Chuck Woolery, the First ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Host, Dead at 83

Chuck Woolery, the TV personality and game show legend who was the first host of Wheel of Fortune, has died, according to AP News. He was 83 years old.

Woolery’s friend and podcast co-host Mark Young confirmed his death to AP News via email on Sunday (Nov. 24), saying that Woolery died at his home in Texas. His wife Kristen was by his side.

“Chuck was a dear friend and brother and a tremendous man of faith,” Young said, “life will not be the same without him.”

Young also shared more details with TMZ, saying Woolery was at home when he started feeling poorly and told Kristen he needed to lay down. Shortly thereafter, she noticed that he was having difficulty breathing. A 911 call ensued, but he died shortly afterward.

Woolery was also known for his hosting roles on game shows such as Love Connection, Scrabble, Greed and Lingo. He also had a music career that included a Top 40 pop hit, jingles in advertisements and a number of country singles.

Born in 1941 in Ashland, Ky., Woolery was interested in music early on. After an unfinished stint in college and two years in the Navy, he moved to Nashville to pursue a career in music, according to People. He and banjo player Bubba Fowler formed a duo called Avant-Garde, and they released a charting pop single called “Naturally Stoned.”

In 1972, Woolery moved to Los Angeles, where he began to find success in the world of television, including a spot on The Tonight Show. In 1975, he became the first host of Wheel of Fortune. Woolery maintained his role until 1982, when he departed the show amid contract negotiation issues and was replaced by Pat Sajak.

As his acting success ramped up, Woolery continued to release music, but pivoted to country: Solo singles like “Painted Lady” and “The Greatest Love Affair” earned him placements on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. He also wrote songs for other artists, including Tammy Wynette‘s “The Joys of Being a Woman.”

Woolery continued to be a television staple for most of his professional career, with the bulk of those appearances being on game shows. He and his family were also the subject of a reality show called Chuck Woolery: Naturally Stoned, and he briefly helmed his own talk show, The Chuck Woolery Show, in 1991.

After retiring from television, Woolery became a podcaster. He and Young launched their Blunt Force Truth podcast, in which they spoke about current events with a politically conservative slant. He was a vocal supporter of Donald Trump’s presidency, and early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, he shared social media posts accusing the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Democratic Party of lying to the public about COVID-19.

Woolery was inducted into the American TV Game Show Hall of Fame in 2007.

People reports that, In addition to his wife, Woolery is survived by his sons Michael and Sean, as well as his daughter Melissa. He is preceded in death by another son, Chad, who died in a motorcycle accident in 1986.