Chuck Woolery - Career

Career

Woolery served two years in the U.S. Navy after graduating from high school. In 1963, Woolery worked as a wine consultant for Wasserstrom Wine & Import Company in Columbus, Ohio. He was also a sales representative for Pillsbury. In the 1960s, Woolery and Elkin "Bubba" Fowler recorded as the musical duo The Avant-Garde which had one-hit wonder success in 1968 with the top 40 pop hit "Naturally Stoned". Also during this time, he worked as a truck driver to supplement his income. Between 1977 and 1980, Woolery recorded for Warner Bros. Records and Epic Records as a solo artist, with two low-charting singles on Hot Country Songs.

While co-starring as Mr. Dingle on the hit children's series New Zoo Revue, Woolery's first game show appearance was on a 1974 episode of Tattletales alongside then-wife Jo Ann Pflug. Starting as an enterprising folk/pop singer, Woolery was also seen on a 1974 episode of Your Hit Parade. On January 6, 1975, Woolery began hosting the game show Wheel of Fortune at the suggestion of creator Merv Griffin, who had seen Woolery sing on The Tonight Show, and Woolery hosted for six years. In 1981, Woolery was involved in a salary dispute with the program's producers. Woolery stated in a 2007 interview that he demanded a raise from $65,000 a year to about $500,000 a year because the program was drawing a 44 share at the time, and other hosts were making that much. Griffin offered Woolery $400,000 a year, and NBC offered to pay the additional $100,000, but after Griffin threatened to move the program to CBS, NBC withdrew the offer. Griffin dismissed Woolery from Wheel of Fortune; his final episode aired on December 25, 1981. Weatherman Pat Sajak replaced him. Since then, Woolery has made references to his termination from Wheel on some of his later programs, most notably in the 1990 finale of Scrabble and two episodes of Greed. Nearly all of Woolery's Wheel episodes are believed to have been permanently lost, due to NBC's common practice of wiping to save money.

Woolery has also hosted Love Connection (1983–94), The Big Spin (1985), Scrabble (1984–90, 1993), The Home and Family Show (1996–98, co-host), The Dating Game (1997–99), Greed (1999–2000) (which was originally supposed to be hosted by Phil Donahue), and Lingo (2002–07). In addition, he was the subject of a short-lived reality show, Chuck Woolery: Naturally Stoned in 2003,. He also hosted his own talk show, The Chuck Woolery Show, which lasted for only a few months in 1991. He has also hosted The Price Is Right Live! at Harrah's casinos, and appeared in the live stage show "$250,000 Game Show Spectacular" at the Las Vegas Hilton until the show ended in April 2008.

Woolery has been seen on television infomercials as a national spokesman for National Recreational Properties, promoting developing real-estate such as Holiday Island in Arkansas. He appeared in infomercials for the company in 2006 selling properties in Horseshoe Bay, Texas and Angel Fire, New Mexico. Consumers and the national news media criticize NRPI for high-pressure sales tactics and grossly inflated land values.

In 1983, Woolery hosted the first annual Playmate Playoffs at Playboy Mansion West, an event featured in the March 1983 issue of Playboy and filmed for broadcast on the Playboy Channel that year in three separate episodes. According to The Smoking Jacket, "super hot Playmates participated in a three-day competitive extravaganza, which included a number of water-soaked events." Woolery was joined by Playmate Vicky McCarty (Playmate of the Month, September 1979) and actor Chuck McCann, "the designated laugher." Woolery provided play-by-play commentary for the event. The Turquoise Team led by Playmate Victoria Cooke (Playmate of the Month, August 1980) won the competition by defeating a severely hungover Jade Team led by Lorraine Michaels (Playmate of the Month, April 1981) in the Tug-o-War, the final event of the competition. According to published reports, four of the twenty contestants were treated for injuries at the UCLA Medical Center. Contestants—all of them former Playmates of the Month—competed in color-coordinated bikinis (pink, turquoise, jade, and lavender). Events included the Greased Pigskin, a slalom race with a very slippery football; Pie in the Sky, a relay race with cream-filled pie tins; Shark Bait, in which women coated in Crisco crawled across a plastic log over a swimming pool while their opponents tried to dislodge them with a swinging punching bag; the Hump Relay, a foot race over slippery, uneven terrain; and the Staple Chase, an obstacle course featuring a large mud pit. During the Staple Chase, Woolery was dragged into the mud pit by an unknown contestant.

Woolery was also the co-host, along with Cristina Ferrare, of the unique talk and information show The Home and Family Show in the late 1990s. Michael Burger replaced Woolery in the final year of the show.

Woolery, who has often spoken enthusiastically about bass fishing, sells his own line of fishing products, including the "MotoLure," a motorized lure that simulates the motions of a small fish. Woolery's passion for the outdoors has also enabled him to become the official outdoor spokesman on QVC, where he promotes many other signature products. Woolery has also played on the World Poker Tour Hollywood Home Game for the charity Safe Passage.