He was known as "The Man With the Questions." From 1962 to 1970 Robert Earle asked very bright students tough questions on the hit network quiz show GE College Bowl, taking over for original host Allen Ludden.
On June 5, Earle passed away at the age of 93.
When Ludden left College Bowl to focus on the classic word game Password, the producers needed a new host. Earle, who worked for GE after serving as a professor of radio and TV at Ithaca College in New York pursued the opportunity in an unusual audition. He taped an episode with Ludden asking the questions and set up a lecturn in the Ithaca College TV studio so he could insert himself into the tape. After he finished the show, he sent the audition tape to producers Don Reid, John Moses and Jack Cleary. They liked what they saw. Earle became the new host of College Bowl in the fall of 1962.
Earle would turn out to be the perfect moderator for the show. His warm manner and some resemblance to Ludden was a plus.
Also, Earle had a background in broadcasting. He started out in radio in Syracuse, NY and became the news anchor at WKTV in Utica. One young broadcaster who was influenced by Earle, who would tape the news before going on the air was Dick Clark. Clark would go on to greater fame as the host of American Bandstand and various Pyramid incarnations from 1973-1988.
Unfortunately, Earle would not host another game show after the GE College Bowl left the air in 1970. He did host a pilot for a game show titled King of the Hill but like many pilots, it was not picked up. He would also do the voiceovers for many commercials, including Lincoln-Mercury.
But Earle will be remembered by many game show fans as "The Man With the Questions." May he rest in peace.
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