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Bill Cullen

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Bill Cullen

Name: William Lawrence Francis "Bill" Cullen
Born: February 18, 1920
Birth Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Died: July 7, 1990 (age 70)
Place of death: Bel Air, California, U.S.
Occupation: Host, Comedian, Radio DJ, Pilot
Years active: 1946-1987
Known for: Hosting the original version of The Price is Right and To Tell the Truth

William Lawrence Francis "Bill" Cullen (b. February 18, 1920 – d. July 7, 1990) was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades. He was best known for television game shows, where he hosted multiple series (including the original version of The Price is Right, The $25,000 Pyramid, and Blockbusters), and served as a panelist for over twenty years combined on I've Got a Secret and To Tell the Truth.

Biography[]

Bill Cullen was married three times. His marriage to his third wife Elise Ann Roemheld Macomber Cullen resulted in Bill being in-laws with Heinz Roemheld. He also became in-Laws with Jack Narz and Tom Kennedy.

Bill Cullen was in the aviation business as well as The Civil Air Patrol.

Bill Cullen had numerous health problems. Among them, he had Polio from childhood, and later in life was in a terrible car accident, and Pancreatitis. The side effects from these health problems includes rapid aging and limited mobility. During his time in show business, he was largely a radio personality (not unlike Wink Martindale). However, game shows at the time were very basic and styled after newscasts where everybody remained seated. Eventually, such as the 1980s version of Jeopardy!, these chairs were removed. Bill's regular game show The Price Is Right set design changed to include shots of the emcee standing and walking for long periods of time. Since Bill Cullen preferred Bob Stewart's games, he decided to stay at Basada, and would rejoin Goodson-Todman for their panel game shows. It did not take long before other game shows were deliberately designed for Bill Cullen, such as Blockbusters. Its prize round was an extension of Bill's podium that the contestant walked toward him. Any sudden need for physical activity was delegated to announcer Bob Hilton. Bill had also developed a respiratory problem around during his time at Blockbusters. As Bill's health continued to worsen, his game show at the time, The Joker's Wild, modified its audience participation round by reducing the contestants from three to two and including a home viewer instead.

However, in the game show Chain Reaction, Bill Cullen walked to the Bonus Round area and was able to remain standing for several minutes. Game shows with Bill Cullen appearing were sure to use sleight of hand techniques. In the case of Chain Reaction, the only time he was shown to be walking was during the opening segment when Bill conveniently waited near the stage's entrance and walked on last, with a second seat for him by the door, which happened to be at center stage. Any lengthy moments of walking were done off camera. Because of these techniques, many people who never worked with him before didn't know what happened. When Mel Brooks met Bill for the first time, he misunderstood Bill's limp for his renowned sense of humor.

Bill also participated in efforts to preserve television. He gladly emceed How Do You Like Your Eggs? that aired on QUBE, one of the first interactive cable TV systems. When Ted Turner became interested in television, he ordered Starcade. Not long after, it got the attention of The USA Network. They began to rerun everything, including dozens of game show rebroadcasts.

Personality[]

Bill Cullen had a very peaceful and diplomatic approach and was easy to be interviewed. This proved beneficial during moments of tension. During an episode of How Do You Like Your Eggs?, a contestant named Barry Nelson got upset when being compared to the famous Barry Nelson. Bill responded by calling the upset contestant "tactful", which resulted in smiles and laughter. An overwhelmed contestant on an episode of Blockbusters mumbled "I hate it!". Bill asked "What is it that you hate, just curious?" with a reply of "I hate the [game] board.". As the contestant was trying to figure out the challenging game board, Bill answered "Well, we like you!" before the contestant tried again. Also during another episode of Blockbusters, Bill helped arrange guided tours of NBC studios after they mentioned difficulty in their attempts to get one.

Bill also had a very witty sense of humor. In Pass the Buck, A contestant tried to squeeze a five letter word in a four letter word slot. He responded to the contestant by saying, "Sorry! S.O.R.Y.!".

He was not afraid to receive hugs from happy contestants.

Death[]

Cullen died on July 7, 1990, of lung cancer as he smoked for the majority of his life. He was just 70 years old.

Trivia[]

  • He was in the running to host the 1972 revival of The Price is Right for CBS but the physical demands of the new format were considered too strenuous for him.
  • Bill Cullen is said to not have won any awards despite decades of hard work and being sought after by journalists. Bob Stewart had gifted The Cullens an award from his own personal collection for filling in during the weekly version of Pyramid.
  • As most of Bob Stewart's game shows were on NBC, Bill was unable to host the network version of Pyramid because it was on CBS at the time and the networks restricted game show hosts accepting jobs on a different network. When Dick Clark was too busy hosting the network Pyramid and American Bandstand, Bill became the host for the weekly syndicated Pyramid. And that is why Bob Stewart gave him an award.

Famous Catchphrase[]

"Please do not help". - Requesting the studio audience not to shout out answers as a critical question is asked.

Game Shows hosted[]

Radio[]

TV[]

Books[]

Adam Nedeff wrote an autobiography about Bill Cullen titled Quizmaster: The Life and Times and Fun and Games of Bill Cullen, which was published in hardcover, paperback and kindle by BearManor Media in July 2013.

QuizMaster Bill Cullen

Nedeff also wrote a second edition of the book with new information, interviews and photos about Bill which was published by Bearmanor Media in February 2025.

Quizmaster Life and Times and Fun and Games of Bill Cullen II

Gallery[]

Bill rarely takes his glasses off, unless it was for a silly reason. Here are two examples.

Links[]

Bill Cullen's World @ gameshowutopia.net (Older)
Bill Cullen's World @ gameshowutopia.net
The Bill Cullen Homepage

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