Monty Hall
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Monty Hall (born Monte Halparin; August 25, 1921 – September 30, 2017) was a Canadian radio and television show host who moved to the United States in 1955 to pursue a career in broadcasting. After working as a radio newsreader and sportscaster, Hall returned to television in the U.S., this time in game shows. Starting in 1963, he was best known as the game show host and producer of ''
Let's Make a Deal ''Let's Make a Deal'' (also known as ''LMAD'') is an American television musical comedy variety-game show that originated in the United States in 1963 and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The program was created an ...
.'' As a celebrity, he had a conundrum with
game theory Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions among rational agents. Myerson, Roger B. (1991). ''Game Theory: Analysis of Conflict,'' Harvard University Press, p.&nbs1 Chapter-preview links, ppvii–xi It has appli ...
and
psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
aspects named after him: the
Monty Hall problem The Monty Hall problem is a brain teaser, in the form of a probability puzzle, loosely based on the American television game show ''Let's Make a Deal'' and named after its original host, Monty Hall. The problem was originally posed (and solved) ...
. Behind the scenes, Hall also carried on an active life of
philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
.


Early life

Hall was born as Monte Halparin in
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
,
Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
, on August 25, 1921, to Orthodox Jewish parents Maurice Harvey Halparin, who owned a slaughterhouse, and Rose (née Rusen). He was raised in Winnipeg's north end, where he attended Lord Selkirk School (Elmwood, Winnipeg), and, later St. John's High School. Hall graduated with a
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
degree from the
University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
and
zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...
. He was sponsored through university by Max Freed, a local businessman who was a customer of his father. Originally though, Hall had hoped to go to medical school but was not admitted due to secret quotas restricting the number of Jewish students admitted.


Career

Hall's first radio job was working for CKRC radio in Winnipeg while still a student. He briefly worked for the
Canadian Wheat Board The Canadian Wheat Board (french: Commission canadienne du blé, links=no) was a marketing board for wheat and barley in Western Canada. Established by the Parliament of Canada on 5 July 1935, its operation was governed by the Canadian Wheat Bo ...
after graduating before deciding to pursue a full-time career in broadcasting. He moved to
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 ...
in 1946 and found a job with radio station CHUM, where management shortened his name to Hall and misspelled his first name as "Monty" on billboards, giving him the
stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...
"Monty Hall". For the next decade he hosted and produced a number of programs for radio stations in Toronto, as well as ''Who Am I?'' on
CFRB CFRB (1010 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned by Bell Media and carries a News/Talk radio format. Its studios and offices are in the Entertainment District at 250 Richmond Street West. CFRB is a clea ...
, which was distributed nationally in Canada through private syndication until 1959. He also had several short-lived programmes on
CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
after it was launched in 1952, but when they were cancelled and another program he had conceived of was taken away from him, Hall decided he had no future in Canadian television. Hall moved to
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 ...
in 1955, attempting to break into American broadcasting, but commuted to Toronto several times a month to record episode blocks of ''Who Am I?'' In New York, Hall hosted game shows such as ''Bingo at Home'' on
WABD-TV WNYW (channel 5) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Secaucus, New Jersey–licensed MyNetworkTV flagship ...
and guest-hosted more established game shows such as '' Strike It Rich'' on
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 ...
and '' Twenty-One'' on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
. He was the host/performer of two local New York City TV film shows for children, ''Cowboy Theater'' for
WRCA WRCA (1330 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Watertown, Massachusetts, and serving the Greater Boston media market. The license is held by the Beasley Media Group, LLC, part of the Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc. WRCA is simulca ...
(Channel 4) in 1956 and ''Fun In the Morning'' for WNEW (Ch. 5) in the early 1960s. From 1956 to 1960, along with NBC Radio newsman Morgan Beatty, Hall co-hosted the Saturday night segment of the NBC Radio Network weekend program ''
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'' from 8 p.m. until midnight (EST). At least two recordings of Hall on ''Monitor'' are known to exist. Hall was a radio analyst for the
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of the
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during the 1959–1960 season. He succeeded
Jack Narz John Lawrence Narz Jr. (November 13, 1922 – October 15, 2008) was an American radio personality, television host, and singer. Early years Narz was born to John and Ado Narz, in Louisville, Kentucky, along with sister Mary, and younger brothe ...
as host of a game show called ''
Video Village ''Video Village'' is an American television game show produced by Heatter-Quigley Productions, which aired on the CBS network in daytime from July 11, 1960, to June 15, 1962, and in primetime from July 1 to September 16, 1960. It was notable for ...
'', which ran from 1960 to 1962 on CBS. From 1961 to 1962, Hall hosted its spinoff, ''Video Village Junior'', which featured children. After moving to
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
, Hall became the host of the game show ''
Let's Make a Deal ''Let's Make a Deal'' (also known as ''LMAD'') is an American television musical comedy variety-game show that originated in the United States in 1963 and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The program was created an ...
'', which he developed and produced with partner Stefan Hatos. ''Let's Make a Deal'' aired on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
daytime from December 30, 1963, to December 27, 1968, and on
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daytime from December 30, 1968, until July 9, 1976, along with two prime time runs. It aired in syndication from 1971 to 1977, from 1980 to 1981, from 1984 to 1986, and again on NBC briefly from 1990 to 1991, with Hall replacing
Bob Hilton Robert Wesley Hilton (born July 23, 1943) is an American television game show personality. He hosted ''The Guinness Game'', a revival of '' Truth or Consequences'', and the 1990 revival of ''Let's Make a Deal'' for one season and replaced by Monty ...
, who had been dismissed. He was producer or executive producer of the show through most of its runs. During the show's initial run, Hall appeared alongside model
Carol Merrill Carol Merrill (born Carol Lue Hiller; January 19, 1941) is an American former television game show model best known for her appearance in ''Let's Make a Deal'' during the show's original run from 1963 to 1977.
and announcer
Jay Stewart Jay Stewart Fix (September 6, 1918 – September 17, 1989), known professionally as Jay Stewart, was an American television and radio announcer known primarily for his work on game shows. He was probably best known as the announcer on the long r ...
. In 1969, he guest-starred on season 4, episode 5, of ''
That Girl ''That Girl'' is an American sitcom that ran on ABC from September 8, 1966 to March 19, 1971. It starred Marlo Thomas as the title character Ann Marie, an aspiring (but only sporadically employed) actress, who moves from her hometown of Brewster ...
'', playing Dr. Pellman, a dentist. Besides ''Let's Make a Deal,'' the game show '' Split Second,'' which originally ran on ABC from 1972 to 1975 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 ...
as host, and again in syndication in 1986 with Hall hosting that version, was the only other successful program from Hatos-Hall Productions. In 1975, he published his autobiography, co-authored with Bill Libby, called ''Emcee Monty Hall''. Other game shows from Hatos' and Hall's production company included ''
Chain Letter A chain letter is a message that attempts to convince the recipient to make a number of copies and pass them on to a certain number of recipients. The "chain" is an exponentially growing pyramid (a tree graph) that cannot be sustained indefinite ...
'' in 1966; a revival of the venerable 1950s-era panel quiz ''
Masquerade Party ''Masquerade Party'' was an American television game show. During its original run from 1952 to 1960, the show appeared at various times on every television network except DuMont (ABC, NBC, and CBS). A syndicated revival was produced for one se ...
'' in 1974; ''
Three for the Money ''Three for the Money'' is an American game show produced by Stefan Hatos-Monty Hall Productions that aired on NBC from September 29 to November 28, 1975. Dick Enberg was the host with Jack Clark announcing. Enberg was also hosting '' Sports Chal ...
'' in 1975; '' It's Anybody's Guess'' in 1977, which reunited ''Let's Make a Deal'' announcer Jay Stewart with Hall, who also hosted the show; and the Canadian-based ''
The Joke's on Us ''The Joke's On Us!'' is a Canadian game show that aired from September 1983 to 1984. It was hosted by Monty Hall, joined by Sylvie Garant as assistant very early on in the run, with Sandy Hoyt as the show's announcer. Taped at Showline Milton S ...
'' in 1983. Hall filled in as guest host on several daytime game shows while ''Let's Make a Deal'' was on NBC, most notably '' What's This Song?'' and '' PDQ''. In 1979, Hall hosted the only game show since ''Video Village'' which he did not produce,
Goodson-Todman Fremantle (; formerly FremantleMedia) is a British multinational television production and distribution company based in London. Fremantle takes its name from Fremantle International, acquired by predecessor company All American Television in ...
's '' All-New Beat the Clock''. Also, in 1979, Hall made an appearance on the game show ''
Password Plus ''Password Plus'' and ''Super Password'' are American TV game shows that aired separately between 1979 and 1989. Both shows were revivals of ''Password'', which originally ran from 1961 to 1975 in various incarnations. With only subtle differen ...
'' as a game show contestant, followed by another week of appearances in August 1980 (just prior to the launch of the upcoming Canadian-produced ''Let's Make a Deal'' revival, which he took the opportunity to plug). He appeared as himself on "The Promise Ring" episode of ''
That '70s Show ''That '70s Show'' is an American television Period piece, period teen sitcom that aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from August 23, 1998, to May 18, 2006. The series focuses on the lives of a group of six teenage friends living in the ficti ...
'' in 2001. He played the host of a beauty pageant who schemed to become "the world's most powerful game show host" in the Disney animated series '' American Dragon: Jake Long''. He appeared on ''
GSN Live ''GSN Live'' is an American live interactive show on Game Show Network that premiered on February 25, 2008, at noon ET and officially ended its 3-year run on July 29, 2011. The last "live" edition aired May 13, 2011. It lasted three hours in be ...
'' on March 14, 2008, and hosted a game of ''Let's Make a Deal'' for ''
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 ...
'' on August 18, 2008, as part of Game Show Reunion week. In summer 2009, CBS announced that it was reviving ''Let's Make a Deal'' on its daytime schedule. The show premiered on October 5, 2009, with
Wayne Brady Wayne Alphonso Brady (born June 2, 1972) is an American television personality, comedian, actor, and singer. He is a regular on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' He was the host of ...
as host. Hall was credited as "Creative Consultant" until his death in 2017, and remains credited as co-creator of the format (with Stefan Hatos), as per many international versions of the show, with Hatos/Hall Productions being credited as co-production company (with
Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
). Hall made appearances in 2010 and 2013 during the Brady run, and had been part of publicity photos in early 2017 to promote season nine.CBS broadcast of "Let's Make a Deal," October 5, 2009.


Philanthropy

Hall spent much of his post-''Deal'' days involved in philanthropic work. His family says he was always going to
telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other purportedly worthy cause. Most telethons f ...
s and helped raise close to $1 billion for charity in his lifetime. Hall was repeatedly honored for his charitable efforts. Wards at Mount Sinai Hospital 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 ...
and
Hahnemann University Hospital Hahnemann University Hospital was a tertiary care center in Center City Philadelphia. It was the teaching hospital of Drexel University College of Medicine. Established in 1885, it was for most of its history the main teaching hospital associate ...
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 ...
are named in his honor.


Honours

Hall received a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...
on August 24, 1973, a Golden Palm Star on the
Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land a ...
, Walk of Stars in 2000, and in 2002, he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. Hall is one of three game show hosts—along 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 ...
and
Howie Mandel Howard Michael Mandel (born November 29, 1955) is a Canadian-American comedian, television personality, actor, and producer. Mandel voiced the character Gizmo in the 1984 film ''Gremlins'' and the 1990 sequel '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch''. I ...
—on both Hollywood's and Canada's Walks of Fame. In May 1988, Her Excellency,
Jeanne Sauvé Jeanne Mathilde Sauvé (; April 26, 1922 – January 26, 1993) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as Governor General of Canada, the 23rd since Canadian Confederation. Sauvé was born in Prud'homme, Saskatchewan, and educate ...
, the
Governor-General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, t ...
appointed him an Officer of the prestigious
The Order of Canada ''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 ...
for his
humanitarian Humanitarianism is an active belief in the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotional ...
work in Canada and other nations of the world. In 2003, His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba appointed him a Member of the
Order of Manitoba The Order of Manitoba (french: Ordre du Manitoba) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Instituted in 1999 when Lieutenant Governor Peter Liba granted Royal Assent to The Order of Manitoba Act, the order is administe ...
. He was the recipient of the 2005
Ralph Edwards Ralph Livingstone Edwards (June 13, 1913DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 86-87. – November 16, 2005) was an American radio ...
Service Award from Game Show Congress, in recognition of all the work the emcee-producer has done for charity through the years. On October 13, 2007, Hall was one of the first inductees into the American TV Game Show Hall of Fame in
Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
. Hall received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2013 Daytime Emmy Awards.


Personal life

On September 28, 1947, Hall married Marilyn Doreen Plottel (May 17, 1927 – June 5, 2017); the two had been introduced by a mutual cousin, Norman Shnier, the previous year. They later became United States citizens. They had three children:
Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...
–winning actress
Joanna Gleason Joanna Gleason (née Hall; born June 2, 1950) is a Canadian actress and singer. She is a Tony Award–winning musical theatre actress and has also had a number of notable film and TV roles. She's known for originating the role of the Baker's Wife ...
; Sharon Hall Kessler, president of Endemol Shine Studios; and Richard Hall, an
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
–winning
television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television net ...
. Monty and Marilyn lived in
Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...
, from 1962 until their deaths; Marilyn died four months before her husband.


Death

Hall died from
heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...
on September 30, 2017, at his home in Beverly Hills a little over a month after his 96th birthday. He was interred at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery on October 3.


Monty Hall Problem

Hall's name is used in a
probability Probability is the branch of mathematics concerning numerical descriptions of how likely an Event (probability theory), event is to occur, or how likely it is that a proposition is true. The probability of an event is a number between 0 and ...
puzzle known as the "
Monty Hall problem The Monty Hall problem is a brain teaser, in the form of a probability puzzle, loosely based on the American television game show ''Let's Make a Deal'' and named after its original host, Monty Hall. The problem was originally posed (and solved) ...
". The name was conceived by statistician
Steve Selvin Steve Selvin (born 1941) is an American statistician who is a professor emeritus of biostatistics at the University of California, Berkeley. Selvin joined the faculty of the ''School of Public Health'' at UC Berkeley in 1972 and in 1977 he became ...
who used the title in describing a probability problem to ''
Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...
'' in 1975 based on one of the games on ''Let's Make a Deal'', and more popularized when it was presented in a weekly national newspaper column by
Marilyn vos Savant Marilyn vos Savant (; born Marilyn Mach; August 11, 1946) is an American magazine columnist who has the highest recorded intelligence quotient (IQ) in the ''Guinness Book of Records'', a competitive category the publication has since retired. S ...
in 1990. A host ("Monty") provides a player with three doors, one containing a valuable prize and the other two containing a "gag", valueless prize. The contestant is offered a choice of one of the doors without knowledge of the content behind them. "Monty", who knows which door has the prize, opens a door that the player did not select that has a gag prize, and then offers the player the option to switch from their choice to the other remaining unopened door. The probability problem arises from asking if the player should switch to the unrevealed door. Mathematically, the problem shows that a player switching to the other door has a 2/3 chance of winning under standard conditions, but this is a
counterintuitive A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictory or a logically u ...
effect of switching one's choice of doors, and the problem gained wide attention due to conflicting views following vos Savant's publication, with many asserting that the probability of winning had dropped to 1/2 if one switched. A number of other solutions become possible if the problem setup is outside of the "standard conditions" defined by vos Savant: that the host equally selects one of the two gag prize doors if the player had first picked the winning prize, and the offer to switch is always presented. Hall gave an explanation of the solution to that problem in an interview with ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reporter John Tierney in 1991. In the article, Hall pointed out that because he had control over the way the game progressed, playing on the psychology of the contestant, the theoretical solution did not apply to the show's actual gameplay. He said he was not surprised at the experts' insistence that the probability was 1 out of 2. "That's the same assumption contestants would make on the show after I showed them there was nothing behind one door," he said. "They'd think the odds on their door had now gone up to 1 in 2, so they hated to give up the door no matter how much money I offered. By opening that door we were applying pressure. We called it the
Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
treatment. It was '
The Turn of the Screw ''The Turn of the Screw'' is an 1898 horror novella by Henry James which first appeared in serial format in ''Collier's Weekly'' (January 27 – April 16, 1898). In October 1898, it was collected in ''The Two Magics'', published by Macmill ...
. Hall clarified that as a game show host he was not required to follow the rules of the puzzle as Marilyn vos Savant often explains in her weekly column in ''
Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...
'', and did not always allow a person the opportunity to switch. For example, he might open their door immediately if it was a losing door, might offer them money to not switch from a losing door to a winning door, or might only allow them the opportunity to switch if they had a winning door. "If the host is required to open a door all the time and offer you a switch, then you should take the switch," he said. "But if he has the choice whether to allow a switch or not, beware. Caveat emptor. It all depends on his mood." The Monty Hall problem was mentioned in an episode of the first season of the television drama ''
NUMB3RS ''Numbers'' (stylized as ''NUMB3RS'') is an American crime drama television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 23, 2005, to March 12, 2010, for six seasons and 118 episodes. The series was created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton ...
'', in the 2008 movie '' 21'', in the television series ''
Brooklyn Nine-Nine ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' is an American police procedural comedy television series that aired on Fox, and later on NBC. The show aired from September 17, 2013, to September 16, 2021, for a total of eight seasons and 153 episodes. Created by Dan G ...
'' in the episode "Skyfire Chronicle" (season 4 episode 8), and in the novel ''
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time ''The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'' is a 2003 mystery novel by British writer Mark Haddon. Its title refers to an observation by the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes (created by Arthur Conan Doyle) in the 1892 short story ...
''. A detailed explanation and rationale for the solution to this problem is presented in the book ''The World's 200 Hardest Brainteasers'' by
Gary Gruber Gary R. Gruber (November 19, 1940 - August 27, 2019) was an American theoretical physicist, educator, and author who wrote books and software programs for test preparation. His work focused on test-taking and critical thinking skills. His writings ...
. In 2011, it was showcased on an episode of the show ''MythBusters''.


References


External links

*
Monty's Bio
at letsmakeadeal.com
CBC Digital Archives
profile of Monty Hall (1970) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Monty 1921 births 2017 deaths Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States Canadian game show hosts Canadian male voice actors Jewish Canadian male actors Jewish Canadian musicians Television personalities from New Rochelle, New York People from Beverly Hills, California Let's Make a Deal Male actors from Winnipeg Musicians from Winnipeg Members of the Order of Manitoba National Hockey League broadcasters Officers of the Order of Canada People with acquired American citizenship University of Manitoba alumni Male actors from New Rochelle, New York Canadian people of Russian descent Writers from Winnipeg Yiddish-speaking people