HOLLYWOOD - Chuck Woolery, the charismatic game show host who kicked off the long run of Wheel of Fortune has died. He was 83.

His friend and podcast co-host Mark Young told TMZ that Woolery died Saturday at his home in Texas, and he posted about it on X.

Woolery started out in show business as a singer in the orchestral pop band The Avant-Garde, whose most famous song, “Naturally Stoned,” made it to No. 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1968. The tune later served as the theme song for his (very) short-lived Game Show Network reality series in 2003.

Woolery also had his own CBS daytime morning show, which didn’t last long in competition with Live With Regis and Kathie Lee; co-hosted the Family Channel’s Home and Family; and was the face of other game shows including Lingo on the Game Show Network, Greed on Fox and a rebooted The Dating Game for syndication.

He was married four times —and had or raised eight children/stepchildren.

Story Date: November 27, 2024