Celebrities such as Carol Burnett and Vicki Lawrence teamed up with contestants, using word association to guess the secret word.

Password Premiered: October 21, 1961

Password Hosts:

Allen Ludden

1961-1975

Jack Clark

(substitute host)

Monty Hall

(guest host)

Password Announcers:

(1971-1975 edition)

John Harlan

(1961-1967 edition)

Bob Marcato

Jack Clark

Frank Wayne

Bern Bennett

Lee Vines

Gene Wood

Bob Kennedy

See Also:

Password Plus, Super Password, Password All-Stars

Password Theme Song:

Classic TV Game Show Themes

Best of TV Quiz & Game Show Themes

Password True Tales:

"I was a contestant on the original Password daytime show, with Allen

Ludden in the Spring of 1964. The celebrity players that week were

Elizabeth Montgomery (who, incidentally, was one of the best

celebrity players of all time on that game) and Robert Merril, the

opera singer (who was one of the worst celebrity players they ever

had on the show).

"Elizabeth Montomery won nine of the ten matches that week, including

the one with me. Unfortunately, I was not Robert Merrils' partner

when he one his only match. I won a total of $700 (or maybe $750; I

forget after all these years) and was given a Bell and Howell 8mm

movie camera as a contestant's gift. There was a different gift each

day, all of them donated by a sponsor. It may not be a surprise to

anyone that the camera was a discontinued model.

"The weekday show format had each contestant play only two rounds, one

with each celebrity, unlike the night time version where the dollar

winner after those two rounds stayed on to play the next challenger.

"How I got selected: I was in the studio audience, in uniform (I was

in the US Army at the time), and after the show they asked who would

like to be a contestant. I, along with a bunch of others, raised my

hand. I was asked a few questions (including how long I would be

staying in the New York City area); we were told that they may get in

touch with us. A few days later, I got a phone call asking me to

come to their office for an interview.

"I was interviewed by the show's producer and a few others, and the

producer and I played a sample game, taking turns pitching and

receiving clues. A few days later, I got another call telling me

that I was chosen to be a contestant.

"When I arrived at the studio, I was shown to a room backstage. There

were a number of pairs of us, and they paired us off with our

opponents. All pairs were one man and one woman. We were seated at

a table, opposite each other, with the producer at the head of the

table. The pair closest to the producer played as partners against

the next pair, for a quarter a person per round, for practice. This

also got us to be friendly with our eventual opponent since we were

playing as partners during these practice rounds.

"As each televised game ended, the first pair at the table would go on

TV, and everyone else would move up one position at the table. They

taped five shows in a day--to fill up a week of broadcasting--but

changed the audience each taping, if I recall correctly.

"It took about a month or so for me to receive a check for my winnings

and my camera. I think the check arrived sooner than that, though.

"After forty-one years, I'm surprised that I was able to remember so

much." -- Michelle Steiner

 

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