The Matchless Gene Rayburn

This book 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. 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.