John Bartholomew Tucker (April 9, 1930 – December 7, 2014) was an American radio and television personality, as well as an author.

Career

Along with Big Wilson, Tucker was one of the last two "communicators" (hosts) of the long-running

NBC Radio The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the NBC Blue Network it was one of the first t ...

program ''

Monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...

''; he was on the air when the show signed off for the last time on January 26, 1975. On television, he was seen as the host of the short-lived unique lagoon game show ''Treasure Isle,'' filmed at The Colonnades Beach Hotel on Singer Island which aired on

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 ...

from 1967 to 1968. In the early 1970s, Tucker hosted a local morning show on

WABC-TV WABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios in the Lincoln Square neighbor ...

, in New York City, called ''A.M. New York'', which served as the genesis for what is now ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

'', as well as being an indirect ancestor to what is now ''

Live with Kelly and Ryan ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'' (or simply ''Live'') is an American syndicated morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. Executive produced by Michael Gelman, the ''Live with...'' show formula has aired under various hosts since ...

''. He also was the co-host of the syndicated version of '' Candid Camera'' during its first season, from 1974 to 1975, followed by another local talk show, ''The John Bartholomew Tucker Show,'' on

WCBS-TV WCBS-TV (channel 2) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–licensed independent station WL ...

. Tucker had done

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-Diegetic#Film sound and music, diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, th ...

work on numerous commercials and other projects over the years, notably for

Fotomat Fotomat was an American retail chain of photo development drive-through kiosks located primarily in shopping center parking lots. Fotomat Corporation was founded by Preston Fleet in San Diego, California, in the 1960s, with the first kiosk ope ...

in the 1970s and '80s,

Dirt Devil Dirt Devil is a brand name of household vacuum cleaners and floor care. There were many different appliances, mostly basketball based, produced, as well as a variety of other floor care products including handheld vacuum cleaners and carpet sh ...

vacuum cleaners in the '90s, and also for

Owens-Corning Owens Corning is an American company that develops and produces insulation, roofing, and fiberglass composites and related materials and products. It is the world's largest manufacturer of fiberglass composites. It was formed in 1935 as a partn ...

and their "

Pink Panther ''The Pink Panther'' is an American media franchise primarily focusing on a series of comedy-mystery films featuring an inept French police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The franchise began with the release of the classic film ''The Pin ...

" spots advertising their

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

insulation Insulation may refer to: Thermal * Thermal insulation, use of materials to reduce rates of heat transfer ** List of insulation materials ** Building insulation, thermal insulation added to buildings for comfort and energy efficiency *** Insulated ...

. In 1975, he played a bit part in the movie, ''Abduction''.

Publications

Tucker is known to have written two novels, both based on the television business: * ''He's Dead, She's Dead — Details at Eleven'' (), published in 1991 by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

* ''The Man Who Looked Like Howard Cosell'' (), published in 1988 by

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

References

External links

"Candid Camera" summary on TV.comEpisode of Treasure Isle
from 1968, including advertisements American game show hosts 1930 births 2014 deaths {{US-tv-actor-1930s-stub