LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Wink Martindale, a longtime fixture on U.S. television as the host of “Tic-Tac-Dough,” “High Rollers” and other game shows, died on Tuesday at age 91, his manager said.
Martindale died in Rancho Mirage, California, his manager, Dolores Cantu, said. No cause of death was provided.
Born on December 4, 1933, in Jackson, Tennessee, Martindale started his career in radio. While working at a station in Memphis, he met a young Elvis Presley and the two stayed friends until Presley’s death in 1977.
A fan of game shows, Martindale tried his hand at the format in 1964 with “What’s This Song?,” earning fans with his baritone voice and pleasant demeanor. He hosted more than a dozen game shows over his career, including “Gambit,” “Debt” and “Headline Chasers.”
Martindale was given the first name Winston at birth and said Wink was inspired by a childhood friend.
“When I was a kid in Jackson, Tennessee, one of my playmates, Jimmy McCord, couldn’t say ‘Winston,’ which is my given name. He had a speech impediment, and it came out sounding like ‘Winky’,” Martindale told ABC News in 2014. “So Winston turned into Winky, and then I got into the business and Wink it was! It served me well.”
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Mary Milliken and Chris Reese)
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