Biography

Appeared on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1967), continually saying "You Don't Say!" - title of the game show he was hosting at the time.

Good friends with comedian Vicki Lawrence.

Was Mark Goodson's first choice as host of Super Password (1984), but the job was ultimately given to fellow game show host, Bert Convy, who was a panelist on Password Plus (1979). Kennedy was busy hosting Body Language (1983), at the time, which was also produced by Mark Goodson.

Ex-brother-in-law of Bill Cullen and Ann Cullen.

He was the younger brother of Jack Narz.

[on Name That Tune (1974)'s success]: I didn't dare think it was going to be as big as it was. But I was hopeful, because I remembered the radio show and the early show with George DeWitt, they're talking about. Norman 'Red' Benson did the show, Bill Cullen did the show, and I remembered those days, and I thought if we could recapture some of that, we'll be lucky; and we took off.

[in a 2002 interview on game shows]: Some of them are good, some of them are bad. But, I'll give you a good response to that. I think Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (1999) is the most perfectly constructed quiz I've ever seen. It is gorgeous. It was a work of art, it was beautifully performed by Regis. Now, I know they're slipping a little bit, but they're trampling the show, and beat it to death. But, it's a great show.

[on Bill Cullen]: He was a master at what he did. People responded to Bill because he set a tone that he liked everybody himself and he really cared about his shows.

[as to how he replaced the deceased Allen Ludden, on Password Plus (1979), in 1980, at the time his brother-in-law should've been host]: Without question, Bill should have become the host of Password Plus (1979). He'd done a great job with the show when Allen was in the hospital. But NBC had signed him to do Chain Reaction (1980), before Allen got sick. The network really considered for a few days having Bill do both shows but decided against it. They really had hopes Chain Reaction (1980) could do well against the CBS soaps and they wanted Bill there. So, that's how I wound up being offered the show.

[about hosting The Price Is Right (1972)] Easily the hardest show I've ever hosted. You have to know the rules of multiple games and you have to figure out where to take the contestants and how to get them there, etc. Bob Barker is a genius. He makes it look so easy and smooth.