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USA Today
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
TV host Wink Martindale, known for 'Gambit' and 'Tic-Tac-Dough,' dies at 91: Reports
TV host Wink Martindale, known for 'Gambit' and 'Tic-Tac-Dough,' dies at 91: Reports TV and radio host Wink Martindale, best known for helming the game shows "Gambit" and "Tic-Tac-Dough," has died, according to reports. He was 91. The former disc jockey, born Winston Conrad Martindale, died Tuesday in Rancho Mirage, California, while surrounded by his family, The Hollywood Reporter and the Los Angeles Times reported. A cause of death was not given. USA TODAY has reached out to a representative for Martindale for comment. Martindale, who previously hosted at the Memphis, Tennessee, station WHBQ, broke into the TV world with a hosting gig on the WHBQ-TV show "Mars Patrol," a sci-fi series for children he led from 1953-1955. After hosting the musical game shows "What's This Song?" and "Words and Music" for NBC, Martindale became a household name when he was chosen by CBS to head its blackjack-themed series "Gambit" in 1972. He hosted the show's original run through 1976 and later emceed a Las Vegas spinoff on NBC from 1980-1981. Martindale also hosted the CBS revival of the NBC trivia game show "Tic-Tac-Dough" from 1978-1985. His other credits include "High Rollers" and "Headline Chasers," the latter of which he created and co-produced with fellow TV host Merv Griffin. Martindale was married to Sandy Ferra, who previously dated singer Elvis Presley. Martindale was also friends with the rock icon, with Presley appearing on the TV personality's show "Teenage Dance Party" in 1956. 'Your acclaim will live on': Judas Priest drummer Les Binks dies at 73 Presley is "responsible for my marrying Wink," Ferra said in a 2015 interview with Elvis Australia. "When (Martindale) said he was from Tennessee, I thought, 'He must be a nice guy,' because I loved the state, I loved all the guys, I loved everything in the state of Tennessee because Elvis was such a wonderful part of my life." Aside from his hosting prowess, Martindale scored a pop hit in 1959 with his rendition of the recitation song "The Deck of Cards." The song peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. Jean Marsh dies: 'Upstairs, Downstairs' star and co-creator was 90 Martindale was honored with a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 2006. Contributing: KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY
New York Times
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Wink Martindale, Popular and Durable Game Show Host, Dies at 91
Wink Martindale, a radio personality who became a television star as a dapper and affable host of game shows like 'Gambit' and 'Tic-Tac-Dough' in the 1970s and '80s and 'Debt' in the '90s, died on Tuesday in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He was 91. Nashville Publicity Group, which represented him, announced his death in a statement. A veteran of the game show circuit, Mr. Martindale was involved in more than 20 shows, either as a producer or host. His first game show, in 1964, was 'What's This Song,' in which contestants paired with celebrities to identify tunes for cash prizes. The show was short-lived, as were many others he experimented with. 'Gambit' was based on the card game blackjack, and 'Tic-Tac-Dough' combined trivia with the classic puzzle game tic-tac-toe. In 'Debt,' the prize was the main focus: Contestants would arrive with bills for credit cards, car payments or student loans, which would be paid off if they answered a series of questions correctly. As a vocalist, Mr. Martindale recorded about 20 single records and seven albums. His 1959 spoken-voice narrative recording, 'Deck of Cards,' sold more than a million copies, earning him a gold record, a designation by the Recording Industry Association of America for records that sold 500,000 copies or more. 'Deck of Cards' also brought him an appearance on the Ed Sullivan variety show, where he told the tale of a young American soldier in North Africa who is arrested and charged with playing cards during a church service. Mr. Martindale received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006 and was one of the first inductees into the American TV Game Show Hall of Fame in 2007. He credited some of his success to his distinctive nickname. 'When I was a kid in Jackson, Tenn., one of my playmates, Jimmy McCord, couldn't say 'Winston,' which is my given name, and he had a speech impediment, and it came out sounding like 'Winky,'' Mr. Martindale told ABC News in 2014. 'So Winston turned into Winky, and then I got into the business and Wink! It served me well, and I just kept Wink all these years.' Winston Conrad Martindale was born in Jackson on Dec. 4, 1933, to James A. and Frances M. (Mitchell) Martindale. After graduating from high school in 1951, he attended Memphis State College (now the University of Memphis), where he landed his first disc jockey gig at a local station, where he was paid $25 a week. He graduated with a degree in speech and drama. 'I think that I was born with a desire to be a radio announcer,' he was quoted as saying. 'I always had that great desire to sit behind a microphone. My first 'mic' was two paper cups attached to a string. It wasn't long before I was sitting behind the real thing.' He later ascended to WHBQ in Memphis, a powerhouse station in the South, where in 1954 he notably secured an on-air interview with Elvis Presley — by calling his mother — after the release of Presley's first record, 'That's All Right.' Mr. Martindale moved to Los Angeles in 1959 and was featured on several radio stations in and around that city, including KMPC, which was known then as the 'Station of the Stars,' owned by the 'singing cowboy' and actor Gene Autry. Even after finding his calling in television as a game show host, Mr. Martindale was the station's midday personality for 12 years starting in 1971. His marriage in 1954 to Madelyn Leech ended in divorce in 1971. They had four children, Lisa, Lyn, Laura and Wink Jr. He married Sandra Ferra, who survives him, in 1975. Mr. Martindale also had a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Complete information on survivors was not immediately available.
