The idea that Sony Pictures Television would appoint someone relatively unknown as the figurehead of one of its most valuable properties was far-fetched. But it wasn’t always that way for a genre of television that minted such celebrities like late “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek, Bob Barker of
“The Price is Right” and current “Wheel of Fortune” emcee Pat Sajak.
With Sajak’s impending retirement, after the show’s next season, it’s the end of an era: Game shows are now the provenance of the already famous.
WHY IS PAT SAJAK THE LAST OF HIS BREED?
Back in 1984, a much younger Sajak was pictured on the cover of TV Guide alongside Wink Martindale, Monty Hall, Bill Cullen, Jack Barry and Barker.
Each of the other men was known primarily as broadcast television game show hosts.
Now, so is Sajak. He has a handful of other entries on his resume, disc jockey (many of his ilk also got their start in radio) and television weatherman among them. But he was 35 years old when he started hosting “Wheel of Fortune” and will be 77 when he leaves next year. He’ll be forever known for standing onstage at the wheel, with Vanna White at the board.
“He’s kind of the last of the old school,” said Adam Nedeff, author and researcher for the National Archive of Game Show History at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York.
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