Gene Wood

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Gene Wood
Gene Wood in an on-camera appearance on the finale of Card Sharks.
Born	Eugene Edward Wood October 20, 1925(1925-10-20) Quincy, Massachusetts, USA
Died	May 21, 2004 (aged 78) Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Occupation	Announcer, Game show host
Years active	1965-1999

Eugene Edward (Gene) Wood (October 20, 1925 – May 21, 2004), was an American television personality, known primarily for his work in game shows. From the 1960s to the 1990s, he served as the offstage announcer on several game shows, including many Mark Goodson–Bill Todman productions such as Family Feud, Card Sharks, Password, That's My Line and Beat the Clock (a show on which he later took over as host). He was also best known as the second permanent announcer on, Love Connection, a role he assumed after the departure of that show's previous announcer, Rod Roddy, in 1985.

[edit] Early life and career

Born in Quincy, Massachusetts, Wood majored in speech and theater at Emerson College. His early career included stand-up comedy, television commercials, and writing for Bob Keeshan of Captain Kangaroo fame. This work included a Terrytoons-produced cartoon series that aired on the Captain Kangaroo show called The Adventures of Lariat Sam, for which Wood also supplied voices and sang the theme song.

[edit] Television work

His first role as a game show announcer came as a substitute on Supermarket Sweep in 1966; four years later, he landed a contract working for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions, where he worked on Beat the Clock as its announcer from 1969 to 1972; after the departure of the show's host, Jack Narz, Wood then took over as host of Beat the Clock, with Nick Holenreich serving as announcer. Gene also hosted the 1971–1972 season of the short-lived game show Anything You Can Do, which featured teams of men competing against teams of women in stunts similar to Beat the Clock. Wood also appeared as a panelist on one week of Match Game '74.

By 1976, Wood had become a regular announcer for Goodson–Todman, serving as voice-over for many of the company's game shows. In addition to his role as announcer, Wood regularly served as a warm-up act for the audiences on these shows, and often performed a series of comedy skits.

Among the shows which he announced was the original version of Family Feud; hosted by Richard Dawson, it ran on ABC from 1976 to 1985. When Family Feud was revived in 1988 with Ray Combs as host, Gene announced on that version as well. Another show for which he announced on both the original version and a revival was Card Sharks; the show's first incarnation, starring Jim Perry, ran from 1978 to 1981 on NBC, while two concurrent revivals (one on CBS and another in syndication, hosted by Bob Eubanks and Bill Rafferty, respectively) ran from 1986 to 1989.

After the 1985 death of Johnny Olson, the original announcer on the Bob Barker-hosted version of The Price Is Right, Wood was one of four substitute announcers on that show until Rod Roddy was chosen as Olson's successor. Other shows on which Gene served as a regular announcer were Double Dare (CBS, 1976), Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour (NBC, 1983–1984), Password Plus (NBC, 1979–1982), Super Password (NBC, 1984–1989), the second permanent announcer replacing on Love Connection (Syndication, 1985–1988), Classic Concentration (NBC, 1987–1991), and Win, Lose or Draw (NBC/Syndicated, 1987–1990); prior to his retirement in the late 1990s, he also did voiceovers for the Game Show Network.