Remembering Jack Barry

Twenty-five years ago today, May 2, 1984; television lost one of its pioneers, not only in TV but in the game show world as well.

I found out about his death in the R-J that day. "Game Show Host Dies of Heart Attack" was the headline, and Jack Barry's face was in it. A part of my youth died as well. Like him or hate him, Jack was a pioneer not only in game shows, but as well as children's programs during the early days of television - some of which was way ahead of its time (e.g. Winky Dink and You). He was the co-creator of "Concentration" along with Dan Enright and Robert Noah, among others. Above all of that, he was famous for two game shows: "Twenty-One" and "The Joker's Wild". His latter program was a few steps below "Jeopardy!" in the difficulty of questions (most were easy, some were toughies, as Jim Perry used to say); nonetheless, it was a classic - which is still remembered today.

The one thing that Jack will be remembered for is his comeback after being "blacklisted" in the late-1950s in his indirect involvement in the rigging of "Twenty-One". Barry I still feel had no clue what was going on until probably when the investigations into that game show began, however in 1978 he did admit he had knowledge that there was rigging involved, but covered for the company for protection. Jack did find work in Canada afterwards and came here to California in the early-1960s, which perhaps was the best decision he ever made in his career.

Among other things, he owned a radio station in Redondo Beach, ran a cable TV system, was branching out in movies, and towards the latter years of his life renewed ties with NBC in the development of game shows to compete with the likes of Reg Grundy, Mark Goodson, and Bob Stewart. Lastly, he was a father of four children - Jeff, Jon, Douglas and Barbara - the latter three worked with Jack at Barry & Enright Productions.

Jack's death, at the age of 66, was the beginning of the end of B&E. Many of the prominent staffers at B&E resigned, including Richard S Kline and Gary Cox, among others. Jim Peck was to have been Barry's permanent replacement on "The Joker's Wild", however, Dan Enright felt that Bill Cullen was a better choice - and he was chosen to keep that program going for the final two years. Interestingly enough, instead of renaming the company Dan Enright Productions, Dan chose to keep the B&E name instead. As it turned out, the company ceased operations in 1992, shortly before Enright passed away.

Anyway, that was quite a surprise to this 17-year-old at the time. I knew Jack would retire soon, maybe give it one more year then pass the baton to Jim Peck - but it didn't happen.

With that said - prayers go out to Jack's survivors - including his widow Patte, and his four aforementioned children. He will not be forgotten.