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Were you a fan of The Match Game? Host Gene Rayburn and his lovable cast of regulars (and guests alike) provided some of the most entertaining game show mome...
- 9 min
- 87.6K
- Facts Verse
These are full episodes of the Match Game.
Oct 8, 2021 · Here's the sad but true story of Gene Rayburn who rose to fame first on radio and then later as the host of the classic TV game show, "Match Game".Get "The M...
- 7 min
- 167.4K
- Dave Sundstrom
- Early Life
- Career
- Personal Life and Death
- Buzzr Brackets
- Goodson-Todman Shows Hosted
Born Eugene Peter Jeljenic in Christopher, Illinois, the younger of two children of Croatian immigrants. Rayburn's father died when he was an infant and his mother moved to Chicago, where she met Milan Rubessa. After she married Rubessa on November 10, 1919, Rayburn took the name Eugene Rubessa. He had an elder brother, Alfred, who was killed when ...
Radio Career
Before appearing on television, Rayburn was an actor and radio performer. He had a morning radio show in New York City, first with Jack Lescouile (Anything Goes) and later with Dee Finch (Rayburn & Finch) on WNEW (now WBBR). Rayburn's pairing with Lescouile and Finch helped to popularize the now-familiar morning drive radio format. When Rayburn left WNEW, Dee Finch continued the format with Gene Klavan. Rayburn later took the lead role in the Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie when Dick Van Dyke...
Television Career
Breaking into television as the original announcer on Steve Allen's Tonight, Rayburn began a long association with game show producers Mark Goodson and Bill Todman in 1953. He first appeared on Robert Q. Lewis's The Name's the Same; Rayburn frequently sat in for regular panelist Carl Reiner. In 1955, he took over as host of the summer replacement game show Make the Connection from original host Jim McKay (and appearing with his WNEW morning show successor Gene Klavan). From there he hosted sh...
Match Game
From 1962 to 1969. Rayburn hosted Match Game. In the original version which aired from New York on NBC Rayburn read questions to two panels, each consisting of a celebrity and two audience members. The questions in the original game were ordinary like "Name a kind of muffin or "John loves his _____" Rayburn usually plays it straight, though he would make jokes as the situation warranted. Because it was a live show, very few episodes were recorded; only four are known to exist. The show was ca...
Rayburn was married to Helen Ticknor from 1940 until her death in October 1996. They had one child, a daughter, Lynne. One of his last TV appearances was a 1998 interview with Access Hollywood intended to coincide with the 25th Anniversary of Match Game '73. Portions of the interview have been broadcasted on Game Show Network which in 2001 showed p...
In 2016, Rayburn became the winner of the "Buzzr Brackets" tournament on Buzzr(see "promotional stunts" for details)
Make the Connection (1955) Choose Up Sides (1956) The Match Game (Pilot 1962, Series 1962-1969) Play Your Hunch (1962) It's Predictable (Pilot, 1970) Match Game (1973-1982) The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour (Match GameHalf only, 1983-1984)
Apr 21, 2020 · On and off between 1962 and 1982, Gene Rayburn served as the host of various versions of the Classic TV game show Match Game. In between, he got his start in radio, worked with Steve Allen on...
Match Game: With Alec Baldwin, Steve French, Caroline Rhea, Jack McBrayer. Contestants attempt to match the answers of celebrities in the iconic game of fill in the missing blank.
Dec 4, 1999 · Gene Rayburn, who became a mainstay on television from the 1960's to the 80's as the amiable host of ''The Match Game,'' died on Monday at his home in Beverly, Mass. He was 81. The cause...
