Wally Bruner
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Wally Bruner (March 4, 1931 - November 3, 1997) was an American journalist and television host. He covered Congress and the Lyndon Johnson administration for ABC News in the 1960s. He was the first host of the 1968-1975 syndicated version of What's My Line? and went on to host the syndicated home repair show Wally's Workshop.
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[edit] Personal Life
He was married twice and fathered 10 children. Bruner met his second wife, Natalie Bruner, when she was a contestant on What's My Line?. She co-starred on Wally's Workshop. In the early 1990s, Natalie ran for the United States Congress on the Democratic ticket against Dan Burton of Indiana. Wally Bruner was her campaign manager.
Bruner died in Indianapolis in 1997.
[edit] Early television career
Bruner began his career in TV in a variety of roles in small market stations around the country. After 12 years of this, he moved to Washington, DC and landed a job with ABC News. He covered Congress and the presidency for ABC throughout the 1960s.
[edit] What's My Line?
In 1968, producer Mark Goodson approached Bruner to audition for the new syndicated version of What's My Line? Part of the audition was an opportunity to view old kinescopes of the original show. Bruner told Goodson he had no need to do so since one of his jobs in the 1950s had been to direct commercial breaks of the network feed of What's My Line? He had seen every episode that aired over a period of several years.
Bruner hosted the show from the Ed Sullivan Theater from 1968 to 1972.
[edit] Wally's Workshop
After leaving What's My Line?, Bruner created and hosted a home-repair how-to show called Wally's Workshop. The show featured Wally and Natalie Bruner working on home projects in a studio space. The show remained in production for 22 years.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by John Daly |
Host of What's My Line? 1968–1972 |
Succeeded by Larry Blyden |
