Pop Quiz: Getting the Most Out of the Hosts

I know you think I wandered off to the elephant graveyard as it's been so long since my last post. But I'm still here. I've just been living through the Parade of Problems and the Carousel of Crazy that is my life! Nothing serious, just lots of little things that wind up leaving a dearth of time for this blog. Today's little quiz concerns tidbits of trivia about several notable game show hosts. I remain obsessed with vintage game shows and watch "Barker era" The Price is Right every morning before work. (I hate myself for not paying tribute upon his passing last year...) Of course, I can also never get enough of To Tell the Truth from 1956 to 1991. The short-lived 1984 show Trivia Trap isn't really part of today's quiz. I just thought it would make an appropriate cover photo for the post. Some of you won't know (or maybe even care!) about these questions. Others may breeze right through it without a challenge. I hope you at least enjoy some of the photos. And now, off we go! 

#1 -

For me, a day without To Tell the Truth is nearly a day without sunshine. I am most fascinated these days by the 1970s rendition hosted by Garry Moore because Buzzr has recently been putting some previously unseen (for ages) episodes out there. But I also enjoy the earlier ones which, beginning in 1956, were hosted by Bud Collyer, seen here with Tom Poston, Kitty Carlisle and Orson Bean.

Seen here again later (with Peggy Cass added to the mix), Collyer presided over the nighttime version of the game until it ended in 1967, as well as a daytime version up until 1968. Prior to TTTT, Collyer had become a household name to television viewers for his show Beat the Clock, which ran from 1950-1961. Prior to that, he'd been best known for providing the voice of a very famous character on the radio. From 1940-1951, he enacted a role that is still very well-known today. In fact, the latest incarnation of this character was recently filmed right here in my hometown for an upcoming feature. Who did he portray?

 

#2 -

Although Gene Rayburn was a frequent celebrity panelist on To Tell the Truth over the years, he's really synonymous with Match Game. He presided over what was initially called The Match Game from 1962-1969, then returned in 1973 for what was a far more suggestive and raucous rendition of the game. Like TTTT, there was a daytime version along with Match Game PM. Both were off the air by 1982, followed soon after by the ill-advised and often-annoying Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour, which flopped after nine months. But Mr. Rayburn was not only a game show host. Do you know which Broadway show he took over the lead in, once its original star left to take part in his own sitcom?

#3 -

One of the reasons Match Game began to lose traction towards the end of its run was because regular panelist Richard Dawson objected to a new feature which trampled on what was generally acknowledged as "his" part of the show. He was almost universally chosen by contestants for the "Super Match" at the show's finale until producers introduced the "Star Wheel," which made the selection from six celebrities a random decision. His attitude and enthusiasm fading (along with plenty of work on his own show, Family Feud, seen above), led to him departing Match Game unhappily.

Though many contemporary viewers enjoy wallowing in revulsion at it now, Dawson was known for kissing practically every female contestant on Family Feud (along with the infrequent male guest!) He claimed it was done for luck - a habit he was raised on by his mother. Following a call on-air for write-in votes on the matter, it was overwhelmingly declared that viewers supported the practice. (Some of the gals got downright giddy at the prospect. One of them even later married him!) This is a two-part question. For what TV series was Dawson best-known prior to his later career as a game show icon? And who was Dawson's first wife (from 1959-1967), who was the mother of his two sons? If you don't already know, it's a startle.

#4 - 

Here we find Peter Marshall, the longtime host of Hollywood Squares, beginning in 1966.

Marshall took on the role of host for what he believed would be a 13-week gig. It ended up as a 15-YEAR commitment! Initially, the tone of the show was amusing and dotted with stars (seen here are Wally Cox, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam and Abby Dalton), but it would soon enough take on a different air.

The installment of Paul Lynde as the regular "Center Square" (seen here with Rose Marie, Marshall and Charley Weaver) took the show in a hysterical, hilariously subversive, direction. Today, more people recall Lynde's delivery of (writer-prepared) "zingers" than they do of genial host Marshall. Just prior to Marshall coming on board Squares in 1966, he'd co-starred in a Broadway musical. The show has scarcely, if ever, been done since and played for 248 performances before its closing. Remarks about one preview put one of NYC's most noted columnists in some hot water. Know what it was? Also, part two: Marshall was the younger brother of an actress who enjoyed success from the mid-1940s through the mid-1950s. Can you name her?

#5 -

This one we're going to come at from behind. This 1968 record cover features a singing duo called The Avant-Garde. Their psychedelic pop sound gave the world three single releases in 1967 and 1968, including "Yellow Beads," "Fly With Me" and this one, "Naturally Stoned," which made its way to Number 40 on the Billboard 100 chart. The half of the duo whose face is obscured, recorded some country songs before dabbling in a middling acting career. In time, though, he found his niche as a successful game show host from 1975 on. Who is he? 

#6 -

Most of us are familiar with Bert Convy, whose greatest success as a game show host came from the sometimes-daring Tattletales (for which he won an Emmy) and its assortment of couples trying to guess what the other will say in answer to a question. Convy had been on Broadway in, among others things, "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Cabaret." He also did films such as the hooty Susan Slade (1961.) 

Seen here amidst couples Dick Gautier & Barbara Stuart, Bobby Van & Elaine Joyce and Anne Meara & Jerry Stiller (Ben's parents, for the three of you who don't know!), Convy proceeded to successful stints on Super Password and Win, Lose or Draw. He also has the distinction of assaying a role that looms high in the hierarchy of CAMP. He didn't originate the part. He played it in a remake 14 years later. And, well, let's just say he did nothing whatsoever to ground it in reality any better than his predecessor (though the whole thing was heinously misguided anyway - DVD release, please!!! Ha ha!) What was it?

#7 -

Bob Eubanks was the grinning, sometimes guffawing, host of The Newlywed Game.  

His often-leading, suggestive questions to a quartet of married (for under two years) couples are the stuff of legend, with the euphemism of "whoopee" standing in for the word sex. The original version ran from 1966-1974, though he would return for short-lived updates up until before the millennium. He also hosted Card Sharks for one of its revivals (and was the host of Trivia Trap, whose stage is seen at the top of this post.) Prior to all this, he was a late-night Los Angeles disc jockey and eventually a concert promoter and recording artist manager (Merle Haggard being a chief client, but also Miss Dolly Parton and Barbara Mandrell for a time.) He was responsible for a series of concerts at The Hollywood Bowl, the first of which set a "sell-out" record for the venue (3-1/2 hours, long before computers, the Internet, etc...) Who was the featured act at that concert? 

 

#8-

David Ruprecht is a familiar face to 1990s cable subscribers who tuned into Supermarket Sweep. Though it had been done in the 1960s, that version is rarely seen to be sure. The 1990-1995 (and the 2000-2003) are more commonly rerun. (And there was a new version just a few years back that I never went near.)

 

The host, noted for his cornea-assaulting array of sweaters on camera, chiefly during the first few seasons, had the distinction of taking part in the finale of a very popular and enduring television sitcom. His character was the catalyst for big changes in the lives of the characters on the series. It was intended to signify the end of the show, which it did, but then the series, in a heavily rebooted form, including a new title, proceeded onward, leading to some bruised feelings among those not included. What was it?

#9 -

In 1978, Susan Stafford became the first female to be nominated for a Daytime Emmy as Outstanding Game Show Host (alongside then-host of Wheel of Fortune, Chuck Woolery.) The winner that year was Richard Dawson of Family Feud. Five years later, another female was nominated in the category - and won! Who was she and what was the show?

 

#10 -

Anyone recall the syndicated Face the Music, which ran from 1980-81? A rather loosy-goosey rip-off of Name That Tune, it paired song titles that were part of a larger puzzle/subject as well as photos of celebrities who corresponded to various song titles for one reason or another. Who was the host of this glitzy, often humorous affair?

THE ANSWERS!

 

#1 -

For the 1940 radio show "The Adventures of Superman," Bud Collyer played the title role as well as Superman's alter-ego Clark Kent. He won the part by demonstrating that he could use a baritone sound for the hero while adopting higher-pitched tenor tones for the mild-mannered newsman.

In the 1970s, the old radio broadcasts were released for a new generation to enjoy. Collyer also provided the voice for Filmations animated series The New Adventures of Superman, which ran from 1966 to 1970. Sadly, Collyer, who'd also been approached for a 1968 reboot of To Tell the Truth, was dead by the end of the series' run. He died of a circulatory ailment in September of 1969 at age 61. Before he would accept the role as new host, Garry Moore checked with Collyer for his approval, which was happily granted. Collyer died the very day that the new TTTT first aired.

Oh, and lest I forget, the next Superman movie, slated for a 2025 release, did some filming here in Cincinnati because our Art Deco Union Terminal (once a train station, now a museum center) was the inspiration for the Hall of Justice on The Super Friends and it's going to be used in the upcoming film! An expressway tunnel downtown was also shut down for a while in order to capture a sequence there. David Corenswet is the latest to don the famous blue, red and yellow costume.

#2 -

When Dick Van Dyke went to star in his now-legendary series The Dick Van Dyke Show, Gene Rayburn took his place on Broadway. Recognize the gal playing Rosie here with him?

Gretchen Wyler commanded billing higher than Rayburn, though he is arguably better known today than she outside of Broadway circles. Seeing her in the role provides something of a bridge between Chita Rivera and Janet Leigh (!) in the 1963 movie version. Sure, it ought to have been Chita, but knowing that another blonde had assayed the part on stage makes it slightly less staggering that Leigh wound up in the role for the movie.

Audience members at the time couldn't have known that one day costars Rayburn, Paul Lynde and Dick Gautier would one day be TV game show staples. It's a small world. Rayburn died of heart failure in 1999 at age 81, his longtime wife Helen having passed away in 1996.

#3- 

It's probably not a toughie to know that Richard Dawson costarred on the popular sitcom Hogan's Heroes (1965-1971.)

This is one show that, despite whatever merits it might have had and how enduringly popular it has been, that I could NOT get into... I simply cannot muster up any interest in viewing it, even after learning about the "busy" life that its star Bob Crane lived.

Did you know that Richard's wife was the buxom, blonde, British bombshell Diana Dors?!

The two made a go of it from 1959-1967 and had two sons together. They were extremely happy... until they weren't. Often mishandled in her early films (or paired with incorrect leading men), Dors proved to be a captivating actress in her later years and a downright mesmerizing talk show guest. Check it out sometime. Dawson died in 2012 at age 79 from esophageal cancer, having previously been a four-pack-a-day smoker up until 1994.

#4-

Peter Marshall's musical on Broadway was "Skyscraper." Note that, in another game show connection, Charles Nelson Reilly was on hand, too! (You might recall that Reilly and Miss Julie Harris developed a longstanding friendship and he later directed her in "The Gin Game.")

In this show, Harris played an antiques dealer who worries about the fate of her brownstone as the threat an oncoming skyscraper looms to take its place. She escapes from reality in a series of fantasy escapades. (If this sounds at all familiar, it was based on the play "Dream Girl," which was later made into a 1948 film starring Betty Hutton.) It was Dorothy Killgallen who ran afoul of many NYC readers when she gave a less than glowing report of a preview, prior to the actual opening. (It was the usual practice to wait, though in this case Kilgallen was dead before it officially opened!)

It may come as a surprise to some that Marshall later appeared on The Great White Way in "La Cage aux Folles."

He replaced the original Gene Barry, playing opposite Keene Curtis. Peter Marshall is, unlike many of the folks profiled here today, still with us now at age 98!

Incidentally, Marshall also did "Bye Bye Birdie," costarring in the London production with Chita Rivera. (That's Marty Wilde in the title role, not Dick Gautier.)

And who was his famous sister?

She was Miss Joanne Dru, of Red River (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and All the King's Men (1950), among many other movies.

 

#5-

Our mystery man from The Avant-Garde is none other than Chuck Woolery!

The pie-faced young man spent several years attempting to land as a professional vocalist/recording artist.

I had never in my life heard the song "Naturally Stoned." He and his cohort performed it and one other number on Playboy After Dark in 1969. This is SO awkward, for more than just those get-ups, but the music is actually really catchy on its own. Brace yourself.

As seen in this publicity pic for Wheel of Fortune, the wheel was initially going to be vertical rather than horizontal!

Woolery and the aforementioned Stafford made the show a big hit, back when people had to use their earnings to buy hideous merchandise from a revolving set! After attempting to earn his worth for a show with a 44 share in its time slot, negotiations were nearly complete when the creator Merv Griffin, threatened to change networks. This resulted in Woolery's salary offer being rescinded and his departure after six years, replaced by Pat Sajak (who only recently retired after 40+ years on the show!)

Woolery did later rebound with the wildly successful Love Connection. The gloriously tan and thinned-down host was goggle-eyed at the shenanigans of his dating-matched guests who didn't always have a pleasant report of their day together. He also went on to host other shows such as Scrabble, Greed and Lingo. Today he is 83.

 

#6- 

Bert Convy is seen here in a publicity photo for that hooty project I asked about. With him is Lisa Hartman. Got it yet?

Thing is, the story line actually had him paired mostly with another actress. You see, he played Tony Polar in the 1981 debacle Valley of the Dolls! Hartman played Neely, whose character worked with (and was institutionalized with!) Convy's Polar. Convy's wife in the miniseries was Veronica Hamel, as Jennifer.

Hamel was at or near the peak of her beauty at this point. To the right of her is a very glum Catherine Hicks, cast as Ann Welles. (No "e" to be found on the end of Ann this time!) And as Helen Lawson? Jean Simmons!

Convy and Simmons inexplicably play hugely popular musical stars and, here, try to give "I'll Plant My Own Tree" a run for its money in the humiliation sweepstakes with their own duet.

DVD release... PLEASE! Ha ha! On a sadder note, Convy was felled by brain cancer in 1991, just days before turning 58.

#7-

Bob Eubanks was instrumental in getting none other than The Beatles to make their west coast USA debut at The Hollywood Bowl.

This was the venue they wanted to play, but working it all out was very tenuous (and costly!) Eubanks had to put a house he and a partner owned on a second mortgage to get it all to happen. And that first concert saw profits fall to the wayside thanks to unexpected costs. But he did it twice more to better effect financially.

Few people would readily associate Eubanks with The Fab Four. He is still with us today at 86.

 

#8-

Did you remember that David Ruprecht played Phillip Dawson in four episodes of Three's Company. He was the boyfriend of Janet, played by Joyce DeWitt.

In a no-expenses spared ceremony (I'm kidding... they got married in the apartment!), Ruprecht wed DeWitt and they lived happily ever after. And, no, he didn't push her down the aisle in a grocery cart! LOL It wasn't happily ever after for DeWitt, though. The show wasn't truly over! It was retooled as Three's a Crowd, starring John Ritter while she and all the others were let go! Ruprecht is now 75.

#9-

The first female winner of Outstanding Game Show Host was Miss Betty White. She was the host of a game called Just Men!, in which a pair of female contestants tried to predict what a gaggle of celebrity guys had answered following a raft of yes or no questions prior to taping.  

In the back-right of this press photo is Jon-Erik Hexum as one of the celebs. ANY question he would have asked me would have been answered with a resounding "YES!" Ha ha! Even though the show only ran for part of a year, White received another Emmy nomination for it the following year! (Bob Barker took it that time.) We lost the national treasure known as Betty White in 2021, just weeks before her 100th birthday.

#10-

The host of Face the Music was former TV Tarzan, Ron Ely.

Seen here slow-dancing (okay, I made that up) with guest star Andrew Prine, Ely was the star of the well-regarded 1966-68 TV series Tarzan. Fortunately for viewers of the show, Ely sported one of the vine-swingers most abbreviated loin cloths (apart from Johnny Weismuller's skimpy original.)

Ely had a lot of fun during his brief stint as a game show host, but Face the Music was his only turn at bat for this genre. He didn't seem to be taking the enterprise very seriously and there is a fine line between being genial and yet giving due weight to the proceedings when money is at stake for contestants.

Since Music was my first introduction to him, it wasn't, "Oh, look! Tarzan's hosting a game show!" It was more like, "Oh... the host of Face the Music played Tarzan," when I finally got around to seeing some of the series. The show boasts guest stars as diverse and Ethel Merman and The Supremes!

No, this isn't Ely as Jay Gatsy (though there was surely a bit of inspiration derived there.) In 1975, he had enacted another iconic hero when he starred in the campy Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze, which was a failure at the box office.

It needed more moments like this one, which were few and far between, if you ask me... And no, you perverts, that is his toe tucked behind his calf in the pic! Ha ha ha!!

Ron Ely is now 86. In 2109, he endured a horrific personal situation when his wife was stabbed to death by his medically-ill son (who was then killed by first responders in the wake of the incident.) I hope you enjoyed swinging through this pop quiz. How did you do?