Chuck Woolery, first host of Wheel Of Fortune, dies at 83

NEW YORK – Chuck Woolery, the affable host of Love Connection, Wheel Of Fortune and other television game shows in the United States, who later criticised liberal values and the US Democratic Party as the co-host of a popular right-wing podcast, died on Nov 23 at his home in Texas. He was 83.

His death was confirmed by Mark Young, the co-host of his podcast, Blunt Force Truth. He did not specify the cause.

In the late 1970s, Woolery was the inaugural host of Wheel Of Fortune, now one of the longest-running game shows on television. And in the early 1980s, he was tapped to host Love Connection, a dating show that helped to make him a household name in the US.

On a stage flush with red and pink cutout hearts, he manoeuvred with an easy charm through interactions that could be both endearing and irreverent. At times, he could be a coaxing Cupid; at others, a referee as contestants traded barbs over who was complaining or who had skipped out on dinner.

“I felt more like the audience,” Woolery said in a 2020 interview with journalist Adam Wurtzel. “What would the audience ask? What would the audience feel?”

He went on to host the word-related game shows Scrabble and Lingo, as well as Greed, a reimagining of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire with teams and bigger cash prizes, among other shows.

After co-founding his podcast in 2014, he turned on the system that had made him a star. The targets of his pointed commentary included Hollywood, the Democratic Party and the public health establishment’s messaging on the coronavirus.

Charles Herbert Woolery was born on March 16, 1941, in Ashland, Kentucky. After graduating from high school, he served for two years in the navy before working odd jobs and later moving to Los Angeles.

Soon, he had appeared on shows like New Zoo Revue, a children’s programme. He was also a member of the Avant-Garde, a psychedelic rock duo that had a Top 40 hit in 1968 with the single Naturally Stoned.

When he played on the Merv Griffin Show, host Merv Griffin liked his charisma and asked him to talk to a few business partners about working as a game show host.

 Woolery said: “I thought, ‘A game show host – that’s the guy with a bad moustache and a bad jacket who cares nothing about what you have to say.’ I immediately said no, but I’d like to think about it.”

His first spin at the genre proved to be the foundation for a long career. In 1975, Woolery hosted the inaugural episode of Wheel Of Fortune. He kept the job until 1981, when he was ousted after a bitter contract dispute. Pat Sajak took over and hosted for over four decades before retiring in June.

On Fox News in 2016, Woolery spoke of his time on Wheel Of Fortune with reverence and some regret.

“I should have stayed,” he said, adding that “if it wasn’t for Merv, I wouldn’t have had a career”.

Although Woolery lost the chance to continue hosting Wheel Of Fortune, he became a moneymaker for the Game Show Network.

On Love Connection, Woolery developed his trademark “two-and-two” sign off before the commercial break to note the two minutes and two seconds between segments. He exuded a self-deprecating onstage persona to put guests at ease.

“Game show hosts are supposed to be perfect, but we’re not,” he said in the interview.

By the time Greed premiered in 1999, Woolery had been a game show host for more than 20 years. His other shows included The Chuck Woolery Show and a revival of The Dating Game.

As a co-host of Blunt Force Truth, a conservative podcast that espoused right-wing perspectives on morality, politics and celebrity, he took a more combative approach. “If you’re not all-in on government, and all-in on what this leftist, far-left Democratic Party is up to, then you’re just not welcome,” Woolery said on the show in 2023.

Woolery, who was married several times, is survived by his wife, Kristen, and three children – Michael, Melissa and Sean – said Young. A son, Chad, died in a motorcycle accident in Los Angeles in 1986. A daughter, Katherine, has also died, he added. NYTIMES