Richard Dawson

 
Who2 Biography:

Richard Dawson

, Actor / Game Show Host
Richard Dawson
Source

  • Born: 20 November 1932
  • Birthplace: Gosport, England
  • Best Known As: The host of Family Feud

British comedian Richard Dawson was picked to play Corporal Newkirk in the World War II sitcom Hogan's Heroes in 1965. A television career was born. Dawson next appeared in the comedy smash Laugh-In and the game show Match Game before taking what became his signature job: wisecracking, contestant-kissing host of the game show Family Feud. Dawson hosted the game from 1976 until 1985, and then again for one season in 1994. He also played an evil game show host in the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film The Running Man.

Dawson's replacement on Family Feud was the late Ray Combs... Dawson met his second wife, Gretchen Johnson, when she was a contestant on Family Feud... Dawson's first wife was British actress Diana Dors... His co-stars on Hogan's Heroes included Bob Crane as Hogan and John Banner as Sgt. Schultz... His co-stars on Match Game included host Gene Rayburn and panelists Brett Somers and Charles Nelson Reilly.

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Artist: Richard Dawson
  • Genre: Rhythm & Blues
  • Instrument: Photography, Retouching

Biography

Although best known for his long stints on the U.S. game shows Match Game and Family Feud, Richard Dawson also enjoyed a brief recording career at the peak of the psychedelic era. Born Colin Emm in Gosport, England, on November 20, 1932, he left home at age 14 to join the merchant marine, later pursuing a boxing career before joining the theatrical troupe the Barry O'Brien Players. While performing as a standup comedian, he experimented with a series of stage names, finally settling on Richard (or "Dickie") Dawson. In 1958, he appeared on-stage opposite sex symbol Diana Dors, and in April 1959 they were married, relocating to the U.S. three years later. Upon settling in Los Angeles, Dawson hosted a local talk show and returned to his standup career before carving out a niche as a television actor, with guest appearances on The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Outer Limits, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. In 1965, he was cast as Cpl. Newkirk in the World War II-inspired Nazi sitcom Hogan's Heroes, remaining with the series throughout its six-year network run. In 1967, Dawson teamed with Hogan's Heroes conductor and arranger Jerry Fielding for the Carnation label single "His Children's Parade," a psychedelic confection that went nowhere on the charts. The following year, he and co-stars Robert Clary, Ivan Dixon, and Larry Hovis combined for Hogan's Heroes Sing the Best of World War II, a collection of hit songs from the early '40s. After Hogan's Heroes ended production in 1971, Dawson briefly joined the cast of Laugh-In, later guesting on series including Love American Style and The Odd Couple. In June 1973 he became a regular panelist on the ribald daytime game show Match Game, remaining with the series into the summer of 1978. While 1974's Masquerade Party, his first attempt at hosting his own game show, fell flat, in 1976 he was named host of Family Feud, which proved enormously popular during its nine-season run, even earning Dawson a daytime Emmy Award. In 1987, he earned critical raves for his role as an evil game show host in the dystopic Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle The Running Man but retired from show business soon after, resurfacing only in 1994 for a one-year run at the helm of an updated Family Feud. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
 
Actor:

Richard Dawson

  • Born: Nov 20, 1932 in Gosport, Hampshire, England
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '60s-'70s
  • Major Genres: Comedy
  • Career Highlights: The Running Man, Treasure Island, Family Feud
  • First Major Screen Credit: The Dick Van Dyke Show: Racy Tracy Rattigan (1963)

Biography

Trained in British repertory, actor Richard Dawson achieved prominence in the late '50s as a cabaret and TV comedian. Arriving in the U.S. in 1961, Dawson made the variety-show rounds with an act consisting largely of quickie celebrity impressions. One of his first acting assignment was as Peter Sellers' takeoff Racy Tracy Rattigan in a 1963 episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show. A solid dramatic role as a military prisoner in King Rat led to a longer stint as resourceful cockney POW Peter Newkirk on the popular sitcom Hogan's Heroes (1965-1971). After appearing as a regular on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Dawson settled into his true niche as a wisecracking game-show host. From 1976 through 1985, he emceed TV's The Family Feud, winning an Emmy Award for his troubles (he later resumed his Family Feud hosting chores in the 1994 syndicated version). Fittingly enough, Richard Dawson's first feature-film role after Feud was as the smarmy host of a futuristic life-or-death quiz program in Arnold Schwarzenegger's The Running Man (1989). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

 
Wikipedia: Richard Dawson
This article is about the actor and game show host Richard Dawson. For the cricketer, please see Richard Dawson (cricketer)


Richard Dawson
RD25143.jpg
Birth name Colin Lionel Emm
Born November 20 1932 (1932--) (age 74)
Flag of England Gosport, Hampshire, England
Statistics
Occupation Actor, Comedian,
Game show host and panelist
Spouse Diana Dors (1959–1966); divorced
Gretchen Johnson (1991-present)
Children Mark (b. 1960)
Gary (b. 1962)
Shannon Nicole (b. 1990)
Notable credit(s) Cpl. Peter Newkirk in Hogan's Heroes (1965–1971)
Frequent panelist on Match Game
Family Feud host
(1976–1985; 1994–1995)

Richard Dawson (born November 20, 1932) is a British-born American actor, comedian, game show panelist and host. He is best known for his role as Bob Crane's British non-commissioned officer, Corporal Peter Newkirk, on the World War II situation comedy Hogan's Heroes, and as the original host of the Family Feud game show from 1976–1985 on ABC and again in 1994. Dawson also appeared as a panelist on Gene Rayburn's revamped 1970s version of Match Game on CBS, from 1973–1978.

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 Marines, 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 opposite Bob Crane's character, 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 1971 to 1973, and would also be a regular on The New Dick Van Dyke Show from 1973 to 1974. Dawson also appeared as a panelist on the 1972–73 syndicated revival of I've Got a Secret.

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, who had already served a year as panelist for Goodson's revival of I've Got a Secret, proved to be a solid and funny 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.

In a classic episode of Match Game 77, he and fellow panelist Debralee Scott revolted when their answer "Finishing School" did not match the answer "school" in the judges' mind; thus sparking the "School Riot".

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 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 the show was canceled in 1985.

1985-present

Dawson parodied his TV persona by co-starring in the action movie The Running Man in 1987 as evil, egotistical, dark-sided game-show host Damon Killian. Of Dawson's performance, film critic Roger Ebert wrote, "Playing a character who always seems three-quarters drunk, Dawson chain-smokes his way through backstage planning sessions and then pops up in front of the cameras as a cauldron of false jollity. Working the audience, milking the laughs and the tears, he is not really much different than most genuine game show hosts - and that's the movie's private joke."[1]

Dawson hosted an unsold pilot for a revival of the classic game show You Bet Your Life in 1988. In the fall of 1994, he returned to Family Feud, replacing Ray Combs for what became the final season of the show's official second run (1988–1995). He was considered for the current version of Family Feud, but elected not to host.

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 in 1981. They have a daughter, Shannon Nicole Dawson (born in 1990). Richard also has three grandchildren: Lindsay Dors Dawson, Tyler Emm Dawson, and Emma Rose Dawson.

  • Dawson had been friends with Bill Bixby since 1968, appearing on an episode of The Dating Game. Four years later, Bixby appeared with Dawson in a pilot of a game show that hasn't been aired, Cop-Out, and two game shows such as: Password and Masquerade Party, where Bixby was the panelist and Dawson served as host.
  • According to Werner Klemperer, Dawson and Bob Crane were like oil and water. Klemperer told "E! Hollywood Story" that there "was no love lost between the two". Ironically, Dawson had introduced Crane to John Carpenter, the former video camera salesman who was later implicated in Crane's murder in 1978.
  • In 2006, Brett Somers told the Game Show Network (GSN) that many of the Match Game personnel were "relieved" when Dawson quit the show in 1978. Dawson was annoyed that a "star" wheel was added to select celebrities, as most contestants would choose him 3 to 1 over the other five panelists prior to the wheel's addition (in fact, he himself admitted that he took the addition of the wheel as, as he put it, "a direct slight"). Richard had already been starring as host of Family Feud on ABC prior to leaving MG and had been trying to quit MG in order to focus on his "Feud" duties. Producers initially didn't want to release him from his contract. Because of this, in later years of MG, Dawson could be seen wearing large, dark sunglasses, speaking in a quiet, raspy voice, or otherwise looking like he was sulking and didn't want to participate.
  • Dawson had a small role in King Rat (1965 film). As Paratrooper Captain Weaver, Dawson makes a dramatic entrance near the movie's end, signaling the liberation of captives from a World War II POW camp.
  • Dawson was mentioned in the Wu-Tang Clan song "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing Ta F' Wit" in the line "I'm causin' more family feuds than Richard Dawson"

External links


Preceded by
None
Host of Family Feud
July 12, 1976–September 13, 1985
Succeeded by
Ray Combs
Preceded by
Ray Combs
Host of Family Feud
September 12, 1994–September 8, 1995
Succeeded by
Hiatus
1995-1999
later succeeded by Louie Anderson
Preceded by
Bert Convy
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host
1978
Succeeded by
Dick Clark

 
 

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Who2 Biography. Copyright © 1998-2008 by Who2, LLC. All rights reserved. See the Richard Dawson biography from Who2.  Read more
Artist. Copyright © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ® , a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Actor. Copyright © 2006 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Richard Dawson" Read more

 

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