Chuck Woolery, the charming and smooth-talking game show host known for his work on “Wheel of Fortune,” “Love Connection,” and “Scrabble,” has passed away at the age of 83. Woolery later became a right-wing podcaster, known for his sharp criticisms of liberals and his claims about government misinformation regarding COVID-19.
His friend and podcast co-host, Mark Young, confirmed his death in an email on Sunday, stating that Woolery died at his home in Texas, with his wife, Kristen, by his side. Young described Woolery as a “dear friend and brother” and a “tremendous man of faith,” noting that life would not be the same without him.
Woolery, with his good looks, slick hair, and quick wit, was inducted into the American TV Game Show Hall of Fame in 2007. He was also nominated for a daytime Emmy in 1978. In 1983, he became the host of “Love Connection,” where he popularized the signature phrase, “We’ll be back in two minutes and two seconds,” often using a two-finger gesture that became known as the “2 and 2.” He also hosted “Scrabble” starting in 1984, managing to lead both shows at the same time until 1990.
A few weeks after a date on Love Connection, the guest would join host Chuck Woolery in front of a studio audience to discuss the date. The audience would then vote on the three contestants, and if they agreed with the guest’s choice, the show would offer to pay for a second date.
In a 2003 interview, Woolery shared that one of his favorite couples consisted of a 91-year-old man and an 87-year-old woman. He humorously recalled how the woman wore so much eye makeup that she looked like “a stolen Corvette,” while the man, who claimed to remember wagon trains, was so elderly. Despite the age difference, the woman took him on a balloon ride.
Woolery’s career included hosting several other shows such as Lingo, Greed, and The Chuck Woolery Show. He also hosted a brief revival of The Dating Game from 1998 to 2000, as well as a short-lived talk show in 1991. In 1992, he made cameo appearances as himself in two episodes of Melrose Place.
In 2003, Chuck Woolery starred in the Game Show Network’s first reality show, Chuck Woolery: Naturally Stoned. The show, named after a 1968 pop song by Woolery’s rock band, the Avant-Garde, only lasted for six episodes and was met with negative reviews from critics.
Woolery’s television career began with a show that became a major staple of American TV: Wheel of Fortune. Although the show is most associated with Pat Sajak and Vanna White, Woolery was the original host when it premiered on January 6, 1975, on NBC. At the time, Woolery was 33 years old and pursuing a singing career in Nashville.
Wheel of Fortune started off as Shopper’s Bazaar, which featured Hangman-style puzzles and a roulette wheel. After Woolery appeared on The Merv Griffin Show singing “Delta Dawn,” Merv Griffin offered him the job as host, alongside Susan Stafford.
Woolery recalled in a 2003 interview that his initial interview with Merv Griffin lasted about 15 to 20 minutes. Afterward, when Griffin asked him if he wanted to host a game show, Woolery thought to himself, “Great, a guy with a bad jacket and an equally bad mustache who doesn’t care what you have to say — that’s the guy I want to be.”
NBC initially passed on Wheel of Fortune, but after reworking the concept, they decided to move forward with it. In the early years, Chuck Woolery hosted the show, but after a few seasons, he requested a salary increase to $500,000 a year, matching what Peter Marshall earned hosting Hollywood Squares. Merv Griffin, however, was unwilling to meet his demand and replaced Woolery with weather reporter Pat Sajak.
In his autobiography Merv: Making the Good Life Last, co-written with David Bender, Griffin acknowledged that both Woolery and Susan Stafford had done a good job on the show. While Wheel of Fortune performed well on NBC, it never reached the level of success Jeopardy! had during its peak. Woolery was even nominated for an Emmy for his work as host.
Woolery was born in Ashland, Kentucky, and served in the U.S. Navy before attending college. He played double bass in a folk trio before forming the psychedelic rock duo The Avant-Garde in 1967. At the time, he worked as a truck driver to support himself while pursuing his music career.
The Avant-Garde, the band Chuck Woolery was part of, toured in a customized Cadillac hearse and scored a Top 40 hit with the song “Naturally Stoned.” In the track, Woolery sang the lyrics, “When I put my mind on you alone / I can get a good sensation / Feel like I’m naturally stoned.”
After the band disbanded, Woolery launched his solo career, releasing his debut single “I’ve Been Wrong” in 1969. He went on to release several more singles with Columbia Records before shifting to country music in the 1970s. During this time, he released two solo tracks: “Forgive My Heart” and “Love Me, Love Me.”
Woolery also wrote and co-wrote songs not only for himself but for other artists as well, including Pat Boone and Tammy Wynette. He contributed to Wynette’s 1971 album We Sure Can Love Each Other, writing the song “The Joys of Being a Woman,” which featured lyrics like, “See our baby on the swing / Hear her laugh, hear her scream.”
After his career in television, Chuck Woolery ventured into podcasting. In a 2014 interview, he described himself as a gun-rights activist, a conservative libertarian, and a constitutionalist. Woolery explained that he had kept his political views private while working in liberal Hollywood, fearing potential backlash.
In 2014, he teamed up with Mark Young to co-host the podcast Blunt Force Truth. Woolery became a vocal supporter of Donald Trump and made controversial statements, including arguing that minorities didn’t need civil rights. He also sparked outrage by tweeting an antisemitic remark that linked Soviet Communism to Judaism.
Woolery’s online activity included retweeting articles from Conservative Brief and spreading claims that Democrats were trying to impose a Marxist system. He also shared sensational headlines like “Impeach him! Devastating photo of Joe Biden leaks.”
During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Woolery accused medical professionals and Democrats of lying about the virus to harm the economy and Trump’s reelection chances. In a July 2020 tweet, he said, “The most outrageous lies are the ones about COVID-19.
Everyone is lying. The CDC, media, Democrats, our doctors, not all but most, that we are told to trust. I think it’s all about the election and keeping the economy from coming back, which is about the election. I’m sick of it.”
President Trump retweeted Woolery’s post to his 83 million followers. By the end of July, nearly 4.5 million Americans had contracted COVID-19, and over 150,000 had died.
However, Woolery quickly reversed his position when his son tested positive for the virus. He later posted, “COVID-19 is real and it is here. My son tested positive for the virus, and I feel for those suffering and especially for those who have lost loved ones.” Shortly after, his Twitter account was deleted.
Woolery clarified on his podcast that he never called COVID-19 a “hoax” or said it wasn’t real. He simply believed that “we’ve been lied to” about the virus. He also expressed pride in having his thoughts retweeted by the president.
Woolery is survived by his wife, sons Michael and Sean, and daughter Melissa, according to Mark Young.
