1. Kirstie Alley- Before starring on "Cheers" and becoming a spokeswoman for Jenny Craig, Kirstie was a contestant on two game shows. In 1979, she appeared on "Match Game" and the following year she was on "Password Plus". On both appearances, Kirstie stated that her occupation as an interior designer.
2. Sandra Bernhard- The Flint,Michigan native and former pal of Madonna was a contestant on the "$1.98 Beauty Show" (1978-1980).
3. Brian Billick- The current head coach for the Baltimore Ravens (he led them to a Super Bowl victory in 2000) was a contestant on "Match Game" in 1977.
4. Kassie DePaiva- Prior to her career on soaps (she played Chelsea Reardon on "Guiding Light" and has played Blair Cramer for the past 14 years on "One Life To Live"), Kassie was a contestant on the CBS game show "Body Language" in the mid 1980s. At the time, she was known as Kassie Wesley.
5. Siedah Garrett- The singer/songwriter (she duetted with Michael Jackson on the #1 hit "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" and briefly sang lead with the Brand New Heavies) was a contestant on "Password Plus" (1979-1982).
6. David Graf- Best known as Office Tackleberry in the "Police Academy" movies (his famous line, "You're ready now mister!") appeared as a contestant on the "$10,000 Pyramid" in 1979. He actually won $10,000 in the Winner's Circle when he was paired with Patty Duke. When the two appeared as celebs on the show for a week in 1985, a clip of David's win was shown. This caused Duke to recall David as "the big fellow who almost broke my back!".
7. Mark Harmon- Back in 1972 while still in college, the future star of "NCIS" was a contestant on "The Dating Game"
8. Mel Harris- The actress (best known as Hope Steadman on "thirtysomething") was a big winner on the "$100,000 Pyramid" back in 1985.
9. Jenny Jones- Before hitting it big as a stand-up comic and a talk show host, Jenny appeared on "Match Game" and "Press Your Luck". On the latter show, she won over $18,000.
10. Cheryl Lynn- The R&B singer ("Got To Be Real", "Encore", "Star Love") won the grand prize on "The Gong Show" in 1976. The song she performed was the Joe Cocker ballad "You Are So Beautiful".
11. Renaldo Rey- When he was known as Harry Reynolds, stand-up comic/actor Renaldo Rey was a contestant on "Match Game '73". Among his numerous credits are roles in "227", "Harlem Nights", "Friday", and "White Men Can't Jump".
12. John Ritter- Before he became a master of the pratfall as the appropriately named Jack Tripper on "Three's Company", John appeared as one of the 3 bachelors on "The Dating Game" in 1966.
13. Vanna White- Prior to becoming the world's most famous letter turner/toucher, Vanna got to "Come On Down!" as a contestant on "The Price Is Right" back in 1980.
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(leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)
1. 2. Chelle Y.
3. Lara Angelina
4. busy91
5. Lynn / vigilant20
6. Mama Pajama
7. The Gal Herself
8. Jenny McB
9. Nicholas
10. Lori
11. julia
12. No Nonsense girl
13. Damozel
14. katherine.
15. Xakara
16. Robin
17. Samulli
18. Morgan St. John
19. Ann Aguirre
20. Denise Patrick
21. Qtpies7
22. Courtney
23. Sniz
24. Celtic Angel
25. Nap Warden
26. J. Lynne
27. Impworks
28. Silencer76
29. Natalie
30. Kendra
31. The Mistress of the Dark
32. L^2
33. Frigga
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37 comments:
Really? I didn't know that about most of those people.
You know neat stuff, Malcolm.
Those are interesting facts. I only knew about John Ritter.
www.chelleyoung.com
Oh and I can add -- Tom Selleck was a contestant on the Dating Game too (and lost!!)
Great TT -- love that pop culture stuff!!
How interesting! I didn't know any of those!
Not exactly how I'd consider starting a career...weird!
Happy TT!
http://blog.vigilant20.net/?p=1314
Most of these are a little bit before my time...but I do love the Game Show Network....I was bummed when it became part of a package instead of regular basic cable. I really liked shows like Pyramid, and Password, etc. You always come up with very interesting lists!
This is terrific! I can just imagine Mel Harris (Hope) doing well on Pyramid.
How do you find this stuff?
Next I want to know if any of the Power Rangers or characters on Mr. Rogers ever made it big.
That's fascinating, especially #1.
Wow...I didnt know any of that stuff. Thanks for sharing...you have some great info on your site:)
I used to love $10,000 Pyramid. The final segment for the big money surely must rank among the most tense moments in television history.
Really? I have learned a lot. I didn't know any of this.
My TT is up, visit me @ thenononsense.blogspot.com
It's weird that you should mention the $1.98 beauty contest; for some reason, I was thinking about it the other day. And I never thought of Sandra!
who knew?
I wonder if they were struggling actors looking for the cash...or the exposure?
I'm too young to remember them on the shows originally, you brought back flashes of flashback clips I've seen a half of them.
(Is a flashback of a flashback still a flashback or a flashwayback?)
Happy TT :)
~X
I'd have gone on the Dating Game if it meant I could take Mark Harmon home! Of course I was only 3 at the time...
Uhm, didn't you say "famous people"? Besides Mark Harmon, John Ritter and Kirstie Alley I have never heard of any of these people. LOL
But even though I have never heard of most of those game shows either (and I probably would rather stick a rusty nail in my eye than actually watching them anyway), I would have loved to see Mark on the Dating Game (it that's what it sounds like). ;o)
OK, I've decided that you know more trivial information on pop culture than me. That is a rare find. LOL! Happy TT. I hand my crown over to you!
I love game shows. Price is Right, The Newlywed Game, Wheel of
Fortune... these are great!
thanks for sharing.
That's really interesting. Sounds like they may have gone on gameshows to supplement their income while struggling to be "discovered."
Great list! I knew about Kirstie and of course Cheyl Lynn. I actually met Reynaldo Rey. He frequents a club in Inglewood, California called the Dynasty. Man does he ever get drunk!
WOW! I only recognize a few names on the entire list. Can you tell I'm not very up to date on Pop Culture?
Thanks for visiting my TT!
Wow! Great information!
Btw, Samuel is my 10month old baby. He won't sleep lately, he's a pain in the behind.
I have 18 loads of laundry because I have 7 kids and my washer and dryer broke, so I haven't been able to keep up. Its a bummer.
Ahhh... So I can blame The Price is Right for all of those nightmares!! ;)
You learn something new every day!!! Happy TT!
I remember seeing Kirstie Alley on Match Game. Didn't she use a different name for that? Quite and educational and fun list this week.
Happy TT!
Who'da thunk it??? Great list!
I only knew about Kirstie. Very interesting. Happy TT!
Over here in the UK the odd celebrity goes from game shows to house decorating shows. Sounds like you have a better class of celebrity game show contestants in you neck of the woods :-)
I do remember most of those...
As for Sandra Bernhard isn't a $1.98 the most she spends on trying to look good? ;)
I was going to peg Selleck on the Dating Game but Lara beat me to it...good list as always Malcolm.
Cool info! Thanks for the fun list!
jack ritter on a bachelor show? how funny!
happy TT and thanks for stopping by!
Whatever happened to Jenny Jones?
Interesting list of more stuff I didn't know.
Thanks for visiting my TT.
I've only ever heard of 4 of those people. :-0
Happy TT13! :P
Lara Angelina: Tom Selleck almost made my list. I may do a future TT on celebs who appeared on The Dating Game.
Mama PJ: That sucks that Game Show Network is no longer on basic cable where you live. Did you ever see the Pyramid episode where William Shatner threw the chair out of the Winner's Circle? It's classic!
The Gal Herself: I caught the Mel Harris episode by accident while watching GSN a few years ago. Besides the occasional TV movie, I haven't seen her much lately.
Jen McB: Many of these appearances I just happened to see in reruns on the Game Show Network. For specific facts (year of appearance, prize money won, etc.), I searched online and used an excellent book I have called "The Ency. of Game Shows".
As for the Power Rangers, Amy Jo Johnson has gone on to do quite a few things. I'm not sure about anybody from the Mr. Rogers cast.
Julia: You are right on the money about "The Winner's Circle" round being tense. Damn, I loved that! The music they used counting down the seconds,the fact that they filmed it so that both the celeb and the contestant were in the same shot made for some great TV. I don't know why, but when they revived the Pyramid with Donny Osmond a few years ago, they didn't employ these same ideas. As a result, it wasn't even remotely tense.
Damozel: That is strange that you thought of the $1.98 Beauty Show. I think that host Rip Taylor was one of those celebs that you either thought was hilarious or you couldn't stand. I belong in the former category.
Katherine.: I think that some were looking for their big break and others trying to earn cash. I would love to hear what the celebs had to say about these game show appearances they made.
Xakara: You lost me on the 2nd flashback. :)
Robin: I am a lover of bad puns so please forgive me. When I read your comments, I immediately thought that if you Mark Harmon would have been your date way back when he could be accused of Robin the cradle!
Samulli: When I read your comments at first, I was surprised that you didn't know more of these celebs and game shows. Once I visited your blog and found that you live in Germany, it made more sense. It's funny how some celebs that might be household names in the U.S. are virtually unknown in other parts of the world.
Busy91: Thank you for handing over the crown. I will put it on the mantel next to my sash.
Morgan: The Newlywed Game sure brings back memories. Making whoopee, the wives hitting their husbands with the cards when they messed up, Bob Eubanks WTF expressions... funny stuff!
Ann Aguirre: I think you might be right. They might have figured, "Screw waiting tables, I'm going to try and earn some easy money".
Pjazzy: I can definitely see Renaldo getting drunker than a fool! I'll bet he is a funny drunk too.
Denise: I wish I had time to post pics of these celebs. I'll bet you would probably recognize many of them.
qtpies7: Thanks for explaining who Samuel is... you had me wondering when you mentioned in your TT that he bites you while you are asleep.
18 loads of laundry... I can't even imagine.
Courtney: So Vanna White haunts you in your sleep... I knew there was something sinister about her.
CelticAngel: I just watched the Match Game clip on You Tube (aka cyber crack) and found that Kirstie used her real name. In the clip, Gene said that she was an interior designer out in CA on assignment.
Impworks: Game shows to house decorating shows... that's an interesting career transition.
Silencer76: What you said about Sandra Bernhard was so wrong, but yet... so right! Some might say that after she's done spending money to look good, Sandra still has $1.97 left over. I might burn for that, but it's all good.
Kendra: I don't know if you have seen it, but you can check out a clip of John's "Dating Game" appearance on You Tube.
Mistress of the Dark: According to imdb.com, she made an appearance on "The View" last year. I can't rememberthe last time I saw her.
Frigga: Thanks for letting me know which 4 you knew (Kirstie Alley, Jenny Jones, John Ritter, and Vanna
White).
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