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Original Family Feud Host Richard Dawson Dead At 79

Wow, first Kathryn Joosten and now this. It's not a good weekend for aging TV stars. News has just broken that TV legend Richard Dawson has passed away due to complications from esophageal cancer. That makes two straight celebrity cancer deaths in two days. How depressing.

Dawson will always be best remembered by TV fans for his tenure as the original (and most would say the best) host of the game show Family Feud. The man radiated charisma and confidence, and even had a trademark of kissing all the female contestants for good luck. Dawson hosted the show from its premiere in 1976 to its first cancellation in 1985. Feud wasn't Dawson's first taste of TV stardom though, as he spent six years portraying Cpl. Peter Newkirk on the popular sitcom Hogan's Heroes. In the early 1970's Dawson was also a regular panelist on another game show, The Match Game.

In 1987, Dawson played a demented version of his game show host persona named Damon Killian in the Arnold Schwarzenegger action flick The Running Man. The film is a cult classic, and Dawson's performance in it is easily his best remembered acting role post Hogan's Heroes.

Family Feud was resurrected in 1988, with comedian Ray Combs taking over the host role. Combs was fired (and subsequently took his own life for various reasons) in 1994, leading Feud producers to come crawling back to Dawson in an attempt to reignite the show's popularity. Sadly, despite Dawson trying his best, the old magic just couldn't be duplicated, and his second run ended after one season. Dawson elected to retire from Hollywood following his exit, and the decision would stick.

Richard Dawson is survived by his widow Gretchen (who he actually met when she was a contestant on the Feud), their daughter, his two children from a previous marriage, and four grandchildren.

R.I.P. Richard Dawson, 1932-2012

Source: The New York Post

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- Family Feud (US)

Written by: Michael Stevenson
Jun 3rd, 2012, 2:37 am
tinalessia

Level 1 (89%)
Since: 12/Oct/07
Message Posted On Jun 4th, 2012, 3:25 pm

This is a great site and lots of people comment.. I used to have problems also with the captcha but it really wasn't a big deal."The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy".... Is this really such a big deal in your life that it's necessary to go come off like a huge ignorant ass?

rtruell

Level 1 (7%)
Since: 17/Apr/12
Message Posted On Jun 4th, 2012, 3:44 am

Anonymous:

"PS this site sucks balls."

Actually, it doesn't.  It's one of the more informative TV sites around...except for the Spam in the comments, of course.  Not sure I could get by without it...it would certainly make my life more difficult.

 

"No one comments"

Really?  I see a lot of people commenting.  Maybe you need to open your eyes.

 

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Can't be that difficult, since you managed to do it 3 times in 3 minutes.  Of course, you posted the same comment each of the 3 times, so you lose a lot of points you gained by being able to make out and type the captcha that many times that quickly.  By the way, every captcha I've seen has a button that allows you to generate a new one, in case you're having difficulty making it out so you can type it correctly.

 

Slappy

Message Posted On Jun 4th, 2012, 2:58 am
To the Anonymous idiot, learn to read and the captcha won't be a problem. Or create an account, and remove it entirely.
Anonymous

Message Posted On Jun 4th, 2012, 12:26 am
Real sad. Not being from the USA, Richard is know to me by his fantastic role in the Running Man. The Ultimate game show host! Next to Arnie, he made that movie. To quote aline from the film: "I'll be back." (Arnie) "Only in a re-run." (Richard) Classic. PS this site sucks balls. No one comments because it take a 1000 trys to type in the fucking capture.
tinalessia

Level 1 (89%)
Since: 12/Oct/07
Message Posted On Jun 3rd, 2012, 3:28 pm

Just posted a comment about Kathryn..returned to the home page and this came up. I was a fan of his too. Unfortunately for me, I rememeber him on Hogans Heros. Sure wish I could say they were repeats :( RIP to him as well.

rtruell

Level 1 (7%)
Since: 17/Apr/12
Message Posted On Jun 3rd, 2012, 4:28 am

Wow.  Very sad to hear about both Kathryn and Richard.  As you pointed out, Richard retired and thus dropped out of sight, but Kathryn worked almost to the very end.  They'll certainly both be missed.  RIP, both of them.

 

But I heard of another one that I don't see mentioned anywhere, so maybe you guys at TVR missed it...although, he's not as well known as Kathryn or Richard. so maybe that's why.  Dick Beals, the original voice of Gumby, died May 29th at age 85.  I don't remember hearing what of, though.

 

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