Tom Kennedy (television host)

Tom Kennedy
Tom Kennedy
	Tom Kennedy in the 1960s
Born	James Edward Narz[1]; February 26, 1927; Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Occupation	Game show host
Years active	1958–1989; 2003
Notable credit(s)	You Don't Say! (1963–69, 1975); Name That Tune (1974–1981); Whew! (1979–1980); Password Plus (1980–1982); Body Language (1984–1986); The Price Is Right (1985–1986, nighttime); Wordplay (1986–1987)
Spouse(s)	Betty Gevedon (1952–2011; her death)
Children	4
Relatives	Jack Narz (brother)

James Edward Narz (born February 26, 1927), known professionally as Tom Kennedy, is an American television host best known for his work in game shows.[1] Game shows Kennedy has hosted include Split Second, Name That Tune, and You Don't Say!

Early years

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Kennedy is the son of John Lawrence Narz Sr., and the younger brother of host Jack Narz, whose son, David, related about his uncle's name change that the brothers wanted to avoid the perceived conflict of having two announcers with the same last name promoting competing products. "After a lunch meeting with his agent," he said, "... he emerged as Tom Kennedy."[2]

Kennedy attended the University of Missouri and the University of Kentucky.[3]

Radio

While attending the University of Missouri, Kennedy worked at KFRU in Columbia, Missouri. While in Lexington, Kentucky, he worked at WKLX. After moving to Los Angeles, he worked for five years at KPOL and had a part-time job at KGIL.[3]

Shows

Kennedy's biggest hit series were You Don't Say! which aired on NBC from 1963 to 1969, and on ABC in 1975; Split Second (1972–75); Name That Tune (1974–81); and Password Plus, which he hosted from 1980 to 1982 following the illness (and later death) of original host Allen Ludden.[4]

His other hosting credits include The Big Game (1958), Dr. I.Q. (1958–59), It's Your Bet (1971–72), Break the Bank (1976), 50 Grand Slam (1976), To Say the Least (1977–78), Whew! (1979–80), Body Language (1984–86), a syndicated nighttime version of The Price Is Right (1985–86) and Wordplay (1986–87).[4] He briefly hosted a talk show, The Real Tom Kennedy Show, in the early 1970s, and appeared as a guest panelist on To Tell the Truth, Hollywood Squares, Liar's Club and other game shows.[4]

As an actor, he made guest appearances on such shows as The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Cannon, Hardcastle and McCormick and Cybill.[4]

Retirement

Kennedy retired in 1989 after several game show pilots produced by his production company failed to sell. In 2003, he appeared on Hollywood Squares during "Game Show Week Part 2".

Awards

In 2005, he and his brother, Jack Narz, were co-recipients of the Game Show Congress' Bill Cullen Award for Lifetime Achievement. (Cullen was a brother-in-law to Narz and Kennedy.)

gollark: I'm hoping optronic computing takes off so we can finally obsolete LED strips on Computron parts.

gollark: I might need to stop making Electron apps!

gollark: To eke out more efficiency out of what silicon will do.

gollark: I expect that unless someone invents magic better-material transistors we'll really need to rethink a lot of computing.

gollark: The processors for β, η and α are automatically kept at similar clocks to save power.

References

Baber, David (2007). Television Game Show Hosts: Biographies of 32 Stars. McFarland & Co. p. 131. ISBN 978-0-7864-2926-4. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
Leszczak, Bob (2015). From Small Screen to Vinyl: A Guide to Television Stars Who Made Records, 1950–2000. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 242–43. ISBN 978-1-4422-4274-6. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
Baber, David (2015-06-14). Television Game Show Hosts: Biographies of 32 Stars. McFarland. pp. 133–34. ISBN 978-1-4766-0480-0. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
Tom Kennedy on IMDb

External links

Tom Kennedy on IMDb

Media offices
New show	Host of Split Second 1972–1975	Vacant Title next held by Monty Hall
Preceded by Dennis James	Host of Name That Tune 1974–1981	Vacant Title next held by Jim Lange
Preceded by Allen Ludden	Host of Password Plus 1980–1982	Vacant Title next held by Bert Convy as Host of Super Password
Vacant Title last held by Bobby Van as Host of Showoffs	Host of Body Language 1984–1986	Show cancelled
Preceded by Bob Barker	Host of The Price Is Right (syndicated edition) 1985–1986	Vacant Title next held by Doug Davidson as Host of The New Price Is Right

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[biography-1] Baber, David (2007). Television Game Show Hosts: Biographies of 32 Stars. McFarland & Co. p. 131. ISBN 978-0-7864-2926-4. Retrieved February 12, 2016.

[fssv-2] Leszczak, Bob (2015). From Small Screen to Vinyl: A Guide to Television Stars Who Made Records, 1950–2000. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 242–43. ISBN 978-1-4422-4274-6. Retrieved December 14, 2016.

[tgsh-3] Baber, David (2015-06-14). Television Game Show Hosts: Biographies of 32 Stars. McFarland. pp. 133–34. ISBN 978-1-4766-0480-0. Retrieved December 14, 2016.

[imdb-4] Tom Kennedy on IMDb