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Wink Martindale, a prolific game show host whose career stretched across 74 years, died Tuesday in Rancho Mirage, California, of lymphoma THR confirmed. He was 91.
Born December 4, 1933, in Jackson, Tennessee, his home state would play a crucial role in his love life — his second wife, Sandy Ferra, who had dated Tennessee boy Elvis Presley right up until he wed Priscilla, was so fond of the state she always said Wink being a Tennessean had nudged her in the direction of marrying him.
They were wed for 50 years.
Wink — yes, that was his given name — launched his career as a DJ while still a teenager. Another of his brushes with Elvis, who came to be a friend, was when he helped trick the future King of Rock ‘n’ Roll into his first radio interview, with Wink’s colleague Dewey Phillips back in 1954.
Martindale was a recording artist in his own right, claiming a Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Deck of Cards” in 1959. He performed the spoken-word record on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” and it sold more than a million copies.
He broke into television hosting a children’s show, going on to host “Teenage Dance Party,” a music show that hosted the top acts of the day in the ’50s.
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He found his calling as the host of a game show called “What’s This Song?” for a year from 1964. He hosted “Words and Music” (1970-1971) and had a big hit on his hands hosting “Gambit” (1972-1976).
Most famously, Wink hosted “Tic-Tac-Dough” (1978-1985), a show on which contestants answered trivia questions to win an advantage on a tic-tac-toe board. Wink’s was the most successful version of the show; the third launched with Brooke Burns as host on Game Show Network the day before his death.
Martindale left “Tic-Tac-Dough” to create his own game shows, including “Headline Chasers” (1985-1986) and “Bumper Stumpers” (1987-1990).
He also hosted the revival of “High Rollers” (1987-1988), “The Last Word” (1989-1990), “Trivial Pursuit” (1993-1994), “Debt” (1996-1998), and “Instant Recall” (2010), and hosted music-trivia shows on the radio.
Martindale was married 1954-1972 to Madelyn Leech, with whom he had four children.
He is survived by his wife, his three daughters, his “honorary son,” and his sister.