Bill Cullen

**William Lawrence Francis Cullen** (known professionally as **Bill Cullen**, born on February 18, 1920, died on July 7, 1990), was a former radio announcer and noted game show host. His broadcasting career lasted five decades.

## Broadcasting career

### Radio

In 1939, the year World War II begun, Cullen's broadcasting career began no the radio, at WWSW Radio in Pittsburgh, serving as a disc jockey and a commentator and announcer for sports games involving the Pittsburgh Hornets and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

He later became a freelance joke writer for some of the biggest radio stars from the era in order to supplement his lower income at the time. One of the radio stars he wrote jokes for was Jack Benny.

His first game show gig was in 1945 (the year World War II ended) when he served as an announcer for the radio game show *Give and Take*. Between 1946 and 1953, he worked for another game show, a radio version of the Goodson-Todman produced series *Winner Take All*. Four months into the series, he replaced host Ward Wilson and hosted for the remainder of the series.

### Television

Cullen was most known for his role as a game show host, hosting a great number of different game shows, including the original version of *The Price is Right* on NBC starting in November 1956 and running for about a decade.

One of his wives, Ann Roemheld Macomber - the daughter of composer Heinz Roemheld - served as a model on *The Price is Right* while Cullen served as host. She and Cullen also appeared as a celebrity couple on *Tattletales* at some point. The former model passed away in July 2018.

Aside from game shows, he also hosted a weekly morning variety program called *The Bill Cullen Show*.

### Game shows hosted by Cullen

* *Bank on the Stars* (1954)
* *Winner Take All* (1952)
* *Place the Face* (1954-55)
* *Name That Tune* (1954-55)
* *The Price is Right* (1956-66)
* *Eye Guess* (1960s)
* *Three on a Match*
* *Blankety Blanks*
* *The Love Experts*
* *How Do You Like Your Eggs?*
* *The $25,000 Pyramid* (1974 syndicated version)
* *To Tell The Truth* (1969-78, sub-host)
* *Chain Reaction* (1980)
* *Password Plus* (1980, four weeks as sub-host)
* *Blockbusters* (1980-82)
* *Child's Play* (1982-83)
* *Hot Potato* (1984)
* *The Joker's Wild* (1984-86)

## Other jobs

Prior to his television career, Cullen was previously enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II, where he served in the Civil Air Patrol as an instructor and was also a patrol pilot in his home state of Pennsylvania.

## Medical history and death

Cullen was diagnosed with polio in August 1921, a disease that results in one leg to be shorter than the other. To accommodate his condition, the game show props were specially designed so that Cullen would not have to walk far to the podium. When he appeared on *Super Password*, he, along with the opposing celebrity, were already standing outside the door from the start of the opening (normally, the celebrities would walk outside the sliding door upon arrival on the set as the announcer was about to acknowledge the week's celebrities on said episode.

Cullen was a heavy smoker throughout most of his life. He passed away from lung cancer on July 7, 1990.