Bob Clayton

Bob Clayton (born James Robert Box[1], August 17, 1922 – November 1, 1979) was an American television game show announcer and host of several shows. He spent his early television career hosting shows in Miami, Florida before moving to New York in the 1960s.

For the Australian rules footballer, see Bob Clayton (footballer).
Bob Clayton
Clayton as the host of Concentration in 1971.
Born
James Robert Box

(1922-08-17)August 17, 1922
Atlanta, Georgia
DiedNovember 1, 1979(1979-11-01) (aged 57)
New York City
OccupationAnnouncer, Game show host

Career

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Clayton became a vaudeville singer at age 15.[2] He served in the Army as a combat engineer during World War II[3] and was an announcer for the Armed Forces Radio Network after the war.[3] He graduated from Georgia Tech[4] and studied drama in New York City.[2]

In 1948, Clayton joined the staff of WWDX-FM in Paterson, New Jersey, as an announcer.[5]

After his first national hosting job on the game Make a Face (ABC, 1961–1962), Clayton assumed announcing duties on the long-running NBC game Concentration in 1963, and took over hosting duties on the show in January 1969 as successor from original emcee Hugh Downs.[2] He was replaced in March 1969 by Ed McMahon, but later returned in September 1969[3] after viewer outrage and declining audience ratings.[6] Wayne Howell replaced Clayton in the announcer's booth; Clayton remained on the show until its 1973 cancellation.

Clayton also had a brief flirtation with the movies when he played the bell captain in Jerry Lewis' 1960 film, The Bellboy, which was shot on location in Miami.

Later work

After the cancellation of Concentration, Clayton served as announcer on several shows created by Bob Stewart, including the Pyramid series of games, beginning with CBS' The $10,000 Pyramid in 1973. Pyramid began airing the Monday after the final episode of Concentration aired, in the same time slot, though on another network. Other Stewart shows he did included Blankety Blanks, Shoot for the Stars and Pass the Buck.

Personal life

He was married to Tahitian dancer Mireille of the Mai-Kai Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale.[7]

Death

On November 1, 1979, Clayton died of cardiac arrest.[8] Steve O'Brien, a New York disc jockey, took over Pyramid, and he and Alan Kalter announced the show for the remainder of its days in New York.

gollark: Receive solution from the future, check if it's correct, if it is then send it back so it's received.
gollark: For problems which are easy to check and hard to solve.
gollark: If time travel requires "fixed history", then you can use the universe's built in paradox resolver magic thing to either do your computation for you, or cause bizarre failure modes.
gollark: Actually, it's even better.
gollark: Different parts of it will be simulated at different times, but that's not detectable since the simulation of it outputs the same stuff.

References
  1. "Obituaries". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. November 5, 1979. p. 4C. Retrieved 22 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Bob Clayton Replaces Hugh Downs On Daytime 'Concentration' Show". Longview News-Jounal. Texas, Longview. January 5, 1969. p. 52. Retrieved 26 May 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Bob Clayton Will Emcee Concentration". The Jackson Sun. Tennessee, Jackson. September 12, 1969. p. 36. Retrieved 26 May 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Jones, Paul (August 25, 1971). "Happy Birthday, Concentration". The Atlanta Constitution. Georgia, Atlanta. p. 14–A. Retrieved 26 May 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Production" (PDF). Broadcasting. June 7, 1948. p. 74. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  6. Lowry, Cynthia (February 6, 1972). "Bob Clayton Concentrates On Promoting 'His Show'". Wisconsin State Journal. Wisconsin, Madison. Associated Press. p. Section 6, p 7. Retrieved 26 May 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. January 1965 Happy Talk magazine
  8. Kassewitz, Jack (November 14, 1979). "Trying to buy stamps on a Sunday cancels the day". The Miami News. Florida, Miami. p. 13. Retrieved 26 May 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  • The Encyclopedia Of TV Game Shows, Third Edition by David Schwartz, Steve Ryan, and Fred Wostbrock (1999) Published by Checkmark Books, an imprint of Facts on File.
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