2. Born and raised in Illinois, Gene Rayburn eventually moved to New York City as an aspiring actor and opera singer. Unable to find acting work, he eventually wound up in radio as an announcer. He put his career aspirations on hold when he enlisted and served in the US Army Air Forces during World War II. After his 3 years of service, Rayburn finally got his big television break as the announcer on "Tonight" (the forerunner to the "Tonight Show"). Then in 1953, he began his game show hosting career. Nine years later, he became host of the original "The Match Game" on NBC. After 7 years, the show was cancelled, but the team of Mark Goodson and Bill Todman revived "Match Game" in 1973 where Rayburn returned as host. The show became the most watched daytime game show over the next 4 years, three of those as the highest rated of all daytime programs. As a result, Rayburn was nominated three times for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host. After the nine-year run of "Match Game," Rayburn appeared as a guest panelist on a handful of other games shows and as a guest star on such shows as "The Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island." How familiar are you with Gene Rayburn?
3. A native of Chicago, Pat Sajak is best known as the host of "Wheel of Fortune" for an amazing 43 years. He began his career in radio as a DJ and newsman. Upon enlisting in the US Army, he was deployed to Vietnam and got a gig as a DJ on Armed Forces Radio. After his military service, Sajak resumed his DJ career until getting his first television break in Nashville doing 5-minute newscasts during the "Today Show" and weekend weather. In 1977, he moved to Los Angeles to serve as full-time weather reporter for KNBC-TV. Then, in 1981, Merv Griffin was looking for a host to replace Chuck Woolery on "Wheel of Fortune" and tabbed Sajak as his #1 choice. Sajak hosted the daytime version for two years, then both the daytime and syndicated nighttime version concurrently for six years, followed by the nighttime version for the next 35 years until finally retiring in 2024. Sajak was honored by the Guinness World Records as the longest running host of any game show in history. He is a 3-time winner of the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host, a Primetime Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Host of a Game Show, and a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011. How familiar are you with Pat Sajak?
4. Born in Canada in 1940, George Alexander Trebek was a Canadian and American TV game show host best known as the host of the ever popular "Jeopardy!" for 37 years. While still a student at the University of Ottawa, Trebek began his broadcasting career at the CBC working in every possible announcing job. He eventually broke into television in 1963 hosting music programs, quiz shows and even skating programs. In 1971, he was strongly being considered as the host of "Hockey Night in Canada" but eventually lost out because the higher-ups did not want the host wearing a mustache! Trebek moved to the US in 1973 where his game show hosting career took off, including gigs on "The Wizard of Odds," "High Rollers," and the short-lived "Double Dare." After the cancellation of "High Rollers" in 1980, Trebek struggled to find his footing during a series of game show failures over the next 4 years. Then, as luck would have it, Merv Griffin was looking for someone to replace Art Fleming as the host of "Jeopardy!", and, at the urging of none other than Lucille Ball, decided to hire Trebek. The rest, as they say, was history. He served as host until his unfortunate death in 2020. His work on "Jeopardy!" earned him the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host a total of 8 times, and he is just one of just three game show hosts to be on both Hollywood's and Canada's Walks of Fame. How well do you remember Alex Trebek?
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