her in 1949.
"She was an actress and a bit of a glamorous figure to me," Wallace said later.
They soon married and launched the "Mike and Buff" show on CBS. They also roamed New York City to co-host "All Around Town," an interview program that aired in 1951 and 1952.
"Mike and Buff" mixed light themes and more serious issues with the couple's bickering. "Smarten up, Buff!" was one of Wallace's catchphrases on the show.
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"We overdid the personal exchanges," Cobb said, according to the 1985 book "Whatever Became Of?"
CBS canceled the show in 1953, and their marriage ended two years later.
