Chuck Barris

Chuck Barris, born on June 3, 1929, was a successful American game show producer during the 1960s and 1970s.

Born Charles Hirsch Barris in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania he had a younger sister and a mother and father who passed away by the time he was a teenager. He attended Drexel University where he graduated in 1953, and was a columnist at the student newspaper The Triangle. Barris got his start in the television business working backstage at the American Bandstand. Barris conceived such shows as The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game, and later produced and served as the host of The Gong Show. In addition, Chuck Barris wrote a top-ten hit song called Palisades Park in 1962, which was performed by Freddy Cannon.

In his autobiography Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, he claimed to have also worked as a CIA assassin. The book was made into the 2002 film, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, directed by George Clooney.

Other Shows Hosted or Created by Chuck Barris

• $1.98 Beauty Show
• Cop-Out (unsold pilot)
• Dream Girl of '67
• Family Game
• Game Game
• How's Your Mother-In-Law
• Operation Entertainment
• Parent Game
• People Pickers (unsold pilot)
• Rah Rah Show
• Three's A Crowd