Jack Narz (born November 13, 1922, in Louisville, Kentucky), the elder brother of game show legend Tom Kennedy (Jim Narz) and the brother-in-law of another game show legend, the late Bill Cullen, is an American television announcer and game show host in his own right, who eluded the infamous quiz show scandal to forge a respected hosting career. November 13 is the 317th day of the year (318th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 48 days remaining. ... 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Nickname: Derby City or, River City Motto: Official website: http://www. ... Tom Kennedy (born James Narz February 16, 1927, in Louisville, Kentucky) is a television game show host who had his greatest fame in the 1960s and 1970s. ... Bill Cullen, full name William Lawrence Cullen (February 18, 1920–July 7, 1990), was an American radio and television personality. ... A game show involves members of the public or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, playing a game, perhaps involving answering quiz questions, for points or prizes. ... The American quiz show scandals of the 1950s were the result of the revelation that contestants of several popular television quiz shows were secretly given assistance by the producers to arrange the outcome of a supposed competition. ...

Early career

Early in his career, Narz did some voice work. In the initial (1951) episode of The Adventures of Superman, he narrated at key points in the backstory of the title character. He was also very much a presence in the infancy of local Los Angeles television. 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... The cast of The Adventures of Superman from 1953 to 1957. ...

Narz first achieved major television fame in 1953, when he was the on-camera announcer and narrator of the short-lived, but Emmy-winning sitcom "Life With Elizabeth" starring future game show panelist and host herself, Betty White. In 1955, as he did on radio Mr. Narz served as the announcer-sidekick of bandleader Bob Crosby (Bing's brother) on the former's daytime TV show (he would also periodically sing on that show). That year, he also worked as announcer on "Place The Face" a game show hosted by his future brother-in-law, Bill Cullen. In January, 1958, he got his own game show, as the host of CBS's Dotto. Within a very brief time, this show and its host became as phenomenally popular in 1958 as The $64,000 Question and its host became three years earlier. Dotto ran five days a week on CBS and, beginning in the summer of 1958, once a week at night on NBC, with Narz hosting both versions. And he was popular in his own right; his Q-rating (a measure of a broadcast personality's recognition and appeal to viewers or listeners) was said to be near enough to that enjoyed by Hal March in the heyday of The $64,000 Question. For other uses, see CBS (disambiguation). ... Dotto (1957-1958) was an American television quiz show whose nine-month jump to the top of the daytime quiz show heap ended when it became the unexpected first casualty of what became the quiz show scandal. ... The $64,000 Question was a popular United States television game show. ... For other uses, see CBS (disambiguation). ... The National Broadcasting Company or NBC is an American television broadcasting company based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... Hal March (born Harold Mendelson, April 22, 1920 - January 19, 1970) was an American comedian. ... The $64,000 Question was a popular United States television game show. ...

But Dotto turned out to be tainted---and the first popular quiz show to be cancelled as a result. Unlike other tainted quiz shows, Dotto's rigging was discovered rather than instigated by its sponsor and network. An executive producer admitted the rigging, at a meeting between CBS and Colgate-Palmolive. The trouble began when one contestant's notebook full of questions and answers she was to be asked on the air was found by another contestant, and the producers paid those two plus the notebook owner's incumbent opponent to keep quiet.

CBS yanked Dotto almost at once, in mid-August; NBC pulled the nighttime version shortly thereafter. Coming just days before newspaper accounts and a federal grand jury confirmed a former champion's charges that NBC's hit prime time quiz, Twenty-One, had been fixed, Dotto's cancellation lit the powder keg of the quiz show scandal. 21 (twenty-one) is the natural number following 20 and preceding 22. ... The American quiz show scandals of the 1950s were the result of the revelation that contestants of several popular television quiz shows were secretly given assistance by the producers to arrange the outcome of a supposed competition. ...

But Jack Narz survived: he himself never knew Dotto had been fixed, in any way, shape, or form. (Neither, for that matter, did The $64,000 Challenge's host Ralph Story genuinely know there had been anything tainted on that show.) And Narz proved it by passing a polygraph test while testifying to a grand jury investigating the quiz scandal.

After Dotto

He was back on the air within a short period of time after "Dotto's" cancellation, hosting its replacement "Top Dollar" (succeeding Warren Hull, as part of an arrangement made with CBS and the ad agency representing the Colgate-Palmolive company and General Mills, whith whom Mr. Narz was under contract at the time). In 1960, he guest-hosted for a month on "The Price Is Right," while regular host and brother-in-law Bill Cullen took a much-needed vacation. Later that year, he was the host of Video Village,but asked producers Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley to allow him to leave the show due to personal reasons. Red Rowe took over and was then permanently succeded by Monty Hall, who later hosted a juvenile version of this show) After returning to Los Angeles, he hosted Seven Keys, which was at first a local show, then went network when ABC picked it up (1961-1964), afterwhich, it returned as a local show in L.A. until sometime in 1965. This was followed by a 13-week run on a new NBC game show entitled "I'll Bet." In 1969, Narz picked up where Bud Collyer had left off some eight-plus years earlier with a syndicated revival of the classic slapstick stunt game Beat the Clock until 1972. He was succeeded by Goodson-Todman emcee and announcer Gene Wood. Video Village and its spinoff Video Village Junior were game shows in the early 1960s. ... Beat the Clock was a Goodson-Todman Productions game show which originally ran on CBS from 1950 to 1958 and ABC from 1958 to 1961, with later revivals. ... Gene Wood, full name Eugene Edward Wood (October 20, 1925-May 21, 2004), was an American television personality. ...

In 1973, Narz took the helm of the revived Concentration, in syndication, emceeing the program until 1978. (NBC had cancelled the show earlier in '73, although it owned and still owns the program). That would be his longest-lasting job as host. While hosting that, he also emceed Now You See It on CBS (1974-1975). {In 1979-80, he worked for a season as announcer and associate producer for the CBS revival of his old show, Beat the Clock.) Concentration is a TV game show based on the childrens memory game of the same name. ... Now You See It was an American television game show where contestants tried to find words that were hidden within a jumble of letters. ...

When that run ended, Narz semi-retired, spending his time since as a celebrity golfer for various charitable causes.

'Brother' Act

While the Narz brothers have forged successful individual careers as broadcasters, they did make occasional join appearances. Jack Narz would appear on Tom Kennedy's You Don't Say during its NBC run, Tom Kennedy guested on Jack Narz's Beat the Clock, and Narz appeared on the Password Plus panel during the Kennedy era -- switching with his brother to serve as host for one memorable round.

External link

• Jack Narz at the Internet Movie Database