Chuck Woolery
| Chuck Woolery | |
|---|---|
 Woolery in 2004 | |
| Born |
Charles Herbert Woolery March 16, 1941 Ashland, Kentucky, US |
| Occupation | Television host |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Spouse(s) |
|
| Children | 6 |
| Website |
www |
Charles Herbert "Chuck" Woolery (born March 16, 1941) is an American game show host, occasional actor and talk show host, gun advocate, and former musician. He has had long-running tenures hosting several different game shows. Woolery was the original host of Wheel of Fortune (1975–81), the original incarnation of Love Connection (1983–94), Scrabble (1984–90, and during a brief revival in 1993), and Lingo on GSN from 2002 to 2007.
Early life and family
Woolery was born in Ashland, Kentucky.
After graduating from high school, he served two years in the U.S. Navy.[1]
Career
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
In the early 1960s he sang and played the bass fiddle 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 mentioned in the Beastie Boys song "Hey Ladies".
Acting and hosting
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."New Zoo Revue (1972)". IMDb.com. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved July 7, 2016. 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. Griffin dismissed Woolery, whose final episode aired on December 25, 1981. Pat Sajak replaced him.[7]
Woolery hosted Love Connection (1983–94), The Big Spin (1985), Scrabble (1984–90, 1993), The Home and Family Show (1996–98, co-host), The Dating Game (1997–99), Greed (1999–2000), and Lingo (2002–07). 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 political ideals and current events, often inviting guest experts to join the conversation.
Other endeavors
Woolery is politically libertarian conservative, and he has spoken publicly in favor of conservative political positions. He is an active supporter of the Republican Party, and has mainly donated to Republican and conservative causes.[10][11] He occasionally writes political editorials, which are syndicated and appear in such publications as The Washington Times[12] and Newsmax.[13]
Personal life
Woolery is a Christian and volunteers in ministry.[14] He is politically conservative[15] and a gun rights activist.[16][17]
Woolery and his first wife, Margaret Hayes, had three children together: Cary, Katherine and Chad. Chad was killed in a motorcycle accident in January 1986.[18][19]
In 1972, he married actress Jo Ann Pflug,[19] which ended in divorce. They had a daughter together, Melissa.[19]
With Teri Nelson, the stepdaughter of actor David Nelson (and granddaughter of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson), he has two sons, Michael and Sean.[20][19] The marriage ended not long after rumors of Nelson's infidelity were made public in 2003.[20]
Woolery married Kim Barnes in 2006.[19][21]
Legacy
Woolery is mentioned in the Beastie Boys song, "Hey Ladies".
Filmography
Acting
| Year | Title | Role[22] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | New Zoo Revue | Mr. Dingle | |
| 1973 | Love, American Style | Mr. Thompson | Segment: "Love and the Cozy Comrades" |
| 1974 | Sonic Boom | Pilot Rogers | Short film |
| 1975 | The Treasure of Jamaica Reef | Detective | Also known as Evil in the Deep |
| 1978 | A Guide for the Married Woman | Tennis Pro | Made for television |
| 1979 | $weepstake$ | Tyler | Episode 4 |
| 1982 | Romance Theatre | "Marisol" Parts 1–5 | |
| 1982 | Six Pack | TV Commentator #2 | |
| 1989 | 227 | As Himself | Episode: "A Date to Remember" |
| 1989 | Cold Feet | Himself |
Hosting
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1975–81 | Wheel of Fortune | |
| 1983–94 | Love Connection | |
| 1984–90, 1993 | Scrabble | |
| 1991 | The Chuck Woolery Show | 11 episodes |
| 1996–98 | The Home and Family Show | Co-host with Cristina Ferrare |
| 1997–99 | The Dating Game | |
| 1999–2000 | Greed | |
| 2002–07 | Lingo | |
| 2012–present | Save Us Chuck Woolery (radio show) | |
| 2014–present | Blunt Force Truth (podcast) | Co-host with Mark Young |
Discography
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country [4] | |||||||||
| 1977 | "Painted Lady" | 78 | |||||||
| "Take 'Er Down, Boys" | — | ||||||||
| 1980 | "The Greatest Love Affair" | 94 | |||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
See also
Notes
- ↑ "Lingo | GSNTV.COM". Tv.gsn.com. 2013-02-05. Retrieved 2013-05-16.
- ↑ Ankeny, Jason. "The Avant-Garde biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
- ↑ Ankeny, Jason. "Chuck Woolery Artist Biography". Retrieved 2014-10-04.
- 1 2 Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 474. ISBN 0-89820-177-2.
- ↑ "Evil in the Deep Alternate title: Treasure of Jamaica Reef (1974)". Retrieved 2014-10-04.
- ↑ "Cold Feet (1989)". Retrieved 2014-10-04.
- ↑ "Woolery Reveals 25-Year Rift With Merv Griffin on 'The Strip'". eMediaWire. 2007-11-25. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
- ↑ Petrozzello, Donna (June 9, 2003)."Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 9, 2006. Retrieved February 13, 2012. , Daily News (New York)
- ↑ "R.I.P. $250,000 Game Show Spectacular". Retrieved 2009-01-01.
- ↑ Chuck Woolery on Occupy Wall Street, youtube.com (Chuck Woolery statement against Occupy Wall Street); retrieved February 13, 2012
- ↑ Christopher, Tommy (February 9, 2012). Mediaite Interviews The Great Chuck Woolery At CPAC, He Is No Fan Of President Obama, Mediaite
- ↑ O'Connor, Larry. "Washington Times Hires Chuck Woolery". Breitbart.com. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
- ↑ Woolery, Chuck. "Chuck Woolery - Conservative Hollywood". Newsmax. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
- ↑ "Chuck Woolery ... still making love connections". AskMen.com. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
- ↑ Seidl, Jonathan (November 4, 2011). "Chuck Woolery Sits Down With Beck and Explains 'Coming Out' as a Conservative". The Blaze; retrieved November 4, 2011.
- ↑ Woolery, Chuck. "Lessons for Shove Guv Andrew Cuomo". SaveUsChuckWoolery.com. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
- ↑ "Chuck Woolery on Saving The Second Amendment".
- ↑ Castro, Peter (March 31, 1997). "The Mourning After". 47 (12).
- 1 2 3 4 5 "A Love Connection for Chuck Woolery". People. July 20, 2006. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
- 1 2 "Marriage Woes for Woolery". FoxNews,com. June 15, 2003. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
- ↑ Corcoran, Michael (September 25, 2010). Fishing brings game show host Chuck Woolery to Texas, Austin American-Statesman; accessed January 9, 2014.
- ↑ "Cold Feet (1989) - Cast, Credits & Awards". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-02-02.
External links
- Official website
- Chuck Woolery at the Internet Movie Database
- Chuck Woolery on Facebook
- Game Show Network Announces New Title for Chuck Woolery Reality Series - Chuck Woolery: Naturally Stoned
- Chuck Woolery Sessions & Singles at Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies
- Political podcast co-hosted by Chuck Woolery
| Media offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Edd Byrnes (1974 pilot) |
Host of Wheel of Fortune (daytime) January 6, 1975 – December 25, 1981 |
Succeeded by Pat Sajak |
| Preceded by none |
Host of Love Connection September 19, 1983 – June 30, 1995 |
Succeeded by Pat Bullard |
| Preceded by Ralph Andrews |
Host of Lingo August 5, 2002 – June 6, 2007 |
Succeeded by Bill Engvall |
| Preceded by none |
Host of The Big Spin October 28, 1985 – November 18, 1985 |
Succeeded by Geoff Edwards |