Gourt Home::Gourt :: Richard Dawson
- This article is about the actor Richard Dawson. For the cricketer, please see Richard Dawson (cricketer)
Richard Dawson (born November 20, 1932) is a popular English actor, comedian, game show panelist of the 1970s, and game show host of the 1980s, best known for hosting the Family Feud game show from 1976-1985 and again in 1994 after the firing of the late Ray Combs. Before his tenure on the ABC game show, Dawson also appeared as a panelist on Gene Rayburn's revamped 1970s version of Match Game on CBS, a game show from which Family Feud spun off.
Early life to 1973
Dawson was born in Gosport, England as Colin Emm. At the age of 14, he ran away from home to join the Merchant Marine, where he pursued a boxing career. Having married British sex symbol Diana Dors, Dawson moved to Los Angeles, California, where he gained fame in the hit show Hogan's Heroes as Cpl. Peter Newkirk. The war-related sitcom was one of the highest-rated shows on television during its six-year run from 1965 to 1971. Dawson and Dors eventually divorced, and Dawson gained custody of both their children, Gary and Mark. Immediately following the cancellation of Heroes, Dawson performed as a regular on the popular NBC variety show Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In from 1972 to 1973, and would also be a regular on The New Dick Van Dyke Show from 1973 to 1974.1973-1985
After Laugh-In left the airwaves in 1973, game show pioneer Mark Goodson signed Dawson to appear as a regular on Match Game '73. Dawson proved to be a solid gameplayer and was the frequent choice of contestants for the "Head-to-Head Match" portion of the show's bonus round, in which the contestant and Dawson had to obtain an exact match to the requested prompt. Match Game was soon the most popular show in the history of daytime television.In 1975, Dawson was hired by Goodson to emcee an upcoming project entitled Family Feud which debuted in the summer of 1976 on ABC's daytime schedule. Unlike his flop in 1974 with Masquerade Party, Family Feud became a breakout hit (particularly the syndicated nighttime version), eventually surpassing the high ratings of Match Game in late 1977. In 1978 he left Match Game but won a Daytime Emmy Award for Best Game Show Host for his work on Family Feud. After Dawson became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1984, he showed his passport and photo during the introduction of an episode of Family Feud. He continued hosting the Feud until it was cancelled in 1985.
In 1976, Dawson was featured as a panelist on the short lived revival of I've Got a Secret.
1985-present
Dawson co-starred in the movie The Running Man in 1987, playing evil, egotistical, dark-sided game-show host Damon Killian. He hosted an unsold pilot for a revival of the classic game show You Bet Your Life in 1988. In 1994, Dawson returned to Family Feud for one season. He was considered for the current version of Family Feud, but elected not to host.There was a rumor that spread claiming that Dawson had committed suicide after his return to Family Feud had failed. In actuality, it was Ray Combs, the man who replaced him (and whom he in turn replaced in 1994), who committed suicide (in 1996).
Dawson currently resides in Beverly Hills, California, with his wife since 1991, Gretchen (Johnson) Dawson, whom he met when she was a contestant on Family Feud. They have a daughter, Shannon Nicole, and three grandchildren: Lindsay Dors Dawson, Tyler Emm Dawson, and Emma Rose Dawson.
External links
- The Richard Dawson Experience, a fan site
1932 births | American television personalities | American character actors | English comedians | English actors | British game show hosts | Daytime Emmy Award winners | Family Feud | Game show hosts | Living people | game show panelists | Match Game panelists | Naturalized citizens of the United States | Television actors | The Outer Limits actors | I've Got a Secret panelists
"Richard Dawson"