Geoff Edwards facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Geoff Edwards
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Edwards in 1977
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| Born |
Geoffrey Bruce Owen Edwards
February 13, 1931 |
| Died | March 5, 2014 (aged 83) |
| Occupation | Actor Game show host Radio personality |
| Spouse(s) | Suzanne Weaver (m. 1958–1982; divorced) |
| Children | 3 |
Geoff Edwards (born February 13, 1931 – died March 5, 2014) was a famous American TV host, actor, and radio personality. Later in his life, he also became a writer and speaker about travel.
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Early Life and Radio Career
Before he became famous in media, Geoff was a talented musician. He played drums in many jazz bands.
Geoff started his career while studying at Duke University. He worked for a radio station in Albany, New York. In 1959, Geoff got his first job at KFMB-AM in San Diego. There, he hosted an evening show and co-hosted the Don Ross/Geoff Edwards Show.
As a news reporter for KHJ-AM radio, Geoff was present during a major historical event. He was in the basement of the Dallas police headquarters when Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald was suspected of assassinating President John F. Kennedy. This happened on November 24, 1963. Geoff was one of the people interviewed by NBC television correspondent Tom Pettit at the scene.
In 1967, The Los Angeles Times newspaper honored Geoff. They chose him as their Personality of the Year for his excellent work on KFI radio.
After working at a few other stations, Geoff was hired at KMPC in Los Angeles. He hosted the 9 a.m. to noon show for many years. He started in February 1968 and stayed until December 1979. He then left to focus more on his TV career.
He later worked at KFI from 1987 to 1989. He resigned from KFI as a protest against another radio personality. This person destroyed Cat Stevens' records after Stevens called for a fatwa on Salman Rushdie. Most recently, Geoff was a morning DJ with KSUR (now KKGO) in Los Angeles. One popular part of his radio show was "Radio's Answer Lady." Listeners would call in with questions, and he would answer them on the air.
Acting Roles
During his time in radio, Geoff also tried acting. He appeared on popular TV shows like I Dream of Jeannie and That Girl.
In 1968, he was seen in several episodes of Petticoat Junction. He played Jeff, who was Bobbie Jo Bradley's boyfriend. From his time on this show, he became very close friends with Meredith MacRae. She played Billie Jo Bradley on the show.
In 1969, he narrated an educational film called How We Feel About Sound.
He also made guest appearances on other TV shows. These included Police Woman, Diff'rent Strokes, and Small Wonder.
In the early 1970s, Geoff appeared on The Bobby Darin Show. He played the "straight man" to singer Bobby Darin. After that show ended, Geoff wanted to host game shows. He started with Says Who? in 1971, then Cop-Out! in February 1972. However, both of these shows were only pilot episodes and were not picked up for a full series.
Becoming a Game Show Host
Geoff's first full-time job as a game show host was from March to June 1973. He hosted Hollywood's Talking, produced by Jack Barry. This show was a new version of an earlier game called Everybody's Talking. Contestants watched video clips of celebrities talking about a topic. Their goal was to guess what the topic was. The show aired on CBS television but did not do well. CBS canceled it to make way for the very popular Match Game remake. Geoff also mentioned he didn't like working with Barry and wouldn't have continued the show even if it had been successful.
Geoff didn't stay unemployed for long. Chuck Barris hired him to host The New Treasure Hunt. This show started in weekly syndication in the fall of 1973. In January 1974, Geoff returned to daytime TV with the NBC show Jackpot. For the next nineteen months, until September 1975, Geoff traveled between California and New York. Jackpot was filmed at NBC's Rockefeller Center studios. He briefly did this again in 1977 for NBC's Shoot for the Stars. Both Jackpot and Shoot for the Stars were produced by Bob Stewart. The New Treasure Hunt also ended in 1977.
In January 1980, Geoff became the host of the new Barry & Enright show Play the Percentages. He hosted it until it was canceled at the end of that TV season. He also hosted his last daytime network show when he filled in for Bill Cullen on NBC's Chain Reaction for two weeks. This was another Bob Stewart show.
Geoff also tried producing for a short time. He teamed up with Mark Maxwell-Smith to form Smith-Edwards Productions in 1980. They signed a deal with Warner Brothers to create a game show pilot called Pot of Gold for NBC, but it was never sold. They also worked on a talk show based on the magazine Ladies Home Journal, but that show also didn't sell. Smith-Edwards Productions closed in 1981. Later that year, Geoff returned to TV to host a daily new version of Treasure Hunt for syndication. It was canceled at the end of the 1981–82 season.
In 1983, Geoff started hosting Starcade. This was a new show focused on video games. He took over from the previous host, Mark Richards. Richards was let go because he didn't know much about video games. Determined not to make the same mistake, Geoff studied the video games used on the show. He also learned about the video game industry in general. He became so interested that he became an avid player himself. Geoff continued this hobby until he passed away.
Except for filling in for Monty Hall on Let's Make a Deal for a week in early 1985, Geoff was mostly off national television. This changed with his next two hosting jobs, which were his longest. In November 1985, Geoff replaced Chuck Woolery as the host of the California Lottery's weekly game show The Big Spin. He hosted this show for ten years, mostly from the lottery's headquarters in Sacramento. Then, in 1986, Bob Stewart asked him again to host. This time, it was to replace Blake Emmons as host of the Montreal-based new version of Chain Reaction. This show aired in the US on the USA Network. He hosted this show until it was canceled in 1991. During this time, he traveled between the United States and Canada. Geoff also took the job as host of a new version of Jackpot for syndication in 1989.
Geoff was one of only four game show hosts to host a game show in the United States and another in Canada at the same time. The other three were Howie Mandel, Alex Trebek, and Jim Perry. Like Jim Perry, Geoff traveled back and forth between the United States and Canada from 1986 to 1991. He hosted The Big Spin and the 1989 Jackpot! in California. He hosted the USA Network version of Chain Reaction in Montreal, Quebec. However, Geoff needed a Canadian co-host on Chain Reaction. This was because he had no personal ties to Canada, unlike Trebek, Mandel, and Perry. His days of commuting ended after Chain Reaction left the air in 1991.
Geoff was famous for his catchphrase: "Right you are!" He often said this after a contestant gave a correct answer.
Other Television Work
Geoff was also a co-host of the Los Angeles news program Mid Morning L.A. on KHJ-TV (now KCAL-TV). He replaced Bob Hilton in the early 1980s and was paired with his friend, co-host Meredith MacRae. Geoff and Meredith won Emmy Awards for best host and best hostess for a news magazine series. They also hosted a pilot for a game show called $50,000 a Minute in 1985 for ABC. This show was produced by Bob Stewart but was never sold.
In 1985, Geoff became the host of The Big Spin. This was the game show for the California Lottery. He remained the host of that program until he retired from television in 1995. In an interview, Geoff said he hosted the pilot for Fun & Fortune, the lottery game show in Missouri. In another interview, he mentioned he was offered the host role for Family Feud. However, he had to turn it down because he was already committed to Shoot for the Stars.
In 1995, Geoff appeared on the TV show Sliders. He was in the episode called "Luck of the Draw".
Family Life
Geoff and his first wife, Suzanne, co-hosted a talk show together. It was called The His and Her of It. The program was shown on television stations owned by ABC. In 1970, the couple also served as honorary co-chairmen for a group. This group was called the California Association of Parents of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children.
Later Years and Hobbies
In his later years, Geoff traveled a lot. He hosted travel programs on both radio and television. He also wrote about travel. His travel book Going All The Way humorously tells about his adventures on an around-the-world cruise. He appeared as a guest on GSN Live on May 16, 2008.
During his time on Starcade, Geoff became a big video game fan. He studied video games a lot to avoid the mistakes of the previous host. He would often give hints to help contestants on the show. One "Starcade Hotline" segment even showed him beating the very difficult arcade game Sinistar. He and other crew members often played the arcade games between tapings.
Passing Away
Geoff Edwards passed away from complications related to pneumonia. He died at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, on March 5, 2014. This was less than a month after his 83rd birthday.
