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GEOFF EDWARDS 2009 Recipient of the Game Show Congress Award for Career Community Service  In a career spanning more than 50 years in broadcasting, Geoff Edwards has attempted to convince a service station attendant to repair a broken down steam car, destroyed an elderly woman's lucky charm, visited Hooterville and attracted the longest boo in TV game show history.From the moment he stepped in for Monty Hall on a Tuesday episode of Let's Make a Deal in 1970, Edwards has been a favorite of game show enthusiasts. Born Geoffrey Oswald Edwards in Westfield, N.J., Feb. 15, 1931, the future host of nine game shows launched his broadcasting career in the early 1950s. His early years as a journalist took him ultimately to Dallas during the fateful days surrounding the assassination of President Kennedy. On the morning of Nov. 24, 1963, Geoff was in the basement of the Dallas Police Department when nightclub owner Jack Ruby fired the shot that killed accused Presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. NBC, the only network live at the moment of the shooting, quickly put Edwards on the air as an eyewitness. As with most of the classic game show emcees, radio was the testing ground for Edwards. At Metromedia's KMPC and at KFI in Los Angeles, Edwards developed a sometimes irreverent persona. His ability to pull hoaxes and phone stunts on unsuspecting recipients made him an audio version of Truth or Consequences. While becoming a major L.A. radio personality, Edwards engaged in moonlighting as an actor on sitcoms, including the CBS hit Petticoat Junction. "I was Billie Jo's sometime boyfriend," Edwards said. The occasional Hooterville role led to a long-time friendship with actress Meredith MacRae. In the early '80s, they became co-anchors of a popular and Emmy-winning L.A. morning show. A major turning point came 39 years ago when he received a phone call from his agent. "He told me Monty Hall was home sick and they needed someone to sub for him on Let's Make a Deal," Edwards said in a 1999 interview with TVgameshows.net. "He asked, 'Do you want to do it?' Well, who wouldn't want to do Let's Make a Deal? So I went down to ABC and did a run-through and they put me on." Despite good reviews for his stand-in work, the climb to his own show was not instant. After a stint on the short-lived NBC variety hour The Bobby Darin Amusement Company, Edwards did several game show pilots that did not sell. In 1973, CBS revived the '60s-era Everybody's Talking as Hollywood's Talking. Geoff was tapped as the host. The show had success written all over it. Film clips used on the game were loaded with celebrities. Veteran producer Jack Barry was at the helm. CBS even moved the new hit version of The Price Is Right to the afternoon as the lead-in for Talking. Instead, Geoff Edwards' first solo shot as an emcee lasted 13 weeks. "(Hollywood's Talking) failed for a variety of reasons," Edwards told TVgameshows.net. "For one thing, Jack Barry didn't really want me to do the show. He never could make up his mind if I was right for it. And then the bonus game was changed every other week, so the viewers at home never could figure out what we were or how you played it." The next year, Geoff finally struck paydirt with a double dip of success. Employing some of the same skills he exhibited on Let's Make a Deal, Edwards displayed an amazing memory to remember skits coordinated with the various prize boxes on The New Treasure Hunt, Chuck Barris' syndicated remake of Jan Murray's creation. For four years, Edwards teased, cajoled and negotiated with contestants to take alternatives to an ultimate $25,000 prize. From 1974-78, viewers ate it up. A classic moment came in the first season of Treasure Hunt with a 72-year-old contestant. She carried what she called her "lucky toothpick" onstage. After steadfastly refusing to bite for Geoff's bidding and staying with her box, Geoff abruptly snatched away her toothpick and snapped it in half. "Do you know why I did that to your lucky toothpick?," he asked. "Because you don't need luck any more. Because you've won 25-THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!!" In January 1974, NBC and Bob Stewart welcomed Edwards to the high-energy Jackpot, a game based on riddles. Replacing Jeopardy! at noon, Jackpot moved out to a strong early start in the ratings against the still-fledgling The Young and the Restless. With a $50,000 top prize, the tension was milked by Edwards when the stakes were at their highest. On a summer 1974 Tuesday, the jackpot reached the ultimate 50 grand. The contestant slowly read the riddle for her partner: "My first name is present tense. My last name is past tense. What am I?" Five seconds elapsed and the dreaded buzzer sounded. When Geoff announced the answer as "See-Saw," the audience in Rockefeller Center erupted. They booed for 30 seconds. They booed for a full minute. The booed louder than Philadelphia sports fans. Into the second minute, Geoff finally smiled and dodged behind the contestant bleachers as the show went to break. Two minutes later, the booing continued. At show's end, when Geoff said, "Join us again tomorrow when someone may win $50,000," the booing ensued again through the end of the credits. "When we were going down the stairs after the show was over, Bob Stewart looked at me, smiled and said, 'We saved the budget!'" In ensuing years, Edwards helmed a variety of other games. Play the Percentages, the video arcade game Starcade, Chain Reaction, Shoot for the Stars and a late '80s revival of Jackpot were all on his resume, as was California's lottery game The Big Spin. During his years in radio and local television and as a network game show favorite, Geoff always gave back to important causes. He raised money for an assortment of educational and children's charities and did so unselfishly. His work as a game show emcee and his steadfast concern for others has made him the choice for the fifth Game Show Congress Ralph Edwards Award for Community Service. In recent years, he has enjoyed the good life as an online travel writer and radio travel analyst. Yet, his fans still remember. Last summer on radio's "Stu Shostak Show," Edwards said, "It still happens. Somebody will recognize me on the street or in a restaurant and they'll yell out, "JACKPOT!" The executive board of Game Show Congress has indeed hit the jackpot as its Ralph Edwards Award is presented in 2009 for the first time to an Edwards. "I'm not related to him," Geoff said upon learning of the selection, "but Ralph Edwards was the standard that others followed. I am both honored and humbled to be chosen." Other biography pages 
 
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