The CHUCK BARRIS Only I Knew

THE GONG SHOW WAS ONLY A SMALL PART OF THE TELEVISION PIONEER’S REMARKABLE LIFE

- Fortune Benatar

Chuck Barris, the zany host of The Gong Show and producer-creator of The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game, invented a TV genre focused on romantic relationships, but he wasn’t a winner in love himself until he met Mary Ciagett. “A mutual friend tried to talk me into meeting Chuck,” Mary, the TV producer’s third wife, tells Closer. “I just didn’t have any interest at first.”

Initially put off by their 30-year age difference, Mary finally agreed to a date and was surprised how easy Chuck was to be around. “He was brilliant, a gentleman, a lot of fun, and very caring about people who were close to him,” she says. “We had plenty to talk about, and we just had a great first date.”

Born in Philadelphia, Chuck graduated college, moved to New York and nabbed a coveted spot in NBC’s Page Program by getting creative. “I looked up who owned NBC, put down two of the names as references, and got right in,” he admitted. As a side hustle, he also wrote the song “Palisades Park,” which became a hit for Freddy Cannon in 1962.