# | Fact |
---|
1 | Most of the Debt (1996)'s questions came from Martindale's experience in both radio and television. |
2 | Attended the 90th Birthday of his longtime friend Peter Marshall in 2016. |
3 | Bears a slight resemblance to Tom Kennedy, but are not brothers. |
4 | On one episode of Debt (1996), Martindale's victorious contestant celebrated a $17,394 win by ripping off his toupee, throwing it on the floor, then dancing around the hairpiece. |
5 | While attending college, he received several speeding tickets, trying to keep up his busy schedule, rushing between classes at the radio station. |
6 | Had subbed for Tom Kennedy on 2 episodes of You Don't Say (1963). |
7 | Unfortunately, despite crazily high ratings, his show, Debt (1996), got canceled for the reason that more males were watching the series than females on Lifetime Television. |
8 | Since 2014, Martindale had started his own YouTube channel, called "Wink's Vault," featuring episodes of game shows, game show pilots, rare clips from various game shows, and more. |
9 | Lifelong friends with Bob Barker, Gene Rayburn, Johnny Gilbert, Richard Dawson, Pat Boone and Jim Lange. |
10 | His show The New Tic Tac Dough (1978) debuted just 1 month before Pope John Paul II succeeds Pope Paul VI as the 263rd Pope. |
11 | His show Debt (1996) debuted just 1 month after the Everett Disaster in 1996. |
12 | Received the prestigious Diamond Circle award from the beloved Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters. [27 March 2015]. |
13 | After Martindale had celebrated his 80th Birthday late in 2013, both of his best friends, Jim Lange and Geoff Edwards, died within a week of each other. The most coincidental thing is they both worked at both Barry-Enright Productions and Chuck Barris Productions. |
14 | Started listening to radio, when he was almost 8, at the time, he was listening to soap operas daily on the radio, with his mother, after leaving elementary school. |
15 | Was idolized by: Bob Goen, Pat Finn, Wayne Cox, Ron Pearson, Jimmy Pardo, Graham Elwood, Todd Newton, Guy Fieri and Marc Summers. |
16 | Has hosted 'The Music of Your Life,' a radio show, where Martindale played music of 3 decades, from the 1940s to the 1970s. |
17 | Had commuted all the way from his home in Los Angeles, every week, to Las Vegas to do a taping of Las Vegas Gambit (1972), for one year, in 1980. |
18 | Before a handsome young man, Marc Summers would become a successful game show host, he used to work with Martindale, when he was a page for Las Vegas Gambit (1972). |
19 | Before he would become a radio announcer, for real, he used to always rehearse in being a newscaster, when he was a little boy. |
20 | Was a fan of The Ed Sullivan Show (1948), which was hosted by Ed Sullivan. He would later guest-star with Sullivan on the same show. |
21 | At age 25, Martindale moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1959, to continue pursuing his career as a radio disc jockey and television personality. |
22 | Martindale's long life has contributed to exercising, taking vitamins, and (of course) genetics. |
23 | Had filled in for Fred Roggin on GSN Live while he was on vacation. |
24 | Prior to hosting game shows, he also hosted the "Wink and Bill Show" with Bill Smith on KABC Radio. |
25 | His father, James "Azzie" Martindale, died in 1969. |
26 | Like fellow game show hosts Bill Cullen, Gene Rayburn, Geoff Edwards and Bob Barker, Martindale was known to be a very busy television personality. |
27 | His brother, Edward Leo Martindale, died on March 11, 2003, at age 75. |
28 | Has never retired from hosting game shows or hosting radio shows. |
29 | Along with fellow game show host Bob Eubanks, Jim Lange, Ben Stein and Peter Marshall, Martindale was one of the hosts featured in the NBC special 'Most Outrageous Game Show Moments.'. |
30 | His brother, Edward, spent 18 months at Fort Bragg NC in the 82nd Airborne Division. |
31 | Uncle of Courtenay, Edward Jr., Michael and George (from Edward's marriage to Mary Hutcheson Martindale Cokey). |
32 | The younger of four children. |
33 | He along with Sandy Martindale appeared on Tattletales (1974), in time, after only 5 months of marriage. |
34 | Had once said in an interview that a contestant was required to stay on The New Tic Tac Dough (1978), once; but they could stay on until a contestant has lost. |
35 | Has been living in Calabasas, California, near Mailbu Canyon, since 1991, though the Martindales were lifelong residents of Malibu. |
36 | Returned to hosting Instant Recall (2010), the first game show he has hosted, since the cancelation of Debt (1996), 12 years earlier, it was unsuccessful, unlike his many contemporary shows. |
37 | Did a commercial for DiGiornio Pizza in the early 2000s. |
38 | His birthplace, Jackson, Tennessee, is 88 miles, west of Memphis, Tennessee. |
39 | Release of his autobiography, "Winking at Life," in 1996. |
40 | His parents were Frances Geraldine Martindale, who was a housewife, and James "Azzie" Martindale, used to work for Life Magazine, who was also a lumber inspector. |
41 | Attended the 80th birthday of lifelong friend, Pat Boone at the Beverly Hills Hilton, in Beverly Hills, California on 1 June 2014. Among the many attendees are: Larry King, Shirley Jones, Tom Dreesen, Rich Little, Louise DuArt and George Foreman. |
42 | Met Pat Boone, when he was under contract with Dot Records in 1956. |
43 | Hobbies: reading, listening to radio, traveling, praying, sailing, dining and (of course), playing games. |
44 | Beat out Bob Eubanks for the hosting role of Las Vegas Gambit (1972). |
45 | Mentor and friends of Ron Pearson, Kurt Engstrom, Marc Summers and Randy West. |
46 | Was a huge fan of Password All-Stars (1961), that led him to become a game show host. |
47 | Had a very close relationship with Jack Barry, while working on The New Tic Tac Dough (1978). |
48 | His future wife Sandy Ferra was the ex-girlfriend of Martindale's old friend - Elvis Presley. |
49 | GSN honored him as the 'Most Versatile Host', in 2007. |
50 | Protégé of Bill Cullen and Allen Ludden. |
51 | Met fellow game show hosts Bob Barker and Jim Lange, while working in the Chuck Barris Studios, in Los Angeles, California, prior to becoming a game show host in 1967. The other host in the same studio was Bob Eubanks. |
52 | Is a Republican. |
53 | Beat out Geoff Edwards for the hosting job of The New Tic Tac Dough (1978). |
54 | An interview with him published in Globe magazine places him hosting a radio show from his home in Calabasas, California. [April 2005] |
55 | Is a spokesperson of Dream Factory, an organization that makes dreams come true for critically and chronically ill children. |
56 | Created the popular Canadian game show Bumper Stumpers (1987), whose dogs were named after them. |
57 | Before Ron Pearson was a comedian, he used to work for Wink in his young career. |
58 | Has a restaurant named after him. |
59 | The only game show he didn't like was Dream Girl of '67 (1966). |
60 | He was not Merrill Heatter's first choice as host of the revamped version of The New High Rollers (1974) in 1987. It was when fellow game show host Alex Trebek was under contract hosting the immensely-popular game show Jeopardy! (1984), he was unable to do it, hence, the job was given to Martindale. |
61 | Had always wanted to be a disc jockey when he was age 17. |
62 | Before he was a successful game show host, he was once a children's host. |
63 | Was a spokesman for Orbitz Worldwide Travel, Inc. |
64 | Attended the funeral of his childhood friend Elvis Presley when the singer died in 1977. |
65 | Worked with game show announcer Johnny Gilbert on three game shows: Words and Music (1970), The New Tic Tac Dough (1978) and Headline Chasers (1985). |
66 | Met fellow game show host, Geoff Edwards, when the two were working at KMPC Radio in Los Angeles, California, prior to becoming a successful game show host in 1975. Among the staff were Gary Owens, Dick Whittinghill, Robert W. Morgan and Sonny Melendrez. |
67 | Best known by the public as the host of Las Vegas Gambit (1972), The New Tic Tac Dough (1978) and Debt (1996). |
68 | As a singer, he began his career with Dot Records in 1956. |
69 | Friends with: Shirley Jones, Florence Henderson, Betty White, Bob Barker, Bob Goen, Bob Eubanks, Alex Trebek, Richard Dawson, Chuck Barris, Bill Cullen, Gene Rayburn, Bill Rafferty, Fred Travalena, Geoff Edwards, Bert Convy, Jack Barry, Dick Clark, Casey Kasem, Pat Sajak, Pat Finn, Peter Marshall, Tom Kennedy, Monty Hall, Jim Perry, Jim Lange, Chuck Woolery, David Ruprecht, Roger Ebert, Regis Philbin, Joan Rivers, Robert Conrad, Larry Manetti, Michael Landon, Larry Hagman, Michele Lee, Marc Summers, Elaine Stewart, Art Fleming, Pat Boone, Barry White and his wife Glodean White and Elvis Presley. |
70 | His wife is Italian. |
71 | Before he was a successful game show host, he did a Nolan's Kitty Shop commercial, where he got paid $25 a week, in Jackson, Tennessee, when he was age 17. |
72 | Father of Lisa, Lynn, Laura, Wink Jr. from his first marriage. |
73 | At Jackson's North Side High School, he played football and basketball for his team. |
74 | Graduated from North Side High School in Jackson, Tennessee, in 1951. |
75 | An avid game show watcher, he became a game show host with the help of his idol Bill Cullen. |
76 | Spent a month in Israel and visited the Dead Sea with his wife, Sandy Martindale. |
77 | Is a member of the nominating committee of the Hit Parade Hall of Fame. |
78 | Second-only to The New Tic Tac Dough (1978), his other favorite game show was Debt (1996). |
79 | Had three biggest winners in his 7 years of hosting The New Tic Tac Dough (1978): one was Thom McKee, a Navy Lieutenant, who has won $312,700, and ranked as the #1 contestant, a couple of years later was Wilbur Hicks, a coach, who has won $159,600, and was ranked as the #2 best contestant, and Kit Salisbury, a future Jeopardy! (1984) contestant and future salesman, who has won $199,150, and had finished in second place. |
80 | At one point, his mother had suggested that he be a preacher, because she felt her son had a calling to the ministry, at a very young age. |
81 | Executive Producer of Wink Martindale Enterprises from 1985 to 1993. |
82 | Was one of Jack Barry's and Dan Enright's candidates to host The New Tic Tac Dough (1978), he got the job. |
83 | Before he was a successful game show host, he was once a soda jerk at a drugstore. |
84 | Left his role as host of The New Tic Tac Dough (1978), at the end of the seventh season, to still host and produce his own game shows. That same year, he hosted Headline Chasers (1985), which he hosted and created. |
85 | When Tic Tac Dough (1990) was revived for a third time in 1990, he understood Patrick Wayne, who watched tapes of Martindale's episodes for weeks before he succeeded him as the host. |
86 | Had a long-standing friendly feud with Chuck Woolery and Gene Rayburn. Upon Rayburn's death late in 1999, he admitted that both Rayburn and Woolery were responsible for his potty-humored nicknamed of "Stink Fartindale," and would always fondly remember their times together. |
87 | Former The New Tic Tac Dough (1978) producer, Dan Enright asked him to host the pilot of a show that didn't sell, after Headline Chasers (1985) ended. |
88 | Is a big fan of Tony Bennett's music. In fact, when he was standing in front of a 17-year-old Martindale, after the teenager played the music with Bennett's records, Bennett met him and greeted him with a smile. |
89 | Has the distinction of hosting two longest-running game shows in television history for almost 35 years, 1 in front of Alex Trebek, the other behind Bob Barker: Las Vegas Gambit (1972) for 5 seasons on CBS daytime, and The New Tic Tac Dough (1978), for 7 of 8 seasons on syndication. |
90 | Is a huge talk radio fan. |
91 | He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7018 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. |
92 | Had a hit record in the 1950s with the spoken-word country song, "Deck of Cards". |
93 | Received the 2,313th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame [June 2, 2006]. |
94 | Nicknamed "Wink" by a neighborhood buddy. Launched his career in radio as a teenage disc jockey for his Sunday school teacher's radio station in Jackson, Tennessee. |
95 | Awarded a Bachelor of Science degree from Memphis State College (Memphis, Tennessee) in 1957. |
96 | Was a childhood friend of Elvis Presley. |
97 | Ranks third behind Bill Cullen and Tom Kennedy in the number of game shows hosted at 15, but in front of Geoff Edwards, Bob Eubanks and Alex Trebek, breaking that record. |
98 | Before he was a successful game show host and producer, he was a Disc Jockey on KFWB radio in Los Angeles, California, in the 1950s. |