JoeySanJoaquin Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Published February 27, 2014AP SAN FRANCISCO – Jim Lange, the first host of the popular game show "The Dating Game," has died at his home in Mill Valley, Calif. He was 81. He died Tuesday morning after suffering a heart attack, his wife Nancy told The Associated Press Wednesday. Though Lange had a successful career in radio, he is best known for his television role on ABC's "The Dating Game," which debuted in 1965 and on which he appeared for more than a decade, charming audiences with his mellifluous voice and wide, easygoing grin. He also played host to many celebrity guests. Michael Jackson, Steve Martin and Arnold Schwarzenegger, among others, appeared as contestants. Even a pre-"Charlie's Angels" Farrah Fawcett appeared on the program, introduced as "an accomplished artist and sculptress" with a dream to open her own gallery. The show's format: a young man or woman questions three members of the opposite sex, hidden from view, to determine which one would be the best date. The questions were designed by the show's writers to elicit sexy answers. "I've never been out on a date before. What do two kids like us do on a date?" a teenage Michael Jackson asked one of his potential dates on a 1972 episode of the show. "Well, we'd have fun," the girl answered. "We'd go out to dinner, and then I'd go over to your house." Lange was born on Aug. 15, 1932, in St. Paul, Minn., where at 15 he discovered a passion for local radio after winning an audition at a local station. "They wanted a boy and a girl," he said in a 1992 interview with the Bay Area Radio Digest. "They wanted the boy to do sports and the girl to do the dances and stuff that was going on in the Twin Cities -- very sexist -- and play music once a week." He hosted that show for two years before attending the University of Minnesota and doing a three-year stint in the Marines, according to the Bay Area Radio Museum. His big break on network TV came in 1962 when he was made an announcer and sidekick on "The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show." Later, after "The Dating Game" brought him national recognition, he also hosted the game shows "Hollywood Connection," "$100,000 Name That Tune" and "The New Newlywed Game." Lange also worked as a disc jockey for decades in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, and upon his retirement from broadcasting in 2005, he was the morning DJ for KABL-FM, which specializes in playing classics from the Big Band era to the 1970s. "As much as he's known for his television work, his real love was radio," his wife said. "He loved doing local radio, especially before it was computerized." Lange himself once told the Bay Area Radio Digest that his favorite aspect of the medium was that "you don't have to worry about lighting directors and cameramen or script writers and all that." "Good radio is still the most fun," he said, "It always will be. Plus, you don't have to wear makeup and you don't have to shave." Lange is survived by a sister, five children, two stepchildren and four grandchildren. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Yeah, just saw this. Always watched the show and liked him as a host. Can you imagine they had little Mikey Jackson on the dating game, who was on the following week? Liberace? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harrison Posted February 28, 2014 Report Share Posted February 28, 2014 I don't think I've ever seen him on The Dating Game as a host. I remember watching that show in the 90s but I don't think he was hosting it by that point. And his name doesn't exactly ring a bell in my mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted February 28, 2014 Report Share Posted February 28, 2014 One of the obits I just saw at least had a picture, which helps when they were famous so long ago. They had a reunion show one time a few years back, wonder if HE was on, I know the host of The Newlywed game was and looked exactly the same, sharp as a tack too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeySanJoaquin Posted February 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2014 One of the obits I just saw at least had a picture, which helps when they were famous so long ago. They had a reunion show one time a few years back, wonder if HE was on, I know the host of The Newlywed game was and looked exactly the same, sharp as a tack too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreddieMertz Posted February 28, 2014 Report Share Posted February 28, 2014 They once had a convicted serial killer on the dating game...he won! The woman turned down the date because he seemed creepy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted February 28, 2014 Report Share Posted February 28, 2014 Yeah, was fun seeing DEXTER on the show though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Posted February 28, 2014 Report Share Posted February 28, 2014 They once had a convicted serial killer on the dating game...he won! The woman turned down the date because he seemed creepy. Who was that? Ted Bundy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted February 28, 2014 Report Share Posted February 28, 2014 From that pic, it's clear Mr Lange was very good looking as a young man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreddieMertz Posted March 1, 2014 Report Share Posted March 1, 2014 Who was that? Ted Bundy? I think his name was Rodney Alkala. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreddieMertz Posted March 1, 2014 Report Share Posted March 1, 2014 Has anybody seen the Carol Burnett Dating Game parody with Kaye Ballard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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