Chuck Woolery, original ‘Wheel of Fortune’ host, dead at 83

Legendary game show host Chuck Woolery, who helped found “Wheel of Fortune” before moving on to such shows as “The Dating Game,” died Saturday. He was 83.

The television icon passed away after experiencing breathing trouble at his home in Texas, Woolery’s friend and podcast co-host Mark Young told TMZ.

“It is with a broken heart that I tell you that my dear brother @chuckwoolery has just passed away. Life will not be the same without him, RIP brother,”  Young wrote on X.

Born in Ashland, Kentucky, on March 6, 1941, Woolery would go on to serve two years in the US Navy on board the USS Enterprise.

After exiting the military, Woolery would attend Morehead State University to study economics and sociology. But he soon dropped out to pursue loftier dreams.

A multi-talented man, Woolery started his entertainment career as a musician. He played in a folk band, The Bordermen, and the psychedelic-pop group Avant-Garde, before writing several commercial jingles, and even a handful of country music ballads.

With the Avant-Garde, Woolery scored a Billboard Top 40 song with “Naturally Stoned,” in 1968.

Woolery went on to record five records with Columbia and two more with RCA.

Turning to acting, Woolery would appear in several television shows before landing his breakthrough gig in 1975 as the host of “Wheel of Fortune.”

Woolery secured that gig on the advice of legendary TV icon Merv Griffin, who saw Chuck perform on the “Tonight Show.”

He held that gig until 1981, when Pat Sajak took over.

Woolery would later host shows like “Love Connection,” “Scrabble,” “Lingo,” a revival of “The Dating Game,” and most recently “80s Quiz Show.”

Woolery was an outspoken political conservative, supporter of the Republican party, and a major First Amendment activist.

The TV legend was known for regularly entering the conversational fray with people online.

He was even once controversially retweeted by then President Trump for a post about COVID-19.

“The most outrageous lies are the ones about Covid 19. Everyone is lying,” he wrote in 2020 on what is now X. “The CDC, Media, Democrats, our Doctors, not all but most, that we are told to trust. I think it’s all about the election and keeping the economy from coming back, which is about the election. I’m sick of it.”
He later deleted his account on the social media site — though he would get his opinions across on his right-leaning syndicated radio commentary show, “Save Us Chuck Woolery.”

He also had a  podcast with Young called “Blunt Force Truth,” which tackled topics such as the “Woke Takeover in American Corporations”  and “Kamala Harris Presidency Nightmares.”

He was married four times and was the father of five children.

Woolery is survived by his wife Kim and his children, Katherine, Melissa, Michael and Sean. He also had a son Chad who died in a motorcycle accident in 1986.