What Was Gene Rayburn's Net Worth?
Gene Rayburn was an American radio and television personality who had a net worth equal to $4 million at the time of his death. Gene Rayburn was best known as the host of the American television game show "The Match Game," which premiered on NBC in 1962 and became the highest-rated show on daytime television. Gene Rayburn passed away on November 29, 1999, at 81 years old, from congestive heart failure.
Early Years
Eugene Peter Jeljenic was born on December 22, 1917, in Christopher, Illinois. He was the youngest of two children born to Croatian immigrants Peter Jeljenic and Mary Hikec. Gene's father died four days after his first birthday, and his mother packed up and moved herself and her two children to Chicago. There, she met Milan Rubessa, who she married on November 10, 1919. After the marriage, Gene began to use the surname of his stepfather. Rayburn's older brother was killed when they were children, and his mother went on to have a third child, son Milan Rubessa Jr.
Gene graduated from Lindblom Technical School on the south side of Chicago, where he served as senior class president and a member of the theater group. He then attended Knox College, a private liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois.
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Radio Fame
After finishing school, Rayburn moved to New York City to pursue an acting and opera singing career. He chose a stage name by shortening his first name and randomly picking a surname from the telephone directory. Once in New York, he was unable to find work in those areas, so he became a tour guide at NBC Studios in Rockefeller Center. Gene later worked as an announcer at several different radio stations before enlisting in the United States Army Air Forces and serving in World War II.
Rayburn's first radio show was the morning drive show "Anything Goes," which he hosted with American radio and television announcer Jack Lescoulie. Later he hosted the radio show "Rayburn & Finch" with Dee Finch. Both shows were broadcast by New York radio station WNEW.
In 1961, Gene hosted the American weekend live radio show "Monitor."
On the Stage
In 1961, Rayburn took over the lead role in the Broadway stage musical "Bye Bye Birdie" when Dick Van Dyke left the production to star in "The Dick Van Dyke Show."
The Move to Television
In 1953, Rayburn began his television career as the original announcer of "Tonight," a talk show co-created and hosted by entertainer Steve Allen. The show would go on to become "The Tonight Show."
In 1955, Gene hosted the game show "Make the Connection." He went on to host the television game shows "Choose Up Sides" and "Tic Tac Dough" in 1956 and "Dough Re Mi" in 1958. In 1962, he hosted the game show "Play Your Hunch."
From 1962 to 1969, Rayburn hosted "The Match Game" on NBC. When the show was brought back to television in 1973 on CBS, Gene returned as the host, and it became the highest-rated show on daytime television. "The Match Game" featured regular panelists: British actor and comedian Richard Dawson, Canadian-American actress and singer Brett Somers, and American actor and comedian Charles Nelson Reilly. The show ran until 1979 and then was in syndication until 1982. A nighttime version of the show ran in syndication from 1975 to 1981.
In 1983, Gene became the host of "Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour," an American television game show on NBC that only aired for nine months.
In 1985, Rayburn hosted the game show "Break the Bank," which aired for only 13 weeks. In 1989, he hosted "The Movie Masters," a cable television game show that aired for just five months.
In 1972, Gene emceed "The Amateur's Guide to Love," a game show that aired on CBS for only three months.
In 1987, Rayburn was scheduled to begin hosting a revival of "The Match Game" when the show's producers learned that he was older than they assumed. They decided against employing him to host the show. Due to age discrimination, after his actual age was made public, Gene had a very difficult time obtaining employment in the entertainment industry.
Beyond Game Shows
In 1976 and 1977, Gene and his wife co-hosted the Drum Corps International finals.
Rayburn appeared as a guest on several television game shows, including "To Tell the Truth," "Card Sharks," "Tattletales," and "What's My Line?"
Gene also guest-starred on the television shows "The Love Boat," "Fantasy Island," "Saturday Night Live," "The Maury Povich Show," "The Late Show with Ross Shafer," "Howard Stern" and "Vicki!"
Personal Life
Gene married Helen Ticknor in 1940. They had one daughter, Lynne.
Accolades
Rayburn was nominated three times for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host.
In 1999, Gene was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Golden Years
As he aged, Rayburn suffered from dementia. On November 29, 1999, one month after appearing in person to accept his Lifetime Achievement Award, he died of heart failure at his daughter's Massachusetts home. Gene was later cremated, and his ashes were spread in the garden there.
On June 4, 2000, six months after Rayburn's death, Arts & Entertainment Television aired his final television appearance, an interview he gave for an episode of the show "Biography," which focused on his longtime boss Mark Goodson.
