1. Host Of Wheel Of Fortune
2. How Long Has The Wheel Of Fortune Game Show Been On

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Charles Herbert Woolery (born March 16, 1941) is an American game show host, talk show host, and musician. He has had long-running tenures hosting several different game shows. Woolery was the original host of Wheel of Fortune (1975–1981), the original incarnation of Love Connection (1983–1994), Scrabble (1984–1990, and during a brief revival in 1993), Greed on Fox from 1999 to 2000, and Lingo on GSN from 2002–2007.

1. Apr 01, 2011  Hobnobbing with Pat and Vanna in my TV debut, week of April 1, 1987. And I still look exactly the same. Except for the Really Big 80's Hair. And some other stuff.
2. Nov 14, 2019  Vanna White, born on February 18, 1957, in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, worked as a professional model before joining the game show Wheel of Fortune in 1982.
3. May 08, 2015  From Jeopardy! To The Price is Right, the game shows we know and love have changed throughout television history. Here are five game shows that used to be much different. WHEEL OF FORTUNE While.

• 6Filmography
• 7Discography

Early life and career[edit]

Woolery was born on March 16, 1941, in Ashland, Kentucky. After graduating from high school, he served two years in the US Navy.^[1] In 1963, Woolery worked as a wine consultant for Wasserstrom Wine & Import Company in Columbus, Ohio. He was also a sales representative for the Pillsbury Company.

Music career[edit]

In the early 1960s he sang and played the double bass with a folk song trio called The Bordermen. He also sang in a duo called The Avant-Garde who were in the psychedelic pop genre. The other half of the duo was Elkin 'Bubba' Fowler. They signed to Columbia Records and achieved a Top 40 hit with 'Naturally Stoned' in 1968, bringing the duo one-hit wonder status.^[2] 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'.^[3] Between 1977 and 1980, Woolery recorded for Warner Bros. Records and Epic Records as a solo artist, with two low-charting singles on Hot Country Songs.^[4]

Woolery is credited as co-writer (with Dan Hoffman) of 'The Joys of Being a Woman', the single from the 1971 Tammy Wynette album 'We Sure Can Love Each Other' (the single peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Country Singles chart).

Acting and hosting career[edit]

As an actor, he has appeared with Stephen Boyd, Rosey Grier and Cheryl Ladd in the mid-1970s film Evil in the Deep.^[5] He appeared as himself in the 1989 film Cold Feet that starred Keith Carradine and Rip Torn.^[6]

Woolery performed as Mr. Dingle on the children's television series New Zoo Revue in the early 1970s. During that time, he made his first game show appearance on an episode of Tattletales, alongside then-wife Jo Ann Pflug. Starting as a singer, Woolery appeared on an episode of Your Hit Parade. On January 6, 1975, he began hosting Wheel of Fortune at the suggestion of creator Merv Griffin, who had seen Woolery sing on The Tonight Show. 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 offered to pay the additional $100,000, but after Griffin threatened to move the program to CBS, NBC withdrew the offer. Woolery's contract was not renewed and his final episode aired on December 25, 1981. Pat Sajak replaced him.^[7]

Woolery hosted Love Connection (1983–1994), The Big Spin (1985), Scrabble (1984–1990, 1993), The Home and Family Show (1996–1998, co-host), The Dating Game (1997–1999), Greed (1999–2000), TV Land Ultimate Fan Search (1999–2000) and Lingo (2002–2007). In addition, he was the subject of a short-lived reality show, Chuck Woolery: Naturally Stoned (originally titled Chuck Woolery: Behind the Lingo) in 2003.^[8] He also hosted his own talk show, The Chuck Woolery Show, which lasted for only a few months in 1991. He hosted The Price Is Right Live! at Harrah's casinos, and appeared in the live stage show '$250,000 Game Show Spectacular' at the Las Vegas Hilton until April 2008.^[9]

Since 2012, Woolery has hosted a nationally syndicated radio commentary show, Save Us, Chuck Woolery, which grew out of his YouTube videos. After two years as host, Woolery began a long-format podcast, 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.^[10]

Political views[edit]

Woolery has spoken publicly in favor of conservative political opinions. He is an active supporter of the Republican Party, and has mainly donated to Republican and conservative causes.^[11][12] He is a gun rights activist.^[13][14]

Woolery was accused of antisemitism after a series of tweets made in May 2017 where he claimed that Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin had a Jewish heritage (when, in fact, only Marx came from a Jewish family).^[15] The supposed Jewish origins of communism have often been amplified by anti-communists and antisemitics alike, leading to the accusations of antisemitism against Woolery.^[16] In a response to the criticism, Woolery stated in a tweet: 'Amazing to me, I point out that Marx and Lenin were Jewish, Fact of history, and now I'm being called anti Semitic? why do people do this?'^[16]

Personal life[edit]

Woolery is a Christian who volunteers in ministry.^[17] 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.^[18][19] In 1972, he married actress Jo Ann Pflug^[19] and they divorced in 1980. They had a daughter together, Melissa.^[19] With third wife Teri Nelson, the adopted daughter of actor David Nelson (and granddaughter of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson), he has two sons, Michael and Sean.^[19][20]

Filmography[edit]

Acting[edit]

Hosting[edit]

Discography[edit]

Singles[edit]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

1. ^'Lingo GSNTV.COM'. Tv.gsn.com. February 5, 2013. Archived from the original on April 14, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
2. ^Ankeny, Jason. 'The Avant-Garde biography'. Allmusic. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
3. ^Ankeny, Jason. 'Chuck Woolery Artist Biography'. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
4. ^ ^abWhitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 474. ISBN0-89820-177-2.
5. ^'Evil in the Deep Alternate title: Treasure of Jamaica Reef (1974)'. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
6. ^'Cold Feet (1989)'. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
7. ^'Woolery Reveals 25-Year Rift With Merv Griffin on 'The Strip''. eMediaWire. November 25, 2007. Archived from the original on November 26, 2007. Retrieved November 28, 2007.
8. ^Petrozello, Donna (June 9, 2003). 'Woolery chucked into the reality mix'. New York Daily News. Archived from the original on February 9, 2006. Retrieved February 13, 2012.
9. ^'R.I.P. $250,000 Game Show Spectacular'. Retrieved January 1, 2009.
10. ^Barnes, Brooks (February 23, 2017). 'And Now, Here's Your Right-Wing Podcast Host: Chuck Woolery!'. The New York Times. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
11. ^Chuck Woolery on Occupy Wall Street, youtube.com (Chuck Woolery statement against Occupy Wall Street); retrieved February 13, 2012
12. ^Christopher, Tommy (February 9, 2012). Mediaite Interviews The Great Chuck Woolery At CPAC, He Is No Fan Of President Obama, Mediaite
13. ^Woolery, Chuck. 'Lessons for Shove Guv Andrew Cuomo'. SaveUsChuckWoolery.com. Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
14. ^'Chuck Woolery on Saving The Second Amendment'.
15. ^Nazaryan, Alexander (May 30, 2017). 'Former 'Wheel of Fortune' host Chuck Woolery has been accused of anti-Semitism after controversial tweets'. Newsweek.com.
16. ^ ^ab'Former 'Wheel of Fortune' host Chuck Woolery has been accused of anti-Semitism after controversial tweets'. Newsweek. May 30, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
17. ^'Chuck Woolery .. still making love connections'. AskMen.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2008. Retrieved October 20, 2007.
18. ^Castro, Peter (March 31, 1997). 'The Mourning After'. 47 (12).
19. ^ ^abcd'A Love Connection for Chuck Woolery'. People. July 20, 2006. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
20. ^'Marriage Woes for Woolery'. FoxNews.com. June 15, 2003. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
21. ^'Cold Feet (1989) - Cast, Credits & Awards'. The New York Times. Retrieved February 2, 2015.

External links[edit]

• Chuck Woolery on IMDb

Wheel of Fortune is a British television game show based on the American show of the same name created by Merv Griffin. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that contestants spin throughout the course of the game to determine their cash and/or prizes. The programme aired between 19 July 1988 and 21 December 2001 and was produced by Scottish Television in association with King World Productions^[a], and with for the ITV network - having effectively replaced Now You See It as STV's prime time game show offering for the ITV network. It mostly follows the same general format from the original version of the programme from the United States, with a few minor differences.

• 2Prizes
• 7Transmissions
  • 7.2Specials
    • 7.2.1Regional transmissions information

Gameplay[edit]

Unlike the American version, where the numbers on the wheel correspond to the amount of money won by each contestant, the British version instead referred to these amounts as 'points' – they had no cash value, their only purpose was to determine the grand finalist, or to choose a winner for a particular round. There was a reason for this: between 1960 and 1992, the Independent Broadcasting Authority and for the last two years its successor the Independent Television Commission imposed caps on the top prize game shows could give away per week, and standardising the prize on offer per episode ensured the programme did not breach the set limits.

Points earned from all players carried on to proceeding rounds, and only scores for the current round were susceptible to Bankrupts, meaning a winner could be crowned that never solved a puzzle, but acquired a large number of points. This rule would actually encourage sacrificing a player's turn if he or she did not know the puzzle rather than risking his or her points by spinning again.

For the first three series, before the recording of each episode, each contestant spun the wheel; the contestant with the highest score would start the first round. In the programme proper, the contestant was asked a 50/50 trivia question, and if the contestant answered correctly, they spun the wheel. If the contestant landed on a number, they had to pick a letter. If the letter appeared on the puzzle board, the contestant earned the value multiplied by the number of times the letter appeared. A player was allowed to purchase a vowel for a flat rate of 250 points for any number of repetitions as long as that vowel appeared in the puzzle. The contestant would then spin the wheel again, but the contestant's turn would end if the contestant either (a) landed on a number but picked a letter that did not appear on the puzzle board, earning the contestant no points (but not deducting the number the contestant landed on); (b) bought a vowel that did not appear in the puzzle (still costing the 250 points); (c) landed on the 'LOSE A TURN' space; (d) landed on the 'BANKRUPT' space, losing the contestant's total score for that round (but not from previous rounds); or (e) attempting to solve the puzzle but giving an incorrect answer.

If the contestant landed on the 'FREE SPIN', the contestant would be given a 'FREE SPIN' token and would spin the wheel again. If the contestant landed on a number but picked a letter that did not appear on the puzzle board, or landed on the 'LOSE A TURN' space or the 'BANKRUPT' space, the contestant could give their 'FREE SPIN' loop to the host and spin again. They could alternatively hand over play to the next contestant.

If the contestant answered the 50/50 trivia question incorrectly, they would not spin the wheel; play would move on to the next contestant.

In the speed round, the host would spin the wheel with the centre player's arrow determining the point value for each contestant. Vowels were worth nothing, and consonants were worth whatever the value spun. The left player would go first. No more 50/50 questions were asked.

Three Aces would be 3 of a kind.3 of a kindStraight – A straight is when you 5 cards in order. If you have 2 Aces and 2 Queens, you would have 2 pair.2 pair3 of a Kind – If you have 3 of the same card, you would have 3 of a kind. 5-6-7-8-9 would be a straight. Texas holdem poker suit ranking.

From the fourth series onward, the 50/50 trivia individual questions were dropped. Instead, at the start of each round, the contestants would be asked a general knowledge question and the first contestant to buzz in and answer correctly would gain control of the wheel (this included the speed-up round).

Also from the fourth series onward, from Round 3 to the end, the points on the wheel were worth double (although the wheel did not show the values at double points).

The yellow (centre) player's arrow determined the point value for each consonant in the speed-up round (and during the final spin both Walsh and Leslie employed the catchphrase 'No more spinning, just winning!' while explaining how the speed-up round worked). Vowels were worth nothing, and consonants were worth the value spun. In case of a tie, each player tied for the lead spun the wheel and the player who spun the higher number went through.

In the Grand Finale, the winning contestant chose from one of three bonus prizes to play for: a car, a luxury holiday, or a cash prize. The series in 1994 differed, in that the prize the contestant won for solving the puzzle was a car plus the cash prize of £10,000. In one episode in 1994, the prize was two cars and £10,000.^{[citation needed]} From 1995 to 1998, the player chose one of two envelopes, one with the car and the other with £20,000. The prize chosen, the Grand Finale continued with the contestant choosing five consonants and a vowel. The contestant had 15 seconds to solve the puzzle to win the prize. Unlike other versions, the player could solve any one word individually, and then work on any other word in the puzzle. For example, if the puzzle was 'A CUP OF TEA', the player could solve 'OF', then 'A', then 'TEA', and finally 'CUP' to complete the puzzle.

In the final series, 'LOSE A TURN' was changed to 'MISS A TURN', for reasons unknown, and a '500 Gamble' wedge was added. If a player landed on the latter wedge, they had the option of going for 500 points per letter or gambling their round score. If they chose to gamble their points and called a correct letter, their score would be multiplied in for each of that letter in the puzzle with 1,000 (2,000 starting in the third round) added to the sum;^{[clarification needed]} an incorrect letter was the same as Bankrupt.

In the rare event two or all three players were tied for first place, the host had each player spin the wheel once, and the highest number spun won the game. Spinning a 'BANKRUPT,' 'LOSE A TURN/MISS A TURN,' or 'FREE SPIN' did not allow another spin and thus counted as a zero score.

Prizes[edit]

Unlike the original American version, instead of cash prizes, successful spinners from each round were rewarded with a choice of three prizes which might contain household appliances, a holiday, etc. In 1988 the prizes for the final were a trip (an oriental furnished living room on 6 September and a luxury bathroom on 13 September), a new car (or sometimes a new boat), or a cash jackpot at £3,000 (£2,000 on the last two episodes of the first series). In 1989, the cash value increased to £4,000, from 1993 the Cash value increased again to £5,000. On the celebrity specials, solving the final puzzle donated £5,000 to the celebrity's favourite charity. During the 1994 series, solving the final puzzle won both £10,000 and a new car. In some episodes in 1994 this was increased to two cars and £10,000. The prize was later increased to £20,000 or a car from 1995-1998, with the winning contestant randomly selecting his/her prize by choosing one of two sealed envelopes.

During the daytime series, winners of each round were able to chosen from an array prizes laid out in the studio, such as a CD player, dishwasher etc. The cash prize for the final puzzle was dropped to £2,000. Players also could pick the same prize more than once, and on some occasions contestants made requests for an opponent who had won nothing to pick a prize, and Leslie always upheld the request.

All contestants in all series, win or lose, went home with a Wheel of Fortune watch (and sometimes other Wheel-related merchandise).

In the final, the winning contestant had a free choice of five consonants and one vowel in order to help them identify the answer within 15 seconds to the puzzle and win the prize.

Special prizes[edit]

• During the peak time series, the second and third round began with the hostess presenting a special prize (usually jewellery) which could be won by landing on a prize star and going on to solve the puzzle. (prime time series).
• During Bradley Walsh's run, the first player in the third round to land on a special disc and also put a letter on the board won the contents of 'Brad's Box'.^[1] This bonus carried over into the prime time John Leslie series and was renamed 'Leslie's Luxury' but during Leslie's series, there were two boxes; one would be for the men, and the other one would be for the women (prime time series).
• Starting in 1996, one puzzle would contain a 'cash pot' letter (gold in 1996 and 1997, red thereafter) that would net that player £100 for solving the puzzle immediately after finding the letter (both formats).
• The winning contestant had a chance to win another £100 by guessing a special partially-revealed 'puzzler' related to the puzzle just solved. (daytime series).
• During the second round on the daily series, a mystery prize would be awarded to the contestant if he/she picked up the token and solved the round two puzzle.

Special episodes[edit]

In the ninth episode of the second series and the thirteenth episode of the fourth series, the contestants were brides and in the twelfth episode of the third series and the eleventh episode of the fourth series, the contestants (two women and one man) were retired.

One memorable episode took place in 1998, when Elizabeth Jensen took on the wheel. On her way to the final, Liz won a petrol lawnmower, but narrowly missed out on the main prize when she failed to work out the TV programme she was looking for was 'working lunch'. After filming, John Leslie was quoted as saying, 'Liz is the greatest contestant we've ever had. The fact she is such a looker was an added bonus'.

Studio designs[edit]

From 1988 to 1993, the host would emerge from the right stairs. Then as the presenter introduces the letter spinner, the letter spinner would walk down the left stairs. Between 1994 and 2000, the host and the letter spinner would emerge from the puzzle board that rotated clockwise. And in 2001, the host and the letter spinner would emerge from the prize pod.

The original design of the wheel was based on the American design, placed above ground on top of layers with lights. From 1994 to the end, the wheel was placed on the ground.

Wrong way spin outtake[edit]

One notable outtake from the show involved a man who spun the wheel in the wrong direction, forcing the show to be postponed until the next day. As the British wheel has a gearing mechanism to regulate its speed, this action promptly broke said gears, and the studio technicians spent hours trying to fix it.^[2]

Wheel configurations[edit]

The top point space was 1000 points, with one such space in round 1. One more space was added in round 2, along with a second Bankrupt, and a third 1,000-point space was added in round 3. Also, starting from series 4 in 1992, values were doubled beginning from round 3 onward, making the top point spaces worth 2,000 points.

Unlike the board used on the American version since 1997, the United Kingdom version's puzzle board was never electronic, so the regular puzzle would be placed at the top portion of the board while the puzzler would fill any unused lines below. The puzzle board's shape from 1994 to early 2000 was the same as the current American puzzle board. From 1988 to 1993, its border was styled like the one on the American puzzle board used from 1981 to 1993. The background colour for unused trilons on the UK's puzzle board was green from 1988 to 1993, after which it was changed to blue.

In 2001, Lose A Turn was renamed Miss A Turn and a 500 Gamble space was added. When 500 Gamble was landed on, the player had a choice of going for the regular 500 points or gambling their round score on a correct letter. Each appearance of a correct letter increased their score by 1,000 points plus their current score while an incorrect letter took away all the points they accumulated in the round.

Host Of Wheel Of Fortune

Transmissions[edit]

Series[edit]

How Long Has The Wheel Of Fortune Game Show Been On

Specials[edit]

The two Hogmanay Specials were only broadcast to the Scottish and Grampian Television regions.^[3]

• 1988: With Amanda Laird, Teri Lally and Andy Cameron.^[3]
• 1989: With Andy Cameron, Paul Coia and Viv Lumsden.^[3]

Regional transmissions information[edit]

1988–1998[edit]

For the first ten series, the show was broadcast once a week in a primetime slot. With series 8, a number of regional ITV stations did broadcast episodes a few days later including the last episode on 31 December 1996.

1999[edit]

During the eleventh series, the programme was moved to a five-shows-a-week daytime slot and it aired at 2.40pm each afternoon from 2 March, after the sixth series of Dale's Supermarket Sweep concluded its run. It took a break from 28 May to 10 September 1999.

2000[edit]

The twelfth series began at the start of the year, and lasted until the start of December. During this series, the show's slot varied in different ITV regions.

• Carlton (London and Westcountry), Grampian and Scottish aired the episodes at 5:30pm.
• Anglia, Border, Granada, Meridian, Tyne Tees, Ulster and Yorkshire aired the episodes at 2:40pm until 31 March 2000, then Friday afternoons only from 18 May to 9 June. From 12 June, it was moved back to five-times-a-week at 1.30pm and then from 17 July, it was moved to 2:40pm, so not all the episodes aired.
• HTV followed Anglia's pattern until 8 May before switching to the 5:30pm slot.
• Carlton (Central) also followed Anglia's pattern until 12 June before moving the show to 5.30pm.

Additional episodes were broadcast by all ITV regions on Sundays during May.

2001[edit]

During the thirteenth series, most ITV regions broadcast episodes at 5.30pm from 2 January to 22 June 2001, except for Meridian, Yorkshire, Tyne Tees, before being switched to a Saturday afternoon slot until 4 August 2001. The final thirty episodes (series fourteen) were networked at 2.40pm, from 12 November to 21 December.

References[edit]

1. ^Bradley Walsh :: TV :: Wheel Of Fortune
2. ^http://www.ukgameshows.com/ukgs/Wheel_of_Fortune
3. ^ ^{abcdefghijklmnopq}'Evening Times'. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
4. ^'04 June 1991, 36'. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
5. ^'29 August 1991, 32'. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
6. ^'18 May 1992, 36'. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
7. ^'24 August 1992, 32'. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
8. ^'07 June 1993, 70'. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
9. ^'30 August 1993, 20'. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
10. ^'11 July 1994, 59'. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
11. ^'12 December 1994, 21'. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
12. ^'30 August 1995, 40'. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
13. ^'27 December 1995, 21'. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
14. ^'24 July 1996, 43'. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
15. ^'24 December 1995, 47'. Retrieved 5 October 2017.

1. ^Alongside King World, for the show's first two seasons, the show was co-distributed in association with The Walt Disney Company Limited and Action Time Productions, with Buena Vista International Television taking over for Seasons 3-4 before King World became the sole-distributor for the show from Season 5.

External links[edit]

• Wheel of Fortune (UK) on IMDb
• Wheel of Fortune (UK) at BFI
• Wheel of Fortune (UK) at UKGameshows.com