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Gene Rayburn
Age: 81 (passed away Nov. 29th, 1999)
Height: 6' 1"
Birth Place: Christopher, Illinois, USA
Born: Dec. 22nd, 1917
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Gene Rayburn's Main TV Roles
NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at
IMDB
BIOGRAPHY: Gene Rayburn was born on December 22, 1917, in Christopher, Illinois. After his father died at a very young age, his mother moved to Chicago and married Milan Rubessa, and Gene adopted his stepfather's name. As Gene Rubessa, he acted in high school plays and hoped to follow an acting career. He moved to New York City in the 1930s where he was a page for NBC, later working as an usher for the NBC symphony orchestra. Before World War Two he went to announcers school and worked with various radio personalities around New York City. He married Helen Tricknor in 1940 with whom he had one child, Lynn in 1942. Soon afterwards he was called to Military Service and joined the US Air Corps. After the war Gene worked on the Rayburn and Fitch show and later the Gene Rayburn Show in the early fifties. During the 50s Rayburn was instrumental in highlighting corruption on radio, by playing an older song so many times that it became a hit. This was alleged to have proved that record promoters could be paid to play records on stations for bribes, making the said songs very popular, albeit for a price. His breakthrough came in the mid-50s as the announcer on _"Tonight Show, The" (1954)_ with Steve Allen (I). Rayburn and Allen were associated on the Tonight Show for three years and Rayburn became a household name for many years after that. In 1955, he hosted his first game show called "The Sky's the Limit" (1954). Subsequent game shows included "The Match Game" (1962), "Make the Connection" (1955), "Musical Chairs" (1955), "Play Your Hunch" (1958), "Tic Tac Dough" (1956), and "Dough Re Mi" (1958). He always flew by jet from his home in Massachusetts to host his various shows. Rayburn was also a Broadway performer, and appeared in plays such as Charles Nelson Reilly was his understudy. He also had a small part in the movie It Happened to Jane (1959).
TRIVIA:
- He stated on an episode of Match Game that as a bombardier-navigator during World War II, he got airsick on every mission.
- Succeeded 'Dick Van Dyke' (qv) as Albert Peterson in the Broadway production of "Bye Bye Birdie" when Van Dyke departed in April of 1961.
- Landed his first job as a page for NBC in New York City during the late 1930s
- Was a frequent light comedy star performer with the Bucks County Playhouse during the late 1950s and early 1960s. His vehicles included "The Love of Four Colonels" (1957), "Who Was That Lady I Saw You With?" (1959), "Come Blow Your Horn" (1960) and "Under the Yum Yum Tree" (1962).
- Has a daughter, Lynn (born October 5, 1942).
- Attended Lindbloom High School in Chicago and Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois
- His father died when he was still an infant
- Is Croatian, and spoke Serbo-Croatian.
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