"The Matchless Gene Rayburn," Biography of TV Game Show Host, Now Available

    GLENDALE, CA, October 17, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Match Game was the TV game show that defined the 1970s, with ribald jokes, tacky fashions, and guest appearances by the decade's top television stars. It was also the TV show that defined its host, Gene Rayburn. Generations of game show watchers instantly recognized Rayburn--the toothy grin and the comically long, thin microphone that he clutched while reading suggestive fill-in-the-blanks to be answered by panelists like Brett Somers and Charles Nelson Reilly.

But the new book The Matchless Gene Rayburn, by Adam Nedeff (Quizmaster: The Life & Times & Fun & Games of Bill Cullen, This Day in Game Show History) delves into Rayburn's life before the classic show. Rayburn, who was born Eugen Jeljenic in 1917, was a budding actor who got sidetracked at the start of his career and became a disc jockey. With Dee Finch, he co-hosted Anything Goes, the earliest "morning drive time" radio show, and dominated New York airwaves--one interviewee called Rayburn "The Howard Stern of the 1940s." His success as a disc jockey led to a contract with NBC, where, in 1954, Rayburn would become the first announcer/sidekick on The Tonight Show. Rayburn also amassed an impressive resume in theater, including the starring roles in Bye Bye Birdie and La Cage Aux Folles.

In addition, The Matchless Gene Rayburn explores Rayburn's life away from the cameras, including his fractious relationships with Match Game panelist Richard Dawson and game show kingpin Mark Goodson, as well as his struggles finding employment after Match Game ended.

As a television game show host, Rayburn was famous for his somewhat rebellious approach to the job. He told jokes, used silly voices when he read questions, dragged stagehands in front of the camera, drew the audience's attention to broken pieces of equipment, and encouraged the audience to boo when contestants gave what he called "rotten answers." He could be just as mischievous off the air. He was on the receiving end of numerous memos from NBC executives, scolding him for riding his bicycle in the hallways of the NBC offices.

Rayburn's agent, Fred Wostbrock, remembered, "Gene took risks. If he was a movie star, he'd be Steve McQueen. He'd walk through the audience; not in the aisles between the sections of seating, but literally through the audience. He'd climb over them and step on the chairs. He did barrel rolls down the stairs when he made his entrance, he broke through the walls. Gene was wild, and full of energy, and it made him different from all of the other game show hosts...Gene was such a free spirit, and he would act on total whims and do all of these silly things, and it made him fun to see just because you knew Gene would do things that another game show host
would never do."

Among the interviewees that author Nedeff spoke to for the book were Match Game panelists Orson Bean & Dick Gautier, Hollywood Squares host Peter Marshall, animal trainer Warren Eckstein (The Mickey Mouse Club), and Rayburn 's daughter Lynne. All paint a portrait of Gene Rayburn as a complicated man torn by the success he enjoyed in television, and the frustration he felt about not getting the roles he truly wanted or the respect he felt he was owed.

Although sometimes frustrated by the television industry, Rayburn was always grateful for the success of Match Game. In one of his final interviews, recorded in 1997, Rayburn said, "I would just want [my fans] to know that I had as much fun doing it as they had watching it. It was a great trip and I loved every minute."

The book The Matchless Gene Rayburn is available at bearmanormedia.com, and in paperback and Kindle format at amazon.com.

Format: Paperback and e-book
Publisher BearManor Media (Fall 2015)
Language English
ISBN-10 1593938659
ISBN-13 978-1593938659
Product Dimensions 9 x 6 x 1.3 inches
Shipping Weight 2 pounds

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Adam Nedeff, called a "global hero" by The Onion A/V Club, grew up in Vienna, West Virginia. He graduated from Marshall University and now resides in Glendale, CA. He has worked behind-the-scenes for Wheel of Fortune and The Price is Right, and for a small business staging live game shows for private parties. He is now writing books about game show history. He has been featured on Conan, NPR and RollingStone.com.

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER: BearManor Media is a small press that publishes BIG books. They pride themselves on publishing quality entertainment biographies, so they often put out the first book on unique subjects. BearManor Media specializes in books with nostalgic themes like Fess Parker: TV's Frontier Hero, A Disney Childhood, Ghosts of Gone With the Wind, and Raised Eyebrows (Groucho Marx).

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