This Is Your Life host Ralph Edwards dies, 92

Posted:
Nov 16, 2005

This was Ralph Edwards' life.

The pioneering TV broadcaster who hosted the 1950s show This Is Your Life, telling the stories of stars and ordinary folks, died Wednesday of heart failure, his publicist said. He was 92.

A longtime producer and host, Edwards' vast body of work also included Truth or Consequences and The People's Court.

His role as emcee and producer of Truth or Consequences (which was televised on CBS, NBC and syndication from 1950 to 1974) was affectionately lampooned in the 1950 Looney Tune The Ducksters, in which Daffy hosts of a game show that victimizes Porky. Truth or Consequences was Edwards' first major hit, debuting on radio in 1940. The novelty game show forced contestants who couldn't answer trick questions (the "truth") to go through "the consequences" by taking part in an oddball stunt.

Edwards' production company, Ralph Edwards Films Productions, made the animated Christmas special Annabelle's Wish, which aired on Fox in 1997. It received Recipient of the Film Advisory Board's Award of Excellence and the National Parenting Seal of Approval.

Through the release of Annabelle's Wish, the production company raised over $2.4 million for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the world's largest wish-granting charity for children with life-threatening illnesses.

Born near Merino, Colorado, on June 13, 1913, Ralph Livingstone Edwards moved with his family at age 12 to Oakland, California. As a 16-year-old high school student, he started in radio in Oakland. While in college, he worked at Oakland and San Francisco radio stations KROW and KFRC, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama from the University of California at Berkeley in 1935.

In 1936, he moved to New York, where he became one of the busiest announcers on radio, doing as many as 45 shows a week for the networks. Four years later, he created, produced and hosted T or C.

TV came quickly. After a few years of experimental broadcasts, the Federal Communications Commission approved commercial broadcasts starting on July 1, 1941. NBC's New York station, W2XBS, was the first to go commercial.

"Amazingly enough, I did Truth or Consequences on television in July 1941. It was the first commercial show for NBC. A 10-second commercial was $9," Edwards remembered.

However, the TV show was cut short by the United States' entry into the Second World War in December. Nonetheless, Truth or Consequences stayed a household name on radio. On the strength of its popularity, he appeared in the 1942 Lucille Ball-Victor Mature film Seven Days' Leave.

In 1945, Edwards moved T or C and his production company to Hollywood, making three more RKO films, all with Frances Langford: Radio Stars on Parade (1945), The Bamboo Blonde (1946) and Beat the Band (1947). He was also in the movies Manhattan Merry-Go-Round and Radio Stars of 1937.

Truth or Consequences returned to TV in 1950, airing for one season on CBS and receiving the first Emmy given to an audience participation show. In 1954, he relinquished the role of host to Jack Bailey. In 1956, he gave Bob Barker the job of host of the daytime version.

In 1950, residents of the town of Hot Springs, New Mexico voted 1,294-295 to change the community's name to Truth or Consequences -- a name that it still has today. Edwards had promised he would broadcast the radio version of T or C from the first town that would agreed to change its name. "In those days, nothing seemed impossible," he once observed.

"The changes in both radio and television are mind-boggling," said Edwards, noting that until 1948, his radio version of T or C was done twice every Saturday, once for the East Coast and once (three hours later) for the West Coast: "We would use the same script, but all-new contestants."

Edwards' other long-running show, This is Your Life, started on radio in 1948. In 1952, he took the program to NBC, where it stayed until 1961, winning two Emmys (he also hosted a syndicated version from 1971 to 1973). Guests (including many celebrities) were drawn to the studio on a pretext, then surprised by Edwards, who announced, "This is your life!" Relatives and old friends would come on stage to talk about the guest's past.

Subjects of This is Your Life included Carol Channing, Bette Davis, Barbara Eden, Andy Griffith, Bob Hope, Shirley Jones, Buster Keaton, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Jayne Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe.

"At least half of our guests were ordinary people. "In the beginning, we didn't use celebrities at all," Edwards once recounted. "But when we did, I think it humanized the stars and gave them more appeal."

Edwards' last feature film role was in the 1955 MGM biography of Lillian Roth, I'll Cry Tomorrow, The movie ended with a recreation of Roth's 1952 appearance on This Is Your Life.

Edwards stayed busy as a producer over the years. He produced or created Name That Tune, Cross Wits, Superior Court, It Could Be You, Place the Face, About Faces, Funny Boners, End of the Rainbow, Who in the World, The Woody Woodbury Show and Wide Country.

Retired Judge Joseph A. Wapner became a TV star in 1980s through Ralph Edwards Productions' show The People's Court.

From time to time, Truth or Consequences and This Is Your Life have both returned to TV in syndication. It was announced last week, it was announced ABC planned a new version of This is Your Life, with Regis Philbin as host.

Edwards helped to launch the American Heart Association. During World War II, Edwards sold $500 million worth of Treasury E Bonds through audience involvement with Truth or Consequences show. After the war, a fund was established via a This Is Your Life telecast for the permanent memorial of the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor.

The March of Dimes, The American Cancer Society, The American Parkinson Disease Association and many schools and colleges have also benefited from the fundraising efforts of Ralph Edwards Productions.

In 1995, Edwards was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.

"We've seen many changes and enjoyed them all," he said in a 1999 interview. "I still find 'live' the most exciting, particularly for my type of shows."

Ralph Edwards married Barbara Jean Sheldon on August 19, 1939. She died in March 1993 after 53 years of marriage.

They are survived by a son, Gary, and daughters Christine and Laurie.