Jim Perry (television personality)

Infobox actor television | name = Jim Perry
birthname = James Edward Dooley
birth_date = Birth date and age|1934|11|11|mf=y
birth_place = Camden, New Jersey
occupation = former TV presenter, Game show presenter and singer
gender = Male
spouse = June (1959-present)
children = Sean, Erin
years active = 1960-1991
credits = Definition, Card Sharks, $ale of the Century

Jim Perry (born James Edward Dooley on November 11, 1934 in Camden, New Jersey) is a former Canadian-American television game show host, singer, announcer and performer in the 1970s and 1980s. He has had success on both Canadian and American television, and is most known for his roles as a host on the American game shows "Card Sharks" and "$ale of the Century" as well as the Canadian game show "Definition".

Early career

Jim Perry started out as a singer in Special Services fresh out of high school, working on Armed Forces Radio during the Korean War, and then replaced Eddie Fisher as the staff vocalist at Grossingers in the Catskill Mountains in New York and later did comedy working with Sid Caesar as his straight man for several years (which included a three-year stint with Caesar in Las Vegas). These were under his birth name of Jim Dooley. Due to a name conflict with AFTRA, Jim took his mothers maiden name of Perry when he began his TV work.

Perry attended the University of Pennsylvania and was at one time an outstanding basketball player in high school thanks in part to his height (at 6'4"). He was often nicknamed "Big Jim" because of his height, and was an avid runner, who later when he became a nationally recognized emcee, was often seen jogging onto the set as he was being introduced on a few of his game shows.

He became a popular game show host in Canada in the early 1970s after a stint as an overnight announcer and DJ fill in on radio station WABC in New York from 1969-1972. His first effort in Canada was the popular game show "Fractured Phrases" (1965), and afterwards presided over several other game shows, including "Eye Bet" and "Money Makers" (aka "Bingo at Home") -- the latter also airing on syndicated television in some markets across the United States in 1969.

Jim also served as an announcer for "The Joan Rivers Show", a short-lived two month series that aired in 1969 on syndicated television. Jim also appeared in a few television commercials, including one promoting Morton's Salt.

In 1973, Perry became announcer of the CTV game show "Definition", a Hangman-based, pre-"Wheel of Fortune" series which would become the longest running game show in Canadian television history. The following year, Perry moved from the announce position to the host position (replacing original host Bob McLean), and remained there until the show ended its run in 1990. Perry also hosted another long-running game show, "Headline Hunters", which lasted from 1972 until 1981, with a year of repeats the following year.

Dave Devall a well-known Toronto weather personality, became Perry's announcer on most of his Canadian game shows. In the United States, Gene Wood and Jay Stewart handled the warm-up duties.

In addition, Jim presided as emcee of the annual "Miss Canada" Pageant, a job he held from 1967 until 1990, about the same length of time his U.S. counterpart Bob Barker presided over the Miss USA Pageant on CBS. Like Bert Parks in the United States, Perry would sing the pageant's closing song, "The Fairest Girl in Canada" soon after the new Miss Canada was crowned.

While hosting the 1978 Miss Canada pageant, during a commercial break, a female protester hit Perry with a packet of flour while on camera, claiming that the pageant was "sexist". Amazingly, Perry, though shaken from the incident, regained his composure and continued on with the broadcast as if nothing happened.

Perry's first major American network hosting tenure came in 1967, with a short-lived charades-type game called "It's Your Move". The series, however, was produced in Canada for ABC television in the United States. Another game show also produced in Canada for syndicated TV in the U.S., "Money Makers" (a game based on Bingo), aired in 1969, originally titled "Bingo at Home", in which contestants and home viewers had a chance to win money (albeit less than $100 at a time).

tardom as an emcee

His biggest break in his native United States came in 1978 when NBC and Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions cast him for their new show "Card Sharks". Perry hosted the entire NBC version and the two pilots that preceded the series, airing from April 24 1978 until October 23 1981. This series helped Perry began a long association with NBC, lasting more than a decade.

Perry was twice considered as host for the daytime and the nighttime revival of "Card Sharks" in 1986, but due to his commitments with NBC and CTV, the daytime version was given to Bob Eubanks, and the nighttime version was hosted by Bill Rafferty.

Jim also hosted two game show pilots that never made it to television: "Casino" in 1981 (from Heatter-Quigley Productions), a game show combining elements of "High Rollers", "Gambit" and "The Joker's Wild"; and "Twisters" in 1982, which was similar in format to "Jackpot" and was produced by Bob Stewart Productions.

In 1982, NBC named Perry host of "$ale of the Century," a revived version of the 1969 - 1973 series, airing from January 3 1983 until March 24 1989. For more than six seasons, he presided over the fast-paced Q&A game. Starting in January 1985, he added a third hosting gig to his resume, taking the reins of a nightly syndicated "Sale of the Century" that ran until September 1986.

His style and sensational salesmanship helped to make the show a big hit for the network in the last golden era of game shows, and made Perry one of the top game show personalities of the 1980s in the United States. Not forgetting the time he spent with Sid Caesar, Perry would often tell jokes related to some of the questions asked on "$ale".

During his tenure at NBC, Jim appeared in the made-for-TV movie "The Great American Traffic Jam" (1980) along with fellow game show hosts Wink Martindale and Art James.

As Perry's career in his native country became prominent, he began appearing as a celebrity player on a few game shows; most notably "Password Plus", "Family Feud" and "Wheel of Fortune".

On "Family Feud", Perry in 1983 was involved in a memorable exchange during the "Fast Money" round. When asked by host Richard Dawson to name a brand of mouthwash, he first said "Lavoris", (which was already said by teammate Betty White), then as time ran out, he said "the green stuff". Dawson gave Perry a chance to come up with the name, but he could not remember it, so Dawson finally helped him by saying "You should look through the label with a micro...". Perry then shouted "SCOPE!!!", finally coming up with the answer. As it turned out, Perry won the round by coming up with two number-one answers and did not need the last question, in which Scope was also the number-one answer.

uccess in two countries

As the result of his successful work in both the United States and Canada, Jim spent over a decade commuting between Southern California and Toronto, Ontario (except between late-1981 and late-1982, although he did work on a few game show pilots during that time). By hosting "Card Sharks" in the United States and "Definition" and "Headline Hunters" in Canada, Perry in 1978 became the first game show host in the industry to emcee game shows concurrently on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border. Canadian-born hosts Alex Trebek and Howie Mandel would follow, along with New Jersey-born host Geoff Edwards.

In 1977, Perry, who sported gray hair throughout the decade, decided to change his hair color to his natural brown, a decision that eventually changed the course of his career.

Upon the success of "Card Sharks", Jim moved his family, who had lived in Toronto, to Southern California, where they remained until his retirement.

In total, Jim Perry hosted approximately ten different game shows (including unsold pilots) in a career that spanned about 25 years. He was also involved in charitable causes, both in Southern California and Canada, and was a regular host of the annual "Telemiracle" telethon in Saskatchewan for many years in support of the Kinsmen Clubs in that province. His daughter Erin also appeared on several of these telethons, and on one occasion they performed a song together.

Retirement

Jim is retired from the game show industry and lives with his wife, June, in North Carolina. In recent years he authored two self-awareness books, and appeared in a few infomercials (mostly produced by his daughter Erin and Pat Finn). His last television appearance was on CNBC in the late-1990s to discuss one of his books. Jim and wife June has lived previously in Florida and Oregon after leaving Southern California in the 1990s.

Family

Jim met his wife June during his time at Grossingers. She later became a top model with the Eileen Ford agency and later, during their time in Canada, ran her own gallery business as well. She currently operates her own pottery, Shambhala Pottery in Bakersville, North Carolina. The couple have been married since 1959, and provided neither passes away, they will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in June 2009. Both are in excellent health as of 2008.

His son, Sean Perry, is a television producer and a partner in Endeavor, a Beverly Hills-based talent agency. Sean was in charge of production for the most recent version of The Hollywood Squares and has worked on other television programs over the past decade, including ABC's Extreme Makeover. Sean, who appeared alongside his father on both "Card Sharks" and "Sale of the Century", began his career with Reg Grundy Productions as a production staff member. Sean still lives in the Los Angeles area.

Jim's daughter, Erin Perry, worked with Bob Stewart Productions as an associate producer to "The $25,000 Pyramid", and also served with Pat Finn's production company, "In-Finn-ity Productions", as its vice-president. She is now living in Europe as a popular singer and songwriter, working as a back-up singer for several European artists including Paul Young, and since 2005 having the lead role in the European musical hit "Kosmic Blues", a tribute to Janis Joplin. She also fronts her own bands, "The Erin Perry Band" and "Radpack".

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