Garry Moore
Encyclopedia
Garry Moore was an American entertainer, game show host and comedian
best known for his work in television
. Born Thomas Garrison Morfit III, Moore entered show business as a radio
personality in the 1940s and was a television host on several game
and variety show
programs during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
After dropping out of high school, Moore found success as a radio host and then moved on to the television industry. He hosted The Garry Moore Show
, and the game shows I've Got a Secret
and To Tell the Truth
. He became known for his bow ties and his crew cut, though he refrained from both fashions later in his career.
After being diagnosed with throat cancer
in 1976, Moore retired from the television industry, making a few rare television appearances. He spent the last years of his life in South Carolina
and at his summer home in Maine
. He died on November 28, 1993.
but dropped out to pursue a career in radio and writing. Starting in 1937, he worked for Baltimore
radio station WBAL
as an announcer, writer, and actor/comedian. He used his birth name until 1940, when, while on the air announcing Club Matinee hosted by Ransom Sherman at NBC
, Chicago
, Sherman held a radio contest to find a more easily pronounceable one. "Garry Moore" was the winning entry, which was submitted by a woman from Pittsburgh who received a prize of $100. It was on Club Matinee where he met his long-time friend and broadcasting partner, Durward Kirby
. In the years that followed, Moore appeared on numerous network radio shows. He started out as an announcer and then as support for broadcast personalities, one of whom was Jimmy Durante
. From 1943–1947, Durante and Moore had a joint show, with Moore as the straight man
. Impressed with his ability to interact with audiences, CBS
offered him his own show. Starting in 1949, the one-hour daytime variety show The Garry Moore Show
aired on CBS. Moore briefly returned to radio as host of NBC's "Monitor" in 1969.
, which was a shorter version of his radio show. Until September 1950, it was also simulcast on radio. During 1950 and 1951, he hosted prime-time variety hour summer replacements for Arthur Godfrey and his Friends
.
During his run as a variety show host, Moore was tapped to host CBS
's weekly prime-time TV panel show I've Got a Secret
. It premiered on June 19, 1952. It was on this show that Moore began his friendships with comedian Henry Morgan
and game show host and panelist Bill Cullen
, with whom he also had a long working relationship. Morgan himself stated had Moore helped him keep his job as a celebrity panelist on the show. Moore became known for his involvement in the variety of stunts and demonstrations of the show's contestants. The popularity of I've Got a Secret led to a cameo in the 1959 film It Happened to Jane
. In the film, Doris Day
's character was a contestant on the show, with Moore as well as the panel playing themselves.
Moore's variety program was moved to the daytime slot, where it ran until June 27, 1958. Within three months of the end of the daytime show, he and his longtime colleague Durward Kirby
moved the revived The Garry Moore Show into prime time as a Tuesday night comedy and variety hour that ran from September 30, 1958, to June 14, 1964.
Although the show was a bigger hit in prime-time, Moore himself always preferred the daytime housewife audience. He thought that it gave the lonely housewives something to listen to and watch while they worked. The show provided a break into show business for many performers, including Alan King
, Jonathan Winters
, Carol Burnett
, and Dorothy Loudon
. The Garry Moore Show featured regular supporting cast members Durward Kirby
, Denise Lor
, and Ken Carson, as well as a mixture of song-and-dance routines and comedy skits, and introduced the public to comedienne Carol Burnett. After the show ended, Burnett became a star in her own right, hosting The Carol Burnett Show
for many years.
The Garry Moore Show was cancelled in 1964, and in the summer of that year, after having been on radio and television for 27 uninterrupted years, Moore decided to retire, saying he had "said everything [he] ever wanted to say three times already." He gave up hosting I've Got A Secret and was replaced by comedian Steve Allen
, who would host the show until the end of its run in 1967 (although Moore had ended his retirement before I've Got A Secret left the air, he never returned to the series to host and Allen helmed a subsequent, one-season syndicated revival in 1972). Moore's main activity during his hiatus was a trip around the world with his wife.
After two years, The Garry Moore Show returned to the CBS prime-time lineup in the fall of 1966. The week of the premiere, Moore appeared as the celebrity guest on I've Got A Secret to promote it. The new show was canceled mid-season because of low ratings against NBC's highly rated western Bonanza. The successful Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour replaced The Garry Moore Show in the CBS time slot. Moore then made sporadic guest television appearances, appearing as a panelist on various game shows, before Mark Goodson
asked him to host another show.
That show was a revival of To Tell the Truth
, which had ended its run on CBS in 1968. Moore was asked to host a revival of the series for syndication, which launched in September 1969. When To Tell the Truth was planned to be revived for syndication, producers Mark Goodson and Bill Todman
originally wanted Bud Collyer
to once again host the show. However, when they called Collyer, he declined, citing his ailing health. When Goodson and Todman called Moore about the job, he immediately contacted Collyer, who said to Moore that "I am just not up to it." Moore often took part in the show's silly and goofy stunts, as he had done on I've Got a Secret, performing magic tricks and cooking. This led to this version of To Tell the Truth being labeled similar to I've Got a Secret. Moore hosted the series from its premiere until the midway point of the 1976-77 season, the revival's eighth.
. He left To Tell the Truth shortly before Christmas 1976 to undergo surgery, turning the show over to panelist Bill Cullen
. Semi-regular panelist Joe Garagiola also acted as the host for several weeks, claiming he was "pinch-hitting
" for Moore. Moore returned in September 1977 to begin To Tell the Truth's ninth season, to explain his sudden absence and to announce his permanent retirement, explaining that while recovering from his surgery, he believed that his throat cancer was a sign that continuing beyond his 42 year career would be "just plain greed". Joe Garagiola hosted the program for the rest of the season, which proved to be the final season.
Moore retired to Hilton Head, South Carolina, where he spent his time sailing, and also at his summer home in Northeast Harbor, Maine
. He made two rare television appearances during his retirement, in a 1984 special on game show bloopers hosted by William Shatner
and in a late 1980s television tribute to Carol Burnett. Moore recounted the time circumstances forced him and Burnett to share a dressing room for one show. After many years, Moore said he had a confession to make: "I peeked." Burnett replied, "So did I."
Garry Moore died of emphysema
at Hilton Head, South Carolina, on November 28, 1993 at the age of 78. He was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Northeast Harbor, Maine
. He was named one of the 15 greatest game show hosts of all time by Time Magazine.
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
best known for his work in television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. Born Thomas Garrison Morfit III, Moore entered show business as a radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
personality in the 1940s and was a television host on several game
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
and variety show
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
programs during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
After dropping out of high school, Moore found success as a radio host and then moved on to the television industry. He hosted The Garry Moore Show
The Garry Moore Show
The Garry Moore Show is the name for several separate American variety series on the CBS television network in the 1950s and 1960s. Hosted by experienced radio performer, Garry Moore, the series helped launch the careers of many comedic talents, such as Don Adams, George Gobel, Carol Burnett, Don...
, and the game shows I've Got a Secret
I've Got a Secret
I've Got a Secret is a panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. Created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill, it was a derivative of Goodson-Todman's own panel show What's My Line?...
and To Tell the Truth
To Tell the Truth
To Tell the Truth is an American television panel game show created by Bob Stewart and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions that has aired in various forms since 1956 both on networks and in syndication...
. He became known for his bow ties and his crew cut, though he refrained from both fashions later in his career.
After being diagnosed with throat cancer
Esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer is malignancy of the esophagus. There are various subtypes, primarily squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma . Squamous cell cancer arises from the cells that line the upper part of the esophagus...
in 1976, Moore retired from the television industry, making a few rare television appearances. He spent the last years of his life in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
and at his summer home in Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
. He died on November 28, 1993.
Early life and radio career
Moore was born Thomas Garrison Morfit on January 31, 1915, in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Mason P. Morfit and Mary L. (née Harris) Morfit. He attended Baltimore City CollegeBaltimore City College
The Baltimore City College , also referred to as The Castle on the Hill, historically as The College, and most commonly City, is a public high school in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. The City College curriculum includes the International Baccalaureate Programme and emphasizes study in the classics...
but dropped out to pursue a career in radio and writing. Starting in 1937, he worked for Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
radio station WBAL
WBAL (AM)
WBAL is a news-talk radio station located in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. WBAL broadcasts on a clear channel frequency with 50 kilowatts of power. Owned by the Hearst Corporation, WBAL's tri-mast transmitters are located in Randallstown, Maryland...
as an announcer, writer, and actor/comedian. He used his birth name until 1940, when, while on the air announcing Club Matinee hosted by Ransom Sherman at NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Sherman held a radio contest to find a more easily pronounceable one. "Garry Moore" was the winning entry, which was submitted by a woman from Pittsburgh who received a prize of $100. It was on Club Matinee where he met his long-time friend and broadcasting partner, Durward Kirby
Durward Kirby
Homer Durward Kirby , known professionally as Durward Kirby , was an American television host and announcer...
. In the years that followed, Moore appeared on numerous network radio shows. He started out as an announcer and then as support for broadcast personalities, one of whom was Jimmy Durante
Jimmy Durante
James Francis "Jimmy" Durante was an American singer, pianist, comedian and actor. His distinctive clipped gravelly speech, comic language butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and large nose helped make him one of America's most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s...
. From 1943–1947, Durante and Moore had a joint show, with Moore as the straight man
Double act
A double act, also known as a comedy duo, is a comic pairing in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin and profession, but drastically different personalities or behavior...
. Impressed with his ability to interact with audiences, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
offered him his own show. Starting in 1949, the one-hour daytime variety show The Garry Moore Show
The Garry Moore Show
The Garry Moore Show is the name for several separate American variety series on the CBS television network in the 1950s and 1960s. Hosted by experienced radio performer, Garry Moore, the series helped launch the careers of many comedic talents, such as Don Adams, George Gobel, Carol Burnett, Don...
aired on CBS. Moore briefly returned to radio as host of NBC's "Monitor" in 1969.
Television career
Between 1947 and 1950, Moore began to make tentative steps into the new medium as a panelist and guest host on quiz and musical shows. On June 26, 1950, he was rewarded with his own 30-minute CBS early-evening talk-variety TV program The Garry Moore ShowThe Garry Moore Show
The Garry Moore Show is the name for several separate American variety series on the CBS television network in the 1950s and 1960s. Hosted by experienced radio performer, Garry Moore, the series helped launch the careers of many comedic talents, such as Don Adams, George Gobel, Carol Burnett, Don...
, which was a shorter version of his radio show. Until September 1950, it was also simulcast on radio. During 1950 and 1951, he hosted prime-time variety hour summer replacements for Arthur Godfrey and his Friends
Arthur Godfrey and His Friends
Arthur Godfrey and His Friends is an American television variety show hosted by Arthur Godfrey. The hour-long series aired on CBS from January 1949, to June 1957 , then again as a half-hour show from September 1958, to April 1959.Many of Godfrey's musical acts were culled from Arthur Godfrey's...
.
During his run as a variety show host, Moore was tapped to host CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's weekly prime-time TV panel show I've Got a Secret
I've Got a Secret
I've Got a Secret is a panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. Created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill, it was a derivative of Goodson-Todman's own panel show What's My Line?...
. It premiered on June 19, 1952. It was on this show that Moore began his friendships with comedian Henry Morgan
Henry Morgan (comedian)
Henry Morgan was an American humorist. He is remembered best in two modern media: radio, on which he first became familiar as a barbed but often self-deprecating satirist, and on television, where he was a regular and cantankerous panelist for the game show I've Got a Secret...
and game show host and panelist Bill Cullen
Bill Cullen
William Lawrence Francis "Bill" Cullen was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades...
, with whom he also had a long working relationship. Morgan himself stated had Moore helped him keep his job as a celebrity panelist on the show. Moore became known for his involvement in the variety of stunts and demonstrations of the show's contestants. The popularity of I've Got a Secret led to a cameo in the 1959 film It Happened to Jane
It Happened to Jane
It Happened to Jane is a 1959 romantic comedy film starring Doris Day, Jack Lemmon, and Ernie Kovacs directed by Richard Quine and written by Norman Katkov and Max Wilk.The film was co-produced by Quine and star Day's husband at the time, Martin Melcher....
. In the film, Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
's character was a contestant on the show, with Moore as well as the panel playing themselves.
Moore's variety program was moved to the daytime slot, where it ran until June 27, 1958. Within three months of the end of the daytime show, he and his longtime colleague Durward Kirby
Durward Kirby
Homer Durward Kirby , known professionally as Durward Kirby , was an American television host and announcer...
moved the revived The Garry Moore Show into prime time as a Tuesday night comedy and variety hour that ran from September 30, 1958, to June 14, 1964.
Although the show was a bigger hit in prime-time, Moore himself always preferred the daytime housewife audience. He thought that it gave the lonely housewives something to listen to and watch while they worked. The show provided a break into show business for many performers, including Alan King
Alan King (comedian)
Alan King was an American actor and comedian known for his biting wit and often angry humorous rants. King became well known as a Jewish comedian and satirist. He was also a serious actor who appeared in a number of movies and television shows. King wrote several books, produced films, and...
, Jonathan Winters
Jonathan Winters
-Early life:Winters was born in Bellbrook, Ohio, the son of Alice Kilgore , a radio personality, and Jonathan Harshman Winters II, an investment broker. He is a descendant of Valentine Winters, founder of the Winters National Bank in Dayton, Ohio...
, Carol Burnett
Carol Burnett
Carol Creighton Burnett is an American actress, comedian, singer, dancer and writer. Burnett started her career in New York. After becoming a hit on Broadway, she made her television debut...
, and Dorothy Loudon
Dorothy Loudon
Dorothy Loudon was an American comedy actress and singer. She won the 1977 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Miss Hannigan in Annie.-Early life and career:Loudon was born in...
. The Garry Moore Show featured regular supporting cast members Durward Kirby
Durward Kirby
Homer Durward Kirby , known professionally as Durward Kirby , was an American television host and announcer...
, Denise Lor
Denise Lor
Denise Lor is an American popular singer and actress.She was a featured artist on Garry Moore's television show.Ms. Lor was married to and subsequently divorced from TV director and singer Jay Martin, with whom she had sons, Ron and Dennis. They had met when she was singing on The Garry Moore...
, and Ken Carson, as well as a mixture of song-and-dance routines and comedy skits, and introduced the public to comedienne Carol Burnett. After the show ended, Burnett became a star in her own right, hosting The Carol Burnett Show
The Carol Burnett Show
The Carol Burnett Show is a variety / sketch comedy television show starring Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, and Tim Conway. It originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 278 episodes and originated from CBS Television City's Studio 33...
for many years.
The Garry Moore Show was cancelled in 1964, and in the summer of that year, after having been on radio and television for 27 uninterrupted years, Moore decided to retire, saying he had "said everything [he] ever wanted to say three times already." He gave up hosting I've Got A Secret and was replaced by comedian Steve Allen
Steve Allen
Steve Allen may refer to:*Steve Allen , American musician, comedian, and writer*Steve Allen , presenter on the London-based talk radio station LBC 97.3...
, who would host the show until the end of its run in 1967 (although Moore had ended his retirement before I've Got A Secret left the air, he never returned to the series to host and Allen helmed a subsequent, one-season syndicated revival in 1972). Moore's main activity during his hiatus was a trip around the world with his wife.
After two years, The Garry Moore Show returned to the CBS prime-time lineup in the fall of 1966. The week of the premiere, Moore appeared as the celebrity guest on I've Got A Secret to promote it. The new show was canceled mid-season because of low ratings against NBC's highly rated western Bonanza. The successful Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour replaced The Garry Moore Show in the CBS time slot. Moore then made sporadic guest television appearances, appearing as a panelist on various game shows, before Mark Goodson
Mark Goodson
Mark Goodson was an American television producer who specialized in game shows.-Life and early career:...
asked him to host another show.
That show was a revival of To Tell the Truth
To Tell the Truth
To Tell the Truth is an American television panel game show created by Bob Stewart and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions that has aired in various forms since 1956 both on networks and in syndication...
, which had ended its run on CBS in 1968. Moore was asked to host a revival of the series for syndication, which launched in September 1969. When To Tell the Truth was planned to be revived for syndication, producers Mark Goodson and Bill Todman
Bill Todman
William S. "Bill" Todman was an American television producer born in New York City. He produced many of television's longest running shows with business partner Mark Goodson.-Early life:...
originally wanted Bud Collyer
Bud Collyer
Bud Collyer was an American radio actor/announcer who became one of the nation's first major television game show stars...
to once again host the show. However, when they called Collyer, he declined, citing his ailing health. When Goodson and Todman called Moore about the job, he immediately contacted Collyer, who said to Moore that "I am just not up to it." Moore often took part in the show's silly and goofy stunts, as he had done on I've Got a Secret, performing magic tricks and cooking. This led to this version of To Tell the Truth being labeled similar to I've Got a Secret. Moore hosted the series from its premiere until the midway point of the 1976-77 season, the revival's eighth.
Retirement and death
Moore became ill in 1976 and was diagnosed with throat cancerEsophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer is malignancy of the esophagus. There are various subtypes, primarily squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma . Squamous cell cancer arises from the cells that line the upper part of the esophagus...
. He left To Tell the Truth shortly before Christmas 1976 to undergo surgery, turning the show over to panelist Bill Cullen
Bill Cullen
William Lawrence Francis "Bill" Cullen was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades...
. Semi-regular panelist Joe Garagiola also acted as the host for several weeks, claiming he was "pinch-hitting
Pinch hitter
In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead ; the manager may use any player that has not yet entered the game as a substitute...
" for Moore. Moore returned in September 1977 to begin To Tell the Truth's ninth season, to explain his sudden absence and to announce his permanent retirement, explaining that while recovering from his surgery, he believed that his throat cancer was a sign that continuing beyond his 42 year career would be "just plain greed". Joe Garagiola hosted the program for the rest of the season, which proved to be the final season.
Moore retired to Hilton Head, South Carolina, where he spent his time sailing, and also at his summer home in Northeast Harbor, Maine
Northeast Harbor, Maine
Northeast Harbor is a village on Mount Desert Island, located in the town of Mount Desert in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The village has a significant summer population, and has long been a quiet enclave of the rich and famous. Summer residents include the Rockefeller family, as well as...
. He made two rare television appearances during his retirement, in a 1984 special on game show bloopers hosted by William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
and in a late 1980s television tribute to Carol Burnett. Moore recounted the time circumstances forced him and Burnett to share a dressing room for one show. After many years, Moore said he had a confession to make: "I peeked." Burnett replied, "So did I."
Garry Moore died of emphysema
Emphysema
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
at Hilton Head, South Carolina, on November 28, 1993 at the age of 78. He was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Northeast Harbor, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
. He was named one of the 15 greatest game show hosts of all time by Time Magazine.