Is Gene Rayburn dead or alive?
Gene Rayburn was an American radio and television personality.He has hosted various editions of the American television game show Match Game for over two decades.
The younger of two children of Croatian immigrants, Eugen Peter Jeljenic was born in Christopher, Illinois.Rayburn's father died when he was an infant and his mother moved to Chicago.On November 10, 1919, Rayburn married Rubessa.Alfred, his elder brother, was killed when Rayburn was a child.
Rayburn graduated from Lindblom Technical High School.He acted in two plays at Lindblom, Robert of Sicily and Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch.[4]
An aspiring actor and opera singer, Rayburn moved to New York City but couldn't find a stage work, so he became a tour guide at NBC studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.After three years in that position, Rayburn returned to New York at WNEW.He was a member of the United States Army Air Force during World War II.Gene picked the stage name "Rayburn" by sticking his finger in the phone book.[5]
Rayburn was an actor and radio performer.He had a morning drive time radio show in New York City with Jack Lescoulie.Rayburn's partnership with Lescoulie helped popularize the morning drive radio format.He was able to lobby for songs' recording at WNEW.Music!Music!Music!The lyrics of the song "Hop-Scotch Polka" were written by Teresa Brewer and Carl Sigman.Dee Finch continued the format after Rayburn left WNEW.The lead role in the Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie was taken by Rayburn when Dick Van Dyke left the production.Charles Nelson Reilly was Rayburn's stand-in at one point in his stage career.[7]
In 1953, Rayburn began his association with game show producers Mark Goodson and Bill Todman.Rayburn sat in for regular panelist Carl Reiner on Robert Q. Lewis' The Name's the Same.He replaced Jim McKay as host of the summer replacement game show Make the Connection in 1955.He hosted shows such as Dough Re Mi and the daytime version of Tic Tac Dough.In 1961, Rayburn became one of the many hosts of NBC's Monitor on radio.There is a citation needed.
Rayburn played a TV interviewer in the movie It Happened to Jane, but he did not want his name to be associated with it.In the 1960s and 1970s, Rayburn was a panelist on What's My Line?To tell the truth.There is a citation needed.
The Match Game was hosted by Rayburn.In the original version, Rayburn read questions to two panels, each consisting of a celebrity and two audience members.The questions in the original game were not new.Rayburn made jokes as the situation required, but he usually played it straight.Only four episodes were recorded because it was a live show.The show was canceled in 1969 to make room for a short-lived game show.
Match Game was revived for CBS in 1973.Rayburn introduced a new format in which two contestants tried to match the responses of six celebrities."After being hit by a steamroller, Norman had to slide his ____________ under the door" was written by Dick DeBartolo, a veteran of the original show.Rayburn was a big fan of the new approach and often had fun with the celebrities and the technical crew.It was the highest-rated show on daytime television.[8]
Match Game was the number one daytime game show for three years in a row.Match Game ran on CBS from 1979 to 1979 and ran in first-run syndication for three years.Match Game PM was aired during the night from 1975 to 1981.Rayburn was nominated for Outstanding Host or Hostess in a Game or Audience Participation Show.There is a citation needed.
When Match Game was filmed in Los Angeles, Rayburn lived on Cape Cod.He commuted to California every two weeks to tape 12 shows over the course of a weekend.[5]
The show was revived as part of the Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour in 1983.The Match Game and "Super Match" segments were hosted by Rayburn and he sat on the panel for the Hollywood Squares segment.The show was on NBC for nine months.The show turned out to be disappointing for Rayburn.[9]
Rayburn was a panelist on two Goodson-Todman shows, What's My Line? and Match Game.To tell the truth.Rayburn and his wife Helen appeared on the game show Tattletales during the 1970s Match Game.Some episodes of Tattletales were hosted by Rayburn.The Amateur's Guide to Love was hosted by Rayburn three years after the Match Game was canceled.The pilot for Party Line was hosted by him in 1983.
Rayburn was a guest on The Love Boat in 1980.Rayburn was a celebrity guest on Password Plus several times between 1980 and 1982 and appeared as a contestant during a tournament of game show hosts on the original version of Card Sharks in 1980.He hosted a game show on Fantasy Island in which he and another host vied to win the woman they both loved by creating the ultimate gameshow with life-or-death consequences.He hosted a local New York City show on WNEW-TV (now WNYW), Helluva Town, and between game show stint in 1982–1983, he returned to W NEW as host of a weekly local talk and lifestyles show called Saturday Morning Live.He returned to co-hosting Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour.There is a citation needed.
The Movie Masters ran from 1989 to 1990 and was hosted by Rayburn, but he was replaced by Joe Farago after 13 weeks.An Entertainment Tonight reporter publicly disclosed that Rayburn was 69 years old, much older than many believed, just before production was to begin on a new RayBURN-emceed Match Game revival in 1987.Rayburn blamed the reporter for revealing his age, which made it hard for him to find a job.His daughter blamed the lack of work he received for sending him into a downward spiral.[9]
Susan Lucci was featured in a Saturday Night Live sketch as a character from All My Children.He returned as one of Kane's many previous husbands to stop another marriage with the host of a game show.He made appearances on talk shows in the late 1980s and 1990s to discuss classic game shows.Ross Shafer hosted the 1990 Match Game revival.In 1992, Rayburn made an appearance on New York shock jock Howard Stern's late-night TV variety show as one of the stars of his Homeless Howiewood Squares parody, in which homeless people were supposedly the contestants.There is a citation needed.
The Drum Corps International finals were hosted by Rayburn and his wife, Peter Emmons, from Philadelphia's Franklin Field in 1976 and the original Mile High Stadium in 1977.There is a citation needed.