Prolific Game Show Host Wink Martindale Dies at 91

Winston Conrad “Wink” Martindale, who hosted Tic-Tac-Dough, Gambit, and High Rollers, among others, died at the age of 91 in Rancho Mirage, California, on Tuesday, April 15, a spokesperson for his family announced. No cause of death was given.

The statement said that Martindale was “surrounded by family and his beloved wife of 49 years, Sandra Martindale,” at the time of his death. The host was also a rock ‘n roll disc jockey, television producer, and a good friend of Elvis Presley.

About his nickname, Martindale told ABC News in 2014, “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.’ So Winston turned into Winky, and then I got into the business, and Wink it was! It served me well.”

Martindale had a 74-year career. He started out as a DJ at the age of 17 at WPLI in Jackson, Mississippi. His first television role was on Mars Patrol, a science-fiction-themed children’s television series. He also recorded his own songs and played them on the radio, alongside Presley’s songs.

He began his first game show hosting gig on What’s That Song?, from 1964 to 1965. In 1972, he took the emcee position on Gambit. However, Martindale’s most known role is Tic-Tac-Dough, which he hosted from 1978 to 1985. Tic-Tac-Dough is returning to TV for the first time in 35 years. During that time, he had a cameo appearance in the 1980 TV movie The Great American Traffic Jam.

Martindale created his own production company, in which he went on to produce his own game shows. In 1996, he hosted Lifetime’s highest-rated quiz show, Debt. The show was canceled in 1998, and Martindale did not host another game show for a decade.

His last program was the Game Show Network original series Instant Recall, which premiered on March 4, 2010. He returned to radio in 2012 and started his own YouTube channel in 2014.

In the last decade of his life, he appeared on game shows, soap operas, and commercials.

In addition to Sandra, Martindale is survived by his sister Geraldine, his daughters Lisa, Lyn, and Laura, a large extended family of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and his “honorary son” Eric.