Art Fleming
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Art Fleming (born Arthur Fleming Fazzin in New York City May 1, 1924; died April 25, 1995 in Crystal River, Florida) was the original host of the TV game show Jeopardy!
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[edit] Heritage
Fleming's parents, William and Marie Fazzin, had emigrated to the United States from Austria. They were a popular dance team in Europe and had brought their show to the U.S.
[edit] Education
Fleming (who stood 6 foot, 4 inches tall and weighed 220 pounds) was a varsity letterman football player at James Monroe High School in New York. He later attended Colgate and Cornell Universities, starring on the football and water polo teams at both colleges.
[edit] Military service
Fleming was a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Navy for three and a half years as the pilot of a patrol bomber in the Atlantic.
[edit] Radio career
After leaving the Navy, Fleming became an announcer at a radio station in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. It was here that he first shortened his name to "Art Fleming." His radio career would later take him to Akron, Ohio, and back home to New York. He was the first announcer to deliver the popular slogan, "Winston tastes good, like a cigarette should", for Winston cigarettes.
From 1980 to 1992, Fleming hosted a daily radio talk show on KMOX in St. Louis. On Sunday evenings, he occasionaly co-hosted Trivia Spectacular with David Strauss. He also hosted the syndicated radio program When Radio Was.
[edit] Television career
Fleming's acting career began at age four, when he starred in a Broadway play. His first television role was as a stunt double for Ralph Bellamy in the detective series Man Against Crime. He would later star in The Flying Tigers, The Californians, and International Detective.
Fleming also appeared in many television commercials. He was first spotted by legendary creator of TV shows Merv Griffin on a commercial for Trans World Airlines. Griffin thought Fleming was "authoritative, yet warm and interesting", and Fleming was invited to audition for the role of host in a new quiz show Griffin was developing. Fleming (an actor with no prior TV quiz show experience) was initially skeptical, but Fleming's agent encouraged him to "act like a game show host" at his audition and Fleming ultimately won the job. The show was Jeopardy!, which Fleming hosted from 1964 to 1975 and again from October 2, 1978 to March 2, 1979. As the first host of "the world's greatest quiz show", Fleming earned two Emmy Award nominations. While was host of Jeopardy!, Fleming never missed a taping.
Because he hosted a quiz show, Fleming earned a reputation as being a storehouse of trivia. While appearing as a guest star on Hollywood Squares (another popular NBC game show in the 1960s and 1970s), Fleming was once selected as the "secret square." His question was, "In 1938, who won the Wimbledon women's tennis championship?" Fleming picked Helen Wills Moody, one of the three choices read to him. The female contestant (who had selected Fleming) turned to Hollywood Squares MC Peter Marshall and said, "Art Fleming would never lie! I agree!" He was right, and the contestant won $11,000. Fleming later said he didn't know a thing about tennis and had guessed the answer. He hoped the contestant would disagree, thinking he was wrong
Throughout his career, Fleming starred in 5,000 episodes of television programs and 48 motion pictures. After Jeopardy! was cancelled in 1975, Fleming returned to acting. He played the role of W. Averell Harriman in the movie MacArthur, and also appeared on episodes of Starsky and Hutch, Kingston: Confidential, and the TV miniseries The Moneychangers. He also hosted a radio version of College Bowl for CBS. Fleming reprised his role as host of Jeopardy! in the movie Airplane II and in "Weird Al" Yankovic's music video, "I Lost On Jeopardy". Fleming was also often called upon to host mock versions of Jeopardy! at trade shows and conventions.
[edit] Later life
In 1992, Fleming retired and moved with his wife to Crystal River, Florida. He remained active in charity work, hosting fundraising videos for the Citrus County (Florida) United Way and becoming involved with the Citrus Abuse Shelter Association (where his wife served as director).
Art Fleming died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Crystal River on April 25, 1995, six days shy of his 71st birthday.
