Quizmaster: The Life & Times & Fun & Games of Bill Cullen

by Adam Nedeff

This is the HARDBACK version. Question: What do Bob Barker, Dick Clark, Pat Sajak, and Alex Trebek have in common? Answer: Bill Cullen hosted more game shows than all of them combined. And all of them have referred to Bill as the best game show host of all time. Quizmaster: The Life & Times & Fun & Games of Bill Cullen is the remarkable story of a "a kid with polio" who became a mechanic, truck driver, photographer, pilot, disc jockey, and the finest master of ceremonies that a game show could ever have. On the game show Quick as a Flash in 1949, host Bill Cullen was assisted for some of the questions by actress Mercedes McCambridge. In 1973, McCambridge supplied the voice for a child in what horror movie? THE EXORCIST On an episode of the game show Catch Me If You Can in 1948, host Bill Cullen welcomed a contestant who was unemployed and seeking work as an actor. That night, he won a gas range. The following year, that actor made his film debut, playing a painter in The Lady Takes a Sailor. His final film role, in 2000, was playing elderly Hardy Greaves in The Legend of Bagger Vance. Who was that actor? JACK LEMMON The long-running game show I've Got a Secret was created and produced by a comedy writer who later became a star in his own right with a wildly popular series of albums featuring his parodies of popular songs. Who was he? ALLAN SHERMAN In 1956, The Price is Right premiered with host Bill Cullen. Bill got the job after an actor-comic said no. In 1961, that actor's legendary sitcom made its debut on CBS. Who said no to The Price is Right? DICK VAN DYKE

578 pages, Hardcover

Published January 27, 2016

About the author

Adam Nedeff grew up in Vienna, West Virginia, and spent his childhood infinitely more interested in late night comedy & game shows than afternoon cartoons.

He majored in radio & television at Marshall University and spent a few years toiling as a disc jockey before moving to Los Angeles to see if he could make a career out of his childhood obsessions.

He has appeared as a contestant on three game shows, worked behind-the-scenes for "Wheel of Fortune" and "The Price is Right," and even co-founded a small business, Home Game Enterprizes (www.homegameenterprizes.com), which stages live game shows for private parties and corporate functions.

With encouragement from late night star Conan O'Brien, he finally began writing books about game show history, starting with "Quizmaster," a comprehensive biography of beloved game show host Bill Cullen, and followed that with the four-volume set "This Day in Game Show History."