Michael T. Mondak speaks about game show hosts before they were game show hosts

Some of our favorite game show hosts started out in the game show industry by accident.  But some had other jobs before becoming game show hosts.

Ray Combs once sold furniture in Indianapolis before becoming host of Family Feud in 1988, while Allen Ludden was an English teacher long before The G.E. College Bowl and Password.

Rolf Benirschke kicked field goals for the San Diego Chargers before his brief stint as host of daytime Wheel of Fortune, while Howie Mandel sold carpeting long before Deal or No Deal.

Peter Tomarken was an advertising salesman for Women’s Wear Daily magazine before he became known as the host of Press Your Luck, while Bud Collyer tried his hand as a lawyer before hosting Beat the Clock and To Tell The Truth.

Jack Barry worked for his father selling handkerchiefs before becoming host of shows such as Twenty One and The Joker’s Wild, and Wink Martindale worked as a soda jerk long before hosting Tic Tac Dough and Trivial Pursuit.

Bob Eubanks owned a chain of nightclubs called the Cinnamon Cinder before hosting The Newlywed Game, and Alex Trebek collected garbage in Cincinnati long before hosting Jeopardy!

Peter Marshall was straight man to Tommy Noonan before he became the Master of the Hollywood Squares, and Jim Perry was straight man to Sid Caesar before hosting Card Sharks and Sale of the Century.

Joe Garagiola was a catcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates during the “Rickey dinks” years in the 1950s before hosting To Tell The Truth and Sale of the Century, and Bill Cullen called Pittsburgh Steelers football games before he became the Dean of Game Show Hosts.

So if these legendary hosts could go from one career to a game show hosting career, there’s no reason why it can’t happen to me sometime down the road.

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