William Rafferty (June 17, 1944 – August 11, 2012) was an American comedian and

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

who hosted the

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

s '' Every Second Counts'' (1984–1985, syndicated), ''

Card Sharks ''Card Sharks'' is an American television game show. It was created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson- Bill Todman Productions. The game features two contestants who attempt to predict the outcome of survey questions to gain control of a ro ...

'' (1986–87, syndication), and '' Blockbusters'' (1987,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

Early life

Rafferty was born in

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. He was the fourth and youngest child of Henry Rafferty, Sr., and Martha (Degnan) Rafferty.

Career

Before his career in television, Rafferty was a military policeman in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. He was also a butcher in

Bolinas, California Bolinas is an unincorporated coastal community and census-designated place in Marin County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 1,483. It is located on the California coast, approximately (straight line dist ...

. His first national TV exposure was as a co-host on the

reality series ''

Real People ''Real People'' is an American reality television series that originally aired on NBC from 1979 to 1984, Wednesdays from 8 pm to 9pm Eastern Time. Its initial episodes aired live in the Eastern and Central time zones. ''Real People'' featured "r ...

'', which ran from 1979–1984. Originally, he was one of the five in-studio co-hosts before becoming a field correspondent ("roving reporter"), though he still made occasional studio appearances. Rafferty also made guest appearances on episodes of ''

Laugh-In ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to March 12, 1973, on the NBC television network, hosted by comedians Dan ...

'' in the late 1970s version of the show. Rafferty was the host of a television show on

Retirement Living TV RLTV (previously known as Retirement Living TV) was an American cable television Television broadcasting, network. Launched on September 5, 2006, the channel targeted a Old age, demographic aged 50 years and older. Its topics and programs include ...

, called ''Retired and Wired'', which debuted in October 2007.

Personal life

Rafferty married Regina Miletic on May 25, 1968, in Queens, New York. Rafferty died from congestive heart failure on the morning of August 11, 2012.Buzzerblog on Twitter.
Accessed 11 August 2012.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* 1944 births 2012 deaths American male comedians American game show hosts People from Queens, New York People from San Rafael, California Comedians from California Comedians from New York (state) {{US-tv-bio-stub