Richard Dawson Dies At 79
Former actor and game show host Richard Dawson died Saturday night in Los Angeles at the age of 79. He was born in 1932 in Gosport, Hampshire, England. He is probably most well known for Family Feud which he hosted from 1976-1985. He also hosted the 1994-95 season. He was also known for kissing the female contestants on the cheek. He explained that the practice began innocently enough. When he noticed a woman was nervous and couldn't come up with an answer he said, 'I'm gonna do something that my mom would do to me whenever I had a problem of any kind. ... And I kissed her on the cheek, and I said, 'That's for luck.' And so a perceived lecherous trend began.
Dawson also played Cpl. Newkirk on the CBS sitcom Hogan's Heroes. That is the show that introduced him to American audiences. But for me, the ultimate Richard Dawson experience came from the game show Match Game. Not Match Game P.M. but the version that had a year after it, you know, like Match Game '77. He wasn't the host, he was one of the six celebrity guests on the show. I would get home from school in time to see All In The Family reruns at 3:00 and Match Game at 3:30. Even at ten or eleven years old, I knew that the panel of guests were making subtly dirty comments, not to mention the questions were often phrased so that the first answer you could think of would be slightly perverse.
Richard Dawson's death reminds me that the time of the game show is long gone and has been replaced by lousy courtroom shows, dull talk shows and 'who 'da baby daddy' shows not to mention prime time 'reality' game shows. Back in the not to distant past you would have shows like Price Is Right, Hollywood Squares, Concentration, Press Your Luck and Let's Make A Deal and that was all before lunch! I know it's not as exciting as picking numbered briefcases and stumbling across loads of cash but a 'survey says' was all we needed.
