Twentieth Century Talkers

Monty Hall (1921-2017) was a radio and television show host who moved to the United States to pursue a career in broadcasting. Born as Monte Halparin in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Hall graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Manitoba, where he majored in chemistry and zoology. While still a student in the mid-Forties, he worked at CKRC radio in Winnipeg. 

For the next decade, Hall hosted and produced a number of programs for radio stations in Toronto before moving to New York City in 1955. Hall guest-hosted established game shows such as Strike It Rich on CBS and Twenty-One on NBC. He was also a radio analyst for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League during the 1959-1960 season, before succeeding Jack Narz as host of a game show called Video Village. 

Bigger things were in store with his move to Southern California, where he became the host of the game show Let's Make a Deal, which he developed and produced with business partner Stefan Hatos. It became his crowning broadcasting achievement and for what he is best known. The “Monty Hall” name became synonymous with a game show host and was often parodied in comedic skits, providing creativity for what was "behind door number one, two, or three." Hall was producer or executive producer of numerous other game shows throughout his career.

In May 1988, the Governor-General of Canada appointed him an officer of the prestigious The Order of Canada for his humanitarian work in Canada and other nations of the world. In 2003, the Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba appointed him a Member of the Order of Manitoba.

Twentieth Century Talkers

 

Bob Barker (1923-) was born into a modest home environment in the state of Washington. Barker spent most of his youth, however, on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in Mission, South Dakota, enrolled as a member of the Sioux tribe. Somewhat typical of his generation, as a youth he enlisted for military service in WW2. After the war, he returned to Drury (College) University to finish his education, graduating summa cum laude with a degree in economics.

Baker worked part-time in radio while attending college. He moved to California in 1950 to pursue a broadcasting career. He was given his own radio show, The Bob Barker Show, which ran for six years. He began his television game show career in 1956, hosting Truth or Consequences until 1972. He hosted the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants from 1967 to 1987, giving him the distinction of being the longest-serving host of those pageants. Barker is best known for hosting CBS's The Price Is Right from 1972 to 2007, making it the longest-running daytime game show in North American television history. His popular 1987 decision to appear without black hair dye was immediately accepted by a cheering audience. Considering his salesmanship, it is no wonder he was destined to be a "barker."

Though officially retiring in 2007, Barker continued to make occasional public appearances until 2017. One of his best received was a 2015 April Fools' Day appearance on The Price Is Right, taking Drew Carey's place at the beginning of the show. 

Television Talkers

 

As an aspiring actor and opera singer, Gene Rayburn (Eugene Peter Jeljenic, 1917-1999) made the move to New York City but was unable to find stage work. He landed a job as an NBC Studios page and tour guide at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Before television fame, Rayburn was a radio performer, announcing at various radio stations before enlisting in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He chose the stage name "Rayburn" by randomly sticking his finger in the phone book.

Making use of his talent, Rayburn took the lead role in the Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie after Dick Van Dyke left to star in The Dick Van Dyke Show. He began a long association with game show producers Mark Goodson and Bill Todman in 1953. After hosting several game shows, he hit pay dirt with The Match Game in 1962-1969. The show was revived in 1973 simply as Match Game and ran for another decade. During this time one of Rayburn's trademarks was his long, skinny microphone that he was able to hold near his waist. 

Note: Rayburn's last game show hosting duties were on Break the Bank in 1985.

Television Talkers

 

John Lewis Gilbert III (1928-) aka Johnny Gilbert, was originally a nightclub singer and entertainer. He has worked mainly on television game shows as far back as the 1950s. He is known primarily for his work as the announcer and audience host for countless game shows. Gilbert was selected by Mark Goodson to replace Don Pardo as the announcer and audience host for the original version of The Price Is Right when it moved from NBC to ABC in 1963. Merv Griffin's quiz show Jeopardy! was reintroduced to television in 1984. Its new host, Alex Trebek, convinced Griffin to hire Gilbert as the announcer. His list for hosting game shows is staggering and can be found elsewhere online.

Gilbert's voice was heard on the CBS ceremonies, the People's Choice Awards and Emmy Awards. In addition, he added his distinct voice to episodes of the animated series, The Angry Beavers and Johnny Bravo.

Above, Gilbert was Dinah Shore's announcer and sidekick for Dinah!, beginning in 1974.

A Man of Value

 

Tom Bergeron was born of French Canadian and Irish descent in 1955. He became a popular radio DJ, playing comedy records along with music and offbeat interviews. One of his first jobs on television was as host of a local game show. Bergeron was always on the move. He landed in Boston's giant, WBZ radio, where he remained through the Eighties. His national television work in the Nineties lead to hosting duties of Hollywood Squares from 1998 to 2004 for which he won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host in 2000. Bergeron had already been host of America's Funniest Home Videos since 2001. He remained there for another fourteen years. He also overlapped duties as host for Dancing with the Stars from 2005 to 2019. Among this non-stop pace, Bergeron had time for acting, appearing on Star Trek: Enterprise and the mystery series, Castle, among others, sometimes as himself. Bergeron is destined to be in demand for many more years.

Television Talkers

 

Jim Lang (1932-2014) was an American game show host and disc jockey. He began his radio broadcasting career in the Twin Cities after winning an audition as a teenager. Upon graduation from the University of Minnesota and serving in the Marines, Lange moved to San Francisco, making his Bay Area broadcast debut as "The All-Night Mayor" on KGO in 1960.

Lange's network television career began in San Francisco with The Ford Show in 1962, where he was the announcer and sidekick to host Tennessee Ernie Ford. Three years later he would sign on to host The Dating Game (1965–1980). He hosted numerous other game shows during those years and adopted a hairpiece best described as a helmet during the early 1970s. Lange appeared as himself on several sitcoms, including Bewitched, Laverne & Shirley, and Moesha among others.

Television Talkers

Chuck Woolery (1941-) is an American game and talk show host,  musician and actor. Though perhaps best known as the original host of Wheel of Fortune (1975-81) he hosted a number of game shows in his career. Woolery's longest-running stint was his eleven years with Love Connection, beginning in 1983.

The Ashland, Kentucky native served as a wine consultant in Columbus, Ohio, and as a sales representative for the Pillsbury Company in his early twenties. Around this time he was part of The Bordermen folk trio, singing and playing the double bass. He later was part of the duo called The Avant-Garde, garnering a Top 40 hit with "Naturally Stoned" in 1968, adding to a long list of one-hit wonder groups. By the late 1970s, his singing career took him into the country music world for Warner Bros. and Epic Records.

Beginning in 1972, Woolery often played himself during his television acting career. His latest role was in 2009 for the series Drop Dead Diva. He has become a spokesperson for senior interests, as well as promoting investments in the gold standard.

A Man of Many Firsts

 

Dennis James (Demie James Sposa 1917-1997) was an American television personality and commercial spokesman. He had appeared more times and for a longer period than any other television star, until 1976. Referred to as the "Godfather of Gameshows", he was the host of television's first network game show in 1956, the DuMont Network's Cash and Carry. James was the first to host a telethon, raising more than $750,000,000 for United Cerebral Palsy throughout his nearly five-decade run as host, the first to appear in a television commercial, the first to emcee a variety show and the first to appear on videotape. In all, he garnered more than twenty-five "firsts" in his career.

Outside of sports, game shows, and his periodic acting on television and film,  James' congeniality, warmth, and distinct voice was held in high esteem as a commercial spokesman. He had a vast list of national clients, as well as local and regional companies and businesses around the country through his own production company. His expression "Okay? Okay!" became a trademark in many of James's commercials.

Note: The Cash and Carry game show (left above) has been described as an early television adaptation of Truth or Consequences. Set in a market, James asked contestants questions attached to cans of the sponsor's products, with correct answers worth $5, $10, or $15. Other tasks were stunts, such as the wife, being blindfolded, and having to feed her husband, who work together for a common goal.

Television Talkers

 

Dave Garroway (1913-1982) was an American television personality best known as the founding host and anchor of NBC's Today show from 1952 to 1961. Garroway began his broadcasting career at NBC as a page in 1938 before landing a job at Pittsburgh radio station KDKA in 1939.  He became known as the "Roving Announcer" with a reputation for finding a good story, even in unusual places. After WW2, His fellow disc jockeys voted him the nation's best in the 1948 and 1949 Billboard polls. He won the award again in 1951.

Garroway's relaxed, informal style, as well as his humor, became part of his television trademark, to say nothing of his eyeglasses and bow tie. He possessed no false jollity or witticisms. On the contrary, he was pleasant, serious, and scholarly-looking. Trustworthy. His popular "cohost" on Today was a lovable chimpanzee by the name of J. Fred Muggs who helped take the edge off some more serious news moments. Garroway was one of the broadcasters who introduced conversational style and tone to television, beginning some broadcasts as though viewers were sitting in the studio with him. As an example, "And how are you about the world today? Let's see what kind of shape it's in; there is a glimmer of hope." His ability to clearly explain abstract concepts earned him the nickname "The Communicator" and eventually won praise from critics and viewers alike. Garroway was known for his signoff, saying "Peace" with an upraised palm. Many late sixties hippies owed him a debt for that.

More at Garroway at Large.

Note: Unknown to viewers, Garroway's easygoing and relaxed style -- the epitome of poise -- hid his lifelong battle with depression, which is better diagnosed today.

The Dependable Fallback Host

 

Bill Cullen (1920-1990) was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades. His biggest claim to fame was as a game show host for twenty-three shows, earning him the nickname "Dean of Game Show Hosts." Cullen's broadcasting career began in 1939 in Pittsburgh as a disc jockey and play-by-play announcer for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Hornets. After serving in the Civil Air Patrol as an instructor and patrol aircraft pilot during World War II, Cullen got his first television game show, Winner Take All, in 1952.

The witty busy Bill was on the network's list as their fallback guy. When no one could think of someone new, they typically went with the engaging personality of Cullen. In the mid-Fifties, he hosted Name That Tune, and from 1956 to 1965 he hosted the initial daytime and primetime versions of The Price Is Right. For three seasons he hosted Eye Guess, beginning in 1966. The show spawned a board game version, as well. Throughout the Sixties and Seventies, he hosted some new generations of game shows, most of which had a short life. Cullen was certainly a household face, appearing as a guest on countless game shows including popular shows like The Cross-Wits, Password, Pyramid, and Match Game. But most famously as a panelist on I've Got a Secret from 1952 to 1967, and To Tell the Truth from 1969 to 1978.

Note: Cullen contracted polio when he was 18 months old. That long-term disability plus injuries sustained in a serious motor vehicle accident in 1937, made it difficult for him to walk or stand for extended periods. The game show directors took great care and limited his standing or walking. Few peers knew of his disability at the time and nearly every television viewer ever noticed.

Everybody Wanted Moore

 

Garry Moore (Thomas Garrison Morfit 1915-1993) was an American entertainer, comedic personality, humorist and this versatility made him a force to be reckoned with in the 1950s and 1960s. Early in his career, he was recognized distinctly for his bow tie and his crew cut fashion and his on-air transparency. He hosted the hugely popular weekly prime-time panel show, I've Got a Secret, from 1952 until 1964. It was double duty for Moore with his variety series, the hour-long, The Garry Moore Show (1958-64) airing simultaneously. The show was a revival of his earlier 1950 30-minute talk-variety show. He was noted for promoting the careers of other entertainers, most notably, Carol Burnett. Moore later replaced the original host of To Tell the Truth, Bud Collyer, when the show was syndicated from 1969 to 1977. But health trouble resulted in numerous guest hosts during his tenure. After a forty-two-year career, Moore retired in 1977 after announcing on the show about his health. 

Before television, Moore recorded six of his radio monologues for Decca in 1944, including his incredible, triple-time speed reading of Little Ride Riding Hood, his classic “Hugh, the Blue Gnu,” and a calamity-filled version of “In the Good Old Summertime”. They were released as an album of three 78 rpm records titled “Culture Corner”.