Dictionary Thesaurus Word Dynamo Quotes Reference Translator Spanish

Garry Moore

Garry Moore (January 31, 1915 – November 28, 1993) 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.

Early life and radio career

Moore began life in Baltimore, Maryland, as Thomas Garrison Morfit on January 31, 1915. He attended Baltimore City College 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 hosting "Club Matinee", he held a radio contest to find a more easily pronounceable one. "Garry Moore" was the winning entry, which was submitted by a housewife from Pittsburgh who received a prize of $100 (sometimes claimed to be $50) and a trip to Chicago. In the years that followed, Moore appeared on numerous network radio shows. He started out as an announcer and then as support for various broadcast personalities. One of these personalities was Jimmy Durante, on whose radio show Moore worked as a straight man for six years. Impressed with his ability to interact with radio audiences, CBS offered him his own show. Starting in 1949, the one-hour daytime variety show The Garry Moore Show aired on CBS.

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 Show, 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, which 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 show also gave writers Neil Simon, Buck Henry and Woody Allen their first big breaks in the writing industry. 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 I ever wanted to say three times already."

Moore's run as host was ended in 1964 by his first retirement. He was replaced by comedian Steve Allen, who hosted the show until the end of its run in 1967. 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.

He became the host of the syndicated revival of To Tell the Truth (1969–1977). 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 the show's reputed similarity to I've Got a Secret.

Retirement and death

Moore became sick in 1976 after being diagnosed with throat cancer. He left To Tell the Truth shortly before Christmas 1976 to undergo surgery, turning the show over to panelist Bill Cullen. Semiregular panelist Joe Garagiola also acted as the host for several weeks, claiming he was "pinch-hitting" for Moore. It was at this time that Moore announced his retirement from television. He explained on his final episode of To Tell the Truth that his diagnosis of throat cancer was a sign that he was "just being greedy". He also announced that he had decided that he had overstayed his welcome as a television and radio entertainer, and would make one last visit to the show to say farewell to television viewers. After the episode, Garagiola hosted the program for the rest of the season, which was the show's last. Moore retired to Hilton Head, South Carolina, where he spent his time sailing, as well as at his summer home in Northeast Harbor, Maine. He did make one more brief television appearance in a late 1980s television tribute to Carol Burnett.

He died of emphysema on November 28, 1993, and 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.