Charlie O'Donnell
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Charlie O'Donnell
Charles John O'Donnell (August 12, 1932 – November 1, 2010) was an American radio and television announcer, primarily known for his work on game shows. Among them, he was best known for ''Wheel of Fortune'', where he worked from 1975 to 1980, and again from 1989 until his death.Biography
wheeloffortune.com; accessed August 16, 2017.


Early career

O'Donnell was a Philadelphia native. He began his career as a teenager at in . In 1956, he worked as program director at

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Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California
Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density than some other areas in Los Angeles. History A partner of the Los Angeles Suburban Homes Company, Gen. Moses Hazeltine Sherman, developed Sherman Oaks. The company had subdivided of land that would become Sherman Oaks. In 1927, each acre was sold for $780. Sherman's other major venture was the Los Angeles Pacific Railroad. In 1991, a group of homeowners living in the Chandler Estates area successfully petitioned former Los Angeles City Councilmember Zev Yaroslavsky to re-draw the boundaries of Sherman Oaks from Magnolia to Burbank Blvd to the north, and from Coldwater Canyon to Van Nuys Blvd to the west, with the goal of including their neighborhood. This request was nothing new to the San Fernando Valley; other neighborhoods had either s ...
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Tic-Tac-Dough
''Tic-Tac-Dough'' is an American television game show based on the paper-and-pencil game of tic-tac-toe. Contestants answer questions in various categories to put up their respective symbol, ''X'' or ''O'', on the board. Three versions were produced: the initial 1956–59 run on NBC, a 1978–86 run initially on CBS and then in syndication, and a syndicated run in 1990. The show was produced by Barry & Enright Productions. Jack Barry, the co-producer, was the original host of the 1950s version, followed by Gene Rayburn and then Bill Wendell, with Jay Jackson and Win Elliot hosting prime time adaptations as well. Wink Martindale hosted the network and syndicated version beginning in 1978, but left the program to host and co-produce ''Headline Chasers'' and was replaced by Jim Caldwell who hosted during the 1985–86 season. Patrick Wayne hosted the 1990 version. Gameplay The goal of the game was to complete a line of three X or O markers on a standard tic-tac-toe board (with the ...
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Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainment and a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. History SPT's history goes back to 1947, when Pioneer Telefilms was founded by Ralph Cohn, whose father Jack and uncle Harry co-founded Columbia Pictures. Pioneer was bought by Columbia and renamed Screen Gems in November 1948, reincorporated as Columbia Pictures Television on May 6, 1974, and merged with sister studio TriStar Television (formed in 1986 and relaunched in 1991) to form Columbia TriStar Television on February 21, 1994. On September 16, 2002, Sony Pictures Entertainment renamed the American studio as Sony Pictures Television and its international division as Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI)). In summer 2007, SPT introduced The Minisod ...
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Merv Griffin Enterprises
Merv Griffin Enterprises was an American television production company founded by Merv Griffin, in business for 31 years from March 1963 to July 1994. History The company was first established as Milbarn Productions on March 7, 1963, and later as Merv Griffin Productions on March 5, 1964. Griffin's first production under the Milbarn name was ''Word for Word''. Griffin's second game show was ''Jeopardy!'' as Griffin's first production under the MGP name on March 30, 1964. In May 1965, his talk show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' returned to television. Griffin also created the game show ''Shopper's Bazaar'', which changed its name to ''Wheel of Fortune'' on January 6, 1975 after ''Jeopardy!'' was canceled on January 3, 1975. Griffin revived ''Jeopardy!'' as '' The All-New Jeopardy!'' on October 2, 1978, though it was proven to be unsuccessful. Merv Griffin Productions also owned the post-production studio Trans-American Video (TAV) that was founded on June 29, 1981. In 1982, the compa ...
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Dance Fever
''Dance Fever'' is an American musical variety television series that aired weekly in syndication from January 1979 to September 1987. The series was technically created by Merv Griffin but his agent Murray Schwartz actually conceived the idea of a pilot which piggybacked on a special ''Merv Griffin Show'' salute to the movie '' Thank God It's Friday'' which would feature top disco dancers from 8 cities competing for a title. Casablanca Records had already paid for the set, so a pilot could be produced at a significant reduction. Merv's vision was to have frequent Griffin guest Deney Terrio as the host, and celebrities would dance with professional disco dancers. (In a sense, it was very similar to ''Dancing with the Stars''.) But pilot show producer Ernest Chambers had no success convincing the stars who were approached to consent to the format. They were afraid they would look bad. On the Sunday prior to the show, director Dick Carson suggested since they already had the dancer ...
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Jack Clark (television Personality)
Jack Leslie Clark (November 25, 1925 – July 21, 1988) was an American television personality, game show host and announcer. He is best known for hosting ''The Cross-Wits'', and as an offstage announcer for ''Password'' and ''Wheel of Fortune''. On the latter, he succeeded original announcer Charlie O'Donnell and held the role from 1980 until his death in 1988. (O'Donnell took back the announcing position until his own death in 2010.) Early career When Clark was a student at University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), he began his career as a substitute radio announcer for radio station KROW in Oakland, California. After graduating from UC Berkeley, he moved to New York City, and first worked as a game show announcer for ''Password'' (where, when the word was flashed on the screen, he would whisper from offstage, "the password is..."; he also occasionally substituted for host Allen Ludden). From there, he went on to host '' 100 Grand'' (1963) and ''Dealer's Choice'' from ...
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Edd Byrnes
Edward Byrne Breitenberger (July 30, 1932 – January 8, 2020), known professionally as Edd Byrnes, was an American actor, best known for his starring role in the television series ''77 Sunset Strip.'' He also was featured in the 1978 film '' Grease'' as television teen-dance show host Vince Fontaine, and was a charting recording artist with "Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)" (with Connie Stevens). Early life Byrnes was born in New York City, the son of Mary (Byrne) and Augustus "Gus" Breitenberger. He had two siblings, Vincent and Jo-Ann. After his abusive alcoholic father died when Edd was 13, he dropped his last name in favor of Byrnes, based on the name of his maternal grandfather Edward Byrne. Byrnes developed the urge to act in high school but did not seriously consider pursuing it until after he had tried a number of other jobs, such as driving an ambulance, roofing and selling flowers. At age 17, he found work as a photographer's model. Career Early acting career In 1 ...
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77 Sunset Strip
''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American television Private investigator#PIs in fiction, private detective drama series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith (actor), Roger Smith, Richard Long (actor), Richard Long (from 1960 to 1961) and Edd Byrnes (billed as Edward Byrnes). Each episode was one hour long when aired with commercials. The show ran from 1958 to 1964. The character of detective Stuart Bailey was first used by writer Huggins in his 1946 novel ''The Double Take'', later adapted into the 1948 film ''I Love Trouble (1948 film), I Love Trouble''. Description Initial setup and characters Private detective and former World War II Office of Strategic Services espionage, secret agent and foreign languages professor Stuart ("Stu") Bailey (Zimbalist) and former government agent and nonpracticing Lawyer, attorney Jeff Spencer (Smith) form a duo who work from stylish offices at 77 Sunset Boulevard in Suites 101 and 102. Tab Hunter claimed he was the ...
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Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment industry worldwide. Given annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the awards are an international recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements, as assessed by the Academy's voting membership. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette as a trophy, officially called the "Academy Award of Merit", although more commonly referred to by its nickname, the "Oscar". The statuette, depicting a knight rendered in the Art Deco style, was originally sculpted by Los Angeles artist George Stanley from a design sketch by art director Cedric Gibbons. The 1st Academy Awards were held in 1929 at a private dinner hosted by Douglas Fairbanks in The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The Academy Awards cerem ...
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Emmy Awards
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with their own set of rules and award categories. The two events that receive the most media coverage are the Primetime Emmy Awards and the Daytime Emmy Awards, which recognize outstanding work in American primetime and daytime entertainment programming, respectively. Other notable U.S. national Emmy events include the Children's & Family Emmy Awards for children's and family-oriented television programming, the Sports Emmy Awards for sports programming, News & Documentary Emmy Awards for news and documentary shows, and the Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards and the Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards for technological and engineering achievements. Regional Emmy Awards are also presented throughout the country at various times through the year, re ...
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American Music Awards
The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Productions. From 1973 to 2005, both the winners and the nominations were selected by members of the music industry, based on commercial performance, such as sales and airplay. Since 2006, winners have been determined by a poll of the public and fans, who can vote through the AMAs website. History and overview Conception The AMAs was created by Dick Clark in 1973 to compete with the Grammy Awards after the move of that year's show to Nashville, Tennessee led to CBS (which has broadcast all Grammy Award shows since then) picking up the Grammy telecasts after its first two in 1971 and 1972 were broadcast on ABC. In 2014, American network Telemundo acquired the rights to produce a Spanish-language version of the American Music Awards and launched ...
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Pyramid (game Show)
''Pyramid'' is the collective name of a series of American television game shows that has aired several versions domestically and internationally. The original series, ''The $10,000 Pyramid'', debuted on March 26, 1973, and spawned seven subsequent ''Pyramid'' series. Most later series featured a full title format matching the original series, with the title reflecting an increasing top prize. The game features two contestants, each paired with a celebrity. Contestants attempt to guess a series of words or phrases based on descriptions given to them by their teammates. The title refers to the show's pyramid-shaped gameboard, featuring six categories arranged in a triangular fashion. The various ''Pyramid'' series have won a total of nine Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Game Show, second only to ''Jeopardy!'', which has won 13. Dick Clark is the host most commonly associated with the show, having hosted the network daytime version from 1973 to 1980 (which moved from CBS to ABC in 19 ...
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