Wink Martindale, Game Show Host Extraordinaire, Dead At 91

Posted • April 16, 2025: Wink Martindale, host of multiple major game shows including 'Gambit,' 'High Rollers,' and 'Trivial Pursuit' has died. He was 91 years old. Wink Martindale, a rock ‘n’ roll disc jockey and good friend of Elvis Presley who gained fame as the host of such TV game shows as Tic-Tac-Dough, Gambit and High Rollers, died Tuesday in Rancho Mirage, a publicist announced. He was 91. The friendly Martindale, who had a 74-year career, was known for his resonant voice, vivid sport coats and, especially, his curious first name. 'When I was a kid in Jackson, Tennessee, one of my playmates, Jimmy McCord, couldn’t say ‘Winston,’ which is my given name. He had a speech impediment, and it came out sounding like ‘Winky,’ ' Martindale explained to ABC News in 2014. 'So Winston turned into Winky, and then I got into the business and Wink it was! It served me well.'

Martindale was born in Jackson, Tennessee in 1933 and got his first job in radio from his Sunday school teacher who owned WPLI. Martindale was 17 and paid $25 a week. He moved on to WHBQ in Memphis, where he hosted a morning radio show and kids' television program 'Wink Martindale of Mars Patrol' in the afternoon. In 1959 he transferred to KHJ in Los Angeles. He eventually hosted NBC's 'What's That Song?', the first of the twenty game shows he'd host (only the late Bill Cullen hosted more). In addition to being a prolific game show host Wink also had a top 10 hit on the Billboard charts. That hit was 1959's cover of the song 'Deck of Cards', which sold over a million copies. A day after the new "Tic Tac Dough" premiered on Game Show Network with host Brooke Burns. The first game show host I remember as a kid and let's be honest, Wink Martindale is a tremendous name. Tic Tac Dough and High Rollers we're absolutely my jam. Those were both awesome.

Martindale is survived by his wife, Sandy, his sister Geraldine, daughters Lisa, Lyn, and Laura, and 'honorary' son Eric. (…)

• More at: Twitchy - Wink Martindale, Game Show Host Extraordinaire, Dead at 91
https://twitchy.com/amy-curtis/2025/04/16/wink-martindale-dead-at-91-n2411453
The Hollywood Reporter: Wink Martindale, Prolific Game Show Host, Dies at 91
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/wink-martindale-dead-tic-tac-dough-game-show-host-1236191994/