Alan Hamel
Alan Hamel (born June 30, 1936) is a Canadian entertainer, producer and television host. Early life. Hamel was born in Toronto of Jewish descent. He was in the television arts program at Ryerson Institute of Technology in 1954 but did not graduate. Career. Hamel co-hosted the Canadian children's television series "Razzle Dazzle" (1961–64). The show featured a talking turtle, Howard. In the late 1960s he hosted two syndicated game shows which aired on all the ABC owned and operated TV stations as well as others: "Wedding Party" (1968) and "Anniversary Game" (1969), where he first met  Suzanne Somers, whom he later married in 1979. In the late 1970s, he hosted "The Alan Hamel Show", a popular daytime talk show on CTV. "People" magazine considered him "Canada's leading TV talk show host". After Hamel stepped down as host in 1980, fellow Canadian Alan Thicke took over and the show was retitled "The Alan Thicke Show" and, later, Don Harron continued the franchise as host of his own eponymous talk show that aired in the same time slot. For several years during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Hamel was a commercial pitchman for American Stores, a  coast-to-coast chain of supermarkets. Specifically, he did advertisements for Alpha Beta stores in the western United States, and also appeared in occasional spots for Acme Markets in the northeastern United States. Hamel eventually became a producer, often working on projects involving his wife. He occasionally performed as an actor as well, also sometimes on Somers' shows. Personal life. Hamel has two children, a son Stephen and a daughter Leslie, from his first marriage to Marilyn Hamel. He met his current wife, actress and author Suzanne Somers who is ten years his junior, while she worked as a prize  model on "The Anniversary Game", a game show he hosted. Hamel and Somers lived together for about ten years before marrying. A rabbi and a Catholic priest officiated at their wedding. Hamel is stepfather to Bruce Somers, Jr., Suzanne Somers' son from a previous marriage during her teens.