Post by vegitoth on May 23, 2004 20:14:37 GMT -5
and Im not talking about Richard Dawson Im talking about his sidekick Gene Wood
The legends continue to leave us. Gene Wood's voice dotted more than 20 game shows during a career of nearly 40 years. The voice was silenced Friday. Wood died at Massachusetts General Hospital after a long battle with cancer.
Pictured at right on the final episode of Super Password with the late Bert Convy, Wood's most prolific work as an announcer came during the two network versions of Family Feud and its first two syndicated editions.
Born in Zanesville, Oh., at least two online biographies list Wood's age as 70, with his birthdate listed as May 16, 1934. However, in an interview Wood gave to former Greed production staffer David Hammett, the veteran announcer said he had contracted malaria in World War II. He also told Hammett he went to New York in 1948 (while in college) at the request of a 20th Century Fox talent scout after doing two stage plays. With military service included, that would have placed Wood's birthdate between 1924 and 1927.
He told Hammett some of his earliest work in television was on the old Garry Moore Show in the late 1950s.
He subbed for Jack Clark once on the nighttime version of Password in 1965.
One of his first extended runs came as announcer for Jack Narz on The New Beat the Clock from 1969-72. In 1971, he had a brief run as host of the Clock knockoff, Anything You Can Do.
The following year, when Narz tired of the production grind of Clock in Canada, Wood took over as host and producer. In 1974, shortly before the end of Clock, Wood appeared for a week on the panel of Match Game '74.
Wood's signature voiceover role came in 1976 when he was assigned the role of introducing the contestants with "ready for action" and "on your mark, let's start the FAMILY FEUUUUUUUUUUD." For nine years, he was Richard Dawson's sidekick on ABC and eight years in syndication.
He reprised the slot when Ray Combs took over as host of the revival of Feud from 1988-94 before Dawson returned for a final season in syndication in 1994-95. Wood teamed with Combs for Family Challenge on The Family Channel.
From 1984-89, he whispered the passwords on Super Password with Bert Convy. Wood became emotional in 1995 during an interview about Convy with Laura Chambers on Game Show Network's Club A.M.. "He was the nicest, kindest man to work with....and he was taken from us much too early," said Wood of Convy, who died of a brain tumor in 1990.
Among his other announcer roles were stints on Body Language, The Better Sex, Child's Play, Classic Concentration and Match Game '90.
Game show writer Arnie Meissner, who worked with Wood, said Saturday: "He was a great guy who I was fortunate to know for many years when we worked together on several shows."
Wood was said to be embittered at the industry when he was shunted aside in favor of younger announcers in the mid-1990s.
He was somewhat critical of networks and syndicators in the 1995 GSN interview concerning the decline of game shows during that period: "They keep recycling the same old formats and the same old concepts," said Wood. "Eventually, the audience gets tired of those and they want to see something new."
Wood appeared as himself in two prime time sitcoms which used Family Feud themes: ABC's Angie and NBC's Mama's Family.
Pictured at right on the final episode of Super Password with the late Bert Convy, Wood's most prolific work as an announcer came during the two network versions of Family Feud and its first two syndicated editions.
Born in Zanesville, Oh., at least two online biographies list Wood's age as 70, with his birthdate listed as May 16, 1934. However, in an interview Wood gave to former Greed production staffer David Hammett, the veteran announcer said he had contracted malaria in World War II. He also told Hammett he went to New York in 1948 (while in college) at the request of a 20th Century Fox talent scout after doing two stage plays. With military service included, that would have placed Wood's birthdate between 1924 and 1927.
He told Hammett some of his earliest work in television was on the old Garry Moore Show in the late 1950s.
He subbed for Jack Clark once on the nighttime version of Password in 1965.
One of his first extended runs came as announcer for Jack Narz on The New Beat the Clock from 1969-72. In 1971, he had a brief run as host of the Clock knockoff, Anything You Can Do.
The following year, when Narz tired of the production grind of Clock in Canada, Wood took over as host and producer. In 1974, shortly before the end of Clock, Wood appeared for a week on the panel of Match Game '74.
Wood's signature voiceover role came in 1976 when he was assigned the role of introducing the contestants with "ready for action" and "on your mark, let's start the FAMILY FEUUUUUUUUUUD." For nine years, he was Richard Dawson's sidekick on ABC and eight years in syndication.
He reprised the slot when Ray Combs took over as host of the revival of Feud from 1988-94 before Dawson returned for a final season in syndication in 1994-95. Wood teamed with Combs for Family Challenge on The Family Channel.
From 1984-89, he whispered the passwords on Super Password with Bert Convy. Wood became emotional in 1995 during an interview about Convy with Laura Chambers on Game Show Network's Club A.M.. "He was the nicest, kindest man to work with....and he was taken from us much too early," said Wood of Convy, who died of a brain tumor in 1990.
Among his other announcer roles were stints on Body Language, The Better Sex, Child's Play, Classic Concentration and Match Game '90.
Game show writer Arnie Meissner, who worked with Wood, said Saturday: "He was a great guy who I was fortunate to know for many years when we worked together on several shows."
Wood was said to be embittered at the industry when he was shunted aside in favor of younger announcers in the mid-1990s.
He was somewhat critical of networks and syndicators in the 1995 GSN interview concerning the decline of game shows during that period: "They keep recycling the same old formats and the same old concepts," said Wood. "Eventually, the audience gets tired of those and they want to see something new."
Wood appeared as himself in two prime time sitcoms which used Family Feud themes: ABC's Angie and NBC's Mama's Family.
