Biography

Gene Rayburn

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Overview

Born
December 22, 1917 · Christopher, Illinois, USA
Died
November 29, 1999 · Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA (congestive heart failure)
Birth name
Eugene Peter Yelyenich
Height
6′ 1″ (1.85 m)

Mini bio

Gene Rayburn was born on December 22, 1917, in Christopher, Illinois. After his father died at a very young age, his mother moved to Chicago and married Milan Rubessa, and Gene adopted his stepfather's name. As Gene Rubessa, he acted in high school plays and hoped to follow an acting career. He moved to New York City in the 1930s where he was a page for NBC, later working as an usher for the NBC symphony orchestra. Before World War Two, he went to announcers school and worked with various radio personalities around New York City. He married Helen Tricknor, in 1940, with whom he had one child, Lynn, in 1942. Soon afterwards, he was called to Military Service and joined the U.S. Air Corps. After the war, Gene worked on the "Rayburn and Finch Show" and, later, the "Gene Rayburn Show" in the early fifties. During the 50s, Rayburn was instrumental in highlighting corruption on radio, by playing an older song so many times that it became a hit. This was alleged to have proved that record promoters could pay DJs to play records on stations for bribes, making the songs very popular, albeit for a price. His breakthrough came in the mid-50s as the announcer on The Tonight Show (1953), with Steve Allen. Rayburn and Allen were associated on The Tonight Show (1953) Show for three years and Rayburn became a household name for many years after that. In 1955, he hosted his first game show called The Sky's the Limit (1954). Subsequent game shows included The Match Game (1962), Make the Connection (1955), Musical Chairs (1954), Play Your Hunch (1958), Tic Tac Dough (1956) and Dough Re Mi (1958). He always flew by jet from his home in Massachusetts to host his various shows. Rayburn was also a Broadway performer, and appeared in plays such as "Bye, Bye Birdie"- Charles Nelson Reilly was his understudy. He also had a small part in the movie, It Happened to Jane (1959).
- IMDb mini biography by: Scott-msa0510@mail.ecu.edu
Gene continued his success onto the television screen. He was the host of the popular game show, "The Match Game." The Match Game in its original version ran on NBC's daytime lineup from 1962 until 1969. The show returned with a significantly changed format in 1973 on CBS (also in daytime) and became a major success, with an expanded panel, larger cash payouts, and emphasis on humor and innuendo. The show ended in 1979. Audiences today enjoy watching reruns of the show on The Game Show Network.
- IMDb mini biography by: Connee Sheckler

Family

Spouse
Children

Trademarks

From about 1974 on "Match Game '7x", always carried a Sony ECM-51 microphone
Regularly displayed a silly persona on TV.
Unabashedly asked innuendo-laden questions on Match Game.

Trivia

Just before his death, he visited with the panelists he'd gotten to know so well. In 1997, ex-panelist Brett Somers surprised him on Maury (1991), and Gene was elated to see her. He also sported one of his Match Game (1973) microphones, which was chrome-plated. It would be the last time they appeared together on TV.
He stated on an episode of Match Game (1973) that as a bombardier-navigator during World War II, he got airsick on every mission.
Ranked #2 as GSN's Top 10 Game Show Host of All Time.
Just before his death, he accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
In the many appearances he made on talk shows and specials, fans could count on seeing his "pretty nipples" blooper, which was edited out of the original broadcast, and the "cuckoo friend and Ollie" answer. Even though he must have seen the nipples blooper many times, he still looked incredibly embarrassed after they showed it. He always spoke fondly of Brett Somers and Charles Nelson Reilly, but never spoke of Richard Dawson except for a "TV Guide" interview. He acknowledged that in the beginning, Richard was very funny, and they were friends, but when Family Feud (1976) became a hit, he said Richard became a "loner with a very large ego".