Jay Wolpert (January 29, 1942 – January 3, 2022) was an American television producer and screenwriter.
Life and career
Wolpert was born in
The Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. His first television appearance came as a contestant on the original version of ''
Jeopardy!
''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given genera ...
'' in 1969. He competed in the
''Jeopardy!'' Tournament of Champions that year and won. Wolpert's upset win was notable for defeating the two highest-winning contestants in regular ''Jeopardy!'' play up to that point, Jane Gschwend and Elliot Shteir.
Game show production
Wolpert began his game show-producing career working for
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 ...
in Canada. He later worked as a producer and creator of
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 for
Chuck Barris Productions
Barris Industries, Inc. was an American game show production company that was founded by Chuck Barris.
History
Barris founded his company on June 14, 1965 as Chuck Barris Productions. The company's first series was an unsold pilot called '' Peop ...
and
Goodson-Todman Productions
Mark Leo Goodson (January 14, 1915 – December 18, 1992) was an American television producer who specialized in game shows, most frequently with his business partner Bill Todman, with whom he created Goodson-Todman Productions.
Early life and e ...
. While at Goodson-Todman, he served as producer of ''
The Price Is Right
''The Price Is Right'' is a television game show franchise created by Bob Stewart, originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman; currently it is produced and owned by Fremantle. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also inc ...
'' with
Bob Barker from 1972 until 1978 and also created the game show ''
Double Dare'' with
Alex Trebek
George Alexander Trebek (; July 22, 1940 – November 8, 2020) was a Canadian-American game show host and television personality. He is best known for hosting the syndicated general knowledge quiz game show ''Jeopardy!'' for 37 season ...
for CBS, which ran for a short time in 1976 (not to be confused with the later, unrelated
show that premiered a decade later on
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
with
Marc Summers
Marc Summers (born Marc Berkowitz; November 11, 1951) is an American television personality, comedian, game show host, producer, and talk show host. He is best known for hosting '' Double Dare'' for Nickelodeon, and ''Unwrapped'' for Food Networ ...
).
Wolpert left Goodson-Todman to form his own production company, and his first game show was the 1979 series ''
Whew!
''Whew!'' is an American television game show that aired on CBS from April 23, 1979, until May 30, 1980. It was hosted by Tom Kennedy and announced by Rod Roddy. Gameplay features contestants correcting "bloopers", factual statements in which one ...
'' for CBS with
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 ...
. Wolpert produced the series with
Burt Sugarman
Burton Roy Sugarman (born January 4, 1939) is an American film and television producer best known for creating and producing the iconic 1970s/early '80s variety series '' The Midnight Special'', which served as a showcase for popular musical group ...
for most of its run. ''Whew!'' was canceled in May 1980 after a thirteen month run, and Wolpert did not return to television with a series until January 1983, despite shooting several pilots in the interim. On January 3, 1983, Wolpert's ''
Hit Man
Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may ...
'' debuted on NBC with
Peter Tomarken
Peter David Tomarken (December 7, 1942March 13, 2006) was an American television personality primarily known as the host of the game show ''Press Your Luck''.
Early life
Tomarken was born in Olean, New York, the middle son of Barnett and Pearl ...
as its host. ''Hit Man'' lasted thirteen weeks on the air.
Five years later in 1987, and after a failed syndication pilot based on the board game ''
Trivial Pursuit
''Trivial Pursuit'' is a board game in which winning is determined by a player's ability to answer trivia and popular culture questions. Players move their pieces around a board, the squares they land on determining the subject of a question t ...
'' with Steve Morris (the game would get two other shows based on it,
one in 1993 and
one in 2008, both incorporating interactive elements), Wolpert returned to daytime television with the series ''
Blackout'' for CBS. Debuting on January 4, 1988, in place of ''
The $25,000 Pyramid
''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 subsequ ...
'' with
Dick Clark
Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 198 ...
, the
Bob Goen
Robert Kuehl Goen (born December 1, 1954) is an American game show emcee and television personality, best known for his work on ''Entertainment Tonight'' between 1993 and 2004 and as the fourth and final host of the daytime ''Wheel of Fortune'' fr ...
-hosted ''Blackout'' ended after thirteen weeks of episodes and was replaced by a revival of ''
Family Feud
''Family Feud'' is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson. It features two families who compete to name the most popular answers to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes.
The show has had three separate runs, the ...
'' with
Ray Combs
Raymond Neil Combs Jr. (April 3, 1956 – June 2, 1996) was an American actor, comedian and game show host.
Combs began his professional career in the late 1970s. His popularity on the stand-up circuit led to him being signed as the second host o ...
(which began airing on July 4, 1988); new episodes of ''The $25,000 Pyramid'' aired for thirteen weeks after ''Blackouts cancellation.
In 1990, Wolpert launched a new series on the
Lifetime network
Lifetime is an American basic cable channel that is part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, a subsidiary of A&E Networks, which is jointly owned by Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company. It features programming that is geared toward ...
based on a pilot he had shot in 1981 with Tomarken as host. On February 5, 1990, ''
Rodeo Drive
Rodeo Drive is a street in Beverly Hills, California, with its southern segment in the City of Los Angeles. Its southern terminus is at Beverwil Drive, and its northern terminus is at its intersection with Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills. The ...
'' debuted with comedian
Louise DuArt
Louise DuArt (born October 30, 1950) is an American comedian and impersonator.
Career
DuArt was born in Quincy, Massachusetts. She began her career on the children's show ''The Krofft Supershow'' playing Nashville, a member of the fictional ba ...
hosting. ''Rodeo Drive'' ended its run on August 31 of that year; the show had aired twelve weeks of new episodes prior to that and had been in reruns until the program was removed from Lifetime's lineup.
After a hiatus, Wolpert returned to the Goodson Productions team and produced a new ''The Price Is Right'' series for Goodson and
Paramount Television. ''
The New Price Is Right'' with
Doug Davidson
Douglas Donald Davidson (born October 24, 1954) is an American Emmy Award winning television actor. He has portrayed Paul Williams on the CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'' since May 1978, making him the series' longest-serving cas ...
debuted in syndication in September 1994, with Wolpert producing. Ratings for ''The New Price Is Right'' were lacking, resulting in a cancellation after sixteen weeks in January 1995.
In 1996, Wolpert and
The Family Channel teamed up for two series. One was ''
Wait 'til You Have Kids'' with Tom Parks, a series based on ''
The Parent Game
''The Parent Game'' is an American game show that ran in syndication from 1972–1973. The show was hosted by Clark Race, a Los Angeles radio personality, with Johnny Jacobs as the announcer (although Charlie O'Donnell handled these duties on th ...
'' with Clark Race. The other was ''
Shopping Spree
''Shopping Spree'' is a game show that aired on the Family Channel (now Freeform) for two seasons from September 30, 1996, to December 26, 1997, with reruns airing until August 14, 1998. Two teams of two unacquainted players went on a shopping ...
'' with Ron Pearson, which ran for nearly two years and was Wolpert's longest-running game show in his company's history. After ''Shopping Spree'' went off the air in August 1998, Wolpert's company stopped producing programming. He was executive producer of the 1998 version of ''
Match Game
''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity panelist ...
'' with
Michael Burger
Michael Burger (born June 10, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, game show host and television presenter.
Game shows
Burger was hired by Reg Grundy Productions to host a pilot for a show called ''Matchmates'' in 1985. The show, which was ...
.
Wolpert was listed as a consultant during the credits of ''
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (often informally called ''Millionaire'') is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and ...
'' with
Chris Harrison
Christopher Bryan Harrison (born July 26, 1971) is an American television and game show host, best known for his role as the host of the ABC reality television dating show '' The Bachelor'' from 2002 to 2021. He also hosted its spin-offs '' T ...
during the 2015–16 season, and had some input in that season's format changes.
Screenwriting and acting
Wolpert turned to screenwriting, penning the script for ''
The Count of Monte Cristo
''The Count of Monte Cristo'' (french: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) is an adventure novel written by French author Alexandre Dumas (''père'') completed in 1844. It is one of the author's more popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers''. Li ...
'' (2002) and receiving a story credit for all films of the ''
Pirates of the Caribbean'' series.
His minimal acting experience included playing the
OB-GYN
Obstetrics and Gynaecology (also spelled as Obstetrics and Gynecology; abbreviated as Obs and Gynae, O&G, OB-GYN and OB/GYN) is the medical specialty that encompasses the two subspecialties of obstetrics (covering pregnancy, childbirth, and ...
in ''
Father of the Bride Part II
''Father of the Bride Part II'' is a 1995 American comedy film starring Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, and Martin Short. It is a sequel to '' Father of the Bride'' and a remake of the 1951 film '' Father's Little Dividend'', the sequel to the origi ...
'' who tells
Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton (''née'' Hall, born January 5, 1946) is an American actress and director. She has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over six decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Glo ...
's character Nina Banks (née Dickerson) that she is pregnant.
Death
Wolpert died in Los Angeles from complications of
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
on January 3, 2022, at the age of 79.
See also
*
List of notable ''Jeopardy!'' contestants
References
External links
Yahoo! Voices interview*
Jay Wolpertat
Find a Grave
Find a Grave is a website that allows the public to search and add to an online database of cemetery records. It is owned by Ancestry.com. Its stated mission is "to help people from all over the world work together to find, record and present fin ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolpert, Jay
1942 births
2022 deaths
Jeopardy! contestants
American male screenwriters
Television producers from New York City
Writers from the Bronx
Screenwriters from New York (state)
Deaths from dementia in California
Deaths from Alzheimer's disease
Burials at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery