Jay Jackson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jay Jackson (1919-Aug 2005) was an American radio and television quiz show host and announcer, who is far more familiar for a one-off, fictitious host he played on a legendary situation comedy than he ever was in his decade as a real radio and television performer.
For a very brief spell in 1957, Jackson hosted the nighttime version of the popular quiz show Tic-Tac-Dough, yielding that job to Win Elliott for the remainder of the show's nighttime life (1957-59). Before he got that short-lived job, Jackson appeared in one of the best-loved among the so-called "original 39" episodes of The Honeymooners.
The episode involved blustery bus driver Ralph Kramden spending a week reviewing everything there was to know about popular songs, the category under which he would compete on a television quiz called The $99,000 Answer---only too obviously a satirical salute to CBS's quiz show phenomenon, The $64,000 Question. Kramden then makes his appearance on the show and blows the very first question he is asked by show host Herb Norris, played by Jackson, in a hilariously poignant conclusion.
When the quiz show scandals exploded in 1958, it turned out that among the materials a federal grand jury investigated was a series of 1957 Tic-Tac-Dough shows, hosted by Jackson and preserved on kinescope, which featured a U.S. military serviceman winning over $140,000 during his time as a show champion. Jackson himself was never accused of any wrongdoing, though it was noted that he left the show well before the investigations began in earnest. One episode in that series of shows is said to be available now through classic video sellers.
Jackson was the Master of Ceremonies of the panel quiz show Twenty Questions when it aired on the ABC Television Network starting in early 1953 and ending in May 1955.
He also worked announcing giveaway shows on radio and television, before he was hired for Tic-Dac-Dough. After he left Tic-Tac-Dough, Jackson never again hosted a quiz or game show, though he did narrate a series of Laurel and Hardy retrospectives during the 1960s.
