William Lawrence Francis Cullen (February 18, 1920 – July 7, 1990) was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades. Known for appearing on game shows and later as a prolific game show host, he hosted 23 shows, earning the nickname "Dean of Game Show Hosts". Aside from his hosting duties, he appeared as a panelist/celebrity guest on many other game shows, including regular appearances on I've Got a Secret and To Tell the Truth.
Early life
Cullen was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the only child of William and Lillian Cullen. His father was a Ford dealer in Pittsburgh.
He survived a childhood bout with polio that left him with significant physical limitations for the rest of his life. Cullen was a pre-med student at the University of Pittsburgh, but had to withdraw because of financial problems. After he achieved some success in radio, he returned to the university and earned a bachelor's degree.
Radio
Cullen's broadcasting career began in 1939 in Pittsburgh at WWSW radio, where he worked as a disc jockey and play-by-play announcer or color commentator for Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL) and Pittsburgh Hornets (minor league hockey) games. In 1943, Cullen left WWSW for a brief job at rival station KDKA before leaving Pittsburgh a year later to try his luck in New York. A week after arriving in New York, he was hired as a staff announcer at CBS.
To supplement his then-meager income, he became a freelance joke writer for some of the top radio stars of the day, including Arthur Godfrey, Danny Kaye, and Jack Benny; he also worked as a staff writer for the Easy Aces radio show.
His first venture into game shows was in 1945, when he was hired as announcer for a radio quiz called Give And Take. In the summer of 1950, he was quizmaster on Hit the Jackpot, the summer replacement for Amos 'n' Andy on CBS radio. After a brief stint at WNEW in 1951, he hosted a popular morning show at WNBC radio from 1955 to 1961.
Military service
Cullen was a pilot for the United States Army Air Forces in World War II. Cullen served in the Civil Air Patrol as an instructor and patrol aircraft pilot in his native Pennsylvania during World War II (having failed to qualify for combat duty due to his physical disabilities), and was interested in mechanics.
TV career
Cullen's first television game show was the TV version of Winner Take All, which premiered on NBC in 1952. In 1953, Cullen had The Bill Cullen Show, a weekly morning variety program on CBS. He hosted Bank on the Stars in 1954. From 1954 to 1955, he hosted NBC's Place the Face, a program in which celebrities identified people from their past; he simultaneously hosted CBS's Name That Tune. From 1956 to 1965, he hosted the initial daytime and primetime versions of The Price Is Right, another Goodson-Todman production. He was also a panelist on I've Got a Secret from 1952 to 1967, and To Tell the Truth from 1969 to 1978, where he also guest-hosted on occasion. After relocating to Southern California, Cullen guest-hosted Password Plus for four weeks in April 1980 while original host Allen Ludden was being treated for stomach cancer.
Cullen was initially in the running to host the 1972 revival of The Price Is Right, but the physical demands of the new format were deemed too strenuous for him. Consequently, when CBS picked up the daytime version, Bob Barker was selected to host the daytime version while Dennis James (who sold the pilot with Mark Goodson) hosted the syndicated nighttime version. Barker remained the show's daytime host until his retirement in 2007. Occasional references to Cullen have been made by current The Price Is Right host Drew Carey.
Other game shows Cullen hosted included Eye Guess in the 1960s; Three on a Match, Blankety Blanks, The Love Experts, How Do You Like Your Eggs? (QUBE cable interactive program) and the syndicated version of The $25,000 Pyramid in the 1970s; and later in his career Chain Reaction, Blockbusters, Child's Play, Hot Potato and The Joker's Wild (his final hosting job from 1984 to 1986, following the death of Jack Barry).
In a 1984 TV Guide article, Cullen commented on the ease with which he seemed to land his hosting jobs:
"This is how it happens every time," says Cullen. A known packager comes up with the idea for a new show. The network says, do a run-through. They do. The network likes it, and they say, we'll give you a pilot. Then the network says, Who are we going to get to host it?
Packager: Who do you have in mind?
Network: Let's go with someone new.
Packager: Great idea. Who?
Network: Don't you know anybody?