Game Show Host Chuck Woolery Is Dead

Chuck Woolery—the affable, smooth-talking game show host of Wheel of Fortune, Love Connection, and Scrabble who later made a splash as a right-wing podcaster—has died at 83, per the AP. Woolery died at his home in Texas with his wife, Kristen, present, says podcast partner Mark Young.

• Woolery, with his matinee idol looks, coiffed hair, and ease with witty banter, was inducted into the American TV Game Show Hall of Fame in 2007 and earned a daytime Emmy nomination in 1978.
• In 1983, Woolery began an 11-year run as host of TV's Love Connection, for which he coined the phrase, "We'll be back in two minutes and two seconds," a two-fingered signature dubbed the "2 and 2." In 1984, he hosted TV's Scrabble, simultaneously hosting two game shows on TV until 1990.
• Woolery began his TV career at a show that has become a mainstay. Although most associated with Pat Sajak and Vanna White, Wheel of Fortune debuted Jan. 6, 1975, on NBC with Woolery welcoming contestants and the audience. Woolery, then 33, was trying to make it in Nashville as a singer.

• After his long TV career ended, Woolery went into podcasting. He called himself a gun-rights activist and a conservative libertarian and constitutionalist, saying he hadn't revealed his politics in liberal Hollywood for fear of retribution. He teamed up with Mark Young in 2014 for the podcast Blunt Force Truth and soon became a full supporter of Donald Trump. "President Obama's popularity is a fantasy only held by him and his dwindling legion of juice-box-drinking, anxiety-dog-hugging, safe-space-hiding snowflakes," he said.
• During the early stages of the pandemic, Woolery initially accused medical professionals and Democrats of lying about the virus in an effort to hurt the economy and Trump's chances for reelection. He changed his view when his son contracted COVID. "To further clarify and add perspective, COVID-19 is real and it is here. My son tested positive for the virus, and I feel for ... those suffering and especially for those who have lost loved ones," Woolery tweeted before his account was deleted.
• In addition to his wife, Woolery is survived by his sons Michael and Sean and his daughter Melissa.

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