Chuck Woolery passed away at the age of 83 at his home in Texas on Saturday, his longtime friend Mark Young has confirmed.
The beloved television personality, who was best known for being the very first to host Wheel of Fortune, died suddenly while Young was visiting him at his home.
‘It is with a broken heart that I tell you that my dear brother has just passed away,’ Young wrote in an emotional tribute on X, formerly Twitter. ‘Life will not be the same without him, RIP brother.’
While he circumstances around Woolery’s death are not yet known, Young told TMZ that the actor was not feeling well and went to lie down.
Young, who co-hosted the Blunt Force Truth podcast with his late friend, said Woolery later returned to the room to tell him that he was having trouble breathing.
Young told the outlet it was then he called 911 but Woolery did not make it.
Chuck Woolery passed away at the age of 83 at his home in Texas on Saturday, his longtime friend Mark Young has confirmed; pictured September 2006 in Los Angeles
Woolery was best known for being the original host of Wheel of Fortune from 1975 to 1981.
He earned a Daytime Emmy in 1978 for his work on Wheel of Fortune.
After nearly a decade, he exited the show to pursue other endeavors and passed the torch to Pat Sajak, who took over until 2024.
He went on to play matchmaker on Love Connection for 11 years.
Additionally, Woolery was also the host for game shows, such as Scrabble, Greed and Lingo.
He kicked off his entertainment career as a singer initially.
Woolery created several advertising jingles and even charted with a top 40 hit, the 1968 song Naturally Stoned, with pop duo The Avant Garde.
In 2003, Naturally Stoned was the theme song for his short-lived Game Show Network reality series.
The beloved television personality, who was best known for being the very first to host Wheel of Fortune, died suddenly while Young was at visiting him at his home; pictured March 2015 in Beverly Hills
‘It is with a broken heart that I tell you that my dear brother has just passed away,’ Young wrote in an emotional tribute on X, formerly Twitter. ‘Life will not be the same without him, RIP brother’
While the circumstances around Woolery’s death are not yet known, Young told TMZ that the actor was not feeling well and went to lie down
Over the years, the actor also made appearances as himself on screen including in the 2018 movie Cold Feet as well as the sitcoms 227 and Scrubs.
Shortly thereafter, he was offered a chance to audition as a game show host after he performed Delta Dawn on The Merv Griffin Show.
Griffin casted Woolery over 77 Sunset Strip alum Edd ‘Kookie’ Byrnes for the show called Shopper’s Bazaar.
It was later renamed Wheel of Fortune and premiered on NBC in January 1975.
In 1981, Woolery requested a raise from $65,000 annually to about half a million, which was reportedly what other top game show hosts were making at the time.
Griffin initially offered him $400,000 and said NBC would pay him the remainder but he ended up threatening to move Wheel of Fortune to CBS, according to Woolery in 2007.
It was then NBC withdrew the offer and Griffin fired Woolery.
Young, who co-hosted the Blunt Force Truth podcast with his late friend, said Woolery later returned to the room to tell him that he was having trouble breathing. Young told the outlet it was then he called 911 but Woolery did not make it
Woolery was best known for being the original host of Wheel of Fortune from 1975 to 1981; pictured 1978 in portrait
Over the years, the actor also made appearances as himself on screen including in the 2018 movie Cold Feet as well as the sitcoms 227 and Scrubs; pictured June 2007 in Austin
He also let go the original letter-turner Susan Stafford, who was replaced by Vanna White.
Afterwards, he went on to host Love Connection for over 2,000 episodes from 1983 to 1994.
He also had his own CBS daytime morning show for a brief time and co-hosted Home and Family.
Woolery is survived by his wife Kim Woolery and children — Katherine, Melissa, Michael and Sean.