He was known as "America's top trader and TV's big dealer"as introduced by announcer Jay Stewart before each episode of the classic game show Let's Make a Deal.
On Saturday, September 30, Monty Hall, co-creator, packager and host of Let's Make a Deal as well as other game shows passed away from heart failure at the age of 96.
Born Maurice Halperin in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1921, he changed his last name to Hall when he worked at CHUM radio in Toronto since Hall was a lot easier to pronounce. His first game show was a radio quiz show titled Who Am I and he also hosted a show that would become an inspiration for Deal The Auctioneer.
In the mid 50s, Hall moved to the United States, settling in New York. He hosted a couple of shows, including Cowboy Theatre and Bingo at Home, which aired on what is now the flagship of the Fox Network WNYW-TV.
He did break in to game shows as the host of a panel game show titled Keep Talking in 1958 but he was replaced by Carl Reiner after 13 weeks and later Merv Griffin. He also was a substitute host on the game shows Strike it Rich and the scandal tainted Twenty One.
In addition to game shows, Hall also dabbled into sportscasting. He was the color commentator for New York Rangers home games in the 1959-60 season and also did play-by-play for international soccer on WPIX-TV.
Hall got his big break as a game show host in 1960 when he was hired to replace Jack Narz as the host of the first Heatter-Quigley game show Video Village. Shortly after taking over the hosting reins, ptoduction moved to California and that's where Hall and his family have lived ever since.
In 1962, he was co-producer of a game show titled Your First Impression where he met the show's producer who would work with him for many years to come Stefan Hatos. The two would team up to create the show that would put them on the map, Let's Make a Deal. Hall would host the original run for 13 years, assisted by model Carol Merrill and Stewart. Stewart would also frequently appear on camera, sometimes dressed in baby clothes for the worthless prizes known as "zonks."
Hall would work the trading floor for other incarnations of the classic game, including a nighttime version for 1969 to 1971 on ABC and a couple of syndicated runs in 1980 and from 1984 to 1986. The 1984 version have Geoff Edwards as a substitute host while Hall was recovering from laryngitis. He also hosted the 1990-91 version on NBC, replacing Bob Hilton who was fired due to low ratings.
Other shows Hall co-produced were the short-lived Chain Letter, Split Second, which ran for three years and was hosted by Tom Kennedy and revivals of Masquerade Party and It Pays to be Ignorant. He also co-produced Three for the Money which lasted only nine weeks and hosted by then future NBC sportscaster Dick Enberg and It's Anybody's Guess which aired in 1977.
Hall also hosted a short-lived revival of the classic stunt show Beat The Clock in 1979 where Narz was the announcer and associate producer.
In addition, he was a substitute host on several shows, including What's This Song, PDQ and the 70s version of Password when Allen Ludden played as a celebrity partner.
In 2009, Hall served as a creative consultant to CBS' revival of Let's Make a Deal that is still on the air and hosted by Wayne Brady. He also made several guest appearance on the show.
Aside from game shows, Hall made guest appearance on sitcoms, including two guest shots on The Odd Couple where he appeared in the episode where Felix and Oscar went on the show dressed in a horse's costume. He also played a dentist in an episode of That Girl. Hall has done countless work for numerous charities including the Variety Club.
Hall is survived by his daughter, actress Joanna Gleason and another daughter Sharon. He also leaves a son Richard.
But Hall will always be known as the man who made deals in four incarnations of a TV classic that featured contestants dressed in crazy costumes. May he rest in peace and that's no zonk.
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