Charles Herbert Woolery (born March 16, 1941) is an American game show host,

talk show host Below is a list of talk show hosts, sorted alphabetically by their surnames. __NOTOC__ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z See also * List of game show hosts This is a list o ...

, and musician. He has had long-running tenures hosting several game shows. Woolery was the original host of ''

Wheel of Fortune The Wheel of Fortune or '' Rota Fortunae'' has been a concept and metaphor since ancient times referring to the capricious nature of Fate. Wheel of Fortune may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Art * ''The Wheel of Fortune'' (Burne-J ...

'' (1975–1981), the original incarnation of '' Love Connection'' (1983–1994), ''

Scrabble ''Scrabble'' is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, read left t ...

'' (1984–1990, and during a brief revival in 1993), ''

Greed Greed (or avarice) is an uncontrolled longing for increase in the acquisition or use of material gain (be it food, money, land, or animate/inanimate possessions); or social value, such as status, or power. Greed has been identified as und ...

'' on Fox from 1999 to 2000, and ''

Lingo Lingo, a contraction of language, often refers to jargon, but in a less formal or technical sense. Lingo may also refer to: Technology * Lingo (programming language), one of several unrelated programming languages * Lingo (VoIP Service operator ...

'' on

Game Show Network Game Show Network (GSN) is an American basic cable channel owned by Sony Pictures Television. The channel's programming is primarily dedicated to game shows, including reruns of acquired game shows, along with new, first-run original and revive ...

from 2002 to 2007. Woolery's musical career included a number of advertising

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

s, as well as a top-40 pop hit in the

psychedelic pop Psychedelic pop (or acid pop) is pop music that contains musical characteristics associated with psychedelic music. Developing in the late 1960s, elements included "trippy" features such as fuzz guitars, tape manipulation, backwards recording, ...

duo The Avant-Garde and a number of

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

releases.

Early life and career

Woolery was born on March 16, 1941, in

Ashland, Kentucky Ashland is a home rule-class city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States. The largest city in Boyd County, Ashland is located upon a southern bank of the Ohio River at the state border with Ohio and near West Virginia. The population was 21,6 ...

. After graduating from high school, he served two years in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. In 1963, Woolery worked as a wine consultant for Wasserstrom Wine & Import Company in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

. He was also a sales representative for The

Pillsbury Company The Pillsbury Company is a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based company that was one of the world's largest producers of grain and other foodstuffs until it was bought by General Mills in 2001. General Mills brands consist of Annie's, Betty Crocker, Nat ...

Music career

In the early 1960s, he sang and played the

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

with a folk song trio called The Bordermen. He also sang in a duo called The Avant-Garde who were in the

genre. The other half of the duo was Bubba Fowler. They signed to Columbia Records and had a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

hit with "Naturally Stoned" in 1968, bringing the duo one-hit wonder status. During this time, he worked as a truck driver to supplement his income. They released three singles. As a solo artist, he released five records with Columbia. After 1970, he signed with RCA and released "Forgive My Heart". In 1971, another single "Love Me, Love Me" failed to make any impact. He then turned to acting. In the late 1970s, he returned to his singing career. Woolery charted on Hot Country Songs with "Painted Lady" and "The Greatest Love Affair". Between 1977 and 1980, Woolery recorded for

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

and Epic Records as a solo artist, with two low-charting singles on Hot Country Songs. Woolery also co-wrote "The Joys of Being a Woman" on

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music artist, as well as an actress and author. She is considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Ly ...

's 1971 album ''

We Sure Can Love Each Other "We Sure Can Love Each Other" is a song recorded American country music artist Tammy Wynette. It was released in February 1971 as the only single from her album of the same name. The song peaked at number 2 on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Single ...

''.

Acting and hosting career

As an actor, he has appeared with

Stephen Boyd Stephen Boyd (born William Millar; 4 July 1931 – 2 June 1977) was a Northern Irish actor. He appeared in some 60 films, most notably as the villainous Messala in '' Ben-Hur'' (1959), a role that earned him the Golden Globe Award for Bes ...

Rosey Grier Roosevelt "Rosey" Grier (born July 14, 1932) is an American actor, singer, Protestant minister, and former professional football player. He was a notable college football player for Pennsylvania State University who earned a retrospective plac ...

and Cheryl Ladd in the mid-1970s film ''

The Treasure of Jamaica Reef ''The Treasure of Jamaica Reef'' is a 1975 American film directed by Virginia L. Stone. The film is also known as ''Evil in the Deep'' (American reissue title). Cast Soundtrack See also * List of American films of 1975 External links< ...

''. He appeared as himself in the 1989 film '' Cold Feet'' that starred

Keith Carradine Keith Ian Carradine ( ; born August 8, 1949) is an American actor who has had success on stage, film, and television. He is known for his roles as Tom Frank in Robert Altman's film ''Nashville'', Wild Bill Hickok in the HBO series '' Deadwood ...

and Rip Torn. Woolery performed as Mr. Dingle on the children's television series ''

New Zoo Revue ''New Zoo Revue'' is an American half-hour children's television show that ran in first-run syndication from 1972 to 1977. Concept The 196-episode musical comedy-format show conveyed the concepts of cooperation and guidance for living in contempor ...

'' in the early 1970s. During that time, he made his first game show appearance on an episode of ''

Tattletales ''Tattletales'' is an American game show produced by Goodson- Todman Productions in association with Fremantle. The program had two runs on the CBS daytime schedule between February 1974 and June 1984. It was hosted by Bert Convy, with severa ...

'' in 1974, alongside then-wife

Jo Ann Pflug Jo Ann Pflug is an American film and television actress. Early life Jo Ann Pflug was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to J. Lynn and Kelly Pflug. She was raised in Winter Park, Florida, where her father was elected mayor in 1958, and she graduated fr ...

. Starting as a singer, Woolery appeared on an episode of ''

Your Hit Parade ''Your Hit Parade'' was an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1953 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During its 24-year ru ...

''. On January 6, 1975, he began hosting ''

'' at the suggestion of creator

Merv Griffin Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American television show host and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer, later appearing in film and on Broadway. From 1965 to 1986 he hosted his own t ...

, who had seen Woolery sing on ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...

''. Woolery hosted the show for six years. In 1981, he was involved in a salary dispute with the program's producers; he said in a 2007 interview that he demanded a raise from $65,000 a year to about $500,000 a year because the program was drawing a 44 share at the time, and other hosts were making that much. Griffin offered Woolery $400,000 a year, and

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 ...

offered to pay the additional $100,000, but after Griffin threatened to move the program to

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

, NBC withdrew the offer. Woolery's contract was not renewed and his final episode aired on December 25, 1981.

Pat Sajak Pat Sajak ( , born Patrick Leonard ; born October 26, 1946) is an American television personality and game show host. He is best known as the host of the American television game show ''Wheel of Fortune'', a position he has held since 1981. Fo ...

replaced him. Woolery hosted '' Love Connection'' (1983–1994), ''

The Big Spin ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' (1985), ''

'' (1984–1990, 1993), ''

Home & Family ''Home & Family'' (formerly ''The Home and Family Show'') is an American daytime talk show. The series originally premiered on April 1, 1996, on The Family Channel, and was dropped by the network immediately prior to its 1998 relaunch as the Fox ...

'' (1996–1998, co-host), ''

The Dating Game ''The Dating Game'' is an American television game show that first aired on December 20, 1965, and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s. ABC dropped the show on July 6, 1973, but it ...

'' (1997–1999), ''

'' (1999–2000), ''TV Land Ultimate Fan Search'' (1999–2000) and ''

'' (2002–2007). In addition, he was the subject of a short-lived

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early ...

, '' Chuck Woolery: Naturally Stoned'' (originally titled ''Chuck Woolery: Behind the Lingo'') in 2003. He also hosted his own talk show, ''

The Chuck Woolery Show ''The Chuck Woolery Show'' was an American talk show featuring television personality Chuck Woolery conducting interviews with various celebrities. Randy West served as the show’s announcer; this was among his first handful of national series ...

'', which lasted for only a few months in 1991. He hosted ''

The Price Is Right Live! ''The Price Is Right LIVE!'' is a staged production show based on the television game show '' The Price Is Right''. The live stage shows were originally held at Caesars Entertainment casinos, as well as the Foxwoods Resort & Casino in Connecti ...

'' at

Harrah's Entertainment Harrah's Entertainment (later named Caesars Entertainment Corporation, previously The Promus Companies) was an American casino and hotel company founded in Reno, Nevada, and based in Paradise, Nevada, that operated over 50 properties and seven g ...

casinos, and appeared in the live stage show "$250,000 Game Show Spectacular" at the

Westgate Las Vegas The Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino is a hotel, casino, and timeshare resort in Winchester, Nevada. Located near the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, it is owned by Westgate Resorts. It opened in 1969 as the International Hotel, and wa ...

until April 2008. Since 2012, Woolery has hosted a nationally syndicated radio commentary show, ''Save Us, Chuck Woolery'', which grew out of his

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

videos. After two years as host, Woolery began a long-format

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

, ''Blunt Force Truth''. With co-host Mark Young, Woolery expands on his conservative political ideals and current events, often inviting guest experts to join the conversation.

Political views

Woolery has spoken in favor of

American conservatism Conservatism in the United States is a political and social philosophy based on a belief in limited government, individualism, traditionalism, republicanism, and limited federal governmental power in relation to U.S. states. Conservative ...

. He is an active supporter of the Republican Party, and has mainly donated to Republican and conservative causes.Chuck Woolery on Occupy Wall Street
youtube.com (Chuck Woolery statement against Occupy Wall Street); retrieved February 13, 2012Christopher, Tommy (February 9, 2012)
Mediaite Interviews The Great Chuck Woolery At CPAC, He Is No Fan Of President Obama
''

Mediaite Mediaite is a news website focusing on politics and the media.Howard PolskinHow the Washington Examiner became a traffic monster ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (May 15, 2020). Founded by Dan Abrams, it is part of the Abrams Media Network. Conte ...

'' He is a gun rights activist. Woolery was accused of

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

after a series of tweets in May 2017, including this message: "Believe it or not. Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin were both Jewish. I was shocked to find, most of the original Soviet Communists were Jewish." The claim that communism is Jewish in origin forms the core of the

antisemitic canard Antisemitic tropes, canards, or myths are " sensational reports, misrepresentations, or fabrications" that are defamatory towards Judaism as a religion or defamatory towards Jews as an ethnic or religious group. Since the Middle Ages, such repo ...

called

Judeo-Bolshevism Jewish Bolshevism, also Judeo–Bolshevism, is an anti-communist and antisemitic canard, which alleges that the Jews were the originators of the Russian Revolution in 1917, and that they held primary power among the Bolsheviks who led the r ...

. The tweet led to accusations of antisemitism against Woolery. In response to the criticism, Woolery tweeted: "Amazing to me, I point out that Marx and Lenin were Jewish, Fact icof history, and now I'm being called anti-Semitic? why do people do this?" On July 12, 2020, Woolery tweeted conspiracy theories that the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

, doctors, the media, and

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

were lying about the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Then-president

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

retweeted Woolery's claims. The following day, Woolery tweeted that his son had tested positive for the virus and that the "COVID-19 pandemic is real". His Twitter account was later made private, before being made public again later.

Personal life

Woolery is a Christian who volunteers in ministry. Woolery has been married four times, and has at least five children. Woolery and his first wife, Margaret Hayes, had two children together, Katherine and Chad. Chad was killed in a motorcycle accident in January 1986. In 1972, he married actress

and they divorced in 1980. They had a daughter together, Melissa. With third wife Teri Nelson, the adopted daughter of actor David Nelson (and granddaughter of

Ozzie and Harriet ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from October 3, 1952, to April 23, 1966, and starred the real-life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television, where it ...

Nelson), he has two sons, Michael and Sean. Woolery married Kim Barnes in 2006.

Filmography

Acting

Hosting

Discography

Singles

References

External links

*
Chuck Woolery Signature Products website

Political podcast co-hosted by Chuck Woolery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woolery, Chuck 1941 births American conspiracy theorists American country singer-songwriters American game show hosts American male television actors American podcasters American male pop singers American rockabilly musicians American television talk show hosts Country musicians from Kentucky Kentucky Republicans Living people Musicians from Appalachia Musicians from Ashland, Kentucky Paul G. Blazer High School alumni People from Ashland, Kentucky Singer-songwriters from Kentucky Wheel of Fortune (franchise) American Christians American gun rights activists American male singer-songwriters