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Jack Barry (born Jack Barasch; March 20, 1918 – May 2, 1984) was an American game show host, television personality and executive who made a name for himself in 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 ...
field. Barry served as host of several game shows in his career, many of which he developed along with
Dan Enright Daniel Enright (né Ehrenreich; August 30, 1917 – May 22, 1992) was an American television producer, primarily of game shows. Enright worked with Jack Barry from the 1940s until Barry's death in 1984. They were partners in creating programs for ...
as part of their joint operation
Barry & Enright Productions Barry & Enright Productions (also known as either Jack Barry-Dan Enright Productions or Jack Barry & Dan Enright Productions and known as Barry, Enright & Friendly Productions) was a United States television production company that was formed in ...
. Barry's reputation became tarnished due to his involvement in the
1950s quiz show scandals The 1950s quiz show scandals were a series of scandals involving the producers and contestants of several popular American television quiz shows. These shows' producers secretly gave assistance to certain contestants in order to prearrange the s ...
and the ensuing fallout affected his career for over a decade.


Early life and career

Barry was born and raised in
Lindenhurst, New York Lindenhurst is a village in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the southern shore of Long Island in the town of Babylon. The population was 27,253 at the 2010 census. The village is officially known as the Incorporated Village of Linden ...
, on
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
. His family was Jewish. He graduated from
Lindenhurst Senior High School Lindenhurst Senior High School (LHS) is a public high school in Lindenhurst, New York on the South Shore of Long Island. The high school is the sole high school of the Lindenhurst Union Free School District, which includes the Village of Lindenhu ...
and the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
's
Wharton School The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in P ...
, in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. In the 1940s, he began hosting programs on radio, including
AM 710 The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 710 kHz: 710 AM is a United States clear channel frequency. KIRO Seattle and WOR New York City share Class A status of 710 kHz. In Argentina * LRL202 in Buenos Aires. * LRA17 i ...
WOR. Through his radio work, he met his eventual business partner
Dan Enright Daniel Enright (né Ehrenreich; August 30, 1917 – May 22, 1992) was an American television producer, primarily of game shows. Enright worked with Jack Barry from the 1940s until Barry's death in 1984. They were partners in creating programs for ...
.


After the scandal

In the fall of 1961, Barry moved to
Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States, located between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. As of July 1, 2019, Hollywood had a population of 154,817. Founded in 1925, the city grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, and is now ...
, where he and Dan Enright still owned a small AM radio station, WGMA (now WLQY), which they had purchased in 1957; Barry ran the station for nine months and used it as a base of operations for a new production company to create game shows. He developed a game show called ''Hole in One'', which he hosted for station WLBW-TV (now
WPLG WPLG (channel 10) is a television station in Miami, Florida, United States, affiliated with ABC. The station is owned by Berkshire Hathaway as its sole broadcast property. WPLG's studios are located on West Hallandale Beach Boulevard in Pembrok ...
) in Miami in the spring of 1962. The show combined a word game with golf and offered a prize of $5,000 to anyone able to sink nine holes-in-one in a row. The show was cancelled after thirteen weeks.


Move to Los Angeles

Barry also hosted the game shows ''By the Numbers'', ''Addograms'', and ''Pick 'n' Choose'', as well as a two-hour talk show titled ''L.A. Today''. In 1964, KTLA-TV was purchased from Paramount by an investment group headed by
Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...
, which later controlled the California Angels (now the
Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...
) baseball team and Channel 5. Autry overhauled the station's schedule and dropped most of the game and variety shows, and Barry lost his job with the station in August 1964. Barry spent the next two years working primarily as a game show consultant to other producers. Barry even dabbled in acting, playing a newsman on the premiere of the mid-1960s TV series ''
Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
''. He also assisted with directing several episodes of ''Batman'' in 1966. He also did a guest reporter spot on the TV series ''
The Addams Family ''The Addams Family'' is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 unrelated single-panel cartoons, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' over a ...
''.


Working in Canada

In 1966, Barry accepted an offer from Dan Enright, who was working for Screen Gems in Canada, to collaborate on small Canadian-produced quiz shows. Barry hosted ''Photo Finish'', shot in
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, and ''It's a Match'' and ''The Little People'', taped in
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
. It was on these shows that a number of young American and Canadian producers and directors got their start, including Mark Phillips and
Sidney M. Cohen Sidney M. Cohen is a Canadian television director specializing in live multi-camera productions requiring minimal editing and is also a TV program creator. Cohen was born in Montreal, Quebec and began his career with CFCF-TV and later CBC Televi ...
. Rather than move to Canada, Barry commuted from his home in Los Angeles working for 10 days at a time taping several episodes of his shows. By 1968, the commute was wearing on Barry and his wife, Patte, threatened to walk out on him with their two small children if he did not find work closer to home. With the family's finances in dire straits, Barry briefly moved his family to Southern Spain to find an inexpensive place to live. It was here that Barry's savings finally ran out.


Comeback

Barry borrowed $40,000 from his father-in-law and put a down payment on a
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
-area radio station (KKOP 93.5 FM, Redondo Beach, later renamed KFOX, now
KDAY KDAY (93.5 FM, "93.5 KDAY") is a radio station that is licensed to Redondo Beach, California and serves the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Meruelo Media and airs a classic hip hop format. The station's studios are located in ...
). In later interviews, he stated that he bought the station specifically because it would require him to have a license from the
FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
, and that if the FCC would be willing to grant him a license, it would decisively demonstrate that his reputation was no longer "tainted" by the game show scandals. "Slowly," said a 1984 article in ''
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
'' that discussed game show hosts, "he began to receive calls: Would he fill in for five weeks on this game show? Yes. Of course." In December 1968, Barry embarked on an idea that would launch his national comeback, and eventually become the most successful game show project of his career. He developed and produced two
pilots An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
for ''
The Joker's Wild ''The Joker's Wild'' is an American television game show that aired at different times between 1972 and 2019. In the show, contestants answer questions based on categories determined randomly by a mechanism resembling a slot machine. The show's ...
'' emceed by
Allen Ludden Allen Ellsworth Ludden (born Allen Packard Ellsworth; October 5, 1917 – June 9, 1981) was an American television personality, actor, singer, emcee, and game show host. He hosted various incarnations of the game show ''Password'' between 1 ...
.
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 ...
held off on picking up the series at first. Finally, in 1969 Barry became a host again, for
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
's ''
The Generation Gap ''The Generation Gap'' is a primetime American game show that aired from February 7 to May 23, 1969, on ABC. It was originally hosted by Dennis Wholey, who was replaced by Jack Barry after ten episodes had aired. Fred Foy announced during the e ...
'', replacing original host
Dennis Wholey Dennis Wholey (born July 2, 1939) is an American television host and producer, and the author of a number of self-help books, one of which was a ''New York Times'' bestseller. He currently hosts ''This is America & The World with Dennis Wholey'', ...
for the final weeks of its series. In mid-1969, Barry entered into a limited association with Goodson-Todman Productions to collaborate on new game show creations, but the partnership was short-lived. Barry even brought Dan Enright back as ''The Joker's Wilds executive producer toward the end of its first network run, mentioning Enright at the end of the final CBS installment. The two renewed their working partnership full-time in 1976, launching '' Break the Bank'', hosted by
Tom Kennedy Thomas or Tom Kennedy may refer to: Politics *Thomas Kennedy (Scottish judge) (1673–1754), joint Solicitor General for Scotland 1709–14, Lord Advocate 1714, Member of Parliament for Ayr Burghs 1720–21 * Thomas Kennedy, 9th Earl of Cassilis ...
, on ABC's daytime lineup. When ABC cancelled the show despite decent ratings, Barry himself hosted and produced the show for weekly syndication during the 1976–77 season. Barry also started a specialty TV company named Jack Barry Cable, which served customers in the Los Angeles area. The company was sold shortly after his death in 1984. Barry's sons joined producer Richard S. Kline and other Barry loyalists in a walkout, forming a new company, Kline & Friends.


In popular culture

Barry was portrayed by
Christopher McDonald Christopher McDonald (born February 15, 1955) is an American film, television, theatre and voice actor. McDonald is best known for playing the villainous professional golfer Shooter McGavin in the 1996 comedy ''Happy Gilmore''. Other notable ...
in the 1994 film ''
Quiz 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 demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, sh ...
''.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, Jack 1918 births 1984 deaths American game show hosts Television producers from California People from Lindenhurst, New York Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni People from Redondo Beach, California Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) 20th-century American businesspeople Television producers from New York (state)